Little Pink Starfish

Yuan Yuanyuan was a little startled by the scene in front of her. It felt like everyone was genuinely worried she might be dead or alive, and it gave her a bit of the creeps.

After entering the room, she quietly found a corner to sit in. The boss lady waved the others away, then came over carrying a first-aid kit and handed Yuan Yuanyuan a jar of ointment.

Yuan Yuanyuan had a gut feeling that the boss lady knew what had happened last night and also knew what caused all the bruises on her body. She took the ointment and began applying it to the bruises. To her surprise, the ointment had a cooling effect that eased the pain significantly, and even seemed to visibly reduce the bruising.

She found the stuff pretty magical. Just as she was about to continue applying it, she noticed the boss lady was watching her intently. She blushed a little.

Even though they were both girls… biologically she was still a guy. Having someone stare at her while she was applying ointment—wasn’t that a bit inappropriate?

She glanced at the boss lady. The boss lady noticed she was embarrassed and gave a vaguely teasing smile before turning and walking out.

Once she left, Yuan Yuanyuan let out a long sigh of relief.

Who could stand that kind of pressure…

As she continued applying the ointment, she grumbled internally that this was probably the most awkward crisis she’d had to face since taking over Seventeen’s role. It was one thing to pretend to be someone else, but leaving behind an old flame like this? That was just too unfair.

While rubbing on the ointment, Yuan Yuanyuan thought back on the previous night. First, it was clear that her sudden discomfort had been caused by someone pulling some sneaky trick—though she still didn’t know exactly how. Second, it was obvious that more than a few people knew about it. Otherwise, the boss lady wouldn’t have looked so relieved when she saw her.

What kind of terrifying tactic was it? Poison? She was just guessing, but honestly, poisoning seemed like a pretty reasonable option—especially since the enemy had used wind, probably to spread the “toxin.”

But the more she speculated, the more confused she got. Eventually, she gave up and decided to lie down for a bit. She planned to go home before night fell. But just then, the boss lady called a few people over, bringing in what looked like rolls of silk, and began wrapping the whole room.

“Wait, wait, what are you doing?” Yuan Yuanyuan sat inside, bewildered, watching this strange ritual unfold. She quickly tried to stop the boss lady.

“We’re enclosing the room,” the boss lady replied. “Even if it can’t block everything, it’ll help a little. For the next few days, just stay inside.”

Yuan Yuanyuan continued to stare in confusion as the boss lady worked. They were using rolls of deep red gauze to seal off the room. To put it bluntly, it looked like someone was setting up for a wedding…

But strangely, once the red gauze accumulated, Yuan Yuanyuan began to feel much better. The pain almost completely disappeared. She touched the gauze and felt a faint trace of demon energy—seemed like it could block out certain things.

“You mean I need to stay in here for several days?” she asked.

“Yeah,” said the boss lady. “Don’t worry. I doubt they can keep this up for long—maybe just a few days. They’re trying to lure you out, but they didn’t expect me to have this stuff.”

She patted the gauze next to her.

“Wait a second…” Yuan Yuanyuan suddenly realized—didn’t this mean the boss lady wanted her to stay inside the tavern? What about the fat cat?

She thought about going out, but the moment she lifted the curtain, she immediately retreated. Nope. She’d stay put.

“You stay here first—I have some things to take care of,” the boss lady said, and after giving instructions to the little demons hanging up the curtains, she left. Soon, they too were gone, leaving Yuan Yuanyuan alone in the room.

She sat in the center, looking up at the sea of red gauze around her… It felt like she was in the middle of some spider demon’s lair.

Okay, that was just her imagination.

She pulled out her phone and texted the fat cat, saying she wouldn’t be going home tonight and might be staying at the tavern for a few days. The fat cat quickly texted back in a panic, asking if it was really safe with how crazy things were outside.

Yuan Yuanyuan assured her it was fine—staying at the tavern might be safer than home. After hanging up, she glanced at the surrounding gauze. She suddenly wondered what it looked like from the outside. Could people even see in?

