My Demon Friends-Chapter 464 - 460: Zhou Li, Wake Up, This Is Not a Dream

Chapter 464: Chapter 460: Zhou Li, Wake Up, This Is Not a Dream

"How can you be so calm? If Yu Country finds out that a human sealed the Elm King, that’s going to be a huge deal!" Huai Xu cocked his head, staring at Zhou Li.

"With those few wonky doodles?"

"Hong Ran is already suspecting that the drawings on the walls around here are a Spiritual Formation." Huai Xu didn’t agree with him. "Plus, you know as well as I do, rumors of the Demon King being sealed by humans, even wronged by them, have been flying around for a few years now. Even the two trashy little demons in your neighborhood know about it."

"Xiao Yuan and Lao Hui are pretty awesome."

"Awesome? Seriously? Is this really the time for that?" Huai Xu was left speechless by his nonchalance.

"Time will reveal the answer."

"TCH! Slacker!"

"Let’s go."

Zhou Li remained unperturbed. He looked around, targeted a spot where electric bikes were parked, and walked over.

"Going straight back to school or stopping for rice noodles first?" Huai Xu hurriedly followed behind him.

"Going home."

"Not having rice noodles?"

"Not hungry."

"Not going back to school?"

"It’s Sunday today." Zhou Li hesitated for a moment. "And the leave slip is signed through Wednesday."

"You’re getting more and more like that!"

"Oh."

Zhou Li had already scanned and unlocked an electric bike. He sat on it, then looked up at the Old Monster. "Aren’t you scanning one for yourself?"

Huai Xu didn’t respond, only turned to look behind him.

Zhou Li followed his gaze and saw two kids, obviously under sixteen, sharing an electric bike as they whizzed past. The electric bike had a small passenger seat, so one was riding while the other sat behind.

"This is reckless driving," Zhou Li said, turning his body and head to face the teenager who had quietly appeared on the back of his electric bike.

"The Great Devil King fears no danger."

"You could get ticketed."

"The Great Devil King fears no police."

"This electric bike wasn’t designed for two people."

"The Great Devil King isn’t a person."

"Wouldn’t it be better for you to just teleport back?"

"Nope."

"Should I scan another one for you?"

"ACHOO! I sneezed..."

Zhou Li said nothing. The electric bike emitted a soft hum as it started and smoothly pulled away. (Of course, such reckless behavior is not to be imitated. Strictly speaking, Zhou Li wasn’t breaking any rules by carrying a passenger—because, in fact, he wasn’t carrying anyone at all.)

When they arrived back outside their residential complex, unable to withstand the Old Monster’s pestering, Zhou Li still took him for a bowl of rice noodles.

Entering the complex and just as he stepped into their apartment building, the Old Monster vanished, leaving Zhou Li to ride the elevator upstairs alone. By the time he reached his door, it was already open for him.

The living room was clean and tidy. The Old Monster was sitting on the sofa, legs crossed.

However, Zhou Li still spotted a few potato chip crumbs on the floor. He remained outwardly calm, his gaze casually sweeping around, and then he noticed a piece of fried chicken breading, no bigger than a fingernail, in a hidden corner. He sniffed the air; at least there were no strange odors.

He looked away. The Old Monster was holding the remote, hand raised as if about to turn on the TV, but he was actually sneaking glances at Zhou Li out of the corner of his eye.

"Did you rush back so quickly just to tidy up the house?"

"! What are you talking about?"

"In the days I’ve been gone, you haven’t turned the house into a kennel, have you?" Zhou Li’s lips twitched into a slight smile. "By the way, why do you always like to lie on the living room floor when you eat?"

"...I don’t know what you’re talking about."

Zhou Li, not bothering to bicker with him, walked out to the balcony to check on the flowers, herbs, fruits, and vegetables he was growing.

The Yueli roses were still blooming beautifully, their pale yellow blossoms delicate and lovely.

The Wen Zhu, having entered autumn, had turned from a lush, vibrant green to a withered yellow, shedding many of its small, needle-like leaves onto the ground.

Huai Xu’s bowl lotuses also hadn’t bloomed. The fish in them, still awaiting their culinary fate, seemed to have developed depression and barely moved.

