Little Pink Starfish

C City was a northern city, and by this time of year, it had already frozen over. A few days ago, the first snow of winter had fallen, and now the streets were icy.

In this kind of weather, everyone was bundled up, even the demons. The tavern was full of customers dressed in their winter best—men and women alike decked out in seasonal clothing.

The colder it got, the more luxurious the outfits became. Many were draped in furs—not the typical kind worn by humans, but the kind only demons could get, and far more “expensive” in every sense.

Yuan Yuanyuan arrived early that morning. She took a glance around at the clientele in the tavern. Every single one looked like someone you didn’t want to mess with. Just judging by the mysterious origins of their extravagant furs, she could tell.

She was standing at the counter, warming up bottles of liquor. The tavern had recently received a new batch, and though she wasn’t sure what year the bottles were from, they had a heady aroma that made her feel tipsy just smelling them.

Liquor consumption here was heavy. She’d heard that sometimes the tavern brewed its own alcohol, and other times they imported it from outside.

Clear spirits slowly dripped into clay-colored bottles through funnels. The bottles resembled something straight out of an ancient poem—“Newly brewed green-ant wine, red clay stoves to warm it on.” The demons here, though transformed into modern-day humanoid forms, were surprisingly cultured—more so than most humans these days.

Today, the tavern had even brought in little clay stoves from who-knows-where to place in front of the guests, with warm wine served on the side. They’d even brought snow inside to build snowmen in the parlor just for fun…

Yuan Yuanyuan silently grumbled to herself: One day, when I have money, I’m coming here to drink too. I’ll make the prettiest girl pour for me, drink the best wine, and sit in the fanciest room.

“What’s wrong?” someone asked suddenly. A young woman rushed over. Yuan Yuanyuan was crouched down, fussing with a wine jug, and when she looked up, she saw one of the waitresses who usually worked out front.

The girl didn’t even look at Yuan Yuanyuan. She anxiously scanned the room, her body visibly tense—like she was prepping for an emergency.

Yuan Yuanyuan had seen this expression several times already in recent days. All of them were prepping for the inevitable.

Sure enough…

“Hurry, hurry, hurry!” the girl shouted into the room after not seeing who she was looking for. “Siqun, run! There’s a lady up front who insists on having you come pour her drinks!”

“…” Yuan Yuanyuan froze.

“…” So did Sister Lizi, who had been snacking on sunflower seeds.

Thud! That was the sound of the wardrobe closing—Siqun, it seemed, had reflexively dived into the closet again…

---

“No, no, no… We’ve got plenty of girls here. If you want a drinking companion, I can fetch one for you. But there aren’t many men around, and the girls are a bit shy. We’ve only got a few small demons…”

Yuan Yuanyuan, dressed in a red robe, carried a tray of wine to the front and saw a lady demon sitting lazily in a chair. She had an imposing presence—her hair pinned high with elaborate ornaments, her luxurious layers of purple robes embroidered with golden threads. She looked like a proper queen.

She was stunningly beautiful, lounging with a casual elegance. Yuan Yuanyuan immediately settled on a label in her head: queen.

Wow… Siqun, you lucky dog.

“Don’t you have a guy in a green outfit who’s ridiculously handsome?” the woman asked nonchalantly, admiring her long, crimson-painted fingernails.

“No, no, you must’ve seen that in a comic,” the tavern staff said quickly, waving their hands.

So here’s what had happened…

A few days ago, the cover of Dream Comic unexpectedly featured Siqun. Even though the guy hadn’t been seen much lately, his popularity was off the charts.

The cover used that iconic scene—Siqun launching a kick at a drunk demon in the tavern. That smooth, heroic pose, the dashing expression, the delicate features, that killer sleeve toss…

Demons read comics to look at their favorite characters, and many of them weren’t even caught up on the series. After all, print and online releases didn’t sync. Since most demons didn’t use smartphones, the printed version was their only source of Youji (Demon Chronicles).

And just like that, Siqun exploded in popularity.

