Little Pink Starfish

One Defies Heaven, One Changes Fate

Yu Xiaoxiao flagged down a carriage from the street. As soon as the driver stopped in front of Wuhuan, Wuhuan raised his hand and struck the back of the man’s neck, knocking him out cold.

Yu Xiaoxiao looked at the driver Wuhuan had carefully laid on the ground and asked, “Wait, he’s your master’s guy?”

“I’ve already caused trouble for the princess. That’s bad enough,” Wuhuan said softly. “I can’t drag a random driver into this too.”

Yu Xiaoxiao considered that for a moment, then patted Wuhuan’s shoulder and said, “You did the right thing. We can’t involve this uncle.”

Her use of “we” made a faint smile flash across Wuhuan’s face under his mask—something even he didn’t notice.

The small carriage now held Master Jiyu and his six disciples. Wuhuan drove the cart toward the southern part of Fengtian City.

Yu Xiaoxiao sat beside him, alertly watching the pedestrians along the way. Only then did she notice that the city had a surprisingly large number of religious figures—not just monks, but also Daoists and nuns. At one street corner, she even spotted the same old Daoist who had once blocked her family’s Little Gu and was later robbed by her.

Noticing Yu Xiaoxiao staring intently, Wuhuan turned to see what she was looking at. When the carriage passed the spot, Yu Xiaoxiao was still looking back. Wuhuan glanced in that direction and, with some disbelief, said, “Tian Xingzi?”

“Huh?” Yu Xiaoxiao asked. “What zi?”

Wuhuan stopped the cart and stared at the old Daoist who was passionately spouting nonsense to a group of housewives while waving his bagua banner. Then he told Yu Xiaoxiao, “He’s Tian Xingzi of the Tianji Sect.”

Yu Xiaoxiao gave a hollow laugh. Sounded impressive, but she had no clue what that meant.

At that moment, Tian Xingzi also spotted Yu Xiaoxiao and the masked Wuhuan. He rubbed his eyes hard and looked again—sitting next to Princess Linglong was indeed the person he thought it was! He grabbed his bagua banner and dashed toward their cart.

The housewives who had just been mesmerized by his tale about being destined for noble offspring weren’t having it. They blocked him and shouted, “You haven’t finished telling our fortunes, where are you going?!”

Tian Xingzi gave the plump woman in front of him a second glance and said, “That was your past life’s fate. In this life, you’ve got a poor destiny. No matter how I calculate, you’ll still be poor.”

Not many market women had good tempers. The plump lady immediately smacked him twice across the face, snatched her money back, and spat in his face before storming off with her friends.

Tian Xingzi wiped his face and muttered, “Ignorant woman. Daring to pry into the heavens’ secrets?”

Now in front of Yu Xiaoxiao, Tian Xingzi arrived just in time for her to instinctively touch her own face and ask, “Did you just flirt with that fat auntie?”

Tian Xingzi believed the reason the princess had ended up with the wrong husband was due to her poor eyesight. That woman was like a lioness—what part of her looked worth flirting with? Ignoring the question, he looked at Wuhuan and asked, “Why are you in Fengtian?”

Wuhuan shot back, “Why are you here?”

Tian Xingzi scratched his nose with his grime-blackened fingers and said, “I sensed a change in the heavenly order, so I came to Fengtian to take a look.”

Yu Xiaoxiao tilted her head, “Heavenly order? What kind of thing is that?”

Tian Xingzi rolled his eyes. “You really are fearlessly ignorant, Princess Linglong.”

Wuhuan’s voice was calm. “What have you discovered in Fengtian?”

Tian Xingzi had the urge to say: ‘You married the wrong guy.’ But thinking of the terrible beating he’d gotten last time for saying that, he swallowed it back and told Wuhuan, “Didn’t find much. Just that the world’s about to descend into chaos.”

Yu Xiaoxiao looked at the old Daoist like he was insane. You noticed impending chaos and you’re still claiming you didn’t find anything?

Wuhuan asked, “Is it someone defying heaven to change fate?”

Tian Xingzi was shocked. “You know too?”

Wuhuan replied, “Mo Wen already said long ago that two would emerge in Fengtian—one who defies heaven, and one who changes fate.”

Tian Xingzi’s eyes darted. “I found the one changing fate. As for the one defying heaven… I haven’t located them yet.”

Yu Xiaoxiao raised her chin, looking very serious. “You think I’m the kind to defy heaven?” As someone reborn from a zombie apocalypse, she felt she was already doing that. After all, who else could die with a horde of zombies and then wake up here in another life? She firmly told Tian Xingzi, “Don’t bother looking. That heaven-defying person is definitely me.”

Tian Xingzi had always considered himself shameless, but today he met someone even more outrageous. What a brazen declaration.

Yu Xiaoxiao turned to Wuhuan and asked, “The heaven-defying you mentioned—is it the same kind I’m thinking of?”

Wuhuan: …

Tian Xingzi stared at her with his whites way larger than his pupils. “Princess, you’d better worry about your prince consort.”

Yu Xiaoxiao narrowed her eyes and warned, “Say one more bad word about my Little Gu, and I’ll toss you over the city wall.”

Tian Xingzi shuddered.

“What about the princess’s fate?” Wuhuan suddenly asked Tian Xingzi.

Tian Xingzi glanced at Yu Xiaoxiao. He couldn’t see her destiny clearly, but he figured that was because she was close to Po Jun—the “Breaker of Armies”—whose karmic ties were thin and cold. Given that, Princess Linglong’s fate probably wasn’t anything good either.

“Not good?” Wuhuan asked.

Before Tian Xingzi could speak, Yu Xiaoxiao already looked unhappy. She’d even considered this guy a potential ally—was he hoping her fate sucked?

But honestly, she was also confused. Could fate really be seen just by looking?

Tian Xingzi said, “Wuhuan, your fate right now is the worst.”

“His master’s trying to kill him. How could it be good?” Yu Xiaoxiao retorted.

Tian Xingzi said, “But Yongsheng Temple is far from here. What—has Mo Wen learned some technique to kill across a thousand miles?”

Wuhuan tried to stop her, but too late—Yu Xiaoxiao told Tian Xingzi, “Didn’t you notice Mo Wen is already here? He’s sipping tea with my dad right now.”

Tian Xingzi looked at Wuhuan.

Wuhuan gave a small nod.

Tian Xingzi almost peed himself. Mo Wen was already in Fengtian?! He needed to run—fast!

Wuhuan said, “Daoist, you’d better leave quickly. My master’s never liked people from the Tianji Sect.”

Yu Xiaoxiao frowned. “Your master’s a monk. Why’s he meddling with Daoists too?”

“That beast despises anyone who dares to read the heavens,” Tian Xingzi growled.

“Get in,” Yu Xiaoxiao said the moment she heard that, grabbing Tian Xingzi by the collar and tossing him into the cart. “We’re gonna have a good, long talk.”

“T-talk about what?” the old Daoist stammered.

Yu Xiaoxiao grinned back at him and said, “You hate Mo Wen too. That makes us buddies. Let’s plan how to kill him together.”

This time, Tian Xingzi really did pee himself.