Little Pink Starfish

Before the next issue of the comic was released, Yuan Yuanyuan made a point of observing Faning and Yuan Yingli. The two of them still looked as calm as ever, as if the previous events now drawn in the comic had never happened.

At first, Yuan Yuanyuan couldn’t help but suspect she’d read some kind of fake comic… But then she thought about how she herself had behaved when her own experiences were drawn—internally flustered, embarrassed beyond belief, yet managing to keep a perfectly calm face outwardly.

With that realization, she calmed down.

She watched the two of them through the curtain. Sometimes she found it quite amusing, wondering what their internal reactions were. She also assumed that by now, they’d likely shared what they each saw in Red Sand Well. But what did they think about it?

Yuan Yuanyuan’s mind was a swirling mess of speculation. When the next issue finally came out, she dove into it immediately. And as expected, it showed Faning and Yuan Yingli comparing the things they’d seen inside Red Sand Well—and realizing their visions didn’t match at all.

[Faning saw glimpses of Yuan’s past. Yuan Yingli saw things about Yuan’s present. Yuan Yingli had woken up earlier, so he saw a bit more.]

[The two of them returned from Red Sand Well like they were running from death, each exhaling heavily once they reached safety.]

[“I think Changsheng is amazing,” said Yuan Yingli. “He sees stuff like that all the time?”]

[“I doubt it. Maybe it’s because we slapped so many talismans on the blade… Either way, we should head back tomorrow morning,” said Faning.]

[After tidying up, they discussed what they saw. Faning described his vision in full. Yuan Yingli was silent for a while before saying, “So that was from the past?”]

[“I think so,” Faning said, still shaken. “I kept wondering why there were weapons but no bodies. Turns out all the corpses were thrown into that well. Just how deep is it?”]

[“I don’t know how deep it is,” Yuan Yingli said, “but I do know that well is seriously cursed. That well broke once. Yuan was the one who repaired it.”]

[“He fixed it? When?” Faning asked casually.]

[“A long, long time ago—after he won his very first battle,” Yuan Yingli said grumpily, struggling to pack the guandao back up.]

[“…And then they threw him into it in the end?” Faning blurted out. “They couldn’t pick a different place? They had to toss him into the site of his first victory? That’s some next-level pettiness. Were they trying to give him lifelong trauma or what?”]

[“Yeah, the whole thing’s pretty disgusting,” Yuan Yingli muttered. “But maybe it was lucky they threw him into Red Sand Well. I’ve always suspected that when Yuan repaired it, he uncovered some secret. That’s probably how he survived later.”]

[“So what was the secret?” Faning asked, suddenly interested, scooting over.]

[“You really wanna know?” Yuan Yingli gave him the dead-fish-eye.]

[Faning nodded, eyes sparkling.]

[“Then why don’t you go jump in and find out yourself?” Yuan Yingli replied. “Easy to talk big when you’re standing safe on the side. I’ve never gone in—I have no clue what he found. And really, unless someone’s truly desperate, who would volunteer to go down there?”]

Yuan Yuanyuan nodded to herself. What the Li family head did back then really was the height of petty genius. Even she had been stunned by it.

No ordinary person would think of something like that. It had to be the Li family head—his mind worked in mysterious, chaotic ways.

[Faning suddenly remembered something and asked Yuan Yingli what exactly he saw near the well. Yuan Yingli thought about it and said he saw Yuan from about six months ago.]

[Six months ago… Faning mentally recalled that Yuan hadn’t disappeared yet at that point. His reputation wasn’t totally wrecked yet. But later, they realized the situation had been more complicated.]

[Apparently there had been a major conflict between Yuan and the humans. A pretty serious one. Somehow it had been resolved, likely with some sort of agreement.]

[Faning and Yuan Yingli didn’t know what that agreement was. But Yuan Yingli believed what he’d seen near the well was related to it.]

