Little Pink Starfish

It had been a few days since that first episode aired. The show aired twice a week on Fridays, just one day before Demon Chronicles updated.

After watching the drama, Yuan Yuanyuan had gone to check out the latest manga chapter. Recently, the story had been giving off the faint scent of an approaching finale — at least by the standards of other similar shounen series. Normally, this was about the point where things wrapped up.

There had actually been a lot going on lately, but ever since she holed herself up in the tavern, Yuan Yuanyuan had taken on a sort of “non-combatant” role. She used to occasionally head out to the battlefield, but the tavern owner had eventually forbidden her from going — said it was too dangerous and unnecessary. So she gradually stopped.

You could say that after “Yuan” faked his death, Yuan Yuanyuan began living a cozy, semi-retired life. But recently, a creeping sense had been growing in her gut — this kind of peace probably wouldn’t last much longer…

The conflict between Farning and the Masked Tool Organization had entered a full-blown war. At first, Farning was completely outmatched. Against such a vast organization, he was just a puny little monk. Yuan Yuanyuan didn’t know exactly how deep that organization’s influence ran, but she figured that even someone like Seventeen would be nothing more than a scapegoat if they joined — useful only for drawing enemy fire.

Nobody even knew the name of the organization’s true leader. Yuan Yuanyuan certainly didn’t. And to someone like Farning, who was probably younger than that guy’s toe, he wasn’t even on the radar.

Still, there was something that Seventeen had left Farning — a taoist incantation.
It turned out to be way more twisted than expected. At first, Yuan Yuanyuan hadn’t thought much of it. She couldn’t tell whether it was strong or not.

But gradually, the incantation’s twisted nature ramped up — sprinting off into utterly absurd territory. Yuan Yuanyuan figured it should probably be renamed the “Masochist Divine Technique,” because only a true M could even train in it.

Its combination of bizarre effects and overwhelming power could rival things like the Eight Desolate Sovereign Techniqueor the Sunflower Manual. It had even become meme-worthy — in the same way that “Zhang Wuji has Heaven and Earth Shift, Naruto has Kurama,” readers now joked, “Farning has that incantation.”
It had become his biggest cheat — like a full-on game-breaking power-up.

In the world of manga, this sort of thing was normal. Readers loved it.
But in real life? Everyone was like, “WTF is this cheat code??” as they watched Farning level up at lightspeed.

At this rate… he really could end up being the final boss when the manga wraps up.
Yuan Yuanyuan thought back — she’d once wondered how long this story would last. Battles usually dragged out for years, especially in Japanese manga. A ten-year run wasn’t unusual. But for a Chinese manhua? A few years max, usually.

If they had to fight together… Yuan Yuanyuan mentally compared herself and Farning. Right now, he still wasn’t stronger than her — but in a few more months? That might not be the case anymore.

As expected of the chosen one.
Still, Yuan Yuanyuan didn’t feel any jealousy. He was the one risking his life. She’d been able to relax for months now thanks to him. She was already plenty grateful and didn’t dare ask for more.

Farning couldn’t stand up to the Masked Tool Organization head-on — not yet. But a few big events started to shift the balance. First was Yuan’s disappearance, and then Yuan Yingli’s betrayal. When Yuan Yingli defected, she brought along a portion of the sinister spell-wielding yokai. And Yuan’s disappearance led Farning to cross paths with the woman in red.

Then came the second major development: the red-robed woman produced a small whistle.
At first, Farning had no idea what it was. But over time, he realized exactly what it was made of — and just thinking about it cast a long, dark shadow in his heart.

The whistle was made from bone.
Clearly, this thing had a lot of backstory.

After she blew the whistle, a chain of events followed.
The previous chapter had focused on that aftermath.

