Little Pink Starfish

In the small courtyard, Yuan Yuanyuan stood in the middle, looking at Liu An across from her, telling him to casually cast an illusion.

Liu An hesitated for a long time before finally casting a small illusion. Yuan Yuanyuan saw the surrounding snowflakes suddenly increase a little.

Even though this illusion didn’t seem particularly powerful, Yuan Yuanyuan was still very excited. She looked at Liu An and said, “That’s amazing! How did you do that?”

Her excitement wasn’t really about the power of the illusion, but rather the process of casting it.

Most illusions required certain conditions to be met. For example, when Yuan Yuanyuan wanted to use “Hide Behind a Leaf,” she needed to find an actual leaf. Some illusions even required chanting demon spells. But Liu An, seemingly without doing anything, had successfully cast an illusion. Yuan Yuanyuan had rarely seen such a method.

Of course, this wasn’t to say that Yuan Yuanyuan couldn’t do what Liu An did. But she had formally studied this stuff, while Liu An was clearly a beginner. For him to pull this off right from the start showed that he had serious talent in illusion magic.

Yuan Yuanyuan grabbed a small stool nearby and sat down. She knew that part of the Blood Jade Demon Techniques could be refined and transformed into spells usable even by those who hadn’t trained in them. But she wasn’t sure how to actually do that, so she planned to slowly explore it with Liu An.

After thinking for a while, an idea suddenly came to her. She turned to Liu An and said, “Try doing it… like this.”

…

“You guys have your finals next week, right? How’s your prep going?” Yuan Yuanyuan asked as she bit into half a steamed bun, looking at Tang Shi and Qiu Ling, who were working on practice books across from her.

“Same old. Not like I need to get into a good university,” Tang Shi said nonchalantly.

Qiu Ling, however, blushed slightly and replied, “I’m more or less ready.”

Yuan Yuanyuan looked at Tang Shi. Compared to Qiu Ling, she seemed so relaxed. She was even flipping through a romance novel at the moment. As a demon, she really didn’t need to worry about university—the trajectory of her life would be totally different anyway.

Though that may be…

Yuan Yuanyuan glanced at Tang Shi, who was still reading her little Taiwanese-style romance novel, and lightly kicked her under the table. “Hey, did you learn the trick I taught you?”

“…I learned a little,” Tang Shi said, her ears instantly perking up like a small husky sensing danger, even though she had just been absorbed in her book with a silly smile.

She hesitated, then slowly put the book down, sneaking glances at Yuan Yuanyuan.

Yuan Yuanyuan nearly got mad seeing her look so guilty. Clearly, she hadn’t learned anything. Yuan Yuanyuan hadn’t expected her to try and bluff her way through it.

“Seriously, how old are you now? Still not thinking about your future?” Yuan Yuanyuan, who wasn’t even that much older than Tang Shi, suddenly started lecturing her like an elder. She pointed outside. “Have you looked at Liu An? I taught him for only half an hour today. Look at what he’s already learned!”

Beneath the tree outside, a faint figure could be seen. Liu An had been standing there since morning. Even when Yuan Yuanyuan called him back, he didn’t come.

The ground where he stood was already covered with a patch of pure white snow. Around it were fresh green leaves, making it look like a small white circle in a sea of green.

Since the afternoon, Liu An hadn’t come back inside, not even for lunch. After preparing the food, he rushed out and never turned back. Yuan Yuanyuan looked at the snowy patch beneath his feet—that was the result of his entire afternoon of effort.

She thought for a moment, then suddenly opened the window and shouted outside, “Hey, stop practicing! You’ve got a night shift later. Come back and eat something first.”

The person beneath the tree paused. The white circle at his feet began to shrink and was soon completely covered by green leaves again in less than a minute.

He returned to the house, bringing a wave of cold air with him as he pushed the door open. Yuan Yuanyuan glanced at his face. Even wrapped in a military coat, he’d clearly been outside so long that his face was frozen red.

“I was watching from inside. You did great,” Yuan Yuanyuan said.

She genuinely thought Liu An was incredible. He had been working here for a while, but it was only today that Yuan Yuanyuan realized—this guy was a top-tier genius.

Maybe it was her imagination, but Yuan Yuanyuan even felt that Liu An reminded her of those elite science students from the Rocket Class upstairs back when she was in high school…

Liu An looked at Yuan Yuanyuan and shook his head. “You’re way more skilled. My illusion couldn’t even overwrite yours.”

