My Demon Friends

"Install it here?"

"Yes."

"Okay, I'll mark the spot and start drilling. It won't take long," the installation technician said, holding his electric drill. "Could you help me hold the ladder? Why didn't you get one of those suction cup types that you can stick directly on the glass? This is so much more trouble!"

"She doesn't like the suction cup ones."

"It likes swinging on a swing?"

"Yes."

"You young folks really go through a lot of trouble for a cat, huh..."

"It's fine."

The sound of the electric drill buzzed into action.

Dust drifted down, causing Zhou Li to squint.

He was installing a tiny hammock for a certain good-for-nothing cat.

This was a bona fide hammock, the kind you could swing on. It wasn't like the decorative fake hammock fixed to the glass with a suction cup that the technician had mentioned. This one also boasted other 'advantages,' such as being expensive, difficult to install, and hard to maintain.

As expected, it was installed in no time at all.

The technician was kind, saying he'd make it extra secure to avoid the need for future calls to fix it if it fell.

Zhou Li expressed his thanks.

After the technician left, Zhou Li stood alone on the balcony, gently pushing the tiny hammock with his hand and watching it sway. In his mind, he conjured up the image of Tuanzi lying on the hammock, sunbathing and napping, gently rocked by the breeze.

Suddenly, he seemed to hear a faint sound at the door, like something scratching rapidly at it.

Zhou Li walked over, puzzled.

Upon opening the door, the outside was empty. He looked down to see Tuanzi maintaining an upright posture, its little paws still rapidly scratching at the air out of inertia. Spotting him, Tuanzi's movements gradually slowed until they stopped.

Tuanzi remained standing, its little paws hanging naturally as it looked up at Zhou Li with wide eyes, "Why did it take you so long to open the door for Lord Dumpling?"

"The sound was too soft. Anyone else wouldn't have heard it."

"Lord Dumpling already tried her best."

"Come on in... You're back just in time. I just had the technician install your hammock. Come and give it a try!" Zhou Li picked up the broom and dustpan and began to sweep up the dust on the floor.

"Lord Dumpling is a bit tired."

Tuanzi went straight into a cardboard box, lay down, and curled up into a ball, "Lord Dumpling needs to rest for a bit."

Zhou Li was baffled. Won't you at least take a look?

Zhou Li heaved a sigh. He still cleaned up the dust, then sat down on the sofa, feeling weary. "Did you tire yourself out by putting on an act with someone else?"

"How could that be?"

"Then what is it?"

"Lord Dumpling is tired from walking back home." Tuanzi pressed her head against the cardboard box, her tail tip thumping the ground. "You humans won't let Lord Dumpling ride the bus, which is just despicable!"

"How do you find your scam victims?"

"I just pick younger female humans, the ones who are easier on the eyes and look particularly wealthy... It's best if they're a bit foolish too, so Lord Dumpling can be a bit more at ease," Tuanzi said. "But since Lord Dumpling is good-looking and super amazing, humans usually can't tear themselves away once Lord Dumpling deigns to interact with them, so even if they're not that dumb, it doesn't matter..."

"You even feel a sense of achievement from scamming people."

"That's not scamming!"

"Obviously, it is!"

"Lord Dumpling is going to rest now. Keep it down." Tuanzi paused for a moment. "Pull the curtains shut."

"..."

Zhou Li drew the curtains for her.

There was an organic chemistry self-study session that evening, and Zhou Li felt he had to go.

Considering his last class was ten days ago, if he were to skip again, how would he be any different from a slacker student like Brother Nan?

So, he went to class.

It had to be said, with this new second-hand bike, his commute to and from class had indeed become a lot easier.

It was a large lecture with many people.

Having not appeared for nearly ten days, many classmates seemed somewhat unfamiliar to Zhou Li. As he walked along the aisle toward the back, many students gave him strange looks.

A particularly bold girl asked slyly, "Zhou Li, did you have fun traveling with Brother Nan?"

Zhou Li felt incredibly awkward.

Especially since he didn't know this girl.

Laughter rippled through the surrounding students.

Zhou Li took a seat in the back row, a dimly lit spot where the teacher couldn't see him. It wasn't the very last row, though. The teacher had a habit of calling on students in the last row to answer questions, and last time, getting an answer wrong meant a deduction of points. He was quite fierce.

