Little Pink Starfish

The Monster in the Ministry of Justice

“I…” Emperor Xianzong looked at his hand in disbelief. Just a single touch and he knocked out his daughter’s tooth? That couldn’t be right!

“Princess?” Gu Xingnuo gently lifted Yu Xiaoxiao’s chin, his voice tense. “Let me take a look.” Was this the onset of the pill’s poison? Yongsheng Temple was known to have poisons that could dissolve bones—could this pill make teeth fall out first?

As soon as Yu Xiaoxiao opened her mouth again, blood began to flow from it.

“She’s coughing blood?!” Jing Mo exclaimed in shock.

“I didn’t even use any force!” Xianzong said anxiously.

Xiao Wei rushed over at this point, forcing his way past Xianzong without hesitation. When he saw the princess’s mouth full of blood, his eyes turned red with anger. “I’m going to find Mo Wen!”

Jing Mo also reflexively made to follow him.

“No, it’s not that,” Yu Xiaoxiao spat out a mouthful of blood onto the ground. “It’s just a tooth. I’m not poisoned.”

“You think you’re still teething or something?” Xianzong roared. “How does a perfectly good tooth just fall out?!”

Yu Xiaoxiao shot her foolish father a sideways glance. “Ask the tooth.” She was beyond frustrated. She’d overused her powers again—so much that her tooth fell out. This damage was worse than she’d expected. She looked at her small frame and grumbled internally: When the hell was she finally going to finish developing?!

“Yu Linglong!” Xianzong was hopping mad with worry.

“Your Majesty!” Just then, a bailiff from the Ministry of Justice rode up to the Temple of National Protection.

Everyone turned to look at the officer.

The bailiff leapt off his horse in front of the emperor and dropped to his knees. Xianzong scowled and said, “What, you’re here to tell me the prince consort set fire to the Ministry of Justice?”

The bailiff froze for a second. Why would the prince consort suddenly want to burn down their office?

“Speak!” After shouting at his daughter, Xianzong turned his fury on the bailiff.

Jing Mo took a waterskin from one of his men and handed it to Yu Xiaoxiao. “Rinse your mouth.”

“Oh,” Yu Xiaoxiao, aware that her bloody appearance was far from ladylike, took the waterskin and rinsed.

Gu Xingnuo stood by helplessly, not knowing what to do.

The bailiff, cowed by the emperor’s yelling, didn’t even dare lift his head. Trembling, he said, “R-reporting to Your Majesty… A-a monster broke into the Ministry of Justice and started killing people. Lord Guan… and the others were k-killed by the monster!”

Yu Xiaoxiao immediately spat out a mouthful of water in shock.

Xianzong dug at his ear. “What did you say? Say that again!”

“A monster, Your Majesty!” the bailiff cried.

“I…” Xianzong was at a loss for words. Then he just started kicking—monster?! Was this bastard trying to mess with the emperor? He’d wipe out this fool’s whole family!

The bailiff took two solid kicks from the emperor, but still stayed kneeling and shouted, “It’s true, Your Majesty! It kills people, and we… we can’t kill it no matter what we do!”

“You’re spouting nonsense, I swear—”

“Move!” Yu Xiaoxiao darted in, shoved her father aside, and hauled the bailiff up from the ground. “What does the monster look like?” she demanded.

The bailiff’s face twisted with fear. “His… his face is rotted, his body too. Doesn’t even look human…”

Xiao Wei rushed up. “And his body smells like a corpse?”

“Yes!” The bailiff nodded furiously.

“Where’s Xiao Gu?!” Yu Xiaoxiao shook the bailiff. “Where’s my Little Gu?!”

“Xiao… Xiao Gu?”

“The prince consort,” Xiao Wei clarified.

“The prince consort is still at the Ministry,” the bailiff finally answered.

Yu Xiaoxiao dropped the bailiff and took off running toward the Ministry of Justice.

Xiao Wei stamped his foot and ran after her.

Xianzong was helped to his feet by the head of the Imperial Guards. He couldn’t even process what was happening—his daughter had just lost a tooth, and now she was off running again?

Gu Xingnuo swung up onto his horse and took off at full gallop for the Ministry.

Jing Mo stood frozen like Xianzong. A monster? That officer said there was a monster? How could such a thing exist in this world?

While Jing Mo was still stunned, Yu Xiaoxiao suddenly dashed back and shoved a jade bottle into his hand. “This is the antidote—one pill is enough. Go save him first. I’ll come to you after.”

“Princess, I—”

Jing Mo barely got three words out before Yu Xiaoxiao turned and bolted again, fast as the wind.

Xianzong stared at the bottle in Jing Mo’s hand. “Someone’s hurt? Who?”

Jing Mo looked at him, sighed, and whispered, “Wuhuan.”

Xianzong’s eyes widened.

Jing Mo asked, “What are Your Majesty’s orders?”

“My hearing’s been getting worse lately,” Xianzong replied. “What did the crown prince just say to me?”

Jing Mo just looked at him in silence.

Xianzong turned to the head of the Imperial Guards and said, “To the Ministry of Justice.”

The commander pulled a long face. “Your Majesty, I beg you to return to the palace…”

Xianzong let out a heavy breath. Return? Like he could sleep with this going on? “Shut up,” he scolded, and climbed into his carriage.

At the Ministry of Justice, Gu Xinglang stared at the creature in front of him—something neither man nor ghost. If he hadn’t seen it with his own eyes, he would never have believed such a thing could exist.

Under Gu Xinglang’s orders, the bailiffs formed a circle around the creature. They fired arrows from a distance but didn’t engage it in close combat. If the monster tried to approach, they fell back, never letting it get near.

Gu Xinglang had no idea how to deal with this thing. His thinking was simple: what if the monster was poisonous? With so many unknowns, they couldn’t risk physical contact.

The monster moaned and groaned. Though its body was riddled with arrows, it remained standing. The barrage had no effect.

Xiao Zhuang stood by Gu Xinglang’s side, muttering, “What is that thing? Its blood is black and… and it won’t die!”

“Fire!” Gu Xinglang barked coldly.

Another wave of arrows flew toward the creature. It staggered back a few steps but still didn’t fall.

“This won’t work!” Xiao Zhuang cried anxiously.

Gu Xinglang took a bow and arrow from one of the bailiffs. He drew and loosed the arrow—a short-feathered bolt that struck directly into the monster’s left eye.

The creature raised a hand and touched its eye. Suddenly, its cries grew louder, a shriek so chilling that everyone present felt their blood run cold.

“It doesn’t even feel pain!” a young bailiff snapped, his mind on the verge of collapse. “Where the hell did this monster come from?! I’m going in!”

“Stop him!” Gu Xinglang shouted.

Several nearby bailiffs rushed to grab the young man before he could charge forward.

The monster now pulled the arrow from its eye socket.

“What is that?!” one sharp-eyed bailiff suddenly screamed.

Gu Xinglang saw it too—red worms were spilling from the creature’s eye.

His breath caught in his throat.