*Whoosh~*
The Vampire set off once more; its destination: Black Peak Ridge.
Halleh and Mingjing embarked together with Xia Fei. The stated purpose was that Halleh feared Xia Fei would be unable to find the location, but Xia Fei knew that what he really feared was that Xia Fei would use the chance to escape. After all, Xia Fei already knew a lot about the insectoids’ intellectual faction, so they naturally needed to take precautions around him. Xia Fei probably would be unable to travel alone again for a very long time.
Halleh was rather well-behaved. After boarding the ship, he quietly went into the room Xia Fei had assigned to him, closing the door to fiddle around with something.
Xia Fei had tossed Mingjing into an empty storage compartment. In any case, she was enclosed within Halleh’s darkness ability, her vision dark. Even if she wanted to communicate with her master, Ryun, she could not do so.
Pod treated Mingjing very warmly. This little robot was created with the duty of helping and serving mankind, and even though Mingjing was Xia Fei’s hostage, she was still no exception.
*Zoom*
Pod ran into the kitchen and made some ham and eggs, and after pouring a glass of milk, he began making his way out. Xia Fei glanced at him and asked, “What are you doing?”
Pod replied, “Bringing that girl Mingjing some food. She’s alone in that storage compartment, and I’m afraid that she’ll get hungry.”
“Oh.” Xia Fei nodded and said no more.
Phantom sighed. “That girl is actually quite pitiful. You heard from Halleh what she had gone through. She was abandoned in the insectoid territory as an infant and had to serve that monster Ryun, with the threat of death hanging over her head. She’s in her teens, but she still hasn’t seen a member of her own race, spending all her time mingling with the insectoids. Just look at how she looked at you then. Her eyes were clearly brimming with curiosity and devoid of any killing intent.”
Xia Fei shrugged and said nothing.
Out of his innate caution, Xia Fei would not drop his guard against others just because they were pitiable or because they were women. Enemies were enemies. No matter what, Mingjing was someone who meant him harm. No matter how weak and pitiable she looked, none of it could make Xia Fei drop his guard.
Xia Fei had been able to survive this long not merely because of his untiring effort and sharp observation abilities but also because of his almost stubborn vigilance against others.
*Zoom*
Pod came rushing back, this time taking a towel and some hot water before heading off again.
“What are you doing now?” Xia Fei curiously asked.
“Miss Mingjing’s hair is a mess, and her face is covered in dust. Pod wants to help clean her up.”
“Oh.”
Xia Fei lit a cigarette. Pod was born to serve humans. His service to Xia Fei was meticulous, and so was his service to a stranger. In truth, Xia Fei was very grateful for Pod’s service. After all, anyone would be happy to live in an environment which was a little cleaner.
“Let’s not kill this girl Mingjing unless we have to. Once the war is over, we can take her home and look for her family. Perhaps she has relatives who are still alive,” Phantom said.
Xia Fei fell silent. The talk of family made his heart ache. He had grown up without a family, and now, after making friends and setting up his own company, the insectoids had made a complete mess of things, and he had no idea whether they were alive or dead.
He had finally gotten a girlfriend and was really considering starting his own family; in fact, even the decoration of the house was done, but in the end, it had all been a moon in the water. When Xia Fei had embraced Avril in the past, was there any man who had not cast an envious glance? However, in just a few short months, they had been parted by life and death.
Though Xia Fei did not say it, his heart was wracked by pain. Like a wild beast, he was trying to heal his wound all by himself, but this wound would probably remain unhealed for the rest of his life.
Xia Fei did not seem any different on the surface, but his hands were clenched into fists. Silently bearing everything alone had long ago become a habit of his.
*Zoom*
Pod hurried back, an electric tablet in his hand as he somewhat hesitantly stood in front of Xia Fei.
Xia Fei organized his emotions. Pod was among those he considered family, and he did not want to look too bad in front of him.
“Is there a problem?”
Pod nodded and handed over the electronic tablet, softly whispering, “That girl held in the storage compartment is very pitiful.”
Xia Fei took the electronic tablet and saw what was written on it: ‘Am I really human?’
Xia Fei frowned. Halleh’s darkness ability was very special. Mingjing was not completely cut off from the outside. She did not know where she was or who was standing across from her, but she could receive food from the outside world and could touch. It was clearly Mingjing who had written this question.
“How pitiful. A lonely little mute who isn’t even sure that she’s human.” Phantom sighed, apparently dissatisfied with Xia Fei’s unreasonable caution.
Xia Fei rubbed out his cigarette in the ashtray and used his finger to write a simple one-word reply: ‘Yes.’
*Thunk thunk thunk*
Pod went and came back, another question on the tablet: ‘Are you also a human? What does our tribe look like? Do they all look like you?’
‘I am a human. There are many humans in the universe, and they all have different appearances.’
‘I feel like I’m very different from you.’
‘That’s because you’ve spent too long with the insectoids and lack a human odor.’
