Little Pink Starfish

“Where’s that thing going?” Yuan Yuanyuan pointed at the carriage in the sky.

“It’ll circle around City C once, then come back here,” Liu An replied.

Yuan Yuanyuan craned her neck to look. She suddenly remembered the sound she’d heard at home an hour earlier — also a “bang” like a firework. Now that she thought about it, the sound had been a little odd. There was only one bang, and then… nothing else.

She should have thought more about it at the time. When have fireworks ever gone off just once? That’s not how they work.

Last year during this same time, she hadn’t noticed any of this. That was because she hadn’t even left the house — just stayed quietly at home.

The two of them looked up for a while before finally relaxing their necks.

“Should I… sweep the yard?” Liu An asked, looking at the courtyard covered in purple flower petals.

“Uh… no need, just leave it for now. It actually looks kinda pretty.” Yuan Yuanyuan replied. During New Year’s, you weren’t supposed to sweep things out of the house — only sweep them in. But she figured trying to explain that to Liu An, who was kind of a clean freak and also a demon, would be pointless, so she just let it be.

There wasn’t much to do in the house. No TV, no computer, not even a book. Yuan Yuanyuan pulled out her phone and checked the time — already past two.

“You should go get some sleep. There’s a bed upstairs with blankets.” She rubbed her eyes. “I’ll bring another one back tomorrow.”

Liu An resisted at first, but she convinced him by saying she still wanted to sit here for a while and look at the demons.

Yuan Yuanyuan pulled over the fluffy blanket and lay down on the floor, wrapping herself up tightly. She took out her phone, yawning as she scrolled.

She was feeling drowsy, but she resisted sleep. She hadn’t forgotten — this was her little shop, not her home. Right now, her identity wasn’t Yuan Yuanyuan. She was Yuan.

The identity of Yuan was very different from that of Yuan Yuanyuan. At the very least, as Yuan Yuanyuan, she didn’t have to constantly be on edge.

Just before lying down, she had deliberately lit the small oil lamp and let it burn steadily. The dim yellow light filled the room, along with a faint trail of black smoke.

That way, if someone broke in, she might notice earlier.

From the moment she sat down with Liu An to eat dumplings, she’d been mentally preparing for someone to knock at the door. She had a sense of foreboding — it was too sensitive a time. Someone could knock at any moment.

She wouldn’t have minded being alone in the house… but now there was Liu An too. That was giving her a bit of a headache.

It wasn’t realistic to kick Liu An out now. She was worried that if she did, he’d end up being targeted. There weren’t people around, but demons had all kinds of strange methods. She had no idea how they’d deal with her.

Even though she was a weakling herself, compared to Liu An, she was a little bit stronger. She couldn’t drag the poor little demon down with her.

Yuan Yuanyuan could barely keep her eyes open, but she still didn’t dare to sleep. She unlocked her phone, trying to find something to stay awake. Then she remembered — she still had half an issue of Demon Chronicle left unread.

Lying in the blanket, she sleepily thought, Well, might as well read it.

When she opened Demon Chronicle, she picked up where she left off. Ji Qiu had drawn scenes of Yuan and his sister eating dumplings, and also of Yuan Yuanyuan herself eating dumplings. Before opening it, she had thought, If he draws Yuan sitting alone watching the Spring Festival Gala, this might just be a masterpiece. But Ji Qiu wasn’t that ridiculous — which, oddly, made her feel a bit disappointed.

She sighed, flipping onward. The next arc was about Fan Ning’s childhood.

What the heck? After Yuan’s flashback, we’re getting Fan Ning’s? No wonder the cover today was all chibi characters.

As she skimmed through Fan Ning’s childhood, she was surprised by how tragic it was. While previous issues had hinted at his miserable past, they’d never gone into much detail.

This one did — it showed exactly how miserable things had been for him during the New Year as a child.

——

[Once, at the sect where Fan Ning lived, they were going to set off huge fireworks. He wanted to go watch, but the elder who looked after him — a cripple — wouldn’t let him out.]

[Fan Ning argued with the elder, who then locked him inside the house. He spent the whole day alone in the room.]

[It was an old, broken-down wooden hut. He watched sunlight slant through the door crack, lengthening and shortening again. Later, he got so hungry he felt dizzy.]

[By evening, Fan Ning was starving and delirious, standing blankly by the door, looking like a dumb, dirty little boy.]

