Little Pink Starfish

“Do you think… peppermint leaves can be lit?” Yuan Yuanyuan asked Liu An, who sat across from her.

She had suddenly thought of this around noon. Having lived in the north for so long, she’d hardly ever seen actual peppermint leaves.

Now it was just her and Liu An in the room, and since the thought had popped into her head, she asked.

Liu An was holding a stack of clothes. He glanced at her and said, “Sure. Once peppermint dries out, you can probably burn it.”

“Then can you smoke it?” Yuan Yuanyuan suddenly perked up, sitting upright.

“Smoke?” Liu An’s expression became a bit… complicated.

“That stuff gives off black smoke when it burns, doesn’t it?” he said at last, sounding conflicted.

“Oh…” Yuan Yuanyuan sat back down, disappointed. Guess that meant she couldn’t smoke it after all.

To her, peppermint was usually something that came with hard candy, gum, or wet wipes… but for some reason, it always gave off a kind of cool, badass vibe.

That’s why she’d instinctively wondered earlier if lighting up some mint would release a peppermint scent too…

Liu An watched her sit back down and thought, What the heck does she think peppermint is… isn’t it just a plant?

As he walked, he felt the urge to yawn but quickly suppressed it.

This was actually his first time ever working a real job, but he performed better than some who’d been working for years.

He was juggling two part-time jobs. Though his boss was easygoing, she had only just started giving him more tasks. If he even looked a little tired, she might dismiss him.

Back when he was at the Daoist temple, if he yawned by accident, the senior there would immediately halt the lesson and order him outside.

Although Liu An was no longer a Daoist disciple, those habits were etched into his bones.

When he suppressed the yawn, some old memories unexpectedly surfaced. He looked down at his army coat and winter boots.

…After a while, he shook his head and continued folding clothes.

Even though the pay here was low, it had one major upside—

This house was notoriously haunted. Not many demons dared come near. For him, it was actually the best place to stay.

He neatly organized each piece of clothing. Although the boss rarely tended to them, he insisted on keeping them tidy. Over time, he’d come to realize she wasn’t nearly as harmless as she appeared. Some of the materials used in these clothes were terrifying.

Like this one thick black coat—it looked normal at first, until he accidentally touched one of its buttons one day. The icy cold chill made him reflexively pull his hand back.

After inspecting it for a long time, he realized those smooth, glossy buttons were made of demon bones…

They were milky white with a slight yellow tint, cold as death. Just touching one made half his hand go numb.

The thing clearly had powerful properties, especially for demons with ice attributes.

And yet here it was, sitting in a small, nearly empty clothing shop.

After that, Liu An started paying closer attention to the other clothes. Many looked ordinary but held frightening secrets. The more he saw, the more he realized—he couldn’t read this boss at all. She definitely wasn’t just a simple shopkeeper.

Being a scavenger was a strange job. You saw things most wouldn’t during the day.

But scavenger work was done by the poorest of demons, from all walks of life. On his first day, Liu An noticed the other demons looked terrifying. One guy even had four or five scars slashed right across his face.

Wearing his army coat and pale, clean face, Liu An looked like a total softie among them.

They came for all sorts of reasons, living in the city’s underbelly.

On his first day, Liu An had just come out of an alley with a body bag on his back when he saw a little demon child and her father walking toward him. The moment he looked at them, the child burst into tears, choking on her sobs.

Her father saw Liu An too. He crouched down instantly, picked up his daughter, and covered her eyes.

Liu An froze at the intersection, suddenly afraid to step out.

Only after the father and daughter were far away did he adjust his army coat and stoop a little more under the weight of the body bag.

He walked down the streets, always taking the back roads. His role as a scavenger made him invisible to humans—only demons could see him and what he carried.

Still, he took the long way, avoiding both humans and demons as much as he could.

That night, he was the last to return. He was late, so when he brought in the body bag, the demon on record duty glanced up at him—his eyes cold enough to peel flesh.

Liu An met that gaze and slowly clenched his hand in his pocket. That guy seriously scared him.

But tonight, he was lucky. The demon just stared at him for a long time, then slowly marked a red “X” next to his name.

Liu An saw the X and took a deep breath.

The next day, he learned to walk on the main road with the body bag on his back—and to ignore the stares around him.

Demons scattered at the sight of him like he carried the plague. He kept his head down and moved quickly through them.

The main road was the easiest to walk—no detours, smooth pavement.

By the third day, Liu An felt like no gaze could shake him anymore. He’d reached transcendent levels.

Still, now and then, as he walked in his army coat with that heavy body bag, and saw people avoiding him, he’d suddenly remember himself in a pristine Daoist robe, standing tall on a cliff at sunset… and something about it felt off.

Meanwhile, Yuan Yuanyuan had become obsessed with smoke. She eyed anything related to it—like she was under some sort of spell. Even Li Zi Jie had laughed and asked what was wrong with her lately.

