Xiuxue Knife!

Tang Fei and Little Fatty entered the house carrying four pulse guns. Little Fatty looked at them with longing and said, "Brother, can you give me one?"

Tang Fei looked at Little Fatty and said, "What's up? You want to use a pulse gun to shoot rocks? But it would indeed be faster this way."

As he spoke, he picked up a pulse gun and handed it to Little Fatty.

In his plan, Little Fatty was always meant to get one.

"Thanks, Big Brother." Little Fatty eagerly took it, holding the pulse gun and about to pull the trigger.

Tang Fei was startled and quickly grabbed Little Fatty's arm, saying, "This thing's destructive power is immense. It doesn't shoot ordinary bullets, but chunks of energy. You saw it when I was testing the gun earlier. Never fire it inside the house."

"Then I'll test it in the yard," Little Fatty said.

"Not in the yard either," Tang Fei stopped him. "If you fire that, won't the courtyard wall get a huge hole in it?"

"Then I'll go to the entrance?" When a child gets a new toy, their first instinct is to try it out, and their second is to show it off to their friends.

Little Fatty was thinking the same thing; he wanted to show off the pulse gun to Monkey.

Tang Fei rapped him on the head and said, "Why are you so eager to waste ammo? The pulse gun's energy is limited. Once you use it up, there are no replacement energy packs. This kind of treasure should naturally be saved for when your life is in danger."

"Oh." Little Fatty nodded in agreement, looking disappointed.

Having a gun but not showing it off was like traveling at night in fine clothes, which made him feel terrible.

The Old Man reached out to touch a gun, but Tang Fei slapped his hand away.

"What are you doing? You want one too?"

"You brat, do you think I'm desperate for this kind of thing? Let me tell you, I used to have as many of these as I wanted!" The Old Man pulled his hand back, pointed at Tang Fei's nose, and started yelling.

"When was 'before'? Last night in your dreams?"

"Hmph, you ignorant whelp who doesn't recognize a true master." The Old Man sneered repeatedly.

But he reached out again, his face fawning as he said to Tang Fei, "Can I borrow it for one night? I want to see how far the technology on New Star has developed. Just one night, and I'll return it to you first thing tomorrow morning."

"Just one night?"

"Just one night."

"You won't take it apart, will you?" Tang Fei asked worriedly.

After all, he had dismantled the Phoenix's escape pod to research the technological development level of New Star. He worried that the Old Man's character was as untrustworthy as his own.

"Why would I take it apart?" The Old Man said irritably. "Can this thing even be taken apart? Without extremely precise instruments, it's impossible. Look, does this gun have a single screw anywhere on it?"

"Alright then." Tang Fei decided not to be stingy anymore. He picked up a pulse gun and handed it to the Old Man, saying, "Here, you can borrow one. One night, okay? Just one night. I'll come to get it first thing tomorrow morning."

"Don't worry, you look so petty." The Old Man snatched the gun and turned back to his room.

Little Fatty, holding a pulse gun, looked at Tang Fei with a hesitant expression.

Tang Fei glanced at him and said, "You should go back to your room and rest too."

"Got it, Brother." Little Fatty said happily.

He also wanted to go back and study his new weapon.

With Little Fatty and the Old Man both back in their rooms, Tang Fei sat alone in the living room chair.

He had obtained the pulse gun he had longed for, but Tang Fei's mood wasn't as joyful as he had expected.

Instead, there was a sense of emptiness.

Before, it was just Tang Fei, Little Fatty, and the Old Man. Now, it was still Tang Fei, Little Fatty, and the Old Man. Nothing had changed; in fact, they even had four priceless pulse guns now.

But why did he feel so lost?

I found a beam of light, and then I returned it to the sun.

In this process, were there truly no losses or regrets?

Tang Fei fell into deep thought.

He could hunt, butcher sheep, and even kill people in anger, but he couldn't handle these more subtle emotions.

The Old Man had never taught him these things.

The Phoenix had said she left him a gift. When Tang Fei asked where it was, she said, "Guess."

Isn't this kind of behavior borrowed from those martial arts novels where the male protagonist's father is killed, and the protagonist rushes over to hold him, asking who killed him? After the father gives a long dying speech, he closes his eyes and his legs go limp, right?

Pah, pah, pah, that's too ominous to say.

You've held on for half the day, couldn't you hold on for one more second?

You've been rambling for half the day, could you just give me the crucial information directly?

The person who killed me is... your grandfather?

Can't you just blurt out the name after the first few words? Even dying words have filler?

Whenever Tang Fei saw such scenes, he wanted to drag the author out and beat them soundly.

Idiots!

Tang Fei thought, thankfully the Phoenix wasn't his girlfriend. If she were, he would break up with her.

He felt that the Phoenix had narrowly escaped disaster.

However, this problem truly stumped Tang Fei.

