Little Pink Starfish

A major event recently shook the demon world—every demon who heard about it was stunned.

—Yuan actually disappeared without a trace during a battle.

The impact of this incident was beyond what most people could imagine. The entire demon world was in turmoil. It was arguably more shocking than the previous reveal that Yuan was actually Seventeen.

—Or perhaps, it was precisely because that earlier revelation had come out that the current incident had the effect it did.

According to reports, at the time, Yuan was in a face-off with someone. The two stood facing each other when Yuan suddenly coughed up a mouthful of blood and fell down;

Others said Yuan had been in a long standoff with the person, and then was suddenly struck and fell;

Some even claimed that the person facing off against Yuan looked very familiar—possibly Fan Ning—but everything remained speculation, nothing had been confirmed.

After all, the people present were mostly silent, and only some demons and Taoists who happened to overhear sounds from that direction spread the news. They were relatively far away and didn’t see everything clearly.

Only a few insiders knew what really happened—Yuan had fallen from the sky, and beneath him just so happened to be a river. Normally, the water level wasn’t very high, but it had been raining recently, and the current was swift. Yuan fell into the river and then disappeared.

Over the next few days, various river demons and fish spirits searched the river discreetly, not daring to make too much noise. But after several days, no news came—no one had seen any trace of Yuan. It was as if he had simply vanished.

—Most understood deep down: if someone couldn’t be found by this point, things were looking grim.

Although the current was fast, it shouldn’t have been a problem for someone like Yuan. But he never resurfaced after falling in. Given his condition at the time, the likelihood of survival was slim.

Even those present back then didn’t know exactly what had happened to Yuan. All they saw was him suddenly falling like a kite with a cut string—and then no trace of him could be found.

Then the anti-war organization charged forward like madmen. Clearly, Yuan’s sudden fall had hugely boosted their morale.

Everything was a haze of confusion. No conclusion had yet been reached.

In the midst of all the chaos, Yuan Yuanyuan was curled up at home with a cup of milk tea, watching TV in perfect comfort. She radiated happiness.

“You really went?” she muttered as she dragged the fat cat back. “Going won’t help anything.”

“Ah! I don’t believe it!” The fat cat was frantic. “I don’t believe it! How could Yuan be in trouble?!”

“I don’t believe it either,” Yuan Yuanyuan replied. “Which is why I’m so calm…”

She had been eating and drinking well recently, without any stress—she’d even gained ten pounds.

“This won’t do. I still have to go check.” Yuan couldn’t stop the cat. She sighed—it had been nice cuddling and watching TV, but now the fat cat insisted on leaving, and she couldn’t stop him. After all, she couldn’t tell him the truth.

Another person going crazy was Gao Ling. She had heard about the incident from Tang Shi. Recalling how uneasy she’d felt a few days ago, her whole body felt uncomfortable now. Anxiously, she waited for the next chapter of the comic.

Come Sunday, she sat on her bed in a daze until midnight. As soon as the update dropped, she opened it and started reading.

Sure enough, this chapter of the comic depicted the incident that had everyone in an uproar. For the first time, Gao Ling learned the background—it turned out Yuan had brought the Mask Organization to escort a shipment of weapons, only for the opposing side to ambush them.

This plot reminded Gao Ling of an earlier part of the story, where monsters and humans from anti-war groups had gathered to discuss how to sabotage the Mask Organization. Those scenes had been cut short at the time, so readers hadn’t known what was discussed. Now it was clear—it had been about this.

That gave Gao Ling a little reassurance. She remembered that during that previous meeting, Yuan had been present, sitting behind a curtain. He had known about everything from the beginning. Did that mean Yuan was actually fine? Maybe the reports were wrong?

With that uneasy hope, Gao Ling continued reading.

The comic showed Yuan holding a dagger, scanning the bushes. The scene was from a human’s perspective. The man being watched by Yuan was sweating nervously.

“Hey, hey,” someone next to him nudged, “Do you think Yuan actually noticed you?”
“Probably… not,” he muttered. The others quickly told him to shut up—Yuan was walking over.
Just as everyone exchanged nervous glances, Yuan suddenly smiled. It was hard to describe—chilling, and full of menace.
A bad feeling rose in everyone’s heart—then a dagger came flying and stabbed one of them in the thigh.

