Little Pink Starfish

Even though Yuan Yuanyuan still felt a creeping chill down her spine, she followed Lin Gubao anyway. Her goal was clear—she wanted to find a chance to probe their real attitude.

Lin Gubao had many things he wanted to ask, but after starting several times and failing to speak, he finally settled on a safer topic: “Do you still remember Lady Lian? She’s been thinking about you lately.”

Lady Lian… It had been ages since Yuan Yuanyuan had heard that name. Hearing it again out of the blue, she suddenly felt a little nostalgic, a bit like she was young again. She hadn’t returned to City C in a long time out of fear of an ambush, and naturally hadn’t seen that lovely woman in white either.

Her next instinctive reaction was: Wait, what? Is this… them trying to lure me back? Or maybe a setup to gang up and kill me?

She thought about it for a long time but couldn’t decide which was more likely. Then she suddenly fell into self-loathing despair: Agh, this is what I get for being a half-baked spy… totally unreliable.

Lin Gubao watched the cold expression on Yuan’s face after he spoke and suddenly felt a sense of respect.

Ah… Truly the head of all spies. Not a single flicker of emotion. Playing the emotional card clearly won’t work here. It just makes one want to try harder.

And so, the two of them sank into yet another round of deeply confused mutual misinterpretation…

Their conversation from that point on continued under this bizarre misunderstanding. Yuan Yuanyuan felt embarrassed and kept a stern face, while Lin Gubao tried all kinds of subtle ways to test whether she knew about the recent developments—but they were all accidentally deflected by her without her even realizing it.

They had what felt like a full-on mental duel, even though Yuan Yuanyuan didn’t notice much. She just kept thinking, Why does this guy talk so weird…?

By the time Lin Gubao left, he still hadn’t figured out where Yuan had been or what her next goal was. Yuan Yuanyuan didn’t say a word either. Lin Gubao kept saying things like “you’re welcome to return,” but Yuan couldn’t tell whether he was serious or being sarcastic.

Just before parting, they both sighed at the same time, and in their hearts, each thought:

That person is really hard to deal with.

Neither of them really knew what had just happened, but both turned to leave. Yuan Yuanyuan felt a bit unwilling. So did Lin Gubao.

Then, just as she took a few steps away, Lin Gubao suddenly called out to her.

“Would you… like to visit the Nursery District again? The young demons there all know now that you were the one who used to protect them.”

Yuan Yuanyuan froze.

…

Half an hour later, she and Lin Gubao appeared on the streets of the Nursery District. Yuan Yuanyuan was feeling a little anxious, but if you want something, you have to take risks. Coming back to take a look felt kind of nice.

Walking down the streets of the Nursery District again, everything felt unfamiliar. She lived far from here and rarely visited. One shop she used to recognize had been completely renovated. It looked different now and felt off.

Yuan had originally thought she and Lin Gubao would sneak through side alleys to peek around. But even when they reached the entrance to the main street, he still hadn’t said a word.

She felt uneasy, glancing at the nearby shops and buildings, thinking: People are totally gonna see me… Why are we walking so openly like this?

Lin Gubao, on the other hand, seemed completely calm. After a pause, he said, “Don’t worry about word getting out. The demons here are very tight-lipped.”

As he said that, heads began peeking out of shop doors and windows. All of them sneakily watched from the shadows. One by one, more and more demons noticed them, all secretly observing.

But no one came forward right away. The street still looked normal on the surface. Quiet, peaceful… But Yuan Yuanyuan’s senses were sharp. Nothing got past her, especially not here. Ever since she arrived, wary of a trap, she’d had her detection skill, the Chessboard Art, activated.

Some would suddenly pop out, glance at her, then vanish again, which just made her feel helpless.

Lin Gubao seemed to know exactly what was going on. Yuan really wanted to check if he was screwing her over on purpose, but she managed to hold herself back.

She sighed and kept walking, maintaining a cold, expressionless face like an unbeatable boss.

At first, the onlookers were few. But by the halfway point, the numbers had clearly grown. The shopfronts could no longer hide everyone…

As the crowd of demons swelled, Yuan Yuanyuan’s goosebumps surged again. Everyone’s stares had that same weird vibe—just like that other male demon’s earlier. There was something about it that made her extremely uncomfortable.

Hey, if you can’t hide, then stop pretending, alright? This is getting ridiculous.

