Little Pink Starfish

If it weren’t for the Northwest demon constantly popping up in front of her to remind her of his presence, Yuan Yuanyuan would’ve completely forgotten she had such a sharp sword hanging over her head—ready to stab her dead at any moment.

She had no choice but to leave Fat Cat’s room and go listen to what the group of Northwest demons had to say.

“My lord, we’ve heard the King of All Demons is dying,” the demon said excitedly. “So… does this mean you can—”

“Shh—” Yuan Yuanyuan raised her finger to her lips, cutting him off. Stop right there. Say one more word and we’re all dead.

“Oh, oh, I get it. We’re not supposed to talk about this yet,” the Northwest demon nodded knowingly.

Hmm… She had technically achieved her goal, but something about the way he understood things didn’t feel quite right. Yuan Yuanyuan had to remind him, “The Li Family Head is currently trying to heal the young King of All Demons.”

“Then you should strike first!” the demon cried out, his face flushed with excitement. “If you make the first move, the Li Family Head won’t be able to stir up any real trouble.”

Yuan Yuanyuan felt like they were talking completely past each other. Still, if she could keep this group calm for the moment, that was enough for her. So she smoothly replied, “We can’t go on the offensive. I don’t have enough forces with me.”

“You…” The demon was startled for a second, then suddenly nodded in realization. “Ah, brilliant strategy!”

What part of that was brilliant?

While she was still feeling confused, she heard the demon continue, “Everyone outside is already in chaos. Even the Taoists have rushed in. I was wondering why you were still calm—turns out you had a plan all along!”

Right now, he looked like he was possessed by Zhuge Liang himself, acting as if he understood everything. “Let them fight like the snipe and the clam, and we’ll be the fisherman who profits. I know this one. My father told me—you’re the smartest of them all and love using this kind of strategy.”

Yuan Yuanyuan: “……”

Suddenly she felt… completely misunderstood.

Then she remembered what the demon had just said—“the Taoists have also gone over there.” That “Taoist” designation was a bit tricky.

The Northwest demons didn’t recognize Fa Ning. They hadn’t read Demon Chronicles. So to them, Fa Ning was just another Taoist, maybe a sect leader—but they might not even remember his name.

Which meant the one heading toward the King of All Demons now… was probably Fa Ning.

After that demon left, Yuan Yuanyuan stood still for a long while. Then she suddenly thought of something, picked up her phone, and sure enough—Li Ming had sent a new message.

She opened it. It was from Ji Qiu.

Inside… was the exact conversation she’d just had with that Northwest demon.

Yuan Yuanyuan glanced at it, then turned to look inside the room. The annoying thing about these comics was that they didn’t just draw the outside—they also drew what was happening inside. While she and the demon whispered suspiciously about under-the-table deals outside, inside the room, Fat Cat flicked his tail with a blissfully content expression.

Yes… truly blissful. Meeting his idol had clearly made him very happy.

Yuan Yuanyuan pressed her hand to her chest.

Ugh… why did she feel like she had just become a terrible person?

At least the one in the comic was herself—she could sort of follow her own twisted logic. But if she looked at this from an outsider’s perspective, the guy in the comic was obviously a scumbag.

Meanwhile, Fat Cat inside was still happy and clueless. He had no idea that outside, people were already plotting a counterattack against the humans. This was practically a modern retelling of “Farmer and the Snake” or “The Scholar and the Wolf.”

…

【Yuan, how could you do this? I never thought you were that kind of person!】
【I’m so heartbroken. Turns out you were the real final boss all along. I totally misjudged you.】
【All along, you were the most sinister one of all.】

…

Those comments seemed to echo in her ears.

Sorry, she’d been reading too many comment sections on Demon Chronicles lately. Her brain was starting to fill in all kinds of melodrama.

What chapter of the comic was this supposed to be? Was it the Saturday release or the Monday one? Yuan Yuanyuan closed her phone. This whole thing had clearly been set up. It was obvious—she was going to have to play the villain now.

If she was going to be the bad guy, then she might as well go all in.

Yuan Yuanyuan’s face lit up with renewed energy. Now that she had a goal in life, everything felt so much brighter.

She had never played the “bad woman” role before. Her first time doing so filled her with a strange excitement. Cue the dramatic “temptation to return to the village” BGM.

Halfway through her excitement, she suddenly remembered something else.

Fa Ning was going over there… It looked like he was about to face off against the Li Family Head. But did he even know about Red Sand Well?

Maybe he didn’t.

