Little Pink Starfish

Yuan Yuanyuan didn’t walk straight in. Instead, she stood off to the side, watching. Most of the people around were wearing masks. Yuan Yuanyuan kept thinking about what this scene reminded her of… and then it suddenly clicked—this looked exactly like something from Harry Potter, the kind of scene where a group of Death Eaters surrounds a Muggle Studies professor to kill them…

It was a bit gory, and frankly made her a little queasy. It was her first time witnessing something like this, so she had no idea what to do. She just had a vague feeling that whatever was about to happen next was definitely R-rated.

Sure enough, what happened next was…

Yuan Yuanyuan thought that, since everyone was wearing masks, she couldn’t tell what their expressions were, but she still tried not to show any signs of disgust herself—just in case her thoughts could somehow leak out through her eyes.

“You still won’t talk?” asked one of the masked men beside her, his mask shaped like a ferocious beast. “Just say the word, and we can be one big happy family.”

“Pah,” spat the man on the ground. “Like hell I’d be in a family with you.”

Yuan Yuanyuan wondered if they could use some kind of demonic magic or charm to confuse him. Just watching him get beaten like this was a bit too much. But then she suddenly realized—these people probably didn’t even care about getting information out of him. They just wanted to vent.

More people kept coming over, asking what they were planning to do next. Yuan Yuanyuan thought, What do you mean, what next? He’s about to get beaten to death.

As she kept watching, she started feeling unexpectedly sympathetic. But she didn’t have a good way to help.

In a moment of desperation, just before the next round of beating began, Yuan Yuanyuan suddenly stepped forward.
“How about letting me try?” she said.

The place fell silent for a second. Everyone turned to look at her.

She didn’t waste time talking. She walked over, yanked the man’s head up and gave it a pat—he was still breathing, which eased her nerves a bit.

“Yuan, do you want to take this on?” asked the boss sitting above.

“No. I just think you guys are being really inefficient,” said Yuan Yuanyuan. “Give him to me. I’ll have all the intel out of him in just a moment.”

“Right, you specialize in this,” the man above said as he looked at Yuan Yuanyuan. “Since you volunteered, we’ll hand him over to you. Let’s see if you can get anything more out of him.”

“Alright,” said Yuan Yuanyuan.

She dragged the man on the ground forward. He cursed nonstop as he was pulled, clearly recognizing who she was. The insults were vivid, colorful, and creative—Yuan Yuanyuan’s face darkened, and she very nearly just left him there on the spot.

Calm down, calm down… Don’t act on impulse. Saving a life is worth more than building a seven-story pagoda.

“You’re the one who killed Lord Jing!” the boy on the ground yelled. “I know everything! They didn’t even find Lord Jing’s body. One day, someone will avenge him! And me too!”

Yuan Yuanyuan thought, Ah… yeah, sorry about that. I killed that traitor. Didn’t mean to make it so clean that you couldn’t even find a body. My bad.

But seriously, isn’t the guy’s body buried right behind our usual meeting place, under that big tree?

Don’t bring him up! Just thinking about that guy makes me furious!

Yuan Yuanyuan’s face was still dark as she flung the brat into a corner. Then she took out her small dagger and approached with a “heh heh heh” look on her face. Even though she had a mask on and he couldn’t see her actual expression, she still had a sense of how creepy she looked—that’s exactly why she didn’t dare take off the mask.

“You’d better talk. Otherwise, when I make you talk, it’s not going to feel nice,” said Yuan Yuanyuan, her tone dark and ominous, with a voice like a monster used to scare kids at night.

“I won’t say anything!” the boy snapped back stubbornly.

Yuan Yuanyuan pulled a leaf from her pocket and stuck it in her mouth. Kid, you probably haven’t realized the severity of your situation. Nobody here actually expects to get information from you. Judging by your clueless look, you probably don’t even know anything useful. They just want to play you to death. Otherwise, with your power level, you would’ve already spilled everything, whether you meant to or not.

Illusions and enchantments used by demons can do all sorts of things. Why do you think femme fatales are called demon concubines?

With the leaf between her teeth, Yuan Yuanyuan leaned closer and gently cast an illusion spell. Then she asked, “Tell me, what do you know?”

