Little Pink Starfish

Xiao Jiang was sitting cross-legged, eating a cream puff. Zhang Qiu praised him, “Xiao Jiang is awesome.” The little guy had been on the verge of tears earlier when he wasn’t believed—thankfully they did, or he would’ve cried for sure.

“Daddy is awesome too.” Xiao Jiang bit into the cream puff, his eyes squinting in delight. He held the remaining half up to Zhang Qiu’s mouth. “Daddy, eat.”

“Daddy’s not eating.” It was such a small puff—if he took a bite, it’d be gone. And then Xiao Jiang would pull his pitiful pouty face again. Still… the idea of teasing him sounded kind of fun. Wait—since when did I get this kind of evil hobby?

Halfway through eating, the bell on Xiao Jiang’s wrist rang again—louder than before. He frowned and looked at it. Zhang Qiu soothed him, “Maybe it’s just the course correction. It’ll settle soon.”

Ten minutes later, Xiao Jiang bared his two sharp little tiger teeth and stormed out with a fierce look. Zhang Qiu followed, sensing something wrong. The bell’s clanging grew louder. As soon as he stepped outside, a blast of evil wind hit, making it hard to keep his eyes open—and Xiao Jiang was already out of sight.

Zhang Qiu called out, his voice echoing on the ship. Up on the deck, someone—who looked like Li Shu—was waving at him.

He took a few steps forward, feeling his body not quite under his control. But he knew Li Shu was still inside. That couldn’t be him. Hallucination, he thought. We’re inside the ghost realm.

Almost at the deck, the “Li Shu” figure’s face twitched unnaturally while waving. Zhang Qiu took two more steps—then the bell rang again. His mind cleared instantly. Suddenly, he was yanked back.

“Are you okay?” Li Shu’s voice was worried.

Zhang Qiu relaxed, seeing the familiar face. “I almost fell—what’s going on?” he asked.

Just then, the “Li Shu” before him leaned in, revealing sharp teeth. “What Xiao Jiang?”

Zhang Qiu instantly knew: Another trap. He kicked out, but his arm was grabbed—the thing was strong. He couldn’t shake it off. Damn, I left with nothing on me… He ducked another attack.

Ding-ling! The bell rang again. The fake hesitated. Zhang Qiu used the chance to jerk his arm free and kicked the thing in the face. It dodged, and Zhang Qiu dashed back toward the room.

Someone yelled behind him, “Don’t go!”

Yeah right. Better inside than being your dinner! Just as he reached the door, he was grabbed again. Instinctively, he kicked—only to hear:

“It’s me, coward!”

“The hell it is—you deserved that!” Zhang Qiu threw a punch, which was caught. Then he saw those familiar crimson eyes, full of worry.

“Li Shu?”

Li Shu hugged him tightly. “Look where you are.”

Zhang Qiu looked around and broke into a cold sweat. He’d wandered all the way to the back of the ship. Half his body was over the rail—if not for Li Shu, he’d be shark food by now.

He recounted the hallucination. Li Shu snorted, “These things are clever—using the one you love most as bait.”

Zhang Qiu looked at him, red eyes still glowing faintly. Maybe not clever… just cruel. But damn it, I really do love him most.

On their way back, they saw Qi Zhirong at the railing, pale and yelling, “Qi Xi, run! I’ve changed—I’m not me anymore! Go back, come back!”

Qi Xi rushed out, stunned at first, then ran up and knocked him out cold.

Zhang Qiu: That’s violent as hell.

Qi Xi passed by, grinning. “Told you my Xiao Rongrong still loves me.”

The deck was a mess of fake illusions and dangerous stunts. Zhang Qiu and Li Shu helped where they could. Qi Xi and Pei Qing emerged soon after. Zhang Qiu couldn’t help but reassess Qi Xi—turns out he really had acted out of care. Maybe he’d judged him too harshly.

Then Qi Xi whined, “He woke up and kicked me—I just wanted to give him a kiss!”

Zhang Qiu: Nope. Still the same Qi Xi.

Hei Qian did a headcount. Three people were missing—two of his ghost subordinates and one living human who’d jumped overboard. The sea was pitch black. They couldn’t see where he’d gone.

“Pei Qing,” Li Shu said.

Pei Qing understood the implied command, but Hei Qian shook his head. “Too late. He’s dead—but his soul is missing.” Even more bizarre, Hei Qian’s two ghost assistants had also vanished. Normally, stray ghosts would avoid marked underworld officials—but now all traces were gone.

“Suicidal,” Hei Qian said coldly, gazing out over the fog-covered sea.

The captain came out, trying to rally the crew to launch a lifeboat. Hei Qian stopped him. “You’ll just die too.” Then, smiling, he asked, “You changed our direction again, didn’t you?”

“Mr. Hei, I just thought it was safer,” the captain said, launching into his decades of experience.

Hei Qian’s smile flattened. “You’ve got such a stubborn streak… really makes me want to keep you as a minion.”

Zhang Qiu: He’s about to kill him.

The clueless captain chuckled. “Oh no, I wouldn’t dare. Just trying to help.”

“You should be glad we have rules—I can’t touch you. Otherwise, I’d die of irritation just looking at your stupid face,” Hei Qian muttered and waved him off.

They couldn’t change course anymore. It was already night. They were deep in ghost territory.