Because in the comic, Fa Ning hadn’t shown any signs yet. But he had rushed over suddenly—maybe he’d heard something.

Yuan Yuanyuan knew one thing for sure: they couldn’t allow a second Red Sand Well to be created. If that happened and it failed…

Fa Ning and the Li Family Head were about to reach the breaking point, weren’t they? After following the comic for so long, Yuan Yuanyuan now felt like its most loyal reader. And the time had finally come.

She picked up her blade and summoned the demons who were still in the city, instructing them to be ready at any moment.

She was going in alone now.

Just as she’d planned from the beginning—she was going to clean up the mess.

Not to take credit for the King of All Demons’ fall—but what if Fa Ning killed the Li Family Head first?

Yuan Yuanyuan’s eyes turned cold.

The Li Family Head must die by Seventeen’s hand.

…

The red clouds in the sky were glaringly oppressive—just one glance made one’s chest tighten.

The path from the gate to the inner house was littered with corpses. There was hardly a clean patch of ground left.

Almost every demon near the mansion had already been killed.

The young King of All Demons’ breathing had stabilized. Nothing seemed unusual—only that he remained in a deep sleep. Beside him, the Li Family Head sat in a chair, ordering others to drag the corpses into the well.

Only one maid remained.

Her face was expressionless, or maybe numb.

She was the quietest of them all. So when the Li Family Head killed the other maids, she was the only one spared.

After all, the Li Family Head couldn’t personally care for the young king. That maid had survived purely out of necessity. She didn’t know when her turn would come. Just a few days ago, the others had still been chatting and laughing with her. Now, they lay dead in pools of blood.

The well needed more blood.

Li Wangzhu sat in his chair, eyes closed as if asleep. But his lips moved, murmuring, “Still missing one more person to seal the well…”

Just as he finished speaking, a hand reached out from behind, holding a gleaming dagger.

A smile slowly crept onto Li Wangzhu’s face.

“I’ve been waiting for you.”

He turned to block the attack—only to feel something was off.

The force behind it was too light.

Alarmed, he looked up—just in time to see Fa Ning descending from above with a powerful strike. The one who had just attacked him… had been a paper decoy.

“So you really want to create a second well,” Fa Ning said coldly, eyes fixed on the Li Family Head.

The well behind him reeked of blood. No one dared look into it, as though a demon lurked inside.

“You haven’t even finished dealing with the first one, and now you’re making a second?” Fa Ning continued. “Do you think you can control two of them at once?”

“There’s no need to control them. When they’re hungry, they’ll find food on their own,” said the Li Family Head.

Just hearing that made Fa Ning’s skin crawl. Yet Li Wangzhu said it so casually—like he was simply sipping tea on a quiet afternoon.

As the two fought, a shadow crept up beside them. Neither noticed—maybe because of Ji Qiu’s protection, or something else.

Yuan Yuanyuan crouched to the side, eyes flicking between the two men and the blood-filled well.

She stared at the well, remembering the panels from the comic.

Corpses being fed to the well… Back then, she hadn’t understood what it meant. Now she knew—they were feeding the well.

The previous person who sealed it… was Seventeen.

And now, the person meant to seal this one—was probably Fa Ning.

According to the comic, if the designated person wasn’t found, the well couldn’t be properly formed.

As Li Wangzhu and Fa Ning battled fiercely, Yuan Yuanyuan lay hidden, watching them. She drew her dagger.

She noticed something strange—there were very few guards left in the house. For such a large mansion… where had all the guards gone?

Had they all been deployed?

Or—

Yuan Yuanyuan’s gaze swept the ground—and finally spotted several corpses wearing guard uniforms.

Even the guards had been slaughtered…

Right now, she had a new thought in her mind. She looked at Li Wangzhu ahead and saw madness in his every move.

Maybe… he already understood the situation.

Maybe he had known all along this day would come—a dead-end, no turning back.

Yuan Yuanyuan silently crept toward him, dagger in hand. She didn’t know why, but today it felt like both Li Wangzhu and Fa Ning were strangely unaware of her—as if a black mist shrouded her form.

Fa Ning twisted away to dodge an attack, gritting his teeth as he prepared to unleash his most powerful technique.

But just before he could act, a pale hand reached out and gently slashed across Li Wangzhu’s neck.

Fa Ning froze.

“Can’t let you steal my kill,” Yuan said, stepping out from behind Li Wangzhu with a faint smile. Her smile felt distant, like it came from across a void.

“He must die… by my hand.”