Little Pink Starfish

As soon as Li Shu finished speaking, his body had already leaped forward at lightning speed. In almost an instant—before Zhang Qiu could even react—Li Shu had already smashed the protruding button on the wall with a single palm.

The stone wall made a cracking sound and slowly opened to both sides.

Beyond the wall was a burial chamber. Su Wanting, who had disappeared earlier, was now sitting on top of a coffin. When she saw the door open, her eyes swept over them.

Zhang Qiu thought to himself: As expected.

Su Wanting’s black pupils were extremely small, almost entirely white.

“Li Shu gege, do you want to achieve immortality with me?” As she spoke, Su Wanting’s pupils returned to normal. Her legs dangled over the side of the coffin, swaying back and forth. With a coquettish smile, she pointed at Zhang Qiu, her gaze full of disdain. “What’s so good about him? He’s not worthy of you at all, Li Shu gege.”

Zhang Qiu wanted to spit in her face. I’m good at everything! Li Shu isn’t blind! And besides, we already have a little jiangshi together!

Li Shu’s expression remained cold and indifferent. Su Wanting pouted unhappily, but her eyes flashed with malice. Her voice turned sharp.

“Since I was a child, I have always gotten whatever I wanted. No one can stop me. Anyone who dares to ruin my plans—just like the Su brothers—will die! Die!” By the end, her eyes were filled with madness, and her pupils shrank again.

Holy shit! Zhang Qiu wasn’t scared of Su Wanting—he was shocked by what she had just revealed. Pei Qing had mentioned before that Su Zhijian had two sons, both of whom had died one after the other.

“You killed the Su brothers?!” Pei Qing demanded.

The previously frenzied Su Wanting suddenly giggled at Pei Qing. “So what if I did? They deserved to die. And so do you. You’re my brother, how dare you disobey me? Anyone who disobeys me must die.”

“You are not my sister, Tingting.” Pei Qing’s expression grew colder as he stared at her. “What did you do to my sister?”

Su Wanting’s smile froze for a moment, as if she had been caught off guard. A hint of confusion flashed in her eyes. What am I…? A sharp pain suddenly stabbed through her head, and the confusion in her eyes quickly turned into irritation.

“I am Su Wanting. Stop wasting your breath. Trash like you isn’t worthy of being my brother!”

As soon as she finished speaking, Su Wanting abruptly sprang up from the coffin. She moved so fast that she was like a shadow lunging toward Pei Qing’s face. Li Shu blocked her attack, and the Prince of Xiapi stepped forward to help.

Su Wanting smirked and suddenly released a sickly sweet fragrance that filled the entire chamber. Zhang Qiu’s vision blurred for a moment, but then he felt a sharp pain in his finger. He snapped back to clarity—little jiangshi was biting his hand, his tiny fangs stained with blood.

Zhang Qiu immediately understood. Su Wanting was using the same trick again. But with little jiangshi by his side, the fragrance had no effect on him. He let out a breath of relief and took two steps back.

Suddenly, the burial chamber fell into complete silence.

Zhang Qiu looked up—Li Shu, the Prince of Xiapi, Pei Qing, and Su Wanting were all gone. The sickly sweet fragrance had also vanished.

This isn’t right.

Zhang Qiu bit his lip, the pain helping him stay alert. But even so, the space around him remained eerily empty—everyone had disappeared. He reached for his pocket—little jiangshi was gone too. Just a moment ago, he had been biting him.

Something is seriously wrong.

It had all happened in an instant. It was as if he had entered another dimension. The tomb was so deathly quiet that it was unsettling. Zhang Qiu stood still, waiting. But his heart pounded wildly. He had no idea how much time had passed—ten minutes? A few minutes?

Being alone in a sealed-off space like this would make anyone overthink things.

“Li Shu? Second Sister-in-law? Pei Qing?”

Only his own voice echoed back at him.

Zhang Qiu gripped his flashlight tightly, sweeping it around the room. There was nothing. Only the coffin in the center emitted a faint glow, as if something inside was peering out at him through the wood.

Once that thought took root, it became terrifyingly real.

Zhang Qiu had no intention of staying any longer. Every time he had gone tomb raiding, he had been with others. This was the first time he was completely alone. Although he hesitated for a moment before taking his first step, once he moved forward, he found himself surprisingly calm.

How did Li Shu and the others disappear so suddenly?

Zhang Qiu walked around the tomb chamber, but he found no exits or hidden mechanisms. The stone wall leading to the previous chamber was open, but the chamber behind it was completely sealed off. He couldn’t climb back up either. After making a full circuit, he ended up back where he started.

The faint glow from the central coffin had become even more pronounced.

He had deliberately avoided it earlier. But now, gritting his teeth, he stepped forward with his flashlight.

Somewhere, he had read that corpses lying in coffins for too long could turn into jiangshi once exposed to a living person’s presence.

