My Demon Friends

Chapter 145 No, Just No, Absolutely Not



Zhou Li quickly opened the window.

Hong Ran smiled faintly, stepped back slightly, then leaned forward and flew in through the window, landing steadily.

"You're back so early!" Zhou Li exclaimed.

"It's only because I was worried about you."

"I'm fine. You shouldn't have rushed back; you had important things to do." Zhou Li was worried he might have caused Hong Ran trouble.

"It's all just annoying stuff." Hong Ran twirled the short staff in her hand as she walked into the living room, glancing around. "You've made this little house quite cozy, huh."

"I think so too."

"I heard Lin Zhong caused you a lot of trouble. Were you injured?"

"Shh~~"

Zhou Li made a hushing gesture before continuing, "No injuries, and it's all resolved now. But I made you worry."

"Your little girlfriend?" Hong Ran turned to look towards his bedroom.

"No."

"Oh~~"

Hong Ran nodded meaningfully. With a grin, she snapped her fingers and then sat down where Zhou Li had just been sleeping. "Now we don't have to worry about waking up your little girlfriend."

"...Want some breakfast?"

"No thanks, I just stopped by to check on you. I'm glad to see you're okay." Hong Ran leaned back, settling onto the sofa.

"Were you scared?" she asked, eyeing Zhou Li.

"It was alright."

"I didn't expect you to escape the predicament on your own. That Demon was very strong. However, he has always been gentle and never harms anyone, so we let him wander the mortal realm. I just didn't expect Lin Zhong to pull such a stunt..."

"I had help from others."

"I heard from Zhisha," Hong Ran smiled faintly. "The Evil God is quite famous too."

"Is that so?"

"He used to have a notorious reputation. We even sent out an entire hunting team that severely injured him, but we still couldn't kill him. Eventually, he somewhat reluctantly sided with humans, and his temperament mellowed, so we stopped bothering him."

"So that's how it was."

Zhou Li looked enlightened.

The hunting team was composed of Blood Demons, and Zhisha was their leader.

Hong Ran chatted with Zhou Li for a while. She looked tired but still got up. "I'm leaving now," she said. "I'll go avenge you!"

Zhou Li hurriedly said, "Please don't go to any trouble over this."

Hong Ran just smiled.

Soon, she flew out the window again.

The sky was still dark, and a hazy mist hung in the air outside. Zhou Li waited a moment before closing the window and lying back down.

It seemed he had only just closed his eyes when he felt a gentle breeze on his face, as if someone's breath, carrying a light, fresh fragrance, was caressing his skin.

When he opened his eyes, he saw Zheng Zhilan's face. She was very close to him, so close he could count her delicately fluttering eyelashes.

"Zhou Li, are you awake?"

"Uh, why are you up so early?" Zhou Li was surprised, instinctively leaning back to create some distance.

"I always get up this early."

"Right."

"Did you sleep well last night? Did you dream of me?"

"Eh?"

Zhou Li was momentarily stunned.

A glance out of the corner of his eye revealed light outside the window, and his expression darkened slightly.

'Zheng Zhilan' immediately covered her mouth, chuckling softly.

Zhou Li: …

What kind of joker was this old Demon?

Huai Xu was still laughing like a tractor.

Clearly, the real Zheng Zhilan had also woken up early. She had stayed in her room until she heard the commotion in the living room and came out. Seeing Zhou Li still lying on the sofa, she blinked. But before she could say anything, she saw Huai Xu.

At first glance, she just thought Huai Xu had changed his appearance again.

But something seemed odd.

She took another look.

Even stranger.

Looking closely, she finally realized.

It looked like... herself.

Worried she might mind, Zhou Li quickly explained, "That's just how he is. Whenever he sees someone attractive, he likes to try transforming into them. I've told him off many times, but he never changes. He even came to tease me early this morning."

"It's okay."

Her understanding made Zhou Li blush even more.

Just then, Qinghe also came out.

Seeing the real Zheng Zhilan beside him and the 'Zheng Zhilan' sitting next to Zhou Li, he froze, his face a mask of utter confusion.

At that very moment, Huai Xu stood up, a nonchalant expression on 'her' face. "It's fine, transform if you want. Qinghe, come here."

Qinghe: …

Speechless, Zhou Li pulled Huai Xu back down.

Qinghe: ??

Five minutes later, Huai Xu seemed to realize his mistake—or perhaps he was just being thick-skinned. He muttered softly, "I just thought it'd be fun to transform, to cheer you all up a bit. But now I have to wait until dusk to change back."

Zhou Li ignored him, focusing instead on folding the blanket.

Zheng Zhilan, however, kept assuring them it was no problem.

To convince everyone she truly didn't mind, she even forced a smile, something she rarely did.

