Little Pink Starfish

The Li Family Head in the comic made Yuan Yuanyuan feel inexplicably uneasy. She sat in the room for a long time, feeling like something bad was about to happen.

But she wasn’t sure if that was just her imagination. She’d embarrassed herself plenty in the past for overthinking. Now she was nervous, probably because of what had happened earlier.

She glanced at the comic again. The Li Head seemed to be smiling at her eerily from the page… and Yuan Yuanyuan shivered involuntarily.

“Wuwu—” Just as she was getting caught up in her anxiety, her phone suddenly buzzed. She picked it up and saw that the alert was from a group chat.

Yuan usually didn’t care about group chat alerts, but this time she casually looked—and what she saw stunned her. She rubbed her eyes and stared at the screen.

The message had come from the long-silent Group Three—the demon chat group. Ever since Fat Cat left, that group had been completely dead. Not even private messages got responses. Yuan had often wanted to punch them all.

Now, after all this time, they reappeared on their own.

Yuan Yuanyuan checked what kind of nonsense they were up to—and saw there was only one message, sent by Heihongse, who hadn’t shown up in ages:

【Quanquan, was there anything weird at your workplace tonight?】

【Nothing weird?】 Yuan typed back, then suddenly felt something was off.
How did Heihongse know there might be something happening at the tavern?

She had never told Fat Cat anything odd about the tavern… After all, in Fat Cat’s eyes, she was just a clueless little demon. So now, seeing Heihongse suddenly say this, Yuan was stunned.

Luckily, she’d always acted like a harmless fool around them. Unexpectedly, that had worked in her favor—neither of them suspected her identity. They still treated her like an ordinary low-level demon. A while later, Heihongse sent another message:

【Wait there for a bit—stand near the door and see if anyone leaves.】

【Hold on.】 Fat Cat chimed in,
【Don’t wait at the main door. Didn’t you say there were lots of side exits?】

【Right.】 Heihongse thought for a moment, then said,
【Quanquan, there’s a flowerpot in the tavern lobby. Wait there. Just act casual—don’t make it look like you’re guarding the place.】

Reading that message, Yuan Yuanyuan suddenly felt a chill down her spine.

That exact spot… was actually one of the hidden exits of the tavern’s secret room. Many demons used that route. It was protected by talismans from a powerful elder demon, making it nearly impossible to find—unless you were guided through it.

And now… that secret passage had been discovered?!

Yuan now stared at Heihongse’s messages with suspicion. Who the hell are you really?

Her hand drifted toward her blade as she typed:

【I live for the tavern. I die as its ghost. Protecting it is my sacred duty. You… what exactly are you planning?】

【……】 Heihongse replied with a string of exclamation marks.

Yuan glanced at her phone, wishing she could drag Heihongse out through the screen. Unfortunately, her tech skills were crap. She couldn’t even track an IP address. All she could do was glare and cry.

【…Didn’t know you were so dedicated.】 Fat Cat deadpanned.

【That’s because you don’t know me well enough.】 Yuan replied with a smirk.

【Fine! I’ll remember this. I won’t ever bother you again!】 Heihongse huffed, sending an angry emoji and going offline.

Yuan let out a low, cold laugh.

Heh… you think you can scare me?
She wasn’t some timid newbie. If anything, she wanted to grab her knife and go hunt him down.

She decided to set the issue aside for now and return to the comic plot. But ten minutes later, her phone buzzed again.

She picked it up—only to see a massive crying emoji character banging their head on the floor with the words “I’m sorry” behind them.

【Boss! I was wrong! Please help me just this once!】 Heihongse was crying.
【Why did the tavern close so early tonight?!】

Oh… probably because the tavern lady had limited comings and goings lately, trying to lower the risk of exposure.

Right… Yuan smacked her forehead—she’d almost forgotten. This was all because of that situation.

【You couldn’t find anyone else, huh? Now you remember me?】 she teased.
【I’m just an ordinary demon—I can’t run around willy-nilly. At least tell me what’s going on. What am I supposed to do?】

Heihongse didn’t respond for a long time. Yuan started to feel a little reassured. Maybe he wasn’t some master-level spy. Maybe this was just dumb luck on his part. The tavern was well-hidden. He probably wasn’t part of the enemy’s core.

A while ago, she’d told Fat Cat she wasn’t staying at home anymore and had moved into the tavern. Neither of them replied back then, so she thought they’d ignored her… but it turned out they’d remembered—and now they wanted her to act as a field agent.

【So… what exactly is going on?】 Heihongse finally typed, clearly stressed. Every sentence took him forever to write. Eventually, he stammered:
【I’m actually… a righteous superhero protecting the world. I swear. You have to believe me. Something big’s happening tonight—life or death big. If you don’t help, something bad could happen in City C.】

【Like what?】 Yuan asked, picking her nose out of boredom.

If something was going to happen at the tavern, why was she, the “red-dressed woman,” the last to know?

【Uh…】 Heihongse started babbling,
【I really am super righteous. Haven’t you realized after all this time?】

【Nope.】

【I’m not even asking you to do anything dangerous! Just see who goes in or out.】

【Not happening.】

…

The two bickered for a long time. Yuan was nearly falling asleep when another message came:

**【If you help me with this—I’ll take you to see **Fa Ning!】

【What Fa Ning? You—】 Yuan began to reply, but then her expression froze.

【I really mean it. The real Fa Ning. The living, breathing main character of the comic. If you want to see him, I’ll even kidnap him for you if I have to.】

【What’s your relationship with him? He’s that powerful, and you can kidnap him?!】 Yuan typed word by word.

【We know each other.】
【But don’t ask for details—it’s too risky. You already know too much. Think about it—we’ve known each other for ages. Have me or Fat Cat ever done anything shady? Sure, we talk trash, but we’re clean.】

Yuan remained silent for a long time. On the other end, Heihongse and Fat Cat kept spamming:

【Boss!】
【Quanquan-jie, are you still there?】

After about five minutes, Yuan finally replied:

【Fine. For the sake of our beautiful friendship, I’ll help you just this once.】

【THANK YOU BOSS!!!】
Heihongse and Fat Cat nearly cried and clung to her virtual leg.

Yuan didn’t respond. In truth, she was very quiet.

She put on her red coat, stared at the gauzy curtain in front of her, hesitated for a long time, fingers gently stroking the thin fabric.

In the end, she gritted her teeth—and shoved the curtain aside.

The moment she stepped through, her face twisted slightly.

Holy crap… this thing’s really strong.

Not wanting to stay outside too long, she darted off. As soon as she left through the hidden door, she sent a message:

【I’m out.】

Then she quickly pocketed her phone and sprinted away.

Yuan really hated going out. Every extra second she spent outdoors felt like she was shaving years off her life. But right now, there was no other choice.

Because… Yuan had suddenly figured out who Heihongse really was.

It was surprisingly easy to guess. Maybe she was just being paranoid—but the secret room in the tavern was well hidden. Heihongse might not be a spy. Maybe he was simply one of the few who’d ever been invited in.

And Yuan knew who those invitees were.

If he and Fat Cat cared this much about whether something might happen tonight…

Then she really couldn’t afford to sit still any longer. Only now did she realize how important this might be.

She ran toward the far side of the city. A few seconds later, her phone lit up with two words:

【Got it.】