Little Pink Starfish

Yan Sheng had once told Hua Rongyue that a few agents would be arranged—some specialized in relaying messages, others with real combat strength. She hadn’t seen the strong ones yet, but one of the contacts had shown up.

“Boss Wang, you’re here,” Hua Rongyue said as she watched a plump, kindly-looking old man walk into Baicaotang. This man was the new supplier who delivered their medicine. Compared to the previous one, Boss Wang was faster, his store was closer, and he delivered more frequently. Dr. Qi was so delighted he immediately switched suppliers.

“Everything alright lately?” Boss Wang asked with a smile. “Is Boss Qi doing well?”

“All good, nothing much going on,” Hua Rongyue answered casually.

This so-called Boss Wang was actually one of the Six Doors’ undercover contacts. Though he appeared to be a gentle, rotund old man, rumor had it he used to be a high-ranking officer with Six Doors and had been quite dashing in his youth. After retirement, he took on this new identity.

Every time he visited, he’d casually ask how things were going, how everyone at Baicaotang was doing… Hua Rongyue would report according to recent happenings. If anything urgent came up, she could immediately notify Boss Wang—he was the one who passed along intel.

Lately, Hua Rongyue had been keeping an eye on Lin Qiya, but there had been no news. She resumed her routine street patrols, and while everything seemed calm, she knew there were hidden currents under the surface.

So far, nothing major had happened, so she didn’t report anything extra to Boss Wang. But today, while delivering medicine, he offhandedly mentioned, “Oh, by the way, I have a nephew from afar coming to visit.”

“Your nephew?” Hua Rongyue thought, That can’t be just a normal nephew—probably that strong operative from Six Doors.

Who exactly was this person? Yi Linglong’s memories were vast, and Hua Rongyue hadn’t yet found anything related to this.

Still, she understood that this strong operative would come disguised as Boss Wang’s nephew.

Meanwhile, Blood Gourd’s condition had improved and he seemed ready to be transferred to the magistrate’s office. Hua Rongyue had visited him several times, and each time, he’d stare at her with his one functioning eye and utter incomprehensible sounds.

—He was born mute.

That was shockingly bad news.

This basically rendered Six Doors’ original plan useless—they couldn’t extract any information from him. Even Dr. Qi hadn’t realized at first that he was mute.

Lin Qiya had been very cautious. If not for this flaw in their plan, she might have been captured already.

Hua Rongyue had so much she wanted to say, but since she’d already spoken once before, saying more would risk exposure. So she kept her thoughts to herself.

Soon, Blood Gourd would be gone, and the room he occupied would be vacant. Hua Rongyue could finally sleep on a proper bed again. She looked at Blood Gourd and smiled softly—he’d be gone soon, and she probably wouldn’t see him again in this life.

She often returned to that familiar place, hoping to catch sight of Lin Qiya again. From what she knew, Lin Qiya was the vengeful and cautious type, so Hua Rongyue figured she might be able to ambush her. But even after lingering there multiple times, Lin Qiya hadn’t appeared once.

Recently, a small red teardrop mole had appeared below her left eye.

That was a side effect of using the medicine too frequently. Hua Rongyue actually liked the mole, but in this world, it wasn’t considered a good sign. Sometimes, walking down the street with it made her uneasy. Still, her mole had been verified by Six Doors, so she wasn’t too nervous.

One day, as usual, she was helping patients write up medical records at the clinic. She had even started learning to take pulses. She’d wanted many times to beg Dr. Qi to let her quit, but he was determined.

So she had no choice but to stick it out.

Modern people often say, “Convince someone to study medicine, and thunder will strike you.” It’s a cruel and demanding path. And it’s not any easier in ancient times—especially under the tutelage of a traditional physician.

Hua Rongyue was furiously trying to memorize the pulse characteristics of pregnant patients when the neighborhood tea-seller aunty came in. She was in her late thirties or early forties, still quite charming, and loved gossiping from house to house.

Back when Hua Rongyue kept a low profile, this aunty didn’t visit much. But ever since Dr. Qi began promoting her like crazy to the neighbors, the aunty took a liking to Hua Rongyue, saying she was different from other girls—measured in speech and action—and often sought her out to chat.

The aunty now leaned in mysteriously and whispered in her ear, “Hey, did you hear? Someone fierce checked into Mingfeng Inn—some swordsman. No idea where he came from. Why would someone like that come here?”

Mingfeng Inn was the nearby guesthouse.

