Joker!

Phoenix cried out, "Tang Fei, what are you doing?"

As she spoke, the Phoenix Whip on her wrist automatically appeared in her palm.

If Tang Fei made the slightest improper move, she would whip him at once.

This time, she had not activated the whip's lightblade attack mode. It was merely an ordinary whip. It would not kill him, only whip him back.

If she used it as she had against those Flame Shrine members earlier, Tang Fei would be separated from his head in a single strike.

Though she was frightened and astonished by Tang Fei's actions, she had never truly intended to kill him.

Over this period of time together, Tang Fei had left a deep impression on her.

She found it difficult to define what kind of person he was, but he was definitely not a bad person.

Of course, if he truly took off his pants, that would be another matter.

"Acid rain." Tang Fei, who had been taking off his pants, saw the whip in Phoenix's hand and felt somewhat uneasy. He stopped tugging them down and explained, "Acid rain landed on me. It's corroding my skin."

While Phoenix stood there blankly, wondering whether she should protect his body and let Tang Fei continue undressing, or protect her own reputation and make him stop immediately, Tang Fei had already briskly pulled off his outer jeans.

Fortunately, Tang Fei was wearing long johns underneath.

This man actually wore long johns?

On New Star, he would be laughed at by all those young noble ladies and gentlemen.

After taking off his pants, Tang Fei felt around his thighs, then lowered his head and glanced at his crotch.

Good. Both brothers were intact.

Only his back burned fiercely. Clearly, after corroding through his clothing, the acid rain had begun damaging his skin.

Tang Fei hurriedly pulled a small cloth pouch from the bag at his waist. Inside was a handful of fresh Snake Skin Tree leaves.

He grabbed a handful and stuffed them into his mouth. After chewing for a while, he spat the juice from the Snake Skin Tree leaves into his palm, then said to Phoenix, "Please help me apply this. I can't reach that spot."

"?"

Phoenix stared wide-eyed at the clump of viscous liquid in Tang Fei's palm. Her pupils dilated, her eyes round, and she truly had no idea where to begin.

Did he mean for her to grab that stuff and smear it on his back?

When treating injuries and saving lives, one truly should not fuss over such things. But that clump of medicine... she really could not bring herself to take it in her hand.

"Hurry!" Tang Fei urged. "If we don't apply it now, the acid rain will corrode deeper and the injury will worsen."

"Is there another way?" Phoenix's little face flushed red. She knew she ought to help Tang Fei apply the medicine. After all, Tang Fei had helped her apply medicine before. But the viscous liquid that had just come from Tang Fei's mouth made her hesitate. "Does it only work if you chew it? What if I... chew it for you?"

Tang Fei froze for a moment, then realized that some things did not necessarily require him to do them personally.

So he handed the pouch to Phoenix and said, "Of course. It's fine if you chew it."

Looking at the green clump of liquid in his palm, even he found it a little disgusting.

But he could not let Phoenix think his actions were foolish, so he smacked it onto his healthy calf with a slap and said, "This spot got hit by acid rain too. I can apply it myself."

Phoenix accepted the pouch and did not hesitate further. She grabbed a handful of leaves and put them into her mouth to chew. When she felt she had chewed them enough, she spat them into her palm, then copied Tang Fei's example and slapped them onto the burned patch on his back.

Slap!

Phoenix's soft palm touched the skin of Tang Fei's back. Though a layer of viscous liquid lay between them, both of them felt something strange.

It was Phoenix's first time doing such a thing. She had never treated anyone's injuries before, much less had such intimate contact with a young man.

If anyone discovered this, it would likely cause an uproar across the entire Empire, perhaps even all of New Star.

As for that young man, he would probably vanish without a trace soon afterward.

She had spat out something she had chewed, then patted it onto a man's solid back. This feeling...

If she rounded it off, it was like she had kissed Tang Fei's back.

Her father had told her that one needed calmness when facing great matters. Her complicated living environment had also forced her to mature early, teaching her to keep her emotions from showing.

Yet when she did this, she still felt her heartbeat quicken with nervous excitement.

Her cheeks burned as though a blazing fire were burning before her.

Tang Fei's emotions were not calm either. He had originally thought it was only a matter of chewing Snake Skin Tree leaves, then slapping them onto the wound.

He had done this to himself and others countless times.

But when Phoenix did this for him, he clearly knew that his feelings were different.

He was nervous. After she finished applying it, every muscle in his body tensed, but his nerves were stretched even tighter.

He felt shy. An indescribable emotion surfaced, something he had never experienced before, leaving him unable to speak for a while.

He was thinking, and he was confused.

He was also growing.

"Is that all?" Phoenix's voice came from behind him, calm yet elegant. It was the tone she habitually used around unfamiliar people. It helped her keep her emotions stable and gave her a certain sense of security. "Where else needs medicine?"

"Yes," Tang Fei said.

"Where?"

"My butt."

"Tang Fei."

"All right, all right, I'm just joking." Tang Fei stretched his limbs and said with a grin, "Nothing feels uncomfortable anymore. Thank you, Miss Phoenix, for saving my life."

Phoenix finally relaxed. She had truly thought Tang Fei's butt needed medicine.

"How is this saving your life? The medicine was yours, and you taught me the method. I just gave it a casual pat."

Phoenix did not want to claim credit. Looking at his lean yet remarkably sturdy body, without a trace of excess flesh, she said, "Even if I hadn't saved you, you wouldn't have been in danger of dying."