Holding his breath, he shone his flashlight into the coffin—and his eyes widened in shock.

The eerie glow was coming from inside the coffin. The lid was slightly open, revealing a small gap. Inside, there was a staircase made of stone slabs leading downward.

He hesitated. Should I go down?

Just then, a cold gust of wind blew against his back—as if someone had shoved him forward.

Before he could react, his whole body toppled into the coffin headfirst like a watermelon.

As he landed, he was just relieved the space was narrow enough to stop him from rolling down the stairs.

Standing up, Zhang Qiu’s heart pounded as he thought about the push from behind. He didn’t dare look back. Whatever it was, it wanted me to come down here. There was no turning back now—he had to keep moving forward.

Steeling himself, he gripped his flashlight tightly and muttered under his breath, calling out Li Shu’s and little jiangshi’s names.

The passage gradually widened, and he could feel airflow. There’s an exit ahead. He quickened his pace. Sure enough, he reached another coffin at the end of the path.

Just as he was about to climb out, he suddenly heard a muffled groan.

Then, Baldy’s labored breathing.

“Su Wanting is a monster… If you stick with her, you’ll end up dead sooner or later. Brother, we’ve known each other for over ten years—”

“You can drop the sentimental act,” another voice interrupted. It was Pingquan. “In our line of work, you should’ve known long ago—it’s kill or be killed.”

Baldy panted heavily. Zhang Qiu heard the unmistakable sound of a knife sinking into flesh.

“At least if I follow her, I’ll live longer…”

There were more words after that, but they were too faint to make out.

If I don’t act now, Baldy will die.

Zhang Qiu steadied himself and knocked lightly against the inner wall of the coffin, tapping in a steady rhythm that gradually accelerated. With his other hand, he gripped a dagger—one that Li Shu had secretly slipped into his bag before they entered the pit.

Outside, it fell silent.

Zhang Qiu stayed still, listening as footsteps slowly approached. His heartbeat matched the rhythm of his knocking—growing faster and faster.

The footsteps stopped.

Zhang Qiu could sense that Pingquan was standing right next to the coffin.

He held his breath.

The footsteps outside seemed to walk away, but Zhang Qiu wasn’t sure—he had been too focused on knocking and hadn’t listened carefully.

“You can stay here and feed the jiangshi.”

It was Pingquan speaking to Baldy.

Zhang Qiu knocked a few more times to confirm that there was no more movement outside, then finally let out a quiet sigh of relief. The coffin lid was loose, not sealed shut. In his focus on knocking earlier, he had unknowingly shifted it slightly. Through the gap, he peered outside—pitch darkness.

In the corner, a faint silhouette lay sprawled on the ground.

Pingquan was gone.

Zhang Qiu confirmed it before flipping open the lid and jumping out. He ran straight to the corner—sure enough, it was Baldy. Blood soaked his lower abdomen, and he had already lost consciousness.

Zhang Qiu quickly rummaged through his small bag, taking out emergency medical supplies. He sprinkled hemostatic powder onto Baldy’s wound and wrapped it tightly with bandages.

During the process, Baldy briefly regained consciousness. He grabbed Zhang Qiu’s wrist tightly.

“Hold on. Once we stop the bleeding, we’ll get you to a hospital.”

Baldy clutched his arm without letting go. Instead, his grip tightened. He shifted slightly, gasping in pain, and gritted his teeth as he spoke.

“Pingquan and that bitch Su Wanting are working together. They lured people down here to kill them all.”

Zhang Qiu’s hand trembled. He quickly finished bandaging and said urgently, “Stay alive. Don’t die on me.”

He needed to find Li Shu and the others quickly. Everyone had vanished in an instant—that was definitely Su Wanting’s doing. She was even more troublesome than Boss Jin.

Leaving the burial chamber, Zhang Qiu found two passageways ahead. He shone his flashlight on the ground and spotted faint traces of blood—the knife Pingquan had been holding must have dripped blood as he left.

Without hesitation, Zhang Qiu ran toward the left path.

What he didn’t know was that several dark shadows were creeping along behind him.

Such a delicious scent. Even more fragrant than before.

He’s mine.

Mine.

The shadows bickered among themselves before merging into one massive figure. Its gaping maw slowly loomed over Zhang Qiu’s oblivious head.

Zhang Qiu suddenly felt something heavy around his neck. When he reached down, he found it was the Soul-Suppressing Bead. Its silk pouch had almost come undone. He quickly secured the drawstring and stuffed it into his bag, still in a hurry to move forward.

But whether it was just his imagination or not, he couldn’t shake the feeling that something was weighing down on him.

The massive black shadow opened its mouth again, ready to engulf Zhang Qiu’s head.

But the moment it got close—

The shadow suddenly disintegrated. A shrill scream echoed as it scattered apart, as if something had violently repelled it.

