Chapter 31 – Rare Treasure
Shi Li had indeed taken a bad fall.
He hadn’t expected Xiong Ye to push him so suddenly, nor had he expected Xiong Ye to be so strong that he would be pushed off the platform with one shove and fall onto the platform in front of the cave one level below.
This platform was about five meters down from the entrance to Xiong Ye’s cave. In this situation where he hadn’t taken on his animal form and hadn’t been on guard at all, not only was he thrown into a stupor with the fall, he could also taste the faintly sweet, copper tang of blood in his mouth when he coughed.
Shi Li was unable to move for a while, and his heart crawled with even more hatred.
On one hand, he had come to find Xiong Ye because he really regretted breaking up with him. On the other hand, he had also wanted to prevent Xiong Ye and Zhou Ji from holding their mating ceremony.
He couldn’t accept Xiong Ye forming a mated pair with anyone else.
Xiong Ye’s body didn’t carry Zhou Ji’s scent, which meant that nothing had happened between Xiong Ye and Zhou Ji. If something could happen between him and Xiong Ye at this point in time…
Xiong Ye was a person who tended to have a one-track mind. If something happened between the two of them, perhaps Xiong Ye would change his mind!
As for the mating ceremony, he could first pretend to agree and then cause some unexpected accidents to take place on the day of the ceremony so that the ceremony couldn’t be held successfully.
If he and Xiong Ye were unable to have a mating ceremony this year, then they would have to wait for next year. Many things would happen over the next year, and the mating ceremony would naturally be postponed indefinitely.
When he had enough strength, would Xiong Ye even be able to force him to hold a mating ceremony if he didn’t want to?
After thinking about it, Shi Li had more and more regrets–he had been too arrogant and impulsive after his rebirth, and had even burned down the bridge between him and Xiong Ye.
He should’ve first stabilized the situation with Xiong Ye at the time, and then tried to find ways to make sure the mating ceremony couldn’t be held!
Fortunately, it hadn’t been long since he and Xiong Ye had broken things off.
Xiong Ye liked him so much that it was impossible for him to have moved on in merely half a month.
Shi Li didn’t take Zhou Ji seriously at all; Zhou Ji was too weak.
Xiong Ye liked those who were strong. He didn’t feel that Xiong Ye was really interested in Zhou Ji at all!
It was precisely because of this that he had come to find Xiong Ye this evening.
He had thought that Xiong Ye’s att.i.tude would soften after he had apologized, and then he would naturally be able to obtain Xiong Ye…
The Xiong Ye from this time period didn’t understand anything and was in fact very easy to coax.
However, the situation had developed completely differently from what he had imagined.
Xiong Ye said he didn’t blame him but had refused to be close to him and had even given him a hard push.
Shi Li lay flat on his back on the platform below, his eyes burning with rage.
Xiong Ye also felt quite awkward at this moment. He had only wanted to push Shi Li away–he really hadn’t thought that he would be able to push Shi Li so far.
Was he really that strong?
Xiong Ye stood at the edge of his own platform and felt a little ashamed as he looked down, “Are you alright?” Although he didn’t like Shi Li anymore, he didn’t want Shi Li to get hurt…
Shi Li choked down a mouthful of blood. He had fallen down from such a high place. How could he be alright?
He was so furious that he was beyond anger. Yet after he saw Xiong Ye’s expression, his thoughts instantly calmed down.
He felt like he’d been doused in ice water from head to toe.
The moonlight today was very good; the two moons in the sky shed a soft light over everything, allowing him to clearly see Xiong Ye’s face–Although Xiong Ye had asked if he was alright, in reality, he didn’t look especially worried.
Shi Li stared at Xiong Ye in shock.
He had been together with Xiong Ye for decades in his previous life. During that period, Xiong Ye had always been very attentive towards him. Let alone falling from such a high place, Xiong Ye’s expression would be full of worry even if he tripped.
At first, he had enjoyed Xiong Ye’s concern, but gradually, he became impatient with it. He felt that Xiong Ye was being too annoying and eagerly wished to be as far away from Xiong Ye as possible.
