Little Pink Starfish

“The charm’s been retrieved,” Yuan Yuanyuan said, slapping it onto the table.

“Did you kill him?”

“No. He had a master-level cultivator protecting him,” she answered.

Diga—wait no, Chao—who had just been about to leave, suddenly paused with interest. “A master? Even you couldn’t take them?”

“Yeah,” Yuan said, making things up as she went. “Just as I was about to strike, I got warned from the shadows.”

Whether she had actually been warned… well, who else would know besides her? If they were that curious, they could go see for themselves. Why were they sending her to do this?

Chao looked thoughtful as he turned and left, waving half-heartedly as a goodbye.

Yuan Yuanyuan finally relaxed. On the way home, she felt a little uneasy. What if someone else visits Fa Ning and realizes something’s off? What do I say then? Just that I’m stronger than them and could sense stuff they couldn’t?

And what if Jiuqiu didn’t think like her and Fa Ning ended up dying halfway through the story?

…No way, right? Jiuqiu’s a professional manga artist. Surely he wouldn’t drop a steaming plot twist like that in the middle…

Still fretting, she sorted through her things back home. The C City authorities had sealed her place with vines, so she had plenty of time to sit around, daydream, and watch sunlight stream through the leaves onto her face…

Soon enough, another Demon Chronicle update came out. Maybe it was because of Jiuqiu’s recent appearance, but Yuan opened the new chapter calmly—she figured it had something to do with last time’s events.

Sure enough, when she saw the cover, her expression said, Called it. Demon Chronicle always felt like Jiuqiu was picking the juiciest bits from real events, throwing in a flashback or two, and calling it a chapter.

Sometimes the flashbacks explained demon world rules. Sometimes they just set a vibe. Either way, most of them involved her.

Roughly half of all flashbacks stemmed from Yuan, aka “Yuan the Great.” Of the remaining half, a chunk came from Seventeen and Ran Niang.

She paused. Was she starting to resemble those ancient elders from cultivation novels…?

Then, like a curse, the term “old man” flashed through her mind again. She shook her head violently, trying to expel that thought, and focused back on the manga.

Fa Ning had been living in that little courtyard. When Yuan visited it in real life, it looked nothing like the manga—except for a single shared detail: both places had a tree. The manga one was bare.

In the story, Fa Ning was asking the charm spirit about her former master when he suddenly sensed something off.

A faint trace of demon aura.

In a place this heavily guarded? A demon?

Fa Ning hesitated. The charm spirit, sensing something as well, abruptly retreated into her charm, like she’d seen something terrifying.

“Hey! Xiao Shi? What’s wrong?” Fa Ning asked anxiously.

“Xiao Shi” was the charm spirit’s name… probably.

Yuan munched on chips as she read. Some new details surprised her. Ohhh, so that’s what happened? It was like missing puzzle pieces snapping into place. It made reading more fun than usual.

Then came the moment the two met in the courtyard. Yuan already knew Fa Ning had the charm in his left pocket.

And the moment Fa Ning stepped out… he locked eyes with Yuan, perched in the tree.

It’s him! Fa Ning froze.
Compared to their last encounter in the northwest, he looked the same—except for the lack of cloak, now that it was summer.

Why is he here? Fa Ning wondered. No, it can’t be… Yuan’s tracks are well-hidden. He shouldn’t know where he is. And they don’t have any grudge…

Then how did Yuan sneak in?
If he made it through all those layers of security, then his stealth must be insane. And now that Fa Ning had spotted him… was that on purpose? Was Yuan letting himself be seen—trying to scare him?

Yuan’s real-world self twitched. Why did your brain leap straight to “he’s just trying to spook me”? Fa Ning, you okay??

Back in the manga, Yuan was going hard with the villain banter. She didn’t expect to find herself so… in-character. Maybe she did have a talent for playing the classy, mocking villain.

A cultured scumbag kind of vibe.

Yuan was unexpectedly discovering new sides of herself.

She read on. She was particularly concerned about whether her illustrated self looked cool or ridiculous. Any tripping? Awkward expressions?

“Looks like Taoists these days really are weaker.”

