Chapter 13 – The Wild Star
Just as Hua Mian was about to lose her patience, Chu Fufeng finally pursed his lips and accepted the fruit—one that he had originally prepared himself.
Although Chi Rui was curious about what Hua Mian was thinking, he noticed Chu Fufeng’s silence and instinctively felt he shouldn’t speak recklessly.
Meanwhile, on the other side, every time Hua Mian casually fed Yan An a fruit, the young man seemed to blush with happiness, as if pink bubbles were floating around him. He almost transformed into his beast form just to curl up in Hua Mian’s arms.
Chi Rui’s expression said: Can you not do that in public? I can’t even look.
At this moment, none of them had any idea how much trouble this trip to the Wild Star would bring.
When their aircraft landed, dawn had just broken over the barren world.
Contrary to Hua Mian’s expectations of a desolate and deserted wasteland, the place was bustling with activity. Metal mobile houses and tents stood everywhere, the nearby wilderness had been cleared cleanly, and yet the distant landscape remained wild—strange plants growing in chaotic masses.
Perhaps because they saw a female arrive, the beastmen nearby slowed down and stared at Hua Mian, who was tightly wrapped from head to toe.
Some even grew bold enough to try approaching her.
Chu Fufeng stepped forward coldly, blocking them with an expression that said “get lost.”
Hua Mian didn’t plan to do anything. She might as well treat herself like a hanging accessory; she suspected Chi Rui and the others were far too optimistic about this mission.
She pulled out her optical brain and searched online for news about this C-rank soothing master named Sophia.
The summary was simple: short-tempered, fiercely protective of her own, wildly adored by beastmen, and a beautiful female.
Someone like that actually listening to reason? Impossible.
Hua Mian absolutely did not want trouble—she was just an ordinary female, after all.
In the eyes of beastmen, ordinary females were resources, while soothing masters were addressed as Your Excellency.
The difference in status was obvious at a glance.
If a powerful beastman took an interest in her, as an ordinary female, she would be the one on the losing end.
So she pulled up the hood of her cloak, not wanting to draw attention.
She could clearly feel the hostility in the surrounding beastmen. In that moment, she only wanted to curse the heavens for not letting her transmigrate into a soothing master instead.
The more she thought about it, the more irritated she became. Even Chu Fufeng and Chi Rui looked unpleasant to her eyes.
“Let’s first find a place to settle down, then look into where Brother Chen Xueji and Brother Yu Jin are. We’ll make plans after that,” Chi Rui said, checking his optical brain.
Hua Mian nodded.
After some effort, they found a hotel at the edge of the settlement that provided rooms for pioneering beastmen.
“Excuse me, are you a soothing master?” the owner asked.
“No.”
The moment Hua Mian answered, the eagerness disappeared from the shopkeeper’s eyes. He even switched the premium room key in his hand for a mid-grade one, gave the group a disdainful glance, and muttered:
“Pretending for what?”
Chi Rui stepped forward, wanting to argue, but one look from Hua Mian shut him up.
As they passed an empty corner on the way upstairs, Hua Mian whispered:
“Don’t cause trouble.”
Chi Rui obeyed quietly.
But when the room door opened, Hua Mian was stunned.
A huge pink bed—large enough for ten people—dominated the room, surrounded by soft red and pink mood lighting.
Was this place even legit!?
The others were equally dumbfounded at the sight.
Only Yan An murmured:
“Wow…”
Hua Mian rubbed her forehead. “Go ask if they have another room. If not, we’ll pay extra.”
Chi Rui nodded and returned ten minutes later with a dark expression.
“No other rooms left.”
Hua Mian was silent for a moment, then resigned herself and stepped in first.
Chi Rui said, “Madam, Yan An will stay here with you. We’ll go gather information outside.”
“Good,” Hua Mian said with satisfaction.
Chi Rui and Chu Fufeng put down the luggage and left.
They returned in the late afternoon.
From their expressions, Hua Mian knew things hadn’t gone well.