While she was wondering, she heard footsteps in the hallway. She turned and saw a shadowy figure approach, but she couldn’t tell who it was through the thick red gauze.

Was that… Yuan Yingli? She squinted. Why was he here? Wasn’t he supposed to be busy stirring up trouble? Before she could figure it out, the person stepped closer, and she called out hesitantly, “Who’s there…?”

She thought maybe he couldn’t see her at all… Well, to be fair, she could barely see him either behind all the gauze.

She even considered waving her hand to show she was there—when she heard Yuan Yingli ask, “Why do you have so many red curtains hanging?”

Okay, at least that meant he could still see her. Yuan Yuanyuan asked him why he came, and Yuan Yingli’s voice—muffled by the curtains—replied, “I wanted to ask about the bone whistle…”

What?

“…What’s it made from?” he asked.

“Bone,” Yuan Yuanyuan replied.

“I know it’s bone—I mean, what kind of bone?” Yuan Yingli pressed.

“….” Yuan Yuanyuan thought, How the heck would I know? Leg bone? Rib bone? I’ve never studied the thing.

“Got it,” Yuan Yingli said suddenly, before she could answer properly.

Yuan Yuanyuan sat there stunned. She even reached out like Er Kang from the dramas, wanting to call him back—Hey! Wait a sec, what kind of bone was it? She didn’t even know herself!

And just like that, the whole incident passed in a muddled haze. Yuan Yuanyuan had no idea what Yuan Yingli had supposedly “understood,” but she had the creeping suspicion there was something she wasn’t supposed to know. Otherwise, she’d just spiral into wild theories.

After pondering for two whole days, she finally came up with one way to maybe guess what Yuan Yingli had in mind—by checking the comic. He had been spending a lot of time with Fa Ning lately, and sometimes his inner thoughts got recorded in the comic. Maybe this time too?

So Yuan Yuanyuan guarded her phone for two straight days. She barely left her gauze tent, not even to eat—someone always brought her food. She wasn’t sure if they were still releasing that strange stuff outside, but she had a faint feeling that something was off. When she asked the boss lady, it turned out a group of people was poisoning the air again.

To be honest, Yuan Yuanyuan suspected the boss lady knew more than she was letting on… But she didn’t dare ask. Everyone around her seemed to know something, but she herself didn’t dare ask a single question.

So she sat there quietly, endlessly scrolling on her phone, hoping that those comic creators would drop her a hint. It was frustrating, being the only clueless one when everyone else was clearly in on the secret.

When the comic finally updated, Yuan Yuanyuan lay there, waiting for the new pages to load. The demons outside still seemed to be acting up. Recently, internet across C City had been terrible. Lots of people had called in to complain their home Wi-Fi had cut out. Some even posted photos of the blood-red sky over C City, which made the trending searches.

It had been a rough few days, but no one really suspected anything supernatural. Most people just thought it was environmental pollution.

Yuan Yuanyuan looked at the latest comic page. The first panel showed a few people sitting on a rooftop, burning something. You could see tiny sparks in their hands, and faintly glowing powder rising and drifting off in the wind.

What was that stuff? Yuan Yuanyuan squinted. She zoomed in, flipped left, flipped right, tried every angle—still couldn’t see what it was. The artists had deliberately obscured everything.

…Wow, impressive, she muttered. Just then, she saw the people on the rooftop start speaking. They were discussing something related to her.

“What exactly are we doing here?” one demon asked.

“We’re forcing Yuan out,” another replied.

“Didn’t he already die ages ago?”

“Headquarters suspects he didn’t die cleanly… or maybe he didn’t die at all. Otherwise, where did that bone whistle come from? Who else could’ve produced that thing?”

The scene shifted, suddenly showing her current room—but from a few days ago, before all the red gauze had been hung up.

【“Please, you must consider this. We’re at a critical moment,” Yuan Yingli said seriously. The red-dressed woman across from him hesitated, then silently handed him a whistle.】

Yuan Yuanyuan felt like a fishbone had stuck in her throat for a second.

Was… was that a question and answer sequence in disguise?

So the plan to fake Yuan’s death—to throw off the enemy—had been blown already? That fast?