Little Pink Starfish

A lot happened in the tavern in just one night.

The place had just begun to settle down when yet another unexpected incident stirred everything back up into chaos.

“No way…” the protagonist stood in the back, utterly confused as the front descended into noise again. “Who’s here now? Three people coming to stir up trouble in one night? This tavern is way too unlucky today.”

He didn’t really dare get too close to the crowd. He was injured—anyone getting too close might catch the scent of blood on him.

He’d already been slightly wounded during the earlier assassination attempt. It wasn’t serious at first… but then he ran into that psycho.

A real psycho.

Better not to mention it. Just thinking about it gave him a headache.

Quietly tailing the crowd up ahead, he whispered, “Who came? Who?”

“It’s the same guy from last time.”

“Him again? But the tavern today didn’t even—”

“Wait… was today’s Mister Bai also killed by him?”

“The same guy from last time?” His brows furrowed even deeper.

The guy who came last time… and the one who came tonight… they weren’t the same person. Most people wouldn’t know, but the protagonist definitely did.

He couldn’t figure out what exactly was going on, but from what the others were saying, something serious must’ve happened out front.

Deep down, he really wanted to know what was going on—but this was clearly a great chance to escape. If he missed it, he wasn’t sure he’d get another.

Sneaking toward the exit, he kept his movements as smooth as possible. He was good at disguises, but in his current state, he could even smell the blood on himself. Let alone these demons, whose noses were sharper than hounds’.

The crowd up front got denser and denser. Just as he was about to squeeze through, someone suddenly yanked him back—a hand clamped tightly around his neck.

In that moment, his whole body tensed… but three seconds later, he relaxed.

He played along with the person behind him, staggering as if he’d lost his balance and been dragged away.

Then he heard that person yell dramatically, “Ah! A girl’s been taken! Someone help—he just dragged a girl off!”

“They ran off! They’re gone!”

…

Yuan Yuanyuan didn’t have many self-defense skills, but the few she had had gotten her through some rough patches. Like this one—it was kind of like a decoy technique.

She’d used it to trick plenty of people before, even when rescuing Xiao Ying.

The decoy couldn’t move much or last too long. One good hit and it would vanish, so it was kind of a meh-tier spell. But with enough time and creativity, Yuan Yuanyuan found it perfect for misdirection—just like now. Set a decoy, and everyone’s attention was drawn away. No one noticed she was actually sneaking up from behind.

Her original plan was just to quietly assist the protagonist, and if things got messy, blend into the chaos. Working in this tavern for so long, she knew the layout well enough. Setting off a smoke bomb or two? Easy.

But the moment she entered the crowd, she caught the scent of blood. Following the smell, she spotted someone vaguely familiar.

She watched for a while, then confirmed it—that was definitely the protagonist. This time, he’d switched his disguise again, turning from a loli look into a sultry older woman.

The “lady” reeked of blood. A few people nearby had noticed, but nobody wanted to get involved. The “lady” clearly knew she was in danger too, and was deliberately keeping to quiet corners.

Yuan Yuanyuan was low-key shocked. Bro, are you serious? You didn’t notice how strong your blood scent is? Or did someone smack your brain loose just now?

The disguised “lady” was edging closer to the exit, but there were too many demons near the front. Yuan Yuanyuan thought for a bit and came up with a plan.

First, she deployed a decoy to draw people’s attention. The Black-Clad Man still held a ton of intimidation power in this tavern—mainly because the last time she smashed the place up, she did it so hard that everyone remembered it vividly.

So when she appeared openly in her black outfit, no one dared move.

She took the chance to grab the protagonist and bolted.

She dragged him through one of the secret back routes most outsiders didn’t know about. The tavern had quite a few hidden passages.

It was an old building, and rumor had it that every beam and brick had its own meaning. Some parts of it even functioned like a maze—Yuan Yuanyuan thought it was fascinating.

Using the secret paths she’d memorized, she slipped through a side door disguised as a drainpipe and finally got them both out.

“Gratitude unspoken—uh, savior, what’s your name?” the protagonist, no longer an idiot, realized she was saving him, not trying to kill him.

Classic two-person con: pretend to be enemies, one “kidnaps” the other, but they’re actually working together.

Yuan Yuanyuan sniffed him. No strange smell on his skin, but blood had already soaked through his clothes.

By now, the Hundred Demon Parade was long over. The streets still held lingering traces of “demonic aura.” Yuan Yuanyuan called it that just to make sense of the strange atmosphere. She dragged the protagonist along until they were far enough from the tavern—most folks probably still thought they were inside.

She set him down, went to a pharmacy, bought some alcohol and cotton pads, and returned to treat his wounds.

“Hey… mind at least telling me your name?” the protagonist asked weakly from behind.

“Just call me Yuan,” she replied, not looking up.

“Yuan? Which ‘Yuan’?”

“Not my real name.”

“…You’re weirdly honest,” he muttered. “How come you’re so familiar with the tavern layout? You a regular? That place ain’t cheap.”

“I worked there.”

“…That’s also not true?”

“Nope.” She pressed a cotton swab onto his wound.

“…Bro. Could you try being a little honest? This conversation is impossible.”

She finished patching him up and stood to leave. He, however, kept babbling behind her.

“Big Boss, you must know about the smuggling going on, right? You also think it’s messed up, don’t you?”

“It’s not that messed up,” she replied. “You eat chicken, duck, goose, right? The only difference is, those are legally sold.”

He went quiet. Then, “So what do you think we should do?”

“Oh, that’s easy,” Yuan Yuanyuan said, glancing back. “Kill every last one of them. Once one side’s wiped out, the world’s at peace.”

His expression was fantastic. “Are you serious?”

“Nope.”

“…I’m not sure I believe you.”

She packed away the cotton and alcohol. “Believe what you want. Just rest and don’t go out for a while.”

She said this without even turning back and left.

The streets were nearly empty, touched by a chilly early-morning mist.

She hadn’t seen the Parade itself, but judging by the lingering fog, it must’ve been epic. The thick mist likely wasn’t just weather—it was probably the result of so many demons gathering and leaving behind residual energy.

When she finally reached home and opened the door, she was greeted by the sight of two fully dressed kids sitting stiffly in her living room—looking like they were ready for school.

Yuan Yuanyuan blinked. Wait a sec… it’s the weekend, right? Why aren’t these two catching up on sleep like normal teenagers? What are they doing in my house?!

Her instincts immediately shifted to alert mode, though her expression stayed neutral as she calmly closed the security door behind her.