“A swordsman in a guesthouse—what’s so strange about that?” Hua Rongyue smiled. “Where else would a swordsman sleep, under a tree?”

“But this one’s different. They say just from his aura, you can tell he’s not ordinary.”

“He’s barely said a word in the last couple of days. Like a walking block of ice.”

“Isn’t that what all young martial artists are like these days?” Hua Rongyue joked. “Always lugging a sword around, trying to act mysterious. No need to worry.”

“You’ve been in the martial world before—you know more.” The aunty leaned in. “So tell me, what’s a real swordsman like?”

“A real swordsman…” Hua Rongyue was briefly stunned. Images of Ximen ❌xue and Ye ❌cheng flashed through her mind. “Wears white all year round, petals swirling when they appear? Visits the fanciest brothel before every fight to get their nails done by the top courtesan?”

“Where’d you hear all that nonsense?” The aunty burst out laughing. “But you did get one thing right—he really was wearing all white.”

It had been over three months since Hua Rongyue left Tianyi Tower. Her identity had transformed from apprentice to a full-fledged member of Six Doors. That day, Yan Sheng informed her of her current ranking, and when she did the math—she was stunned. I’m already at section-level?

Everything was finally falling into place—except for the still-at-large Lin Qiya, a ticking time bomb. Sometimes, Hua Rongyue thought maybe continuing to work for Six Doors wasn’t so bad. Maybe this life suited her temperament. She never liked the chaotic martial world—peace and routine were her comfort zone.

But life never goes as planned.

Recently, she often dreamed of a particular person at night.

A man dressed in garishly bright red, with heavy makeup that concealed his face.

He kept his head lowered, and his voice—full of resentment and sorrow—echoed from afar like a ghost’s wail.

The dreams had been mild before, but this time, the man rushed toward her, and she jolted awake in terror.

Drenched in cold sweat, she sat up in the wardrobe, wiping her forehead in the moonlight filtering through the cracks.

The man in the dream was none other than the dead Yi Linglong.

Hua Rongyue didn’t know why the dream was so vivid—clearer than memory. In fact, her actual memories of Yi Linglong’s appearance were quite fuzzy—viewed mostly from Yi Linglong’s own perspective. The few moments she had glimpses of Yi Linglong’s face were from hazy reflections in bronze mirrors.

What unsettled her most was the sentence Yi Linglong had spoken while rushing at her:

“Did you escape?”

That one sentence kept her sitting in the wardrobe until four or five in the morning. She finally drifted off just before dawn.

And it was then she realized—this matter still weighed on her heart. The residual consciousness from the body’s original owner had mostly faded. So the dream likely came from her own subconscious.

She was afraid—afraid she might end up like Yi Linglong.

Why did she feel that way?

---

The next day, Boss Wang came again. Hua Rongyue greeted him as usual, but to her surprise, he slipped a note into her sleeve after their conversation.

It was the first time she’d received something like that. Keeping her expression neutral, she said goodbye, then quietly went to the backyard. After making sure no one was around, she opened the note.

It read: “Wu Ci, Mingfeng Inn.”

…Wait. In a flash, Hua Rongyue remembered what the tea-seller aunty had told her recently.

She immediately realized—the white-clad man the aunty mentioned… must be Wu Ci.

And more astonishingly—Wu Ci knew Yi Linglong. They could even be considered friends.

After burning the note, Hua Rongyue felt conflicted. She didn’t know how to respond—according to Yi Linglong’s memories, Wu Ci really was a bit of a “lunatic.” Though to be fair, only partially insane.

His madness stemmed from a woman.

The timeline of their acquaintance seemed to have shifted—Yi Linglong had met Wu Ci after chaos broke out at Tianyi Tower, which was supposed to be nine months from now. Hua Rongyue wasn’t sure if Wu Ci had gone mad yet, but in her heart, she didn’t want Six Doors to capture him.

What should she do?

She suddenly realized the downside of possessing Yi Linglong’s memories—you couldn’t turn a blind eye to what she had experienced. Especially when, in Yi Linglong’s tragic life, someone had brought her even a sliver of comfort… Hua Rongyue just couldn’t bring herself to be ruthless.

Let’s wait and see… Maybe he hasn’t gone mad yet, she thought.

She cleaned up the ashes from the burned note. But then, a voice echoed in her ear again:

“Did you escape?”

Startled, she whipped around—

Only to see a stray cat jump down from the roof.

It landed with a thump on the woodpile and let out a meow at her.

Nothing else.