Little Pink Starfish

In Yuan Yuanyuan’s memory, the head of the Li family had always been a sly and sinister old man. But now, hearing that he had committed such a slew of deranged acts still managed to catch her off guard.

She thought back on her impression of him—well, yeah, he was already pretty deranged… maybe not that deranged, but close enough.

The head of the Li family was like a mystery boss, always popping up in the most unexpected places. Or perhaps more like a ghost… Yuan Yuanyuan considered it for a moment. Yeah, “ghost” fit better. Especially since the guy practically looked like one now.

This whole revelation brought back memories of when she used to clash with the Li family head back in the day. Back then, he’d still been using his younger face… Now that she thought about it—if he ever saw “Seventeen” appear before him again, wouldn’t he be absolutely fuming? That thought suddenly triggered a new line of speculation in Yuan Yuanyuan’s head.

Back then, they had looked the same. Then one of them disappeared for years, only to return looking exactly as they had before, unchanged and even radiating youthful vigor. If she followed that line of thought… could it be that the Li family head deliberately kept using his younger face just so he wouldn’t seem inferior?

Unexpectedly, Yuan Yuanyuan’s thoughts aligned with something the proprietress had said—that the Li family head must’ve been extremely angry.

At first, Yuan Yuanyuan had assumed the anger came from pride: that the head of the Li family was just the type to blow up when “Seventeen” ignored him. But now it seemed there was more to it. Perhaps it was because the contrast was just too stark—one man old and frail, the other still youthful and radiant.

Was the Li family head furious when Yuan “died”? Yuan Yuanyuan’s thoughts spiraled until she suddenly found herself angry. She actually felt like punching the guy right in the face.

She hadn’t even been this mad before, but she’d mentally dramatized it so vividly that she ended up pissing herself off. That in itself was a pretty amazing skill.

Yuan Yuanyuan stared at the teaser trailer online, which was only about five minutes long. But they’d packed in a lot of footage, and most scenes she recognized at a glance.

There was a clip of Yuan and the Li family head’s confrontation. The production team had stayed surprisingly faithful to the original—casting a hot guy instead of some wrinkled old man to play the Li family head… Of course, hot guys also pulled in more views.

Yuan Yuanyuan rewatched the five-minute video multiple times. The makeup on all the characters was over-the-top—well, they were playing demons. Compared to the rest, Yuan’s look was already considered quite modest.

In one short scene, Yuan and the Li family head faced off. But instead of tension, the moment had this soft, awkward vibe. The two men stared at each other for ages, and a group of fujoshi fans immediately started squealing below the post…

Ugh, that’s not what it was like at all. Yuan Yuanyuan sneered. That had been one of the few times in her life she actually stood her ground. How dare they turn her rare moment of badassery into something so cutesy!

Wasn’t there a group of student fans planning to teach these actors the meaning of real emotional intensity? Yuan Yuanyuan’s gaze sharpened. Maybe she should…

The curtains stirred despite the still air. A figure glowing red slowly stood in the room, holding a big sword, standing proud against the wind…

Although her thoughts got pretty intense, in reality, she ended up just obediently hailing a cab. On the way, she asked around for the filming location, which turned out to be a tall building. The moment she stepped out of the cab, a wave of demonic energy hit her square in the face.

Wait a sec… that wasn’t her imagination…

There were more demons than humans in this building.

Yuan Yuanyuan stood at the foot of the building with her mouth hanging open. The driver glanced at her dumbfounded expression and patted her. “Miss, you forgot to pay.”

“Oh.” She absentmindedly handed over a hundred-yuan bill. The driver, seeing her still staring blankly at the building, shook his head and drove off.

Yuan Yuanyuan was so shocked she forgot to ask for change. By the time she remembered, the driver was long gone. She quietly recalled his license plate number and filed a report, then stealthily walked into the building.

At the entrance, she cast a glance to the side. Definitely not her imagination… The two guards at the door were demons, not humans. And she detected a familiar trace in their demonic aura…

It seemed like… the local demon faction of C City, probably affiliated with the authorities.

Yuan Yuanyuan worked hard to disguise herself as an innocent, harmless human. There were still human employees coming and going, so ironically, demons were more likely to be stopped than humans. Sure enough, the guards completely ignored her and instead started questioning the demon walking in behind her.