She drew her blade. It zipped past Fa Ning’s face, leaving a gash.

No expression on her face, but…

Damn, Yuan thought. That looks pretty intense. She pulled her other blade.

God, he’s so annoying, Fa Ning thought. Like a cat playing with a mouse.

He’d seen demons like this before. The kind who toyed with their enemies were always a pain to deal with—and always needed to be eliminated.

But how the hell am I supposed to eliminate a monster like this?

Yuan teased and cut, again and again, pushing him to the brink. Fa Ning’s body was covered in wounds. His fury grew.

Then Yuan spotted something peeking from his pocket—the charm.

She snatched it. Fa Ning lunged, but she backed away easily.

“Senior, that was my elder’s keepsake. Can you give it back?”

“Give it back?” Yuan finally smiled—a cold one. “If you can take it from me, come and try.”

“But I don’t think you’ll be able to anytime soon. When you’re strong enough to take it, then we’ll talk… little runt.”

She glanced at the sky. “Someone’s coming. Did you call backup?”

Yuan read through to the end and then sat there, baffled. Why the hell does this version of me seem so punchable?!

I mean, yeah, I was acting—but still! What the hell!

She chalked it up to the usual emotional bias of readers who naturally side with the protagonist. Her own portrayal made her cringe.

She checked the comments.

【Kill her off already!】
【I’m so mad! Why treat Fa Ning like this?】
【Why is this character even still alive?! Jiuqiu, are you out of your mind?!】

…This world is so cruel.

Yuan rolled into her blankets and went to sleep in tears.

Only my blanket loves me now…

She missed one thing before falling asleep—on the forums, the “Yuan Scholars” had already gone into full gear, spinning their theories like mad.

【OMG that was sugar! Pure sugar!】
【I’m crying, Fa Ning x Yuan had a moment!!】
【He didn’t kill him! DIDN’T KILL HIM!!!】
【That’s a ship moment!! A big one!!】

Some people rolled their eyes:
【The Demon Chronicle fandom is off the rails again.】

【Isn’t this just normal for them though?】

One observer quoted the madness:

【Yuan didn’t kill Fa Ning = OMG SUGAR!!!】

WTF…

Normally, this would’ve just become another meme used to mock the fandom.

But everything changed around 3 a.m.—while Yuan was snoring peacefully at home.

---

In hindsight, that moment marked the rise of a mysterious genius.

Someone with unmatched imagination took the current Demon Chronicle plot and wrote a fanfic—expanding the scene between Yuan and Fa Ning into a full-on, heart-wrenching alternate universe romance.

When Yuan woke up the next morning and opened the forum, she clicked into a trending thread out of curiosity.

What she saw cracked her whole worldview open.

Right on the first page was a beautifully written post. A fanfic.

The author leaned into Yuan’s popular “tsundere” fanon persona and used omniscient narration to reframe the entire scene.

Yuan, half-awake, brushing her teeth, started reading on her phone… and the more she read, the slower she brushed.

Yuan looked down at Fa Ning with a chilling smirk, unmoved by the anger in the boy’s eyes.

So weak, he thought. Someone like him… I could crush with one hand.

“Taoists these days really are pathetic,” he said lazily, with the arrogance only a great demon could wield. As expected, the boy below seethed with rage.

So weak…

Fa Ning, blinded by anger, failed to notice the hints Yuan was dropping. He didn’t realize Yuan was pulling his punches.

Yuan, of course, would never explain. It wasn’t in his nature.

Even if the boy intrigued him… even if he wanted to help a little… he would never say it aloud.

“You want this charm? Then come get it… little runt.”

He smiled faintly and walked away.

Fa Ning wouldn’t understand until much later—when that man no longer spoke to him.

When only silence remained between them.

At the bottom of the post was a warning:

【Heavy angst ahead. Minor readers beware! Contains painful misunderstandings, tragic love, and regret. Proceed with caution!】

Also… there was probably a sex scene.

Yuan, still in the bathroom, gulped.

Then she leaned over the sink and started gagging.

You people are unhinged. Un-freaking-hinged.

You scared me so bad I swallowed my toothpaste.