Hearing the dangerous undertone in Li Shu’s voice, Zhang Qiu’s heart pounded wildly. His thoughts spun in circles—could it be that Li Shu was also into men?
After a brief internal struggle, Zhang Qiu made up his mind. His face turned bright red, and gathering his courage, he deliberately rubbed against him just a little.
Go ahead, move! What are you gonna do?! Come on, seduce me!
Thinking about what might happen next, Zhang Qiu was both excited and nervous. It was his first time realizing he was into a guy, and even better, that guy might actually be into him too. What could be better than that?
Li Shu lightly patted Zhang Qiu’s hand. It didn’t hurt, but Zhang Qiu’s ears turned red—whether from embarrassment or excitement, he wasn’t sure. Then, he felt Li Shu’s cold hand brush against his waist and stomach—
“Already finished?” Li Shu’s voice was soft, tinged with amusement.
Zhang Qiu’s whole body went weak. Hearing Li Shu’s words, he was immediately overwhelmed with shame and indignation. But there was no denying what had just happened. His face burned red as he shoved Li Shu’s hand away and hastily used his T-shirt to wipe up the evidence, as if trying to cover up a crime scene.
“I—I’m not usually like this!”
“Oh?” Li Shu’s voice lifted slightly at the end, clearly unconvinced.
Zhang Qiu was furious. He threw off the blanket and scrambled out of bed. As he moved, his gaze accidentally landed on Li Shu’s lower half—it was still standing tall, and it was big.
He was terrified.
Good thing he hadn’t been too reckless earlier.
“Size alone doesn’t mean anything. I was just too exhausted today. Next time, I’ll definitely outlast you!” Zhang Qiu declared from the bedside, still trying to salvage his masculine dignity. But when he saw Li Shu shift as if to get up, he panicked and bolted from the room.
Li Shu watched Zhang Qiu’s retreating figure, amused. Especially when he noticed how wobbly Zhang Qiu’s legs were—like limp noodles.
Once Zhang Qiu was out of sight, Li Shu finally looked away.
Zhang Qiu fled to the backyard water basin, where the little grandson was watering the vegetable garden. Seeing Zhang Qiu come over, the boy said, “Gege, wash up and go eat breakfast. Grandpa steamed some mantou today.”
Then, the boy took a closer look at Zhang Qiu. Zhang Qiu felt inexplicably guilty and turned toward the water basin.
“What?”
“Gege, there’s something white on your face. What is it?” The boy pointed at Zhang Qiu’s cheek. “It’s on your clothes too.”
Boom!
Zhang Qiu felt like he had just been cooked alive. He frantically splashed cold water on his face and muttered, “Probably got it on me by accident.”
The boy didn’t ask further and carried his bucket back to help his grandfather.
After washing up, Zhang Qiu stayed in the courtyard for a while, cooling down his embarrassment before heading back inside. But as soon as he bumped into Li Shu in the hallway, his face heated up again. He quickly lowered his head, grabbed some random things, and went downstairs for breakfast.
At the dining table, the old man asked about Boss Jin’s group. Zhang Qiu was still trying to figure out a lie when Li Shu calmly said, “Camping in the mountains.”
The mountains here weren’t too treacherous, and sometimes young people came to camp overnight. The old man didn’t suspect anything and nodded. “As long as they didn’t go to the southern mountains, that’s good… that’s good.”
Perhaps thinking about his deceased son, his face carried a hint of sadness.
Zhang Qiu, affected by the mood, also thought about Zhang Yushui—who had come back with them only as a bead. He suddenly lost all interest in anything else.
Before leaving, Zhang Qiu took out all the cash he had and handed it to the old man. The old man refused, saying the bill had already been settled.
“I’m buying your cured meat. It’s delicious.”
Zhang Qiu left carrying a large bag of cured meat.
At the parking spot, Li Shu sat in the front passenger seat while the Prince of Xiapi sat in the back.
Zhang Qiu was stunned. “You guys aren’t driving?”
Neither of them showed any intention of doing so. Zhang Qiu stood there for a moment, dazed, then braced himself, stored the cured meat, and got into the driver’s seat.
“Okay, let me think… Where’s the gas pedal? Oh, right. Release the handbrake—wait, why isn’t it moving?!”
Sweating from nerves, Zhang Qiu soon realized he hadn’t even started the engine. Once the car roared to life, he sat up straight, mumbling to himself as he repeated everything his driving instructor had ever told him.
Then, he stepped on the gas—too hard.
The car shot forward at full speed.
Li Shu was slammed back into his seat, and the Prince of Xiapi in the back nearly tumbled over.
“It’s been a while since I’ve driven—just rusty! I’ll be fine soon!” Zhang Qiu grinned awkwardly at the Prince of Xiapi.
Just as the Prince of Xiapi managed to sit up straight, his expression changed. “Look ahead—LOOK AHEAD!”
Zhang Qiu turned back just in time to see the car about to crash into a ditch. He yanked the steering wheel and slammed on the brakes.
The Prince of Xiapi was thrown forward again, and the golden bead in his pocket flew out. Li Shu reacted quickly, catching it in his palm.
The bead was warm—oddly familiar.
“Where’s my bead?!” The Prince of Xiapi panicked.