Xiao Jiang let out a soft burp, covering his mouth guiltily. Zhang Qiu sighed. Where had this kid wandered off to again? But both kids were fine.

“Brother, give it back,” Xiao Jiang said to Xiao Fei, poking him.

Xiao Fei yawned. Red mist swirled—and two black, dripping blobs appeared on the deck.

“What is that?”

Hei Qian’s face darkened. “My subordinates. Or what’s left of them.”

“Me and brother saw something eating them, so we saved them.” Xiao Jiang looked up expectantly.

Zhang Qiu ruffled his head in praise. “Where?”

“Out on the water. I smelled something tasty. Brother floated me down. But something creepy tried to eat me too—brother beat it up!” Xiao Fei, still yawning, spewed out some glowing white fragments.

“That’s part of the talisman,” Hei Qian said, then paused. “No—leftover scrap from when it was made. Refined daily in the ghost realm.”

A shard of the Heshibi?

Zhang Qiu squinted at the glowing white fragment. It really looked alive…

Hei Qian took the shard and told everyone to stay on deck. They wrapped themselves in blankets but remained alert.

Xiao Jiang’s bell wouldn’t stop ringing. He held his mirror and compass, grinning at his own reflection.

Zhang Qiu massaged his temples. This kid is looking at ghosts like they’re a buffet.

“Dad, look where we’re headed,” Xiao Jiang said, handing over the mirror.

Zhang Qiu glanced—and froze. The ship was heading into a massive vortex of ghost beasts, visible only in the mirror. They clawed and snarled, starving. If we enter that, we’ll be torn apart!

“Hei Qian, look.”

“Don’t look in my eyes,” Hei Qian warned again.

Zhang Qiu nodded. Definitely not. No matter how curious I am.

Hei Qian took off his glasses. Zhang Qiu looked away, shielding Xiao Jiang’s eyes. In the blink of an eye, Hei Qian was gone—only the red glow of his scythe visible.

Screams echoed over the sea.

Within seconds, the howls quieted. Peace returned.

Hei Qian returned, sunglasses back on, bloodstained coat glowing faintly red.

“Everyone can go rest now,” he said cheerfully.

Zhang Qiu: How can one man be this scary yet oddly endearing?

They all nodded. Qi Xi yawned, “Next time, let me show off a bit, okay?”

“Sure,” Hei Qian smiled. “Next time.”

Zhang Qiu shuddered—Why did that sound like how he teases Bai Shengsheng?

Li Shu held him tight. They returned to their room. It was already 4:40 AM. Zhang Qiu passed out almost immediately.

Everyone slept in. By 10, they gathered for breakfast.

The captain sheepishly apologized. He claimed the route was fine yesterday—but today the path was clearly wrong. They were far off course.

Xiao Jiang huffed. The captain apologized again.

Zhang Qiu smiled and said nothing. The man was old. No need to scold him in public.

“Fine! But next time you listen to me,” Xiao Jiang said, puffing up. “Second Uncle said I’ll be a future great exorcist!”

“Pfft!” Qi Xi couldn’t help laughing.

Yue Qincang smiled too, but held it in.

“Bad uncle!” Xiao Jiang huffed.

The group chuckled. Qi Xi immediately tried to win back his title of “pretty big brother” by praising Xiao Jiang. The kid beamed, nose almost whistling with pride.

After lunch, they finally neared the Sea of Japan. Hua Ting calculated, “We’ll reach the island by tonight.”

Snow began falling. Then heavier.

“We’re here,” Hua Ting said, eyes full of excitement.

In the distance, a small island loomed, barely visible through the snow and mist.

“Our ship can’t get any closer,” the captain said nervously. “It’s like we’re stuck in a loop.”

Hei Qian hadn’t spoken yet when Xiao Jiang jumped up. “Second Uncle told me what to do in this case!”

“Oh?” Hei Qian smiled. “Tell me.”

“Since we’re friends, I’ll give you a 12% discount.”

“Xiao Jiang—!” Zhang Qiu groaned. Definitely got that from Second Brother.

Hei Qian laughed. “Just like little Bai. Thanks for the discount. Now tell me the trick.”

Xiao Jiang struck a pose and pointed east, then frowned. “No, it’s weird… maybe that way.”

“Sir, the west side has dangerous reefs—going that way is too risky!” the captain shouted.

Hei Qian turned. Even with sunglasses on, the captain felt a chill.

“I’ll go west,” he said immediately.

“You only get one mistake,” Hei Qian said.

The ship carefully moved west. As it neared, the hull rocked more and more.

“We can’t go further or we’ll crash,” the captain warned.

“Take the lifeboats,” Li Shu said.

Everyone agreed. The boat couldn’t risk crashing. They gathered supplies. Hei Qian instructed the ship to stay offshore.

Pei Qing considered transforming to carry them, but Zhang Qiu stopped him—too risky if something lurked below.

They rowed. At first, all went well. But near the shore, a whirlpool formed under the boat.

Xiao Jiang gripped his compass. The needle spun wildly. Oh no. What do I do?

Hei Qian chuckled. “Maybe Japanese ghosts don’t recognize me.”

Then his black scythe appeared. Instantly, the whirlpool vanished. The water stilled—and even gave them a push forward.

“Smart little ghosts,” Hei Qian said as he stashed his weapon.

Zhang Qiu thought: Good thing we made this deal with the underworld. Without Second Brother, we’d be screwed.