The boy’s eyes went blank—that was a sign he’d fallen under the illusion. Yuan Yuanyuan watched him begin to speak, and then suddenly tears welled up in his eyes.

“It’s alright, don’t fight it.”
Not like it’ll help. My illusion skills are top-tier.

The boy shook his head.

Yuan Yuanyuan looked at him with the gentle gaze of a benevolent aunt. Poor kid. You feeling guilty or something? No need. Seriously.

Why are you carrying such a heavy emotional burden anyway?

Under her tender gaze, the boy started talking. Yuan Yuanyuan asked very skillfully, avoiding sensitive questions. She thought the intel she got wasn’t bad. But as soon as the boy finished, he snapped out of it and refused to say anything else.

Kid, your mental fortitude sucks. Look at me—life’s been tough, and I still tried to save your ass. Yuan Yuanyuan shook her head and went upstairs to report to the boss. As for what happened to the boy afterward, she wasn’t sure.

That night, when she came back, she heard the boy had been released. It was better than she expected—he’d actually survived.

Back at home, she collapsed on the bed. The fat cat turned to look at her, frowning. “You smell like blood.”

“Do I?” Yuan Yuanyuan lifted her arm and sniffed. “There was a fight in the tavern today. I went to watch.”

“Why the hell would you go watch something like that?” The cat turned its head. “People will think you’re a psychopath.”

“What can I do? This is how I make money.” Yuan Yuanyuan buried her face in the pillow. Being a spy was honestly miserable. She was starting to regret everything and wished she could go back to washing glasses again.

“Money’s hard to come by these days. Don’t let a few setbacks get you down.” The fat cat said, “As long as the result is good, don’t overthink the process. And don’t take it to heart.”

“I’ll… try.” Yuan Yuanyuan rolled over.

The next day, when she arrived at the tavern, she wasn’t surprised to see everyone furiously cursing Yuan. The boy from yesterday was sitting in the center of the hall, surrounded by demons asking how he was doing.

Yuan Yuanyuan walked over wearing a hat with a veil. When she got close to the boy, she immediately sensed something was off. She made him stand up.

She picked up a fruit knife, walked to his side, told him not to move, and then plunged the knife into his wrist. Following a vein, she extracted a long, black worm.

The moment it came out, the worm squirmed wildly, trying to crawl back into her hand. Disgusted, Yuan Yuanyuan flipped the knife and nailed it to the floor.

The hall went dead silent. Everyone stared at the worm on the ground. Yuan Yuanyuan wanted to stomp on it, but with all those eyes on her, she held back.

“What… is that?” someone murmured.

“Not sure, but it looks like a tracking or control parasite,” said another demon who specialized in bug magic. “Do you feel anything else wrong?”

“No, not anymore,” the boy said, still in shock as he stared at the dead worm.

“Quick, thank the lady!” someone nudged him. “If it weren’t for her, you wouldn’t even know how you died.”

“Oh—thank you! Thank you, ma’am!” The boy finally came to his senses and hurriedly thanked Yuan Yuanyuan, his eyes sparkling.

Yuan Yuanyuan looked at those bright eyes and suddenly remembered how yesterday, this same kid looked like he wanted to eat her alive.

Sigh… why are people so fickle?

She slowly walked out of the crowd, went back upstairs, and hid behind the curtains. Along the way, everyone parted to let her through, watching her with respect and not a whisper among them.

She sat behind the curtain, continuing to pour and serve drinks as usual. Nothing seemed out of place.

A person revered by many.

A person despised by many.

When would these two become one?

Yuan Yuanyuan didn’t know. She just kept pouring drinks until the rumor broke again that Yuan had extracted intel from a rebel group member. Her infamy grew another notch.

But all the insiders knew Yuan didn’t usually do intel work… Still, the rumors spread so far and wide that even their own people started believing them. Yuan Yuanyuan recently got several intel missions, and each time left her completely speechless.

This job… you can’t hold back, but you also can’t not hold back.

Doing it too much, she felt like she was shaving years off her life.

After thinking about it for a while, Yuan Yuanyuan sighed.

Forget it. Saving a life is better than building a seven-story pagoda.

Today, Yuan Yuanyuan continued happily playing the part of a spy—while also furiously brainwashing herself.