[The elder eventually returned, limping and cautious. Then he said he’d brought meat back.]

[Fan Ning ran out, scooped up a basin of icy water, washed his hands until they were red, then turned back and helped set the table.]

[There was only a faint light inside. Just then, a giant firework exploded outside.]

[That moment… Fan Ning thought it was the happiest New Year he ever had — and he still believes that to this day.]

——

Jesus, could this kid’s life be any more tragic?

That was Yuan Yuanyuan’s only reaction after reading Fan Ning’s childhood arc.

This is almost pitiful enough to be a Dickens character… but wait, wasn’t Fan Ning supposed to be pretty talented? How did he end up getting treated like this? Doesn’t add up.

She’d noticed long ago that the whole “power equals respect” rule didn’t seem to apply to Fan Ning. He wasn’t weak, yet somehow always got the worst treatment. Maybe he just had a gentle nature. Even after all that, he was still easily satisfied.

Hmm… now that she thought about it, this kind of character setting felt oddly familiar…

No way… is he secretly a Nine-Tailed Demon Vessel or something?

Yuan Yuanyuan, wrapped tightly in her blanket, suddenly shook like she was high.

Nope! I am NOT living on the same planet as another “Talk-no-Jutsu” anime god! Absolutely not! I’d rather die!

She spiraled into a string of incoherent worries. After finishing Fan Ning’s childhood arc, she noticed the comic still wasn’t over.

Wait, could the next one be that white-robed guy’s childhood? Actually, that’d be interesting — what kind of upbringing produces someone as weird as Si Qun?

Afraid of blood, people, and his sister. So far, the only thing he wasn’t afraid of… seemed to be cockroaches.

Yuan Yuanyuan swiped down absentmindedly — and suddenly froze.

Yuan appeared again.

All the hair on her body stood on end.

She remembered she had skimmed through this part earlier while at home. She’d seen that it was all about Fan Ning and had shut the phone without looking deeper. But now that she really read it — turns out that wasn’t the end. There was a small segment at the end about Yuan.

It felt like going to a buffet, stuffing yourself full, and then just as you’re leaving — boom, here comes the king crab.

She shot upright, blanket still wrapped around her, her body tense.

Seriously? Can’t you just draw one character’s arc in one go? What’s the point of splitting it up like this?

She looked at the next comic panel. It was about the adult Yuan — but something was clearly off. Yuan Yuanyuan could tell at a glance…

That wasn’t “Yuan” anymore. That was Yi Qi.

She had seen this scene in the comic before — Yi Qi sitting at the tribunal, head lowered, messy hair falling over his face. Back then, he still had long hair, not the short cut he wore now.

In the panel, he sat quietly on the chair, not speaking or moving. No one could tell what he was thinking.

That eerie silence continued until someone suddenly entered the room.

[Footsteps echoed through the empty room. A man walked up to the chair. His hands were pale, his clothes red — like they’d just been stained with blood.]

Yuan Yuanyuan stared at the edge of the man’s robe. She recognized it.

It was the same robe edge that had once pulled Yuan from a pile of corpses in an old issue.

[“You’re here,” Yuan said from the chair.]

[“Looks like you’ve made up your mind?” the man asked. “I know you’re smart. You’d never fail to understand.”]

[“Where’s my sister?”]

[“I paid off her debts and sent two people to help her. She’s doing well now,” the man replied.]

[“Heh.” Yuan sneered, his expression unreadable. The man continued: “I gave her a better life. She’ll never have to run around with you again. What did I do wrong?”]

[“And the feelings you deceived her with? What were those for?” Yuan looked up for the first time, his face pale. “You deceived the person I care about most… just so you could kill me?”]

[“Why?” the man said softly.

He suddenly grabbed Yuan by the hair, pulling his head back. Lowering his own head, he leaned in until his lips touched Yuan’s ear.]

[Yuan’s eyes stayed shut. He heard the man whisper —]

[“For… loyalty.”]

Yuan Yuanyuan stared at the man’s face, finally revealed in the last panel. As he lowered his head, the “camera” in the comic caught his features — a refined, jade-like face.

Sharp eyebrows, bright eyes, crimson lips, curled slightly in a faint smile.

This guy…

This guy…

Yuan Yuanyuan felt all the blood rush to her head in that moment — and she went completely blank.