My Demon Friends-Chapter 462 - 458: The Third Cousin from My Second Maternal Uncle’s Family
"What’s wrong with Lord Dumpling?"
"WUU WUU WUU~~"
"What happened?"
Zhou Li hurried over, gently turned her over, and saw her eyes were already moist, looking pitiful. His heart clenched, and he no longer cared whether she was interrupting his meeting with Brother Xiao Nan.
"Zhou Ni~~"
"I’m here. What’s wrong?" Zhou Li held her in his arms and lowered his voice. "Were you beaten by Brother Nan in your dream again? Don’t worry, I already took care of her in my dream just now."
"MEOW~~"
"What is it then?"
"Lord Dumpling dreamed... dreamed that Your Highness couldn’t wake up," Lord Dumpling said, rubbing her face against Zhou Li’s chest.
"Really?" Zhou Li was stunned. "How did Lord Dumpling know that Your Highness couldn’t wake up? Did Lord Dumpling dream of Your Highness sleeping, and no matter how you called her, she wouldn’t awaken? That’s normal; she won’t awaken until the next era."
"No, that’s not it~~ Lord Dumpling knows~~"
"Then it’s..."
"Lord Dumpling dreamed that Your Highness... WUU WUU WUU... Your Highness told Lord Dumpling... she would never awaken again," Lord Dumpling sobbed.
"Where did Your Highness tell you that?"
"WUU, WUU... HIC~" Lord Dumpling hiccupped from crying, pausing before lifting her head, her eyes blurry with tears. "In a very tall, large house, surrounded by walls, with fires burning, and pictures painted on the walls..."
"I see."
Zhou Li hesitated for a moment before saying to her, "Could it be that Her Highness is just very mischievous? Maybe she was fooling you!"
Upon hearing this, Lord Dumpling paused blankly, forgetting to cry. She immediately propped her paws on Zhou Li, slightly pushing herself away from his chest, making it easier for her to tilt her small head and look up into Zhou Li’s eyes.
"MEOW?"
The little one’s eyes, blue as the sea, were still shimmering with tears. They were bright and seemed to urge him—
Hurry up and keep talking!
Zhou Li pursed his lips. "I’m not familiar with Her Highness and don’t understand her personality. Lord Dumpling must know her well, right?"
"MEOW~"
"I’m guessing, just guessing..." Zhou Li began to guide her. "Maybe Her Highness didn’t realize that both she and Lord Dumpling were in Lord Dumpling’s dream. When Lord Dumpling suddenly appeared asking strange questions, Her Highness might have thought you were playing with her. So, she decided to play a little joke on Lord Dumpling, planning to tell her the next day, ’This was all fake! You’ve been tricked by me!’"
"MEOW..."
"That’s my guess." Zhou Li quietly observed Lord Dumpling. "It’s just that Her Highness didn’t know that once Lord Dumpling woke from the dream, Her Highness herself would be gone."
"But Your Highness knows it’s a dream of the Mirror Zone..."
"I see..." Zhou Li thought for a moment. "How did Her Highness know? Did Lord Dumpling tell her?"
"Your Highness knows about the Mirror Zone. Seeing Lord Dumpling suddenly appear, she figured it out~~" Lord Dumpling paused, nodding heavily, and then again began to sob. "WUU WUU WUU... She told me never to look for her again... WUU WUU WUU... Lord Dumpling can’t play with Your Highness anymore... WUU WUU WUU..."
"I see."
It seemed that Your Highness had entered a slumber in a place where Lord Dumpling couldn’t go.
Zhou Li didn’t have time to think more about these. Lord Dumpling was more important than anything else, so he had to focus on finding a way to comfort her.
"Maybe Your Highness is just that mischievous?"
"MMPH MMPH MMPH~~"
"Maybe Your Highness knows it’s the Mirror Zone, knows it’s fake, so she tricked you?"
"WAAAAH WAAAAH~~"
How come the crying is getting louder... And there are more variations.
Well, indeed it’s not very convincing.
Zhou Li glanced sideways. Nearby, Huai Xu lay on her side, sleeping soundly and facing him, the corners of her mouth slightly curled up, as if dreaming of something pleasant.
"It’s all Huai Xu’s fault!"
"WUU... it’s... yes, it’s all Huai Xu’s fault!"
Feeling extremely indignant, Lord Dumpling took a moment to turn her head towards Huai Xu and began to struggle lightly in Zhou Li’s arms. "Let me go... WHIMPER WHIMPER~~ Lord Dumpling is going to wake this bad person up and not let her be happy... WUU WUU~~"
She might also be dreaming of someone important,
"WUU WUU WUU~~"
Lord Dumpling immediately stopped struggling, staying quietly in Zhou Li’s arms without moving, and deliberately quieted her crying.
But she still wiped her tears on Zhou Li’s T-shirt.
She didn’t cry for long, though. Soon, she grew tired, and her constant crying shifted to intermittent sobs. The sound grew quieter and quieter, and she quickly fell asleep from exhaustion.
Zhou Li finally breathed a sigh of relief.
He then cautiously laid her down beside his pillow and covered half of her body with the blanket before lying down next to her, quietly pondering.
Surrounded by walls.
