My Demon Friends

"BANG!"

A heavy object hit the ground.

Huai Xu quietly appeared behind Zhou Li, throwing the unconscious, slender demon on the ground. "Contemplating life, are you?"

Zhou Li turned his head.

Huai Xu was still holding a bag of baozi and a cup of soy milk. He raised them toward Zhou Li. "Shredded potato and pickled long bean filling, ever tried them? We'll have to pay for that shattered window, by the way."

"No."

"What's wrong? Feeling down because you got hit? You seemed pretty calm when Lin Zhong caught you!" Huai Xu's expression was relaxed as he jokingly sidled up to Zhou Li. To him, such events had been the norm two thousand years ago.

"Would you be in a good mood if you were hit?"

"I wasn't hit!"

"Neither was I."

"That settles it!" Huai Xu handed a baozi to him. "No matter what, you still have to eat."

"Eating is more important than anything else for you," Zhou Li said as he took the baozi.

"You bet! I've survived famines!" Huai Xu sat down next to Zhou Li, also biting into his baozi. "What are you thinking about?"

"I'm wondering what kind of person Master Ming is."

"I knew it!"

Huai Xu shifted, finding a comfortable spot, and without waiting for Zhou Li to ask, he started explaining, "You know, demons had only been enjoying life in this world for a few hundred years when the Will of the World began to retaliate. Speaking of which, have you ever watched 'Platelets'?"

"No." Zhou Li felt that this old monster's way of talking was rather erratic, but he could grasp his meaning.

"So outdated!" Huai Xu commented.

Zhou Li was speechless.

"Anyway, although there were many Heavenly Masters in the second century, they were generally weak and lacked leadership, like scattered sand. Consequently, in the third century, building on the foundations of the second, many strong Heavenly Masters appeared, capable of contending with Great Demons." Huai Xu paused. "In addition, one person appeared: Master Ming."

"Is he special?" Zhou Li noticed Huai Xu used the words 'in addition' instead of something like 'and.'

"Yes!"

Huai Xu nodded, continuing to eat his baozi. "Master Ming was different from all the other Heavenly Masters. He was very strong, uniquely so. When he reached the peak of his human capabilities, he might have been unbeatable even by four Demon Kings combined. Doesn't that seem like he was cheating?"

"Sort of."

"Right, I hate those who cheat the most," Huai Xu said. "A Heavenly Master's spiritual power is predetermined, but his was limitless."

"Then I…"

"I guess you might be like Master Ming," Huai Xu pondered. "Because the changes in each century are progressive. This century should retain the improvements from the last one."

Zhou Li kept quiet.

Huai Xu looked out the window, his eyes reflecting memories. "Master Ming was also like you, a person who dislikes conflict. He liked gardening and reading. Sometimes, he went into town to listen to music or chat with friends. He had many demon friends because he said demons have pure personalities and, having lived for many years, were very interesting. Eventually, he even became a demon himself, though I still can't recall much about him…"

"He was also close to demons," Zhou Li guided the conversation.

"Yes. If it weren't for that, the losses for demons last century would have been very severe," Huai Xu said. "His existence was also a balancing pillar between demons and humans."

"Then he…" Zhou Li hesitated. "Was he as weak as I am now, when he was at my stage?"

"What are you thinking!"

Huai Xu couldn't help but laugh and clapped Zhou Li on the shoulder. "He was much weaker than you, okay! At least you have the teachings of the Great Devil King, while he couldn't even emit a Qigong Wave at your age!"

Huai Xu paused for a moment. "Besides, how are you weak? The demon on the ground is quite formidable, and yet you beat him until he was covered in lumps with a bunch of your trash moves. Do you still think you can beat Lin Zhong?"

"PFFT!"

Before Zhou Li could answer, Huai Xu covered his mouth and snickered. "KUKUKU! I can't even beat Lin Zhong, KUKUKU…"

Black lines appeared on Zhou Li's forehead.

Huai Xu quickly adjusted his expression and continued, speaking to Zhou Li, "When Lin Zhong was young, the current Demon King hadn't even emerged. And remember, he's the top boss among demons… Historically, perhaps only Master Ming could defeat him."

"AHEM!"

"Oh, right! I forgot. If you really are like Master Ming, even if you only practice the Qigong Wave—yes, just that—it wouldn't take long before you could beat Lin Zhong."

"I see."

Zhou Li continued looking out the window.

He thought about learning other spells as well, like Miss Zheng's Golden Thread. He calculated—

Miss Zheng spent her days in the mountains with little to do. She had excellent comprehension, practiced Golden Thread for six hours a day, and had achieved her current level in seven or eight years. Compared to the Spring Mountain Taoist, she was surely a prodigy. If his own comprehension matched hers, and he spent two hours a day—excluding classes, watching TV, playing with Li Daimao, sneakily watching Li Daimao's TikToks, teasing Tuanzi, and so on—

He would only need a little over twenty years to reach Miss Zheng's level!

That would be something…

If he gave up classes, all social interactions, and playing with Brother Nan and Tuanzi… Well, maybe not!

