Chapter 8
Chance encounter
- I'm sorry, are you really a soldier?
Luc Chau looks at Vo Phong's fiery red hair with curiosity. This isn't the first time he's been judged for his strange hair. Vo Phong forces a bitter smile.
- Princess, I was going to cut it, but the captain said it wasn't necessary, so...
He shrugs instead of finishing the sentence. Luc Chau is surprised:
- Really? You look injured. Do you need to go to the infirmary?
A sharp pain suddenly shoots through his ribs. Vo Phong tries to act normal.
- It's nothing! Just a minor injury, Princess!
The red-haired guy breathes heavily, his chest rising and falling, his shirt stretching so much it looks like the buttons might pop off. Luc Chau watches his awkward, flustered expression and smiles, lowering her head.
- Please show me the way!
Vo Phong agrees to be her guide. The path to the spaceship storage area isn't far, but he deliberately walks slower to enjoy a few more moments looking at the girl. Suddenly, Luc Chau turns to look at him. Vo Phong startles and quickly turns his head the other way. The princess asks:
- Did you dye your hair?
- No! - Vo Phong replies. - I swear on eternity, this is real hair!
Luc Chau chuckles:
- You look like the people in the amusement zone. They often wear wigs with very bright colors.
Vo Phong asks:
- You've been to the amusement zone too?
- Yes! But only occasionally…
Luc Chau looks embarrassed, as if she accidentally said something silly. Seeing her stammer, Vo Phong doesn't press further. After that, the two stop talking. Vo Phong assumes the princess belongs to some lofty realm in the Sky World. But he's wrong—Luc Chau isn't sacred, or maybe she just pretends to be. She's ordinary, friendly in manner, gentle in attitude. That normalcy makes the red-haired guy struggle to breathe. A selfish thought rises in his heart. He wants time to stop. He wants everything around them to evaporate. He begins to fantasize about things far removed from reality.
They walk toward the eastern barracks, then take the elevator down to the underground storage area. After about three minutes, they arrive. The elevator doors open, and Luc Chau sees Chien Tu and another person waiting at the entrance. Seeing her, Chien Tu rushes forward.
- Princess, where are you going? Why didn't you answer your phone?
- Sorry… I just wanted to take a look around. Ah, luckily he showed me the way! - Luc Chau points at Vo Phong.
Chien Tu stares at the red-haired guy, his gaze cold as ice. Vo Phong feels a chill run down his spine. Behind Chien Tu, the person accompanying him suddenly speaks:
- Mr. Brush is still not here? What's taking him so long?
- Calm down, Hoa Nghi! - Luc Chau says - Supreme Commander has to go pick up Tieu Ho and bring her here.
Hoa Nghi clicked his tongue, his legs fidgeting restlessly. His appearance is wild: dazzling red sneakers, one pant leg higher than the other, covered in terrifying patterns. His hair is barely combed, messy and unruly. If he weren't wearing that silver-white jacket with blue trim, few would believe Hoa Nghi is the Sacred Envoy's guard. Vo Phong thinks this guy looks more like a loafer from the junk market.
The elevator doors open again, and two more people step out—one old, one young. Vo Phong immediately recognizes the older man by his famous mustache: Supreme Commander Nhat Long. The other is a girl. She wears an exaggerated red dress with picky trim, the Sacred Envoy's guard uniform over it. Her golden hair is tied in a high bun, framing her youthful face. Luc Chau waves at the girl, laughing: "Tieu Ho!" The girl named Tieu Ho responds happily.
Vo Phong vaguely feels he's seen her somewhere before. He has suddenly recalled the National Day at the Capital Square and jumped in shock, with sweat already breaking out on his forehead:
"Isn't that the girl I've stolen money from before? Oh The Eternity, why does it have to be her?"
Vo Phong hurriedly puts on his face-covering hood, says goodbye to the princess, and quickly slips away. Unfortunately, his blood-stained, tattered uniform catches Tieu Ho's attention. She freezes, then chases after him and grabs his hand.
- Hey, slow down!
Vo Phong shrinks back in fear, his voice low:
- What is it, miss?
Tieu Ho stands on tiptoe, staring at Vo Phong. Her gaze lingers on the few strands of crimson hair peeking out from under his face-covering hood. She lifts her eyes:
- Dyed hair? Soldiers are pretty free these days, huh?
Vo Phong replies:
- This is real hair, miss.
- Oh, really. - Tieu Ho says - Then why are you wearing a face-covering hood?
It's a strange question, and Vo Phong answers just as strangely:
- Because my face doesn't look good right now.