Fires burning.
Pictures painted on the walls.
Having too vivid an imagination isn’t good; many fitting scenes suddenly appeared in Zhou Li’s mind.
Unfortunately, Lord Dumpling’s description was vague, and he didn’t dare ask for more details, fearing it would make her cry again. So, he could only speculate wildly without any basis.
Thinking about it, his consciousness grew heavier.
...
The familiar aqueduct bridge.
Several children were walking along the narrow edges on either side of the aqueduct. Each edge was about a foot wide, and at its highest point, the aqueduct was more than ten meters above the ground. A single misstep could be fatal. Yet these children were bold, walking steadily on it.
School was dismissed at dusk. The distant sunset was orange-red, like a winter persimmon hanging on the horizon, dyeing the surroundings with its color.
They gradually reached the highest point of the aqueduct.
Some children began to feel scared and jumped from both sides into the middle of the drainage channel. Only one slightly taller little girl continued to walk steadily on the edge. She didn’t even need to spread her arms to balance and barely looked where she was going. She even turned to talk to the person beside her. Her oblivious attitude to the danger made one break out in a cold sweat for her. If their teacher found out, she would probably be reported to the entire school.
The wind carried their voices, distinctly childlike—
"Mado, lend me your homework tomorrow."
"Are you going to copy it?"
"I’m too lazy to copy. Just lend it to me."
"Huh? Then... when will you return it to me?"
"The day after tomorrow."
"But it’s due tomorrow!"
"Yeah! So what?"
"Can’t you... borrow from someone else...?"
"Are you lending it or not?"
"WAAAH..."
Listening to the little boy’s cries, Zhou Li remained silent, seemingly understanding something.
In the blink of an eye, this group of children had reached him. Zhou Li looked at the crying little boy and then at Brother Nan, who was a younger version than before. He felt it was necessary to teach this little girl, who bullied the weak, a lesson.
Thus, the champion of justice arrived—
"What are you doing?"
"Who are you?"
"I’m your second granduncle’s third cousin!" Zhou Li said sternly. "Why are you bullying your friend?"
"I don’t recognize you!"
"Aren’t you Li Nan? The one from Li Family Bay?"
"It really is..."
The little girl, just over a meter tall, tilted her head up high to stare at Zhou Li. Her expression was somewhat blank, and she didn’t look very bright. But she quickly shook off her daze, then narrowed her eyes to size up this ’third cousin’ who clearly harbored ill intentions.
The little girl didn’t know that ’previously,’ in this very same place, she had been picked up and spanked by this human.
"Don’t meddle in my business! I’m not afraid of you!"
So arrogant, that’s good...
"What are you mumbling?"
"Nothing... Anyway, don’t bully your classmates. That’s wrong. When I see something like this, I definitely have to step in."
Zhou Li slowly walked towards Brother Xiao Nan, step by step. He figured that when the little girl couldn’t resist cursing or lashing out at him, he could then righteously ’defend’ himself against his future girlfriend.
The little girl, however, was completely unaware, her pretty face even turning slightly cold.
...
When Zhou Li opened his eyes, it was bright outside again. He had slept so comfortably that he couldn’t help but let out a contented sigh.
Refreshed! Fully satisfied!
As soon as he turned his head, he saw a young man of about fourteen or fifteen sitting on the bed next to him, staring unblinkingly at him.
The young man was exceptionally handsome, with features so fine and beautiful they seemed almost otherworldly.
"What did you dream about that made you so happy?"
"Nothing."
"Tell me!"
"I dreamed about my childhood," Zhou Li replied nonchalantly. "What about you? You seemed quite happy last night too."
"Did I?"
"Yes, you were smiling."
"I had three dreams. The one you saw was probably the second." Huai Xu was evasive, quickly switching the topic back to him. "Liar! No one wanted to play with you when you were a kid. How could you have been happy? Were you playing by yourself?"
"Yeah," Zhou Li replied casually. "Did you dream about your teacher?"
"I dreamed of her in my first dream," Huai Xu said dejectedly.
"Then what?"
"Then the Mirror Zone collapsed."
"Didn’t you act it out a bit?"
"I did, but she still saw through it."
"I see."
Zhou Li then looked down beside him. Tuanzi had obviously been awake for a while. But she was in a bad mood, lying there listlessly and motionless.
"What’s wrong with this silly little cat? I asked her, but she’s not paying any attention to me."
"Shh..."
Zhou Li signaled Huai Xu to be quiet, otherwise Huai Xu might very well be blamed by Tuanzi again.
It wasn’t entirely Huai Xu’s fault. Although the Demon King’s condition wasn’t caused by his curse, what he said last night clearly affected Tuanzi. She might have pretended to be indifferent or not to understand, but she was likely pondering his words before falling asleep.
Daytime thoughts lead to nighttime dreams. This saying even had a scientific basis in the Mirror Zone. Consequently, Tuanzi dreamed of the scene before the Demon King fell into slumber.
Zhou Li sighed.
He picked Tuanzi up and held her in his arms. He gently stroked her back, smoothing her fur from head to tail, all the while softly coaxing her and desperately trying to think of a way to cheer her up.
Life truly is unpredictable.