Lin Gubao cleared his throat. Yuan suddenly heard him call back over his shoulder, “You all can stop hiding. We can see you anyway.”

Yuan shouted “good job” in her head. Now they’ll finally leave, right? I’m about to die from secondhand embarrassment at this rate…

Then Lin Gubao added, “Back in the day, a lot of you were cared for by Yuan-sama. If any of you want to, and aren’t busy, you’re welcome to come say hello…”

Before he could even finish, Yuan Yuanyuan’s eyes widened.

Are you freaking kidding me…

You…

Yuan was already starting to feel uneasy, but she still didn’t expect what came next.

She almost turned and bolted. But leaving halfway for no reason would kind of destroy her big boss image.

So she hesitated. And in that one moment of delay, it was too late.

The first wave that rushed up was made up of the Nursery District’s young demons—a whole mob of little radish-heads… One of them grabbed her leg and hugged it tight. Yuan Yuanyuan’s face remained frozen cold, but internally she was bleeding out.

Bro… I worked so hard on my intimidating vibe. Why aren’t you afraid of me?

She looked down with deadly eyes at the little kid clinging to her thigh. The child looked up and gave her a snot-bubble grin. Yuan Yuanyuan turned away in despair.

Why is my intimidation level dropping…

Before she could even scold them, the children’s parents rushed in and pulled their kids away. Yuan let out a sigh of relief.

Even Lin Gubao looked startled by the turnout. He started wildly signaling behind her with exaggerated winks. Yuan was too busy calming herself to pay attention.

Then the adults started arriving.

If it were just kids, she could scare them with a glare. But once the adults appeared—especially the grandmas—there was no way she could act all cool and childish.

So Yuan Yuanyuan had no choice but to actually talk to them properly. These demons had a bizarre tendency to give her things. First someone stuffed her hand with a weird little rock. Then it was odds and ends. Then food.

In Yuan Yuanyuan’s exaggerated mental image, the scene played out like this:

She took a couple of steps and a teary-eyed girl suddenly ran up and started throwing flowers at her head.

Yuan ducked to dodge the flower barrage—only for an excited man to chuck a rock that bonked her right on the head…

Staggering with bruises, she struggled forward—only to meet the final boss: an enthusiastic auntie armed with freshly steamed buns. The woman tried to stuff them into Yuan’s hands, her pockets, her waistband…

By the time Yuan Yuanyuan made it off that street, she felt like she’d evolved.

She’d gone from anxious and tense at the start to completely deadpan. Even if another auntie came charging at her with a steamed bun, she wouldn’t flinch.

She sighed and looked at Lin Gubao beside her. Now she didn’t find him so annoying. In fact, he seemed quite pleasant—at least he didn’t try to stuff things in her waistband.

Though her mood was still a bit strange.

Still, this visit had helped her find some answers. Judging from the Nursery District’s reaction, City C probably wasn’t aligned with the Mask Organization—or at least, part of it wasn’t. The internal power struggle was real. That much was clear, and not something she could fix.

She breathed a little easier and prepared to go back and report what she’d learned.

Elsewhere, Tang Shi had just returned and was stunned to find the street completely packed. She had no idea what was going on. She tapped someone nearby and asked.

“Yuan just came back quietly. He’s alive!” said an excited classmate.

In the background, a girl squealed, “Ahhh! So happy! So happy!” so loudly it was almost deafening.

Tang Shi stared wide-eyed. “Whoa, seriously? Then… did anyone ask him what’s been going on lately?”

“No,” her friend replied. “No one did. Not that we were told not to ask or anything… It’s just… I don’t know.”

“Then… why are you all crowded around here?” Tang Shi was baffled.

“Thanks to Lord Lin Gubao,” the classmate said. “He told us this was a good chance to express our gratitude for how Yuan protected us in the past.”

Right as she said that, another person ran over. “Ah… I’m so happy! When I read the manga I always felt so bad for him, but I couldn’t do anything. So when I had the chance, I gave him some flowers. You think he’ll be touched?”

“…” Tang Shi was speechless.

She went home, opened the door, and once inside, instinctively glanced out the window—at the small shop across the street that had been sealed off for ages.

So many rumors were swirling outside—most of it nonsense and hearsay. Wasn’t the one who’d always protected the Nursery District the tavern owner? How could it have been Yuan?