Illusion Technique!

"Open the door! Open the door! Hurry up and open the door!"

"Flame Shrine. Open up!"

"Are there any strangers in the house? No? Then who are you?"

"Trying to run? Kill him! Fire the arrows! Fire!"

In Hate Mountain District, the courtyard gates of household after household were shouted open or smashed open by the ragtag army made up of Flame Shrine gray robes and Predators.

They were like bandits. Well, they were bandits to begin with.

The bandits rampaged through the homes, searching them from top to bottom before patting down the occupants. They even pried open people's mouths to check whether their teeth were good and sturdy. Before leaving, they would casually take anything in the house they considered even slightly valuable.

Some took goods. Some took people.

Those who struggled were beaten. Those who resisted were killed.

The people of the district had long since grown accustomed to it. So long as the fists did not land on their own heads, everyone swept the snow from their own doorstep and ignored the frost on anyone else's roof.

Living. Everyone was doing their best to live.

Still, why did the people from the Flame Shrine today seem so much like Predators?

Bang!

Bang!

Bang!

The gate of a small stone courtyard was pounded heavily. A middle-aged woman's voice came from inside. "Coming, coming. Who is it?"

"Flame Shrine." A gray robe outside shouted, "Open the door, now. Don't make us break it down."

The sturdy wooden gate was pulled open from within. A wrinkled middle-aged woman stood at the entrance, smiling ingratiatingly. "So it is the honored divine envoys. I wonder what instructions you gentlemen have for us?"

"Why does it stink so badly?" Several gray robes instinctively retreated two steps.

They looked the woman over and found her face dark and grimy, her hair a tangled bird's nest, and her clothes as ragged as straw. She wore a garment covered in patches, and a thick, sour stench that made people want to vomit wafted from her entire body.

Even more disgusting, a swarm of flies buzzed endlessly around her head.

"Don't come any closer." Covering his nose, a gray robe pointed at the middle-aged woman and asked, "What is that smell on you? How long has it been since you bathed?"

"Reporting to the divine envoy, my daughter and I haven't bathed for a month and a half. Or maybe two months. You know that there is only one water source in all of Hate Mountain District, and it is far too far away from us. Every time my daughter and I carry back two buckets, it is only enough for drinking and cooking. How could we bear to use it for bathing?" the middle-aged woman replied with an "honest" look.

"You have a daughter?" One gray robe's eyes lit up as he asked.

"Yes, yes. Her name is Ning Ning." The middle-aged woman turned and called into the courtyard, "Ning Ning, Ning Ning, come out quickly. We have honored guests."

A thin, frail girl with a grimy face and the same sour stench walked out. She waved away the flies before her, her voice as soft as a mosquito's buzz. She cast a timid glance at the Flame Shrine gray robes and asked, "Mom, what is it?"

"My lords, this is my daughter, Ning Ning. The two of us depend on each other for survival." The middle-aged woman smiled as she introduced her. "Ning Ning, come greet the divine envoys."

The instant the gray robes saw the savage scar on Ning Ning's face, the light vanished from their eyes. Their expressions turned ugly as they backed away again and again. "No need to come over. Just stand there and talk. Besides you two, is there anyone else in the house?"

"No. It is only the two of us. No one else is willing to come here." The middle-aged woman said, "My lords may enter and search."

"You stink like that. Who would be willing to come?" a gray robe cursed. "No search. Search my ass. How could a master of the Qi Control Technique hide in a place like this? The stink alone would kill him."

"Let's go, let's go. Next house. What rotten luck."

"Exactly. I've never seen such an ugly woman."

"I thought any woman would do, but apparently not."

After the gray robes had cursed their way into the distance, the middle-aged woman slowly closed the gate.

After securing the bolt, she collapsed weakly against the door, gasping for breath.

"That scared me to death. It truly scared me to death."

"Those Flame Shrine people are too vicious. There is nothing they would not do."

"What is there to be afraid of? Don't they have one nose and two eyes too?" An Ning snapped her fingers, and the flies buzzing around her instantly vanished without a trace.

Illusion Technique!

Those flies had all been conjured by her secret art.

"Oh, you did not see the things they did. Those weren't things any human could do. Those beasts are worse than pigs and dogs."

The middle-aged woman cursed aloud, then seemed to fear that walls had ears and instinctively lowered her voice. "Strange. They rarely used to search house to house for people. What are they after this time? Did something happen at the Flame Shrine again?"

"I don't know." An Ning shook her head, though she looked thoughtful.

She had heard them say, "How could a master of the Qi Control Technique hide in a place like this?" Were they searching for an expert in the Qi Control Realm?

"Girl, what are you thinking about?" the middle-aged woman asked.

"I'm going to bathe," An Ning said.

"Oh, why bathe again? Those gray robes have not left yet. If you wash off that skunk juice and they come knocking again, what then?" the middle-aged woman said. "It is chaotic outside. Tang Fei might not even pass by our door today."

"I'm bathing."

"You dead girl. You do not even listen to your mother anymore."

Tang Fei was whittling wood to make a little bird, while Phoenix watched him make it.

When the wooden bird was assembled in Tang Fei's hands and wobbled into the sky, Tang Fei and Phoenix both jumped up excitedly, shouting and cheering like children.

When smoke began to rise from the wooden bird's rear and it plummeted to the ground, scattering burning parts everywhere, both of them looked as dejected and miserable as pitiful children about to do a hundred math problems or get beaten up by other students.

Phoenix realized that she had gradually adapted to life on Old Earth. She wore Old Earth's clothes, ate Old Earth's "delicacies," made friends and companions here, ate and slept alongside them, fought with them for water and hunted with them, and shared in their happiness and sorrow.

