Little Pink Starfish

Fat Cat didn’t respond again even after Yuan Yuanyuan arrived in M City. At first, she kept trying to reach him, but eventually, she gave up.

By the time she got to M City, it had been about an hour. She couldn’t find Gemstone Road and had to ask the taxi driver to take her there directly.

It was a narrow street. The moment Yuan Yuanyuan stepped out of the car, she felt something was off.

There were a lot of demons here.
A lot—so many that Yuan Yuanyuan suddenly realized the truth: these guys had really mistaken Fat Cat for Yuan and set a trap to take him out! They were seriously trying to kill him!

Her heart began pounding like crazy. On her way over, she had still been entertaining thoughts of a direct confrontation, but the moment she arrived, that idea was immediately squashed.

Fighting head-on was a second option—first and foremost, she needed to outsmart them.

Taking advantage of the fact that she hadn’t yet walked directly into the demon-infested center, Yuan Yuanyuan quickly shapeshifted, subtly changing her appearance to look a bit like herself, but not quite.

She was worried that if she changed too much, Fat Cat might not recognize her.

Before arriving, she’d thought this might just be another one of Fat Cat’s usual pranks. But after getting here, she realized—he hadn’t been joking at all. This guy had pulled off an Oscar-worthy performance and fooled a whole group of people.

…If he hadn’t almost gotten himself killed in the process, it would’ve been a perfect score.

The taxi ride had cost her a lot. Yuan Yuanyuan felt a twinge of pain when she paid the fare. She vowed that once she found Fat Cat, he’d be coughing up that money.

The area was thick with demon energy. As soon as Yuan Yuanyuan sensed it, she quickly suppressed her own aura to avoid being detected.

She wasn’t sure if the customs of M City differed from C City, but Yuan Yuanyuan felt that demons usually wouldn’t just release their energy so brazenly… it was basically screaming “new money.”

…Then again, maybe it was more like wild animals marking their territory by peeing on everything.

Normal demons wouldn’t stoop to that. They preferred the subtle, aloof approach—releasing just a hint of their aura, like a casual flirtation. At the bar, most of the demon customers were exactly like that. This kind of aggressive aura display? Totally out of line.

Yuan Yuanyuan kept her aura locked down tight and walked briskly down the street, posing as an ordinary woman returning home alone late at night. She glanced around constantly, feigning wariness while keeping her energy carefully hidden.

She quickly noticed that as she circled the block, at least six or seven demons had scanned her with their auras. Their probing left her feeling nauseated.

Damn it… how the hell am I supposed to find Fat Cat in this mess? There’s no way to even make a move.

She walked nervously through the shadows, ears straining for sound—especially around trash bins.

She remembered Fat Cat saying he was beside a trash can. While she didn’t know which one, it clearly wouldn’t be in plain sight. Most likely tucked away in some obscure corner.

Acting like just another local, she glanced up and spotted a residential building at the end of the street. She headed in that direction, ears tuned for any noise.

Given Fat Cat’s condition, she probably should’ve called out—he might not even be conscious.

But that was just a fantasy. She had to hope he’d spot her himself.
Come on, Fat Cat! Use that weird intuition and genius brain of yours! Hurry up! I’m right here!

…Honestly, Fat Cat was a sharp, resourceful, and incredibly nonsensical demon.

Yuan Yuanyuan raged inwardly while creeping toward the residential building. She hadn’t even reached her target building yet—just passed a slightly closer one—when she suddenly heard a sound.

…

A soft, faint meow. Twice.

…

Yuan Yuanyuan’s nerves snapped to attention. She turned her head toward the noise.

Over there—a large, open trash bin, half-covered in snow. A cat was perched on top of it, meowing softly.

It looked emaciated, fur nearly gone, its body filthy and possibly infested. A classic stray cat barely surviving the winter.

