Little Pink Starfish

Yuan Yuanyuan lay on her bed, quietly staring at the ceiling, unsure what she was thinking about.

When she first encountered this world, she had imagined a lot of things. Looking back now, those thoughts all seemed a bit childish and laughable. In the end, they were all just illusions. But sometimes, Yuan Yuanyuan felt it wouldn’t be so bad to live forever in that peaceful and happy illusion.

The longer she stayed among monsters, the more she saw—and the more oppressive everything started to feel.

If Yuan Yuanyuan were a naive and sweet fool, maybe none of it would matter. But too many things simply wouldn’t allow that—whether in life or in her own heart.

Things like that… well, only those who’ve been through it would understand.

Yuan Yuanyuan got up and poured herself a glass of cola. When she first became a half-demon, she’d often feel a kind of vague anxiety—even when there was nothing happening, a heavy pressure would always linger.

But over time, she learned to subconsciously find little comforts amid the anxiety—like sneaking down to the lobby during a busy day to grab a soda. It helped prevent her from spiraling into some mental breakdown.

Cola had become her go-to stress reliever. Caffeine is god-tier. She took a sip, and immediately her whole body relaxed. She turned to look out the window. She hadn’t attended the entire day’s conference. After being dragged off unexpectedly in the morning, she’d stayed holed up in her room all evening. She didn’t know how many people had skipped the meeting because of what happened, but in a strange way, it actually matched what she saw in the comic.

After learning about the comic’s predictions, she went back and reread that specific chapter.

Yuan Yuanyuan thought, If I was Ji Qiu’s first target… then who’s the second? Fa Ning?

Who was Fa Ning? Where was he?

Lately, she’d picked up some human-side intel about Fa Ning. She was always eavesdropping, so she managed to learn that—among the humans—“Fa Ning” wasn’t viewed as a real person. Instead, he was seen as a fabricated character or the symbolic face of a collective group.

The first time she heard that theory, she was like, What the heck? But then, after listening to their reasoning… she had to admit it sounded pretty plausible.

Fa Ning’s appearance in that competition had practically outed him. But when the humans launched a massive investigation, they made a shocking discovery:

Events shown in the comic—linked to “Fa Ning”—were tied to multiple people from the tournament. One event even belonged to a random Taoist who wasn’t involved in the competition at all.

Even with such an obvious hint, they couldn’t find a single clear trail. No one could say whether “Fa Ning” was a specific contestant or a fictional amalgamation of all of them.

Later, more and more occurrences backed up this theory. Every time they tried to trace something linked to “Fa Ning,” they’d find it related to a group, not just one person.

Although there was a brief period when Fa Ning disappeared from the story and lost contact with his sect, making it hard to verify anything, now that “Fa Ning” had shown up at the Nanchun Restaurant… the humans were probably already digging into it.

Yuan Yuanyuan didn’t know what they had found out. But judging by how they treated her, their investigative power seemed impressive—she bet they already had results.

At this point, nearly all the humans believed one thing: Fa Ning isn’t a person. He’s a group.

Can you believe they had such a wild theory before even arriving?

But Yuan Yuanyuan found herself surprisingly okay with that logic. Maybe her thought patterns really did align more with the human side. If you think about it, the question of whether Fa Ning is even real… is a good one.

At least she, Yuan Yuanyuan, was a battle-hardened old demon. If someone wanted to come after her, they had to think twice. But Fa Ning was weak—if no one protected him, he could die.

But he wasn’t entirely unprotected. Yuan Yuanyuan, being someone who’d been through it firsthand, knew there was someone who could shield Fa Ning.

That person… was Ji Qiu.

Unless you’ve met Ji Qiu in person, you can’t understand just how enigmatic and terrifying that person is.

Yuan Yuanyuan would never forget that face—the one identical to the version in the comic. It had appeared before her, disguised as a smug little loli, and even swiped one of her jackets.

Though honestly, even that person might’ve been just a stand-in hired by Ji Qiu. Or a temporary body double.

Yuan Yuanyuan picked up a tablet and kept reading. She was deeply curious about this “fate manipulation” stuff. What was it exactly? And why was it totally absent from the Blood Jade Demon Manual?

