Little Pink Starfish

Philosophical Jiang Lianhuan still hadn’t figured out what exactly had happened, even after returning. The more he thought about it, the more exciting it seemed…

Meanwhile, Li Zixin and his crew began debating the identity of that “mysterious man.” If they followed the line of thinking that he might be the boss of some secretive organization, then all those previously inexplicable mysteries started to make perfect sense. This realization sent a chill down everyone’s spine—even those who hadn’t originally considered that angle.

Especially Li Zixin, who had barged into that person’s room on the flower boat earlier that day. Thinking back now, the man had seemed more confused than angry about the intrusion. But for some reason, he hadn’t taken it too seriously. Maybe he’d just been in a good mood?

That thought gave Li Zixin the same eerie sense as Jiang Lianhuan—that he had narrowly escaped death. And just like that, he too fell into a kind of philosophical reflection. The entire group, for a moment, became deeply contemplative.

Others who hadn’t had close encounters instead focused on what Li Zixin had overheard. Someone asked, “He said Hua Rongyue is no longer on the Qinhuai River… What does that mean?”

“Not sure, but he clearly knows something.”

“…So Hua Rongyue is still alive? He’s not dead?”

This news was both shocking and thrilling to the Six Doors crew. The thrill was that Hua Rongyue might actually be alive; the shock was that despite his presumed death, someone was still referring to him as “Yi Linglong”… which possibly meant he was surviving under that very disguise.

And though that identity was dangerously close to exposure, as long as it hadn’t been blown, Six Doors had a duty to go save him.

At this point, it didn’t matter whether anyone had ever thought about giving up on Hua Rongyue. Now, all such thoughts had to be buried. Rescue was the only option.

Six Doors was nothing if not efficient. After a brief discussion, they decided to continue digging for more intelligence. Even if they couldn’t find Hua Rongyue, uncovering information about that shadowy organization would still be worthwhile.

For now, the mysterious organization—and its eerie, soft-spoken leader—captured the full attention of everyone in the group.

…Unbeknownst to them, that “leader of a secret organization,” the one with the “gentle voice and mysterious aura,” was currently pretending to be dead in their own base.

Hua Rongyue had returned to the brothel in a cold sweat. Afraid the boatwoman might suspect anything, she immediately began pretending to sleep. During this “nap,” a woman called “Sister Xing” returned once more.

Still pretending to sleep, Hua Rongyue was forced to eavesdrop on a whole conversation between Sister Xing and another girl.

“I heard the Huashan Sect seems to have caught wind of something. Tell our people to be extra cautious—don’t expose anything for now.”

—Huashan Sect… they had launched a major search this month, Hua Rongyue thought. Back in the day, Yi Linglong had also taken an interest in Huashan and had even planted a few spies there. Although Yi Linglong hadn’t been that powerful yet, the sudden commotion had always been a mystery.

“Tianyi Tower is also in trouble. I’ve heard that their internal conflicts are fierce—and now it seems someone is targeting Yi Xingzhou.”

—Yi Xingzhou, current heir to Tianyi Tower. If Hua Rongyue hadn’t escaped, she’d be sitting in that very position now. Seems like even without “Yi Linglong,” someone would’ve come after him anyway?

“And Six Doors is really acting like lunatics lately. Good thing we recalled everyone a few days ago—otherwise, something terrible might’ve happened.” The woman added with a sigh, “Lord Linglong truly has foresight.”

Hua Rongyue suddenly opened her eyes wide in bed.

No! No foresight!
They didn’t dodge any bullets in her past life and still acted tough! Even without evading, weren’t they still rampant and overbearing?

And now—now it was her under all this pressure!

Hua Rongyue had been scared stiff listening to all of this. What she thought was just a small-time group was turning out to be… something else entirely.

The Huashan thing, the Tianyi Tower thing, the Six Doors situation—plus all the other events the woman casually mentioned—she could recall them all. And each had been real incidents from the past few months that had made waves in the martial world…

None of these events were earth-shattering on their own, but each one was somehow tied to this mysterious organization. That connection made everything feel terrifyingly significant.

To be fair, she had to admit Yi Linglong’s current lack of intelligence on the wider martial world was due to internal power struggles within Tianyi Tower. Since she was a contender for the leadership, most of her resources had gone into surviving that conflict—so not much had been gathered from the outside world lately.

She remembered the fate that awaited her if she hadn’t escaped Tianyi Tower. And although she was out now…

Hua Rongyue turned over again in bed. Noticing this, the women nearby lowered their voices.

“Anyone come by today?” Sister Xing asked.

“Yes.”

“And?”