This person carries an incredibly strong power…

Ahhh! It hurts! It hurts!

Zhang Qiu remained completely unaware. He had already reached the end of the passage.

The stone doors stood wide open. The ceiling was adorned with intricate carvings. On either side stood burial guardian beasts—exquisitely crafted, lifelike in their fierce expressions, as if they were truly guarding the tomb’s master.

This was the main burial chamber.

Zhang Qiu slowed his steps. Upon reaching the entrance, he realized he had been too impulsive. Pingquan was likely inside—rushing in now would be suicide.

Just as he hesitated, he heard Pei Qing’s voice from within.

“What are you doing here? Where are the others?”

“We got separated.”

Zhang Qiu entered and immediately saw Pingquan raising a dagger, aiming to stab Pei Qing from behind.

“Watch out!” Zhang Qiu shouted instinctively.

But Pei Qing had already anticipated it. He swiftly twisted around, striking Pingquan’s wrist and snatching the dagger from his grip. In the same fluid motion, he delivered a powerful kick, sending Pingquan flying.

The whole exchange was seamless and precise.

It was only then that Zhang Qiu remembered—Pei Qing was a soldier.

“Pingquan is working for Su Wanting. He just tried to kill Baldy,” Zhang Qiu said, breathing heavily. “Where are Li Shu and Second Sister-in-law?”

Pei Qing tied Pingquan up and tossed him into the corner. Upon hearing Zhang Qiu’s question, he shook his head. “I don’t know. We were together just now, and then in an instant, you all disappeared. I climbed up from below and encountered a few jiangshi on the way, but I haven’t seen Li Shu or the others.”

“Same here,” Zhang Qiu frowned, recounting what had happened to him. “I don’t know what trick Su Wanting pulled. Where exactly are Li Shu and the others? And little jiangshi—”

“Xiao Qiu.”

A familiar voice called out.

Zhang Qiu turned around immediately—and there was Li Shu. Behind him was the Prince of Xiapi.

Although they had only been apart for a short time, seeing them again made Zhang Qiu’s eyes sting with emotion. Without thinking, he rushed toward them—

Only to be yanked back by Pei Qing.

“They’re jiangshi. Look carefully,” Pei Qing warned sharply.

Zhang Qiu froze and stared intently at the “Li Shu” and “Prince of Xiapi” in front of him.

Their faces were stiff and expressionless.

Pei Qing’s warning jolted him awake. Earlier, he had been so overwhelmed with relief that he hadn’t noticed the strangeness. Now that he thought about it, something was off—Li Shu had called him “Xiao Qiu,” which was rare. And his eyes held no emotion.

“You talk too much, Pei Qing,” a voice sneered.

Zhang Qiu turned toward the voice.

Su Wanting strolled in slowly. With a wave of her hand, the two jiangshi disguised as Li Shu and the Prince of Xiapi stepped aside stiffly.

Her clothes were disheveled, and her face was wounded. Seeing this, Zhang Qiu let out a sigh of relief—there were very few people in this tomb capable of injuring Su Wanting. That meant Li Shu was likely unharmed.

Su Wanting glanced at Pei Qing with malice. “I advise you not to interfere, or I might let you die with an intact corpse.”

“You should keep that advice for yourself,” Pei Qing said coldly, his gaze sharp. “You are not my sister.”

Su Wanting scoffed mockingly. “And you don’t deserve to be my brother.”

The moment she finished speaking, she lunged at him.

The two jiangshi disguised as Li Shu and the Prince of Xiapi charged forward as well.

Even though Zhang Qiu knew they were jiangshi, seeing them wearing Li Shu’s face still made him hesitant. Gritting his teeth, he stabbed his dagger forward.

The blade sank in—but instead of cutting through flesh, it hit something unnaturally hard.

A foul, putrid stench filled the air. As Zhang Qiu pulled the knife out, the jiangshi’s disguise faded, revealing its shriveled, hollow-eyed corpse.

Seeing the grotesque face up close, Zhang Qiu didn’t hesitate—he stabbed it again and again until it was a mangled mess.

“Watch out!”

A voice rang out—almost like it came from within him.

Zhang Qiu turned—

The jiangshi disguised as the Prince of Xiapi was lunging at him, razor-sharp claws aimed straight for his face.

But at that moment, a nearly transparent figure appeared in front of him, shielding him from the attack.

“Finally, you’ve all arrived,” Su Wanting sneered.

She struck Pei Qing to the ground with a single blow, her gaze locking onto the translucent figure. She let out a cold snort. A mysterious object appeared in her hand, which she hurled at the ghostly figure.

As the object struck, the figure slowly solidified, revealing a deathly pale, agonized face.

In the distance, Pingquan—who had supposedly been tied up—somehow freed himself.

And with one swift motion, he plunged a dagger straight into Zhang Qiu’s lower back.