Yin Ji, in his tiger form, ran out of the tribe with Jiang Zheyu on his back.

Jiang Zheyu silently sat up. Afraid of falling off, she tentatively reached out and grabbed two handfuls of the large tiger’s fluffy fur.

Her eyes scanned the surroundings, taking in the earthen houses.

Yin Ji still hadn’t left the tribe. She could vaguely see Beastmen and females coming and going, their gazes all landing curiously on her.

"Yin Ji, heard you brought back a female?" a Beastman shouted, waving from a distance. "It’s so dangerous out there. Why are you taking a female outside?"

As he spoke, his gaze fell on Jiang Zheyu, his expression one of utter astonishment. ’She’s a truly beautiful female.’

’And this female is so fair! Their tribe has no females this fair. Besides, the females of the Silver Moon Continent are all very plump; he’d never seen one with such a graceful figure.’

He was greeting Yin Ji, but what he really wanted was to get a closer look at the female.

"I have something to do. We can talk later," Yin Ji replied casually.

Jiang Zheyu also saw the females of the tribe. They were dressed similarly in hide skirts that only covered the essentials. Their bodies were all very plump, as if from a long-term lack of exercise. Not a single female stood on her own; they were all being carried by the tall Male Beastmen beside them, either in their arms or on their shoulders. Their skin was a sun-kissed, wheat-like tan.

Females were extremely precious on this planet, so they didn’t have to do any work besides procreation. Fertility Value determined one’s status.

Jiang Zheyu, of course, was unaware of this.

She was merely curious about the primitive-looking Beastmen and females here.

Yin Ji quickly carried her out of the tribe. Outside, her vision was filled with towering trees. It looked like a century-old forest, incredibly dense with trees that soared toward the sky.

Yin Ji carried her, racing through the forest.

Jiang Zheyu felt like all she could see were trees, and more trees. She couldn’t tell which direction they were going at all. ’If Yin Ji weren’t leading the way, I’d probably get lost in a forest this huge.’

Soon, Yin Ji brought her to a specific part of the woods.

The trees in this area had been smashed into disarray by the Starship. The ground was scorched black, clear evidence of a massive fire. The crashed Starship was there, but it had been burned away, leaving only its skeletal frame.

There were many corpses on the ground, but they had all been mauled by wild animals to the point of being unrecognizable.

Jiang Zheyu could only try to identify them by the clothes they wore.

Most of the uniforms belonged to Star Thieves, not Shan Xun.

She struggled a bit on Yin Ji’s back, wanting to get down. "I need to go down there."

She wanted to get a closer look to see if she could find Shan Xun.

Hearing her, Yin Ji lowered his body to the ground, and Jiang Zheyu slid off his back.

As the female walked forward to search for the man, Yin Ji, who was behind her, fixed his silver tiger eyes on a certain spot. The corpse that should have been lying there was now gone.

’If a large insect had dragged it away,’ he thought, ’it’s unlikely it would have taken just one body. It would have been mauled beyond recognition like the others.’

’The body’s disappearance must mean someone rescued him.’

’He’s a lucky one.’

Jiang Zheyu searched the entire area but found no sign of Shan Xun. A wave of relief washed over her, but it was incomplete.

She was relieved because she believed Shan Xun wasn’t dead; since she hadn’t found his body, he had to be alive. But she couldn’t fully relax because she had no idea what condition he was in now.

"Yin Ji, I didn’t see his body here. That means he must still be alive." Jiang Zheyu looked at Yin Ji. "You must have been mistaken that day. He can’t be dead."

"Perhaps," Yin Ji replied softly, his eyes constantly scanning their surroundings. "We should go back. It’s too dangerous out here."

Jiang Zheyu agreed. A forest this large was bound to hide many unknown dangers.

"Okay." Jiang Zheyu didn’t dare to linger in the forest for too long either.

Just as she started walking toward Yin Ji, a large, green, long-winged insect suddenly lunged from a tree.

Its body was green, allowing it to blend in with the surrounding trees and remain hidden.

Yin Ji charged forward, intending to protect the female.

But in the next second, the green insect lunging at Jiang Zheyu exploded. Green ichor and blood burst out at once, like a great basin of insect blood had been dumped over her. The splatter felt sticky and disgusting on her face.

Because she was coated in the green sap, the insects’ spiritual power attacks had no effect on her.

Her own spiritual power, however, could still detect the insects, allowing her to crush them with ease.

She had killed so many insects by now that when this one lunged, her reaction was subconscious; she killed it instantly.

By now, she could kill the insects with a calm expression. The only thing she couldn’t stomach was the insect blood raining down and splattering all over her.

Yin Ji leaped in front of Jiang Zheyu, nudging her head with his own large, tiger head. "Are you hurt?"

"No." Jiang Zheyu shook her head, though the feeling of insect blood on her skin was deeply unpleasant.

"Just now, you..." Yin Ji paused before asking, "How did you kill that large insect?"

"Oh," Jiang Zheyu heard his question and quietly explained, "I killed it with my spiritual power. My spiritual power is stronger than its, so I was able to kill it."

After explaining, she grew curious. ’Do the Beastmen on this planet have spiritual power? Since every Beastman here is coated in that green sap, I can’t detect if they have any or not.’

But she found out the very next second.

"Your spiritual power is that strong?" Yin Ji paused, his eyes filled with unconcealable surprise. "On our continent, no Beastman has ever been able to kill an insect using only spiritual power."

"So you have spiritual power too," Jiang Zheyu said, pausing. "Then the reason I can’t detect your spiritual power must be because of this green sap."

"Mm," Yin Ji nodded his tiger head. "The insects are relentless. We have to be coated in this green sap at all times. You too."

Jiang Zheyu nodded. "Okay, I understand."

"Let’s go. I’ll take you to wash up." Yin Ji’s tail curled around Jiang Zheyu’s waist again, lifting her onto his back.

"Wait, I’m filthy!" Jiang Zheyu watched, mortified, as the insect blood on her body stained the great tiger’s Baise fur, turning it red in ugly clumps.

The blood matted the fur together into tufts.