He manipulated his facial expressions, managed his words, engaged his body, wholly immersing himself, to perform this magnificent solo show.

Clearly, whether out of trust or amazement, the alien girl in front of him had been moved by him.

Even he was proud of his brilliant performance. If Jiang Cheng were present, he would certainly think that with such superb acting skills, he could absolutely be a celebrity in the Water Ball Flower Family District over a hundred years ago, frequently trending on social media.

A woman will always be a woman, Old Bit sneered inwardly. Just because she once trusted him, she suffered some hardship. Fortunately, she was lucky enough to escape. Now, looking at her actions, she began to trust him again.

Yanran had already put away her bow, sitting on a rock, supporting her head with one hand, feeling very troubled. No matter what, she couldn't bring herself to kill this impudent old man in front of her, although she knew the cunning old man might be pretending, since he's begging for mercy now.

Then should she let him go? She wasn't sure. She didn't know what consequences might result from letting this old man go. Her teacher had not returned yet, and if her teacher's mission failed because she let this old man go, it would be too late for regrets then.

She even thought about whether she had the courage to stop him if that old man stood up, patted the dust off, and walked away.

Yanran had never experienced such a situation, and her mind was constantly calculating, wavering between gain and loss.

Yanran was born into a middle-class family, and her parents doted on her. Shortly after her birth, her initial teacher discovered her extraordinary talent for sports. Throughout her growth, she had never encountered setbacks or failures, always accompanied by applause and smiles.

Not even a single opponent could threaten her.

If it weren't for that sudden and unprecedented disaster, she might now have a lovely family and a husband who cherished her.

Even though she lost her parents and family in that disaster, she never lacked care and protection. The elderly ones became her companions, but they still encouraged her with smiles and words of applause, uplifting her spirits.

The days that followed became monotonous, life became frugal, yet more straightforward.

Every day she just went out hunting, turned the prey into food, and shared it with the elderly ones. After meals, they would chat or play some simple games together.

Those elderly ones had all come from their youth. They feared that the monotonous and harsh life would ruin her spirit, so they tried their best to make her life more enjoyable.

Thinking of the past, a smile unconsciously appeared on Yanran's face.

While playing games, whoever lost had to get up and sing a song, recite a poem, or tell a story.

The dexterous elderly ones crafted all kinds of exquisite little gadgets, like a chess game that once trended on their planet; whoever lost faced a severe penalty and had to dance.

Yanran laughed out loud, stealing a glance back, as if she was right there watching the shy, blushing elderly man dancing.

They specifically reserved a small cave for her, which was her private space. In that cave, there were several pieces of furniture and ornaments crafted by the elderly ones. To add more feminine ambience to her little space, they specially collected various flowers and plants to decorate her room.

Yanran's eyes moistened, a tear dropping onto her seemingly rough hand.

The scene of that day vividly unfolded in front of her.

When those elderly ones brought her into the room with mysterious smiles, with her eyes closed, and she saw her delightful expression, they burst into hearty laughter.

She remembered sincerely hugging each of the elderly ones, making them laugh even more heartily,

But Yanran noticed that behind those joyful smiles of the elderly ones, there was a trace of bitterness.

She knew the reason; they could only do so much for her, while in her prime, she deserved far more than that.

Among those elderly ones, some were businessmen, some were clerks, and some were just craftsmen. They knew nothing about hunting, so Yanran provided the daily food.

They were aware of how dangerous it was. Once, Yanran came across a fierce and nimble feline creature. Although she eventually shot it dead, the beast injured her. When she struggled back to them, with the beast that became food on her shoulders, the palpable pain, guilt, and sympathy in their expressions overwhelmed her. 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

Since then, although there were various minor injuries, she always carefully concealed her wounds, preventing them from worrying further.

Unconsciously immersed in her memories, Yanran seemed to forget there was still a dangerous smuggler by her side, the very person who not long ago wanted to consign her to eternal torment.

She didn't even notice that the dangerous old man had already extended his hand to touch her shoe.

The Little Flaming Firebird let out a sharp cry, pulling Yanran back to reality. She was shocked to find that, without her realizing it, the dangerous old man had come so close to her.

Acclaimed for observing opponents and exploiting their weaknesses, Old Bit quickly discovered that the alien girl in front of him had spaced out into memories shortly after following him. He scrutinized her expression secretly, judging from the smile on her face that she was likely absorbed in warm recollections.

This delighted Old Bit, facing a relaxed and unguarded opponent, greatly increasing his chances of success.

He quietly moved his knees, muttering to himself, still lowering his head, occasionally glancing up to observe through the corners of his eyes.

Thus, he approached Yanran, and his hand could already reach her shoe.

Stay calm! Old Bit reminded himself. With decades of life experience and having gone through countless life and death situations, it constantly reminded him to remain calm; not letting an opponent detect one's intentions was crucial.

The cunning and dangerous smuggler, Old Bit, took full advantage of Yanran's feminine weaknesses, gradually luring her into relaxing her guard through his brilliant performance, allowing him to stealthily approach her.

The Little Flaming Firebird's cautioned cry snapped Yanran out of her thoughts, and to her astonishment, the dangerous old man had already come so close to her that his hands had reached her shoes.