My Demon Friends-Chapter 454 - 450: Carrying

"Look—"

Tuanzi stretched out a furry little paw, pointing in the direction to Zhou Li’s left. Her voice was clear and excited as she said, "Over there is the place where Lord Dumpling used to live with Your Highness!"

Zhou Li turned his head to look.

Amongst the lush vegetation, a corner of a building peeked out, surrounded by verdant flowers and plants, and a moss-covered path wound toward that area. The building was not luxurious, and its size was not particularly large. It was especially unimpressive when compared to the palaces of human kingdoms or even some of the ancient castles of small European countries. This demonstrated the differences in thinking between demons and humans.

However, Zhou Li felt that he might really like this place.

"It’s quite beautiful."

"Super beautiful!" Tuanzi replied seriously. "If Tuanzi and Your Highness caught a lot of Bright Bugs, we’d release them in the yard. They’d fly around at night... uh, it’d be like stars that can move!"

"Even more beautiful," Zhou Li commented.

"Yes, it is!" Lord Dumpling agreed with his aesthetics and imagination and was pleased by this.

But at this point, Hong Ran, who had been silently walking by the side, spoke up, "Lord Dumpling isn’t young anymore. You can’t play with Bright Bugs every day; it’s time to start learning something... at least a little bit, play a little less. Lord Dumpling is very smart and shouldn’t spend your life in ignorance like those dumb demons."

"Here we go again..."

Tuanzi turned towards Zhou Li, burying her face in his chest, and a muffled voice emerged, "This meanie is starting again... she’s so annoying!"

Hong Ran couldn’t help but lower her head and smile.

Zhou Li also smiled.

After his smile had slowly faded, Hong Ran explained, "Your Highness never teaches her, and everyone else spoils her. Consequently, she’s still as ignorant as a silly cat and totally useless. That’s why I occasionally scold her a bit, and I’m also stricter with her."

"You’re the silly cat!" Tuanzi continued to keep her head buried in Zhou Li’s chest, not looking up, but that didn’t stop her from retorting, "You’re only a fif...c...ch...choo!"

"Do you even know what ’totally useless’ means?" Hong Ran asked her.

"A fif is...a place..." Tuanzi repeated dumbly.

"You see, this is what ’totally useless’ means." Hong Ran pursed her lips lightly.

"You, you’re the dumb one!"

"You even know that you’re dumb."

"You are, you are! You’re the worst!"

"..."

Hong Ran pressed her lips together, staying silent, not wanting to argue with her.

Zhou Li nodded, showing he understood.

Walking down the flower-and-plant-covered hillside, sometimes crossing over branches or passing under arches formed by tree roots, they started meeting more demons.

Tuanzi poked her head out from Zhou Li’s chest because various demons began to greet her.

"Isn’t that Lord Dumpling?"

"Yes, it is! Hello~"

"Lord Dumpling has returned!"

"Back again~~"

"Greetings to Lord Dumpling!"

"Lord Dumpling greets you too~~"

"Good day, Lord Dumpling!"

"Hello~"

These individuals were likely Tuanzi’s former neighbors or possibly high-ranking Great Demons of the Demon Kingdom’s government. After all, the Demon King and others lived here. For convenience, many leaders would naturally relocate here to save time and resources.

In response to them, Tuanzi was very polite, answering every greeting and appearing charming and adorable.

However, with each reply, she would stealthily glance at Hong Ran and then quickly draw her gaze away. But it was clear that she wasn’t just pretending to be polite because Hong Ran was present. She was always polite, even responding to greetings from ordinary people who couldn’t understand her. So after pondering for a moment, Zhou Li thought she might be seeking Hong Ran’s approval.

Thus Zhou Li thought for a moment and began to praise, "Lord Dumpling really is a polite child."

He quietly nudged Hong Ran’s shoulder. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

Hong Ran immediately caught on. A smile appeared on her face, and she nodded in agreement, "Indeed, she is."

Tuanzi didn’t react outwardly, even snorting softly.

But the little paw holding onto Zhou Li began to tighten quietly, its paw pads contracting...

Upon reaching the bottom of the hill and crossing the tree root bridge, they entered the forest city. This area, which corresponded to Chunming’s West Mountain District, was filled with towering trees that even obscured the sky from view.

As if under a canopy that blocked out the sun.

The number of demons around them started to increase.

They looked at Zhou Li with curiosity, at Huai Xu with fear, and when they looked at Hong Ran, it was with deep respect.

The road was quite spacious, allowing even the larger demons to move about freely.

The path was still covered in moss.

On both sides were lush plants.

There were plants resembling streetlights.

Zhou Li couldn’t help but go over and touch one.

