Little Pink Starfish

Wang Zhangban’s words left Hua Rongyue unsettled for a while, but she wasn’t someone who liked to sit around and wait for doom to arrive.

Even though the matter was a bit mystical and inherently unsettling, dwelling on it wasn’t going to help.

Back when she was in Tianyi Tower, she’d often fall into unexpected emotional slumps. Her coping strategies were only twofold:

Eating, or working harder.

So lately, after dinner, if she didn’t have anything pressing to do, she would find a quiet corner to practice martial arts.

Truthfully, it wasn’t much more fun than doing math problems. When Hua Rongyue got fed up, she’d remind herself of those days pulling late-night study sessions — endlessly solving problems over and over… Her current task was just lifting her arms and lowering them, lifting and lowering again.

A week passed, and she felt her mood had improved quite a bit. At least she didn’t have a panic attack anymore just hearing the name “Yi Linglong.”

And right then, something new popped up that was related to Yi Linglong.

Hua Rongyue heard that the newly appointed leader of Tianyi Tower had started making trouble for Yi Linglong. At the start of the month, Tianyi Tower issued an order: whoever could bring Yi Linglong’s head would be rewarded with Yi Linglong’s prized black jade chess piece.

“They’re really putting everything on the line. Does this new guy have some vendetta against Yi Linglong?” That was the first reaction from Six Doors upon hearing the news.

After months of internal power struggles, Tianyi Tower had finally chosen a new leader — someone who had a bit of history with Yi Linglong. Back when Yi Linglong was sect master, this man had served as an elder in Tianyi Tower. No one knew his real name — everyone simply called him “Left Elder.”

A quiet and unassuming kind of person.

Hua Rongyue had never interacted with him before. She was momentarily surprised to hear he was the new leader, but she didn’t remain shocked for long.

After all, Tianyi Tower had always been a place full of hidden talents — and they say it’s the silent dogs that bite hardest.

You never really know what someone is capable of just because they’ve kept quiet.

Heavy rewards bring brave souls — lately, word had been spreading across the martial world, and many renowned figures were out hunting for Yi Linglong. With Tianyi Tower’s vast network, it wasn’t just their own assassins; even those outside the organization wanted a slice of the action.

But this sudden development had thrown off Six Doors’ plans.

“Doesn’t this new leader know that Yi Linglong is already dead?” Everyone at Six Doors was puzzled.

“Maybe he does know. The leader’s gu insect must have fallen into his hands by now — he probably understands the situation,” Yan Sheng said. “He just wants to save face for Tianyi Tower.”

After the fire, the assassination of the previous leader, and the release of prisoners from the dungeon, Tianyi Tower became a hot topic in the martial world — all of it rooted in Yi Linglong.

As far as the martial world knew, Yi Linglong was still on the loose. His whereabouts were unknown. Letting a traitor like that roam free was unacceptable for Tianyi Tower’s pride.

“They probably won’t feel at peace until they’ve killed Yi Linglong,” Yan Sheng said.

“But he’s already dead. Are they just going to find a fake Yi Linglong to kill?”

“Why not?”

When Hua Rongyue heard about this, Baicaotang (Hall of Hundred Herbs) was discussing whether it was a good time to eat some river delicacies.

Lately, she and Wan Fulián had been sneaking into the kitchen. People who didn’t know better might think they were up to something shady.

Apprentices at Baicaotang got room and board but no wages — so food was top priority here. Hua Rongyue didn’t fully appreciate what it meant to eat her fill of river fish until she arrived here.

She came from an inland region, so while river delicacies weren’t rare, she’d never been able to gorge on them like now.

It was summer, and fish was served at every meal. Fish was cheap now. Wan Fulián stewed it with tofu and eggplant, added some vermicelli, all in a clear broth. It was so simple, but the taste could bring tears to Hua Rongyue’s eyes.

After a meal like that, she’d think — maybe transmigrating wasn’t such a bad thing. There really were beautiful moments worth living for.

“I’ll see if I can find some crabs these next couple days,” Wan Fulián, noticing Hua Rongyue wasn’t used to river delicacies, whispered to her. “It’s the perfect season. If I spot any, I’ll buy you a couple to try.”

Crabs!

What a luxurious thing!

Hua Rongyue nodded like crazy.

Once Wan Fulián left, Hua Rongyue practically floated into the kitchen, overwhelmed with happiness.

Actually, Wan Fulián rather enjoyed cooking for Hua Rongyue. She’d realized that Hua Rongyue’s biggest obsession in Baicaotang — was eating. That was exactly what had kept her going and fighting to stay here back then. Wan Fulián didn’t know this, she just felt that Hua Rongyue looked really happy when she ate, even if she didn’t say much.

“Aren’t you scared?” One day, just as Hua Rongyue was savoring the flavor, Jiang Lianhuan suddenly appeared from nowhere and spoiled the mood.

