Little Pink Starfish

Departing from Qingdao, Zhang Qiu originally worried about visa issues—after all, they would be crossing the Yellow Sea and passing through the Korea Strait. But as soon as he brought it up, Qi Xi laughed and said, “What do you think this ship is, exactly?”

“A luxury yacht doesn’t need visas?” Zhang Qiu asked suspiciously.

Qi Xi slapped his forehead and gave him a you’ve-gotta-be-kidding-me look. “Who owns this ship? Forget just crossing into international waters—we could sail right into Japan and no one would question it.”

“That powerful?!” Zhang Qiu once again realized how unusual this ship was.

After dinner, everyone gathered on the deck to discuss the route. Hua Ting pulled out his notebook, filled with his recent research. “I have a theory: the talisman—what you call the Seal—was ordered by the First Emperor of Qin. Our current route closely mirrors that of Xu Fu’s voyage in search of the elixir of immortality. There are many theories, but the most mainstream one says he fled to Japan.” Then he turned to Hei Qian and asked, “When exactly did you guys lose the talisman, and when did you find it?”

Hei Qian frowned. It was ancient history—even before he had taken over his current role. What he knew came from his predecessor.

“Late Han dynasty. There were years of war, but the number of souls we collected below didn’t match. We investigated and discovered someone was secretly refining Yin soldiers—but we couldn’t find them. Later, the talisman was recovered and the soldiers were absorbed into our system. The Seal was kept by my uncle, but during the Song dynasty, it vanished.”

Zhang Qiu raised an eyebrow. “Your uncle being the King of Hell… kind of suspicious, no?” But then again, if the King of Hell really had taken it for himself, what would be the point of sending people to recover it now?

“No need to doubt my uncle,” Hei Qian said dryly. “That guy… well, you’ll see. Losing stuff is kind of his thing. Even the Book of Life and Death—he’s lost that before.”

Zhang Qiu: “…Your uncle must have serious backing.”

“Totally spoiled,” Hei Qian replied with a shrug.

Zhang Qiu couldn’t even begin to imagine the King of Hell being pampered like some coddled heir. His worldview was falling apart.

He turned the topic back to serious matters and asked Hua Ting what else he theorized.

“What if Xu Fu’s mission wasn’t just to find immortality? And what if he never fled in hiding like the stories say?” Hua Ting asked. “If Xu Fu really betrayed the emperor and fled, why didn’t Qin Shihuang send troops after him?”

Zhang Qiu thought about it. True, that emperor had a legendary reputation—powerful and authoritarian. Someone defying him and just getting away? Unlikely.

“Maybe he did send people. It’s just not in the official records,” Qi Xi chimed in, lazily propping up his chin. “This is the same emperor who buried scholars alive. If he was tricked, of course he’d erase the evidence.”

Hua Ting smiled but didn’t argue. “It’s just a theory—unless the First Emperor is still alive.”

Zhang Qiu chuckled. “If he were, he’d probably be in Shaanxi.”

Hua Ting smiled at Li Shu. Zhang Qiu immediately caught on and laughed. “If the First Emperor really were alive like Li Shu, now that would be wild.”

Just imagining meeting the legendary Qin Shihuang excited Zhang Qiu. Though… if the First Emperor turned out to be the enemy behind all this, that would be depressing.

“I actually kind of like the guy,” Zhang Qiu mumbled. “Hope we’re not on opposite sides.”

Li Shu turned to him, face dark. “What do you like about him?”

“Just—” Zhang Qiu immediately changed his tune and slapped on a grin. “I mean, he’s okay. But I like you, General Li Shu!”

Li Shu smirked and pulled Zhang Qiu into a side-hug. “Good. It’s getting dark—we’re going back.”

“Wait, wait, it’s not even dark yet! I want to see the night view…” Zhang Qiu tried to resist, but it was futile. He was dragged away.

Xiao Jiang stopped playing and followed behind them, Xiao Fei perched on his head—a little tail trailing after his daddies. Zhang Qiu looked back and panicked. “Our kid is right there! As much as I want to, we can’t do that in front of him!”

Li Shu paused, glanced at Xiao Jiang, and smiled. “You’re right—we shouldn’t set a bad example.”

Nearby, Lu Feng chuckled. He still remembered Xiao Jiang being made to sit outside with a water basin and rubber duck while his dads got frisky. Now they were pretending to be good parents?

The sea wind was biting cold at night, the waves crashing against the boat. Everyone had mostly dispersed when Qi Xi fluttered his lashes at Qi Zhirong. “Xiao Rongrong, this wind is ruining my skin. Let’s go rest up, hmm?”

Yue Qincang, once a fanboy of Qi Xi, had now fully become an anti-fan. “You’re making me a black fan. I’m off—Kaiming, you cold?”