It was cool to the touch. The sensation was similar to tree bark in the human world, confirming that they indeed grew from the ground.

But the branches were also adorned with these street lamps.

"Slow down..."

They began to walk up along a tree branch, and Hong Ran turned her head to softly remind him.

This branch was about four or five meters wide, with the upper side being fairly flat, unlike the trees in the human world. The branch extended towards the unseen distance. It was supported either by other branches or by root-like structures that anchored it to the ground. In the human world, such a branch could be developed into a two-way roadway. Ahead of them was a huge demon that resembled a small monster. Each step it took reverberated loudly, yet the branch only trembled slightly without any sign of breaking.

It was just that there were no guardrails on the sides, making walking near the edge a bit frightful.

The path meandered upwards.

Zhou Li couldn’t help but be curious, looking around. Without realizing it, he glanced down and saw that they had climbed quite high, to the point where they could see clouds, seemingly parallel to their position, through the gaps in the branches.

"Where are we going?"

"Taking you to the highest place." Hong Ran stopped, picked a bright red fruit from a nearby small tree, wiped it, and handed it to Zhou Li. "It’s edible."

"Oh."

Zhou Li took the fruit, casually passed it to Huai Xu, then turned back to find that Hong Ran was offering him another one.

"CRUNCH!"

The fruit was juicy, but not very sweet.

It was passable.

Zhou Li munched on the fruit, curiously examining this tree.

The plants of this world seemed to grow without the need for soil, water, sunlight, or any other nutrients, and it was questionable whether they should still be called ’plants.’ In any case, they could grow in any location except inside the houses built by demons. Everywhere else, traces of these plants could be seen, even growing on top of other larger plants. This comprised this world that seemed to teem with life everywhere.

Who would have imagined that this world was on the brink of destruction?

"Where should I toss the core?"

"Anywhere, just drop it on the ground. It will disappear quickly. Just don’t throw it downwards; it might hit someone."

"Oh." Zhou Li dropped the fruit core. "Do you normally eat these fruits?"

"No."

"Then what do you eat?"

"We seldom eat things that grow in the Old Land World." Hong Ran smiled slightly, noting Zhou Li’s perplexed pause. Then she calmly explained, "But it’s not because they taste bad or that we don’t like them. It’s because resources in the Old Land World are scarce. So, we usually go to your world to find food and bring the energy back here."

"I see." Zhou Li nodded, then shook his head. "But I still don’t get it."

"..."

Hong Ran winked at him with a hint of playfulness. "You can save your questions for Master Ming. You will meet Master Ming this evening, and since he knows a lot and enjoys imparting knowledge, you wouldn’t even know what to say to him otherwise."

Zhou Li wore a strange expression—

He had been fretting on the way here about what to say and how to act upon meeting Master Ming, his mind tired from the worrying. He felt an awkward sense of being seen through in a personal shortcoming.

"Are you close with Master Ming?" Zhou Li deftly changed the subject.

"Just so-so," Hong Ran said. "I’m closer with you."

"Does he really like being a teacher?"

"His greatest dream is to be a schoolteacher."

"I see..."

Zhou Li nodded thoughtfully.

The foremost Heavenly Master had lived for so many years, yet he was so earnestly fixated on becoming a schoolteacher. He had even once opened a school. What kind of odd predilection was this?

"Hm?"

Zhou Li suddenly felt something unusual.

He turned his head to the left and immediately met Huai Xu’s piercing gaze. The look carried no aggression but was full of scrutiny. Knowing Huai Xu, it was as though the Old monster’s gaze had the ability to penetrate and see through all of his thoughts clearly.

And indeed, the Old monster spoke up—

"That’s better than being an arsonist."

A phrase Zhou Li didn’t want to hear.

The light ahead became brighter, even dazzling to the eye. Zhou Li stood on his tiptoes to look, and his eyes widened suddenly.

They had reached the treetops.

Below was an endless forest, beneath their feet and above the clouds, where a myriad of treetops rose and fell amid the mist, uneven and scattered. Demons, some with wings and some without, shuttled through the sky. Some were merely passing by in haste. Others were playing, darting up from the forest to the sky, drawing arcs before diving back down.

To the left, white streams cascaded down the mountains, their flowing sounds resonant. But in this fantastical tapestry, it only highlighted the serene emptiness.

"Is it beautiful?" Hong Ran’s voice came through.

"It is beautiful."

"It’s not the highest yet." Hong Ran pointed to the top of the tree, where there was a flat area.

"There’s no path anymore."

Zhou Li looked around.

But just as he had spoken, he felt someone grab his arm, and a voice near his ear said, "Sister will take you flying."