“…Huh?” Yuan Yuanyuan puzzled over what he meant by “overwrite,” but before she could figure it out, Liu An said, “My illusion dissolved in less than a minute under yours… like the leaves around it were real all along.”

Ah, so that’s what he meant.

Thinking about it, that was actually a really apt description.

Yuan Yuanyuan also looked at the big tree outside. She hadn’t really paid attention to it since she cast the “Hide Behind a Leaf” illusion on it. But after that one time, she hadn’t dared to use that spell again.

The effect was way too shocking. It had been over a month, and the illusion on the tree still hadn’t faded. Even now, looking at it made Yuan Yuanyuan a little uneasy. Who knew when it would fully disappear?

A month? Or… a whole winter?

Yuan Yuanyuan shook her head and stopped thinking about it. Liu An finished the leftovers from lunch, said goodbye, and headed out. She noticed that it was already getting dark, so she lit the lamp.

Inside the small house, a warm yellow glow suddenly came on.

…

“Maybe… he never cared about this at all. You’ve never seen that man—he’s actually very dignified. I just feel like he didn’t put this whole thing on his mind.”

In a small room, a woman dressed in white sat by a burning stove. Small pieces of firewood crackled inside, filling the room with a light, pleasant fragrance.

“Why would I care about him? He’s just a traitor,” said the woman in black sitting across from her.

Her black outfit was simple yet unmistakably modern—a sleek black suit that hugged her figure in all the right places, professional and stylish.

But if you looked at the label, you’d realize this “simple” black suit was actually a very well-known luxury brand—and the one she wore was the latest model.

“He definitely cares. If he didn’t, he wouldn’t be Yi Qi,” the woman in black said as she sipped her tea, a playful smirk suddenly appearing on her face. “Do you think you know him better than his own family?”

She was very young.

Her nails were painted a bright red, her makeup was flawless, and paired with the tailored suit, she looked every bit the image of a glamorous modern woman. Yet she sat across from a woman in full traditional attire, making the whole scene look oddly surreal.

“I don’t know much about all this,” the woman in white replied softly, lifting her tea cup to change the subject.

She didn’t want to get involved—she was only here because someone asked her to be. Although she had some curiosity about the past, she had no desire to dig too deep.

The woman in black was always blunt. If the white-clad woman didn’t steer the conversation, she might end up getting herself killed.

The black-clad woman sneered at her. “Coward.”

The woman in white heard her, but acted as though she hadn’t, maintaining a calm and composed expression throughout.

“So… what did my dad bring you here for? To convince me?” the black-clad woman slammed her cup on the table. “He’s already tried so many people. And now he thinks you can convince me?”

“Your father didn’t mean it like that,” the woman in white replied with a slight bow.

“Good. Hmph.” The black-clad woman gave a cold snort. “The door’s over there.”

Still calm, the white-clad woman finished her tea and got up to leave.

As she stepped out of the grand mansion, she turned and glanced back at the brightly lit house behind her. A plaque above the door bore two clear characters:

Li Residence.

The woman in white slowly made her way down the street. Along the way, she faintly heard people whispering.

“How’s that Li family girl doing lately? Still messing around with demons?”

“Isn’t she? I heard she’s fallen for a human and is all dramatic about it. She’s a heiress of a demon clan—what good is it even if she falls in love?”

“How many is this now? Wasn’t she ready to elope with a Taoist two months ago?”

“She’s just rebelling against her dad… She was so obsessed before, I thought if that Taoist died, she’d mourn for days. Turns out she moved on in three.”

“After the Li family killed that Taoist, she had a new one in under three days. She’s got the clout—saw her out yesterday, followed by like a hundred demons. Honestly, even ghost parades aren’t that extravagant.”

“Now that’s real power… She can do whatever she wants. I heard she’s the only daughter, so they just pamper her.”

“The Li family, huh? If they let her take over, I think they’re doomed… What do you think she’ll do?”

“What about the Li family army? Such a good force… If she ruins it, generations of blood and sweat will be wasted.”

The woman in white walked slowly, as if she hadn’t heard any of it.

Her face remained calm, like a deep, ancient well.

Just like every time she saw Yuan.

Yuan Yuanyuan didn’t log into QQ until just before bed. She saw 99+ messages and wondered what those two had been chatting about all afternoon. How could they have so much to say?

She clicked in and casually scrolled through, until she suddenly saw a photo—an image of a very old book.

Yuan Yuanyuan zoomed in to read the text. It was written in classical Chinese.

She stared for a long time, and her brows suddenly furrowed.

There seemed to be… some extremely sensitive content hidden in there.