Little Pink Starfish

Only the Petty Are Overly Sensitive

Lightning blasted through the roof where Master Jiyu was standing, snapping beams and causing the entire house to collapse in an instant.

Manpower versus the forces of nature—no need to guess who won. Master Jiyu tumbled down with the collapsing structure.

Wuhuan was stunned. This was even harder to believe than when Yu Xiaoxiao had kicked down an entire temple with both feet. The lightning had come so quickly and disappeared just as fast—if not for the demolished house in front of him, Wuhuan would’ve thought he imagined the whole thing.

Yu Xiaoxiao looked at the crushed figure of Master Jiyu and then turned to Wuhuan. “It’s over,” she said calmly.

Wuhuan struggled to form words. “Th-th-this lightning, this man, this…”

“Oh,” Yu Xiaoxiao casually pointed toward the sky. “If it wants to thunder and rain, what can we do, right?”

Wuhuan looked up. The sky was a spotless, crystal-clear blue. This… this looked like thunderstorm weather?

Yu Xiaoxiao saw he clearly wasn’t buying it, so she added, “You know, they say my mother is up in the heavens. Every time she sees me getting bullied, she sends down some lightning. Heh, my mom’s pretty nice, huh?”

That… that was even harder to accept than the thunder theory.

“Come on, let’s go check it out,” Yu Xiaoxiao said, grabbing Wuhuan’s hand and hopping down from the tree.

Once on the ground, Wuhuan momentarily pushed the strange lightning incident aside and headed straight to the collapsed ruins to check on Jiyu.

Master Jiyu lay beneath at least three thick beams and a heavy pile of bricks and tiles, unconscious.

Wuhuan frowned. Someone like Jiyu, with such deep internal strength, wouldn’t pass out just from being buried. As he stepped closer, he saw a thinner roof beam pressing directly on Jiyu’s throat. That had to be the real cause of the unconsciousness.

With blood at his mouth and nose, Jiyu finally looked more like a man and less like the revered monk who once seemed capable of achieving enlightenment with a single thought.

Wuhuan clenched his fists. Should he just kill Jiyu right here?

“Wuhuan,” Yu Xiaoxiao suddenly appeared behind him, calling out.

He turned around to see her holding his wooden mask.

“Found it,” she said, handing it to him. “If you care that much about hiding the scar, here—put it back on.”

Wuhuan looked at the mask, which still had a clump of mud stuck to it.

Yu Xiaoxiao noticed his gaze, shook her head, and said, “Seriously? A grown man this picky?” She took the mask back, wiped it clean with her sleeve, and handed it to him again. “Better now?”

Without a complete face, any emotion Wuhuan showed looked twisted and unsettling. Despite never lacking servants in his life, looking at Yu Xiaoxiao now made him realize just how long he’d been alone. He didn’t even know what to say to express gratitude anymore.

When Wuhuan didn’t take the mask, Yu Xiaoxiao tiptoed and fitted it on his face herself. “You can’t go on like this,” she said. “You’ve got to look forward. Only petty cowards get all emotional. You want to be a petty coward?”

Wuhuan: …

“There,” Yu Xiaoxiao said, adjusting the mask. “Looks good. And about that silver my dad gave you? You should keep it. Buy some grain and stockpile it.”

“Buy grain?” Wuhuan asked.

“Your master’s clearly not letting you off,” Yu Xiaoxiao said seriously, trying to help him plan. “If you’ve got enough food to last a few years, just hide away and let your master search all he wants. That’ll really piss him off.” In her apocalyptic worldview, every secure zone had huge grain stores. Nothing was more practical than food. “Think about it,” she added. “People can live without clothes, but not without food, right?”

Wuhuan was silent for a while before giving a vague “Mm.” There were some topics he simply couldn’t discuss with her.

“Take them with us,” Yu Xiaoxiao said, pointing to the unconscious monks. “My big bro said you need to leave the city ASAP. But since your master’s already onto you, running might not help. Better to find somewhere to hide for now.”

Wuhuan didn’t reply.

Yu Xiaoxiao looked at him and asked, “Or… should we just head straight into the palace? I’ll help you kill your master.”

Wuhuan’s eyelids twitched violently.

Seeing he still hadn’t decided, Yu Xiaoxiao muttered, “So dramatic,” and ran into the dungeon.

Wuhuan stared blankly as she ran off, and not long after, she came back out carrying a big bundle of iron shackles.

She dropped them with a clank. “Made up your mind yet?”

Wuhuan’s mind was still a blank, unsure of what to do next.

Yu Xiaoxiao said, “Still undecided? That’s fine. Take your time. I’m not in a rush.” She went ahead and chained up the monks. One of them, the one lying with the corpses of Chen Qi and Chen Mie, actually regained consciousness and was about to shout at her—until Yu Xiaoxiao knocked him out again with a punch before he could say a word.

Wuhuan looked at Master Jiyu, now tightly bound with three loops of iron chain around his neck, and took a deep breath. “Where else can I go?”

“You only had one hideout?” Yu Xiaoxiao asked.

Hideout? Wuhuan sighed. “Princess, I’m not a bandit.”

Yu Xiaoxiao was silent. With someone this emotionally fragile and facially disfigured, finding true love was going to be hard.

“I’ll try to leave the city,” Wuhuan finally said.

“I’ll go with you,” Yu Xiaoxiao offered.

Wuhuan pointed at Jiyu. “How are we taking them with us?”

“There’s a rental carriage stop nearby,” Yu Xiaoxiao said. “I heard a guy yelling about it when I came—leaving the city only costs four copper coins. I’ve still got two steamed buns’ worth of money.”

“You’re renting a carriage?” Wuhuan asked uncertainly.

Yu Xiaoxiao blinked. “You have one ready to go?”

“No,” Wuhuan admitted.

“Then should I just go steal one?” Yu Xiaoxiao asked, getting a little frustrated. “Why is talking to you so exhausting?”

Wuhuan said, “I mean… why don’t we just kill them?”

“They might still be useful,” Yu Xiaoxiao disagreed. “They’re perfect hostages. If we can’t fight Mo Wen, we’ll need leverage for negotiations. How can we talk without bargaining chips?”

“If I can’t leave the city, where else can I go?” Wuhuan knew they wouldn’t agree on this, so he changed the subject.

Yu Xiaoxiao curled her lip. “Why all the what-ifs? Just take it one step at a time. Wait here, I’ll go get a cart.”