Little Pink Starfish

When Yuan Yuanyuan reached this part of the comic, her curiosity was completely piqued. At this moment, she really wanted to see how Jiuqiu planned to draw the rest, how they would explain what happened back then.

Actually, even Yuan Yuanyuan herself didn’t know much about what happened that year. Most of it was just her own speculation.

Looking at the Li Family Head in the comic, Yuan Yuanyuan couldn’t help but feel that he was probably tricking Faning. Because from the way it looked, it was exactly the kind of thing villains say to mislead the protagonist. That was the usual trope.

But even so, Yuan Yuanyuan couldn’t help but believe what the Li Family Head was saying. Why?

—Because what the Li Family Head said this time was actually correct.

Yuan Yuanyuan really did know this thing was connected to Si Qun. And according to Si Qun himself, this thing was supposed to be burned and then consumed—half for each person.

This thing might have a direct connection to Seventeen’s cause of death back then.

In the comic, Faning was stunned after hearing what the Li Family Head said. He clearly looked suspicious, but he was also captivated by the statement and couldn’t bring himself to attack.

The Li Family Head stood there completely unhurried, as if waiting for Faning to snap out of it.

Faning noticed this. He looked up and asked, 【“You want to tell me what really happened back then?”】

【“It’s not that I want to tell you,” the Li Family Head replied, “I just find your question kind of funny. You dug up so much dirt, yet didn’t bother verifying it, and just came to ask me directly… Let me give you a piece of advice for your master Seventeen’s sake: you’re not as cautious as he was. If he’d been as reckless as you, he wouldn’t have lived that long.”】

【Faning raised an eyebrow slightly. He looked at the other man, finding his constant references to Seventeen strangely amusing, but didn’t comment further.】

【“So the white stuff back then was your little brother tricking him into drinking it?” Faning asked. “What was that stuff?”】

【“That stuff was a Gu.” said the Li Family Head. “My foolish little brother was the Gu King. That thing was his hair.”】

【“H-hair?” Faning looked incredulous.】

Yuan Yuanyuan instinctively sensed that the Li Family Head was probably bluffing, but what she was most curious about was how he was bluffing. Sure enough, the Li Family Head looked at Faning and said softly:

【“Since you found out about that white substance, you should also know the relationship between my brother and Seventeen.”】

【“Roughly, yes,” Faning said. “I know they were best friends, fought battles together back in the day. I also know you were with them at the time, until one day, for some reason, you betrayed Yuan.”】

【“It wasn’t betrayal,” the Li Family Head said. “A soldier must obey orders. Yuan was the one who betrayed us first—he was the first to be disloyal.”】

【Faning dropped the subject. He suddenly realized that on this issue, the Li Family Head probably had his own philosophy. Trying to change his mind might be pointless.】

【But Faning didn’t care too much. He had one last card to play, something that—if revealed—would have explosive results.】

【He looked at the Li Family Head, and his voice dropped.】

【“Lately… all over the city, you’ve been burning that white substance, haven’t you?”】

【The Li Family Head’s eyes narrowed slightly. Faning chuckled, “Don’t bother asking how I know. But you’ve definitely been burning a lot of that stuff recently. Why are you burning it?”】

【“I don’t know what it’s used for—not even its name—until today,” Faning said. “But I do know that it’s most effective against one person—Yuan.”】

【“Isn’t that right?” Faning advanced toward the Li Family Head. “You’ve been releasing this smoke across the whole city. What’s your goal?”】

【The Li Family Head remained silent. Faning said, “Since you won’t answer, then I will. Why have you been releasing this smoke everywhere? Because, deep down… you believe Yuan is still alive.”】

【“You think you can use this smoke to draw him out—but it didn’t work.” Faning laughed. “Why, as his enemy, are you so obsessed with Yuan?”】

【“Every time you meet me, you always bring up the fact that I’m Yuan’s disciple.” Faning stepped closer. “But I don’t understand where your obsession comes from. Even though I’m Yuan’s disciple, I haven’t seen him for nearly half a year…”】

【“Enough.” The Li Family Head interrupted him, eyes cold. “You’re asking too many questions.”】

【“That’s because I really want to know.” Faning smiled. “If you don’t want to talk about this topic, then let’s switch to another—like your brother tricking Yuan into drinking the Gu.”】

【“I was going to tell you earlier,” the Li Family Head said coldly, “but now I’m not in the mood. Maybe you can ask him—though judging by his current state… heh.”】

With a cold snort, Faning suddenly raised his weapon and blocked the Li Family Head’s surprise attack. The two exchanged several moves quickly. Yuan Yuanyuan hadn’t expected the comic to go in this direction. Although she felt a little disappointed, she still put down her phone after finishing.