Li Shu handed it back without hesitation, and the Prince of Xiapi carefully stored it away again.
Zhang Qiu, embarrassed, apologized to everyone.
When he had first gotten his driver’s license, he had been eager to take his dad’s car for a spin. The car had ended up totaled, though he himself was fine. Since then, he hadn’t driven again.
Li Shu, clearly suffering from Zhang Qiu’s driving, sighed and said, “Switch seats.”
“You’re driving?” Zhang Qiu obediently moved over, then blinked. “Wait, do you even know how?”
Li Shu had never driven before, but Zhang Qiu, though useless in practice, had excellent theoretical knowledge. He recited his instructor’s lessons word for word, including every driving tip and safety rule.
The car lurched forward— but after a brief adjustment, it evened out, becoming perfectly stable.
Li Shu’s learning curve was terrifying.
By the time they reached Yun City, two days had passed.
“Mom, this is my friend Liu Yan.” Zhang Qiu introduced the Prince of Xiapi to his family, carefully avoiding his dad’s gaze. He grinned and lifted the bag of cured meat. “This is cured meat from Xiangxi—it’s super delicious! I brought it back just for you.”
Zhang Qiu’s mom was delighted and didn’t scold him for suddenly disappearing. She patted his shoulder. “Take your friend to the guest room. I’ve already cleaned it up. Li Shu can still share with you.”
Mom, you’re the best! Zhang Qiu was thrilled, but as he thought about Li Shu’s thing, his backside suddenly felt sore, and his excitement faded.
That evening, after dinner, Zhang Qiu’s mom went to change before heading downstairs for dance practice.
Zhang Qiu’s dad blocked his path to his room and dragged him into the study.
“Be honest with me. What were you doing these past few days?”
Zhang Qiu didn’t hesitate. “Dad, you saw it yourself—we were in Xiangxi. The cured meat there is amazing—”
“Cut the crap.” His dad’s expression darkened. “Who exactly is this Liu Yan you brought back?”
Zhang Qiu broke into a cold sweat. Did his dad figure it out?!
After hesitating, he whispered, “Promise you won’t tell Uncle or Mom. Liu Yan is actually my second brother Zhang Yushui’s boyfriend. Second Brother was with us on this trip, but he had to leave early, so Liu Yan came back with me.”
His dad looked stunned.
He had only been trying to bluff Zhang Qiu into talking—he hadn’t expected this.
“Alright, I won’t say anything.” His dad seemed a bit awkward but quickly recovered. “Just take good care of your second brother’s friend.”
Zhang Qiu nodded quickly.
That was close!
After his dad left, Zhang Qiu wiped the cold sweat from his forehead. He had almost been exposed.
With only the three of them left at home, they moved to the study. The Prince of Xiapi took out a small box, opening it to reveal half of a leather map. This was the same map that had been stored with the golden bead in the Xiangxi tomb.
Zhang Qiu placed it next to the map that Li Shu had snatched from the Prince of Xiapi earlier. Both maps were drawn using an ancient cartographic style, depicting mountains and rivers in a way that made it difficult to distinguish north, south, east, or west. Even pinpointing a general city location was impossible.
Zhang Qiu attempted to piece the two fragments together.
“No good. There should be more missing pieces.” Zhang Qiu turned to Li Shu. “How did you even recognize this as a Xiangxi map in the first place?”
“Boss Jin already had some prior knowledge. After you were kidnapped, he borrowed this map for reference. I don’t know the details beyond that,” Li Shu explained. He had tried matching the map to modern ones before, but it had never yielded any useful results.
Having an ancient map but no way to decipher it was incredibly frustrating.
Just then, a notification sound chimed from the computer.
Zhang Qiu’s phone had been lost, and he hadn’t replaced it yet, so he leaned over the laptop to check. The message was from his senior brother Hua Ting, who was a disciple of their professor in Beijing.
[Shidi (Junior), we’ve made some progress on the black pillars. They are linked to an ancient Nine Palace Immortal Locking Formation, said to have been used to imprison individuals with divine bloodlines. The professor is currently researching it, but this information is confidential. Just letting you know.]
Along with the message, several images and historical documents were attached.
Zhang Qiu clicked on one of the images and said, “Look at this. This was excavated from the ancient Gumu Kingdom in the Qinling Mountains. The identities of the tomb occupants are unknown, but the pillars are the same as the ones in Xiangxi—nine of them, with identical colors and patterns.”
He pointed at the screen, “I bet the owner of this Gumu Kingdom tomb is connected to the one in Xiangxi.”
As soon as Zhang Qiu finished speaking, a lightbulb went off in his head. He quickly started typing.
[Thanks, Senior Brother! I have a question—my father has an ancient map with no markings or labels. How can we find the corresponding modern location?]
[Send it over. Ancient maps actually contain a lot of information. Using modern technology, we can filter and analyze them to determine an approximate location.]
Zhang Qiu turned to Li Shu and the Prince of Xiapi, seeking their approval before sending the map image.
Li Shu gave a slight nod, and the Prince of Xiapi had no objections. Zhang Qiu took a photo of the map and uploaded it.
His senior brother responded quickly:
[It might take some time, but I’ll get back to you once I find something.]
Little Pink Starfish 
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