As for the vegetables and fruits: the scallions, planted directly from bulbs, grew the fastest and were now about ten centimeters tall. The cilantro grew more slowly, but the outline of its leaves was beginning to resemble the herb. The strawberries were the slowest, having only just sprouted tiny shoots.

"I did as you said and set an alarm to water them," Huai Xu’s voice suddenly came from behind him. "And I even used water from my Little Lotus."

"Appearing suddenly like that is quite startling."

"You don’t seem startled, though."

"Given up on pretending to watch TV?" Zhou Li turned to look at him.

"...For some reason, my strawberries are growing the slowest," Huai Xu subtly changed the subject. "Your scallions are almost ready to eat."

"Strawberries just grow slowly by nature."

"I want them to grow faster."

"You’re not a child anymore; no need to be so impatient."

"Today, I *am* a child."

"Alright, alright..."

Zhou Li, humoring him, picked up a pair of scissors and began to prune the excess branches and leaves from the Yueli roses.

Then, for the sake of ceremony, he symbolically misted them with a little water, as if to show he’d also participated in watering them. After basking in the sun on the balcony for a while and idly chatting with the Old Monster about nothing in particular, he returned to his room.

He flopped onto the bed, spread-eagled.

"AHH~~"

The bed at home was undoubtedly much more comfortable than the one in the dormitory.

Zhou Li took out his phone and sent a message to Brother Nan.

Zhou Li: I’m back

Li Daimao: That was fast

Zhou Li: Yeah, it didn’t take long

Li Daimao: Back at school?

Zhou Li: At home. I’ll come back tomorrow. Just had some rice noodles from the place downstairs.

Li Daimao: /Pouts

Zhou Li: I went to the Mirror Zone again

Li Daimao: Dreamed of me?

Zhou Li: Yeah

Li Daimao: What did you dream about me?

Zhou Li: I dreamed about the younger you again.

Li Daimao: And then?

Zhou Li: Then we chatted, had a great time, and even played together happily for a while. /space out

Li Daimao: Someone like you, such a poser? My younger self would have chatted with you?

Zhou Li: Yes

Zhou Li: /sweat

Li Daimao: I didn’t curse you out?

Zhou Li: You did. You had quite the potty mouth as a kid. /sweat

Li Daimao: Hmm?

Zhou Li: But I didn’t mind. /rose

Li Daimao: Sensible.

Zhou Li: As I should be.

Li Daimao: What did we talk about?

Zhou Li: I told you I was your future boyfriend. You didn’t believe me at first, but I think I slowly convinced you.

Zhou Li: Oh, and you also said that when you grew up, you would absolutely never date anyone; you’d only recruit Little Brothers.

Li Daimao: Sounds like something I’d say.

Zhou Li: Then why did you end up dating me?

After sending the message, he stared intently at his phone, anticipating the answer he longed for... the kind of answer that would make him ecstatic.

The phone chimed.

Li Daimao: Miscalculated, I guess.

Li Daimao: Had a moment of madness, maybe.

Li Daimao: Who knows?

Zhou Li frowned, unsatisfied, but didn’t dare to press further; after all, Brother Nan was the one in charge.

Li Daimao: You didn’t bully *me*, did you?

Zhou Li: How could I? /cutie

Li Daimao: That /cutie emoji of yours... I have a bad feeling. You rarely use emojis; I’m usually the one who uses them.

Zhou Li: You’re overthinking it.

Li Daimao: Really? No bullying?

Zhou Li: ...

Li Daimao: Alright, you’re coming back to school tomorrow, right? You’re going to tell me exactly what happened, in detail, without leaving anything out. If I think it doesn’t match my personality back then, I’ll shove you into the lake by the main gate.

Zhou Li: /yawn

Li Daimao: That settles it.

Zhou Li: ?

Zhou Li: What now?

Li Daimao: I’ve realized I have zero *pull* with you now; you’re not afraid of me anymore.

Zhou Li: The word you’re looking for is ’prestige’.

Li Daimao: See?

Li Daimao: /angry

Zhou Li just found her incredibly endearing. In his mind, the image of Brother Nan on the other end of the chat gradually overlapped with the Brother Xiao Nan from last night’s dream.

He even felt tempted to send a goofy smiley emoji to tease her a little.