My Demon Friends-Chapter 455 - 451: Can Anyone Tell Me If This Is Really Fun?

Chapter 455: Chapter 451: Can Anyone Tell Me If This Is Really Fun?

The light of day gradually faded.

The world began to enter the night.

Zhou Li had already come down from the treetops, stepping on the ground with a crackling sound. The moss under his feet glowed brightly when pressed, and small points of light had begun to appear around him, lending the scene a dream-like, fantastical quality. As Tuanzi wriggled in his arms, she exclaimed, "The Bright Bugs are out!"

Zhou Li held Tuanzi tightly to prevent her from falling as he focused his gaze on these little points of light.

These small points of light were, in fact, tiny bugs the size of peanuts, but they looked cute, like little sprites. Importantly, they indeed had pairs of tiny hands, each holding a tiny glowing lantern. The light emitted by these lanterns varied, predominantly yellow, with differing intensities.

Zhou Li observed carefully.

They emerged from a type of flower by the roadside. During the day, it was only a bud, but at night, it bloomed, its blossoms also emitting a faint bioluminescence that decorated the forest.

The little sprites danced in the air, not in large numbers, but sparsely scattered. As they flew, they entered the ’street lights.’

And thus, the street lights lit up.

Zhou Li watched, stunned for a moment. He quickly turned and looked in all directions.

The distant, dark path, the branches in the air, and even the houses in the trees began to light up one after another, instantly bathing the entire forest in brilliant light.

The night in this city had begun. 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

The little sprites flew out again and began to roam the forest. Sometimes they flew around aimlessly, as if they had nothing better to do. Sometimes they landed on Zhou Li and his companions, or on another demon. Sometimes they darted into someone’s house through the windows, and sometimes they gathered in small groups, as if socializing. Zhou Li also noticed he was quite popular among them; they often circled him, staring as if he were a curiosity.

At the same time, they dared not approach Huai Xu.

This amused Zhou Li.

"Are they also demons?"

"No, they are Bright Bugs!" Tuanzi answered eagerly, repeating, "They are Bright Bugs!"

"Thank you, Lord Dumpling." Zhou Li then looked at Hong Ran.

"It depends on how you understand it," Hong Ran said, pursing her lips as she explained. "Theoretically, as long as they are born from the Old Land World and possess thought, we consider them our kind, although some individuals might be less intelligent than a talking cat. But clearly, they are different from us. We are like the demons from a very, very long time ago, while they are new lifeforms born after the Old Land World came into your universe. You can see the difference."

"Hmph!" Lord Dumpling was clearly displeased.

"I see..." Zhou Li nodded, patting Tuanzi’s head. "But what is the principle behind this?"

"Hmph!" Lord Dumpling continued to be displeased.

"It’s complicated to explain, but it can also be quite simple," Hong Ran spoke very calmly. "Our two worlds have intersected, after all, and they naturally influence each other. This can be understood as the Old Land World changing due to the influence of your world, or regarded as an invasion of our world by your world—a soft invasion. Actually, we don’t really know how this process works. It depends on the perspective you choose. For example, ’invasion’ is a term commonly used by you humans because your species has been witnessing inter-species collisions since its inception. We, however, don’t see it that way, nor do we think it’s a bad thing."

"I see."

"Hmph!"

"What’s wrong, Lord Dumpling?" Zhou Li quickly looked down and asked.

"Zhou Ni~~"

Tuanzi wriggled more insistently in Zhou Li’s arms and changed the subject. "Shall we catch some Bright Bugs to play with?"

Zhou Li smiled.

Tuanzi was genuinely a bit afraid of Hong Ran. Usually, she would have already wriggled out of his embrace by now, or directly said, "Let Lord Dumpling down! Lord Dumpling wants to catch Bright Bugs!" But now she tried to involve him to divert Hong Ran’s preaching.

What a little schemer.

So, Zhou Li stole a glance at Hong Ran and said, "People will say you only know how to catch Bright Bugs."

Tuanzi felt indignant but did not dare to retort outright, muttering softly instead, "Only a fool would say that about Lord Dumpling..."

Lord Dumpling didn’t point fingers or name names!

