Little Pink Starfish

The scent of the incense was unbearable for the exorcists—but to youkai, it was practically an aphrodisiac. It didn’t just smell good; it reeked of luxury.

Amid this haze of rich aroma, Yuan Yuanyuan walked forward slowly. The overwhelming fragrance etched itself deeply into everyone’s memory.

Out of everyone present, probably only the boss lady knew Yuan Yuanyuan was actually Yuan. But now, the way others looked at her had clearly changed. She’s really this powerful? Who would’ve thought…

The Red-Clothed Woman, always seen cross-legged in her little room drinking tea or zoning out—people had started to wonder if her legs had atrophied from inactivity. And yet, here she was, absolutely badass.

Yuan Yuanyuan glanced at the two paper effigies drifting softly to the ground. Truth was, she hadn’t had an easy time at all—her wrist had almost gone numb. Those two paper ghosts had been seriously fierce; the evil aura they gave off was worse than some actual youkai.

Still, she’d deliberately used an elegant but impractical technique.

Why? Because if she were beating someone up in a dark alley, she wouldn’t have bothered. But this wasn’t just any fight—this was the Red-Clothed Woman’s first official battle scene. The significance was high.

To the average youkai observer, giving them complex, sophisticated techniques would be useless—they wouldn’t understand them. And if this ended up in the manga? Even worse. Human readers would never figure out what kind of spell system she was using.

What they could understand boiled down to two things:

1. Was it cool?
2. Were the lines good?

You only had to look at the tons of side characters in manga—so many of them were strong as hell, but no one remembered them. Meanwhile, a throwaway supporting role became everyone’s beloved “White Moonlight”… Why?
Because:

• Pretty face ✓
• Cool lines ✓
• Mastery in “talk no jutsu” and “pose no jutsu”✓
  That’s the eternal formula for popularity.

No one executed this better than Style King. Yuan Yuanyuan thought his manga’s combat system—barring that trash ending—was practically a work of art.

More importantly, she was 99% sure this would end up in the comic. Others could act cool, sure—Fat Cat could act like a god—but it still had to be drawn by Ji Qiu, didn’t it?

Being a modern person, Yuan Yuanyuan understood how to put on a show better than those old exorcists. Her “talk no jutsu” might be a bit weaker, but hey—she could improvise.

So what was this whole situation?
It was the classic “main character’s harem implodes” scenario. If it were someone like Yuan Yingli, she’d probably try to mediate—he was useful, after all. But these exorcists? Forget it.

She knew they’d been clashing with Fa Ning for ages. Fa Ning might hesitate to deal with them, but she sure wouldn’t. Let her be the bad guy.

Killing them outright wasn’t really an option—they were technically allies, and it wasn’t time to burn that bridge yet. But Yuan Yuanyuan had already thought up how she wanted to deal with them. Only problem was… she wasn’t sure her silver tongue was sharp enough.

That particular old guy specialized in ghost control. Yuan Yuanyuan had seen him in the manga before. For someone of his age to be featured so prominently—even Ji Qiu had skipped the usual “handsome bonus” and still gave him several pages—that spoke volumes about his power.

Among the exorcists, he was definitely the most dangerous. He’d clearly been a big deal in his youth too. But now… he was old. Human years aren’t like youkai years—seventy or eighty hits hard.

“Is this all you’ve got?” Yuan Yuanyuan said as she advanced slowly.

The exorcist pulled out two new paper effigies from his sleeve. Yuan Yuanyuan could have stopped him then and there—after all, this was her specialty.

But she’d already gauged his strength and decided to wait. Let the second batch come out.

Those first ghosts weren’t his trump cards. Yuan Yuanyuan remembered from the manga—his real trump was two powerful youkai souls he’d captured ages ago. They’d been sealed under his control, like Edo Tensei from Naruto. Once top-tier youkai, now enslaved puppets.

That was one big reason the youkai world despised ghost-controlling exorcists… Nobody wanted to be controlled after death. Sure, there were other ways to live on—but wild youkai weren’t into that kind of servitude.

Yuan Yuanyuan had only heard of those two ghost souls. She’d never seen them. And now… they might actually be used on her.

Wait—didn’t this feel like those manga moments where some poor guy was sent out just to get flattened by the protagonist?

To be honest, these ghosts were wildly expensive. Thanks to Fa Ning, Yuan Yuanyuan had learned just how pricey even a run-of-the-mill ghost was on the Taoist black market. Regular people would have to skip dinner for months to afford one.

