She still didn't know—but one thing Zhao Qingyan was sure of: a Five‑coloured Bird had to taste far better than Lan Grace's cookies and mushroom crisps!
Otherwise, Lan wouldn't have got that worked up at the sight of one.
The jungle region covered a good area, but with a hundred birds, it wasn't hard to find more.
Following tracks, the two hadn't gone far before they met another…
"Huff—huff—huff…"
Chen Cheng was running for all he was worth through the jungle.
He was a big unit. Though his physique was A‑grade, running had never been his strong suit.
After not long, his whole body ached with fatigue—but a Five‑coloured Bird was after him, and he didn't dare relax.
When the bird appeared he had thought his luck was in, for it had stepped out right beside the portal at his feet.
He had snatched a handful of tail feathers—and yanked.
That single handful had enraged the bird. It had chased him for kilometres!
However he ducked and dodged, collecting wounds on the way, he could not shake off the deadly pursuit.
His arms, thighs, back, neck, even his backside were slashed with uncountable cuts.
At this rate, he felt that even if he didn't run himself to death, he might bleed out first.
Before he met the bird, he had thought they were just moving targets the Academy had brought into the jungle.
Like the others sitting the exam, he believed their number was limited—so you had to snatch one at once if you saw it.
Never had he imagined they would be this savage and hard to handle!
He had actually plucked its tail feathers—who knew how long the murderous beast behind him would keep up the chase!
Would he wind up killed by a Five‑coloured Bird?
More than once, Chen Cheng had come within an inch of shutting off his signal button and quitting.
But he knew that if he failed to pass this year and enter the Second Military Academy, then when he went home, his father would beat him to death.
He was already eighteen—his last chance. He couldn't give up.
And so, he ran into the oncoming Waste Star beauty.
To his astonishment, when she saw him, delight sprang across her face.
Her eyes lit; her mouth tilted up. Happiness made her even better‑looking than before.
No wonder she had been the most striking of the thousands of Waste Star natives.
But—
"Stop! It's dangerous here!"
He came back to himself—there was still a savage, deadly bird on his tail!
Even if the Waste Star beauty liked him, if she came near and was hurt, what then?!
Lan Grace had no idea that her excitement at seeing a rooster had been taken for a liking to him.
She brushed past the hulking man without a glance—heading straight for the Five‑coloured Bird.
Her move shocked Zhao Qingyan into hurrying after her. Only then did Chen Cheng realise the Waste Star beauty wasn't running to him at all.
So it was because of the bird?
Then she had no idea how vicious they were!
Even with Zhao Qingyan right behind her, he wasn't sure the Waste Star beauty could come through unscathed at the critical moment.
He turned—and a staggering scene met his eyes.
The stub‑tailed Five‑coloured Bird that had been madly chasing him to avenge its plucked tail froze the instant it set eyes on the Waste Star beauty.
The next second it tried to wheel and flee—but as it turned,