Little Pink Starfish

A drop of tongue-tip blood dripped onto the jade bi in his hand, quietly flowing along its carved patterns.

Perhaps because he heard them approaching, Yue Qincang quickened his actions, placing the blood-soaked jade bi over the coffin lid. There was a ka ka sound, and the lid opened. Yue Qincang fell straight inside with a thud. Zhang Qiu’s scalp tingled—what if a jiangshi jumped out of the coffin?!

Clearly, Zhang Qiu was worrying for nothing. Yue Qincang seemed to know what was inside. After just a few seconds, he climbed out of the coffin, wiped the blood from his mouth, and stared at them. “You trying to avenge that scumbag Gao Zhihao?”

Apparently, Yue Qincang had lumped them in with Gao Zhihao.

But that was a longer story—Gao Zhihao had paid to hire them, but they were more interested in exposing the person behind all this.

The Yue Qincang in front of them clearly had problems. Just as Li Shu moved slightly, Yue Qincang had already leapt down, agilely using his left hand to flick a rope tied to the bottom of the suspended coffin, quickly plummeting toward the mountainside.

“What a pain,” Qi Xi muttered. The clothes he had just put on had to come off again, but in the next second, a naked Qi Xi transformed into his original form, letting out a thunderous roar and shooting straight down the mountain.

This mountain had been hollowed out entirely. A stream at the top dripped continuously, striking the black coffin, then flowing downward.

Seeing Qi Xi’s original form, Yue Qincang’s eyes flashed with surprise. He let go of the rope and jumped to a nearby cliff wall, quickly leaping down. Compared to Qi Xi’s large body, Yue Qincang’s human form looked small and thin, skillfully dodging Qi Xi’s claws and provoking him into roaring nonstop.

The man and beast fell rapidly. From above, Zhang Qiu could only see two black dots.

“Not helping?” Zhang Qiu asked Li Shu.

Li Shu shook his head. “Second Brother and the others are outside. Yue Qincang won’t escape.”

Zhang Qiu was about to ask how he knew that, when a cry echoed—it was Second Brother’s phoenix form. Zhang Qiu relaxed. Li Shu told Pei Qing to stay and guard, handed Second Baby to Zhang Qiu, and with a tap of his toe, nimbly climbed onto the suspended black coffin.

Just then, a hand reached out from the black coffin. Zhang Qiu tensed and shouted, “Careful!”

Li Shu dodged the hand and dropped into the coffin. Zhang Qiu’s heart was in his throat. Sounds of struggle came from inside. Pei Qing was preparing to shift into his original form to help, when Li Shu flipped and sat on the coffin’s edge, bending over to seemingly pull something out.

The next second, an arc flew from the coffin, directly at them. Zhang Qiu pulled Xiao Jiang back two steps. Pei Qing stepped forward and caught it.

The suspended coffin began to fall. Li Shu used the momentum to leap back to the shore.

Boom boom—

The massive black coffin smashed to pieces.

Zhang Qiu sighed in relief seeing Li Shu safe. Pei Qing spoke: “Li Shu, this man seems to be alive.”

Alive?

Zhang Qiu looked over. Li Shu had just thrown out a man from the coffin. Pei Qing laid him down. Zhang Qiu saw that the man’s body was covered in black shell-like plates. His lips were tightly pressed together, brows thick, and eyes narrow. When he opened them to look at everyone, his gaze was sharp.

The atmosphere turned strange. Clearly, this man was no ordinary human—who crawls out of a coffin alive?!

Zhang Qiu thought maybe he was similar to Li Shu.

“What are you all standing around for?”

Qi Xi’s voice came from behind. He was wearing a large coat, muttering, “Everyone so picky about my body.”

Clearly, Zhang Yushui had tossed the coat to him, disliking that Qi Xi’s nudity might offend the King of Xiapi.

The three of them had returned, but Yue Qincang was nowhere to be seen.

“Where is he?”

