Little Pink Starfish

Yuan Yuanyuan picked up the red embroidered ball. For some reason, it reminded her of the song from Red Sorghum:

“From then on, you set up the red bridal chamber,
Tossing the red embroidered ball,
You hit my shoulder,
And we drank a jar together…”

The embroidered ball was actually quite delicately made—bright red, layer upon layer, like a little camellia bloom.

She played with it for a while before finally remembering something. She turned to Siqun and asked,

“Qun’er, why were those little demons throwing stuff at you?”

“I don’t know…” Siqun mumbled, “They’ve been throwing things all afternoon… still haven’t said what they want…”

“Do you know what an embroidered ball is for?” Yuan Yuanyuan held it up. “It’s for choosing a husband. Whoever gets hit by it has to go with the girl.”

Siqun looked confused—but then again, he always looked confused. Yuan Yuanyuan wasn’t even sure if he understood.

She patted his fluffy head, pocketed the ball, and got into her work uniform—a bright red traditional outfit, with layers upon layers.

She couldn’t tell what dynasty it came from, but it looked pretty good. She even took a few selfies in it.

After dressing up, she grabbed a tiny perfume bottle and sprayed herself lightly. Then she headed out.

“If you’re pouring drinks, make it beautiful. Wear beautiful clothes, walk beautifully—everything has to be beautiful.”

She still remembered those words from Li Zi Jie, who had once brainwashed her with this “sexy demoness bartender” philosophy. Yuan Yuanyuan thought it was hard to pull off, but she’d been slacking for a week now without a single demon complaining. That, honestly, was pretty surprising.

She walked down the corridor and, before she knew it, ended up near the wall full of portraits. She glanced to the side—rows of red-toned paintings entered her sight.

The lighting was dim, with golden candlelight flickering. Bamboo plants filled a Tang-style vase in the corner.

Yuan Yuanyuan crept over and pulled back one of the curtains.

“So beautiful.”

Even knowing now that this person was a man, she could still only genuinely describe it as beautiful.

Seven or eight portraits of Seventeen hung on the wall. The largest one showed him lifting a sleeve to his lips. The painting style was old—classic, not very realistic—but it still looked stunning. Willow brows were willow brows. Phoenix eyes were phoenix eyes.

She couldn’t tell what era the painting was from. The artist’s seal was incomprehensible, and the paper had already yellowed.

At first, Yuan Yuanyuan thought this was a painter’s muse or maybe a concubine. But now that she knew it was a man, she felt something… entirely new. A feeling she’d never experienced before.

She couldn’t quite name it. But standing before the painting, she felt a kind of charm, a seductive allure… and a strange, unnameable fascination.

She’d never felt anything like this before. It was like someone had flipped a weird emotional switch inside her, though she didn’t know exactly what it did.

She set down her tray, and—maybe due to a sudden brain glitch—actually struck a few poses in front of the painting. When she realized what she’d done, her face turned bright red.

“Nope. Can’t pull it off. This is way too powerful.”

She glanced around nervously, saw no one, and scurried away like a guilty thief.

---

Time passed, and the date of Wu Jin’s challenge to Yuan crept closer. Some guessed Yuan would show up. Others thought he wouldn’t.

During this time, Ji Qiu stopped drawing anything about the demon world. So the humans were oblivious. But among demons, the debates were on fire—louder by the day.

Yuan Yuanyuan even saw their tavern set up betting tables. Dressed-up little demon girls zipped around with trays, collecting wagers from guests.

She stared at one who flew in front of her with dead fish eyes. Right now, she was pouring drinks for a very handsome demon. She was side-sitting on a long bench.

No money. Not betting. Move along, kid.

The demon wore a black robe with peony patterns. His hair was really long—he sort of resembled that hair-eating demon from Onmyoji.

Since he arrived, he hadn’t moved much. Had quite the presence. He lounged sideways in the biggest chair in the room, propped on one arm, puffing on a long pipe, filling the air with a strange fragrance.

Privately, Yuan Yuanyuan thought—this was top-tier flair. And the hair helped too. He looked… effortlessly relaxed.

Although he probably wasn’t relaxed. Holding that pose all night? His arm must be numb by now.

“Damn it. When I’m rich, I want this life. I’ll hire a hundred people.”

As for now, Yuan Yuanyuan was just one of many servers. A quick headcount showed tons of pretty demon girls working the crowd.