- What?
- I'm injured. Training! Very tough!
Tieu Ho circles around the soldier guy, hands clasped behind her back, tilting her head as she examines him closely:
- I've never seen a soldier with his face covered like you! Are you injured? I know how to treat it! Take off your face-covering hood!
As she speaks, she waves her hand, trying to remove his face-covering hood. Vo Phong steps back, lowers his face, and stretches out his hand like a noble lady, rejecting the intimate gesture from someone of the opposite sex:
- Please behave yourself.
The blonde girl instantly flares up, blood boiling, ears turning red:
- What do you mean? Why are you hiding your face? Are you avoiding me?
- What do I have to avoid you for? We don't even know each other.
- I think we do know each other! Take off your face-covering hood!
Tieu Ho charges forward aggressively. Vo Phong doesn't know how to respond. Nhat Long intervenes:
- Don't, Tieu Ho! He's from Earth Element.
Tieu Ho stops and thinks. She's heard that name before, and Nhat Long isn't joking. Still, she doesn't give up and pleads with the commander:
- Supreme Commander, tell him to take off his face-covering hood! I'll reward you with cake!
Nhat Long shakes his head, his bristly mustache swaying:
- I can't. No one has the authority to command Earth Elements except the Emperor and The Conclave Council.
Tieu Ho pulls a long face. Vo Phong couldn't be happier, his eyes gleaming with smug mockery. The blonde girl grits her teeth, fists clenched so tightly it looks like she's about to tear him apart. The princess quickly says:
- Let's go, Tieu Ho! We don't have much time!
She throws a sharp glance at Vo Phong and storms off angrily. The guy Hoa Nghi, quick with his mouth, mocks her:
- It's just one wallet—no need to make such a fuss. You short on cash?
His words are like fuel to the fire. Tieu Ho snaps:
- What do you know? Do you know how important it is to me?
Supreme Commander Nhat Long leads everyone to the spaceship storage area. Tieu Ho and Hoa Nghi keep arguing loudly. The once-quiet atmosphere of the spaceship storage area is instantly disrupted by the two of them. Only Luc Chau suffers, forced to step in and mediate gently. The princess's figure grows smaller in Vo Phong's eyes. She hasn't even asked his name. She comes quickly, and leaves just as fast.
The red-haired guy thinks he has just had the most beautiful dream of his past five years.Living in the Garbage Market, he has never had dreams like this before.It's so beautiful that it makes him stop breathing, forget the pain tormenting his body, and forget the reason he joined Earth Element.
Vo Phong forgets to go to the infirmary. He keeps his ragged appearance and has dinner with the others in the unit. Vermin, using the excuse of congratulating him for joining Earth Element, brings a large bottle of alcohol.
The members perk up and start laughing and chatting with the red-haired guy—thanks to him, they get to drink. Facing everyone, the red-haired guy only replies casually or smiles without saying much.
Even the pile of delicious food on the table fails to make him feel happy.Just now, the princess's silhouette seems to trap him in a dream.All kinds of crazy dreams—Vo Phong knows they're absurd, yet he still can't stop dreaming.
Vermin walks over and massages Vo Phong's shoulders. The red-haired guy stares in shock, thinking this dude might be into men. Seeing his deeply worried expression, the vice captain laughs:
- I'm a real man! Just checking your bones.
- Really? Are they okay?
- Your bones are tougher than I expected. I figured the noise this afternoon was the floor cracking—not your bones breaking.
Vo Phong bursts out laughing, his mind still drifting in dreams until it's time to sleep. The Earth Element unit sleeps together in a cramped room with five bunk beds. Nearly twenty rough guys snore like chainsaws ripping through a forest—this is what nightmares sound like.
But even that isn't enough to disturb Vo Phong's dreamstream. The red-haired guy stops laughing and starts tossing and turning, lost in thought. His brain and heart are locked in a never-ending wrestling match—one side insists he's wrong, the other shouts he's thinking straight.
Someone has changed Vo Phong's life, turning him from a thief into a special-duty soldier—a twisted script. Now he has no choice. But Vo Phong himself sees it as a good thing. In the unit, he can trace the clues of his past—the things that have haunted him for so long. He's going to places he's never known before. More importantly, he gets to see the princess every day.
Then he suddenly remembers: the princess isn't alone—Tieu Ho is always nearby. The image of that fierce girl yanks Vo Phong back to reality. Only now does he realize the room is full of snoring. The red-haired guy scratches his head. "That girl's a walking curse. Like a comet of misfortune crashing into everything." - He mutters under his breath.