Little Pink Starfish

“How do you feel about tonight’s Hundred Demon Festival?”

A voice rang out—old, yet incredibly calm.

The interior of the carriage was unexpectedly comfortable—far more so than anything Yuan Yuanyuan had experienced outside. They sat across from each other on opposite sides of the spacious carriage. Although there was ample room, neither of them moved closer, simply sitting face-to-face.

Yuan Yuanyuan gazed out the window, though from inside the carriage, she couldn’t really see the full view outside. All she could make out were the various demons traveling alongside the carriage and countless lights streaming past them.

The whole procession looked like it was moving through a galaxy streaked with violet light.

Honestly, Yuan Yuanyuan kind of wanted to step outside for a bit—she was dying to see what the carriage looked like from the outside. She imagined it must be something truly spectacular.

Faintly, she could hear the cries and chants of the demons outside. Their words were strange, like the recitations of some spell or incantation. Even though she couldn’t understand a word, it all sounded oddly beautiful.

The man sitting across from her was none other than the legendary City Lord—the one who had asked to meet with her that day.

Before coming, Yuan Yuanyuan had imagined he would be terrifying. But to her surprise, he wasn’t someone she found unpleasant. In fact, she liked him more than that old man from the Li family.

“How far along is the procession?” the City Lord suddenly lifted the curtain and asked a demon riding on the outer edge.

“We’re about halfway through,” the demon replied.

The City Lord nodded and let the curtain fall again.

A small blue candle burned quietly in a holder inside the carriage. Its blue flame cast a glow on Yuan Yuanyuan’s face, giving her a slightly different look than usual.

Yuan Yuanyuan didn’t understand why demons always used blue fire. It looked like underworld fire—still hot to the touch, but such a different hue.

“Feels pretty good,” Yuan Yuanyuan said.

In truth, she hadn’t seen much—just a stream of colored lights and a bunch of chanting demons.

And yet the demon outside had told her, “We’re halfway through.”

“Thank you very much for agreeing to come tonight,” the City Lord said. “Though the Hundred Demon Festival may no longer be what it was in your era, we’ve still done our best.”

This kind of situation felt surreal to Yuan Yuanyuan. Everyone treated her like she was some great ancient demon from ages ago. It was the kind of confusing experience she’d never even imagined, and it left her with a strange, lingering emotion.

“Where are we now?” she suddenly asked.

The City Lord paused, then said, “We should be back in the city by now… Are you tired? If you are, we can stop the convoy and send you home.”

“…No need.” Yuan Yuanyuan had just wanted to ask which district of City C they were in—Hero District? Ping’an? East Lake?—but apparently they had left the city and now returned?

She had assumed the City Lord had summoned her tonight for some serious discussion. But in the end, he hadn’t brought up anything important at all. Instead, they’d just chatted about small talk like “what’s been going on in City C lately” and “there are a few new scenic spots you should check out when you’re free.”

Yuan Yuanyuan spent the whole ride responding with short, indifferent phrases like “oh, haven’t been” and “oh, maybe someday.” She actually felt a bit guilty for being so aloof—this old man was being nice—but she was too afraid to mess up by saying too much. So, she stuck to the ancient swordmaster style of speaking.

The whole night felt like being forced to attend a social gathering she had absolutely no desire to be at.

By the time she got home, she was exhausted—completely drained.

When she opened the door, she saw Liu An sitting there blankly, staring up at her like a starving child.

“Why aren’t you asleep yet?” Yuan Yuanyuan glanced at the time.

“Watching the place,” Liu An said.

Yuan Yuanyuan walked over and realized he really hadn’t moved at all—just sat there all night in silence.

“…You silly thing, I was just joking,” she said, ruffling his hair. Liu An blinked his dull, dazed eyes.

“Go to bed.” She yawned lazily. “Let’s both get some sleep. I’m not going anywhere tonight. We’re staying in all day. Gotta go back to work in a few days.”

Liu An just stared at her, still a bit spaced out. Yuan Yuanyuan gave another yawn and wandered off to make herself some instant noodles.

…

Time flew by, and soon the Hundred Demon Festival was over. Yuan Yuanyuan began cleaning up the shop, getting ready to reopen.

For demons, the festival marked the start of the new year. She swept through the entire place, top to bottom, determined to tidy everything up.

