Little Pink Starfish

Si Qun had always been a very mysterious existence in Yao Ji… Even though he would pop up now and then to show up, often causing readers to scream, he had never actually revealed his face. This was the first time he showed his face.

Yuan Yuanyuan felt that today, Si Qun revealing himself might cause a really strong reaction… At the very least, the legendary “white-robed young man” had finally shown his face, and it was truly stunning. No matter how you looked at it, Si Qun’s face was really very striking.

Looking at that face, Yuan Yuanyuan touched her own nose and quietly glanced at Fat Cat over there. Speaking of which, this Fat Cat had met Si Qun once — back during that life-and-death moment.

Sure enough, when Fat Cat had been looking at Si Qun on the comic page just now, he had been wagging his little tail the whole time.

…He must have a very deep impression of this young man.

Yuan Yuanyuan kept reading. Every time Si Qun appeared in the comic, he looked like a really intimidating iceberg… What surprised Yuan Yuanyuan was that even after showing his face, Si Qun still looked like an iceberg. Just standing there, he seemed to freeze a thousand miles around him, looking ridiculously arrogant.

This wasn’t scientific at all… How could Si Qun do this? With that delicate little white flower of a face, how was he able to pull off such a cold expression? Yuan Yuanyuan remembered that the Li Family head had said before that Si Qun’s current look was because he had gone a bit dumb, right?

Although the Si Qun in the comic looked super cool, Yuan Yuanyuan felt absolutely nothing… Logically, she should have really liked this kind of character, but once she remembered it was Si Qun, she just couldn’t feel anything anymore.

She kept following the place where she had been reading. That monster friend of Faning’s was slowly telling him about what happened back then.

[“This story happened a very, very long time ago.”]

[“Back then, it was the early stage of the war… At that time, the monsters were still in their strongest period. Many monsters at the peak of their power participated in that war. Joining the war wasn’t considered a tragic thing… Young monsters also liked to go to the battlefield to hone themselves.”]

As the monster slowly narrated, the scene in the comic suddenly changed to another image.

Yuan Yuanyuan saw a small house appear in the comic, and outside the house stood a figure. The figure was drawn as a silhouette, and you couldn’t see what he actually looked like.

He looked like one of those “suspect” characters from Detective Conan, just a pitch-black shadow. But judging from the drawing, he seemed to be wearing simple ancient clothing, with a single ponytail tied on top of his head.

Yuan Yuanyuan watched the silhouette as he packed up his things, looking like he was preparing to head out.

Judging from his clothes and appearance, he didn’t seem like a rich or powerful monster… but the clothes looked good on him. He had a slim waist and long legs — in this case, it was the person making the clothes look good, not the clothes making the person.

…Looking at the silhouette, and with the narration, it seemed he was about to go join the army.

Yuan Yuanyuan thought about it, and sure enough, in the next panel, the silhouette had joined the recruitment line.

[“At that time, the little monster had just transformed into human form… He had just decided to join the army. But back then, there were lots of places recruiting — not just official soldiers, but also private ones. Even among officials, there were all kinds of troops. He didn’t know where to go at first.”]

[“While he was wandering around the streets alone, he suddenly ran into another monster.”]

[“The monster walked over and asked, ‘Hello, are you also preparing to join the army?’”]

As the narration continued, another silhouette appeared on the comic page.

This second silhouette looked a little taller and a little thinner than the first.

He too wore ancient clothing, but his clothes looked a lot more flowing and elegant. Even though he was also drawn as a black silhouette, somehow just looking at his posture and clothing, you could tell he had a much better background.

Ji Qiu’s drawing skills really showed here.

The second silhouette slowly approached and stood beside the first, and the two silhouettes stood together.

[“The monster who stopped the little monster had a very friendly smile on his face. He stood out among all the monsters — he didn’t look like someone who came to enlist at all.”]

[“Back then, the monsters who came to enlist were generally big and rough-looking, often carrying a sense of menace. Everyone was basically like this little monster — coming to gamble their lives. Enlisting wasn’t mandatory, so monsters without ambition didn’t bother. The ones who came were never simple.”]

