Little Pink Starfish

【”How are things going near the Hundred Demon King?” Fa Ning asked excitedly. He’d finally reestablished contact with Yuan Yingli’s side and was now speaking to a demon envoy Yuan had sent.】

【”Things are going smoothly for now. The Hundred Demon King is clearly inexperienced, so dealing with him hasn’t been too difficult. The problem is the Li family’s head—he’s much harder to deal with,” the demon replied.】

Yuan Yuanyuan munched on her breakfast while watching the latest Demon Chronicles update on her phone. At the same time, she was messaging Fat Cat and Yuan Yingli.

【Circle: Honestly, who are you guys? Are you in the manga too?】

【Group leader, Black Red: Uh, well… we…】

【Circle: Spill it! I have dirt on both of you. If you don’t talk, I’ll post that picture of Fat Cat sleeping belly-up!】

【Group leader: …Bro!】

Yuan Yuanyuan chuckled helplessly. Recently, this little back-and-forth with Fat Cat and Yuan Yingli had become one of her few joys in life. Last time in the group chat, she’d subtly hinted that those two weren’t as simple as they seemed—after that, they’d both started ghosting her.

Still, she wanted to know how they were doing. Based on the manga, the two were currently dealing with the Hundred Demon King. Their mission couldn’t be completely safe, so she figured she should keep tabs to make sure they were still breathing.

Also… why was Fat Cat so embarrassed about that sleeping photo? Cats sleeping belly-up is normal, right? That shot of Fat Cat snoozing like a furry little Buddha was practically art.

【Circle: By the way, you guys can still go online freely?】

【Group leader: Not really. But things have relaxed for us a bit lately.】

【Black Red: We’ve been given a short break. Finally got some time to use our phones. For a while, we were completely off the grid.】

So the manga was right, Yuan Yuanyuan thought. No wonder they’d gone silent. Turns out one of their agents had just returned—it made sense now.

【Circle: Need any intel?】

【Group leader, Black Red: What kind of intel?】

【Circle: I reconnected with people at the tavern. They asked if I wanted to come back. So… I did.】

【Group leader, Black Red: …WTF?!】

Yuan Yuanyuan smiled. Finally, they’d reacted the way she’d hoped.

She’d reached out to them this time mainly to pass along some intel. Since the tavern had been so isolated lately, there were a lot of things she couldn’t say before. Normally, they’d send out spies in this situation—but suddenly Yuan Yuanyuan realized something.

Wasn’t she the most reliable spy of all? Who could be more perfect for this job than her?

So she contacted them directly—and stunned both Fat Cat and Yuan Yingli in the process.

【Group leader: First time I visited your place, what was I wearing?】

【Circle: Cow-print hoodie. Your usual disguise. You liked the cat food from the convenience store downstairs, drank milk, clawed my couch… My sofa still has your paw marks. Don’t overthink it, it’s me.】

【Group leader: …Then why suddenly tell us all this? Don’t you realize how dangerous this is?】

【Circle: Didn’t you guys tell me a bunch of things before? Besides, I’ve got a bad feeling you’re involved in something dangerous. Just wanted to see if there’s anything I can do to help.】

【Black Red: Never thought you’d trust us this much.】

They chatted for quite a while and finally reestablished a decent communication line.

Yuan Yuanyuan deliberately made joining the tavern sound more vague and complicated than it actually was. She kept the details fuzzy, as if she didn’t want them to know just how hard it had been.

This successfully lowered their guard a bit. More importantly, the three of them had met before. In their eyes, Yuan Yuanyuan had always seemed like the most ordinary demon imaginable.

Yuan Yuanyuan exhaled in relief.

Just as she finished, the landlady walked up behind her.

“Didn’t expect this. When did you reconnect with them?” the landlady asked.

“No need to worry about that. I have my ways,” Yuan Yuanyuan replied.

“Oho, look at you. Got secrets now, do you?” The landlady grinned, clapping her on the shoulder.

“Since you’re in touch again, does that mean the intel can be passed along?” she asked. “Even that Li clan heir wouldn’t expect you to have such a backchannel, huh?”

