Little Pink Starfish

Gao Ling kept glancing up, then back down.

One moment, she was trying to convince herself not to overthink it; the next, she wanted to slam her head against the wall.

In just ten minutes, Gao Ling had experienced a whirlwind of emotional rollercoasters.

Yuan Yuanyuan had basically tripped into a trap she’d never expected. Who would’ve thought that among the insane crowd of demons below, someone would actually be hiding there in secret? Luckily Si Qun was beside her—if it had been any other demon, Gao Ling would probably be toast by now.

Looking at the people below, Yuan Yuanyuan figured she had to say something to get herself out of this. It wasn’t about anything else—it was because she suddenly remembered she’d been gone for too long. If she didn’t head back soon, her coworkers might start getting suspicious.

Seeing an opportunity to go with the flow, Yuan Yuanyuan thought: since this turned out to be the headquarters of the anti-war organization, and she apparently was the boss here for now, she might as well say a few vague words and get out.

“You all…” Yuan Yuanyuan spoke up, her voice a little hoarse. “What do you want?”

…She’d almost blurted out, What are your demands?

Her voice was hoarse because she had taken a few puffs from the pipe earlier. The smoke had startled her—it didn’t even look lit, but once she inhaled, smoke came out. And it was strong and harsh, completely different from what she was used to.

A real manly kind of smoke… Yuan Yuanyuan grimaced. After this, she swore never to touch that pipe again.

Gao Ling’s face below was blank.

Because she had just heard that voice.

What the actual—

Oh my god—

Wait, who am I, where am I, what am I doing?

Gao Ling suddenly felt like her brain was about to explode.

Boss, what the hell kind of vibe is this?! Snap out of it! No matter what, a crossdressing king still loses! You’re not built for this kind of aesthetic!

What is going on? Weren’t you supposed to be the brooding older man? Why are you wearing women’s clothing now?!

Despite how chaotic her thoughts were, Gao Ling did catch the key point. She looked at the silhouette above—yes, she was now sure that it was Yuan.

This Yuan was definitely more energetic than that gloomy version from before… Wait, what was she even saying? Had she… been brainwashed already?

She remembered the people who had been dragged out earlier, and what the boy beside her had said about them being mind-wiped. She figured she’d probably be next, and she definitely didn’t want that. She had to think of a way to get this information out.

…And if you had to ask what information—of course it would be the terrifying fact that Yuan is a crossdressing king! How scary is that?!

“We… we don’t want to go back to that kind of life,” someone below said hesitantly after a moment. “They never even asked us. Why should they be allowed to start another war?”

“Right! We opposed bloodline theory years ago—our ancestors opposed it! Many of them even paid with their lives! Isn’t that enough? Why must history repeat itself?” someone else shouted.

Yuan Yuanyuan thought to herself: Dude, why are you yelling at me? I’m innocent! I studied engineering, not political science.

But seriously, looking at the situation through the lens of history class—this was like during WWII when some countries launched foreign invasions to ease internal pressure, leading to colonization and conflict.

The demons’ situation now wasn’t unlike that of that orthopedic country during WWII. After their defeat in WWI, that country bore the brunt of punitive conditions, and the internal strife eventually sparked another war. The demons were now in a similar state. If no solution was found, another war might break out.

Demons were exhausted. The rules that seemed normal to humans were seen as shackles to most demons. Complaints were already piling up. If not addressed properly, the number of those supporting war would only increase.

…But what did that have to do with her? Even the King of All Demons hadn’t stepped in yet—why was this falling on her?

Yuan Yuanyuan’s internal monologue was full of half-baked denial, but she knew one thing—this did relate to her. Or more accurately, it related to Seventeen.

This might be her current duty… and maybe even Seventeen’s long-standing dream.

Sigh…

Finally, Yuan Yuanyuan said, “Okay. I understand.”

An uproar broke out below again. Yuan Yuanyuan shook her head. What she hated more than anything was this blind idol-worship culture among demons—whatever a great demon said was treated like holy truth, no questions asked.

