My Demon Friends

"I'll introduce myself again. My surname is Dong; you can just call me Coach," Coach Dong said, holding a piece of paper that seemed to have their four names and contact information on it.

"Barring any surprises, it'll just be the four of you in this car... You two are Zhou Li and Li Nan, right?"

"Yes!"

"Yeah!"

"Who's Zhou Li and who's Li Nan? I can't quite tell these names apart..." Coach Dong scratched his head.

"He's Zhou Li, I'm Li Nan."

"Got it." Coach Dong looked at the remaining two names. "Qu Xiaogao? Is that even a last name?"

"It's pronounced Ou, Coach."

"This Su..." Coach Dong looked at the last short guy and was perplexed again. "Is it pronounced 'jiao' or 'jue'?"

"Jue."

"All right, I should be able to remember that." Coach Dong had a bit of a headache. He put down the paper and pulled out his phone. "Let's set up a discussion group. It's more convenient to talk about things in the group, like when to practice driving or scheduling the test, and things like that."

"Sure."

All four of them joined the discussion group.

Zhou Li tapped the top right corner and saw Su Jue's avatar—a somewhat abstract painting resembling a strange, blurry figure that looked as if a child had smeared it with dark-colored strokes.

He lifted his eyelids and took a quick glance; Su Jue was making a great effort to appear normal and quickly looked away.

Zhou Li noticed his panic.

He could understand. Who would have thought that just by signing up for driving school, they would end up together? And from today onwards, even if they didn't fail any subjects, they would still have to interact intermittently for over a month, right?

Perhaps in his eyes, I'm someone who's been plagued by 'evil spirits' and 'evil demons'?

Coach Dong continued, "I must go over a few things first. Firstly, our driving school has a strict management system. We absolutely don't accept gifts for any reason, under any circumstances."

"Secondly, since we've started practicing driving, of course, we hope to get the driver's license as soon as possible, so don't be inconsistent. If you feel like coming, you come; if not, you don't. That definitely won't work. Let's try to practice every day. Each time, the four of you can practice together for half a day; don't come separately. You can take one or two days off a week. It's up to you to decide whether you take one day or two off, and which day you take off. Just let me know in advance, alright?"

Everyone exchanged glances and remained silent.

That's not what they said when signing up—this way, the coach's efficiency is indeed higher, and a lot of time is saved, but at the expense of their class time.

Coach Dong observed their expressions and added, "It's like this around university towns, no matter which school."

Brother Nan was the one who spoke up, "Alright, Coach, we appreciate your situation. We can skip some unimportant classes. But if there are important core classes, then we can only waste a bit more of your time."

The other three readily agreed.

Coach Dong looked at her.

Brother Nan was very composed.

After a moment, Coach Dong smiled and said, "Do the best you can. Just let me know beforehand. The main thing is that our driving school has regulations. After starting practice, you have to sign up for the next subject after a certain amount of time; I can't change that. If you don't practice enough and fail the test, don't put the blame on me."

Brother Nan just shrugged and didn't argue.

Then, following procedure, Coach Dong opened the hood to show them around, then sat in the car and roughly explained the instruments and buttons—a formality.

Zhou Li guessed no one remembered it.

Next came the gears, accelerator, and clutch.

This part was explained in great detail.

After the lesson, the coach let them take turns practicing gear shifting without the engine running while he sat in the passenger seat and took out his phone.

Brother Nan volunteered to go first.

While playing with his phone, the coach called out the gear positions, occasionally glancing to make sure her movements were correct and smooth.

Brother Nan seemed to have a natural knack for it. While the other three were still confused, her thoughts were already clear. Besides, she didn't seem to know what nerves were and caught on very quickly.

"Have you touched a car before?" Coach Dong asked.

"No," Brother Nan answered.

"Good, it's rare to see a girl with such a talent," Coach Dong nodded. "You don't need to practice anymore. Next."

Zhou Li looked around; neither of the other two moved, so he had to silently get out of the car.

He originally wanted to observe a little longer.

Gear shifting without the engine running was simple, and Zhou Li did reasonably well. There was one moment at the beginning when he forgot to press the clutch, but the coach didn't notice.

Next was Qu Xiaogao.

Su Jue went last. He was the most nervous, his hands trembling as he held the gearshift, making several mistakes. The coach didn't say much, just let him practice for an unusually long time.

「An hour later.」

The coach put away his phone, turned to everyone and said, "For the next few days, before we start on Subject Two, we're going to drive on the road for a few days first. This is to get you familiar with the car and to know what driving feels like. Then we'll practice Subject Two. In these few days, we'll aim to visit some fun places with nice scenery. Also, we need to set the schedule for Subject One. You make your own appointments, study by yourselves, and take the test on your own, okay?"

"No problem."

"So today, our task is to drive around Dian Lake. I'll take you to enjoy the scenery. Of course, you'll be driving," the coach said.