Yuan Yuanyuan figured she must look pretty cool right now, judging by how handsy the landlady was suddenly being. She smirked, “Yeah, he definitely wouldn’t guess.”

In fact, even the landlady didn’t know that Yuan Yingli himself was involved. She thought—

“So this means…” the landlady smiled. “You’re linked to Fa Ning’s side and Yuan Yingli’s side…”

She leaned in close and whispered, “So how do you plan to navigate between them?”

“You tell me,” Yuan Yuanyuan turned and said.

“How would I know? You figure it out.” The landlady giggled and sauntered off.

Yuan Yuanyuan watched her retreating figure and sighed softly.

The landlady definitely had her own little agenda.

Though none of it seemed harmful, it still wasn’t something Yuan Yuanyuan wanted to deal with.

So she had her own secret thoughts too.

She’d been acting, just now.

Fa Ning wasn’t receiving much outside intel in the northwest. Most of what he got came through external sources, and that meant a lot of room for manipulation. If it weren’t for the fact that most of the demons around him were trained spies, Fa Ning might’ve already walked into a few traps.

Yuan Yingli might be on break now, but he’d be heading back soon—and when he did, his access to information would be even more limited.

Yuan Yuanyuan’s edge was that very few spies had managed to infiltrate the tavern. Most had been flushed out during recent purges, and access to the tavern was now heavily restricted.

So Yuan Yingli and Fat Cat definitely wouldn’t waste this opportunity. They’d do everything they could to extract intel from her.

Yuan Yingli wanted her intel to be accurate.

The landlady… was less clear.

She had a scheming mind, yes—but her feelings for Seventeen? Absolutely genuine. Yuan Yuanyuan couldn’t help but sigh emotionally at that.

If the real Seventeen were here, he might’ve already caved.

Even Yuan Yuanyuan wavered for a second there.

…Maybe it was just her being straight. If it had been a handsome guy sweet-talking her, maybe she really would’ve gone along with it.

Recently, Yuan Yuanyuan had learned more about Seventeen’s past. A lot of it came from conversations with the northwest demons.

As for why the Hundred Demon King had hated Seventeen so much, the truth wasn’t as simple as rejecting bloodline theory. Seventeen had posed a genuine threat to the king’s position. Even if he had no rebellious intentions, many of his subordinates did—and they didn’t respect the Hundred Demon King, neither the previous one nor the current.

The landlady didn’t respect them either. Not the old king, not the current one, not even Li Wangzhu, who’d personally killed Seventeen.

The only one she respected was Seventeen.

She probably wished Seventeen had taken the throne instead.

When Yuan Yuanyuan realized that, she was shocked.

So sweet—wait no, this is a problem. Took her long enough to figure it out.

In the landlady’s eyes, her enemies included:

• The Hundred Demon King
• The head of the Li family
• And someone no one else suspected of being a threat to Yuan…

—The chosen one: Fa Ning.

The landlady’s goal had always been clear. She didn’t know about the manga, but she understood Fa Ning was someone blessed by fate.

Right now, Yuan Yuanyuan had a piece of intel. It came from someone close to the Li family head in City C, suggesting some coordination with the Hundred Demon King that might impact Fa Ning.

Yuan Yuanyuan was sure she was the first to receive this intel. If she told the others, Fa Ning could avoid taking heavy losses.

But the landlady had just subtly hinted that this intel shouldn’t be shared with Fa Ning.

…Yuan Yuanyuan hesitated for two seconds. She had just lied to the landlady, saying she definitely wouldn’t tell Fa Ning.

But in reality…

She didn’t want to deceive Fa Ning. So, she had to deceive the landlady instead.

In the end, someone had to be lied to.

It wasn’t just deception—it was betrayal. Not just of the landlady, but of the hundreds of demons from the northwest.

Winners write history. This wasn’t just some white lie anymore.

Yuan Yuanyuan sighed. Then consoled herself: Come on… There are still plenty of spies with Fa Ning. If I don’t tell them, and something happens—what then?

She deliberately blurred part of the intel sheet, then secretly sent it from her phone to Fat Cat and Black Red.