Then, Zhou Li started cooking for them: a pot of frozen dumplings, accompanied by fried eggs and his newly developed caramel milk tea.

Zhou Li's cooking skills, of course, couldn't compare to Zheng Zhilan's. In fact, compared to hers, his could hardly be called 'cooking skills' at all. Nevertheless, this breakfast made Zheng Zhilan very happy, and she even asked Zhou Li for the milk tea recipe.

After they finished eating, Zhou Li washed the dishes again.

Zheng Zhilan's eyesight wasn't good, and she wasn't familiar with Zhou Li's kitchen, so Zhou Li declined her kind offer to help.

Huai Xu, on the other hand, voluntarily came over to help him.

As they were washing, suddenly, DING-DONG.

Huai Xu blinked. With lowered eyelids, 'she' whispered, "You've got a message."

Zhou Li: ...

Seeing Zhou Li's expression, Huai Xu finally reverted to his usual self and grinned. "Quick, check the message! It might be from Li Daimao! I can even meet Li Daimao like this and tell her it's my new transformation..."

He paused, then immediately lowered his voice. "Then, when Li Daimao sees Miss Zheng later, she'll think it's me."

Zhou Li: ...

He checked his phone. Sure enough, it was a message from Brother Nan.

Li Daimao: Are you coming to class today?

Zhou Li: I have something going on today, so I won't make it.

Li Daimao: Huai Xu mentioned you guys ran into some trouble yesterday. Is it resolved now?

Zhou Li: It's resolved.

Li Daimao: What trouble?

Zhou Li: He didn't tell you?

Li Daimao: He told me to ask you myself, all secretive. And you know how curious I am; I couldn't sleep at all last night! I let my imagination run wild for ages before finally falling asleep. Hehe, guess what?

Zhou Li: What?

Li Daimao: I dreamt you went Demon hunting, encountered a female Demon, and got eaten by her!

Zhou Li: ...

The sound of a tractor rumbled beside him again.

Huai Xu, still in Zheng Zhilan's form, peeked at the phone while washing dishes. Because this form wasn't as tall as Brother Nan, 'she' sometimes had to tiptoe and lean 'her' head very close to Zhou Li's chest to easily read the chat.

Li Daimao: So what trouble did you really encounter?

Li Daimao: Tell Brother Nan; Brother Nan will help you figure something out!

Zhou Li: I ran into a very fierce Great Demon.

Li Daimao: How fierce? Can I beat it?

Zhou Li: Even Huai Xu couldn't beat it.

Li Daimao: ...

Li Daimao: I'll curse him for you.

Zhou Li: Beat?

Li Daimao: ...

Li Daimao: Curse!!!

The tractor-like rumbling beside him started up again, then, unable to be contained, it gradually morphed into a series of honks.

"Brother Nan is going to be so mad at you, HONK HONK HONK..."

"Shut up."

"Okay!"

Zhou Li frowned. Brother Nan was quite carefree and often made typos, so he couldn't really be blamed for being momentarily confused.

Zhou Li: Thanks, Brother Nan.

Li Daimao: (▼ヘ▼#)

Zhou Li didn't mention Lin Zhong's name to Brother Nan. Although Brother Nan was a privileged Successor of Destiny, Lin Zhong was, after all, a major figure. It would be one thing if Lin Zhong had directly provoked Brother Nan, but that wasn't the case. So, even if Brother Nan tried to curse him, it probably wouldn't be effective.

At that point, Brother Nan sent another message—

Li Daimao: Lunch together?

Zhou Li: No.

Li Daimao: Why?

Huai Xu leaned close to Zhou Li, his voice extremely low, "I suggest you tell the truth."

Zhou Li glared at him.

This Old Monster is so annoying!

He had planned to tell the truth anyway. Now that this Old Monster had said it first, wouldn't telling the truth make it seem like he was taking his advice?

Zhou Li: A friend of mine has come.

Zhou Li: The Great Demon I encountered yesterday was too much for me to handle. A friend of mine came all the way from Yi Province specially to help me. If it weren't for her, I would have been in much more trouble. I need to spend a few days showing her around Chunming.

Li Daimao: [Nods]

Li Daimao: Then you should indeed spend a few days with her.

Li Daimao: A girl, huh?

Zhou Li: Yes.

Li Daimao: Wow, there's actually such an impressive girl! Quick, introduce me! I really want to meet her!

Zhou Li: No.

Huai Xu, still on dish duty since Zhou Li was texting, kept stealing glances. He didn't seem to mind these small chores, though; in fact, a smile never left 'Zheng Zhilan's' face.

Zhou Li had never seen 'Zheng Zhilan' smile so much.

But, she sure looked beautiful when she smiled.


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