She still had great trust in Yi Qi. Truth be told, she was his number one fangirl now. And for someone buried deep in the fanpit… that meant everything.

The only reason she had survived and lived this comfortably was because of Yi Qi’s legacy. That tiger skin of his had protected her.

By now, she’d come to a realization—that blood jade hanging from her chest? It was likely the same one Yi Qi had worn all those years ago.

So when she reread that travelogue section in the manual, she felt something odd. The third-person narration felt weirdly forced. And the sheer level of emotional detail… felt out of place.

If Yi Qi had really used this manual, it wasn’t surprising he might’ve written something personal in it.

Could it be that Yi Qi…?

Yuan Yuanyuan felt like she had stumbled upon a colossal secret. In her heart, Yi Qi was already an incredible figure. But to discover this?

She had no idea what expression to make.

…Well, Yi Qi, don’t worry. I’ll keep your secret safe.

Yuan Yuanyuan made a silent vow. Then she skipped back to her bed, covered her face with both hands, and happily fell asleep.

…What she didn’t know was that this “secret” would soon be public knowledge.

The conference was scheduled to last about ten days. But on just the second day, chaos broke out—and by the third, Yuan Yuanyuan was already too annoyed to show up.

What was crazy was that no one even called her.

Apparently, the white-bearded old man calmly told the third-ranking monster to move up a spot. So all the remaining monsters just bumped up one position. This bizarre sight stunned everyone present.

Because in addition to monsters, there were plenty of human media reps present. And nearly half the ratings were riding on one person—“Yuan,” the frequent star of Monster Chronicle. Even Taoists and spirit-sensitive folks read the comic. In this era, young people spread information like wildfire.

Especially after Yuan’s latest comic appearance, the media was hyped beyond belief. They braved winter snowstorms to camp outside the venue, refusing to leave even if she didn’t show up.

People even tried to find out which room Yuan was staying in. Rumor had it she was somewhere on the seventh floor—but no one from that floor had come out, and the curtains were tightly drawn. She’d stopped attending meetings entirely. Journalists who had come with high hopes were growing disappointed.

They had come expecting to photograph a real person… only to be met with total mystery. She was even more elusive than in the comic. They were baffled.

Where was she?

Why wouldn’t she come out and let them get a glimpse?

Why was she hiding so thoroughly?

Yet despite all this, the reporters didn’t give up. They kept a 24-hour watch on that curtain. Not even the smallest movement escaped them. And oddly enough, the more elusive Yuan became, the more excited everyone got. The public’s interest didn’t wane—it skyrocketed.

Everyone had seen the 2D version of Yuan, but the 3D version… almost no one had seen her in real life.

After a long nap, Yuan Yuanyuan got up, got dressed, and suppressed her demon aura to the lowest level—enough to fool normal humans, but not a fellow demon.

She went to the lounge to get something to eat.

She’d always worn this kind of low-key getup when eating. Although she had a private stairwell now, she was still paranoid. She was cautious by nature, so she always dressed this way in case she ran into humans—this way, they wouldn’t be too alarmed. Monsters who looked closely could still recognize her.

Yuan Yuanyuan walked out with a sleepy expression and wandered into the dining hall. After eyeing the food on the monsters’ table for a few seconds, she turned to the human side and grabbed a bottle of milk and a few pieces of bread.

Maybe she was in a good mood today. Usually, she ate in her room, but today she felt like eating in the main hall. She sat down, sipping her milk and listening to the conversations around her.

“When’s the next session starting?”

“Two p.m. We can take a nap before then.”

“Besides Yuan, have any other monsters shown up?”

“Nope. Yuan and that mirror demon both didn’t attend last time. No one knows what happened. The higher-ups told us not to talk about it.”

“Then let’s drop it. Eat and head back—got another meeting tonight.”

Yuan Yuanyuan drank her milk, listening casually, when she suddenly noticed someone staring at her.

She didn’t know who it was, but she could sense them to her left. She looked up—and locked eyes with someone.

That person was dressed in a tracksuit. When he saw Yuan Yuanyuan, he froze. Then, in a flash, he blinked rapidly and ducked his head.

Looked like a frightened little hamster, Yuan Yuanyuan thought.