After Farning used the whistle, he summoned a group of strange individuals.
They triggered over a week of continuous unrest. The skies above C City turned blood red for days. Dying in the streets became one of the “better” fates — some people were shattered midair, leaving not even a trace behind.
The red hue in the sky seeped into every alley and crevice. You could smell the blood in the air. Some clueless humans even stepped outside and said things like, “Wow, why’s the sky so red today?”
What they didn’t know… was what was happening right above their heads.

“Shouldn’t there be some psychological counseling or something?” Yuan Yuanyuan glanced at the comments — sure enough, someone had already written:

“This is giving major… C City vibes.”

The comment section turned into a full-blown C City identity reveal party.

Yuan Yuanyuan kept reading. The yokai currently fighting in the manga were all dressed in the same brown uniforms — so much so that it was easy to get confused about who was on which side.

Why were two groups dressed identically fighting to the death?

Many readers were baffled.
In the manga, Farning himself didn’t understand at first. The first time he saw them, he was frozen in place, unsure who to even speak to.

A brown-robed person had rushed over, yanked Farning aside, and helped him dodge an incoming arrow.

“Who… are you guys?” Farning asked.
The brown-robed figure looked at him. “You called us here. You don’t know who we are?”
“Not really,” Farning admitted, silently forming a hand seal. “But I saw you fighting each other.”
“Did you see a white whistle?”
“…Yes, I did. I blew it,” Farning replied.
“Who gave it to you? Yuan?”
Farning shook his head. “No. A woman in red.”
“Her…” the brown-robed person muttered. “So it ended up with her… No matter. We answer to the whistle, not the person.”

This was the first time Yuan Yuanyuan had seen these brown-clad figures speak.
Demon Chronicles had mentioned them briefly in relation to the blood-red skies of C City, but the narrative quickly shifted away — maybe because the topic was too sensitive or the time wasn’t right.

After all, they were drawing a war as it was happening. Showing too much sensitive detail could expose military secrets — and what would that mean for spies and security?

Yuan Yuanyuan stared at the manga. This part was only just now being revealed — but Farning must have lived through it already.

She suddenly felt like she was spying on someone’s past — but it’s not like she could not look.
She thought of Farning hiding in the tavern’s backyard the other day and wondered what he’d gone through lately.

Maybe he was feeling emotional now because this exact part had been drawn?

Yuan Yuanyuan kept reading, her curiosity piqued.
Apparently, Farning and the brown-robed individual had developed a deep rapport.
Though there was initial mistrust, they eventually opened up to each other — enough to discuss previously off-limits topics.

Farning learned something Yuan Yuanyuan already knew — both sides in brown worked for the King of Hundred Demons.
But why did they obey the command of Yuan’s bone whistle?
Farning suspected there was a massive cover-up behind it all.
Ah… the scandals of the past. He wanted to know everything.
Even though Farning had interacted with Yuan deeply before, moments like this reminded him they were from completely different eras.
Farning leaned in, asking with genuine curiosity — like someone listening to tales from ancient times — why they would follow the whistle’s call.
“Do you know what this is?” the brown-robed figure asked, pointing at the whistle.
“Yes,” Farning replied. “It’s made from one of Yuan’s ribs.”
“Not just that,” the man said. “This whistle was once a battlefield call-to-arms.
When we heard its sound, no matter what we were doing, we had to drop everything and go.”
Farning stared at the whistle in his hand and asked, “So you used to be Yuan’s subordinate?”
“Not me. My parents were. I’m just bound by the magic on this whistle,” he explained.
“I know there’s still a remnant of the Blood Jade Demon Army out there.
But unlike them, we aren’t free.
We’re slaves to the whistle — we obey its call.”
“You’re all the same kind, though… Why still obey it? Who took the whistle in the first place?” Farning asked.
“That… we can’t tell you yet,” the man said.
Farning felt more and more like he was staring into a bottomless pit.

Yuan Yuanyuan thought hard.

After Seventeen’s death, someone must’ve tampered with the whistle… and then taken it away.

She’d found it in a neighboring city. So someone had brought it there. Whistles don’t grow legs and walk away.

So then — who was that person?