‘Do I not smell like a human?’
‘You do, but not a lot.’
‘For some reason, when I look at you, I feel very close to you.’
‘Perhaps because we are both humans.’
‘But you want to kill me?’
‘Because you are my enemy.’
‘I’ve truly never thought about being your enemy. From the moment I saw you, I knew that I would never be able to attack you.’
‘Whatever you say.’
Pod had been serving as the go-between for Xia Fei and Mingjing this entire time. After several dozen rounds, poor Pod felt rather dizzy.
Mingjing was very curious about humans, but Xia Fei’s answers were always very wary. From her words, it was easy to see that the girl was not very shrewd and barely understood anything, and she instinctively felt a desire to get close to Xia Fei.
‘Perhaps Mingjing really is a girl who doesn’t understand anything?’ Xia Fei asked himself.
Shaking his head, Xia Fei quickly cast aside this childish thought. ‘Xia Fei, Mingjing is High Priest Ryun’s disciple and is your enemy. Sympathizing with your enemy is being cruel to oneself. You have to remember that.’
…
Black Peak Ridge was not actually a mountain range but rather the name of a planet.
This planet’s terrain could be described as steep. High peaks and craggy stone forests could be seen throughout, and the largest black mountain had a height of ten thousand meters, its black mountain face piercing through the clouds, occupying more than half of the planet’s surface. It was from this that the planet derived its name.
Vampire descended into a valley. The complicated mountainous terrain made these valleys natural hiding spots. A warship that descended into them would be very hard to find.
Xia Fei followed Halleh off the ship, Furball sitting on his shoulder. As for Mingjing, Halleh had wrapped her up in darkness as she floated in the air.
Halleh had to control Mingjing’s ability to prevent her from reporting back to High Priest Ryun constantly. Thus, no matter what, he could not be too far away from Mingjing.
There were many bridges connecting the mountains, as well as uneven stone steps. Xia Fei noticed that there were many eyes peering at him in the distance. It was clear that this planet, rather than being deserted, had many insectoids living on it.
“This place can be considered a sort of training ground. We select strong warriors among the members of our race and bring them here for training, to be ready when they are needed,” Halleh explained.
As they passed through a set of alloy metal doors, they walked through a stone corridor, of which the walls were covered in intricate murals. Such elegance was rare in the insectoid race. It was clear that Halleh had not been lying when he said that the insectoid intellectuals yearned for human life.
Past the corridor was a large reception hall. Several unfamiliar insectoid elders were standing here to welcome Halleh. Xia Fei greeted them one by one. Since all these old insectoids looked at him with strange looks, Xia Fei decided not to meet their eyes.
Halleh turned on the screen, and Qingyan’s father, Qingliu, appeared. The old man examined Xia Fei and then asked, “Human, you feel that you are worthy of becoming one of our collaborators?”
Xia Fei nodded, neither meek nor proud.
“Then how can you prove that you’re worthy?”
Xia Fei smiled. “If I wasn’t worthy, you wouldn’t have sent someone to find me, would you?”
Qingliu stroked his beard. “If you were given enough space to work, how could we be guaranteed that you wouldn’t leak our secrets, that you wouldn’t run away?”
Xia Fei replied, “You can’t, so you have to take the gamble.”
Qingliu heartily laughed. “As expected, an interesting human. Very well! I agree to your request! In return, you must show that you are worthy of bearing this heavy responsibility.”
Xia Fei frowned. “How do I show that?”
Qingliu answered, “It’s very simple. This place has a machine left by a god. If you can agree to my request and complete the assessment, I will treat you as a collaborator. We will share all our intelligence and resources with you, leaving the time and method of attack up to you.”
The elderly insectoids on the side exchanged glances after seeing Qingliu agree so easily, indicating that they were worried, but Qingliu was not swayed and persisted in his course.
“A god? Could it be the God race spoken of by the Tulons?” Phantom softly asked.
Xia Fei nodded. “The insectoids believed in two gods, one of day and another of night, which is the same to what I learned from that insectoid cerebrum I found on the Tulons’ planet. The machine is probably an artifact the God race left to the insectoids.”
Phantom replied, “Those two members of the God race are super-experts. They probably aren’t any worse than the controllers of laws like Yujiang and Yuhua. They ruled over the insectoids and Tulons for a very long time. I wonder why they left behind something like that?”
At this moment, Xia Fei raised his head and asked Qingliu, “How does this assessment machine left by the insectoid gods carry out its assessment? If you want me to take part in an assessment, you must at least show that it’s fair.”
Qingliu smiled. “The machine left by the Black and White Gods was designed to test one’s cultivation, potential, and their decision-making ability—a comprehensive exam. Even if you were to give me ten thousand times the courage, I would never dare to make a joke of that god.
“I can guarantee to you that the test is fair, but if you can’t pass it, then I hope that you can keep your mouth shut and express no opinion on the tactical level, restricting yourself to the role of an executioner.”