Qi Xi looked displeased. “Don’t even mention it. That kid’s agility suddenly got way better. I chased him all the way down, and it was like he knew the way—ran through a tunnel. Zhang Yushui was right behind, almost caught him, but then a woman showed up and took him away.” Then he glanced at the man on the ground and asked Zhang Qiu, “Who’s this? Looks like he’s covered in medicated patches.”

The man suddenly opened his eyes, sharp gaze sweeping toward Qi Xi.

Qi Xi felt a chill and couldn’t help but sass, “You dare look at me like that? I’ll peel off your patches and sell them!”

“Stop talking nonsense,” Zhang Qiu kicked Qi Xi and explained how the man had been pulled from the coffin.

Zhang Yushui looked him over and tentatively called, “Bie Ling?”

Zhang Qiu noticed a flicker in the man’s eyes—there was something there. He asked a few more questions. The man’s gaze turned fierce, and finally, perhaps annoyed by them repeatedly calling him Bie Ling, said, “Kai Ming.” But his pronunciation was odd. Zhang Qiu thought a moment, smacked his forehead and said, “Kai Ming? Bie Ling later became the ruler of Shu, and it was called the Kai Ming Kingdom.”

So the man’s name was Kai Ming.

“Well, my dear Kai Ming brother, can you get up now? Let’s head out early,” Qi Xi said as Kai Ming remained lying there. He shrugged, “Or do you want us to send you back to the coffin? Oh wait, it’s broken. Never mind, get up, and I’ll find a chance to build you a new one…”

Li Shu glanced at Kai Ming’s legs. “He can’t walk.”

“So he’s cripple—uh, no offense, Kai Ming bro,” Qi Xi quickly corrected himself.

Kai Ming’s eyes flashed with malice. Coldly, he said, “That man took my golden bone.”

“Who?” Qi Xi asked, then realized. “Yue Qincang?”

“Yue Qincang,” Kai Ming repeated the name as if he wanted to flay Yue Qincang alive.

Zhang Qiu didn’t know what the golden bone was, but clearly without it, Kai Ming couldn’t walk—anyone would be furious. But even if the monk escapes, the temple doesn’t. Yue Qincang’s home was in Chengdu.

Everyone was thinking the same thing. Whether Kai Ming wanted to reclaim the golden bone, or they wanted to uncover the mastermind behind everything—who had been manipulating things from the shadows since the beginning—or even Qi Xi, who wanted to avenge his father.

It was time to shift from passive to active.

They returned the way they came. Since Kai Ming couldn’t walk, they couldn’t just leave him behind. Qi Xi ended up carrying him. While lifting him, Zhang Qiu noticed that on Kai Ming’s back, near his waist, a piece of the black shell was missing.

His entire body was covered in black plates, except for that spot—pale from not seeing the sun.

Once outside, they saw the floating black stone slabs falling one by one. Like the coffin, they’d probably floated because of Kai Ming. Now that he’d left, they lost their support.

This showed that Kai Ming was no simple person.

Back at the car, Zhang Qiu noticed the two other vehicles were gone—likely Gao Zhihao’s men had already driven off. Kai Ming lay silently in his seat, watching the car interior, eyes flashing with surprise.

Pei Qing started the engine, slowly driving along the mountain road. Kai Ming leaned against the seat and said slowly, “Azure dragon, xiezhi, phoenix… and two undying ones. One divine blood awakening.”

The two undying ones referred to the King of Xiapi and Xiao Jiang. The divine blood awakening was Li Shu.

“And what are you?” Li Shu asked back.

Kai Ming stared out the window, frowning. “After I died, armor grew on me. I don’t know what I am.”

“Died” likely referred to before his body drifted up the river—after which he was rescued in Shu by Du Yu.

Kai Ming looked at the black armor on his arm. Qi Xi, ever curious, pointed and asked, “What’s this stuff for? Protection? How do you bathe?”

“It molts once every thousand years—when the golden bone appears.” Each time, he was at his weakest. Even when awake, he couldn’t lift the lid, and would fall back into endless sleep. Mentioning the golden bone reminded him of Yue Qincang’s theft, and his eyes turned vicious.

