Little Pink Starfish

Yuan Yuanyuan got home, stripped off her clothes, and collapsed comfortably onto her bed, ready to take a well-earned nap.

She’d gone through way too much that evening—so much that she was struggling to process it all. If she hadn’t caught a glimpse of that girl just before leaving, she might’ve completely forgotten about her.

In the end, Yuan Yuanyuan never did wait long enough to see Li Zi Jie. But the weird part was that even Si Qun had come along. After hearing Yuan Yuanyuan’s instructions, he easily erased Gao Ling’s memories and escorted her out.

Gao Ling stumbled out with Yuan Yuanyuan to the street corner. Yuan Yuanyuan had her sit down there for a bit before turning and walking away. When Gao Ling finally came to, all she saw was the back of a woman walking away—never even caught a glimpse of her face.

Back at home, Yuan Yuanyuan relaxed completely. She played with her cat and scrolled on her phone, even had the energy to make herself a little hotpot. Since the chubby cat couldn’t handle spicy food, she made a split pot with one side full of tomato broth.

“You seem pretty happy today,” said the cat. “Something good happen?”

Yuan Yuanyuan didn’t say anything—but something had happened. She just couldn’t tell anyone.

When she said in the tavern that she would kill Yuan, she suddenly realized—this was her chance to disappear for good.

—What a perfect excuse for a faked death!

Yuan Yuanyuan was genuinely pleased. When she said it, she’d even started daydreaming about a brighter future. But not everyone was happy—especially the proprietress, who had once been Seventeen’s old flame. She was furious when she heard what Yuan Yuanyuan said.

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?!” the proprietress had nearly ripped Yuan Yuanyuan’s ear off. “If you want to die so badly, I’ll help you out myself!”

“Okay okay okay,” Yuan Yuanyuan had begged. “I was just talking nonsense. Don’t take it so seriously.”

—But no, it hadn’t been nonsense. She had meant it.

Of course, she wouldn’t dare tell the proprietress that. Judging by the proprietress’s mood at the time, confessing might’ve earned her a death sentence on the spot.

Yuan Yuanyuan was now plotting how to stage this “death.” It was clear that everyone wanted Yuan dead. So all she had to do was pick the right moment—after everything else was resolved.

Ji Qiu was still watching her from behind. If Yuan Yuanyuan wanted to convincingly play Seventeen, she’d first have to prevent the war, then settle his sister’s affairs. Once those two tasks were done, even Ji Qiu wouldn’t bother her anymore.

Maybe she’d have to handle a few other things too—like figuring out how the spies died, or doing something about the protagonist’s Daoist magic book or whatever… But honestly, none of that was urgent. At this point, Yuan Yuanyuan was so overburdened she’d stopped caring.

While she was feeling pretty cheerful, Gao Ling was completely shell-shocked.

When Gao Ling woke up on the side of the road, she had no idea where she was—or what she was supposed to be doing. She couldn’t remember a thing.

For a solid five minutes, she was just… out of it. Luckily Yuan Yuanyuan had been careful enough not to leave her too vulnerable—otherwise she could’ve been kidnapped.

After those five minutes, Gao Ling vaguely remembered where she was. But she still couldn’t figure out how she’d gotten there. She had a hazy image of a woman walking past her (actually Yuan Yuanyuan leaving after confirming she was truly out).

She thought hard, then pulled out her phone, trying to piece together what had happened. She knew something was off, but she just couldn’t recall it.

First, she checked her notes—nothing. Completely blank. Then she scanned her chat history—also nothing.

It wasn’t until she got to her call history that something odd popped up: a phone call made a few hours ago, lasting nearly thirty minutes. She didn’t remember making the call at all—not a single second of it.

A call that long should’ve left at least some impression. Gao Ling redialed the number, intending to get to the bottom of it. As soon as the call connected, the person on the other end said, “Oh my god, Gao Ling! You’re okay?! I thought you were dead for sure this time!”

Gao Ling froze and quickly interrupted, “Wait, hold on… I’m really confused. I don’t remember anything. Did I call you earlier? What did we talk about?”

The other end went quiet for a few seconds… then exploded into a wail of despair.

“Ling! LING!! You’re doomed! Completely screwed! Beyond saving!”

Gao Ling: “…Why? What happened? Why am I suddenly ‘beyond saving’?”