Xiong Ye had probably sensed his att.i.tude, and he had slowly stopped trying to show solicitude for every little problem, but whenever something really happened to him, he was always able to see the concern in Xiong Ye’s eyes.
But now? He had been injured, yet Xiong Ye didn’t look worried at all.
Shi Li suddenly felt a sense of loss.
Seeing that Shi Li wasn’t speaking, Xiong Ye frowned, “It wasn’t much of a fall. You should be fine, right?” He felt that Shi Li was probably alright, but Shi Li was lying there without moving… Should he climb down and take a look?
Xiong Ye was still hesitating when Zhou Ji’s voice suddenly rang out, “Xiong Ye?”
Xiong Ye no longer had any attention to spare for Shi Li. He turned around to look at Zhou Ji, “You’re awake?”
“Did someone come?” Zhou Ji’s voice sounded a little confused.
“No.” Xiong Ye replied. He returned to the cave and shut the door behind him.
If Shi Li was injured, he should go find the priest. He couldn’t help, so there was no need for him to concern himself overmuch.
Besides, there had been quite a lot of noise just now, and the person below had probably woken up… He could hear the sound of the door to the cave below opening.
“Why did you go out then?” Zhou Ji asked.
Xiong Ye inexplicably felt a little guilty, “I heard something outside, so I went out to take a look… It’s none of our business.”
Zhou Ji chuckled lightly and said, “Alright.”
After the two finished talking, they both went back to sleep.
Zhou Ji used his spiritual powers to observe the situation below. He heard the person who lived under their cave come out, then look towards Shi Li who had fallen down in front of his door in shock, “Shi Li, what happened to you?”
Shi Li got up from the ground and swallowed back another mouthful of blood, “I’m fine.”
“It’s good that you’re alright.” The man yawned, “Ah, what the h.e.l.l are you trying to do in the middle of the night…”
Shi Li didn’t reply as he dragged his body away and left. The more he walked, the uglier his expression became, and the more his heart twisted uncomfortably.
Xiong Ye had actually treated him like this!
Shi Li’s att.i.tude towards Xiong Ye had always been quite bad ever since his rebirth, but this had been because he had believed that Xiong Ye wouldn’t really ever leave him.
However, this hadn’t been the case.
Xiong Ye had been incomparably heartless and now no longer cared about him.
Shi Li felt extremely terrible as he returned to his own cave. He gritted his teeth and began cultivating again.
He would definitely make Xiong Ye regret it!
What took place that night didn’t affect the people of the tribe.
The weather the next day was bright and sunny. Early in the morning, the hunters gathered together once again.
They had just had a collective hunt yesterday, and today wasn’t supposed to be a hunting day, but the ceremony for the Beast G.o.d Sacrifice would be held tomorrow.
The priest had asked the warriors of the tribe to go hunting today, and all the prey that they managed to obtain today would be shared with everyone in the tribe during the Beast G.o.d Sacrifice tomorrow.
This was a tradition that they had always upheld, and none of the tribespeople had any objections to this practice, so another collective hunt was organized that day.
Xiong Ye saw Shi Li amongst the members of the hunting team, determined that nothing major seemed to have happened to him, and no longer took the matter from last night seriously.
Although Shi Li’s advances had been quite detestable, he had also suffered the misfortune of being pushed so hard he fell off the platform.
Xiong Ye was full of expectations about today’s hunt. Firstly, he enjoyed hunting. Secondly… The day that the Beast G.o.d Sacrifice would be held was also the same day that he and Zhou Ji would hold their mating ceremony. That meant that the prey that he caught today was also for the people who would come to attend his mating ceremony…
He was currently thinking about how to catch more prey.
Before he left, Xiong Ye didn’t forget to remind Zhou Ji, “It’s fine if you don’t want to go out with the gathering team, but don’t go out too far since it might be dangerous…”
“Alright.” Zhou Ji smiled and agreed.
“Wait for me to come back. I’ll definitely bring you something delicious!” Xiong Ye added.
“Yes, I’ll be waiting for you.” Zhou Ji said.
Zhou Ji said ‘I’ll be waiting for you’ with such an attractive face… Xiong Ye felt his heart fill up with warmth and go soft even as strength surged up through his entire body.
Shi Li had constantly been watching Xiong Ye.
