Hua Rongyue and Yi Linglong
The martial world has never been a peaceful place, and in the Jiangnan region, that truth has become even more evident over the past two months.
First came the mysterious fire at Tianyi Tower, in which the previous Tower Master was killed. That incident triggered a wave of power struggles across the region. Even ordinary people—those with no ties to the martial world—caught whispers of the turmoil.
Recently, every night has been marked by the sound of footsteps echoing “thump thump” across rooftops. Those who hear it never dare step outside. Everyone knows in their heart: it’s likely not stray cats but skilled martial artists moving in the shadows.
As for who killed the Tower Master of Tianyi Tower, speculation has run rampant in the martial world. Yet most people lean toward the same conclusion—
It was likely Yi Linglong.
Yi Linglong, the former second-in-command of Tianyi Tower, was widely seen as the heir apparent. But after the Tower Master died, Yi Linglong vanished without a trace.
There’s no direct evidence pointing to him, but there is one thing that many did witness.
On the night of the fire, Yi Linglong was seen in the prison beneath Tianyi Tower. Eyewitnesses claimed he opened the locks and freed the children and martial artists held there.
In these turbulent times, no one noticed when a certain young person arrived in a small Jiangnan town and began working as an apprentice in a local medical clinic.
March 7th — A Small Town in Jiangnan
Inside Baicao Hall, a traditional medical clinic.
Hua Rongyue was helping a patient gather herbs. She’d already been in the clinic for two months and had begun to take on simple tasks.
The clinic had two others: Doctor Qi Xiaofang, and a young female apprentice named Wan Fulián.
“How has it still not calmed down after two whole months?” Qi Xiaofang muttered, lying across a sun-warmed table in the main hall, half-sharing the space with a fat tabby cat.
“Don’t even mention it. I heard banging on the roof again last night,” Wan Fulián groaned, rubbing her eyes. “I was so scared I barely slept.”
“Don’t worry. As long as we don’t go out and see them, they usually won’t break in.” Doctor Qi turned to Hua Rongyue, who was slicing herbs beside them. “Am I right?”
“Right,” Hua Rongyue replied with a soft smile, not pausing her work. “If they dare come in, we’ll just report it to the authorities. No need to worry.”
Hua Rongyue had arrived around two months ago, right during the height of the chaos in the martial world. She looked no older than 20—very young—and it was said she had once been involved in that very world.
But in this small clinic, what drew the most attention wasn’t her past but her almost excessive beauty.
Hua Rongyue was a tall, strikingly handsome man with delicate features. More eye-catching than his looks was his style of dress—always impeccably groomed, whether in expensive or cheap clothes, his outfits were perfectly tailored and spotless. His shoes were pristine, his hair smooth, and his face clean, as if he were always ready to attend a banquet.
Maintaining such an appearance took time and effort and was entirely at odds with the image of a typical doctor. Compared to the other two in the clinic, Hua Rongyue looked more like a visiting noble than an apprentice.
Many people, upon seeing his youthful face and polished manner, doubted his claim of ever wandering the martial world. He seemed too refined, too unlike the dusty, rugged figures that one might expect. People assumed he was a boastful young man spinning tales for face.
So it was no surprise that when Hua Rongyue first said he wanted to be an apprentice, the other two thought he was joking—or perhaps a nobleman out for a hidden tour. But after he quietly and dutifully completed all his apprenticeship tasks within a month, they were shocked.
Who would have thought someone who looked like a pampered pretty boy would be so diligent?
Every day, Hua Rongyue woke early to wash, dress, and prepare the shop. Usually, by the time he was done, Doctor Qi and Wan Fulián were just getting up.
Before Hua Rongyue came, Wan Fulián handled the clinic’s daily chores. But once he arrived, with his meticulous and disciplined nature, both she and Doctor Qi happily handed over the reins.
Traditional clinics weren’t like modern hospitals. A good doctor could keep one running alone. They didn’t usually house overnight patients, and like other shops, opened in the morning and closed at night.
Once he finished organizing herbs for the day, Hua Rongyue told the others he was heading out to buy something. Doctor Qi told him to return quickly.
On his way to the market, Hua Rongyue passed an alley plastered with wanted posters for Yi Linglong. He walked past rows of street vendors and stopped at a stall selling pastries.
As she chatted with the vendor, a nondescript man walked past behind her, muttering softly:
“Eighth Tower… Jiangnan…”
Hua Rongyue’s hands didn’t falter as she picked pastries. She acted as though she hadn’t heard a thing and asked the vendor to pack them up.
