My Demon Friends-Chapter 490 - 471: Construction Site Couple_2

"There’s a repetition."

"What? What repetition?" Huai Xu looked at him suspiciously. "What do you mean?"

"Nothing. Just wipe the oil off your mouth." Zhou Li handed her a wet wipe. "Wipe the oil off your lips, and don’t talk while eating meat. Be a bit more graceful. You’re impersonating Little Zheng right now. Don’t utterly destroy her image. At least leave her some, even just a little."

"Got it, Zhou Li."

"..." Zhou Li silently shifted his gaze. "Did you go out grabbing things last night?"

"You just said that was a one-time thing!"

"No, I mean, isn’t today Singles’ Day?" Zhou Li said calmly. "In the first hour or two, a lot of things were really cheap."

"Didn’t you say that Singles’ Day started from the first of the month this year?"

"Yes, but today is *actually* Singles’ Day. There are still deals, just like on the first." Zhou Li looked at her, puzzled. "You didn’t grab any cheap deals on the first, but you could have grabbed them in the first hour or two today. You didn’t know and miss out again, did you?"

"...I suspect you’re messing with my mind," Huai Xu said after a pause.

"..." Zhou Li looked away again and said, "I had a dream last night."

"Don’t change the subject! I’m not falling for that!"

"Oh."

The living room was silent for a few seconds, with only the sound of Huai Xu eating her noodles.

「A few seconds later—」

"What dream?"

"I dreamed we found the Confusing God, brought him to justice, and achieved world peace."

"Then you’d become famous! More famous than finding that missing airplane. And if you captured him—" Huai Xu continued to eat her noodles, her delicate figure a sharp contrast to the large bowl. "You might even get a Beibei Peace Prize."

"The Nobel Peace Prize."

"That’s the one!"

"That prize is actually awarded to people who *disrupt* world peace."

"Is that so?" Huai Xu sounded doubtful; she didn’t know much about it. "Anyway, that’s what I meant. You get it."

"I’ll definitely find him when I’m powerful enough."

"Who knows how long that’ll take? And by then, you might not want to do it anymore. Otherwise, why hasn’t Master Ming found him and locked him up?" Huai Xu smacked her lips. "Oh right, how’s that woman... what’s her name... from the other day doing? Do you know?"

"It’s still too early. There’s no verdict yet."

"Will she be executed by firing squad?"

"Definitely not."

Nowadays, the state’s review of ’capital punishment’ is increasingly strict. Only when there’s substantial subjective malice and the crime is severe is the death penalty imposed. Even some heinous criminals are spared capital punishment merely because they turn themselves in. Rong Mingxia, even if she weren’t connected to Heavenly Masters or Demons, wouldn’t be sentenced to death. She acted in ’self-defense’ to some extent, the circumstances were special, and she also turned herself in.

A couple of days ago, Zhou Li had looked up some similar cases for reference, but comparing them wasn’t easy.

Some cases were very similar, but perhaps due to factors like the Local Government courts, judges, or other elements, the sentencing outcomes varied greatly. For instance, in cases where individuals were driven to kill several people under duress, sentences ranged from over ten years to twenty or thirty years; life sentences were very rare.

Rong Mingxia’s case was also quite special.

If it went to a normal trial and Rong Mingxia showed genuine remorse, Zhou Li believed a sentence of ten-odd years was most likely.

With a sentence of ten-odd years, good behavior, and continuous sentence reductions, she might serve less than ten years in prison.

Heavenly Masters generally live longer than ordinary people, and the ’decline due to age’ isn’t as pronounced for them. If Rong Mingxia took good care of her health, coupled with future technological advancements, she might still look quite young even at one hundred. Thinking about it this way, serving such a prison term seemed somewhat acceptable, perhaps?

But Yin Le clearly didn’t want her to go to prison.

Not even for a year.

His own similarly difficult childhood made him deeply sympathetic towards Rong Mingxia, especially since they were both Heavenly Masters.

The involvement of Heavenly Masters and Demons makes the case even more special.