Even though she’d lived here a while, it still didn’t quite feel like home—just a workplace. Still, she even put up Spring Festival couplets. One of them read “Great Fortune Comes”—which made Yuan Yuanyuan feel oddly conflicted.

Wait, why am I feeling this way? she thought. I do have a bunch of gold bars now.

Thinking of that suddenly lifted her mood. She and Liu An had a bite to eat, then rolled up their sleeves and continued cleaning.

Tang Shi and Qiu Ling hadn’t visited since the New Year holiday. With only a week off, high school seniors didn’t even get to celebrate Lantern Festival properly. Yuan Yuanyuan didn’t expect them to visit again before school resumed.

“Boss, that illusion technique… am I using it right?” Liu An asked hesitantly.

“You’re doing great,” Yuan Yuanyuan said. “You’ve got real talent for demon magic—way better than Tang Shi, at least.”

She didn’t even have the heart to admit it… but Liu An’s talent might actually be better than her own. He had only just started learning and had already figured out how to use illusions to hide his presence—something Yuan Yuanyuan had taken months to figure out.

In fact, it wasn’t until she saw Liu An’s version that she realized: Oh, that’s how you can use that spell. His method was far more effective than hers.

“Good enough is good enough,” Yuan Yuanyuan wiped sweat from her brow.

They tossed aside the rags. The sky had darkened. She lit the lamps. With the festival over, it was time to get back to work. Fortunately, the weekend gave her a little more time before Monday hit.

Liu An was on a similar schedule—working late shifts. Normally, Yuan Yuanyuan hated going to work, but this time… she actually wanted to go early.

Because she wanted to see Si Qun.

She had so many questions about Si Qun, though even if she did see him, she doubted she’d get any real answers.

But right now, the most pressing thing…

She had to figure out if Si Qun had really lost his mind.

Yuan Yuanyuan stared at the stars above for four seconds.

Okay, well… maybe that question wasn’t super urgent.

“Anything fun happening this Saturday?” she muttered to herself while slouching in her chair. Suddenly, she remembered—*Oh right, today’s Saturday. A new episode of *Demon Notes* should drop.*

She checked her phone. Life had been so hectic lately, with barely anyone around besides Liu An, that she’d nearly forgotten. If she hadn’t realized it was Saturday, she might’ve missed it.

Grabbing a piece of clothing, she began sewing as she waited for midnight. Then a strange thought struck her—

Will tonight’s episode show the conversation I had with the Li family patriarch?

Her hands froze mid-stitch.

A long, long moment passed. Then, her lips curled into a cold smile.

Heh. If they did draw it, then so be it. For the first time ever, she was seriously looking forward to Ji Qiu drawing something related to her.

Liu An, watching Yuan Yuanyuan suddenly smirk like that, shivered.

He had the feeling… the boss was plotting something nasty…

The two of them sat quietly in the room, each lost in thought. Candlelight flickered gently, and more cars could be heard outside as the city came back to life. Distant horns echoed faintly through the night.

“Is it midnight yet?” Yuan Yuanyuan asked suddenly.

“It is.” Liu An glanced at his watch.

Yuan Yuanyuan tossed aside her needle and fabric, picked up her phone, and refreshed Demon Notes several times.

She was feeling something unusual: anticipation. A kind of excitement she’d never felt before.

If Ji Qiu really did draw her… then maybe she wouldn’t mind raising her expectations for Demon Notes in the future. Yuan Yuanyuan had that odd sense of hope.

But the moment the page refreshed, her mood instantly soured.

Because it wasn’t about her conversation with the Li family patriarch at all—it skipped straight to the Hundred Demon Festival. Their meeting had happened before that night.

Her face turned dark as hell, while Liu An sat beside her, happily engrossed in the new chapter.

On screen appeared Ning’s silhouette… and the red-cloaked figure who had taken him in.

“I’m heading out now,” the red-cloaked figure said.

Only his back was shown—his face remained hidden. But he was dressed differently today. Still in red, yes, but he’d taken off his usual sweater.

He wore an elegant red robe, formal and striking even from behind.

“Oh… take care, then,” Ning said with a wave.

The red-cloaked figure turned and left. The door closed gently behind him as Ning sat in the room, watching the figure disappear from view.