“Let’s go.” Kaiming said calmly from his wheelchair.

Qi Xi grew even more enthusiastic but was met with indifference. Qi Zhirong simply said, “Go to your room.”

“But I thought we were sharing!” Qi Xi looked to Hei Qian, who smiled and shrugged. “There are plenty of rooms. Mr. Qi doesn’t want to share.”

Qi Xi: …

“I just went to grab my luggage,” he said to Hua Ting and Lu Feng as they passed by, pretending nothing happened.

With the deck emptying out, Zhang Qiu bathed Xiao Jiang and himself. Both kids were squeaky clean—though Xiao Fei shyly hid his front with long hair, while Xiao Jiang proudly showed off.

Zhang Qiu, determined not to get “ravaged” again, put both kids between him and Li Shu on the bed. Surely tonight, he could sleep in peace.

Midnight. Zhang Qiu, fast asleep, suddenly shivered and realized he was no longer in bed. Li Shu’s arm was wrapped around him, pulling him down the hallway.

Li Shu’s eyes glowed faint red. “Cold? Hold me tighter.”

“Li Shu, what are you doing?” Zhang Qiu’s alarm bells rang.

“You said you wanted it, but the kids were in the way. Let’s go to the deck—it’s quiet, and you wanted to see the night view, right?”

Zhang Qiu bolted. But Li Shu caught him and whispered, “Eager, huh? Let me fulfill that wish.”

……

Li Shu came fully prepared. With a blanket, he had Zhang Qiu wrapped up. The moonlight cast silver over the sea and lit up Li Shu’s perfect face. Zhang Qiu, drooling, soon gave in to his desires.

……

Later, Qi Xi, trying to sneak into Qi Zhirong’s room, heard suspicious noises. Peeking out, he nearly got his eyes burned.

Li Shu’s red eyes met his. Qi Xi stammered, “Just passing by!”

Suddenly, he pointed. “There’s something in the distance!”

A moment later, thick, squishy tentacles slapped down on the deck. The ship rocked violently.

Li Shu carried the fainted Zhang Qiu back to their room and rejoined the battle. Hei Qian and Pei Qing arrived as well.

“Move faster, damn it! I almost got slapped by this ugly freak!” Qi Xi cursed, having lost his pillow. In his thin pajamas, he was soaked and unarmed. Furious, he grabbed a tentacle and snarled, “Dare hit me? I’ll make sashimi out of you!”

More tentacles surged out from the sea. The ship tilted dangerously as they slammed the deck, wrapping around Qi Xi.

Li Shu dashed forward like lightning, slicing through the tentacle around Qi Xi’s neck. Hei Qian, now holding a black crescent-shaped scythe, leapt into the sea. A moment later, a piercing scream echoed out.

When he returned, the ship was calm again. The crew acted as if nothing happened, cleaning up the slime.

Qi Xi screamed curses, then—seeing Qi Zhirong arrive—instantly changed tone. “A monster attacked me! Luckily, I bravely fought it off!”

Zhang Qiu would’ve applauded his acting if he were awake.

Qi Zhirong gave a rare nod. Qi Xi took it as permission to barge into his room, playing the injured card.

Meanwhile, everyone else was still processing what had happened. Yue Qincang, shivering in his parka, asked, “What the hell was that?”

Xiao Jiang licked his lips. “Smelled yummy!”

Hei Qian said it was a soul beast, refined by someone using similar methods to Yin soldiers. “Seems someone doesn’t want us reaching our destination.”

Pei Qing recalled Christine—the snake woman from the snow mountain. “Could be the same faction.”

……

The next day, Zhang Qiu woke up and only then heard about the incident. Mortified, he realized he’d fainted through the whole thing. Qi Xi teased him until he got punched.

They continued sailing without issue, passing through the Yellow Sea into the Korea Strait. At a nearby harbor, they docked for supplies before setting out again.

As the afternoon chill set in, Zhang Qiu noticed Xiao Jiang’s bracelet jingling. The boy checked his compass and looked serious. Something was wrong.

Hei Qian warned them: “At five o’clock, we’ll hit the ghost hour—Yin meets Yang. Ghosts roam. Stay inside, no matter what. And no matter what, don’t look into my eyes.”

Zhang Qiu’s heart skipped a beat. He’d never seen Hei Qian without his sunglasses. So he’s hiding something serious…

The tension thickened.

Then, Xiao Jiang said: “Big ship is going the wrong way.”

Hei Qian was shocked. He hadn’t noticed. The captain, indignant, refused to believe a child over his 20 years of experience. But after some hesitation, they decided to trust Xiao Jiang and turned east.

Unbeknownst to them, the captain quickly reversed course once he left.