Just past the entrance was a giant incense burner. Yuan Yuanyuan recognized it—it was used to sniff out demons disguised as humans. She repressed her own aura and made her way to the second floor, where she saw the filming setup.

Deeper in, security guards blocked the way. She quickly adjusted her appearance and slipped past. Yuan Yuanyuan keenly sensed that, just like her, other people were also hiding nearby.

She was confident she wouldn’t be discovered—after all, she hadn’t been caught in all this time. That said, her own detection skills were slightly weaker… and yet she had just identified five or six other hidden figures lurking in various corners.

These people were bold, sneaky, and skilled enough not to be spotted. Yuan Yuanyuan suspected the other demons around—many of them affiliated with the C City government—had likely noticed the infiltrators, but just didn’t want to deal with them. After all, anyone who could sneak in without a sound was probably no ordinary demon.

They were all tacitly hiding in the shadows, watching the actors shoot a scene. Yuan Yuanyuan studied the scene for a while—until she suddenly realized it was her comic. Specifically, the moment when a bunch of demons barged in, and Ji Qiu once again urged her to go slice people up… ah, such fond memories.

She crouched up above, watching the actor playing “Yuan” in a fight scene. The actor was on wires, and this was the first time Yuan Yuanyuan had seen wirework up close. She found it kind of interesting and leaned forward for a closer look… when suddenly, she heard a gust of wind and instinctively caught something with her hand—a tiny razor blade.

Her eyes narrowed… That blade had clearly been aimed to cut the wire holding up the actor.

The demon who launched the attack revealed their position and was immediately tackled and dragged off by surrounding personnel.

Yuan Yuanyuan forced a stiff smile.

*Holy crap! The fact that you’ve managed to film this far is a miracle in itself. So it’s true—there really *are* rogue demons trying to “teach” you a lesson.*

Wait, anyone bold enough to get in here definitely wasn’t a teenager… more like middle-aged old-timers. So… was this a secret meeting spot for middle-aged edgelords?

Yuan Yuanyuan totally forgot what she came here for. She spent the whole time tense and on edge, then stumbled back to the tavern dazed, remembering nothing except that the whole production seemed extremely tense. Filming was tough, and the actors down below were having the time of their lives, cheerful and clueless. She even saw the guy playing Yuan Yingli secretly flirting with someone during a break…

And then that guy got visually assaulted by a dozen demons with sharp eyes and ears.

Tragic. Just tragic. I should carve the word “tragic” onto your thigh… Yuan Yuanyuan only remembered later—wait, wasn’t this production going really fast? Weren’t they still pretending to be in casting? So they were already filming this part? What a bunch of sneaky bastards.

Back at the tavern, she was warming some wine when she was called to the front, just in time to see a group of demons dressed as C City “civil servants” walk in asking for a private room.

Yuan Yuanyuan was asked to pour drinks for them. Once seated, the group of demons sighed deeply.

“Ugh, so exhausting… Why is this job so tiring?”

“Yeah, and we’re not even allowed to clear everyone out. They said if any major demon happens to stop by, it’d be awkward if we kicked them out.”

“What big-time demon would come to C City anyway? Back when Yuan was alive, maybe he’d show up…”

Yuan Yuanyuan, standing beside them and pouring drinks, suddenly felt like she’d been stabbed by a dozen invisible swords. She was riddled with wounds.

She lowered her head, pretending not to hear anything, and continued pouring until one of them suddenly called out, “Hey, girl, we almost forgot our main business while drinking… Do you have any good-looking guys or girls around? Can you bring one along with us?”

“Huh? What for?” Yuan Yuanyuan looked up warily.

“Oh, this,” the guy explained. “The production team isn’t happy with one of the character’s makeup. So they secretly asked us to bring over someone with the right features to use as a model. We figured there might be someone here we don’t recognize, so we came.”

“Ah?” Yuan Yuanyuan looked completely dumbfounded. “Uh, then… you should ask the proprietress about that.”

“Right, and don’t just look for girls. If there’s a good-looking guy around, bring him too.”

Yuan Yuanyuan walked off stiffly, thinking: Well, we’ve got the hottest male demon in all of C City back in the kitchen chomping on an apple right now… You want me to bring him to you?