Little Pink Starfish

It took Yuan Yuanyuan over an hour to climb from the base of the mountain to the top. By the time she reached the summit, it was already eleven o’clock.

She had started out with perfectly normal intentions—just thinking a bit of exercise wouldn’t hurt. But halfway up, the demonic aura in the air had grown so thick she became afraid of attracting trouble. She had no choice but to release her own aura as a deterrent. Then she had to hurry, since the surrounding demons were all scrambling forward like their lives depended on it.

When she crossed over the ridge, Yuan Yuanyuan found herself in front of a corridor built in the Qing Dynasty style. She climbed to the highest point and looked out toward the distance—and all she could think was: what the hell…

So this is what they meant by “gongs and drums, firecrackers and dancing, red flags fluttering, crowds packed like sardines.”

These people are nuts!

Yuan Yuanyuan stood on one hill and looked toward another. For a moment, she didn’t dare approach. She was worried if she walked in using her illusionary form, she’d get destroyed on the spot. So she chose to hide out on her side first.

To her surprise, even this hilltop had demons on it. Which meant the other one must’ve been completely packed.

She opened her bag, took out a bag of potato chips, and sat down to eat. She had a really weird feeling—she really wanted to know what would happen if she didn’t go fight. Would all these people have come for nothing, forced to turn around and go home with nothing to show for it?

A kid next to her caught her attention. Yuan Yuanyuan asked casually, “Hey kid, what are you doing here?” The little boy looked up with innocent eyes and replied, “I came with my mom to watch the fight.”

She asked, “You came all this way… can you even see anything?” The kid shook his head. “Nope.” Yuan Yuanyuan muttered, your mom must be an idiot.

Time dragged on. She lingered. Stalled. Stalled some more. Eventually, it was already midnight. No matter how slowly she ate, the chips were finished. She threw away the empty bag, stood up, and brushed the crumbs from her pants. The little boy beside her was nearly asleep, and the nearby adults were murmuring, “Why hasn’t he shown up yet? When’s he coming?”

The weight of the crowd’s expectations was overwhelming.

Then, Yuan Yuanyuan’s figure suddenly vanished from the spot. The little boy turned in a circle—he was stunned to find the chip-eating big sister had disappeared.

Gao Ling and the others sat together, eyes fixed on the open area in the middle. The whole place was packed with people and lights—except for the center, which remained empty.

They were seated with a group, and someone nearby said, “Seats on the other hill are going for three thousand each now. Good thing we came early.”

Tang Shi pulled out her binoculars to look ahead, while others around them pulled out phones to take photos. Gao Ling quietly raised her little glowstick and muttered, “I feel like… what we’re doing might get us beat up later.”

“No worries,” a male demon next to her said confidently. “If anyone tries to beat you up, we’ll protect you. Who’d dare throw hands in front of us?”

Gao Ling rolled her eyes. Honestly, male demons and human boys weren’t that different in some ways.

Tang Shi muttered, “Why hasn’t he come yet? Look at those few guys down there—they look like they’re suffocating.”

She was referring to a group of Taoists who had been standing in place since earlier, several rows of chairs set up around them. They sat there silently, exuding an over-the-top air of coolness.

The demons nearby were gossiping, some muttering under their breath, but the few in the middle didn’t flinch—they sat like immovable mountains.

“Isn’t someone going to stop this?” Gao Ling asked. “I thought C City didn’t allow Taoists in anymore? Why are they here today?”

“You didn’t hear?” a demon nearby replied. “This duel was approved by the authorities. The two mountains over there? That’s the demon stronghold of C City. They actually lent out this spot for today’s event—normally, no one would dare set foot here.”

“Approved? What the hell? The officials are insane. What did they even say?” Gao Ling pressed.

“Right after the new Demon Chronicle update dropped, the officials gave notice within an hour. This area is open to all for free viewing.”

“That’s… crazy,” Gao Ling muttered.

“Pretty cool, right? C City’s been pulling wild stunts since forever,” the demon boy added. “Though I bet this time it’s for Ji Qiu’s sake. Who knows what kind of big-shot demon he is? If he doesn’t like something and shows up to kill, who’s gonna stop him?”

“For Ji Qiu’s sake?” Gao Ling wondered silently. So destroying his story outline is the same as hurting his pride? In that case, what about my outline getting slapped in the face repeatedly—am I not allowed to feel offended?

While they were chatting, Tang Shi suddenly said, “Huh?” Gao Ling turned to ask what was wrong.

Tang Shi said, “Why have those guys down there been completely still for so long? A second ago they were still pacing a little.”

“What are you talking about?” Gao Ling replied. “They’re still moving, right?”

She picked up the binoculars and stared for two minutes.

“Wait… yeah, they really aren’t moving anymore.”

And yet, those people…

Gao Ling looked at the festive atmosphere around them and finally settled down to sit quietly as well.

But ten minutes later, her face suddenly twisted in growing alarm.

A chill crept up her spine. She was genuinely starting to feel afraid—especially amid this swirling chaos of demons. She leaned over and whispered to the girl beside her. They huddled together, shivering.

Everyone was still waiting for Yuan to appear.

Another ten minutes passed. The guy beside Gao Ling suddenly darted over and whispered, “This isn’t right. It’s been twenty minutes already.”