Firstly, the current coordination between the Celestial Master Department and the Yu Country’s Local Government is still incomplete, nor has a complete system been established for handling crimes involving Demons. Secondly, the current judicial bodies know next to nothing about Demons. Even the Celestial Master Department’s understanding of Demons relies primarily on a group of Young Heavenly Masters. They don’t know what capabilities Demons possess, nor do they know whether a human facing a Great Demon with the ’Confuse’ ability has some resistance or none at all. Therefore, what Yin Le says carries significant weight in this process.

These two factors are the most critical.

Only after these come Rong Mingxia’s potential and the Celestial Master Department’s current urgent need for manpower. Compared to the first two, these latter factors play a negligible role in the decision-making.

"How sure are you... that this is the work of the Confusing God?" Zhou Li asked cautiously, looking at Huai Xu.

"Not very. It’s all speculation," Huai Xu said after a pause. "But it’s better if he didn’t do it. Not because he’s hard to find, but because he has his own style—he never makes people commit crimes by influencing their thoughts. He only does one thing: makes the weak strong."

"How do you know?"

"This world is full of people with dark hearts, people who want to destroy everything. The reason the world is still relatively peaceful is simply because they lack the power to do so, and because the forces of justice are stronger." Huai Xu turned his head, his clouded white eyes fixed on Zhou Li. "Finding such people is easier than turning an originally good person into a demon. And he would earn that person’s gratitude."

"I see..."

Zhou Li fell silent.

Seeing this, Huai Xu quickly grinned and waved his hand. "I’m just spouting nonsense, there’s no basis for it at all! Don’t get all worked up about it again. It’s much better when you’re cheerful, like you were just now!"

"Don’t smile like that. Little Zheng wouldn’t smile like that."

"..." Huai Xu’s smile stiffened. He coughed twice. "See? This is much better."

"Mm."

"I think you’re really hung up on Little Zheng’s image! You’re obsessed!"

"Just maintaining it."

"You can’t fool me..."

Seeing this Old monster tilting his head again, likely about to start fantasizing about Zhou Li’s future life once more, Zhou Li stood up to leave early, preventing him from speaking. "I have class during the second period. I need to go. You take your time eating."

"It’s still early."

"I’m going to play with the excavator with Brother Nan."

"Wait for me! I want to go too!"

「By nine in the morning, the fog on campus had just begun to dissipate. There was still a chill in the air, but it was already clear that it would be another fine day.」

The beige sunlight felt warm on the skin.

"KONG, KONG, KONG, KONG..."

"WOO! WOO! KONG, KONG, KONG, KONG..."

"ZSS! ZSS!"

The little excavator rumbled KONG KONG KONG to the edge of a flowerbed, extended its long arm, scooped up a shovelful of sand, and then turned toward another flowerbed.

"KONG, KONG, KONG..."

Actually, that wasn’t the sound the excavator itself made. The little excavator was electric; it was noiseless. Those were the sound effects Brother Nan was meticulously providing for it.

And it wasn’t Brother Nan operating it now; it was Zhou Li.

Brother Nan sat beside Zhou Li, leaning forward, his upper body out, staring unblinkingly at the excavator while providing the sound effects. He looked utterly ridiculous. The local elders and folks passing by all had their mornings brightened by the sight.

Huai Xu was nearby, playing with a remote-controlled helicopter.

"Looks like I need to buy a remote-controlled big rig too, a dump truck model," Brother Nan said seriously.

"Oh."

"You have to pour the sand slowly. Don’t dump it all at once, or you might damage the receiving truck," Brother Nan instructed Zhou Li on excavator techniques. "The truck driver will beat you up. And if things escalate, you’ll never find work on a construction site again. No one will hire you."

"Like this?"

"A bit slower. Gently."

"Oh."

Glancing out of the corner of his eye, Zhou Li suddenly caught sight of a small figure standing not far away.

The figure stood behind a tree, quietly observing them, her expression hesitant.

"..."

Sensing she had been spotted and that hiding any longer would be awkward, Little Cousin finally stopped hesitating. Plucking up her courage, she took light steps, hands clasped behind her back, and walked up to Zhou Li.

She brought her hands out from behind her back.

In her hand was a piece of candy—an Alpenliebe, the kind some unscrupulous supermarkets used to give as change.

"Cousin, have some candy."

"?"

This felt oddly familiar.