Little Pink Starfish

Although she was curious about where Si Qun had gone just now, Yuan Yuanyuan didn’t ask.

She was actually kind of happy that the little brat had his own secrets now—it gave her a feeling that he’d finally grown up a bit… uh, well, not that he was that young to begin with.

Since Yuan Yuanyuan didn’t ask, she absolutely wasn’t going to later either. Not even when Li Zi Jie came in did she bring it up. Jie Jie glanced at Yuan Yuanyuan and Si Qun and suddenly said, “You two are getting along pretty well, huh.”

Yuan Yuanyuan silently shifted her gaze toward her, thinking, *So you’re not even hiding your intentions anymore… Yep, I *am* the babysitter, huh?*

As for that night’s failed mission, even though things hadn’t gone smoothly, that didn’t mean Yuan Yuanyuan was giving up. In fact, once she’d settled down, she was more fired up than ever.

But recently, every time she went out to look for that group again, they were nowhere to be found. People who’d been so active were now completely gone. Yuan Yuanyuan was baffled, wondering if they’d given up on tracking down Yuan altogether…

Time flew by, and the comic updated again. Yuan Yuanyuan noticed there was an extra issue being added and wondered what it might contain.

At this stage of the story, every bonus chapter felt like a red flag. Yuan Yuanyuan suspected it might reveal something serious—and this time was no exception.

She lay on her bed eating a peach while reading the new chapter. These days, even if she wasn’t working, it didn’t matter—Li Zi Jie covered room and board. She made enough money even while slacking, so nobody bothered her anymore.

Because it was an extra chapter, it was long. Yuan Yuanyuan sighed as it loaded. “So many pages… this is like double the usual length.” She glanced at the cover—Fan Ning’s face was front and center, which immediately made her feel better.

As long as it wasn’t Old Man Li’s face, she was happy.

Before opening the chapter, Yuan Yuanyuan had been thinking about a lot of things—like why there had been so many bonus issues lately, especially during such a sensitive arc. Then she remembered… the main character hadn’t even appeared recently.

Fan Ning had been wandering since Yuan Yingli left. Even as the red-dressed woman, Yuan Yuanyuan hadn’t seen him in ages. Now, she only occasionally heard his name from the mouths of other demons. Sometimes she felt like a tired mom watching her grown kid fly away with strong wings.

One day while pouring drinks at the tavern—a job she’d held for a year now and was basically a veteran at—Yuan Yuanyuan heard some customers talking about Fan Ning.

They were going on and on about how incredible he was, how he’d defeated countless demons, how his aura made even enemies submit, how his Taoist skills were nearly supernatural. Yuan Yuanyuan stood there pouring wine, totally dumbfounded. Is that really Fan Ning? When did he become like this? How come I, his master, didn’t know?

Curious, she asked about it—and that one question caused a stir. The whole table turned to stare at her with strange expressions.

One of the regulars even smiled at her—a condescending smile, like he was mocking her for not knowing something so basic.

“Fan Ning! You don’t know who that is?” someone asked. Others chimed in with hushed voices, and Yuan Yuanyuan froze, having no idea how her innocent question caused such a reaction. The regular gave her a once-over and said, “Fan Ning’s the protagonist of Demon Chronicles! You work at Qiu Ying’s place—how could you not know him? When did you start working here?”

What do you mean it’s embarrassing not to know him? Oh… theoretically, maybe. But no one knows I’m me! Yuan Yuanyuan sat there in a daze.

“Forget it, don’t bother explaining to her,” someone said. “If she doesn’t even know that much, there’s no point talking to her.”

And then they waved her off. She watched the door slowly close in her face. Her emotions in that moment were… complex, to say the least. Hard to describe, really.

What the hell… this is ridiculous.

After that, Yuan Yuanyuan never saw that group of regulars again. They never asked her to pour drinks anymore. She never told anyone about it—too embarrassing. Nobody would believe it anyway.

