Little Pink Starfish

The Brocade Box Hidden in the Stone Buddha

“Did you just hear something?” Gu Xinglang asked Xiao Wei.

Xiao Wei shook his head. With the wind and snow howling outside, he could hear nothing but the wind’s roar. “Someone shouting inside?”

Gu Xinglang rotated the knife in his grip and began descending the stone steps. Xiao Wei followed close behind. The walls seeped with water, and the steps were slick and treacherous. Xiao Wei struck a fire-starter to light the way.

The scent of blood thickened the deeper they went.

The staircase spiraled down for what felt like thousands of steps. Once they were used to the darkness, Gu Xinglang motioned for Xiao Wei to extinguish the flame. They continued on in silence, hands brushing the damp stone walls.

At the end of the stairs was a silent stone chamber. Gu Xinglang listened carefully—only he and Xiao Wei’s breathing echoed back.

Xiao Wei lit the fire-starter again and scanned the chamber. He spotted oil lamps on the walls and quickly went over to light them.

As the flames flickered to life, both men winced and closed their eyes—having adjusted to the dark, the sudden light was blinding.

Rubbing his eyes, Xiao Wei pointed to their left. “Prince Consort, there’s a stone door.”

Gu Xinglang saw it too and stepped forward to test it. It budged.

Xiao Wei tightened his grip on his weapon and helped push. After each shove, they paused to listen for movement on the other side, wary of ambush.

When the gap was just wide enough for a person to slip through, Gu Xinglang said, “Doesn’t feel like anyone’s alive in there.”

The stench of blood grew stronger. Xiao Wei covered his mouth and nose. “This a corpse storage room? You smell that rot?”

Gu Xinglang nodded.

The thick, metallic tang of blood mixed with rotting flesh made the air nauseating.

“Could Jiang Zhuojun already be dead?” Xiao Wei asked.

Why kill someone they plan to send to Yongsheng Temple? Gu Xinglang shook his head and carefully slipped through the stone doorway.

Xiao Wei inhaled deeply, then held his breath and followed suit.

Another chamber. Still empty. Still reeking. This time Gu Xinglang spotted a second stone door on the right.

“What is this place?” Xiao Wei muttered, frustrated.

The layout made it clear to Gu Xinglang that the dungeon had been deliberately constructed in a winding, misleading way.

“I hear water,” Xiao Wei said.

“There’s an underground river nearby,” Gu Xinglang noted. That might explain the convoluted construction—perhaps to avoid the currents beneath.

As they opened another stone door, guards finally appeared.

Their weapons clashed instantly. Above ground, the noise might have been tolerable. But down here, the sound of steel against steel was deafening in the echo chamber.

“Who’s out there?!” Jiang Zhuojun’s voice rang out, hoarse and desperate from the end of a narrow corridor. “Run! Get out of here!”

Xiao Wei dodged a monk’s sword and sprinted toward the voice.

“Don’t come!” Jiang Zhuojun shouted desperately.

Seeing the two monks not pursuing Xiao Wei, Gu Xinglang sensed danger. “Xiao Wei—wait!” he called out.

But Xiao Wei, a trained shadow guard, vanished into the dark corridor.

The monks exchanged glances and then charged at Gu Xinglang together.

Rooooaaar—

A deep, animalistic growl echoed from the far end of the corridor. Gu Xinglang instantly felt the chill in his bones.

—

Meanwhile, Yu Xiaoxiao stood in the cliffside stone cave, facing the abbot Jing Shi. The abbot looked to be in his sixties, dressed in robes, his appearance ordinary, not the least bit threatening.

“Who are you?” Jing Shi asked, shocked. The passage to this cliffside cave was a secret only known to Bodhi Temple abbots. How had these three found it?

“Flew up here,” Ergouzi yelled before Yu Xiaoxiao could answer.

“You took my gift,” Yu Xiaoxiao said coldly. “Refused the antidote. Captured my people. Old monk, how shameless can you get?”

The old Daoist snapped, “Why bother talking? Kill him.”

“Princess?” Jing Shi looked Yu Xiaoxiao up and down. “You’re Fengtian’s Princess Linglong?”

“What do you care?” Yu Xiaoxiao lunged forward and grabbed him by the collar.

Though a formidable martial artist—worthy of his position—Jing Shi was no match for Yu Xiaoxiao. He struggled briefly, then resorted to threats. “Do you dare defy Yongsheng Temple?”

“Defy your sister’s ass!”

Just hearing Yongsheng Temple lit Yu Xiaoxiao’s fuse. With a roar, she hurled Jing Shi into the wall, knocking him out cold.

“Princess, let’s just kill him,” Ergouzi suggested.

The Daoist added, “People like him won’t repent. Best to kill.”

Yu Xiaoxiao said, “Tie him up. Let Xiao Jiang decide.”

The Daoist blinked. “Why?”

“He’s responsible for killing Jiang family children,” Yu Xiaoxiao said. “It’s their grudge. Who else should decide?”

Only then did the Daoist shut up. As long as it wasn’t for Jiang Zhuojun, he didn’t care.

Ergouzi ran up and started tying Jing Shi. Yu Xiaoxiao lifted her head to look at the massive Buddha statue inside the cave.

The Daoist said, “That’s the Tathāgata Buddha.”

“I know,” Yu Xiaoxiao said. “The National Preceptor has one in his temple too.”

“So do we… go back now?” the Daoist asked.

Yu Xiaoxiao gave the ground a tap and leapt onto the stone Buddha.

“That’s probably not okay…” Ergouzi muttered, running back to the Daoist. “Even if the monks are evil, we should still respect Buddha, right?”

“Smart kid,” the Daoist replied. “Then you call the Princess down.”

Ergouzi shook his head. “Even the Prince Consort can’t make her listen. What chance do I have?”

Now Yu Xiaoxiao stood atop the Buddha’s nose—tiny against the massive stone figure.

“What are you looking for?” the Daoist called up. No way she’s appreciating the sculpture.

Yu Xiaoxiao raised her fist and smashed the Buddha’s forehead. Cracks split the stone, and she caught a brocade box that tumbled out with the debris.

Opening it, she frowned. No priceless artifact inside—just a small bronze bell.