Little Pink Starfish

Little Gu Doesn’t Understand Xiaoxiao’s Sadness

The courtyard wall collapsed with a massive crash, but even such a loud noise didn’t stir Yu Xiaoxiao from Gu Xinglang’s arms. Tonight, she had watched Wuhuan lose the love of his life. Even though she’d been a tough-as-nails military instructor in her past life, when it came to matters of the heart, women were always more emotional than men—Yu Xiaoxiao was no exception. Her Little Gu was safe and sound, holding her in his arms right now, and yet thinking of how Wuhuan would now truly be alone forever filled her heart with a tangled mess of emotions. Having been single her whole previous life, she had never experienced this kind of feeling—grateful yet heartbroken all at once. Right now, Gu Xinglang’s embrace was the only thing grounding her in this world.

Gu Xinglang simply assumed his young wife—only thirteen, after all—had been badly frightened by the night’s events. He gently and repeatedly whispered comfort into her ear. “I’m okay. Don’t be like this, alright? I really am fine.”

Yu Xiaoxiao sighed. Little Gu didn’t understand her sorrow. As a genetically-evolved human who had fought zombies, arriving in a world where the average combat ability of humans was far below hers, it was unbearable to discover that even here, she couldn’t always protect the ones she wanted to protect. It was a truly painful truth.

Xiao Wei crouched in front of Gu Xinglang at this point. Compared to Xiao Zhuang, his ability to accept strange realities was far stronger. He pretended not to notice the two people hugging in full public view and quietly reported to Yu Xiaoxiao, “Princess, the monster was burned to death. The worms crawling in the courtyard are the same as the ones we saw at the Temple of National Protection.”

Only then did Yu Xiaoxiao lift her head from Gu Xinglang’s embrace.

Xiao Wei asked, “What if one of those worms bites someone… what would happen?”

Yu Xiaoxiao stood up. Xiao Wei’s question struck her—right, what if someone had been bitten? Would it be like the zombie virus? Would it spread from one person to another?

Xiao Zhuang said, “No one got bitten, right?”

Gu Xinglang added, “Everyone kept their distance. Anyone who saw a worm burned it with fire. No one should have been bitten.”

Yu Xiaoxiao looked around at the people nearby. They all seemed fine, but zombie viruses had incubation periods—some short, some long. Who knew if these worms worked the same way?

Xiao Wei said to Gu Xinglang and Xiao Zhuang, “Only the person bitten would know. What if someone was bitten?”

Gu Xinglang and Xiao Zhuang both turned pale.

Xiao Zhuang looked like he was in a nightmare. “If someone was bitten, would they… would they turn into that monster?” Was there even a point in living after that?

Raindrops suddenly fell on Yu Xiaoxiao’s face.

“It’s raining now?” Xiao Wei wiped his face.

A torrential downpour followed almost instantly.

Damn it all to hell!

Yu Xiaoxiao stared at the weakening fire, now smothered by the rain, and exploded in anger. “We’re in the middle of burning these bugs, and you send rain? What—is the world not miserable enough already?!”

“Worms! More of them!” a bailiff shouted.

Yu Xiaoxiao fell silent and turned to where the man was pointing.

Gu Xinglang saw the bailiff stomping on a worm and yelled, “Don’t touch them! Fall back!”

The bailiff heard him, but it was too late—his foot had already come down. A thick spray of red fluid spattered from beneath his sole.

Yu Xiaoxiao rushed over. On the bailiff’s face, a red worm clung tightly, its head nearly touching his eye. Without a word, she raised her knife and struck.

The bailiff felt a sudden chill on his face as the red worm was sliced in half and fell to the ground.

“Rinse your face with water!” Yu Xiaoxiao shouted at him.

The bailiff didn’t even have time to ask why. He bent down and splashed rainwater all over his face.

Yu Xiaoxiao looked down. The two severed halves of the worm were still wriggling—they had become two new worms.

“More worms!”

“There’s some over here too!”

…

The scene turned chaotic as more bailiffs shouted. The rain had weakened the fire, giving the worms a chance to escape the blaze.

“Everyone fall back!” Gu Xinglang commanded loudly.

Yu Xiaoxiao wanted to summon lightning and fry the entire courtyard again—but she simply didn’t have the strength anymore. After overexerting herself, her ears were now ringing painfully.

“Find kerosene!” Gu Xinglang shouted to Xiao Zhuang. “The Ministry must have some—go!”

Xiao Zhuang nodded and grabbed a fleeing official, dragging him toward the storeroom.

“Princess!” Gu Xinglang called again.

But Yu Xiaoxiao couldn’t hear. Her ears were filled with a high-pitched whine, like a broken audio feed. The sound was unbearable. She shook her head hard. The only thing she could do now was relax and let go of the excess energy building in her body to ease the ringing. This was her weakest moment yet.

Gu Xinglang saw that despite calling her several times, Yu Xiaoxiao didn’t respond. He hated himself for being unable to walk. “Go check on her!” he said to Xiao Wei.

Xiao Wei called a few bailiffs over to guard Gu Xinglang, then ran to Yu Xiaoxiao.

“P-Princess,” the bailiff she’d just saved said, “my… my face is itchy.”

Yu Xiaoxiao couldn’t hear him, but she could see the wriggling under his skin. Beneath the surface of his face, five or six worms were already crawling.

The young man’s face was unbearably itchy. He raised a hand to scratch.

Yu Xiaoxiao grabbed his hand. Touching the worms would only agitate them, making them crawl faster. “Stand still,” she said. “I’m here. You’ll be fine.”

Xiao Wei arrived just then. One look at the bailiff’s face and all the color drained from his own.

This bailiff couldn’t have been more than a teenager. Now, held by the princess, he stood frozen with fear.

“Princess!” Xiao Wei instinctively reached for her, trying to pull her away.

“Save me,” the young bailiff cried out when he saw Xiao Wei trying to pull her back. “P-Princess, I don’t want to die!”

Yu Xiaoxiao pulled out the dagger Jing Mo had given her for protection. With one swift move, she slashed open the boy’s face.

Rainwater washed over the exposed muscle, but the boy didn’t feel any pain. He just kept begging Yu Xiaoxiao not to let him die.

Yu Xiaoxiao looked at him—still so young, only a teenager, with his whole life ahead in a good world like this. Of course he was scared of dying.

Xiao Wei, however, was losing patience with the constant pleading. He snapped, “Shut up!”