Little Pink Starfish

To be honest, if this monster hadn’t come back and pulled this stunt, Yuan Yuanyuan probably wouldn’t have wanted to kill her so badly.

After all, the monster looked like she could run fast. Without her Tiangang or Disha techniques, Yuan Yuanyuan wouldn’t have been able to catch up. And the monster had been running toward the edge of the child demon district—if she escaped before Yuan Yuanyuan could catch her, Yuan Yuanyuan wouldn’t have bothered chasing her for no reason.

Yuan Yuanyuan didn’t dare to use magic in front of this group of girls, so she chose to use the Red Vine Earth Escape technique instead. Who would’ve thought the monster would come back right then…

Seeing the monster, Yuan Yuanyuan was momentarily stunned—then who was her red vine chasing?

Then it hit her: the one she was chasing now… was likely the body of this head.

Which meant… this creature’s head and body could be separated. The body had already run off, but the head had flown back to mess around a bit.

Demonic energy suddenly spread thick through the area. The barrier spells on the nearby streets sensed it and instantly activated, forming a massive shield overhead.

These had been set up beforehand on both sides of the road. Once they detected strong and hostile demonic energy, the area would be locked down, and the local demon enforcers and cleaners would be notified.

Yuan Yuanyuan stared at the strange, slightly grotesque thing floating in the air and couldn’t help but wonder if it might do something even weirder next—like suddenly open its mouth super wide, its cheeks tearing all the way back to its ears…

Thankfully, this female monster—or ghost demon—wasn’t that deranged. She just glanced at the girls below, exhaled lightly, and all of them, except for Qiu Ling and Tang Shi, fainted at once and collapsed into a heap.

The floating head had only used a simple knockout spell. It didn’t do much to Qiu Ling and Tang Shi, but it was pretty dangerous for regular humans.

After they dodged the attack, two red vines reached out, wrapped around them, and pulled them to safety. Yuan Yuanyuan glanced at the remaining girls. The woman’s black hair fell around them like a thick curtain, hiding them from view.

“I heard… you’re the high-level demon who’s been cleaning out foreign demons in this area lately.” The woman spoke, her face gradually changing shape as she did. Her facial features elongated—especially the philtrum—transforming from a beautiful woman into a snake-like face.

Yuan Yuanyuan looked at the girls behind her, uncertain of the woman’s intentions.

Hostages?

“Wait, wait…” Tang Shi suddenly spoke up, shielding Qiu Ling behind her. She looked back in disbelief. “Boss, you—you’re a high-level demon? No way… the legendary demon protecting the child demon district… is you?”

Her expression looked like her world had just collapsed.

From her face, Yuan Yuanyuan could read countless subtexts. To summarize: “No way someone as cowardly as you is a high-level demon?” “How could a high-level demon be someone like you—stop bluffing!” “Damn, sis, did you grab the wrong person?”

Even the usually quiet and obedient Qiu Ling looked utterly shocked.

To be honest, Tang Shi’s reaction didn’t faze Yuan Yuanyuan much. But even Qiu Ling looked like this… which made Yuan Yuanyuan start wondering what kind of impression she’d been giving all along.

“…Hey, don’t look at me like that! Back in my day, I could take on heaven and earth. You weren’t even born yet.”

Yuan Yuanyuan suddenly felt a little hurt. She wasn’t super powerful, but compared to the enemy in front of her, she was still crushing.

After she’d gained access to both Tiangang and Disha, she could basically steamroll any demon she ran into. Now she understood why the Blood Jade Demon Army had such a terrifying reputation—it only took a couple of moves to overwhelm opponents. The Blood Jade Demon Technique made her demon power grow rapidly, and with high agility and powerful basic attacks, everything could be solved.

This combo was perfect for assassinations…

She quietly pulled a small knife from her pocket, her expression going completely blank. Though her features didn’t change, an aura of cold intensity suddenly radiated from her.

“You two, stay behind me. Tang Shi, keep an eye on Qiu Ling. Things might get dangerous up front—don’t get in the way.”

Tang Shi shivered at the cold tone in her boss’s voice and finally snapped out of her daze. She grabbed Qiu Ling and moved further back—one full street away—before looking back.

A storm was brewing on Yuan Yuanyuan’s side… while they were still trying to process what had just happened.

The purple barrier trapped the entire area. They couldn’t leave, so they had to sit tight and wait for the cleaners and security to arrive.

But now, looking at the store owner across the street, their entire perception had changed.

“Boss is… actually this strong?” Qiu Ling whispered, “I never noticed before…”

“I know right?” Tang Shi said. “This is blowing my mind. I always thought high-level demons were all stoic and traditional… this is the first time I’ve seen one like her…”

“High-level demon” wasn’t a casual title. Despite the phrase ‘yao yao guai guai’ sounding lighthearted, powerful demons were no joke. Some commanded their own armies of lesser demons.

To be a high-level demon, strength alone wasn’t enough. You needed recognition from other demons—only then could you claim the title. In some ways, it was like a divine status.

Each year, their portraits and details would be printed in a handbook distributed to all demons across regions, so others could challenge them and potentially seize their title.

