Little Pink Starfish

Half-conscious, Zhang Qiu could still hear a series of angry roars in his ears—it was that unicorn, still enraged.

Instinctively, he tightened his hold on Xiao Jiang. The roaring stopped, but heavy footsteps followed, shaking the overturned car. The creature halted, pressing its thick, sharp claws against the car roof. The grating sound of claws scratching metal filled the air, and within moments, the car was dismantled piece by piece, with the scattered parts thrown aside.

From above, the unicorn-like beast peered through the now-empty car frame. Zhang Qiu’s gaze met its piercing stare, and he instinctively held Xiao Jiang even closer.

Suddenly, the beast turned its head toward a certain direction, then turned and thundered away.

Zhang Qiu let out a deep sigh of relief. Beside him, his senior brother was covered in blood and unresponsive, even after Zhang Qiu called out to him several times. Keeping Xiao Jiang secure in one arm, he carefully maneuvered in the cramped space, trying to reach for his phone—it should have been in his pocket, but he couldn’t seem to find it.

Just then, a bright light shone from the front. A car sped toward them and braked sharply right next to the wreckage.

Zhang Qiu’s heart pounded. Damn it, could that white-eyed corpse have come back?!

“Coward.”

It was Li Shu. A second later, Li Shu’s face appeared in front of him.

The moment Zhang Qiu saw him, all the strength he had been forcing himself to hold onto vanished. His head tilted to the side, and he passed out.

When he woke up again, he was in a hospital. His head ached terribly, and when he reached up to touch it, he realized it had been bandaged. The distinct scent of disinfectant filled the air.

Xiao Jiang lay sprawled across his arm, his little bottom sticking up, his face turned toward Zhang Qiu. At the slightest movement, he jolted awake like a little puppy, his big red eyes staring anxiously at Zhang Qiu.

“Daddy.”

His soft voice carried a trace of urgency. With his tear-streaked eyes, he looked utterly pitiful. Zhang Qiu immediately forgot about his headache and stroked his son’s face. “Daddy’s fine, no worries.”

He thought Xiao Jiang was about to cry, but instead, the little one stubbornly held back his tears. Just then, a large hand scooped Xiao Jiang up from the bed and tossed him onto the nearby sofa.

Zhang Qiu turned and saw that it was Li Shu. He muttered, “Be gentle! He was in the car too—what if he got hurt?”

“He’s fine.”

Li Shu pressed Zhang Qiu back onto the bed as he tried to sit up. The movement seemed rough, but Zhang Qiu knew Li Shu was actually being gentle. Seeing the cold expression on Li Shu’s face, Zhang Qiu obediently lay back down, practically radiating an air of compliance.

Then he suddenly remembered something and grabbed Li Shu’s arm. “What about Senior Brother and the others?”

“Relax, they’re all fine.”

Li Shu lifted a glass of water to Zhang Qiu’s lips. “Out of everyone in the car, you were the most seriously injured.”

“Cough! Cough!” Zhang Qiu nearly choked. “How is that possible?! I was still conscious, at least.”

Seeing Li Shu’s expression darken, he quickly added, “Forget it, I won’t argue about it. As long as everyone’s okay, that’s what matters.”

Li Shu’s face remained cold, his body radiating a sharp aura of anger. However, his hands were gentle as he wiped off the water that had dripped onto Zhang Qiu’s collar before setting the glass down. His actions were calm, but Zhang Qiu could tell that he was genuinely furious.

“I’m really fine,” Zhang Qiu reassured him, pulling Li Shu’s hand over with a grin. He pointed at the apple on the table. “I’m hungry. I want to eat.”

Li Shu glanced at Zhang Qiu, who was acting carefree, and felt his own headache growing worse. But he still picked up the apple and began peeling it slowly.

Zhang Qiu sat cross-legged on the bed like a young master, watching Li Shu intently. His little uncle’s hands were so beautiful, and even the way he peeled an apple looked elegant and gentle. But all of that belongs to me—hahaha!

The apple’s skin curled off in one continuous, thin, red ribbon, contrasting beautifully with Li Shu’s long, fair fingers. When he finished peeling, Zhang Qiu tugged at one end of the peel, unraveling it completely to reveal the white flesh underneath.

Initially, Zhang Qiu hadn’t been that hungry—he had just wanted to distract Li Shu from being mad. But now, looking at the apple, he swallowed involuntarily.

Li Shu cut the apple into pieces and placed them on a plate. Zhang Qiu happily picked up a piece and ate it, then casually shoved one into Li Shu’s mouth. “Don’t be mad anymore. I’m totally fine.”

He glanced at the little zombie sitting cross-legged on the sofa, sulking. He waved him over. “Come eat some apple.”

Xiao Jiang looked up but quickly lowered his head again.

Zhang Qiu turned to Li Shu. “What’s up with him?”

“He’s sulking because he thinks he didn’t protect you.”

Zhang Qiu’s heart melted. He wanted to jump up and hug his son, but he could only say, “Daddy is a grown-up now, so I’ll protect Xiao Jiang first. When you grow up, you can protect Daddy, okay?”

After a few seconds, Xiao Jiang lifted his head and bared his little tiger teeth, as if proudly showing off his sharpest weapon.

“I can protect Daddy right now.”

Zhang Qiu had intended to comfort him, but seeing the determination in his son’s eyes, he dropped the playful tone and nodded seriously. “Then I’ll be counting on you from now on.”

Satisfied, Xiao Jiang finally came over to eat some apple.

Not long after, Xiapi Huiwang arrived, followed by Pei Qing and Lingdang. Seeing that Zhang Qiu was unharmed, Lingdang let out a long sigh of relief. Among the group, besides Pei Qing, she was closest to Zhang Qiu—likely because of their first encounter in the Yin Soul Pearl. Having spent a thousand years in a tomb, Zhang Qiu was the first person she had seen.

“What exactly happened?” Pei Qing asked.

Zhang Qiu recounted the events of the previous night. “…On the way back, we got into a car accident. The attacker was a white-eyed corpse, no pupils, wearing a suit, and it tried to grab Xiao Jiang. Then a unicorn-like creature appeared—it was as big as a bull. I didn’t get a clear look, but the white-eyed corpse was beaten back. The unicorn stood by our car for a while, staring at me, then suddenly turned and ran off. That’s when you guys arrived.”

“You all felt unusually sleepy?” Xiapi Huiwang frowned. “That’s strange. It’s one thing for regular people, but even Xiao Jiang fell into a deep sleep—something’s not right.”

Li Shu suddenly spoke. “The creature you saw was likely a Xiezhi, an ancient divine beast known for its justice and courage.”

A phoenix, an ancient divine beast like Xiezhi, and Pei Qing’s bloodline—nothing about last night seemed like a coincidence.

Zhang Qiu looked at Li Shu. “What about the Su father and son? Did you manage to follow them?”

“We lost them,” Li Shu said flatly.

Zhang Qiu was about to complain, but then Li Shu pulled a small green insect from his pocket. Instantly, Zhang Qiu recalled the Xiangxi Phoenix Tomb and the time in Shandong when Li Shu had used a similar bug to track Jin Laoda.

“Where did you get this?” Zhang Qiu asked.

“From Su Zhichai.”

Li Shu crushed the insect, and Zhang Qiu’s eyes widened. Inside, there were countless tiny green eggs. Within a minute, they turned black and dried up.

Xiapi Huiwang sneered. “So, Su Zhichai really isn’t human.”