Her Highness the Princess!

"Where my old home breaks my heart, willow branches turn green day and night."

"Geese flew south beneath the shadowed moon; they said they turned back here. Yet my journey had not ended. When would I return?"

"Looking back at Purple Gold Peak, rain soaked the thick mist. Spring waves on the river swayed between drunkenness and waking. Tears from yesterday remained upon my silken lapels, to be flicked toward the traveling geese."

Night shrouded the dark forest.

All of Hate Mountain lay beneath a curtain of darkness. Only more than a dozen torches made from pine resin oil had been planted along the trees and walls on either side of the raised platform. The flames blazed fiercely, hissing and crackling like the accompaniment to the poems being recited.

Rain had begun to fall at some point, adding another layer of sorrowful parting.

Fine rain fell like needles onto every mourner's face and body.

It did not prick their skin. It pierced the hearts of those seeing the dead off.

A gust of wind came, making the gauze on the platform and the leaves overhead rustle. Ghostly air filled the place, as though the dead could not bear to leave and were offering their final response to their living kin.

Old Man had begun singing at dusk, and several hours had passed by now. His voice was hoarse, his tune mournful. After taking another huge gulp of fruit wine, he seemed less like he was mourning others than grieving for himself.

Little Fatty stared at Old Man on the platform in amazement. "Bro, our godfather is incredible. He can recite so many poems."

Tang Fei glanced at Little Fatty. "He spent the whole night memorizing them yesterday. When he got up this morning, his eyes looked like a panda's."

"That's still amazing." Little Fatty held firm to his opinion. "I memorized all night too, but after one sleep, I'd forgotten almost all of them."

"You call that almost forgotten?" Tang Fei said irritably. "Other than the titles, you couldn't even remember who wrote them. That's almost?"

"I worked really hard just to remember the poem titles."

"That's true." Tang Fei patted Little Fatty on the shoulder. "So just focus on breaking rocks. Everyone has their specialty. We need some skill to put food on the table."

"Don't worry, Bro. I'm really good at breaking rocks. Even our godfather says I'm better than him."

Tang Fei looked at Little Fatty and said faintly, "When have you ever seen him break rocks? For all these years, the two of us used to do it together. Now he has me hunting and you breaking rocks, while he just stands there pointing and giving orders. When has he ever done it himself?"

"Godfather said it was to give us more chances to learn. He said he couldn't stay with us forever, so he taught you to hunt and me to break rocks and build houses. Once he's gone, we'll both have food to eat. We won't starve."

"You actually believed something that shameless?"

"Bro, I think godfather made a lot of sense."

"..."

"Bro, are you sad?" Little Fatty asked.

Tang Fei nodded. "I am. The teacher died, and those familiar people died. It still hurts."

"We'll never hear the teacher tell stories again. We'll never learn characters from him again, or hear him explain things. And the fruit wine he brewed was so good. We won't get to drink it anymore."

"I'm not sad," Little Fatty said.

Tang Fei widened his eyes at Little Fatty. This brat wasn't some kind of psychopath, was he?

So many people had died, and he said he was not sad?

"Bro, you're alive. Godfather is alive." Little Fatty glanced at Phoenix beside them. "Sister Phoenix is alive too. As long as you're alive, I'm not sad. Even if I die myself, I won't be sad."

"..."

Phoenix sighed softly. "Little Fatty is very simple. So simple that there isn't room in his heart for too many people."

"Me too," Tang Fei said.

Phoenix shook her head. "You're simply heartless."

Phoenix did not know who Tang Fei held in his heart, but there had to be very, very few people he truly cared about.

"That's serious slander. An insult to my reputation. Let me tell you, it's lucky Old Earth doesn't have judges, or I'd have sued you long ago."

"Hmph. This young lady is only speaking the truth." Phoenix thrust out her full chest and said proudly, "Otherwise, tell me. Who do you care about most?"

"Little Fatty, Old Man, An Ning." Tang Fei looked at Phoenix with a solemn expression. "And you."

"Me?" Phoenix's heart filled with sweet satisfaction, but her face remained as calm as though she did not care in the slightest. "Me too?"

"Of course." Tang Fei nodded. "If something happened to you, wouldn't all the supplies and weapons you promised me be gone? I feed and clothe you, and I kill for you. Wouldn't all that have been for nothing? I don't do losing deals."

"Tang Fei." Phoenix pinched the tender flesh at his waist hard in an affectedly girlish manner. "Wasn't I right? You're a heartless bastard."