"Cool!" Brother Nan said.

"What?" Su Jue's eyes widened in shock.

"What 'what'? The girl is calmer than you!" the coach commented. "Don't be afraid, do as I taught. Relax, every one of you can complete this task, trust me."

"Okay, okay."

"Li Nan, dare you to drive out?"

"Piece of cake!"

So, Brother Nan got in the car. Following the instructor's guidance—ignited the engine, shifted gears, released the handbrake and clutch—she slowly drove out of the training field.

The instructor directed her towards the side of Dian Lake.

Accelerating, decelerating;

Upshifting, downshifting;

Stopping, starting;

Even including signaling turns.

As long as the instructor gave the command, Brother Nan could do it immediately. At first, the instructor would lend a hand to help steer the wheel, but later he saved his energy, continually praising her talent.

When they reached Dian Lake, it was Zhou Li's turn to drive.

The instructor maintained a nonchalant attitude, simply telling him not to fear and to avoid driving into the lake.

Zhou Li's performance was poorer compared to Brother Nan's; it seemed there really was something called talent at play. Moreover, there were hardly any traffic lights here, and fewer cars on the road than on the stretch Brother Nan drove, making it much simpler.

Half an hour ago, he hadn't expected to be driving a car on the road on his first day.

Also, he was a bit flustered and stiff, his mind foggy, and inexplicably, a person had appeared on the hood of the car... Thankfully, the instructor promptly corrected the direction, otherwise he really might have ended up in Dian Lake.

He drove for twenty minutes.

The instructor continued to steer with one hand, guiding him to brake and pull over. "Next up, Qu Xiaogao, it's your turn. The ones in the back, watch how he drives."

Qu Xiaogao took his position; Zhou Li moved to the back row.

As his turn approached, Su Jue grew increasingly nervous, his upper body stiff as he stared straight ahead without blinking.

"Don't be scared, it's actually quite simple," Zhou Li whispered to comfort him.

"Starting to drive is really simple, but driving well isn't easy," the instructor said from the front. "Take your time to learn. Besides the content you need for the test, I will also teach you about everyday driving experiences."

"Okay."

"Seatbelt," the instructor reminded Qu Xiaogao and then turned back to emphasize to the three that the first thing to do when getting in the car was to buckle up.

"Keep the brake and clutch pressed as you shift gears; don't be afraid. I'm very patient. Making mistakes the first time you drive is normal. Just remember not to repeat them next time..." The instructor spoke calmly.

"Gently release... eh, right, gently."

The car jolted a couple of times and then slowly crept forward. As the instructor told him to give it some gas, the car suddenly lurched forward a distance.

The instructor remained unfazed.

「Twenty minutes later, the car stopped again.」

Su Jue was far more nervous than Qu Xiaogao, making many blunders. The more mistakes he made, the more nervous he got, and the more nervous he became, the easier it was to err. The instructor had him stop after just a few minutes to calm down.

Looking over from the side, Zhou Li saw Su Jue's face had turned beet red. He wanted to offer some comfort but didn't know what to say.

So, he tried seeking help from Brother Nan.

Brother Nan just glanced at him and ignored him.

Su Jue kept taking deep breaths. When he got back on the road, he performed a bit better, and the instructor complimented him a couple of times.

There were many demons by the side of Dian Lake, more so as one got closer to the other shore. They walked along the roadside like normal people, either using unusual methods to travel or sitting and talking to each other.

Last month, there weren't as many monsters here.

"Which school are you all from?" Brother Nan suddenly asked.

"Cai University," Qu Xiaogao answered.

"What a coincidence, we are too." Brother Nan didn't continue to ask which program they were in but instead asked, "Do you have a lot of classes?"

"Not too many, I guess."

"We have more on Mondays and Tuesdays."

"Hey, us too."

"What year are you guys in?"

"Freshmen."

"Same here."

As the back-row chitchat went on, the tense atmosphere in the car seemed to vanish all at once. When Su Jue realized no one was paying attention to him, he relaxed quite a bit and tried hard to ignore the shadows by the roadside.

"Then you definitely haven't cycled around Dian Lake yet, have you?" The instructor joined the conversation.

"This is the first time," Qu Xiaogao said.

"The two of us cycled around it last month," Brother Nan said. "There's a stretch up ahead where the road is pretty bad, shook our butts off."

"You'll drive on that rotten stretch."

"No problem!"

"Why isn't this Zhou Li talking?" The instructor kept his eyes on the road ahead. "Are you learning that intently?"

"He's always like that, very reserved," Brother Nan said casually.

"I'm a bit nervous," Zhou Li said, maintaining a forward-leaning posture as he watched Su Jue drive. He noticed that whenever there were demons by the roadside, Su Jue would sometimes have subtle facial reactions and made a great effort to pretend he didn't see them.