“Madam, I’m afraid Brother Xueji and Brother Yu Jin are in serious trouble,” Chi Rui said.
“How so?”
Seeing Hua Mian’s calm demeanor, Chu Fufeng leaned against the wall, surprised, before lowering his gaze.
“Sophia’s troublesome beastman husband is Xueji’s clansman—Chen Yan. He and Brother Xueji never got along since childhood, and he and Yu Jin have personal conflicts as well.”
Chi Rui began explaining what had happened on the Wild Star.
Years ago, Sophia had a beastman husband deeply devoted to her. To help her, he searched for a rare beauty-enhancing herb. He was attacked by mutant beasts and survived, but his strength and health were greatly damaged. The only effective remedy was a rare herb called the Fiery Dawn Flower.
Sophia then led her other beastmen across many planets searching for it.
But the flower’s growth conditions were extremely harsh—nearly impossible to find. After so many years, only one had ever been discovered, and it happened to be here on this Wild Star.
And the ones who found it… were Chen Xueji and Yu Jin.
Chen Yan, who was one of Sophia’s beast husbands, immediately tried to take it by force. When refused, he didn’t give up and resorted to all kinds of shameless harassment.
In the end, Yu Jin agreed that they could sell it—not give it away for free, since they had risked their lives fighting mutant beasts for it.
But Chen Yan not only continued to behave shamelessly—he even attacked them in the street.
Chen Xueji beat him down instead, thoroughly humiliating him.
Yu Jin didn’t want things to escalate, and publicly proposed auctioning it instead.
But Chen Yan stormed off, gathered Sophia’s other beast husbands, and surrounded Chen Xueji and Yu Jin, intending to seize the herb and restore his dignity.
Knowing they couldn’t win, Chen Xueji made a decisive move in front of the crowd:
He swallowed the Fiery Dawn Flower whole.
A fight broke out immediately. Though Xueji and Yu Jin escaped alive, they were gravely wounded. Chen Yan’s group suffered injuries as well, but got nothing.
By the end of the story, Hua Mian’s expression had turned grave.
Chi Rui paced back and forth impatiently.
The matter wasn’t complicated originally, but Chen Yan’s meddling turned everything into a mess. Now the hostility between the two sides was set in stone.
The only good news was that Xueji and Yu Jin hadn’t been caught.
The bad news was that Sophia had issued a public bounty to capture them, offering three sessions of a C-rank soothing master’s treatment as reward.
In a place filled with beastmen, that was a massive temptation. Many had likely gathered here just for the chance to claim it.
Fortunately, before fleeing, Xueji and Yu Jin ditched their optical brains so they couldn’t be tracked.
But Chen Yan’s group probably picked them up—and set a trap that lured Hua Mian’s group all the way here.
Hua Mian was speechless. She had a very vulgar sentence in mind and didn’t know whether she should say it or not.
Seeing her dark expression, Chi Rui finally quieted down.
Hua Mian asked, “What’s your plan?”
Chi Rui answered, “First priority is to find Brother Xueji and Brother Yu Jin.”
“And then what? Let Chen Yan and Sophia wrap all of us up like dumplings?”
Chi Rui opened his mouth but couldn’t respond.
After a moment of silence, Chu Fufeng spoke:
“We split up. I’ll search for them.”
Hua Mian sneered, “And the three of us can fight off Chen Yan and Sophia together?” Her tone was full of doubt.
Chu Fufeng fell silent.
Hua Mian: …I knew it. Not a single reliable one among them. They’re all brain-damaged.
“Can they trace our arrival here?” she asked.
Chu Fufeng shook his head. “Not for a while. We came on a cargo ship, and I used a fake identity to buy the tickets.”
Hua Mian finally breathed a little easier. At least someone is using their head.
“Which one of you is the strongest fighter?”
At her question, Chi Rui and Yan An both turned to look at Chu Fufeng.
After a moment of hesitation, Chu Fufeng stepped forward.
“Chi Rui stays and monitors enemy movements, sending us updates. The three of us will disguise our identities and go look for them.”
