Little Pink Starfish

Following hurriedly behind the woman in the qipao, Yuan Yuanyuan was internally screaming holy crap, but she still managed to glimpse parts of the ship’s scene as she moved along.

The ship was crowded with demons — the entire deck was practically full. Every demon looked… like they were dressed in their finest.

The whole ship was lit brightly, full of drinking and laughter. Yuan Yuanyuan vaguely heard someone singing not far away.

She turned to look — there was a giant leaf nearby, the size of a treetop, but slanted sideways.

And that leaf… it was actually growing out of a flower pot.

Holy crap… Is that really a flower pot?

Yuan Yuanyuan stared several times, finally confirming — yes, it was just like those big decorative pots you’d see outside hotels, usually planted with ironwood or banana trees.

She glanced again at the pot: its upper part was semi-hollow, and she could see soil and tiny glowing dots inside.

Yet somehow a single giant leaf had grown out of it — huge like a whole tree canopy — while the other leaves remained normal-sized. Yuan Yuanyuan couldn’t figure out how the pot wasn’t tipping over under its weight.

It actually looked kind of cute, strangely giving off vibes like a little sprite from an animated film.

Except… under the leaf weren’t little sprites.

Her gaze drifted downward — there were several half-naked male demons with beast-like heads sitting under it.

They sat cross-legged on a thick carpet, drinking from huge wine jars and playing some kind of card game Yuan Yuanyuan didn’t recognize.

Each wine jar was bigger than Yuan Yuanyuan’s own head. Their blood-red eyes glowed in the dark, almost as brightly as the surrounding lamps.

As Yuan Yuanyuan dragged her suitcase past them, the group suddenly fell silent, turning their heads to stare at her.

Both sides were frozen in silence for a moment.

Yuan Yuanyuan peeked at their fierce, beast-like faces and shivered inside.

The demons stared at her for a while, then slowly raised their wine jars and made a small lifting gesture — almost like a salute — before turning back and drinking again.

Yuan Yuanyuan didn’t know what it meant, but at least it didn’t look like they were about to kill her.

She bowed back slightly, then continued dragging her suitcase forward.

——

If you ignored where she was, this place was almost like a paradise.

Even someone like Yuan Yuanyuan — who was long accustomed to the demon world — found herself momentarily dazzled.

She knew demons had a habit of showing off — not only in their stubborn refusal to wear modern clothes, but also in their preference for ancient lifestyle habits.

Some demons lived long lives, some short; many were originally tree spirits or beasts… After gaining human form, they blended into human society.

Naturally, those integrated demons adapted somewhat to human ways. But because they came from different eras, it wasn’t unusual to find demons with wildly different habits — though few were “modern.”

After all, China’s modernization only spanned a few decades — to the ancient demons, that was nothing.

And modern demons… probably weren’t even allowed on this ship.

Everyone here was old-school, traditional — demons whose every move carried an aura of ancient times.

That was Yuan Yuanyuan’s impression as she followed the woman, weaving through the crowds of demons, finally arriving at the ship’s interior.

The ship’s main structure resembled a giant towering building…

Standing beneath it, Yuan Yuanyuan stared at the multicolored lights and the massive construction — it really felt like something out of Journey to the West, as if she had stumbled into some demon king’s lair.

She couldn’t imagine what kind of design logic put a skyscraper on a ship… and it wasn’t even just one — there were multiple towers, with one tallest tower in the center, surrounded by smaller ones like mountain peaks.

All the towers were brightly lit — completely ignoring modern concerns like energy conservation.

Between the buildings were small “paths” — luxurious carpets laid across bridges — and faint mist drifting through.

Yuan Yuanyuan reached out to touch the mist, only for it to pass right through her fingers.

The higher she looked, the thicker the mist grew.

Staring upward, she thought: This really is a demon’s nest…
We might as well call it the Demon Den from now on.

The main tower was anchored into the ship’s deck. Its architectural style reminded Yuan Yuanyuan of ancient Chinese drum towers.

Following the woman, Yuan Yuanyuan entered the main building — inside, there were even more demons.

She almost spaced out completely — because these demons were even more extravagantly dressed. Their elaborate makeup and stunning outfits turned to look at her one after another.

Yuan Yuanyuan had to strain to keep her face neutral, following the guide up flight after flight of stairs.

The building was round, with stairs and corridors winding around the edges — from below, it looked like staring up into a colorful kaleidoscope.

Yuan Yuanyuan lost track of direction as they climbed.

She counted floors silently. Finally, when they stopped in front of a door, she confirmed:

The sixth floor.

Second room from the left on the east side — near the very top.

A full seven-story high-rise on a boat.

“This is your room,” the demon woman said, bowing. “There’s a bell by the bed. If you need anything, just ring it. I’m assigned to serve you.”

“Thanks,” Yuan Yuanyuan replied, accepting the key and pushing open the door.

Inside was… exactly the kind of room you’d see in ancient dramas.

Keeping her face blank, she sat down on the brocade-covered bed, glancing at the pillow beside her.

…A porcelain pillow, painted with red plum blossoms.

Yuan Yuanyuan picked up the rectangular pillow, stared at it for a long moment… then silently shoved it aside.

She opened her suitcase, neatly stacking a few pieces of modern clothing where the pillow had been.

Then she found a pair of embroidered silk slippers under the bed. After staring at them for a while, she tossed them back and pulled out her own cloth slippers — the ones with little bear faces on them.

Lowering her head thoughtfully, she took out her phone to check — as expected, no signal.
And even if there were, she had no idea how she would charge it here.

Seeing the remaining battery, she switched it into camera mode and wandered to the window.

From six floors up, she had a panoramic view of the ship.

It was brightly lit, yet cloaked in mist — the liveliness of the ship starkly contrasted the pitch-black darkness around it.

Beyond the ship, only endless black clouds.

And at the very front of the ship, two gigantic demons were pulling it forward.

Yuan Yuanyuan couldn’t see them clearly — only flashes of golden-red scales occasionally glinting through the clouds.

Each time they surfaced, it was like enormous golden fish swimming through the mist — their tails lashing hard, then disappearing back into the fog.

She opened the window slightly — the higher altitude brought sharper winds and cooler air. The candle inside flickered violently with the gust.

The mist inside the room thickened, carrying a faint hint of demonic aura.

Looking further down, Yuan Yuanyuan noticed a thick purple mist trailing behind the ship — like a silk ribbon winding around it, wrapping it in a spiral.

She reached out to touch the “ribbon” — it dodged nimbly out of reach.

——

Meanwhile, Liu An sat on a train, staring out the window at something streaking across the sky like a meteor.

His pupils dilated as the reflection of his own stunned face stared back at him.

Trailing behind that enormous ship was a dense purple mist, flowing like a long tail.

Demon Rope — a phenomenon formed when the concentration of demon energy reached an extreme.

During past wars between humans and demons, there were records of this — sketches drawn by humans showed black clouds filled with red eyes… and faint, ominous ropes of mist.

Liu An looked down, listening to the sound of snores and crying children in the sleeper car.

He pulled out his phone and sent a quick text:

【I’m on the train. Don’t worry.】