Little Pink Starfish

Who the hell is this new character? Why am I seeing him for the first time?

Yuan Yuanyuan stared blankly at the figure in black on her screen. She checked the chapter list and realized she’d accidentally skipped a page. She quickly scrolled back.

Only after going all the way up did she piece the plot together. This chapter was about the male lead tracking a monstrous, evil yokai. The monster was cunning, hiding among humans during the day and hunting them at night.

The artist had been building up this arc for four or five issues now… Talk about dragging it out. Yuan Yuanyuan started getting interested — looked like they finally found the bastard’s trail.

She turned the page and saw that the male lead had chased the monster into a place nicknamed “Chaos City,” a den of monsters from all walks of life — crooks, outcasts, and fugitives. The city was so lawless that even regular monsters avoided it. Only the most desperate or notorious yokai lived there.

For a demon slayer like the male lead, this was the last place you’d want to be. To put it bluntly, this wasn’t a place for someone like him — this city was for those who lived on the edges of society.

Yuan Yuanyuan took a bite of her fish jerky and thought, Wow, this artist really gets it. There really was a place like that in the yokai world — and she happened to be living in it.

Hmm… what would this place be in anime terms? The yokai version of Meteor City? Or the 80th district of Rukongai?

She was almost impressed by her own wild imagination. Honestly, her city wasn’t all bad. It was fairly developed — not famous, but densely populated. For humans, it was a decent place to live.

Just… a bit chaotic for monsters.

She scrolled down. The male lead’s exorcist aura was basically a giant neon sign in a place like this. He was well aware, so he moved carefully, only coming out around noon to avoid drawing attention.

Bold move for a guy walking into the lion’s den. Yuan Yuanyuan shook her head — the plot was getting a bit unrealistic. Unless this exorcist was an absolute badass, no one sane would go in alone.

And if he was that badass… well, she’d never met an exorcist of that caliber.

Truth be told, Yuan Yuanyuan wasn’t especially afraid of exorcists. But she still had to be cautious of the real-world kind — Taoist priests. Still, being a half-yokai meant she wasn’t a top-priority target.

Modern Taoists were a lot more open-minded than yokai. Human society evolved fast, and each new generation thought differently. She’d met a few Taoists who, upon sensing no bloodlust from her, simply let her go.

Regular Taoists weren’t too keen on hunting harmless little yokai. But the ones from those prestigious clans? That was a different story… Still, Yuan Yuanyuan wasn’t worried — she had her own ways of dealing with those guys.

She kept scrolling.

After arriving in the city, the male lead soon tracked down the monster’s hideout and prepared thoroughly. Then, on a rainy night, he made his move. Rain helped mask his aura, so he tailed the monster for a long time. But halfway through, he lost track of him — and panicked.

At the last minute, he remembered a location where yokai liked to hide. He immediately doubled back, suspecting the monster had sensed danger and gone to ground there.

When the exorcist arrived… he saw a shadow fall from the sky — landing squarely on the monster’s head.

Yuan Yuanyuan nearly spat out her milk.

She stared at the image with a What the actual hell?! expression.

The person who landed was wearing a black trench coat, with short black hair falling messily across his forehead. His dark eyes were completely emotionless.

Red. Red everywhere — covering the screen like a flood. Every stroke of crimson was a vivid, striking red.

The figure in black soared through the air, twisted mid-flight, and landed directly on the monster’s head. In a flash of silver, the blade in his hand pierced straight into the monster’s skull—

Slender, narrow phoenix eyes gazed down coldly. No emotion. Even through the thin screen, it felt like the character was staring directly at the reader.

The monster let out a roar, but the man in black — despite only having one arm free — didn’t flinch.

He held a girl in his arms the entire time. Her face was hidden, and she was clearly unconscious.

With a quick twist of his torso, he yanked the blade from the monster’s head and landed firmly on the ground.

The entire fight scene was fluid and intense. Even in still frames, it was thrilling. Every movement — from the leap to the stab to the landing — was drawn with such grace and tension.

The screen was awash in black, white, and red.

Black — the coat and hair of the mysterious figure.
White — the gleaming knife and his pale, bloodless face.
Red — the endless storm of crimson lines.

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Yuan Yuanyuan’s hands were shaking as she stared at the panels — especially at that face.

Her heart was thudding wildly — like it might leap out of her chest. She could hear it pounding in her ears.

She stared at those few frames for five whole minutes. No sound, just flipping the same images up and down like she was losing her mind.

After five minutes, she suddenly stood up and started pacing around the room in a daze. She picked up her phone, stared at it, then put it down. Pulled open the curtains and stared outside.

The street bustled with people and cars, life going on as usual.

She drew the curtains shut again.

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Yuan Yuanyuan forced herself to finish the rest of the chapter. She wanted to know what happened to the exorcist — did he stay or leave? Did he chase after the man in black?

She took a deep breath, suppressing the rising dread, and scrolled down with a hint of despair.

After the man in black landed, the exorcist finally saw who he was holding — a schoolgirl in uniform, face buried in his chest, identity unclear.

He froze.

Though he was an exorcist, he didn’t kill indiscriminately. The situation was murky. He didn’t know who the girl was or who the man in black was. But from the looks of it, the man in black was saving her.

This mysterious figure had no identifiable yokai aura. If not for the sea of red threads, the exorcist might’ve thought he was human.

The exorcist hesitated — should he follow them?

But the man in black didn’t even notice him. He simply turned and sprinted into the night with the girl, vanishing into the rain.

The exorcist tried to give chase, but the man was too fast. The heavy rain masked all traces.

The mysterious yokai’s scent had been faint to begin with, and now the rain washed it away completely. The exorcist searched in vain and had no choice but to give up.

Yuan Yuanyuan let out a long sigh when she reached the end. She felt like her organs were about to jump out of her chest.

She pulled out the black trench coat, grabbed a small knife, and cut it into strips. Then she lit a fire basin and burned the strips one by one.

The red flames climbed the fabric slowly. As she burned, her mind wandered.

That scene in the comic — it was exactly what had happened three days ago. Every detail of that alley was identical. Just looking at the drawings brought the memory flooding back.

She really had altered her appearance that night, disguised her voice, and put on that coat she’d never wear normally.

After wandering for so many years, she’d suffered plenty from being unable to hide herself. But later she learned shapeshifting — not just changing her face, but age, outfit, and even gender.

And honestly, gender was one of the most effective disguises. Dress like a guy, and no one suspected she was a girl.

After burning the strips, she opened a window to air out the room, then picked up her phone and re-read the comic.

If she was right, this “Jiqiu” artist was definitely a yokai — he must’ve been nearby that night, secretly watching everything… and drew it all.

But why?

What was the point of drawing it?

Had she been exposed? Did the artist know the person in black was her?

Staring at the vivid panels, she couldn’t deny how skilled the artist was. The details were so accurate, so lifelike.

Which now made her earlier compliments about how “realistic” his art was seem laughable. Anyone could draw this realistically if they’d seen the real thing.

Yuan Yuanyuan took a deep breath, went to the bathroom, filled a basin with water, and dunked her head in.

No one can find me. I can’t let them.

She was perfectly content with this quiet, stable life.

She wouldn’t let anything ruin it.