Originally, she’d hoped they’d spill the truth, but in the end, the other party said nothing… However, by some twist of fate, the comic did reveal that the Li Family Head had released smoke all over the city in hopes of luring Yuan out.

The smoke had been hinted at before, but only as a running mystery. Not until this chapter did the reveal finally come—smoke had been released worldwide.

Readers were left with complicated feelings. At this point, everyone had basically accepted that Yuan was dead—even the most loyal fans had started to admit, deep down, that his chances of survival were slim.

And yet at that moment, one major figure stood up and declared, firmly, that he didn’t believe it!

Yuan was not dead—he was still alive, somewhere in the world. He would find him!

Such a powerful emotion… everyone who read it was stunned.

Yuan Yuanyuan herself was stunned. She was now beginning to suspect that the Li Family Head and Seventeen might have had some secret, dirty deal in the past. Her mind even started spinning out a tragic love triangle scenario—one-sided longing, unrequited feelings…

Uh, not just her. Everyone was thinking the same thing. The internet was flooded with long, essay-style posts. Every one of them sounded incredibly plausible, as if they were written by someone personally involved.

Oh please… Yuan Yuanyuan sat alone in her room, tears running down her face. It was already hard enough to embody Seventeen’s emotions—now it was even harder. And she still had to act out such a subtly emotional performance…

Even so… Yuan Yuanyuan kind of liked it (?)

There was a section at the end of the comic that wasn’t illustrated. Faning and the Li Family Head had fought to a draw—neither gained the upper hand. Strictly speaking, the Li Family Head had a slight edge due to his greater experience, but it wasn’t obvious.

Back home, Faning was treating his wounds and fuming. In truth, he knew more than the Li Family Head had guessed—he hadn’t revealed everything.

He had even vaguely figured out the Gu’s effect, from letters exchanged between that Liu-named man and Lady Ran.

It appeared to be a twin Gu. If used like a normal Gu, its only effect was to make humans fall into a deep sleep—the less spiritual power they had, the stronger the effect.

It had been used once on the battlefield, but its utility was limited. By that point, war mostly involved Taoists and monsters—rarely regular humans.

Later, monsters used this Gu for situations where they didn’t want to hurt humans… In the end, the Gu’s purpose left many monsters utterly dumbfounded. After all, Si Qun was the infamous Gu King—and this was his signature Gu?

Besides calling it useless, there wasn’t much else to say.

But Si Qun was the Gu King for a reason… The Gu’s true function couldn’t be so simple. The reason it wasn’t spoken of was because the Gu’s effect was like a bug—if word got out, it could lead to very bad consequences.

The twin Gu—once burned to ash and divided in half—would link two people’s fates together.

Lady Ran… was Yuan. The letters didn’t say much, only used casual tones like “Today I discussed something with my friend.”

Much of this was Faning’s deduction. There was no concrete proof.

But for some reason, Faning had a very strong feeling—it had to be true.

The army hadn’t spread the Gu’s use—because just thinking about it was terrifying.

Faning imagined—what if a spy used it, targeted someone, took half the Gu, gave the other half to the target, then killed himself? Then what?

But at that time, both Si Qun and Yuan had consumed it. Their lives were linked. Yuan didn’t die in the Red Sand Well, and Si Qun outside also didn’t die.

But Si Qun couldn’t have come out completely unscathed either… What did the Li Family Head mean earlier, telling him to go check on Si Qun?

Faning was confused for a while. He wanted to go check right then, but he couldn’t get away. Regretfully, he had to let it go.