Of course Gao Ling knew that. They all wanted to go check. But for some reason, no one dared go down there right now.

“Maybe we should leave,” she said. “I feel like something’s about to happen.”

“Leave now? What did we come here for?” the girl beside her argued. “Weren’t we here to cheer Yuan on?”

As she spoke, she pulled something from her bag—a banner that said [Yuan the Strongest]—and handed it to Gao Ling.

Gao Ling took it, completely unimpressed. “What’s this gonna do? It just feels cringe—like we’re some dumb fangirl characters.”

“It does help!” the girl said. “We can’t go up to him and say, ‘I know life’s hard, so I decided to cheer you on. I know you weren’t always like this. I bet you’re trying to do something important.’ Like, seriously, if we said all that out loud, what are the odds we’d survive?”

Gao Ling stared, wide-eyed. “So the safest strategy is to pretend to be a crazy fangirl? Since people don’t bother reasoning with fangirls… and Yuan does have a ton of face-only stans online…”

Others nearby overheard them, but before they could react, Tang Shi shouted, “Look! Some idiot went down there. What’s he doing?”

As she spoke, that person had walked up to the Taoists. Tang Shi saw through her binoculars—he tapped one of them on the shoulder. Probably just curious why they’d been motionless. The moment he touched him, the Taoist collapsed like mud on the ground.

The whole mountain fell silent for one second.

Gao Ling grabbed the hand of the person next to her.

Then came the flood—screams, terrified cries, excited shouts. The mountain exploded into chaos.

It was like a demonic carnival.

Instantly, everything went wild.

A rogue demon almost hit Gao Ling—she ducked just in time. The girl beside her handed her a banner.

“Throw it on the ground and unroll it! Hurry! Don’t toss it here—aim for the next hill over! Quick, he might still be nearby watching. He could vanish again at any second!”

Gao Ling realized the “he” was Yuan. She thought, Damn, this girl is sharp. Even now she remembers to throw it away from us… She unrolled the banner and flung it like a frisbee. Then, with help from some demon students, they escaped the chaos.

“When did he get here?” someone shouted. Gao Ling guessed it had been at least twenty minutes. Thousands of demons present—and no one saw where Yuan came from. Who would’ve thought?

Before anyone noticed, Yuan had appeared… and then disappeared. Or maybe, he’d never appeared at all.

No one knew where he really was.

“God! I was staring the whole time and never saw him!”

“I even recorded it—and nothing! How’s that possible?!”

“Forget it, just run. This place is about to blow!”

On the way down the mountain, voices surrounded them. But since most demons used air or water routes, not many were on foot. So it wasn’t too crowded.

In front of thousands of demons, even with cameras everywhere, Yuan had killed a few people without ever showing his face—and then left.

A blatant insult. You’re not even worth me showing my face.

Only when chaos truly erupted did people realize—Yuan had already come, killed, and gone.

Then came the icy wind down everyone’s spine.

When had he arrived?

Under the gaze of thousands, no one had seen him. And he’d killed people right in front of them. If you had been sitting in those chairs… would he have killed you just as easily?

Only then did panic truly spread. Demons stampeded downhill, wanting to escape this bone-chilling place.

“Did you throw the banner?” Amid the chaos, Gao Ling’s group remained oddly calm.

They were walking down with a few students. To their surprise, the trail was eerily quiet. Barely anyone around.

As they walked, a winged demon fell from the sky like a shooting star—crashing in front of them. Most likely already dead.

Gao Ling picked up the pace, sickened by the sight. She turned and said, “Yeah… I threw it. Don’t know if Yuan will see it. Someone on the next hill cursed me out though.”

“Whether he sees it or not, at least we tried,” the girl beside her said. “You’ve got to have hope.”

“Suddenly feels like we were some kind of secret agents tonight,” Gao Ling said, laughing. “Actually, it was kind of thrilling. Haven’t done anything this reckless in a while.”

“Like doing a good deed in secret.” The girl gave her a high-five. “Operation Clear Yuan’s Name—first mission: success!”

Gao Ling laughed.

She suddenly thought, what they did tonight probably looked pretty dangerous to outsiders… But in a way, they were like Yuan—struggling in the shadows, doing what they believed was right.

Whether or not it would make a difference, or if it ended up backfiring… she didn’t know. But she felt freer tonight than she had in a long time.

As she walked, she listened to the girl beside her.

“I’m gonna make our team famous. I can’t draw, but I’ll write stuff online… brainwash people with fanfics. Yuan’s fanfics are already popular—even if everyone says ‘that’s not the real Yuan’—what if I make them real? What if one day they realize the Yuan in fanfics… is the real one?”

Gao Ling just walked quietly, listening without interrupting. Then, halfway down, she suddenly saw someone ahead—a man in black, head lowered, backpack on, walking quietly.

He had a flashlight in hand, illuminating the stairs one step at a time. Gao Ling immediately assumed he was human—demons don’t usually need flashlights.

“Hey, sir.” Gao Ling ran up to him and said, “It’s dangerous up there. You should head down. Don’t stay on the mountain this late.”

The man didn’t turn around. He paused when he heard her.

After a moment, he said, “Alright.”