Little Pink Starfish

While Princess Tianxiang and her loyal dog-subordinates were scheming to drag the lord of Haoyang City out to take the fall, Qi Guanrui had not left his room. He began to stay in the dormitory every day, seemingly with no interest in hunting, and instead, he clung to Gu Bai and lazily lay on the bed for no reason.

Gu Bai lowered his head, looking at Qi Guanrui, who was lying in his arms looking drowsy as he fell asleep. Gu Bai’s feelings were complicated; Hey, you pervert! You’ve caused such a panic in the city, and now you’re just running back here to sleep?! Is this really okay? But at least the guy hadn’t been constantly pressing him down on the bed. That was some progress… Maybe.

Chen Yuanhao knocked gently on the door and Gu Bai looked up. “What is it?”

Chen Yuanhao hesitated, glancing at Qi Guanrui, and said, “I’ve heard that Princess Tianxiang intends to report this matter to the City Lord, but the City Lord is in an important period of seclusion. He’ll probably meet the princess in three days. Meanwhile, all the Wu Dis have decided to unite and protect the rest of the martial artists. I’m not sure what City Lord Ziche and the Lord plan to do…”

Gu Bai furrowed his brow slightly. Stay with a bunch of unsanitary, smelly men every day and be monitored? No way! If he didn’t know what was causing the disturbance, maybe he’d be afraid, but right now, that man-eating thing was lying in his arms, so what was there to fear?

However, Qi Guanrui was still his wacky subordinate, so he couldn’t make the decision alone. Without thinking too much, Gu Bai patted Qi Guanrui’s head. “Get up.”

Qi Guanrui opened his eyes groggily. “…Gege?”

Gu Bai froze. At that moment, two voices appeared in his mind:

A: “Ahhh, I want to pinch him!” 

B: “This is a pervert…”

A: “Listen to his voice! It’s so magnetic, and he’s so good-looking!” 

B: “This is definitely a pervert…” 

A: “I’m not listening, not listening! My pervert can’t be that cute!” 

B: “Wake up! He’s a fucking pervert!”

Gu Bai snapped back to reality. He mentally gave himself a slap. You forgot how he took you down and pounded you again and again when he was in good spirits! No matter how harmless he looks, a pervert is still a pervert!

Qi Guanrui was a little more awake. He turned his head and asked, “What is it? Just say it.” Chen Yuanhao immediately repeated what he had told Gu Bai to Qi Guanrui, who then nodded. “Of course we won’t go. If anything comes up, tell City Lord Ziche. After some time, I’ll contact you all again.”

Chen Yuanhao glanced at his master, who seemed to be in poor spirits, and then aptly responded, heading out to gather more information. They were in Qingtian Academy, no matter how strong the giant python was, it wouldn’t be able to break into this territory, right? Even if it did, the headmaster would surely not stand by and do nothing! So, he left with a sense of reassurance.

Once the room returned to silence, Gu Bai looked at Qi Guanrui, who had fallen back asleep in his arms, and blinked… Something seemed strange. Gu Bai’s heart skipped a beat, and he leaned in closer to examine more carefully. Upon closer inspection, he confirmed he wasn’t mistaken. On Qi Guanrui’s profile, near the lower part of his eye, there was a small black mole. Gu Bai poked it with his finger. It felt hard and slippery… Damn it, this wasn’t a mole—it was a scale!

Gu Bai breathed deeply, his mind racing to recall a memory. This kid’s scales are already showing! He must have eaten too much and is about to shed his skin!

In the original story, this was an event used for pushing a female character. The perverse protagonist, in a fit of rage over a girl, had devoured an entire enemy faction, accumulating so much energy in his body that he reached his limit, forcing him to shed his skin. After shedding, his body would grow even larger, and he would fall into a frenzy, losing his conscious mind, leaving only his violent, brutal instincts.

At the time, the girl, feeling pity, immediately offered herself up to calm the serpent’s aggression. When she couldn’t handle the situation alone, dozens of other women stepped in, leading to an incredibly steamy man-snake battle… Of course, when the size doesn’t match, even with only pure animal instincts, a pervert knows how to adapt.

 Gu Bai was then faced with two problems:

No girl → Gu Bai = ಠ_ಠ

Shedding skin causes clothes to burst → That’s bound to attract every expert in the city!

Gu Bai glanced at Qi Guanrui’s sleeping face again. He hesitated, thought, and hesitated some more. Damn it… He still couldn’t understand what the hell this pervert even wanted! Gu Bai decided there was no more time to waste—before the City Lord shows up, he had to take the snaky guy away. There was no way he was going to let him appear in the city. As for the other issues… That could be dealt with later!

Gu Bai fiddled with Qi Guanrui’s clothes, looking for the keys he carried. Before, he had been afraid of triggering the pervert’s wrath, but now… The pervert could be at his mercy! As if I didn’t know that your perverse power is at rock bottom right now, heh heh heh!