Some laughed, pulling out cash, jewelry, even old gold and silver coins, tossing them into the trays. The trays got too heavy, and the demon girls just hugged them with both arms.

One wearing a blue floral dress floated up to Yuan Yuanyuan, insistently urging her to bet. She glanced at the tray—left for “Will Show,” right for “Won’t Show.” She silently pulled out a tiny demon bean and dropped it in the “Won’t Show” pile. The demon girl scurried off happily.

“You’re all nuts. Two people fighting, and you’re all acting like it’s New Year’s.”

She went home and opened the chat group she used for gossiping about the comic. The message count had hit “99+.” She scrolled through the chat and saw the others were discussing the duel too.

Honestly, who among demons wasn’t talking about it?

She scratched her head and messaged Black-and-Red:

“Bro, do the demons over there know about this too?”

“Yeah, just heard about it two days ago. Now the whole city knows. And that’s with us being far away. Closer cities probably knew earlier.”

“Circle, if I go to C City, can I stay with you for a few days?” he added excitedly.

“Yeah,” said the group owner. “I don’t know anyone there, kinda scared of running into trouble.”

“Hell no,” replied Yuan Yuanyuan. “My place is tiny, I’m broke—don’t come.”

No way she’d let them visit. Her life would be ruined.

“But come on—it could be Seventeen!” the group owner said. “Not just anyone—he’s an ancient demon. If you ignore the old monsters, he’s probably number one in the demon world right now.”

“The purest bloodline,” Black-and-Red added. “Though I don’t usually care about that… I’d still love to see what ancient demons were like. Feels like the demon world’s been fading for years.”

“Just thinking about possibly seeing him next month has me so hyped I can’t sleep. I grew up hearing stories about the Blood Jade Demon Army—but seeing it for real? Never.”

“Don’t come. It’s boring here. I’m just some low-tier struggling demon in C City, barely hanging on. Have to pay tribute to big shots every month,” Yuan Yuanyuan said, adding silently to herself:
And that ‘Seventeen’… probably won’t show up anyway.

She closed the chat and sat quietly, thinking about Seventeen.

At this point, she was 80% sure—Ji Qiu had picked her to replace that “tragic male supporting character” because that character was Seventeen.

Good looks. Tragic past. A compelling personality. Lots of dramatic potential.

And judging by how OP this guy’s life had been, Yuan Yuanyuan figured he’d probably stay OP forever… until his awful, ridiculous death.

Ji Qiu had likely been drawn to the “What if this guy hadn’t died?” scenario.

If he died, he was pure tragedy. But if he lived—that would make for a cathartic revenge story.

Only Yuan Yuanyuan, who knew the truth, realized: resurrection might not be so sweet for Seventeen.

She rubbed her face. If she had known back then… she never would’ve spent so much time perfecting her transformation. That pair of eyes she gave herself looked exactly like Seventeen’s. Ji Qiu probably saw her walking by and went:

“Hmm?”
And then chose her.

That was… ridiculously unlucky.

Which brings us to the real question:
Should she go or not?

Yuan Yuanyuan looked out the window. Outside, a great demon was parading down the street, followed by a trail of little demons. The moon had a shadow over it—blacked out by demon aura.

Go.

Yuan Yuanyuan clenched her teeth and made her decision.

If things really were as she suspected… if that tragic supporting character was Seventeen—then she figured Ji Qiu wanted her to show up.

She had to be at that mountaintop on the 15th. Even if she just showed up to posture and bail, she had to go.

After a month of using the Blood Jade Demon Technique… she felt like her hair was falling out from blood loss. Maybe she really was getting stronger. Maybe she’d last a few seconds longer.

To be honest, the more she practiced the technique, the more she felt how brilliant it was. The person who created it had to be a genius. Sure, it was shady as hell—but she was totally hooked.

So concise, yet so deep. Just a few pages, but sometimes she felt like she was stepping into a mystical state, like something out of a Gu Long novel.

And it worked so well for her. It felt natural.

She mentally reviewed her game plan, brainstorming what she’d do that day. She thought and thought until her head hurt, finally forming a blurry idea.

“Hey, how powerful is Seventeen, really?” she messaged the group.

“You want the truth or a sugarcoated lie?” the group owner replied. “Real talk—if you ignore all the ancient monsters that are dead now, he’s barely the strongest alive.”

Yuan Yuanyuan put down her phone. After reading that reply, her headache got worse.

Well then… let’s hope the heavens take pity on me.