[Faning remembered hearing rumors about seven monsters who were executed… not a pretty ending. But as a monster hunter, the details had never been clear to him.]

[So when he heard that the seven monsters had been thrown into the well, his jaw literally dropped. “You monsters… are you all this horrifyingly ruthless?”]

[“…It was the war,” Yuan Yingli said. “Too much damage to the monsters. So the war laws were rewritten—to ban indiscriminate attacks on humans. But it wasn’t exactly a noble process…”]

[Faning turned to look at Yuan Yingli, realizing that just like humans, monsters were covered in blood.]

[Faning muttered, “It’s still kind of weird though… What was the point of all that?”]

[“You think they were… testing him?” Faning asked.]

At that line, Yuan Yuanyuan practically jumped out of her seat.

Testing? Holy crap, how did I miss that?!

She began recalling the events of that day. The more she thought, the more things didn’t add up. There had been no real reason for her to be there, but she ended up going anyway…

So what exactly was that all about?

Six months later, she was finally piecing it together. Maybe late, but she was thinking harder than anyone else ever had.

[“Honestly, I remember Yuan’s expression being really weird,” Yuan Yingli said. “It was… hard to describe.”]

Yuan Yuanyuan tried to remember her own facial expression at the time. She was pretty sure she hadn’t looked that strange…

[They kept talking until Yuan Yingli mentioned something that caught Faning’s attention: “When those people were thrown into the well, I saw Yuan frown.”]

Yuan Yuanyuan exhaled in relief. Oh, so it was that. That she could understand. Frowning while watching people get tossed into a cursed pit? Totally normal.

Besides, the well really did give off bad vibes—she’d been instinctively afraid of it too.

[“But then I realized—he was the only one who frowned,” Yuan Yingli said. “Everyone else had completely blank faces.”]

[“Maybe he just had strong memories tied to that well,” Faning said. “Most people wouldn’t even flinch. But he’s not most people.”]

[“…Still, I swear the others were watching him,” Yuan Yingli said. “I don’t know if I’m imagining things, but it really felt like they were observing him. Subtly, yeah, but it was definitely happening—they were studying his reaction.”]

Reading that, Yuan Yuanyuan suddenly got chills.

She stood up in a flash, goosebumps crawling all over her arms. Her mind was stuck in one big “WTF is going on?” spiral.

So much for “ignorance is bliss”… Six months ago, she’d never noticed that they’d been testing her. But now that she realized it, all she could do was feel stunned.

[“Why were they testing him?” Faning asked, genuinely confused.]

[“There were humans there, and monsters too…” Yuan Yingli said in a hushed voice. “So it wasn’t just humans testing him—monsters were too. That whole scene might’ve been staged just to see how Yuan would react.”]

Yuan Yuanyuan: “Huh?”

[“They wanted to know if the one who entered Red Sand Well years ago was really the same Yuan,” Yuan Yingli said. “If it was him, he’d have some kind of emotional response. If it wasn’t, he might stay completely indifferent.”]

[“So…” Faning had a sudden realization. “That’s why they already knew Yuan’s body wasn’t doing well—way before we did. We were the only ones left in the dark.”]

[“Exactly. So let’s figure out—who were the people present back then? What factions did they belong to?” Yuan Yingli asked.]

Yuan Yuanyuan stared at the comic, mouth agape.

And suddenly, she understood why, when she first joined the Masked Organization, everyone already knew she “wouldn’t live long”…

She’d felt something was off back then, but hadn’t thought much of it. Now it all made sense.

So among the people there that day… were there members of the Masked Organization?

What about people from C City?

What about the tavern?

What about other groups?

Her mind began racing uncontrollably. She tried to remember how many people had been there that day. But she hadn’t paid attention at the time—now it was all just a blur. She couldn’t recall a single face clearly.

Late at night, Yuan Yuanyuan grabbed her coat and bolted out the door. The fat cat stirred, but she didn’t even stop to explain.

She ran with her luggage straight to the tavern—to find the proprietress.