Little Pink Starfish

Yuan Yuanyuan had stayed in this city for three whole days.

Before arriving, she thought this trip wouldn’t be easy—but after she got here, she realized it was much smoother than expected. At least in these few days of staying here, no one had come to bother her.

As she had predicted, the landlady had clearly been planning this for a long time—waiting for the right moment to deliver a deadly blow.

Everyone in the city was already prepared, including many spy-camp demons. Those demons Yuan Yuanyuan had previously been unable to find were all here now.

She had noticed that the tavern had lost a bunch of demons recently. She brought it up casually once and immediately noticed the landlady’s reaction, so she didn’t ask any more questions. Well, now she finally saw where all those people had gone—everything had been prepped in advance.

“Lord Yuan, should we take a look at your injury?”

“…Fine.” Yuan Yuanyuan sat down on a chair expressionlessly and let the doctor check her over.

She really felt like she had become so Zen it was almost hopeless. Even when she saw they had a full medical team set up here just for her, she wasn’t even that surprised anymore.

God. Were they really that afraid she’d die on the way before she could even accomplish anything?

“Yuan Yingli is still in the city,” a demon beside her reported. “Right now he’s disguised as an ordinary demon. There’s a cat demon always by his side—can’t tell who it is, but the two are usually seen together.”

Oh, Fat Cat, huh. Yuan Yuanyuan was a little surprised. She had thought Fat Cat wasn’t with Yuan Yingli anymore—that would explain why neither of them had appeared in the manga for so long. But it turns out they’d actually been sticking together all this time. Impressive.

Of course, it was also likely because things had gotten too clear-cut by now—everyone knew this was the moment when all cards would be laid on the table.

Once the fighting started, it was just a matter of who’d still be left standing.

Currently, the two major players were Fa Ning and the Hundred Demon King—both obvious strategic pieces. Even though the Hundred Demon King was still a newcomer at this game, he had a seasoned expert by his side—none other than the head of the Li family.

There were a few minor players too. Yuan Yingli was one of them—he was aligned with Fa Ning. Then there were the higher-ups in City C, the anti-war faction, the southern alliance, and even the Pureblood Taoist faction looking to strike another fatal blow against demons (yes, there were Pureblood factions among Taoists too).

Yuan had been off the stage for quite a while now. If she suddenly returned to the game, many would probably find it unbelievable. Too much had changed during her disappearance.

But… if in the end, it turned out that the final boss had been Yuan all along, wouldn’t that kind of twist make things even more thrilling?

Sitting on her bed, Yuan Yuanyuan grinned as her mouth twitched. Honestly, if she went all in now, her chances of success weren’t that bad… good thing she was a woman of principle.

Fa Ning had traveled all the way from the northwest to reach Yuan Yuanyuan’s city. He brought too many people with him, so even with all haste, it still took him a full day and night to arrive.

“How long has Yuan Yingli been here ahead of us?” Fa Ning looked up at the city and asked. Like Yuan Yuanyuan, he was stunned by the oppressive demon clouds above the city. After letting out a long sigh, he turned to ask Changsheng.

“There’s no way all our people can enter at once,” Changsheng replied. “For now, most of them will have to stay outside the city.”

“Understood,” Fa Ning said. “Things inside the city must be tense by now… was it really wise for us to barge in like this? I’m starting to think maybe I overreacted about what was happening in the northwest…”

This city didn’t have the same kind of blue shield that surrounded City C. That one had been created by Seventeen while he was still alive. Clearly, no one had gone to the trouble of setting up a new one for the Hundred Demon King, so the city appeared much more vulnerable.

But Fa Ning knew that was only an illusion. Charging in recklessly would’ve been real foolishness.

Right now, the city’s defenses were tighter than ever—checkpoints every few steps, hidden sentries everywhere. It was only convenient for Fa Ning because he could change his appearance and slip in easily. He still remembered a poll from Demon Chronicles fan content listing the most desired “cheat powers”: in the top three were Fa Ning’s solo-kill ultimate move, Si Qun’s violent demolition-style fighting, and Yuan’s illusions.

That list was obviously subjective, but it still showed just how powerful Yuan’s illusions were.

Actually… Fa Ning could use that illusion technique too.

After all, Yuan herself had taught it to him.