Kai Ming spoke slowly—maybe from not talking in ages, or being unfamiliar with their language. He tried to imitate them, and though it sounded strange, they could all understand. His linguistic talent was clear.

“Clearly someone calculated exactly when the golden bone would appear.” Li Shu glanced at him. “Who built the tomb?”

Kai Ming’s thoughts drifted. He shook his head. “At that time, I was covered in armor, lost my strength, unconscious.”

Another dead end.

It was already evening when they returned to the village they’d stayed in the night before. They parked. Zhang Qiu dug out clothes for Li Shu. Kai Ming’s whole body was in black armor—thankfully it was winter, and a turtleneck sweater covered most of it. Hair tied up, hat on—he passed.

“I really wanna smack Yue Qincang. Flirts and runs, leaves me to clean up the mess,” Qi Xi complained, but still helped dress Kai Ming and carry him down.

Zhang Qiu called out, “Hurry up. Aren’t you hungry?”

“There’s food?!” Qi Xi smacked his lips, carrying Kai Ming into the courtyard. “You’re in luck, bro. The cured meat here is great, and the steamed buns—” He stopped mid-step and mid-sentence.

Zhang Qiu stood awkwardly in place. Right as they entered the yard, they saw Qi Zhirong sitting on a chair under the awning—totally out of place, radiating aristocratic coldness. Before Zhang Qiu could speak, Qi Xi entered behind them.

The atmosphere froze.

Qi Zhirong’s cold gaze swept over Qi Xi, then to the person in his arms.

Qi Xi shifted slightly, eyes flickering—but it passed quickly. He looked up and said indifferently, “I’ll take him to his room.”

Zhang Qiu instinctively looked at Qi Zhirong. He had lowered his eyes, unreadable. “Well—” Zhang Qiu started to explain, but Qi Zhirong had already stood and entered the house.

What a mess.

Zhang Qiu looked at Li Shu. Holding Xiao Jiang, Li Shu calmly said, “Go wash up and eat. Weren’t you hungry?”

Forget it. Qi Xi and Qi Zhirong had their own issues—outsiders couldn’t interfere. It was up to them.

Later, when Zhang Qiu came out, Qi Xi was also outside, sitting under the awning but constantly glancing toward the opposite room. Pei Qing came back from parking. “Stop looking. I just saw him leave.”

Qi Xi’s fists clenched slightly, his face sneering, “What’s he got to do with me?”

“I never said a name, yet you knew.” Pei Qing saw Qi Xi was in denial but didn’t push—he remembered the old xiezhi from Zhongshan.

Because of Qi Zhirong’s sudden appearance and departure, dinner was awkward. Only Kai Ming focused seriously on every dish and bowl of porridge. Afterward, Zhang Qiu helped him to his room. Qi Xi looked irritable and went out, who knows where.

Back in the room, Zhang Qiu sighed. Li Shu didn’t ask, just smiled gently and kissed him.

“Still sighing?”

Zhang Qiu was joyfully kissed, arms around Li Shu’s neck, and nodded hard. “Still sighing.”

Lips pressed tightly together, deepening the kiss. Zhang Qiu turned breathless and weak in the legs, clinging to Li Shu. The atmosphere grew sticky, both afraid to meet each other’s eyes. The cramped room wasn’t the right place to express their long-suppressed passion.

Knock knock knock.

“Daddy!” Xiao Jiang called from outside.

Zhang Qiu sat red-faced on a chair, legs still wobbly. Li Shu opened the door.

“Daddy, why is your mouth so red? Did you eat chili?!” Xiao Jiang poked his own lips and asked.

Zhang Qiu reflexively licked his lips—they were still burning—and felt Li Shu’s hot gaze from above. He quickly changed the subject—not good to do shameful things in front of the kid.

“What’s that in your hand?”

Xiao Jiang held a file folder, waved it. “I went pee-pee. Uncle Qi gave me this. The one with the icy face.”

Qi Zhirong? Didn’t he just leave? Came back again?

