Little Pink Starfish

Outside the van, four people were setting up camp. The leader was holding a crumpled piece of paper, muttering to himself as he absentmindedly scanned the surroundings.

Only then did Zhang Qiu realize that they had driven deep into the mountains. Surrounded by towering peaks and dense, lush vegetation, he had completely lost his sense of direction. He glanced at the unmoving figure of Li Shu beside him and asked, “What time is it now?”

Li Shu checked his watch and reported the time.

Zhang Qiu was stunned. “I actually slept for almost twenty-four hours?!”

Li Shu didn’t respond. Zhang Qiu rubbed his stomach and mumbled, “No wonder I’m starving.”

---

A fire was lit in front of the tents, with a pot of water heating over it.

Zhang Qiu was given a packet of compressed biscuits. Sitting in the corner, he tore it open with his teeth and nibbled on it like a squirrel, crumbs falling everywhere. The biscuits were so dry that he felt parched. He glanced at the pot of boiling water, but before he could even ask, a cup was already handed to him.

“?”

Li Shu only gave him a glance. Zhang Qiu was a bit slow to react, but after a second, he realized it was meant for him. He quickly accepted it, took a sip to soothe his throat, and quietly thought to himself that Li Shu was a good person.

Across from him, the third brother glared at Zhang Qiu with hostility. Having been scolded by the leader earlier for kidnapping the wrong person, he had bottled up all his frustration and was now directing it at Zhang Qiu.

Holding a small stone, the third brother waited for the moment Zhang Qiu tilted his head back to drink and, with a flash of malice in his eyes, aimed.

Just as Zhang Qiu was eating a mouthful of biscuit and sipping water, there was a sharp whoosh sound, followed by a loud bang! The fire in front of them suddenly exploded, sending boiling water splashing all over the three men across from them.

“Fuck! Who did that?!” The third brother shot up, cursing as he brushed at his soaked clothes, then stormed toward Zhang Qiu.

Zhang Qiu: ……

I just took a bite of my biscuit!

Li Shu stepped in front of Zhang Qiu, his cold gaze sweeping over the furious third brother. The moment their eyes met, the third brother felt as if his blood had frozen, his body stiffening in place. A couple of seconds later, he snapped out of it, his embarrassment turning into rage. “Damn it, I knew it was you!”

The fourth and fifth brothers also stepped forward, clearly ready to back up the third. The three of them, tall and muscular, formed a solid line, making Li Shu seem especially thin in comparison. Zhang Qiu leaned closer to Li Shu—three against two wasn’t too bad.

The standoff lasted a moment, with the three hesitating, not daring to make the first move.

Suddenly, the leader, who had been sitting quietly, spoke in an irritated tone. “What the hell are you all doing?! If you’ve got nothing better to do, go to sleep early!”

The second brother quickly stepped in to smooth things over, whispering something to the third brother. The trio’s aggression faded, and they reluctantly turned back to their tent.

The fire had been extinguished, leaving only a weak camping lamp illuminating the camp. With everyone dispersing, Zhang Qiu glanced at Li Shu’s back and said, “Thanks.” He wasn’t sure what had just happened, but he knew Li Shu had helped him.

“Go to sleep,” Li Shu said, then entered a small tent.

There were three tents in total. Zhang Qiu could either squeeze in with the third and fourth brothers or join the leader’s tent. No need to think—he immediately followed Li Shu inside.

Since he had slept too much during the day, Zhang Qiu wasn’t tired at all and felt quite energetic.

The tent was small. Though Li Shu looked slim, he was actually quite tall, leaving very little space once he lay down. Zhang Qiu, unable to sleep, didn’t dare move around much. Any slight shift and he would end up touching Li Shu’s ice-cold skin, which felt… strange.

“Your body temperature is low. You probably have hypoglycemia. You should eat a piece of candy every morning,” Zhang Qiu said randomly, unsure if he was right.

A low, indifferent “Mm” came from behind him. Zhang Qiu felt pleased and continued chatting. “I know a brand of sour plum candy that’s really good. I bought a ton of it, but they’re all back at my uncle’s house.”

Suddenly, a realization hit him, and he abruptly flipped over.

“I—”

Face to face.

They were so close that their breaths mingled. If Zhang Qiu moved his lips just a little, they would touch Li Shu’s.

Instinctively, Zhang Qiu jerked his head back, but before he could say anything, Li Shu spoke in a low voice, his tone carrying a hint of amusement that sent a shiver down Zhang Qiu’s spine.

“What were you going to say?”

“Oh, oh.” Zhang Qiu pressed down the strange tingling sensation in his chest and asked seriously, “I wasn’t wearing shoes when I was kidnapped, right? So… the ones I’m wearing now?”

He highly doubted the third brother and his gang would have bought him new shoes. He was just lucky he had gone to bed wearing clothes last night.

“I put them on for you.”

Boom—Zhang Qiu’s face turned red in an instant. He felt like something was wrong with him, blushing like a shy girl. Fortunately, the tent was dark, so Li Shu probably couldn’t see it.