Gu Bai quickly found the keys attached to the pervert’s shirt and unlocked the chains with a satisfying ‘clang’. His Wu Qu surged through him, and he regained his strength! Although he didn’t use it frequently, his strength was still significant compared to the average man.

Gu Bai then picked up Qi Guanrui, feeling like he had finally become the master… Temporarily.

After some thought, Gu Bai decided it would be more reliable to take the pervert back to Tiandu City. As it was his territory, locking down information would be much easier. And if the pervert lost control… Well, the original story had handled that with a few “pa’s”, right? Worst case scenario, he could offer his rear again ╮(╯▽╰)╭.

Thinking about that, Gu Bai looked at the chain in his hand and secretly smiled. Now these are in my hands. The pervert is going to lose all his energy after going on a rampage… And then… Heh heh heh.

The plan went smoothly. After telling Chen Yuanhao to handle the academy’s leave arrangements, Gu Bai set off with two death warriors. The remaining two stayed in the city to manage the small restaurant, while the four stunning maidservants stayed behind to keep an eye on Yun Xiaomei. At this critical moment, they couldn’t let Yun Xiaomei cause trouble.

Because of the serious threat of the giant serpent, the guards had been seeing people escaping the city daily, even though most people were too scared to leave, some still took their chances. So, the group walked unbothered to the city gates, declared they were heading home, and were allowed to leave without trouble.

The two death warriors took turns driving the carriage, traveling day and night without rest. Gu Bai, instead of acting all smug like he wanted, kept a close eye on the pervert’s condition. And then he quickly noticed that the pervert’s waking hours were becoming fewer and fewer… Until eventually, he was unconscious most of the time.

By the time they finally reached the outskirts of Tiandu City, the pervert was completely unresponsive.

Gu Bai entered the city with his trademark ‘cold and elegant’ demeanour and returned to the City Lord’s where he ordered his loyal steward, Qin Xubo, to open the underground martial arts arena and not let anyone enter, no matter what happened. Qin Xubo, ever loyal, immediately promised to make sure the City Lord would be satisfied.

Gu Bai then took Qi Guanrui into the dark underground martial arts arena. The moment the massive luminous pearls lit up Gu Bai had locked the door behind them. As a Wu Jun-level expert who could survive without food for months, Gu Bai was prepared for the hunger.

The arena was huge, occupying at least half the area of Tiandu City around one hundred meters underground. The space was originally a precautionary measure Gu Bai had set up as a refuge for the city’s residents in case the perverse protagonist targeted Tiandu City. But the one in refuge ended up being the protagonist himself. Ah, the unpredictability of life ╮(╯▽╰)╭.

Because Gu Bai was accompanying Qi Guanrui during his skin-shedding process, the once-empty refuge had been equipped with a large king-sized soft bed, big enough for ten people to roll horizontally.

Gu Bai placed Qi Guanrui on the floor, then climbed onto the bed and yawned. It wasn’t because he was heartless and made the pervert sleep on the floor. It was just that if the pervert didn’t sleep on the floor, he might transform into a giant serpent at any moment. What if the bed collapsed?

***

Over the next few days, Gu Bai’s routine became sleep → cultivation → observing the pervert → cultivation → sleep.

Soon, he noticed the pervert’s transformation becoming more and more dramatic. Scales began growing all over his body, from his hands and feet to his neck and cheeks. His body became hard, and he started twitching and rubbing against the floor. His clothes, once intact, were now shredded, looking like rags…

It wasn’t long before Qi Guanrui fell into a deep slumber, his flickering eyes often showed blood-red, snake-like pupils. Then one day, Gu Bai was awakened by strange noises. He jolted awake and saw Qi Guanrui on the ground, thrashing and writhing, his legs shifting like snake tails.

“Hiss… Crack!” With a loud crash, Qi Guanrui, now covered in black scales, suddenly arched his back, slowly raising his torso. Then… he stretched out!

“Boom boom—” The giant black serpent’s body surged upward, and what had once been a human body of nine feet long* transformed into a towering serpent! 

_{*[T/N: Not a mistake, he’d get asked if he plays basketball all the time.]}

The enormous snake head slammed into the ceiling. The serpent, in pain, angrily rammed its head into the ceiling several more times! The serpent’s tail whipped across the floor, each strike seeming like it could shatter the ground. Such ferocity, such power, felt ancient and barbaric—like an ancient beast rampaging through the world!

Gu Bai blinked. It wasn’t as shocking when he read it in the original story, but now that he was witnessing it firsthand, it felt incredibly overwhelming! Such a huge, massive snake! Ahhh! Thank goodness the shelter I built wasn’t made of tofu… was it?!

***

Pinky says: Sorry if the quality is subpar and for the wacky upload schedule.