The fantasy of crab-eating in her head vanished in an instant. Though she wasn’t exactly mad, she chose her words carefully in front of Jiang Lianhuan. “Scared of what?”

“I mean, you seem awfully calm. Totally your style.”

Hua Rongyue didn’t think of calm as her style — maybe she was just good at bottling things up. And when that didn’t work, she’d find a way to cheer herself up.

“Tianyi Tower wants blood to regain face. Six Doors won’t let that happen,” Jiang Lianhuan said. “They’ve decided to send you to meet a few people — to become Yi—”

Hua Rongyue took a while to process it. So this was Six Doors’ move.

She silently gave them a thumbs-up. Damn, these guys were ruthless.

Originally, Tianyi Tower just wanted a fake to kill and reclaim some face. But if Six Doors sent someone out to impersonate Yi Linglong and steal the show — not only would Tianyi Tower fail to save face, the insiders would be left totally confused. It also helped bridge the gap between Hua Rongyue’s personality and Yi Linglong’s.

Hua Rongyue had always felt Six Doors wanted to replace her. But she’d somehow caught the eye of a certain “important person” and parachuted into this mission. No one had managed to boot her yet.

Six Doors was smart — the real brilliance of this plan was her. She, this seemingly unconvincing imposter, was ironically the most convincing part of the plan. Even Yi Linglong’s closest allies wouldn’t suspect a thing.

She could only applaud Six Doors for their ridiculous luck.

“You just need to go with the group. Six Doors will have agents ready to assist you,” Jiang Lianhuan said. “I’ll be there too.”

Hua Rongyue remembered that around this time in Yi Linglong’s memories, the new Tianyi Tower leader hadn’t yet been decided.

Yi Linglong had been taking on jobs all over the martial world to build his reputation — gaining leverage to seize power. Pretty much the same thing she was doing now.

This was also close to when Yi Linglong first met Jiang Lianhuan.

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The next day, Hua Rongyue took a short leave of absence, saying she needed to visit a relative.

She rode in a carriage with Jiang Lianhuan, swaying gently as they set out.

Technically, Jiang Lianhuan didn’t need to take the carriage, but it seemed he just wanted to enjoy the show.

There was a third person inside — someone from Six Doors, supposedly an experienced senior tasked with teaching Hua Rongyue how to “act.”

Hua Rongyue was poked and prodded by this senior all morning and felt like she was about to keel over.

“When we arrive, you need to act more cold and detached,” the senior said. “Lower your voice — even lower than it is now.”

“…Like this?” she asked.

“Not enough. Lower. Can’t you go lower?”

“…Like this?” Hua Rongyue felt like she was using every ounce of energy she had.

She was silently cursing inside.

Faking your voice like this ruined your throat. But this senior insisted her voice was too soft — sounded more like a scholar than a killer — and wanted it even deeper.

She felt like her voice might get permanently damaged at this rate.

Jiang Lianhuan watched the whole thing in amusement while Hua Rongyue suffered in silence.

The senior gave her a complete analysis — voice, posture, appearance — even threw in a psychological breakdown of Yi Linglong on the spot.

After hearing it, Hua Rongyue’s only thought was: Wow.

Now she finally understood why Six Doors had stuffed two men into the same carriage — it was to run this crash course.

She found it ironic — she was Yi Linglong, for real, so why did she need someone to teach her how to act like him? Was this a joke?

“You’re still too restrained. Let go a bit more,” Jiang Lianhuan chimed in. “Be a bit more arrogant.”

“How could Yi Linglong not be arrogant?” the senior snapped. “He’s a proud loner!”

“But didn’t he go mad later?” Jiang Lianhuan glanced at her.

The red mole beneath Hua Rongyue’s eye hadn’t been bright enough, so they’d used red ink to emphasize it this time.

But Jiang Lianhuan had a point — after Yi Linglong went mad, he did become more flamboyant. Still, why should she act like that now? What if she got too “into character”?

“At first, the madness wasn’t obvious. It got worse gradually,” the senior said. “With Yi Linglong’s personality, he would’ve tried to hide it in the beginning. No one would’ve noticed. So don’t worry — just act normal for now.”

Hua Rongyue lowered her head and recalled the moments Yi Linglong began losing control.

It was true — he hid it well at first. No one had a clue because he was so perfectly disguised.

“Did you remember everything I just said?” the senior asked. “If you remember half, you’ll be fine.”

The carriage rolled to a gentle stop. Hua Rongyue had remembered it all — but she didn’t think she could actually perform like that.

Better to stick to her own style. She thought to herself, half joking — this time she’d wear a mask, shout, “I’m Yi Linglong!” in a deep voice, and no one would dare question her identity.

Back at Baicaotang, a shadow slipped in sneakily. At the entrance, Wan Fulián was startled.

Wu Ci whispered, “Is Mr. Hua not around today…?”