The man glanced back casually as he left, his eyes landing on a spot and freezing there.
“What a beautiful pair of hands.”
Hua Rongyue returned to the clinic quickly—almost running all the way. She looked at the sky and asked Doctor Qi, “Not many patients today. Shall we eat early and close up?”
“Huh?” Qi was surprised but agreed. Though Hua Rongyue had only been here two months, he and Wan Fulián had come to see her as reliable.
At first, her looks had made them wary. But after hearing her speak to patients in a gentle yet calm voice, seeing her recall every patient’s condition and prescriptions, and watching her skillfully handle herbs, they were forced to admit—she seemed… dependable?
Their impression of her shifted. Though young and delicate-looking, Hua Rongyue was calm, intelligent, and had a presence about her. Unlike the warm Wan Fulián or the laid-back Doctor Qi, she had a rational, even cold demeanor. When she put on a stern face, she could be quite intimidating to unreasonable patients.
And when they discovered she could make pickles, stew soybeans, and even wrap dumplings—Doctor Qi and Wan Fulián were completely won over.
After tidying everything up, Hua Rongyue returned to her room. Before sleeping, she carefully shut all the windows and doors and placed a porcelain bowl on the windowsill.
To outsiders, she appeared calm and composed. But in truth, once alone, all that fell away.
She let out a long sigh. She felt like she’d just survived another close call.
Just one more day.
Her past six months could be turned into a book titled A Time-Traveler’s Guide to Survival. The first chapter would read:
“According to real-life experiments, under immense pressure and given enough information and practice, a person can impersonate someone they know absolutely nothing about…”
Hua Rongyue had once been a civil servant, an engineering major, and an anime-loving introvert.
Yi Linglong was a professional assassin. A human weapon. A tragic figure with a suppressed nature and painful life.
So how had Hua Rongyue become Yi Linglong?
About six months ago, she woke up and found the world had changed. After a lot of panic and searching, she discovered something—like a Word document—in a corner of her mind. When opened, it displayed a translucent screen before her eyes:
“This is the past and future of a pitiful person. I know you’re confused, but right now, what matters is how to change their fate.”
After reading it, Hua Rongyue felt stunned—and a little sick.
Sure, the new body was taller, younger, and drop-dead gorgeous. But that didn’t mean she wanted to become Yi Linglong.
At 25, Hua Rongyue had finished college and started a stable government job. At 25, Yi Linglong… had already died—and horribly.
This famed assassin had been raised as a weapon from childhood, only to suffer a psychological breakdown from the trauma. His downward spiral began when he took an undercover mission on a pleasure boat, posing as a famous courtesan. He got too deep into the role and… fell in love—with another man.
After returning to Tianyi Tower, he became increasingly erratic, dressing flamboyantly in women’s clothes, wearing makeup, and adopting feminine behaviors.
Eventually, the world labeled him a mad “sissy.” He was surrounded and killed by so-called righteous sects. The man he once loved never looked back.
From Hua Rongyue’s perspective, the story was even more tragic.
Because this “sissy” Yi Linglong… was actually a girl. A real one. One who had disguised herself as a man her whole life for survival.
In Tianyi Tower, women had it even worse than men.
But that’s a tale for later. Before the fire and the old Tower Master’s death, Yi Linglong had been a composed, calculating assassin.
To portray her properly, Hua Rongyue had put in a lot of work—wearing clothes so immaculate they created distance, being hyper-cautious, memorizing everything on her arm, speaking little, and never revealing too much.
Two months ago, she finally saw her chance.
In history, there was a pivotal moment: Tianyi Tower burned, the master died, and the parasitic worms used to control assassins—kept by the master—were lost. In the original timeline, Yi Linglong never escaped. Hua Rongyue, using her foresight, got to the worms first and ran far away.
Somehow, the world spun the tale into Yi Linglong killed the Tower Master.
It’s been two months, and chaos still reigns. When will it end?
Unsure if her identity might be exposed, Hua Rongyue had no choice but to continue playing the role.
“Rongyue,” Doctor Qi told her the next morning, “the magistrate’s office said someone might come by to check on the area’s security. Don’t go wandering—just stay in the clinic.”
The magistrate’s office? Could she be found out?
Probably not. Yi Linglong was famous, but before she lost her mind, few had actually seen her face.
Hua Rongyue froze for a moment. Then, after some hesitation, nodded in agreement.
Little Pink Starfish 
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