Previously, he had been busy cultivating and hadn’t come out much, so he hadn’t paid much attention to Xiong Ye’s and Zhou Ji’s interactions. Only now did he discover that… All the care and attention that Xiong Ye had once shown to him as well as Xiong Ye’s smiles, had already become someone else’s.
How long had it been since they separated? Yet Xiong Ye had already turned his back on him and found a new sweetheart?
Shi Li felt an incredible hatred in his heart. When he looked at Zhou Ji, his eyes were full of killing intent.
He wanted to kill Zhou Ji.
However, people were always coming and going around the tribe, and he had no way to quietly kill off Zhou Ji. If anyone found out… In two months, Zhou Ji’s Beast King father would come looking for Zhou Ji and his mother.
If Zhou Ji’s father learned that Zhou Ji had died at his hands…
Shi Li could only force back his surging killing intent.
He would kill Zhou Ji sooner or later!
Shi Li’s killing intent wasn’t discovered by the others, but Zhou Ji noticed it.
He felt that Xiong Ye’s ex-boyfriend was really very irritating.
He had broken up with Xiong Ye because he wanted children, but he actually still wanted Xiong Ye… Zhou Ji hadn’t felt much goodwill towards Lang Yin before, but now he had some sympathy for her.
If he hadn’t guessed incorrectly, this Shi Li should be interested in men, which meant that Lang Yin had actually been cheated into marrying a gay husband… Well, they weren’t married, so he couldn’t be considered a husband.
A man with such double standards like Shi Li was really unlikable… Zhou Ji sprouted a flower that was very popular with little insects, then blew the pollen at Shi Li using his spiritual strength.
What the forest lacked the least was all sorts of insects. He hoped that Shi Li would have a great time hunting today.
With that thought in mind, Zhou Ji whisked a little more pollen in Shi Li’s direction.
After the hunting team left, the gathering team also departed. Seeing that both teams had gone, Zhou Ji left the tribe as well.
He still hadn’t found the wedding present he was searching for, so he needed to keep looking.
If he really couldn’t find anything, he would only be able to make up for it in the future.
Zhou Ji had lived for over ten years in the apocalypse. During the end of the world, all the plants were basically contaminated by the zombie virus–even the plants he produced using his own powers had been affected.
Humans and animals had been on the brink of extinction. Towards the very end, it was difficult to even find a living person.
By then, his abilities had grown very powerful, and his spiritual powers could spread out to cover a radius of about one kilometer.
Inexplicably, his powers had become a lot weaker after he transmigrated into this era. Right now, he could only cover an approximate range of 50 meters with his spiritual powers.
However, with his spiritual and plant abilities on hand, his senses were very keen, and his sense of smell was just as sharp.
Zhou Ji hadn’t understood why this was the case before, but now, when he thought about it, it was most likely because he had awakened an animal form.
Everyone in the tribe who had awakened an animal form had much sharper senses than those who hadn’t.
Today, Zhou Ji went in a different direction.
The direction he decided on this time took him further into the forest, and the trees cl.u.s.tered very, very densely all around him.
This world was quite similar to the environment of ancient times back on Earth.
During ancient times on Earth, many animals grew to be very tall because of the high oxygen content and luxurious vegetation. It was the same case here.
This time, when Zhou Ji went deep into the forest, he saw many huge trees that would take several people with linked hands to encircle completely.
Presumably in order to compete for sunlight, these trees were each taller than the next and stretched all the way up into the clouds. At the same time, their leaves were also spread out in such a way that they solidly blocked out any available sunlight.
No sunlight was able to reach the ground at all.
There were many low shrubs in the forest near the tribe, but it was very difficult for those low plants to grow on ground where all sunlight had already been blocked out by these giant trees, so not only was there no shrubbery here, there weren’t even any smaller trees. There was only a very, very thick layer of leaves spread out on the ground, as well as various plants that didn’t require much sunlight, such as moss, ferns, and mushrooms growing on some of the trees.
In an environment like this, even dinosaurs were absent–the majority of dinosaurs survived by eating the plants and shrubbery that grew low to the ground and were unable to reach the leaves that grew so high up on these giant trees.