Unless you could catch your own… But catching them was a whole other issue. In any case, she doubted those exorcists were spending lightly.

Yet this guy was using them like cannon fodder?!

Yuan Yuanyuan suddenly felt a surge of class war rage. Sure, she wasn’t poor anymore—but those years of being broke had left their mark. This was trauma-level response now…

Usually, even if a paper effigy was destroyed, the ghost would just need some time to recover. But Yuan Yuanyuan? She didn’t play nice. Her blows didn’t just incapacitate—they obliterated.

Any ghost she struck didn’t go into recovery. They disintegrated. No respawns.

She kept walking toward the exorcist. The gap between them narrowed. As it did, sweat began to bead on his forehead.

Ghost controllers were ranged attackers. Getting closed in on was a nightmare. He’d meant to use his ghosts to keep her at bay—but she was strolling through like it was nothing, her face calm the whole time.

To onlookers, it looked like their roles were reversed. The exorcist—surrounded by howling ghosts—looked like the monstrous youkai. And Yuan Yuanyuan—steadily advancing, lighting up the corridor behind her with every step—looked like the composed predator.

This corridor was long. The tavern, though small on the outside, was like a pocket dimension inside. The hallway just kept going. Eventually, even the spectators moved to get a better angle—they didn’t want to miss anything.

And just using her smoking pipe, Yuan Yuanyuan took out every single ghost sent her way.

To her, it was exhausting—fighting with a pipe was like wearing eight-inch heels: awkward and painful. But the audience only saw a badass move. And Yuan Yuanyuan knew exactly how to play to a crowd.

To the watchers, her movements were sleek and clean. A total counter to her opponent’s flashy tactics. In her eyes, this was just next-level flexing. The kind of subtle coolness amateur pretenders could never replicate.

She was almost at the exorcist now.

“Still holding out?” she asked in a low voice. “Why not use your trump card now? If you wait any longer… you might not leave here alive.”

The exorcist was sweating harder now. Finally, he pulled out two more paper effigies.

They looked different—fancier. Black talismans covered their surface, both simple and complex.

“Go!” he shouted.

The two paper figures fluttered toward Yuan Yuanyuan.

Suddenly—multiple lights in the tavern went out.

“Boss lady!” one of the watching youkai cried. “What about the customers outside—?”

“Let them leave for now,” the boss lady waved a hand. “These two youkai… are no joke.”

“Right!” Several small youkai ran outside to inform the patrons that business was temporarily closed.

Yuan Yuanyuan stared at the ghost souls materializing in front of her.

These really were powerful. She felt the pressure immediately. No way she could rely on the pipe anymore—she’d have to switch to something stronger.

She was just about to put the pipe away when one of the exorcists suddenly hesitated, then whispered—

“…Xiao Ran?”

Yuan Yuanyuan froze.

…WHAT. THE. HELL.

Did this guy just recognize Ran Niang, the drag persona?? And from her movements alone realized who she was?

Her impersonation must be too good. She was actually being seen through!

Who are you?! You’re not just some ordinary ghost!

In that split second, a thousand thoughts ran through her mind.

And then—pure killing intent exploded from her body.

Crap. This couldn’t happen. She’d kept her Red-Clothed Woman identity under wraps for so long—no way she was letting it slip now. Not here. Not to him.

But just as she was about to strike—the exorcist ghost smiled.

It was a gentle, warm smile.

“So many years… I didn’t expect you to still be alive. And looking like this, no less.”
“Still so heartless… Even though things didn’t have to end like this between us. But there’s no point in saying more. I’ve always known—I was never in your heart. Go ahead. Let’s fight.”

…

The atmosphere shifted instantly.

All the watching youkai perked up their ears—Wait, what??
‘Still so heartless’?
‘I was never in your heart’???

A man saying that to a woman—when he’s handsome and she’s beautiful?

Everyone’s expressions turned a little strange.

Wait a second… Wasn’t the Red-Clothed Woman rumored to be Yuan’s ex-lover? What’s going on now? But honestly—would a big boss at her level really have never dated anyone?

And right when he said that, the Red-Clothed Woman suddenly froze in place.

Everyone saw it—and pretended not to.

But in their hearts, they were screaming: Whoa, there’s drama here. Major drama.

Of course, they didn’t know why Yuan Yuanyuan wasn’t moving.

Inside her head?

OH HELL. OH HELL. OH HELL.
This is too spicy. I can’t take it.
Is this… employee benefits??

She stared at the man, eyes wide.

Honestly? She was even more desperate for gossip than the audience.