Barren Star – Chapter 28
by Little PandaAbandoned me to elope.
At the break of dawn the next day, Zhao Qiuyu drove the spaceship parked outside the base to the barren star prison.
Among them, two people would be dispatched to escort the space pirates, and take the innocent people to the Imperial Star, but they argued endlessly about who should stay behind – He Chao and Zhao Qiuyu couldn’t stop arguing.
Ning Mo maintained neutrality in their “battle” as always.
Hua Zhuoyu listened to He Chao and Zhao Qiuyu’s endless chatter, a trace of impatience flashed across her brow, she had no mood to listen further, made a “silence” gesture, and made the final decision: “Ning Mo stays, you all go.”
Zhao Qiuyu protested: “I can switch with Ning Mo.” The plants at the base hadn’t been fully researched yet, and she desperately wanted to put down roots [stay] on the Barren Star.
“Ning Mo is a technician, are you?” Hua Zhuoyu cast a glance at Zhao Qiuyu, speaking lightly. Without looking at He Chao, she continued, “These people need care on the way back, He Chao and you are more suitable.”
Zhao Qiuyu was speechless.
Since Hua Zhuoyu had made her decision, there was no room for objection.
Ning Buyi calmly watched the “farce” from the side.
The Judges are human, the language describing them in novels shows bias, presenting a sense of distance, but in reality, they are alive and real, having human flaws and their own temperaments.
This is a real existing world.
He Chao and Zhao Qiuyu left in a hurry.
Ning Buyi had a poor impression of both of them, wishing she could send them off with gongs and drums [meaning: to celebrate someone’s departure]. “Finally, they’re gone,” Ning Buyi muttered. Out of caution, she walked to Hua Zhuoyu and asked, “You won’t reveal information about the base, right?”
Hua Zhuoyu glanced at Ning Buyi and replied: “I won’t.” He Chao and Zhao Qiuyu had taken away the space pirates and people with less severe dark pollution, leaving only eight unconscious people. To prevent them from waking up, He Chao had injected them with sedatives before leaving. “What do you plan to do?” Hua Zhuoyu asked.
Ning Buyi had too many secrets, and her “purification” was probably not ordinary either.
“I’ll try,” Ning Buyi frowned, unsure of how effective it would be. However, if she could extract dark pollution from animal corpses before, it should work similarly on humans, right? Her gaze swept over the eight sleeping people, and after much hesitation, she prepared to try it on the Dragon Clan’s Ling Shu – after all, this race had both beast and human genes.
Just as Ning Buyi walked toward Ling Shu, Hua Zhuoyu suddenly grabbed her.
“What’s wrong?” Ning Buyi’s eyes were full of confusion.
Hua Zhuoyu’s eyes flickered as she said: “Would it be ineffective through clothes or wearing gloves?” She didn’t want to see Ning Buyi opening others’ collars.
Ning Buyi gave Hua Zhuoyu a strange look and shrugged: “It’s not protective clothing, so it doesn’t matter.”
Using the Mountain Sea Atlas to absorb dark pollution consumed spiritual energy, and helping nine people at once was clearly unrealistic, so Ning Buyi could only prioritize based on danger levels.
Feng Yi raised her eyes to look at Ning Buyi: “Who are you?” Because the Feng Jiu Clan had dealings with Da Xia, she recognized Hua Zhuoyu, He Chao, and their group, but Ning Buyi was an unfamiliar face. However, seeing her unusual relationship with Hua Zhuoyu, she was probably a Star Court subordinate staff member.
“The planetary ruler of Barren Star No. 1.” After this brief self-introduction, Ning Buyi fell silent, placing her fingers on Ling Shu’s wrist and secretly activating the Mountain Sea Atlas.
Hua Zhuoyu saw confusion and doubt in Feng Yi’s eyes, so she stepped forward to explain for Ning Buyi: “Perhaps she can save Ling Shu.”
Feng Yi’s face was full of astonishment: “Acquired ability?”
Hua Zhuoyu neither nodded nor denied. She glanced at the lying people and said: “We’ll need to trouble Miss Feng to help transport these people to the base later.”
“Base?” The look of surprise in Feng Yi’s eyes deepened, “It’s still operating? I heard the Ning family had already withdrawn from the Barren Star.”
Hua Zhuoyu smiled without responding.