Fa Ning entered the city with a demon who was also very skilled in illusion. Right at the gate, they encountered a checkpoint. He pulled out his credentials—but then he spotted a ragged little demon squatting nearby.

The checkpoint guards kept shooing the kid away: “Move it! Don’t block the path!” But they didn’t hurt him. Probably some long-time city beggar.

Fa Ning took one glance, then turned back to walk with the group. Still, as he passed the child, he casually dropped some coins without even looking.

The child only caught a glimpse of his retreating back.

Fa Ning handed his ID to the guard and passed through. Behind him, the child quickly took the coins and slipped away.

“That makes five demons today who gave money to the beggar,” the child muttered to himself. “Even demons have beggars, huh.”

“Alright, get your little friends and follow those five people,” Yuan Yuanyuan handed some money to the kid. “Just track where they’re staying. Don’t get too close—just observe and report back.”

The little beggar took the money and dashed off. Yuan Yuanyuan stood in the wind, feeling like all she was missing was a pipe and a deerstalker hat… and maybe a Watson at her side.

Turns out street urchins really did make excellent informants. The wisdom of Mr. Holmes remained useful even to this day.

No… in truth, it was just her chuuni syndrome flaring up again. She wanted to test it out, and to her surprise, it actually worked.

With Fa Ning here, the real action would probably begin in a couple of days. Everyone had gathered in this city—how must the young Hundred Demon King be feeling?

If Yuan Yuanyuan were him, she’d be absolutely freaking out.

But maybe he didn’t fully realize his situation yet. After all, the city looked impenetrable. What he really needed now… was someone to break the news to him.

Yuan Yuanyuan grinned mischievously—and sure enough, someone did tell him.

The latest issue of Demon Chronicles showed that Fa Ning had arrived in the Hundred Demon King’s city. As usual, to keep his identity and location secret, there were no details on how they got in—it simply said they arrived and were now settled somewhere inside the city.

Of course, the manga didn’t reveal where they were staying either.

This… isn’t going to go over well. Yuan Yuanyuan looked at the manga and thought. Readers were definitely going to nitpick. Even without checking the comment section, she could already predict two major complaints: one, it wasn’t realistic—how could a city with such tight security be infiltrated so easily; and two, no clues were given about Fa Ning’s group’s location, making it impossible to follow the story’s logic.

Ji Qiu rarely left such plot holes. He was a strong-willed creator and usually didn’t give readers this many reasons to complain.

That he had allowed such a “mistake” now could only mean one thing—the situation had become so serious that even Ji Qiu couldn’t cover all the bases.

He had to show Fa Ning’s current arc, but the more screen time Fa Ning got, the more risk of exposing him. So Ji Qiu compromised and drew a weirdly vague sequence—enough for readers to know what’s happening, without leaking key info.

…Comment section readers, please be gentle. Do you guys even realize how hard this must’ve been to pull off? Yuan Yuanyuan was already sweating bullets just thinking about it.

And it wasn’t just her. Others realized the same thing. Of course, the comment section wouldn’t hold back—but among the demons themselves, not a word was said.

BANG! A loud crash echoed from within a certain residence. A maid peeked in to see the young Hundred Demon King breathing heavily, chest heaving, his eyes bloodshot with fury.

She dared not speak and quietly began cleaning up the shards before quickly retreating.

“How… how could this happen?” the young Hundred Demon King panted. “I laid out a web of traps across the city… and they still got in?!”

A man nearby calmly sipped his tea as he sat, unbothered. “Lord Li, what do we do now?”

Li Wangzhu sat there coolly, blowing the foam from his tea. “Don’t worry too much about this. I’ve already pulled the reinforcements from outside the city back in. Right now, they’re guarding the mansion. No one will get close.”

Though the young king was still nervous, Li Wangzhu’s words were like a calming balm. He slowly began to settle down.

“I’ve been wondering,” Yuan Yuanyuan said. “Do you all really think the head of the Li family is loyal to the Hundred Demon King? He’s already betrayed one side—what’s stopping him from doing it again?”

“That’s not certain,” said a demon from the northwest. “Whoever sits on the throne, he serves them.”

In the shadowed residence, lightning split the sky again and again, followed by thunder that shook the air.

A figure walked slowly along the corridor, gripping a gleaming sword in hand.