There was no prey here, so the people of the tribe naturally wouldn’t come here either, making the forest seem very tranquil.
Zhou Ji walked along leisurely. He occasionally saw some insects that were thicker than his thighs crawl out from under the leaves–those were an unpleasant sight.
The trees here contained a lot of energy, but he couldn’t just go and eat trees… Zhou Ji quickened his pace, wanting to hurry up and pa.s.s through this stretch of forest.
However, this forest seemed to be rather endless… He walked on for an hour and still hadn’t reached the end.
Zhou Ji was no longer interested in continuing forward and had just planned to turn back around when he suddenly felt that something was strange. The energy around him had abruptly become much richer, and the energy contained in the trees nearby was much denser than the trees from before.
Zhou Ji carefully spread out his senses to explore the area and headed in a certain direction. After walking for a while, he heard the sound of running water.
He raised his eyebrows in surprise, then jogged towards the source of the sound, which turned out to be a pool.
The pool was about the same size as the valley in the Big Bear Tribe. It couldn’t be considered small, but it wasn’t particularly large, either.
And it was because of the existence of such a pool that there was a stretch of sky that wasn’t blotted out by trees, which in turn allowed a large variety of plants to grow by the edge of the pool.
Right now, the light from the spring sun was just right, and entire swathes of flowers were blooming brilliantly.
Zhou Ji stopped at the edge of the pool and had a mild ‘this is the place’ type of feeling–the energy here was incredibly abundant!
He felt that if he were to cultivate in this place, he would definitely grow strong and powerful very quickly.
With this in mind, Zhou Ji looked towards the place where the sound of water could be heard–water flowed out of a crevice in the stone next to the pool.
This stretch of forest was actually located on the sun-facing side of a huge mountain. The slope of the mountain was very gentle, but there was indeed an incline. The stone crevice was part of a cliff approximately seven or eight meters high, and the water flowing from it should be groundwater that had made its way here from the mountain slope above it.
He called it a stone crevice, but in fact, the gap was large enough for a person to enter. Strong energy leaked out from the gap.
Zhou Ji considered it, then headed towards the stone crevice and arrived at the entrance that led to the cave within.
This stone crevice faced south. Sunlight shone through the gap and left a patch of light inside. Zhou Ji couldn’t make out what was inside, so he used his spiritual strength to explore.
Zhou Ji’s heartbeat quickly sped up.
There was a plant inside this cave. It wasn’t very big, and there was a tiny fruit sprouting at the top. It looked very common, but it Zhou Ji could clearly feel the strong energy emanating from this exact plant.
Even the rich energy in this stone crevice and around the pool had most likely been collected here by this plant.
It was because of this plant that there was so much energy here!
This was definitely a rare treasure!
Although Zhou Ji had long suspected that there would be rare natural treasures in this world, he was still surprised when he actually managed to encounter such a treasure. At the same time, he also made a decision–the plant inside would be his wedding gift to Xiong Ye!
Only, that plant wasn’t very easy to obtain.
There was actually another reason why Zhou Ji’s heartbeat had sped up after he finished exploring the cave with his spiritual powers–he didn’t know if they were millipedes or centipedes, but there were a lot of them inside the cave.
In any case, they were all arthropods.
These arthropods were very, very big, and they encircled that plant and its fruit, practically filling up the entirety of this very s.p.a.cious cave.
As for how big these arthropods were… Most of them appeared to be about two meters long and thirty to forty centimeters wide, while some of them were about six or seven meters long and one meter wide!
Those few extremely long centipedes had traces of energy in their body. There was no doubt that they had mutated after spending so long in a place that was br.i.m.m.i.n.g with energy, and they were already different from common centipedes.
Well, those two meter long centipedes couldn’t be regarded as common either. No matter what, this was the first time he had ever seen such large centipedes!
Zhou Ji felt that he had seen and experienced a lot, but he still felt his scalp go numb when faced with so many huge centipedes.
The thing he wanted to have, really wasn’t so easy to obtain…
The author has something to say:
The devil frogs and other things in the story have all existed on Earth at one point. That also holds true for the centipedes mentioned here. Earth once had these two or three meter long ‘arthropleura’. Those who are interested can look them up on Baidu!