Yuan Yuanyuan didn’t answer. She had tried a bunch of smoke-producing items: kerosene lamps, incense burners, cigarettes, even humidifiers… but none of them were satisfactory.

Cigarettes were the best candidate. Unfortunately, she didn’t smoke. So she wondered if she could replace the tobacco with something else that would mimic the smoke effect. That’s why she had asked Liu An about burning peppermint at lunch.

Smoke really was the most ideal. Forget size and portability—even in terms of stealth, it was unbeatable. If someone showed up to a fight with a humidifier or incense burner, they’d immediately draw attention.

But a cigarette? Tiny, easy to disguise, nobody would suspect a thing. No one would guess she was deliberately generating smoke.

Yuan Yuanyuan stared at the incense burner in the tavern. For a while, she had been the one in charge of adding incense—various types, but she’d never bothered to learn their names.

In fact, the tavern only used the highest quality incense. Each had its own name, but she could never make sense of those fancy labels. Even after all this time working there, she still couldn’t tell them apart.

She was fascinated with smoke now—well, more accurately, with incense smoke. She squatted by the burner and asked Li Zi Jie, “Sis, what’s this incense we’ve been using lately?”

Li Zi Jie turned and glanced over. “That’s Blue Smoke Incense. We only use it in the winter—it’s good for the body.”

“…Good for the body?” Yuan Yuanyuan raised an eyebrow.

“Yeah, haven’t you noticed your demon power stabilizing when you’re here?” said Li Zi Jie. “It’s because of the incense. It’s hard to find. Some places don’t even allow it. We only dare to use it because our tavern has a strong reputation.”

“Oh… I see.” Yuan Yuanyuan lowered her head and continued watching the burner.

“Wait—after all this time burning incense, you still don’t know what kind we use?” Li Zi Jie walked over, shocked.

“Nope. You guys just tell me what to light, and I throw it in and leave.” Yuan Yuanyuan shrugged.

“…You’re something else. Plenty of demons fight to get incense-duty, and when you first came, I only gave it to you because of Xue-jie.”

“I would’ve rather washed dishes in the back,” Yuan Yuanyuan muttered.

“Dummy, come here.” Li Zi Jie gave her a look and beckoned her closer.

Yuan Yuanyuan leaned in, and Li Zi Jie grabbed her ear and whispered, “Blue Smoke Incense… is actually made from powdered demon pearls.”

The breath on her ear tickled, but Yuan Yuanyuan didn’t care. Her eyes widened. “Holy crap, rich much—”

“Shhh. Quiet.” Li Zi Jie pinched her.

Yuan Yuanyuan stared at the smoke from the burner. Honestly, she hadn’t expected it to be that extravagant. She didn’t know how to use demon pearls herself, but just one the size of a soybean could keep a little demon alive under protection for a month.

And their tavern burned through nearly a whole box of incense per day…

A whole box. A whole box. A whole box.

Yuan Yuanyuan felt utterly crushed by the sheer luxury. She wandered home in a daze, too stunned to even care about dinner…

Though to be fair, there was only instant noodles at home anyway.

She rolled over in bed and thought—maybe I should head back to the shop. Liu An always saved her a meal. With the cold weather, food left outside wouldn’t spoil. There was a stove and a pot—she could heat it up a bit.

Liu An was basically the ultimate assistant. He went to the market alone in the morning, bought the freshest produce at the lowest prices, and always cleaned the place spotless before leaving in the evening. Yuan Yuanyuan felt guilty even paying him such a meager salary.

She silently recited a demon art in her mind and vanished into thin air, leaving behind a faint trail of red smoke…

Elsewhere, a middle-aged man and a younger one sat facing each other.

“Thank you for coming. I really appreciate it,” said the younger man gently.

He radiated the calm unique to youth.

Opposite him sat a middle-aged man with an air of authority.

“If this is about the recent wanted notice, you don’t need to worry,” the older man said with a hearty laugh. “We’ve made all the necessary preparations. Any Daoist who appears will be under our watch.”

“But still, I’m sorry to trouble you. This isn’t something the Li family should be involved in directly,” the younger man replied.

“No trouble. I’ve always admired Yuan.” The older man smiled wistfully. “A remarkable demon. To have someone like that emerge nowadays… it’s rare. Maybe it’s even a blessing for the demon world.”

The two talked warmly, sharing drinks. About an hour later, the middle-aged man got up and left.

Left behind was an empty table with half-eaten dishes. The younger man, ever gentle, picked up a wine cup and poured himself a drink.

This time, he drank slowly, savoring the taste.

A single cup. Bittersweet. Only he knew what it meant.

He set down the cup and looked at the sunset outside the window, letting out a quiet sigh. In the fading light, his back looked more hunched, his beard more gray.

Then, alone in the quiet room, he muttered to himself—

“Yuan… Yuan, why didn’t you die a little more cleanly?”