It took another half-hour for Gao Ling to piece everything together from her friend’s recollection—and what she heard left her absolutely stunned.

She had randomly run into a female demon, been taken to some sort of secret lair, and then something big happened inside that cut the audio and ended the call. Hours later, she showed up on the street again with no memories of what had happened.

Straight-up horror movie plot. Gao Ling broke into a cold sweat just listening.

The two of them analyzed the situation for a long time. In the end, it became clear that yes, her memory had been wiped. But what happened during the period when the signal was down remained unknown.

And the unknown is always terrifying.

Her friend asked, “You didn’t leave any kind of message for yourself, did you? Some kind of clue?”

That thought creeped Gao Ling out. She frantically searched all her pockets but found nothing.

Thankfully, her phone and wallet were still with her, not a cent missing. She hailed a cab home, feeling like a ghost the whole ride. She couldn’t shake the feeling that someone was watching her.

When she got home, she didn’t even dare go inside until it was completely dark. Only then did she open the door.

Gao Ling was convinced she’d been through something horrifying in that demon base. She thought through every possibility, made herself nauseous with speculation—but without proof, she couldn’t draw any conclusions.

Then, while showering that night, she suddenly noticed something on her stomach. A few lines of writing.

She nearly screamed.

Flashes of memories hit her all at once—

Herself, inside that demon base, enduring countless trials and humiliations, clawing her way to survival in what felt like a death game. Using her wits to bring back a vital piece of intelligence for her future self.

Tears welled up in Gao Ling’s eyes.

The writing was awkwardly placed and backwards, so it was hard to read. She grabbed her phone and turned on the selfie camera.

As her heart pounded in anticipation, she read the first line:

[YUAN IS A CROSSDRESSING KING HOLY SH*T AHHHHHHH!!]

…

Gao Ling: “…Huh?”

What the hell? That made no sense.

But the handwriting was unmistakably hers—her awful chicken-scratch.

She stared at it for a few seconds, still not understanding what it meant. But judging from the caps, exclamation points, and swearing… she must have been on the verge of a meltdown.

She scrolled down to the next line:

[THE WOMAN IN THE LANTERN—THAT’S HIM!!!]

…

Still made no sense.

What “person in the lantern”? Who hides inside a lantern?! How big would the lantern have to be?

At first, Gao Ling thought she had left herself a critical message. But now, faced with this nonsense, she couldn’t help but laugh and shake her head. Clearly she had gone completely nuts at the time. So much for “escaping with vital intel”…

—One week later.

…

The newest issue of Demon Notes was released.

The world was shocked. Everyone was saying that the righteous faction had finally made its appearance, and the protagonist finally had a real backer.

Gao Ling was equally stunned. She sat dazed in her room for an hour, then grabbed a blanket, wrapped herself up tight, and curled up in the corner singing a cutesy tune to herself.

“Ah~ once upon a time there was a silly little fool, who planted a big ol’ watermelon~”

“The flower fell down~ and grew into a watermelon~”

…

[Boss, why haven’t you been online lately? Something up?] someone asked in the group chat.

[Big watermelon~ flower flower~] Gao Ling replied with a cryptic message.

[…Boss, what are you saying? You sound… kinda creepy.]

[The flower fell and turned into a melon~ hehe~]

No one dared poke the bear. Instead, the group focused on their biggest curiosity of the week:

[So who the hell is the leader of the anti-war organization?! I need to know!]

[Seems like a cool older woman… I don’t know why but I think I’ve developed a bit of a crush. Total dommy mommy vibes.]

[What do you mean?! She said she was going to kill Yuan!]

[No no no—look at it this way, okay? Imagine the queen holding a whip, saying degrading things, with one foot on Yuan’s back…]

[Flower flower~ watermelon~ hahahaha~] Gao Ling chimed in again. [Flower becomes watermelon~]

…The group chat went silent. Then everyone turned toward the group admin:

[Admin, can you PLEASE ask what the hell is going on with her? Did something happen to the boss?!]

[Alright… I’ll try.] the group admin replied. She called Gao Ling and asked, “Hey, has something happened recently?”

The voice on the other end startled her.

“A little, yeah. But it’s nothing big… just that… the flower turned into a watermelon.”

The admin: “…”

What the hell does that even mean?