She had even learned several curse words.

For example: dog bastard!

But weren't dogs quite adorable? She had kept one on New Star. It had been a snow-white Bichon named Qiuqiu.

But Tang Fei said that phrase was an insult, so she would go with Tang Fei's answer.

When the Escape Pod had first crashed here, her heart had been filled with tension, fear, and uncertainty about the future. Fortunately, she had met Tang Fei. Tang Fei had carried her back. Little Fatty had called it "carrying."

Then, she began living like a child who had truly grown up in the wasteland.

Before, she had prayed every moment of every day, praying for the people who would take her away to appear as soon as possible.

She still prayed now, but she was no longer as anxious and panicked as before.

In this Chaotic World where lives were as worthless as grass, she had somehow found a sense of safety and warmth.

"It failed again." Tang Fei looked at the charred wood strips by his feet and said regretfully, "I don't know when it will be able to fly. Maybe it never will."

"It is already amazing. Look at how fast it flew just now. It even reached the treetops," Phoenix comforted him. Looking curiously at Tang Fei, she asked, "Tang Fei, how did you learn to make this?"

"I taught myself," Tang Fei said.

"You are that good?" Phoenix widened her eyes. "On New Star, mechanics who understand mechanical construction and design are highly respected. Tang Fei, work hard. Maybe you will become an outstanding mechanic someday."

"What? Are you taking me to New Star?" Tang Fei asked.

"I don't have that kind of ability."

"How could I become a mechanic when I cannot even get to New Star? Old Earth has no systematic body of knowledge, no practical equipment, and I cannot even find a suitable tool." Tang Fei shook his head. "For now, I should focus on surviving. Making these little things is just a personal hobby, a way to pass the time when I am bored. What else could I do? I cannot hunt all the time or keep smashing rocks like Little Fatty."

Tang Fei looked at Phoenix and asked, "What do young people on New Star usually do?"

Phoenix thought about it and said, "Students go to class, and adults go to work. But in our free time, we sing karaoke, go dancing, and watch concerts by celebrities. Sometimes we invite a few friends out for coffee or afternoon tea. Of course, we also often go to the Illusion Park. That world is so vast that it seems impossible to ever see all of it."

"What do you like doing most?" Tang Fei asked.

"I like watching movies most." Phoenix smiled with narrowed eyes. "No matter what kind of movie it is, I like watching it. Action movies, romance movies, comedies, and science fiction movies."

"Oh, you can also use AI face-swapping technology to replace an actor's face with your own, making it seem as if you are in the movie yourself. You can even use brain-computer interfaces to enter games or videos and make the experience feel more immersive."

Tang Fei stared blankly. After a long silence, he said with envy, "It has only been a few hundred years since we left Blue Star, but I never expected New Star to have developed this far. How wonderful."

Tang Fei pointed to the ancient forest before them. "Look at this place. It is either acid rain or monsters. Even these inconspicuous flowers and grasses are highly poisonous. One careless mistake and they can hurt someone."

"There are no laws to restrain people, no morality to guide them. There is only people eating people and people killing people. This planet is beyond saving. Those of us living on it are beyond saving too."

"Perhaps one day, everyone on this planet will die and humanity will become extinct. But that no longer matters. Humanity's hope and continuation are on New Star."

"Tang Fei." Phoenix felt a melancholy weight clogging her chest. She wanted to comfort him, yet she did not know what to say.

Because she knew Tang Fei was speaking the truth.

Moreover, the human scholars on New Star had studied the environmental deterioration and human living conditions on Blue Star and written countless analytical reports.

Every report ultimately pointed to the same conclusion: humanity on Blue Star would become extinct.

"Don't comfort me." Tang Fei smiled. "As long as we are still alive, we should enjoy life properly. For example, I make little handicrafts, An Ning draws, and Little Fatty smashes rocks. Oh, smashing rocks is not Little Fatty's hobby. He does it to survive."

"I do not think I will live to see the day humanity goes extinct. Even if I do, there is nothing I can change. This is the fate of people like us. Who told us to be born on Blue Star?"

"There will definitely be a way," Phoenix said firmly.

Tang Fei shook his head and sheathed the Dogleg Knife in his hand. "Let's go hunting. If we do not bring something back today, there will be nothing to eat tomorrow. You probably have never experienced hunger, have you?"

Phoenix shook her head. "No, I have not."

"Then we have to work hard," Tang Fei said. "But you still need to be careful. Try not to use that whip of yours."

"You are worried they will follow the clues back to our home?" Phoenix asked.

"When you use the whip, you will naturally damage the flowers and plants in the forest. Hate Mountain District cannot possibly have such a sharp weapon. If they find those cuts, they will know we live nearby."

"I understand." Phoenix nodded. "Even without that whip, I will definitely catch more prey than you."

"Impossible. I am an old hunter, while you are just a novice rookie."

"Then let's compete."

"Sure. What will the loser do?"

"The loser has to prepare a gift for the winner."

"Anything is fine?" Tang Fei asked.

"Anything is fine," Phoenix said. "But it has to be a gift you genuinely want to give the other person. You cannot just grab something at random to make do."

"Of course I will prepare it carefully," Tang Fei said. He had originally been thinking that if he lost, he could just pluck a few wildflowers from the grass.

"Then let's begin," Phoenix said.

Tang Fei nodded, then raced ahead like a streak of dust. He knew where to find prey.

Phoenix refused to be outdone and followed closely behind Tang Fei.

She knew Tang Fei knew where prey could be found, so she had to strike first and snatch it away.

She would use real actions and abundant results to show Tang Fei that before someone in the Qi Control Realm, the little hunting skill he bragged about was not worth mentioning at all.