Tang Fei cried out in pain and begged for mercy. "How am I heartless? I said you're one of the people I care about most. Let go, let go! It really hurts. Pinch Little Fatty instead. His hand feels nice."

Feeling sorry for his big brother, Little Fatty held out his chubby arm. "Sister Phoenix, pinch me. I have lots of flesh."

How could Phoenix bear to pinch Little Fatty?

She shot Tang Fei a vicious glare and said to Little Fatty, "Little Fatty, are you stupid? He told me to pinch you, and you just offered your arm?"

"Yeah, Bro is most afraid of pain," Little Fatty said.

"..."

Phoenix looked helplessly at Little Fatty, feeling that this silly kid was beyond saving. Tang Fei could sell him, and he would still foolishly help count the money.

Just then, a powerful light appeared in the sky, as though a sun had suddenly risen above everyone's heads.

That sun moved incredibly fast. It had been in some extremely distant place just moments ago, yet in the blink of an eye, it descended before them.

Only then did everyone realize it was a massive, pitch-black object. The so-called "sun" was the beam of light blasting from its underside, a natural reaction from burning energy.

It was oval-shaped, like a thick, enormous plate. A giant golden bird spread its wings across its hull.

That was a phoenix—a phoenix reborn from fire.

It searched from high above, then found an open space beside the stage. Three sturdy, claw-like supports slowly extended, locking onto the ground with a crack.

A starship!

This was a starship!

Tang Fei had never seen a starship before, but he had heard people describe them. As the governments and corporations of New Star further developed Old Earth and excavated ancient ruins and great tombs, starships arrived on Old Earth more and more frequently.

Rustle.

The black metal hatch opened, and rows of tall soldiers in dark brown uniforms marched out in formation, phoenix emblems set into their chests.

They carried standardized silver Pulse Rifles in their arms, weapons that looked immensely expensive. Naturally, their firepower was equally terrifying.

The moment they emerged, they split into two lines, one to the east and one to the west. They moved swiftly, surrounding the area within several dozen meters of the stage.

They were surrounded.

The audience fell utterly silent. Every gaze was drawn to the suddenly arrived starship and its imposing soldiers, whose combat strength seemed off the charts.

When facing the Flame Shrine or the Predators, they could still step forward to argue and reason with them.

But faced with such a fully armed group of visitors from beyond the sky, they were overwhelmed by a sense of helpless weakness.

Such enemies were not something ordinary people of Old Earth could stand against.

Thus, under the soldiers' encirclement, not a single person spoke up in resistance.

Of course, they did not resist because Tang Fei did not resist.

Tang Fei was now the most respected man in the village. His word was law, and no one dared defy any decision he made.

If he was not resisting, what was the point of anyone else resisting?

Little Fatty turned to look at Phoenix. Even someone as slow as him understood why these people had come.

They had come for Sister Phoenix.

Sister Phoenix was leaving.

Heh.

Phoenix's feelings were even more complicated—excitement, joy, relief, but above all, sorrow and melancholy.

The people who came for me are here!

I'm leaving!

Leaving Old Earth and returning to the place that gave me life and raised me, returning to the New Star I know best.

But why does my heart feel so heavy? As if I can barely breathe?

Why couldn't I be happy about the thing I had hoped for every day?

She turned to look at Tang Fei's profile, only to find that this guy was not paying attention to her feelings at all.

He was staring intently at the Pulse Rifles in the soldiers' arms, both eyes gleaming so brightly it was frightening.

Bastard!

Several more men wearing Senior Officer uniforms emerged. They took positions on either side of the hatch, after which a burly, powerful middle-aged man with a square face appeared before the crowd in a general's uniform.

Standing on the silver stairway, he swept his gaze across the crowd and instantly locked onto Phoenix in the back. With the stride of a dragon and the gait of a tiger, he marched toward her with fierce momentum.

The Senior Officers standing at either side followed close behind, their boots striking the hard stone road in perfect unison with loud, heavy thuds.

Bang!

The middle-aged man stopped before Phoenix, dropped to one knee, lowered his head, and said in a deep voice, "Her Highness the Princess, the Undying Army has come to bring you home."

Rustle!

All the soldiers in the area dropped to their knees, heads lowered, not daring to meet Phoenix's eyes. In deep voices, they said, "Her Highness the Princess, the Undying Army has come to bring you home."