My Demon Friends-Chapter 452 - 448 Old Land World

The ride was incredibly smooth.

Zhou Li placed Tuanzi between his thighs and played a monotonous game of ’scratch me, and I’ll bite you.’

"What has Brother Nan been taking you to play these days?"

"So much stuff!" Tuanzi opened her mouth, momentarily letting go of Zhou Li’s finger. She lay on his lap, looking up at him as she began to list, "Brother Lan took Lord Dumpling to catch fish in the pond, and we also climbed trees to catch little birds. We even hid Mianmian’s socks so she couldn’t find them. Yesterday, Brother Lan took Lord Dumpling to stroll through the pet store too."

"What did you do at the pet store?" Zhou Li smiled. "Did Brother Nan want to sell Lord Dumpling?"

"No, no!" Tuanzi explained. "He wanted to buy a pet for Lord Dumpling."

"Did you buy one?"

"Nope." Tuanzi blinked. "They only sold snakes and bugs, and Lord Dumpling is scared... doesn’t like them."

"A pet store with climbing pets?"

"A climbing pet store..."

"That figures," Zhou Li nodded before asking, "So, did you catch any fish?"

"We caught one, a really small one."

"Did you catch any birds?"

"The bird wasn’t home."

"Lucky, indeed."

Zhou Li imagined Brother Nan taking Tuanzi down to the lake and up the trees. If someone had captured that and posted it online, it would serve as proof of how boring it could get for college students during campus lockdowns.

"By the way, Lord Dumpling is now the king of cats at school. All the stray cats are scared of Lord Dumpling!" Tuanzi said proudly. "In the future, Zhou Li, you don’t have to be scared of stray cats when you go out. Just say you’re a friend of Lord Dumpling, and you’ll be fine!"

"Really?"

"Yes, really..."

"But..." Looking at Tuanzi’s serious little face, Zhou Li paused slightly. "But Lord Dumpling also likes to change appearances now and then. If Lord Dumpling changes her appearance, will the stray cats still recognize their cat king?"

"!"

Tuanzi went into a daze instantly.

Her little brain had crashed.

About an hour later, they arrived at West Mountain. Zhou Li carried Tuanzi out of the car and, together with Huai Xu, followed a demon toward Hong Ran’s Bamboo Garden.

There were tourists on West Mountain.

The path to the Bamboo Garden grew ever quieter. Initially, there were other people, but before they realized it, everyone had disappeared. Even the sounds around them seemed to drift away subtly, leaving only this tranquil path. It was like the hushed trails of a mountain village in the early morning, with the world still unawake.

And it all transitioned very smoothly.

Zhou Li loved to observe; he had paid close attention every visit, trying to pinpoint how this place disconnected from the outside world and at what point it did so, but he never noticed.

By the time he realized it, he was already deep within.

The underlying principles baffled him.

There was only one thing he could confirm: the Bamboo Garden was still part of Earth, part of West Mountain.

WiFi and the network were significant references.

This must also be one of the technologies intensively developed by the Demon Kingdom, possibly related to the Mirror Zone. It seemed similar, perhaps a derivative technology of the Mirror Zone or maybe a peripheral product?

Unfortunately, it wasn’t widespread yet, or it could have provided some convenience for demons living in the human world.

The Bamboo Garden was now in sight.

The demon guide stopped at the entrance, standing respectfully. Zhou Li did not presume familiarity but instead bowed politely before confidently walking inside and heading straight for the backyard.

"Tuanzi is here too?"

As soon as Zhou Li stepped through the gate, he heard Hong Ran’s gentle voice. He then keenly noticed Tuanzi unnaturally squirming in his arms.

The little one became uncomfortable.

Hong Ran was lying on a mahogany chair, but sideways. Her side was to him as she leaned against the chair’s left armrest, her legs draped over the right one. She was dressed in traditional attire, a vibrant red with golden phoenix flowers embroidered on the fabric, extremely striking. Underneath, she wore no trousers, revealing a pair of white, voluptuous, smooth legs, not at all skinny.