“She agreed! She said she’d help us!”

“Please, my lady, you must stand up for us! My father died for this cause, and now they want to trample on his final wish!”

Yuan Yuanyuan clicked her tongue impatiently. Oh come on, your dad had a will, and now I’m someone’s dying wish? This is… way too freaking heavy.

“My lady,” someone shouted, “Have you heard about him lately?”

Silence.

—Yuan Yuanyuan, up above, thought: Shit. They were about to ask something she had no way to answer.

—Gao Ling, down below, thought: Shit. Yup.

Though they were thinking different things, both were equally nervous at the same moment.

Yuan Yuanyuan flicked her sleeve, using it to half-cover her face, and replied in a quiet voice, “Speak.”

“Yes, ma’am!” a demon immediately stood up, full of righteous anger. “Yuan disappeared years ago and never showed up. But now that he’s back, he’s sided with the other side! Even back then, his words meant nothing. So many elders died because of what he said! And now, after all this time, he dares show up like this?! It’s outrageous!”

“Exactly! Outrageous!”

“Elder Ruhua passed away years ago—how dare he…”

“And Jingying! Do you still remember Jingying? Yuan personally killed him!”

Jingying? Yuan Yuanyuan turned the name over in her mind… and then suddenly remembered.

She paused for a moment and then gave a small nod.

Those watching could only see her shadow. Through the paper screen, her motion was faint—so subtle that unless you looked closely, you’d think it was a trick of the light.

“She remembers him! My lady remembers him!”

More chaos followed below—people actually cried. And not just one or two.

Only now did Yuan Yuanyuan realize how incredibly successful that spy called Jingying had been. He really had been a top-tier ancient demon.

Gao Ling noticed the long silence from the person above after the question. Then came the faintest nod—barely noticeable unless you were really looking. But the crowd below went absolutely wild.

Amid the madness, Gao Ling started feeling lightheaded, a bit nauseated—like she might puke.

Jingying… suddenly she remembered. Wasn’t that the demon Yuan buried under a tree?

If she recalled correctly, that demon had been a deeply embedded traitor.

Surrounded by all the noise, Gao Ling mumbled under her breath. Si Qun leaned over and tugged her sleeve, whispering, “What? What did you say?”

“Shh. Just talking to myself,” Gao Ling said.

“Don’t—don’t do that,” Si Qun said nervously. “Everyone here has great hearing… mine’s the best.”

“….” Gao Ling shut up.

“If possible, can we just kill him?” someone finally said the quiet part out loud.

“Yeah! He won’t live much longer anyway. Letting him die quietly is letting him off too easy!” others echoed.

Demons really were a straightforward and violent bunch.

Gao Ling looked around at the scene, a little scared. Especially considering who was sitting up there… it all felt absurd.

She should’ve felt another emotion—anger. But maybe the shock of the crossdressing king was too strong, so she just didn’t feel it.

Besides, this version of Yuan felt different from the usual one. Normally, Yuan gave her this weirdly melancholic vibe—especially that night on the phone, when his voice painted the picture of a black-clad, sorrowful, gentle man.

Now, this crossdressing figure above was domineering and graceful, no trace of sorrow. Even though Gao Ling figured he should be feeling pretty miserable right now.

Instead, he—er, she—was oozing allure, with a hint of… uh, sultry mischief.

Seventeen’s crossdressing persona was honestly pretty convincing, Gao Ling thought.

So… was this his thing?

As Yuan Yuanyuan listened to the nonsense from below, she flopped lazily back onto the divan in a perfect couch-potato sprawl, took a drag from the long pipe, and exhaled.

Once the crowd finally quieted down, she lazily said, “Sure.”

“Yuan…” someone below had still been ranting, but they froze mid-sentence.

“Sure,” Yuan Yuanyuan repeated. “If you want him dead, then I’ll kill him. It’s not like he’s some legendary demon or anything.”