To a low-ranking demon like Tang Shi, high-level demons were practically legendary. Even in C City, known for being packed with powerful beings, there were only a few hundred of them. In smaller cities, a single high-level demon could hold down the entire region.

Tang Shi had never encountered one before. Even her parents weren’t at that level—though somewhat well-known, they still fell short.

And now, she had just heard that the high-level demon who had been clearing out the area lately… was the manager of a clothing store.

She’d heard vague rumors about it, and her parents had even told her to stay in the child demon district recently.

But never in a million years did she think the legendary, mysterious, and powerful demon was the same woman who spent her days eating, napping, and either embroidering or scrolling on her phone reading manga.

Yuan Yuanyuan glanced at the girls below. At the moment, she felt hesitant to strike. The floating head woman smiled slowly.

But that clear provocation didn’t shake Yuan Yuanyuan at all. She silently began reciting the Disha Technique in her mind.

Speed.

She needed speed. The enemy had hostages—so she had to act fast!

Tiangang and Disha were both stealth-type techniques. The only way to surprise the enemy was with speed.

For some reason, Yuan Yuanyuan’s thoughts were unusually clear. She looked at the floating head and sensed her red vine had already ensnared something.

The monster’s face twisted in a snarl. “You hurt me… high-level demon…”

Her voice was soft and full of complaint.

Then her hair gently lifted one of the girls, revealing the girl’s face through the strands, shaking it provocatively.

The female demon could feel her body, two blocks away, being tightly constricted. Yet the smile on her face only widened—because she knew the enemy had concerns.

Yuan Yuanyuan saw the monster’s expression, then suddenly smiled—and disappeared.

She moved so fast that not only did the demon not react, but even Qiu Ling and Tang Shi couldn’t keep up.

Speed!

A long red mist streaked through the air like a silken ribbon frozen in motion.

It sliced through the air like lightning, directly at the demon.

The demon had never seen this kind of technique. Just as she was wondering what it was, a face suddenly appeared before her.

That face emerged silently from thin air, followed by the body. For a split second, the female demon thought the person before her was just a beautiful face.

Why beautiful? Because a dazzling demon mark bloomed on that face—like a woman’s visage.

The demon was shocked. But then everything went black.

---

“What exactly did the spy camp do back in the day?” In a huge warehouse, a woman in black flipped through old records, that question popping into her mind.

She blew dust off a stone and held it in her palm. It began to glow.

“They gathered intel, hunted traitors, conducted battlefield recon… sometimes even handled hostage rescues.”

Hostage rescues?

She paused and flipped a few pages, only to find a record of a high-level battle where the spy camp had broken someone out of a priest’s execution ground.

She shook her head and closed the book. The past was full of complications. But considering the nature of the spy camp, she could understand—they only recruited the most loyal.

Especially the leader… loyalty unmatched.

Still, she’d always felt something was off… particularly the sudden rise and fall of the Blood Jade Demon Army. It was like a shooting star, and its disappearance… seemed suspicious.

---

She wasn’t alone in that thought. Some readers online also sensed something off.

After the latest episode of Demon Chronicles, the theory-crafting community went wild. Ever since the plot of Volume 2 got twisty, speculation had exploded.

Many elements tied to the old war were unearthed. Some believed that demons lost the war, and Yuan may have betrayed them.

A strange identity for sure. But given Yuan’s character, readers found him rather… bizarre.

He was never the cold type. Only in the latest chapter did readers see his dark side.

Before that, he was always neutral, a known lolicon… rescuing young ladies in various odd ways—even traps fell under his jurisdiction.

He only appeared briefly in Volume 1 and was absent for most of the latter half. Readers assumed his role was just comic relief and queerbaiting.

He was like a “broke noble”—handsome, likable, often unlucky… a crowd-pleaser. So when it turned out he might be a traitor, the shock was real. The contrast was too sharp.

Blame his face—he had that seductive scumbag look, so when people said he did something shady, no one doubted it.

One reader joked: “Did Yuan betray his people because of a girl?”

That… struck a nerve.

Readers immediately ran with the theory.

Others even dug up old lines from Yuan—

“Yuan… is that really your real name?”

“No.”

He’d always spoken in half-truths. No one noticed it then—but now? People were digging deep.

---

Yuan Yuanyuan glanced at the girls slowly waking up and let out a breath. “You okay?”

One of the girls looked at her and suddenly blurted out, “You’re a demon.”

“No, I’m not—”

“You’re a demon.”

“Listen, sis—”

“You’re a demon.”

“…Fine, I’m a demon,” Yuan Yuanyuan scowled. “You breathe a word of this and I’ll come back and chop you up.”

“Ahhhhh! You really are a demon!” The girl threw her arms around her like she’d just spotted a rare beast.

Yuan Yuanyuan had been about to say, “Aren’t you scared of me?” But then she remembered—she had just saved the girl’s life. Why would she be afraid?

She sat on the ground and looked up at the sky, waiting for the security team.

They probably had procedures for this kind of thing. She’d explain when they arrived.