Right, before that, he still needed to finish that box of books because mastering spells was challenging and couldn't be achieved overnight. It wasn't like saying, 'I want to learn this today, add a skill point, and then I'll know it after a while.' The knowledge needed to be built up gradually, step by step. He at least needed to master the basic knowledge and simple applications of spiritual power described in those books before he could start on advanced spells.

Zhou Li was currently working on this.

Progress was slow.

Luckily, Zhou Li didn't need to reach Miss Zheng's level to gain even stronger power.

Maybe it would take him five years to learn Golden Thread, but the final destructive power might not match the strength gained from spending five years painstakingly practicing 'Nuclear Peace Tactics.' However, the versatility of spells was an advantage not to be overlooked.

Having finished his baozi, Zhou Li said to Huai Xu, "I think this beaded chain on my back might belong to someone else."

"How so?"

"It couldn't possibly be a welcome gift from Lin Zhong, could it?"

"OH!"

"He said he wanted to give it a try," Zhou Li said, then thought, This strand of beads will definitely make me uncomfortable, but I don't know in what way.

"Meet force with force."

As he was speaking, Huai Xu suddenly turned his head toward the doorway.

A tall demon strode through the door and appeared in their room, his gaze sweeping over the one human and two demons.

The demon's face seemed to always bear a somewhat oily smile. He performed a strange bow. "I'm Si Xi from the Local Government. Might you be the Heavenly Master who reported a case last night?"

"That's right."

Zhou Li promptly stood up.

Then, Zhou Li began to recount to the demon the eerie incidents encountered at the Zhang Family and the two attacks that occurred during the night.

The demon's face stiffened.

When Zhou Li mentioned Lin Zhong, the demon began to break out in a cold sweat.

Once Zhou Li finished, Si Xi bowed again. "We will look into the matter of the Zhang Family as soon as possible and handle the humans and the demons behind them quickly. As for the attacks you encountered, I can only report it level by level."

Zhou Li nodded, having anticipated this.

The demon left promptly, taking the assassin that lay on the ground with him.

The people from the Hong Ran Faction hadn't arrived yet. Zhou Li couldn't remove the Beaded Chain from his back and didn't know when it would 'activate.' Panicking was useless, so he continued to chat idly with Huai Xu.

Regarding dealing with the demon behind Mr. Zhang's competitor, Huai Xu wasn't optimistic. He said, "From my experience, when the Local Government traces it to that demon, they'll find that although the demon gets along well with humans and even teaches them to do good daily, lending its power to humans isn't illegal in itself. Especially now, with peace between humans and demons, even human Heavenly Masters sometimes work with little demons. This particular incident was purely the human's own idea. That demon will also be punished, but not too severely. The Local Government is as aware as I am of what's really going on, but…"

Huai Xu spread his hands.

Zhou Li nodded in understanding. Standard procedure.

A while later, Zhou Li went to the restroom to wash his face, which visibly restored his original appearance due to the water.

「It was deep winter in Yi Province by this time.」

East Station.

The slender girl, dressed in a brand-new, plain-colored down jacket, stepped into the bustling station. She looked around as many blurred figures moved past her. The roar of the crowd, mixed with the sweet voice of the station announcements, left her bewildered.

Ticket collection, entering the station, finding the ticket check and the platform…

Carriage number, seat number…

Zheng Zhilan recalled the process Zhou Li had told her and looked down at the train ticket in her hands.

It was all a blur.

Qinghe softly read the numbers on the ticket beside her, lessening her confusion a little.

Just a little.

The last time, they had departed from North Yan City Station, but they had returned in their employer's car. North Yan City Station was a quiet little station, nothing like this place, which teemed with people and blurry lights and shadows.

A moment later—

The young girl stood before a security guard and bowed. "Excuse me, where should I go to catch my train?"

"Let me see… Oh, what's wrong with your eyes?"

"I can't see clearly."

"I'll take you there. Just follow me."

"Thank you."

"You're going to Chunming… Why are you alone? Doesn't your family worry about you traveling by yourself?" the security guard asked with concern.

"I don't have any family anymore," Zheng Zhilan said softly.

"No more?"

"Yeah."

"So what are you going to Chunming for?"

"To find a friend."

"What kind of friend would have you travel so far?" The security guard looked at the thin girl, whose eyes seemed clouded, and couldn't help but feel a pang of pity. "I've heard quite a few stories about young girls being tricked online. It's not an online friend, is it?"

"No," Zheng Zhilan replied, shaking her head with a smile.

"Even if not, you should still be cautious. There are many scammers these days," the security guard said, his expression serious. "Will your friend be meeting you in Chunming?"

"That…" Zheng Zhilan hesitated.

The security guard frowned. "That's just irresponsible…"

Zheng Zhilan's face turned slightly red, but she remained silent.

She followed the security guard. The kind-hearted man even helped her cut in line and explained her situation to the ticket inspector, making the young girl so embarrassed she bowed repeatedly in thanks.

Finally, she arrived on the platform.

This time, she didn't need anyone else's help. She listened quietly to the announcements and, with Qinghe's assistance, found the colored ground marker for her carriage.

Until the train started moving.

Outside, lights and shadows streamed by.