Chapter 26

Looking down at the vast sea of red waves and hearing the constant rustling “sound of waves,” both Qin Fei and Xi Yuan fell silent for a moment.

The wind here was strong, making their clothes flap loudly, and there was even a sense of being swept away by the wind.

Xi Yuan tightened his grip on his master’s hand without speaking. Despite the silence, the atmosphere was peaceful, and they both enjoyed the tranquility. They sat there quietly, watching the sunset slowly dip below the horizon. The sky, filled with crimson clouds, gradually lost its color, until the last beam of sunlight disappeared from the horizon. Only then did Xi Yuan gently pull Qin Fei back a few steps, moving away from the crowd and heading toward a quieter direction.

After finding a spot with fewer zergs, they spread out the cloth from lunch on the ground again. Qin Fei, understanding the unspoken plan, began searching his spatial ring for something to bring out.

“The aurora will appear soon. Let’s eat something first. What would you like to eat, Master? I have barbecue tools here.”

Qin Fei became interested and asked, “What time is the aurora expected to appear?”

“The prediction says it will appear in about an hour and a half.”

“Alright, there’s still time. Let’s have a barbecue then. What ingredients do you have?” Qin Fei said, pulling out a large block of frozen pork belly.

Xi Yuan took out the tools one by one, then placed several black smoke tubes the size of a palm nearby. With these, the smell of the barbecue wouldn’t drift outside, and anyone outside wouldn’t be able to see what they were doing. Only then did they take off their masks. Although wearing the masks wasn’t uncomfortable, they didn’t want to keep them on for no reason. They mostly wore them to avoid being recognized and causing trouble. Their honeymoon location had been a hot topic online, with people arguing about it for quite a while, each side refusing to back down. A considerable number of zergs on Aurora Star believed they had chosen to come here.

Only after that did they take out the prepared ingredients. There were two types of vegetables Qin Fei liked, sausages, exotic beast meat, several types of mushrooms… looking at the spread, there were about ten or so varieties, most of which were Qin Fei’s favorites. Qin Fei took note of it, impressed.

They immediately got to work, starting the fire and laying the ingredients on the grill. The first batch—sausages, slippery mushrooms, wings, tender meat—sizzled on the grill. As they cooked, they brushed them with sauce. When they were finally done, Qin Fei immediately held one up and offered it to Xi Yuan’s mouth.

Xi Yuan was a bit slower to react, still holding the uncooked food in his hand. When he saw the food suddenly appear near his mouth, he stared blankly at Qin Fei for a moment, then instinctively took a bite and chewed.

That blank expression… cough, cough, it was actually kind of cute, Qin Fei thought to himself.

Coming back to his senses, Xi Yuan lowered his eyelids and didn’t pretend to refuse. He took another bite, and though he didn’t say anything, his aura softened noticeably.

Qin Fei noticed that the first sausage was already gone, and the next item was the slippery mushroom. Knowing that Xi Yuan didn’t like eating vegetables, Qin Fei moved it closer to himself and took a bite. As he chewed, he thought to himself, ‘My cooking skills really… aren’t that great’. The natural sweetness of the mushroom was gone, replaced only by the strong flavor of the sauce.

Fortunately, it wasn’t bad.

Xi Yuan clearly didn’t have any complaints. He handed the skewer he had grilled to Qin Fei, and with his other hand, he took the skewer from Qin Fei and ate it with great relish.

Xi Yuan’s cooking skills were much better than his own! As Qin Fei ate the skewers Xi Yuan had grilled, he thought to himself, ‘My cooking is nowhere near as good as his.’ He couldn’t stop eating, finishing the food in no time, and then began watching how Xi Yuan grilled the next batch. Whenever he didn’t understand something, he’d ask, and Xi Yuan patiently explained the techniques. Just like that, the two of them, sweet and affectionate, fed each other as they filled up.

At that moment, the sky started to change.

Originally, the sky was pitch black, and only the lights from the peak of the mountain, where tourists and various equipment were gathered, illuminated the area. But suddenly, a sound seemed to drift through the air. How could he describe it? After thinking for a while, Qin Fei still couldn’t find the right words, but it sounded like the air was being stirred or, perhaps, compressed. Xi Yuan immediately pulled Qin Fei down, urging him to lie flat. Then, from the northern horizon, a silvery ribbon, like the legendary Milky Way, stretched from the distance toward them, sweeping through the area without stopping, heading southward, stretching endlessly.

As Qin Fei gazed at the dazzling light above them, he felt a brief moment of suffocation. For a split second, he thought he was witnessing the legendary Milky Way, the one that separated the ^[1]Cowherd and the Weaver Girl (Chinese: 牛郎织女, Niúláng Zhīnǚ) is a famous Chinese folk tale that is deeply rooted in Chinese culture and is often associated with the Qixi Festival (also … Continue readingCowherd and the Weaver Girl in Chinese mythology, a story that has been sung about for countless generations.

It was hard to tell if it was the next second or several seconds later, but in addition to the endless Milky Way above, a warm, sweet orange light began to shift into something like colorful satin or ribbon, flying and twirling in the sky, unfolding into bizarre and fantastical flowers that changed in shape and color. After that, countless colors seemed to gather together and then ‘”burst!”‘ Suddenly, the sky was filled with an array of colors. Sometimes they looked like flames, and other times like a giant, multicolored screen.

The once lively Lotus Terrace became eerily silent. Time seemed to pass without notice, and before long, the sky returned to a deep, pitch-black void.

Qin Fei rubbed his eyes, which had grown sore from not wanting to miss a moment of the beautiful view, and sighed in awe, “Truly a masterpiece of nature!”

Especially lying down and watching the stunning aurora, there was even a sensation that the lights were just within reach, creating an even more overwhelming effect.

Then, a shout broke the silence: “An hour has already passed!”

Qin Fei glanced at the time. Indeed! It felt as if an entire hour had passed in the blink of an eye!

Xi Yuan took Qin Fei’s hand, his voice light and cheerful: “I recorded the scene just now. If the Master wants to see it again in the future, we can watch it anytime.”

Qin Fei smiled: “Aurora Star lives up to its reputation. In addition to the Red Ocean, there’s also the extreme point, which is said to be breathtaking. I’m already looking forward to it.”

“We’ll go tomorrow.”

“Alright, let’s set the food aside for now. Let’s head back!” Their original plan for tomorrow was to go shopping. There was a street with exotic charm that gathered foods from all over, a paradise for food lovers.

Now, most of the zergs on Lotus Terrace were heading down, so they decided to head back as well. At this time, they didn’t want to walk down, so they chose to take the cable car. Wanting to see the scenery from a different direction, they picked a route different from the one they came up on.

The closest exit to here had the sub-female and his companion waiting, hoping to see them again and walk down the mountain together. This would also provide an opportunity to get to know them better. Up to now, they still didn’t know each other’s names. If they had the chance to walk down together, that much time would be enough for him to gather a lot of information.

Unfortunately, by the time most of the Lotus Terrace had emptied, they still hadn’t seen any familiar figures. The sub-female stomped his foot in frustration. It seemed they had chosen a different exit, and he had to give up.

Fortunately, there was still time left in the period. He didn’t believe that he wouldn’t be able to find a male zerg to his liking.

Meanwhile, Xi Yuan and Qin Fei had safely returned to the manor. At this point, the remaining guards had already prepared the ingredients. As soon as they returned, the feast would begin. These rare ingredients had been gathered by the two female zergs who were helping out. The group enjoyed the meal to their heart’s content.