"Is this your mission?" Chu Tian was somewhat puzzled.
Hong Shang spoke, "Well, sort of. I need to kill a C-level fierce beast, as well as ten D-level fierce beasts and a hundred E-level fierce beasts. With this one, I'm only seven D-level fierce beasts away."
As she spoke, Chu Tian took out ten D-level fierce beast ears from his system space and handed them to Hong Shang.
However, when Chu Tian approached, Hong Shang frowned and even wrinkled her nose.
"Don't you think you should take a bath? Your body odor is really strong," Hong Shang said as she accepted the ears of the D-level fierce beasts from Chu Tian.
Chu Tian didn't seem to notice and only felt a bit dirty, considering he had been in battles along the way.
"Let's go, I know of a secluded hot spring. I'll take you there for a good bath," Hong Shang said, in a good mood after receiving the D-level fierce beast ears from Chu Tian.
The two walked into the woods, and Chu Tian glanced at Hong Shang, who was leading the way. Then he asked, "Hong Shang, shouldn't your mission be doable within the mission area?"
"Besides completing missions, I also plan to find a wild Thunder Wolf Snow Fox cub," Hong Shang said, looking at Chu Tian. "What about you? How did you end up here? Both the mercenary base and the army shouldn't be issuing missions outside the mission area, right?"
Chu Tian replied confidently, "As for me, I came for the golden snake turtle's shell. You know, it's quite rare to find it within the mission area."
"How long have you been in this non-mission area? You look like you've been here for a year," Hong Shang commented, glancing back at Chu Tian. "To be blunt, you look like you crawled out of a trash heap."
Hearing Hong Shang's assessment, Chu Tian chuckled awkwardly. He examined her closely; her red combat suit was clean except for some wear, and her overcoat seemed a bit old, but there was nothing unusual.
Considering the women in his past life who went to great lengths to stay clean and beautiful, he could understand it; after all, loving beauty was a woman's nature.
After walking for more than an hour towards the pool, they reached a secluded cave.
"This cave has a natural hot spring, and it's home to a group of Ironclaw Monkeys. However, I killed them, and the monkeys fled," Hong Shang said proudly. "So, I'm the ruler of this area now."
"Very impressive, very impressive," Chu Tian praised her. After all, a young girl wandering alone in a forest full of fierce beasts could be quite dangerous.
Hong Shang pointed to the cave and said, "Go in, take a good bath, and change into clean clothes. I'll keep watch for you."
Chu Tian didn't say much, simply thanked her and entered the cave.
The cave wasn't very spacious, just over 30 square meters in size, but there were hot spring pools of over ten square meters each.
Chu Tian looked at the steam rising from the hot spring and thought about how in his past life, he had always wanted to soak in a hot spring but never got the chance. After crossing over, he never even considered hot springs; they were simply impossible to find.
He took off his clothes and relaxed in one of the hot spring pools, which extended to about his thighs. He closed his eyes as he watched the cave ceiling gradually disappear from view.
At this moment, he was truly relaxed. Despite having Liu Wei to watch over him, he never felt secure enough to rest properly. But now, with Hong Shang, a familiar face, watching over him, he could finally take a moment to relax.
If Hong Shang hadn't called his name at the cave entrance, he probably would have slept for over ten hours.
Since Chu Tian had spare combat suits, he changed into a clean set and walked out of the hot spring cave.
Seeing Chu Tian come out, Hong Shang furrowed her brow and asked, "Did you fall asleep?"
"Haha, my apologies. Because I've been on edge this whole month, I fell asleep without realizing it," Chu Tian replied. Hong Shang then walked into the cave.
When Hong Shang emerged, she looked refreshed.
It's said that soaking in hot springs can be beautifying, and now it seemed that it was true.
After both of them finished cleaning up, they left the hot spring cave together and started wandering around the forest with Hong Shang.
Chu Tian took a closer look and realized that Hong Shang didn't have a map of the peripheral areas.
"Aren't you planning to just wander around and rely on luck?" he asked.
"Uh! Well, mainly because I don't have a map of the peripheral areas, and they're quite hard to find," Hong Shang replied confidently. "Besides, my luck has always been good. As long as I wander around a bit more, I'm sure to find it. You have to trust a woman's intuition."
"Huh? A woman's intuition? Is that reliable?" Chu Tian rolled his eyes, feeling speechless.
Thinking back to their previous encounters, it seemed that girls who could casually use the word "woman" like Hong Shang were often tomboys, right?
A goddess's body and a goddess's face paired with a tomboyish soul.
"What a waste," Chu Tian sighed as he watched Hong Shang's back.
But Hong Shang turned around with a puzzled expression and asked, "What did you say?"
"Nothing, I just meant that I actually have a map of the peripheral areas, so I can lead the way," Chu Tian said, taking out his communicator and copying the map he had received from Liu Wei to give to Hong Shang.
After receiving the map, Hong Shang examined it carefully and said, "There's even information about dimensional gates on this map. Unfortunately, the dimensional gates are closed now, or the two of us could have explored them."
"Explore? You, an E-level talent warrior, dare to say such things? Although your Flame Talent is a formidable combat talent, don't forget that level-wise, there's a huge gap," Chu Tian reminded her.
Hearing Chu Tian's words, Hong Shang glanced at him and asked, "Although the mercenary base rated you as C-level, your real level should be E-level, right? You're just exceptionally skilled in control."
"Hehe, sorry about that. I've been in constant battles this month, and I accidentally advanced to D-level."
"What? Really? I've been fighting for a month too, but why haven't I leveled up?" Hong Shang said somewhat frustrated.
Just then, Chu Tian suddenly stopped in his tracks, and Hong Shang, who was following closely behind him without paying attention, bumped into his back and stumbled to the ground.