“He said Yi Linglong has left the Qinhuai River.”

“…Is that so?” Sister Xing’s voice carried a mix of sudden understanding and sentimentality. “Pass the word down—if anyone from Six Doors shows up again, tell them Yi Linglong’s already left the Qinhuai.”

Hua Rongyue: “…”

…Lady, that tone of enlightened understanding and wistful sighing—whatever it meant, she didn’t want to think too hard about it. But come on, don’t dig the pit deeper!

It was a completely fabricated piece of intel! If everyone starts repeating it, wouldn’t that just confirm its truth in Six Doors’ eyes? What if they come looking for her again?

Hua Rongyue fell into a deep confusion. In that haze, she began to long once more for Baicaotang.

…Not that anyone there knew what she was going through. No one had even sneezed.

In fact, they were just now getting wind of the gossip about Yi Linglong.

Due to Six Doors’ information lockdown, most people didn’t know what had actually happened on the Qinhuai River. But as with most forbidden things, this only made people more curious—classic “scarcity marketing.”

The prevailing rumor was still that Yi Linglong had died on the Qinhuai River. Most found it hard to believe anyone could survive such severe injuries—after all, the blood he lost on that bridge still hadn’t been fully washed away.

And yet, everyone secretly hoped for a miracle. Miracles are always more appealing than plain old stories.

Yi Linglong’s actions that day even sparked debate—do madmen truly feel no fear? Do they feel pain?

Of course they do. They bleed. They hurt. But Yi Linglong’s performance had certainly made people question that.

Doctor Qi at Baicaotang occasionally brought up Hua Rongyue these days, wondering if she’d also gone to the Qinhuai, which might explain her long absence. And despite his worry, he felt a strange pride about it—like a parent watching their child finally do something big.

…Even if it was all just speculation.

That day, he was treating patients while Xiao Han—visibly downcast these days—was making medicine. His appetite had suffered too, due to a group of thugs making trouble around Baicaotang. Normally, they’d have dealt with it easily, but things had changed since Hua Rongyue left.

“I don’t get it,” Xiao Han muttered while pounding herbs. “Back when that kid surnamed Hua was here, he didn’t even do anything. So why were they afraid of him and not me?”

“Brother Hua always seemed calm,” Dr. Qi said. After a pause, he added tactfully, “You seem… a bit more spirited.”

“Should I go home and have my dad send some bodyguards to stand at the door?” Xiao Han suggested. “Let’s see who dares cause trouble then.”

“You could, but then I worry we won’t have any patients left,” Dr. Qi replied.

Just then, Yan Sheng—whom they hadn’t seen in a while—entered. Dr. Qi perked up immediately. “Lord Yan! What brings you here today?”

“Don’t ask,” Wan Fuli said with a laugh. There were no outsiders around, so she spoke freely. “He’s been hoping you’d show up. Since Rongyue ‘went home,’ he’s bought every street paper just to keep up with the Qinhuai incident.”

“You really haven’t seen the world,” Xiao Han sneered. “Big deal. That kid barely says a word on any normal day. Over there, who’d even remember him? Probably ended up doing chores. Might not have even seen Yi Linglong’s face. Yi Linglong had a sword through his body and still fought for a full incense stick’s time. That guy probably ran off the moment he saw blood…”

“Xiao Han!” Wan Fuli jabbed him in the ribs.

Even at that moment, Yan Sheng choked a little. Everything he wanted to say got stuck.

Because despite how contradictory Xiao Han’s words sounded… they made a weird sort of sense.

If he hadn’t heard it with his own ears, how could he believe that the wildly flamboyant and seemingly invincible “Yi Linglong”—fighting with a sword through his body—was actually the quiet, near-invisible Hua Rongyue from Baicaotang?

Ever since he heard about what happened on the Qinhuai River, he hadn’t been able to picture what Hua Rongyue must have looked like that day. To him, she had always been the gentle and easygoing type.

Originally, Yan Sheng had come to tell Dr. Qi the “bad news,” to prepare him for the worst. But now, he swallowed the words.

He didn’t know why his tone suddenly shifted. “When he comes back… let him tell you himself.”

He would come back, right? Yan Sheng had always had a mysterious trust in Hua Rongyue—even now.

…Meanwhile, Hua Rongyue had just uncovered a strange truth aboard the boat. Or perhaps—one about the whole red-light district.

She realized that the reason why the sane and the insane could coexist here wasn’t because the mad were so rational, or because the sane were extra tolerant…

It was because the mad and the sane were connected—in one way or another.

Some of them were parent and child. Others were lovers who’d escaped together. Just like the couple she’d once seen flee from the Songshan Sect.