"Acid rain generally won't kill people, but it's still very painful when it corrodes your flesh," Tang Fei said.

He picked up his clothes from the ground and put them back on one by one.

Phoenix turned around. She found the scene rather strange.

It was like those little action movies she watched with her girlfriends. After the male and female leads finished, the heroine lay half-covered on the bed while the hero put on his clothes piece by piece. How similar.

Tang Fei walked to the cave entrance and looked outside. "The rain has stopped. Let's head back. Rain on Old Earth is like this—it comes fast and goes fast."

"Okay." Phoenix stood and picked up her two buckets.

Tang Fei glanced at her, then picked up two buckets himself and walked out first.

After leaving the cave, Tang Fei walked ahead, while Phoenix followed closely behind as before.

Tang Fei was still a Refugee from Old Earth, and Phoenix was still a delicate guest from New Star.

Nothing had changed, yet it seemed something was different.

Whoosh!

A black starcraft appeared atop Hate Mountain at light speed. Its hatch opened, and a group of men and women of varying ages and builds stepped out.

A young man with rat-like features, pockmarked facial skin as though he had been blasted in the face at close range with a shotgun, yet sporting a flirtatious little braid at the back of his head, stood at the edge of the cliff. The tails of his white suit fluttered loudly in the fierce wind as he surveyed the surroundings and asked, "This is Hate Mountain?"

"Yes. Based on the Escape Pod's flight trajectory that we tracked, she should have fled to this place called Hate Mountain," the burly old man behind him said.

The old man wore a black Tang suit. His muscles bulged all over, and he was obviously a martial artist.

"This is quite interesting." The braided man said, "The lofty moon in the starry sky has fallen into such a godforsaken place. I wonder what those people on New Star would think if they learned of this?"

"They will not learn of it." The old man in the Tang suit spoke gravely.

If they learned of it, they would die.

"So this is a fallen phoenix no better than a chicken." A voluptuous woman in red leather stepped forward, pressing half her ample chest against the braided man's arm. One hand had already slipped through his white shirt to stroke his chest.

A small emerald-green snake lay across her shoulder, flicking its tongue at the braided man as though guarding its sacred treasure.

"Not necessarily." The braided man held a finger out to the little snake. It bit down at once and began greedily sucking his blood.

The braided man did not seem to feel pain. Instead, he closed his eyes in blissful enjoyment and moaned, "Chickens are everywhere, but phoenixes are hard to find. There's only one like her in heaven or on earth. Once we catch this little Phoenix, I'll have to taste her first."

The voluptuous woman was not angered by his comparing her to an animal. Instead, she said excitedly, "Wonderful. I want to join in too. I want to see whether the lofty Phoenix is any different from ordinary women when she does that sort of thing."

"I'll fulfill your wish," the braided man said.

"You two, don't neglect the mission." A man behind them, entirely wrapped in black clothing and wearing a black ghost-faced mask, spoke coldly.

"Oh, oh, oh. Someone in the team is unhappy with us." The braided man turned and walked step by step toward the masked man. "Look at you. We're all doing a lawless job of taking money to solve people's troubles. Either someone else dies, or we die. What use is there in hiding your face?"

"If you kill someone, they won't see your face. If someone kills you, what does it matter whether they see your face?" The braided man looked at the voluptuous woman holding his arm and asked, "Do you think it's possible that his real face is even uglier than mine? Like a demon?"

"Yes, he must be ugly. Uglier than you. Like a demon, like an old mangy mad dog."

"Ha ha ha!"

The two looked at each other and laughed, then began kissing wildly.

Clang!

The masked man drew his sword, while the braided man, still kissing the woman, raised his gun.

It was a uniquely shaped, somewhat antique-looking double-barreled pistol.

"Joker. Wuying. What are you two doing?" the burly old man called out to stop them. "Don't forget that we came out to carry out a mission. If anything goes wrong, not one person here will survive."

"All right, all right. Since Mr. Shanhe has spoken, I'll spare your life." Joker put away his double-barreled pistol and continued kissing the voluptuous woman passionately. The more they kissed, the more heated it became, as if they intended to use the earth as a bed and put on an erotic show.

Wuying merely snorted and sheathed his sword.

"Let's divide the work," Mr. Shanhe said in a low voice. "Hate Mountain District is not small. We'll need to search village by village. Joker, you and Snake Woman start from the east. Wuying and Wufeng start from the west."

"The rest of you will search the dense forest with me for clues. Let's see if we can find the Escape Pod first. Once we find it, we can more or less determine the area where she is. After all, if she wants to wait for rescue, she can only stay near the Escape Pod."

"Yes," everyone answered.

"Remember, no matter which side finds a clue, do not act rashly. Notify everyone through encrypted communications, and only take action after the entire group has assembled."

"Why? Isn't that too troublesome? What if she runs away while we're waiting for everyone to gather?" Joker asked unhappily.

He wanted to taste Phoenix soup before the others arrived.

Mr. Shanhe shot Joker a glance, his tone threatening. "Because we must make this flawless and leave no traces behind."

"Don't worry, don't worry." Joker waved carelessly. "Even if I leave traces on her body, I'll clean them up completely. No one will be able to trace us."

"No." Mr. Shanhe refused again. "We must handle it personally and witness it with our own eyes, only then can we eliminate all future trouble."

His expression was solemn as he said in a deep voice, "Otherwise, we will never know peace again. We won't be able to return to New Star. There will be nowhere in heaven or on earth for us to hide."