It got so out of hand that word quickly spread he worked at this very tavern. Within a couple of days, all kinds of demons were showing up, asking for “Siqun” by name and insisting he serve them drinks.

Yuan Yuanyuan and the other staff formed an impromptu support network. Whenever a fan showed up, someone at the front would tip them off, Sister Lizi would hustle Siqun into hiding, and so far, they’d managed to keep him from getting hauled off as eye candy.

“We’re really sorry,” they said as the group of demons bowed to the departing queenly fan.

Yuan Yuanyuan wiped cold sweat from her brow.

What are these people—a fan club? A cult?

Wait… Actually, yes. They were fangirls. Obsessive, possessive fangirls.

She cast a glance at Siqun, who had sheepishly crawled back out of hiding.

The demons probably didn’t grasp the term “fangirl,” but the ones showing up recently? They weren’t just fans. They were the unhinged kind.

That’s when it hit her.

Oh, right… To ordinary humans, this is just a comic. But to demons? This is their daily life. If they like someone, they’ll literally show up at your workplace.

As she sat alone in a dim backroom surrounded by a chaotic mess, Yuan Yuanyuan contemplated how to tidy up—and if she’d someday get the same treatment.

Would fans ever come looking for “Yuan” the same way they chased Siqun?

…Probably not, she thought. After all, things had been kept under wraps. Very few demons even knew Yuan’s real identity.

She recalled something else—becoming one of C City’s noble clans meant getting a designated territory and certain responsibilities.

This spot she was in now? It was hers. First time she’d visited.

Bundled in a black down jacket, Yuan Yuanyuan had disguised herself as “Yuan” once again. No fancy furs from demon beasts—just this puffy jacket.

She hadn’t visited any other noble clans, and until recently, she hadn’t even realized they existed in C City. Take Fat Cat (Ji Xiangyu) for instance—he came from an influential family too, but in this city? It was like they were invisible.

As for her new “territory,” it was really just a small, old house tucked between a bathhouse and a motel. A standard two-story courtyard home, modest in size but strangely invisible to passersby. A veil of demon magic made sure humans couldn’t see it, even though it sat right on a city street.

Inside, the place was definitely a demon residence—she found talismans scrawled on the beams while dusting.

After cleaning up, Yuan Yuanyuan began thinking about what responsibilities she now had.

At first, she didn’t understand what kind of duties came with being a clan. The white-robed woman later explained:

• Some noble clans maintained C City’s internal order;
• Some brewed wine (turns out most of the tavern’s stock came from a single family);
• Some even handled sanitation—cleaning up the bloody messes left by demon fights before humans could see.

Yuan Yuanyuan paused for a beat and tried to think… What could she contribute?

Can I do electrical work? Replace fuses?

…

Probably not relevant in demon society.

Her 20+ years of life had been pretty uneventful. School, school, and more school. She didn’t master any hobbies. Piano? Dropped. Drawing? Quit halfway. The only thing she was good at was… test-taking.

Some clans specialized in music or painting. Hers? Nada.

This duty seemed mandatory. She spent half a day saying nothing while the white-robed woman nervously waited. Eventually, the woman just said, “If you really can’t think of anything… just make something up.”

Yuan Yuanyuan glanced around the house.

Then her gaze fell on her [Ran Niang] cosplay costume hanging on the wall.

Ah… right. I guess I do have one thing. I picked it up in college, but still…

She walked over to the outfit.

Guess this is the only thing I’m sort of good at…

---

Just then, footsteps sounded outside.

Yuan Yuanyuan quickly bowed her head and pulled up the hood on her coat.

A girl entered, voice cheerful and clear.

“Hey? Someone finally moved into this place?” she chirped. Her voice carried a faint trace of demonic energy—very faint.

The girl immediately spotted the tall figure in black standing inside. He was slim, tall, with his head bowed, neck long and graceful.

“Ah… Are you the new owner of this place?” she asked, her voice softening for some reason.

The man in black turned to look at her. His eyes were stunning. The girl wanted to look longer, but he turned away again.

“Yes,” he said.