His blood rushed to his face. After hesitating for a moment, he quietly thought that Li Shu was truly a good person. Li Shu’s voice was soft as he said, “Sleep.” Zhang Qiu, feeling drowsy all of a sudden, drifted off without realizing it.

Li Shu, seeing that he was asleep, reached out and gently touched Zhang Qiu’s earlobe. The warmth of his skin brought an unfamiliar sense of comfort. Slowly, he closed his eyes.

---

The next morning, Zhang Qiu woke up by practically bouncing off Li Shu like an octopus.

He knew he had bad sleeping habits, but not this bad! Feeling embarrassed, he glanced at Li Shu. The man, unfazed, greeted him casually.

Zhang Qiu: ……

Your attitude is making me feel like you actually enjoyed it last night!

Outside, the others were murmuring about something. The moment Zhang Qiu and Li Shu stepped out, the conversation immediately stopped. Zhang Qiu became even more certain—these five men and Li Shu were not on the same side.

Breakfast consisted of canned beef and compressed biscuits heated by the second brother. Perhaps because Li Shu had been looking out for Zhang Qiu, this time, his portion wasn’t reduced. However, the moment he opened the can of steaming hot meat, he nearly gagged.

The smell was awful.

As Zhang Qiu dry-heaved, the third brother, already irritated, lashed out.

“What the fuck is wrong with you? Gagging first thing in the morning like some delicate girl—are you pregnant or something?!”

Before Zhang Qiu could even retort, Li Shu shot the third brother a cold glare.

The third brother, surprisingly, didn’t argue back this time. Instead, he simply shrugged and laughed it off, sitting down to eat.

But the truth was—Zhang Qiu was pregnant.

Feeling a bit off, he handed his meat to Li Shu and settled for a few sips of water and some dry biscuits.

The leader spent the morning wandering around the mountains with the crumpled paper, making them walk in circles. By noon, they had returned to camp empty-handed. The third brother was obviously frustrated but didn’t dare vent his anger on the leader. With Li Shu nearby, he also didn’t dare mess with Zhang Qiu, so he just grumbled a few curses under his breath.

In the afternoon, they headed toward another mountain, but this time, the leader ordered his four brothers to carry the supplies.

Zhang Qiu guessed that the leader had figured something out. However, he was extremely guarded—not even his own men seemed to know the full details. They were merely muscle.

Then, as the leader examined the map, his eyes flickered with uncertainty. Something was missing.

Just then, the ground began to shift, and a swarm of large, black spiders with eerie green eyes came crawling toward them in waves.

“Holy shit! Why are there so many spiders?!”

“Too many! We can’t kill them all—run!”

“RUN!!!”

Zhang Qiu was yanked forward by Li Shu as the chaos erupted behind them. The others were shouting and cursing, but Zhang Qiu didn’t dare look back—he was afraid that if he did, he’d vomit on the spot.

The spiders were the size of an adult man’s palm, their bodies pitch black, with glowing green eyes that made them look even more eerie. The sound of countless legs scuttling against dry leaves was getting louder and louder, making his scalp tingle.

“Use fire! Burn them!”

Behind them, there were loud bang sounds followed by more yelling. Soon, a foul stench filled the air.

Li Shu suddenly stopped running, causing Zhang Qiu to almost trip. He was panting heavily from the exertion, while Li Shu, standing calmly, didn’t even seem out of breath.

His stamina was insane.

The spiders had stopped chasing them. Zhang Qiu figured the grave robbers must have set fire to their supplies—probably their cooking gas and alcohol—to create an explosion. Thick black smoke rose into the air, bringing along a mix of the nasty burnt smell and… roasted meat?

The combination was so disgusting that Zhang Qiu gagged again.

A few moments later, the five men emerged, looking completely disheveled. The leader was in relatively better shape, but the other four were filthy, covered in dirt and soot.

Li Shu’s gaze briefly swept over the third and fifth brothers. Zhang Qiu followed his line of sight and saw that both of them had bite wounds on their arms and legs. The surrounding skin was darkened—it looked like the spiders were venomous.

Zhang Qiu glanced at Li Shu, who had already retracted his gaze. After a moment of thought, he decided not to bring it up either.

Suddenly—

“Hahahaha!”

A burst of manic laughter broke the tense silence. Zhang Qiu turned his head and saw the leader clutching his precious, crumpled paper, laughing wildly.

“I finally found it! We found it!”

Zhang Qiu wasn’t too far away and tilted his head slightly to get a glimpse of the paper. The worn, yellowed parchment was covered in hand-drawn markings, but what caught his attention were the small black dots scattered across one corner of the map. In that instant, he realized what was going on.

This leader must have gotten his hands on an old, hand-drawn map. Judging by the color of the paper, it was clearly quite ancient. Someone had been here before and left behind this guide. No wonder the leader had looked uncertain earlier—the general terrain matched the map, but something was missing.

Now, with the sudden appearance of those black dots—the spiders—everything aligned.

That meant they had found the tomb.

The tomb of Prince Hui of Xiapi, the one his uncle had mentioned.

But if the leader already had a map, why had he sought out his uncle in the first place?