He didn't even know what gift the Phoenix had given, nor where to find it.

Tang Fei had no experience with romance, and no girl had ever given him a gift.

Did you?

Oh, forget it, forget it, I won't ask.

The first place Tang Fei could think of was the Phoenix's room, which was originally his room. Before the Phoenix arrived, he, the Old Man, and Little Fatty each had a room. After the Phoenix arrived, he couldn't sleep with the Phoenix, so he had to sleep with Little Fatty.

The Old Man had also invited him, but Tang Fei refused.

He couldn't stand the fishy smell on the Old Man.

Tang Fei pushed open the room door, and a strange thing happened.

When he used to live in this room, there was always a greasy smell in the room for no reason. The air also seemed more turbid, as if it had been polluted by something.

After the Phoenix lived there for a while, although the furniture, decorations, bedsheets, and quilts remained unchanged, the greasy smell in the room disappeared, replaced by a fresh and sweet lemon scent.

Tang Fei was familiar with this scent; it was the Phoenix's natural fragrance.

He had smelled it up close in the cave.

The quilt was folded neatly, stacked like a block of tofu. This arrangement struck Tang Fei as very peculiar; he never expected that a soft pile of rotten cotton could be so firm.

What puzzled him endlessly was why the Phoenix folded the quilt like this every morning. Wouldn't she just pull it open to cover herself at night?

What a waste of time!

Inside the closet was the interstellar travel suit the Phoenix had changed out of.

Tang Fei picked it up and smelled it. The familiar scent entered his nose.

Slap!

Tang Fei slapped himself in the face.

"Tang Fei, how could you do such a thing? You scoundrel, you're despicable, shameless, and vulgar."

After hitting himself and scolding himself, he had received the punishment he deserved.

Thus, Tang Fei picked it up again and took a deep sniff.

"Mmm, it smells so good!"

He felt at ease.

It wasn't on the bed, nor in the closet.

"What exactly is the gift?"

"Where is it hidden?"

Tang Fei pondered in his mind. The Phoenix probably didn't expect him to leave so suddenly, and hadn't even had time to change her clothes.

Therefore, the gift she mentioned should have been prepared in advance.

Tang Fei hugged the travel suit and lay down on the bed, sleeping in the spot where the Phoenix had slept before.

Hmm, it felt a bit hard under his head.

He immediately got up and fumbled inside the pillow.

He found a knife.

Yes, an antique-looking little knife.

It wasn't a high-tech product from the New Star era, but rather something from before the Great Cataclysm.

Tang Fei played with the knife and found two ancient Chinese characters carved on the leather-wrapped handle.

Tang Fei carefully identified them for a while before realizing the two characters were: Xiuxue.

"Xiuxue," Tang Fei softly recited the name.

Then, feeling guilty, he looked around furtively, as if he were calling out the Phoenix's name and worried about being overheard.

Tang Fei drew out the knife and sliced at the head of the bed. A piece of wood fell to the ground with a thud.

Slicing wood like mud!

"From today onwards, your name will be Xiuxue Knife," Tang Fei declared.

He didn't care what its previous name was; he was the one who named it.

Tang Fei fumbled around in the pillow again and found a map.

He stared at the map for a while, and his eyes lit up.

"What? Tomb raiding?" Little Fatty widened his eyes and looked at Tang Fei.

"Keep your voice down," Tang Fei covered Little Fatty's mouth and said, "Don't let the Old Man hear."

"What did he hear?"

"If he heard, we won't be able to go," Tang Fei said. "Don't you remember? He won't allow us to leave Hate Mountain District. Since we were kids, when have we ever traveled far?"

Little Fatty nodded and asked, "Will it be dangerous?"

"What are you afraid of? With my strength, your brute force, and the pulse gun, anyone who messes with us will be in danger."

Upon hearing about the pulse gun, Little Fatty's blood boiled. Ever since he got this treasure, he hadn't had a chance to unleash its true power. He wanted to test the gun, but his older brother said he was wasting energy. He wanted to take it hunting, but his older brother said he'd blast the prey to smithereens.

Now that he had a chance to use the pulse gun, what was a little challenge?

"I'll listen to you, big brother. If you say we go, we go," Little Fatty readily agreed and asked, "When do we leave?"

He wanted to take the pulse gun and fire it right now.

What man doesn't like playing with guns?

"After I tidy up and make some preparations, we'll leave," Tang Fei said. "Remember, we absolutely cannot let the Old Man know."

"Don't worry, big brother, I won't say anything," Little Fatty promised.

"I'm not afraid of you saying anything," Tang Fei replied. "I'm afraid your face can't hide things."

Little Fatty, startled, quickly covered his face.

"See?" Tang Fei was speechless.

(ps: Phoenix gave Tang Fei Xiuxue's knife, can't you give Old Liu a monthly ticket?)