The whole experience was just too bizarre. Maybe it was real, maybe it was just a weird illusion.

But Yuan Yuanyuan didn’t care much either. If she had nothing to do, it just meant more time to slack off.

Back in the present, the memory ended. Yuan Yuanyuan wasn’t the type to take her frustrations out on others. Otherwise, next time she saw Fan Ning, she’d have to punch him before doing anything else. Instead, she picked up her phone and called Fat Cat, asking how things were with Hei-Hong these days and whether he’d seen the latest manga chapter. As usual, no reply. She hung up and kept reading.

The comic was moving faster than anyone around Fan Ning could control—because Fan Ning himself…

Yuan Yuanyuan read the latest scene, nearly jumping out of her chair, clutching her mouth like her teeth hurt.

She hissed and winced for a while before finally sitting back down.

Now she understood why there was such a huge special issue… Someone who’d only been mentioned and never shown had finally appeared.

This guy seemed even more mysterious than the red-dressed woman—sitting behind a large curtain, completely hidden. From the silhouette, he looked tiny, his face totally obscured.

“The King of a Hundred Demons…” Yuan Yuanyuan murmured. “Wasn’t the current one supposed to be just a kid? No wonder he seems unreliable…”

---

[Fan Ning looked at the figure seated behind the curtain. The person looked about five or six years old, but demon ages couldn’t be compared to human ones.]

[Demons took a long time to take physical form, and not all succeeded. So although this one looked young, he might be twice Fan Ning’s age.]

[The boy spoke with a childish voice: “Did you finish the task I gave you?”]

[“Yes, it’s done,” Fan Ning replied quickly, bowing.]

*[“Good. Come here,” the Demon King said, beckoning him forward. Fan Ning’s heart clenched. *Did I get found out?* he wondered.]*

[As he approached, he clenched something hidden in his sleeve. When he finally got close, the Demon King suddenly pulled him down. Fan Ning’s heart nearly stopped.]

[“You… are good,” the king said slowly.]

[The tension in Fan Ning’s sleeve slackened.]

[“You remind me of someone who served beside my father,” the king continued. “Do your best. I hope someday you’ll become my right-hand man—like he was.”]

[Fan Ning returned to his seat in a daze, realizing only then that his shirt was soaked in sweat.]

[Well… at least not the pants, right?]

[He sat there, dazed, suddenly thinking of Yuan. And he started to wonder—this whole thing is cursed.]

[Yuan had been a spy… and now he, through a twist of fate, had also become a spy. Was this some kind of weird full-circle moment, a case of “after all this time, I became you”?]

No! Absolutely not! Yuan Yuanyuan nearly leapt up again. Fan Ning, wake up! You’re the main character—you’re not supposed to be a spy! Just be the Chosen One, for crying out loud!

By the time she finished reading, Yuan Yuanyuan felt dazed. She hadn’t expected him to successfully infiltrate the demon ranks—and so effectively, too. He was really good at it.

But after thinking it over, she relaxed… If the manga was already showing this arc, it probably meant Fan Ning had safely returned. No main character’s identity would be blown like this unless it had already been resolved. Given how the Demon Chronicles timeline liked to jump around, odds were he was back now.

Relieved, Yuan Yuanyuan flipped to the next section of the bonus issue. The opening panel mirrored the scene of Fan Ning standing before the young Demon King—but the colors were different. The earlier palette had been bright; this one was dim.

The entire atmosphere had shifted. This scene felt mysterious and grand—maybe conveyed through a flower, or a beam of light. Qiu’s art was always solid. Yuan Yuanyuan didn’t know the technical stuff, but even she could feel the overwhelming aura, like a blooming peony in full glory.

Fan Ning’s earlier scene hadn’t had this kind of presence. It was brighter, yes, but somehow lacked gravity.

The figure behind the curtain in this new panel was much taller than the boy king—clearly an adult, and a powerful one at that.

And sitting across from him—

—was the head of the Li family.