[“Among all those monsters, he was the only one who had a gentle smile, delicate hands and feet, and a soft appearance.”]

[“Honestly, looking at him, you’d think he was just here to be a logistics officer.”]

[“There were always monsters looking at him, wondering what he was up to. At first, the little monster ignored him, but later, he had no choice but to talk to him.”]

[“So they signed up together, and slowly started their lives in the army together.”]

[“Much, much later?”]

[“…Much, much later, the little monster learned that the monster he had met on the street was actually from the Blood Jade Demon Army — a force that only cared about bloodlines.”]

[“Blood Jade Demon Army?” Faning asked.

[“The Blood Jade Demon Army was a military unit that focused solely on bloodlines. Nothing else mattered. The army gathered the monsters with the oldest and strongest bloodlines.”]

[“…A military force that cared only about bloodlines?” Faning asked.]

[“Exactly,” his friend said. “I heard my grandfather tried to get in too, but wasn’t selected. Our family had only five or six generations of bloodline. We weren’t considered anything special.”]

[“And then?” Faning asked.]

[“Then… the little monster had bad bloodlines. I remember he was some kind of insect monster,” his friend touched his chin. “Strong insect monsters are truly strong, but the weak ones are really weak. Unfortunately, the little monster’s original form was a particularly weak one.”]

[“So this is a story about a great demon from the Blood Jade Army and a little insect monster? What happened to them?”]

[“Later, during an internal rebellion — back then internal conflicts were common, especially at the end of the first war — a large-scale conflict broke out.”]

[“During that conflict, the two monsters, along with a few others they knew, got captured.”]

[“At that time, the policy was ‘better to kill a thousand by mistake than to let one go.’ Lots of innocent monsters died. Once you got caught, you were basically doomed.”]

[“But the big monster was different… Blood Jade Army soldiers, wherever they went, were always honored. When he was captured, he revealed his identity. As a result, the little monsters were dragged away, but he was left behind and treated well by the jailers.”]

[“Wow… this is such a sad story,” Faning said. “Those little monsters must have hated him. No wonder you say small monsters shouldn’t trust big monsters. He just looked out for himself.”]

[“The little monsters begged him to save them, but he ignored them. He even mocked them together with the jailers,” Faning’s friend said. “Actually, before this, he had a good reputation among the little monsters — strong, capable, good-looking, gentle. Nobody saw this side of him before.”]

[“Afterward, everyone’s impression of him completely changed. He loved mocking the little monsters, even hurting them sometimes. Toward the end of the war, bullying of little monsters by big monsters was so common that what he did wasn’t even particularly noticeable.”]

[“And what happened in the end?” Faning couldn’t help asking.]

[“Later… just when everyone thought the little monsters were surely doomed, almost at the date of their execution, one night, when the guards got sloppy, the big monster took them and escaped.”]

[“Eh?” Faning froze.]

[“The big monster was badly injured during the escape, lost all his powers, and later disappeared,” Faning’s friend said, rubbing his chin. “Why are you so emotional? It’s just a legend. I’m just telling you to be a little more cautious around big monsters.”]

[“But… why didn’t he save them earlier?” Faning asked blankly.]

[“I told you already — back then the relationship between big monsters and little monsters was horrible. Maybe he was scared too,” the friend said as he turned to cook.]

[“Who was that big monster? There were lots of famous figures in the Blood Jade Army,” Faning asked.]

[“How would I know? It’s just a legend. It’s been passed down, maybe changed and exaggerated. Who knows if it’s even true,” his friend said angrily. “Hurry up and come help with the cooking!”]

“I’ve heard this story too,” Fat Cat poked his head over from next to Yuan Yuanyuan, his cat face showing a half-smile.

“It’s a famous story from children’s books. Most monsters heard it growing up, but nobody knows who the characters really were.”

Fat Cat suddenly leaned in and whispered.

“But I know.”

“Who?” Yuan Yuanyuan turned to look at him.

“That little monster… later became a very famous general during the second war,” Fat Cat licked his whiskers, “and that big monster… was Yuan.”