Yuan Yuanyuan froze. The reason? Simple. Even though the fur was nearly all gone, making it hard to tell…

She hesitated for a second. Then the cat suddenly lifted its head and gave another weak meow toward her.

Yuan Yuanyuan stood stunned for a moment before slowly walking over, picking up the seemingly ordinary cat, and turning to head into the residential building behind her.

The moment she picked it up, a light swept toward her. She nearly flinched but held steady.

She could feel the demon eyes following her all the way into the building. She walked from the first floor to the seventh, and those eyes never left her. She started to feel like this was it—she was going to die here.

She was debating whether to knock on a random door to buy time when the cat in her arms suddenly went nuts.

It thrashed wildly and scratched her hard enough to draw blood.

Damn it, she thought, staring at the cat, unsure of its intentions.

But the struggle didn’t last long. The cat suddenly slumped, like it had been unplugged, and went limp.

Did it just… “die” again?

For a moment, Yuan Yuanyuan thought she was totally exposed. If her cover was blown, she’d have to fight.

Thank god she had shapeshifted—at least they couldn’t trace it back to her afterward.

Demons were already starting to enter from the windows. Yuan Yuanyuan didn’t want Fat Cat dying here. She began changing her appearance again—her bone structure shifted, her hair shortened, her face morphed.

She took off her scarf and wrapped it tightly around her face, exposing only her eyes, then activated an illusion spell.

Yuan Yuanyuan passed the first investigating demon using the illusion. This kind of spell had one requirement: move and speak as little as possible. Any sudden sound or movement would break it.

Yuan Yuanyuan could manage that. But Fat Cat… not so much. She knew what he was like. Last time he pulled his miraculous fake-death stunt, the whole process was dramatic as hell. She was terrified he’d suddenly yell “Shuhua milk!” or something equally ridiculous.

As she slipped past one demon, the cat in her arms suddenly jumped like it had come back from the dead.

The demon’s eyes shot toward her.

Yuan Yuanyuan moved like lightning—her dagger sliced across his throat. As she spun, she used the motion to drive the blade deeper.

The demon collapsed instantly.

She dragged the body aside to hide it and kept moving. Fat Cat was still fidgety, and she had to hold him tight while silently dispatching more curious demons drawn by the noise.

These demons weren’t exactly stealthy. They quickly noticed something was off. Yuan Yuanyuan heard chaos break out behind her. Using her memory, she began making her way toward C City.

At that moment, she actually missed the old “eggshell” disguise… at least it was eye-catching.

“Huh? Are we out now?”
Suddenly, a weak moan came from her scarf—it was Fat Cat.

Yuan Yuanyuan glanced down at the bundled-up “cat-dried” version of him. She tightened the scarf to prevent him from seeing what was happening outside.

She heard his groggy voice mumble, “You… actually came… I can’t believe it. Thought I was hallucinating…”

“What did you do?” Yuan Yuanyuan asked.

“…Big bro, who are you?” Fat Cat paused for two seconds, then blurted that out.

Yuan Yuanyuan felt like messing with him. After all, he’d made her run around half the night. Using a deep voice, she replied, “Why don’t you guess?”

“…Bro.”
Fat Cat went quiet again, then murmured just one word.

Yuan Yuanyuan could feel the thing in her scarf slowly warming up. Their little chat had been overheard by a nearby demon. Yuan Yuanyuan calmly eliminated him too.

The faint smell of blood spread through the air. The cat in her arms finally went quiet.

She didn’t have the energy to keep joking with him. Right now, the priority was breaking through this siege. One misstep, and neither of them would make it out.

“Hold on tight.”
Just as Fat Cat fully came to, Yuan Yuanyuan whispered this. Holding him had gotten exhausting. It was easier if he held onto her.

The next second, she felt two little paws grip her clothes.

Raising her dagger, she moved toward the next demon.

In the darkness, she thought she heard Fat Cat murmur one word—
with a tone full of mysterious, almost smug admiration:

“…Wow.”