Zhou Li sat beside her and chided, "That’s no way to sit."

"No one else can see."

Hong Ran maintained her position, only turning her head to look at Tuanzi in his arms and nodded. "Long time no see, Lord Dumpling. What brings you here?"

"Dumpling, Lord Dumpling, protect Zhou Li~~"

Normally, Lord Dumpling, who claimed to be incredibly powerful and never took Hong Ran seriously, stuttered a bit now.

"Why protect him?" Curiosity appeared on Hong Ran’s face.

"I’m afraid, afraid that you, the bad person, will bully him!"

"I see." Hong Ran nodded, replying, "Lord Dumpling, you’ve taken quite an effort."

"No, it’s not troublesome..."

"That’s good."

Hong Ran chuckled, amused by Tuanzi’s foolishness.

Then, she looked at Huai Xu, who seemed increasingly restless, smiled slightly, retracted her legs from the chair’s armrest, and stood up. "No need to rush; you’ll meet your teacher tonight. Let’s enter the Old Land World first."

"Oh."

"I’m not in a rush."

"..."

Hong Ran didn’t mind. She just turned around, looked down at the shirt Zhou Li was wearing, stretched out her hand, pinched the fabric with two fingers, and rubbed it. "It’s a bit thin, and it’s cold this year."

"You’re still showing your legs."

"I don’t get cold."

"I’m not cold either."

Hong Ran laughed again at his words. She didn’t argue much, just slapped him lightly, saying in an educating tone, "Don’t talk back to your sister!"

"Got it..."

"Good!"

Deep in the Bamboo Garden, in Hong Ran’s usual office, there was an entrance to the Old Land World.

An entrance is needed to enter the Old Land World.

Although theoretically, any demon with slightly stronger spiritual power could enter the Old Land World anytime and anywhere—San Zheng could, for example, while Tuanzi could not. But as everyone knows, most areas of the Old Land World are fragmented and not suitable for long stays. So, the greatest significance of an entrance for demons lies in the fact that it corresponds to a complete area of the Old Land World, and this area is meaningful—either it’s already in a city, or it offers easy access to a city.

For human Heavenly Masters, it holds even greater significance.

Heavenly Masters can only enter the Old Land World through an entrance.

It’s said that before Master Ming became a demon, he was powerful enough to directly enter the Old Land World. But he couldn’t and wouldn’t do so. If he didn’t use an entrance, only he could go through; his clothes couldn’t.

He also couldn’t comprehend the principle behind this.

And Zhou Li felt nothing during the process of entering the Old Land World. It was like a flash before his eyes, and the environment around him had already changed.

The office in the Bamboo Garden corresponded to another room, similar in décor style.

Therefore, Zhou Li was particularly slow at ’noticing the differences between the two worlds’.

First was the temperature.

This was because Hong Ran had just mentioned his clothes were thin. But after arriving here, he realized he didn’t feel cold or hot. It wasn’t like ’being in an environment that is neither cold nor hot’; rather, it felt more like those sensations had been stripped away. 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

Next was the air.

Although people take breathing for granted, if one pays close attention, one can feel oneself breathing air—or, to be precise, one can feel the presence of air. Here, however, he still instinctively performed the action of breathing yet couldn’t feel the air’s presence. More miraculously, neither he nor his related organs felt any discomfort, just as if he were breathing air.

"Has my body also entered here?" Zhou Li began to doubt.

"Of course."

"How strange."

"Quite fascinating, isn’t it?" Hong Ran smiled, looking at him. "You are very acute."

"Very fascinating."

He couldn’t figure out the principle. It was obviously not so easily explained. It was likely far more complicated than he could imagine, possibly even beyond modern humanity’s understanding of the world.

Then Hong Ran slightly moved her fingers—

WHOOSH!

The curtains were drawn open.

This place, like West Mountain, was situated atop a high area. The demon’s world immediately came into Zhou Li’s view.