Gao Ling shivered. The comic depicted the scene so vividly—the victim writhed in pain but dared not cry out.

Behind him was the main force—if he made a sound, he would likely…

Gao Ling thought, No way… Yuan wouldn’t kill— She didn’t finish the thought before turning the page.

Yuan suddenly appeared beside the human, slashing a long wound across his body with his dagger. The scene of him licking the blood was drawn beautifully—eerie, yet strangely poignant. But Gao Ling only felt deeply disturbed.

No! Why would Yuan do that?

Gao Ling knew Yuan practiced a bizarre demon art that required human blood—but he had never exposed that in front of others. This was the first time such a direct blood-drinking scene had been fully shown.

There had been a previous panel where Yuan drank blood from a cup, but that wasn’t nearly as intense as this.

For something like this to be drawn… yes, it was visually stunning. For a 2D character, this could even attract fans. But Gao Ling knew—for Yuan, this was not a good thing. Humans already had a poor opinion of him. After this chapter, his popularity would definitely plummet.

Compared to reality, a fictional world doesn’t hold as much weight—but still.

Even though Gao Ling had just seen a disturbing scene, she wasn’t too worried for Yuan—at least not yet. She still believed that if Yuan didn’t want to die, no one could kill him. But as she kept reading, she finally began to understand the origin of those rumors.

One thing many people didn’t know: Yuan’s body wasn’t in good shape. Apparently, the time he spent in the Red Sand Well had left serious aftereffects.

In the comic, Yuan looked fine on the surface—but Gao Ling suddenly remembered how at the very beginning of the chapter, Yuan had told a fox-masked man, “I’m not feeling well.”

That gave her a bad premonition. As someone who also drew comics, Gao Ling had written similar foreshadowing before. But she still hoped it wouldn’t come true. Sure enough, the further she read, the more everything seemed to be pushing toward that one inevitable conclusion.

Many people watched as Yuan fought his way to the center. There, Fan Ning’s team stood, eyes glinting as they saw the weapons—everyone looked faintly excited.

When Yuan suddenly appeared before them, that excitement vanished. People stared at him, knowing this was someone you didn’t mess with. There would be no easy win.

Fan Ning’s expression turned grim. He told those beside him:

“If things go south, destroy the weapons. Don’t worry about me.”

As the team leader, he tried to stall for time by chatting with Yuan. He wanted to test Yuan—what was the purpose of the spellbook Yuan had written? This was a chance to probe both his intent and his position.
But Yuan gave nothing away.
“I’ve written too many things,” he said. “I forget some of them.”

That reply irritated Fan Ning. He wanted to press further, but when he moved in, Yuan subtly dodged—which Fan Ning found suspicious.

What was he hiding? Fan Ning turned to glance at Yuan—and saw his brow was slightly furrowed. It was a tiny detail—easy to miss.
Did he sense something? Fan Ning thought. There was something strange about Yuan—but he couldn’t tell what.
He threw a talisman at Yuan and noticed Yuan dodged much slower than expected.
That unsettled him further.
Fan Ning still didn’t fully understand what was happening. He fought Yuan directly a few times, forcing him to retreat again and again. For the first time, Fan Ning had the upper hand. Just as he was gaining momentum, Yuan suddenly coughed up a mouthful of blood—spattering his clothes and shocking Fan Ning.
What the…? Did I do that? Fan Ning was startled. But instinct told him it hadn’t been from his attack. Something felt… off.
Yuan suddenly collapsed like a broken kite—falling into the river below and vanishing without a trace.

Everyone—humans and demons alike—were stunned. They stared, unable to process what had just happened. Fan Ning was the most shocked of all. He looked around at the people staring at him, not knowing how to react.

Gao Ling closed the book, her expression more serious than ever.

Was this… a sudden health crisis during battle?

She finally understood why Yuan had fallen into the river. Now, there was only one thing left to do—wait for the next chapter to see whether the woman in red would appear.

Below the chapter, the comment section was filled with discussion.

Most were wondering why Yuan’s power had suddenly dropped so drastically, and speculating about his current status.

Had Yuan… really died?