Hong Ran watched them calmly and didn’t comment. She knew anything she said now would only provoke this rebellious little creature, becoming her reason to persist in catching Bright Bugs. The best tactic was not to say anything; Tuanzi would soon forget about it.

"It’s dark now."

Dressed in ancient attire, Hong Ran looked even more magnificent and radiant under the lamplight. "We’re going to the Mirror Zone," she added.

No sooner had she finished speaking than a gigantic demon flew over. Similar to the Ladybug Monster, it was hollow inside and capable of carrying passengers.

The demon stopped in front of them.

Curious, Zhou Li followed them up.

"It flies much faster," Hong Ran said. She had read Zhou Li’s mind and explained, "It’s just not as comfortable or good-looking as the previous one."

She uttered the words "good-looking" exceedingly softly, covering her mouth with her hand as she spoke into Zhou Li’s ear, perhaps afraid of hurting this demon’s pride.

Zhou Li just said, "Oh."

"Let’s go."

Upon Hong Ran’s command, the demon silently bent its legs, leaped into the night sky, and shot out of the forest in an instant.

Zhou Li suddenly held his breath. Although, like with the Ladybug Monster, he felt no wind and heard no noise inside this demon, the sudden acceleration pressed him firmly into his seat. He could barely breathe or lift his head.

Luckily, he was a Heavenly Master. After a while, he adjusted and felt much better. He took a deep breath, ignored the old monster’s silent stare, and looked down.

The lights on the ground receded quickly. Indeed, this demon was much faster than the Demon King’s personal transport.

It was also flying very high. The straight-line distance from here to the Mirror Zone was supposedly the same as from Chunming to the Wangtian Tree Scenic Area. At this demon’s speed, they would arrive in less than half an hour. And this was far from its maximum speed, as demons’ abilities were greatly enhanced in the Old Land World.

The lights below began to thin out, but they were still there.

This city seemed a bit larger than Chunming; most of the Yu Country demons who lived in the Old Land World were gathered here. But it wasn’t much larger, because the number of demons was far smaller than that of humans. Furthermore, most demons now lived in the human world due to insufficient resources in the Old Land World.

They completely left the city behind.

The lights vanished completely, and darkness engulfed everything.

It wasn’t just the absence of lights; even during the day, these areas lacked illumination and had harsh environments.

This was a fractured region.

These demons naturally had the ability to navigate fractured regions. Under this one’s protection, Zhou Li felt nothing, only hearing Tuanzi’s crisp voice chattering away.

"Those Bright Bugs that don’t shine are just lazy bugs; they don’t shine because they slacked off...

"They become the color of whatever flower they live in. If they move to another flower, they change to another color...

"Your Highness and Lord Dumpling wait until the Bright Bugs light their lamps before catching them. During the day, they put them back so the Bright Bugs can rest and fix their little lanterns. Otherwise, there’d be no one to light the lamps at night!

"They say there once was a Bright Bug..."

Rarely getting to show off her knowledge to Zhou Li, Tuanzi was bursting with excitement. She spoke even more than usual and even began to tell bedtime stories about Bright Bugs.

Zhou Li listened, nodding along. "Lord Dumpling knows so much," he agreed.

That really hit the mark!

Tuanzi was ecstatic, almost about to jump up.

But then an inopportune voice chimed in, "After all, she has already lived for more than two thousand years."

"AAH! MEOW! It’s you again!"

"I HATE YOU!"

"MEOW! MEOW! MEOW!!"

Lord Dumpling was so furious she couldn’t even speak human language anymore!

Zhou Li, however, caught a glimpse of Hong Ran’s lips curling up into a slight smile, as if she were snickering. She quickly suppressed it.

Zhou Li couldn’t help but fall into thought.

Brother Nan often did such annoying things too. He had asked Brother Nan why he did that, to which Brother Nan had replied—

"What could possibly be more delightful than making a child laugh? Making her cry!"

Is that really so? Zhou Li pursed his lips, pondering.

Just then, the demon began to lower its altitude and speed. It moved gently, unlike its usual self, as if sulking with someone. It landed slowly—annoyingly slowly—on the ground, ensuring its passengers felt no discomfort at all.

They had arrived at the Mirror Zone.

Huai Xu started to feel nervous, and so did Zhou Li.