At that moment, when Ning Buyi heard the conversation between Hua Zhuoyu and Feng Yi, she glared at Hua Zhuoyu. She only planned to take the eight people back, register them as Barren Star residents, keep them at the base to work off their debt, and let them relocate to other planets when the time was right. As for Feng Yi and Ling Shu – these two were important figures of the Beast Clan, they couldn’t possibly stay on the Barren Star. That being the case, it was better not to let them know the base’s mysteries.
The time to extract dark pollution wasn’t long.
Hua Zhuoyu kept watching Ning Buyi, and when she saw her finish, quickly stepped forward to support her, letting her lean against herself. “Fat sheep [meaning: easy target],” Hua Zhuoyu whispered, explaining why she invited Feng Yi’s help. If Feng Yi had appeared surrounded by personal guards, she would never have mentioned the base.
Ning Buyi didn’t respond.
Hua Zhuoyu was too close, her warm breath falling on the back of Ning Buyi’s ear, slowly burning into her heart. She was held in Hua Zhuoyu’s embrace, the posture somewhat ambiguous. After a few minutes, Ning Buyi came to her senses, stood up straight, walked two steps forward, stretched her clothes, and said: “Let’s go back first.”
“How to transport them?” Feng Yi spoke up. After Ning Buyi got up, she went to check on Ling Shu’s condition, and maybe it was psychological, but she felt the dark pollution had decreased. Hua Zhuoyu hadn’t mentioned any legal provisions, but perhaps she really had some confidence in helping people with excessive dark pollution. But wasn’t He Chao a purification ability user? Wasn’t he Da Xia’s number one? If even he was powerless, how could others succeed? Would the Star Court have a ninth Judge?
Hua Zhuoyu smiled slightly: “I heard adult Feng Jiu Clan members have wingspans of ten zhang [1 zhang ≈ 3.3 meters] after transforming into phoenixes.”
Hearing this, Feng Yi’s eyes turned cold, her expression unpleasant, but thinking of Ling Shu, she swallowed her anger. She truly transformed into a phoenix bird, folding her wings while standing on the collapsed wall.
Hua Zhuoyu: “This is what an adult Feng Jiu looks like, the one you wanted to see.”
“So this is how the little one looks when grown up.” Ning Buyi was somewhat dazed, then after a moment she reacted, “I didn’t want to see it!” Hua Zhuoyu’s voice wasn’t low, successfully attracting Feng Yi’s attention. Everyone says the Feng Jiu Clan is proud and arrogant, and Hua Zhuoyu treating her like a transport bird was precisely targeting her animosity.
This couldn’t be about holding a grudge against Little Feng Jiu, paying back the younger’s debt [meaning: taking revenge for someone else]?!
Hua Zhuoyu smiled and said: “Not satisfied?”
Ning Buyi spoke through gritted teeth: “Very satisfied! May I ask Judge Hua, how much is your character worth now?”
Hua Zhuoyu actually put on a thoughtful expression: “Perhaps, priceless.”
The beautiful tail feathers shimmered in the sunlight, and Feng Yi spread her wings, saying impatiently: “Are you done with your flirting? When are we departing?”
Ning Buyi: “…”
Hua Zhuoyu and Ning Buyi rode together in Po Jun, while Ling Shu was placed in Ning Mo’s cockpit, and the remaining eight people were put on Feng Yi’s back as they hurried back.
In the base.
After waking up, Little Feng Jiu hadn’t seen Ning Buyi again and became very agitated and unstable, not even going to its beloved flower field, jumping onto Beidou’s shoulder going “chirp chirp chirp.”
Beidou sat on a rock, looking east, speaking steadily: “The master will return.”
Little Feng Jiu chirped for a while, as if tired from calling. Its black bean-like eyes were confused and innocent.
This calm lasted until “Po Jun” returned to the base, and Ning Buyi jumped down from the cockpit.
Little Feng Jiu, quiet for some time, shot like a cannonball toward Ning Buyi, tearfully accusing: “Chirp! Bad person, doggy woman, abandoned me to elope.”
Ning Buyi: “???” Could she really hear these words? What had Little Feng Jiu learned while she was away? The gaze from behind was sharp as two sword beams. Ning Buyi stumbled, turning her stiff neck to look back at the greatly shocked Feng Yi, giving an embarrassed smile.
If she said this had nothing to do with her, would the Feng Jiu Clan’s heir believe her?
Absurd situation for the highness, LMAO!!