Little Pink Starfish

Fa Ning hadn’t had much time to rest when he suddenly received troubling news.

—A massive blackout had struck one of the cities earlier that day.

At first, the power outage didn’t cause much panic. People were used to occasional blackouts—if maintenance was needed, a power cut lasting half a day or more wasn’t uncommon. But this time was different. Not only was there no power, the internet had also gone down significantly. Nearly all communications within the city were completely blocked. The only reason anyone on the outside knew was because a few cultivators had managed to relay the message using traditional methods.

The cultivators in the city realized something was off and sent the news out quickly. When Fa Ning received it, he hesitated only briefly before immediately sending reinforcements.

There were some formations designed to prevent demonic energy from affecting electrical systems—Yuan Yuanyuan had seen them before. Fa Ning called in a group of experts to deploy such a formation in the affected city. Before long, the power grid came back online, and the internet followed.

【What’s going on? The electricity and internet both suddenly cut off. I couldn’t even surf the web at home. I tried to check if there was a power outage and found I didn’t even have signal.】

【Same here. I was halfway through cooking when the lights went out. Did the authorities say anything?】

【No official statement yet… Let’s wait a bit and see.】

Around 9 p.m. that night, the government finally issued a notice, saying there had been a cable malfunction. The explanation was vague, but to the average citizen who didn’t know the technical side of things, it was enough to pass.

A few employees in the energy sector expressed doubts and posted speculations online, but those posts were quickly deleted within the same day.

“This was barely covered up… but are they really starting to target infrastructure now? Weren’t we told demons didn’t understand this stuff? Whose idea was this?” someone on Fa Ning’s side said.

“It’s normal that most wouldn’t understand,” Fa Ning rubbed his chin. “But I think Yuan probably does know quite a bit…”

…The memory of Yuan cursing and banging on a desk when the clothing shop’s Wi-Fi went out was still vivid.

Technically, this shouldn’t have caused chaos—as long as it didn’t happen again.

But the very next day, the same city experienced another blackout.
This time, it was at night.

A nighttime outage had an entirely different impact. As soon as the lights went out, the city erupted into chaos. Fa Ning stayed up all night, anxiously worrying whether demons would take the opportunity to attack—and whether the civilians would notice something wasn’t right.

By morning, Fa Ning felt completely drained. He slumped over and whispered, “Hurry… send more people. Make the formations more stable.”

“We don’t have enough manpower,” someone replied. “This was always a niche area. And besides, it’s way too expensive. These formations really need to be carved from the beginning. Trying to patch things up now…”

Fa Ning fell silent for a moment—then collapsed onto the desk again.

……

Gao Ling had been uneasy these past few days. Online, the topic of mysterious blackouts was being discussed fervently. When a city lost power, its entire operation ground to a halt. One or two days might be manageable—but three or four would definitely lead to chaos.

And this time, there was no warning, not even a whisper of official notice. Even the internet had gone down, which was rare—under normal circumstances, power outages didn’t affect network access. Unless there was a huge natural disaster, people could get by for a day with a power bank. Gas stoves could still cook meals.

But this time? There was no way around it.

As Gao Ling was still pondering this, her screen suddenly flickered and went black. She froze.

“Sweetie, is there any light? Bring me something to see,” her mother called from outside.

“…Okay, okay, coming.” Gao Ling grabbed her phone and saw something that made her heart skip a beat—no signal. Not even one bar.

Just like what people had been saying about S City online.

Gao Ling stood in the room, stunned for half a day. Only when her mother called out again did she snap out of it and go shine her flashlight for her.

“What’s going on? A power cut at night?” her mom muttered. “Just a few days ago, people were saying S City had a weird blackout. Now it’s our turn? Unbelievable.”

“Mom, wait here. I’m going to grab some candles,” Gao Ling said as she headed to the bedroom. Blackouts were so rare these days, especially at night in a big city. Usually, by 7 p.m., the power would be back. The candles probably hadn’t been touched in over a decade.

She was about to reach for them when a sudden flash of light outside her window caught her eye—it was so bright it pierced the curtains.