Zhang Qiu looked at Li Shu. Li Shu took the folder, scanned it, and handed it to Zhang Qiu. “Qi Zhirong found something. Su Zhicai had contact with this person before. The previous jade bi maps came from this person’s companies.”

“The mastermind?!” Zhang Qiu immediately thought of it. Flipping through the file—an English name: Christine D. “It’s a woman?”

The data was extremely convoluted. Without great effort, one couldn’t possibly trace it to this person. The jade bi and maps had passed through dozens of hands. That Qi Zhirong could trace it to Christine, and her connections to Su Zhicai—one contact ten years ago, one in May—was remarkable.

Several other businessmen had interacted with her. Zhang Qiu didn’t recognize them. Li Shu reminded him—likely aliases. Most shocking were the names of Yue Donghui and Yue Qincang.

“Yue Qincang knows the mastermind?”

Zhang Qiu thought of his face—didn’t seem like it. That kid was young and headstrong, eyes clear and stubborn—more like someone being used.

“Whether knowingly or not, we’ll find out when we return,” Li Shu said.

That night, Zhang Qiu gave the data to Qi Xi. Maybe Qi Zhirong had come just to deliver it.

Back in their room, Zhang Qiu cuddled Li Shu, enjoying their intimacy. Xiao Jiang ran over holding a red mist ball, dimples showing. “Daddy, what’s this? Can I eat it?”

Zhang Qiu was startled—he’d been too busy to introduce Second Baby to Xiao Jiang.

“Xiao Jiang, this is—” Before he could finish, the red mist in Xiao Jiang’s hand dispersed. Xiao Jiang’s eyes widened in awe, holding the ball with both hands. After staring a while, he cautiously said, “Daddy, little sister is so pretty. Soft and fragrant.”

Good son—that’s your brother!

Just because he’s pretty doesn’t make him a girl. He has a little ding-ding!

Zhang Qiu moved closer. Second Baby stretched in the mist, half-awake. Long hair fell down. Seeing two big heads peering at him, he blinked curiously.

Both father and son had heart-thumping reactions.

Son: So beautiful! Must protect little sister!

Dad: So beautiful! My precious child!

Li Shu saw their identical expressions and smiled. He leaned in too. The three big faces all stared at the baby in the mist.

But Zhang Qiu noticed a problem—Second Baby was even tinier than Xiao Jiang had been. Though he’d slept nearly a day, he soon looked tired again. Zhang Qiu’s heart ached.

“Sleep if you’re tired.” Then remembered—he hadn’t eaten! “Li Shu, what does he eat?”

Xiao Jiang had needed milk and blood. But where to get milk now? Zhang Qiu didn’t hesitate—he took out a knife to cut his finger. Li Shu stopped him.

“I’ll do it.” He let a small blood drop form on his fingertip and fed it to the baby. The baby sucked hungrily, then looked satisfied and sleepy.

“Such a tiny appetite!” Zhang Qiu worried.

Xiao Jiang also frowned. “Little sister eats too little—won’t grow tall.”

“He’s small. Too much food will upset his stomach,” Li Shu explained. “Xiao Jiang didn’t eat on day one either.”

Zhang Qiu remembered the palm-sized Xiao Jiang—now a chubby, bouncy little guy. He relaxed. Time to study parenting books again. “He’s so pretty—we need a name as striking as Xiao Jiang.”

Li Shu silently looked at Xiao Jiang. Striking?

Xiao Jiang puffed his chest and nodded proudly. “Little sister’s name must be as nice as Xiao Jiang!”

“Good son, it’s your brother, not sister.”

“No way! Daddy’s lying! She’s pretty, she’s a girl!”

“He’s a boy—eh, forget it. You’ll understand when you see his ding-ding later.”

Zhang Qiu enthusiastically brainstormed names, Xiao Jiang cheerfully chiming in. Li Shu, speechless, worried for Second Baby’s future—but seeing Zhang Qiu’s excited face, he let it be. As long as Zhang Qiu was happy.