Not long after, Brother Nan entered the classroom and was met with almost the same treatment, but Brother Nan remained perfectly composed.

She took her seat and comforted Zhou Li, "Those idiots just love to stir things up, don't mind them!"

"Yeah."

"I just quit the student union."

"Did it go smoothly?"

"Pretty smoothly," Brother Nan said. She put down her book, casually flipped it open, and placed it on the desk like a decoration. "At first, that idiotic minister didn't agree—ha! Then the president told me on QQ to write a 3,000-word resignation letter. They just didn't want me to quit, going through all that rigmarole..."

"What did you do?"

"I told him to write a 10,000-word application for *him* to request *me* to write the resignation letter," Brother Nan said, spreading her hands.

"...Awesome!"

Sometimes, Zhou Li truly admired Brother Nan.

Organic chemistry was a major course, and the teacher was pretty strict. Even in a large lecture, everyone usually behaved. But for some reason, during the evening self-study sessions, everyone became especially restless, always buzzing in the dimly lit areas.

Brother Nan, however, said nothing, putting on her headphones to focus on her game. Unfortunately, she was on a losing streak.

At the end of the first period, Brother Nan went to the restroom. When she came back, she said to Zhou Li, "Why isn't Huai Xu playing? She doesn't have to go to school or work; what's she doing at home?"

"She's running errands."

"Oh? Oh, I see."

Brother Nan sighed. The feeling of losing repeatedly was quite frustrating.

Just then, from the corner of her eye, she saw a very tall, dazzling girl appear in the classroom.

This girl was at most just a bit shorter than Brother Nan and immediately attracted the attention of all the students as she walked in. Obviously, it was her first time appearing before the class. Brother Nan couldn't help but feel she resembled some female video game character.

The girl walked straight towards them.

Finally, under Brother Nan's astonished gaze, the girl sat down next to her and nodded.

"Hello, Brother Nan."

"Who are you?"

"Calm down, I'm Huai Xu."

"??"

It took Brother Nan a good while to recover from her stunned expression. Turning rigidly to Zhou Li, she struggled for a moment before finally blurting out, "You've really found a gem here!"

"Why are you here?" Zhou Li ignored Brother Nan.

"I'm here for class!"

"..."

"What's with that look?" Huai Xu paused, then lowered her voice. "I heard something very interesting today. I'll tell you all about it when we get back."

"Okay."

"Want to team up, Huai Xu?" Brother Nan asked.

"No, I'm going to listen to the lecture," Huai Xu said. She pulled Zhou Li's book over, sat up straight, and adopted the pose of a serious student.

Zhou Li turned to Brother Nan. "Feeling ashamed?"

Brother Nan: ...

Nearing the end of class, the teacher took attendance. At Huai Xu's strong request, Zhou Li agreed to let her answer for him, though he didn't quite understand this old monster's strange hobby.

A single "Present!" made Huai Xu very happy.

On the way home, Huai Xu walked ahead, her clothes fluttering in the breeze that also carried her voice.

"Do you remember that demon who made us a lot of money?"

"The one who called himself Immortal Jin Qiao?"

"Right, he's dead."

"Dead?"

"Yes," Huai Xu nodded, her tone as casual as if she were discussing something very ordinary. "It was probably done by some Young Heavenly Master."

"Are you that sure?"

"Almost certainly." Huai Xu understood Zhou Li's meaning. "Demons don't kill each other unless they absolutely have to, and those without reason or who are extremely evil wouldn't appear in Chunming."

"I see."

"Although that demon did bad things, he usually hid himself quite well. Consequently, his death has caught the attention of other demons. Hong Ran has already ordered a thorough investigation into the matter, though it's uncertain if they'll discover everything that demon did," Huai Xu continued. "However, finding that Heavenly Master will probably be quite difficult. You Heavenly Masters are indistinguishable from ordinary people when you aren't actively using your abilities. Only I could find him in such a short time."

"What about his motive?"

"Perhaps he hates evil with a passion, or maybe he watched too many TV dramas and thought slaying demons was his sacred duty," Huai Xu said. "Although that demon probably did quite a few bad things, and may even have been responsible for human deaths, killing him outright seems a bit extreme."

"It could also get political, right? Sounds complicated."

"Exactly."

The human and the demon had already stepped onto the elevator.