“What was that?” she muttered and cracked the window to take a peek.

A long stretch of sky—like a river of stars—glowed purple. Inside were countless twinkling red lights, like a galaxy overhead.

A crushing sensation pressed against her chest. It wasn’t just the visual impact—it was a physical pressure. Gao Ling stood there in shock.

The celestial river above them looked close enough to collapse the entire city if it moved just a bit lower.

And with the city’s lights out—no neon signs, no skyscraper glows—the monsters in the sky stood out even more.

Their purple glow painted the buildings below in an eerie, ghostly hue.

In that moment, Gao Ling finally understood why the city had gone dark.

S City was only the beginning. C City would definitely not be the last. This would happen again and again, spreading like wildfire.

“Bang bang bang.” A loud knock came from the door. “It’s me. Did the power go out for you too? Internet’s out, right?”

Gao Ling heard her mother approaching the door and jumped in alarm. “Don’t open it!”

Her mother startled.

Gao Ling rushed over, trembling. “Uncle, who are you?”

“Me? It’s Uncle Zhang from next door, Xiaoling. What’s wrong?” said the confused voice behind the door.

Her mom looked at her like she was overreacting and gave her a gentle swat before opening the door.

As soon as it swung open, Gao Ling quickly shut it again, heart pounding, staring at the other two in confusion.

Meanwhile, Yuan Yuanyuan was unaware of how frightened Gao Ling had been. She and her demon army had arrived in C City after flying for a week straight from the city of the Hundred Demon King.

She wasn’t here to sabotage the city’s infrastructure. She’d come for the remnants of the Li Family’s forces. She hadn’t even ordered any demons to disrupt the power grid—but the sheer concentration of demonic energy had plunged C City into collapse.

Countless people were wondering why the blackout had occurred. But none of them looked up to see what was overhead—a spectacular army of demons flying across the sky. It took a full half-hour for the tail of the procession to pass.

Gao Ling stared out the window, stunned. She had seen a Hyakki Yagyō before—but what she saw now was far beyond that. This wasn’t a parade. This was an invasion.

“We’re being blocked up ahead. Someone wants to see you,” a demon informed Yuan Yuanyuan. She looked and saw a familiar figure—the city lord of C City.

An old man she had met once, long ago.

Beside him stood Lin Gutou and a woman in white.

“Please stop, Lord Yuan!” Lin Gutou called out.

Every demon nearby turned to glare at him. And yet Lin Gutou stood firm—either truly unfazed, or hiding it well. Yuan Yuanyuan gave him a glance and signaled for the demons to halt. She walked up alone.

“I never thought you’d be this imposing the next time we met,” the city lord said. “Where are you headed?”

“To the Li Family,” Yuan Yuanyuan replied. “Don’t worry. I won’t do anything in C City.”

The city lord hesitated, as if he wanted to say more. But before he could, Yuan Yuanyuan walked away.

“…This isn’t what I imagined,” Lin Gutou said behind her.

“What did you imagine?”

“Can’t say.”

……

Fa Ning listened to the arguing around him and felt his head about to explode. He wanted to slam the table and yell at everyone to shut up. He wasn’t normally short-tempered, but lately, peace of mind had become elusive.

“I never expected the demons to pull something like this,” a woman said. “We’ve definitely been too careless… Yesterday we compared the current population of demons to humans and realized—if they really put effort into this area… we might not be able to control it.”

“How bad could it get?” a man asked.

“…It could end in mutual destruction,” she said cautiously. “At least at the beginning, humans would suffer major casualties.”

Fa Ning looked up and asked, “There’s really no other way?”

“…There might not be.”

“The longer this drags on, the more prepared the demons will be. And that’s worse for us.”

“Alright. Then prepare a team for me,” Fa Ning said, finally making up his mind.

The others’ eyes lit up. They rushed out in a flurry, leaving him alone in the room.

Fa Ning sat in silence for a long time.

Finally, he stood up and walked out, slowly pulling the door shut behind him.