My Demon Friends-Chapter 541 - 520: Revisiting the Old Place

Mid-afternoon.

Zhou Li read until he felt drowsy.

Huai Xu lay on the upper bunk, looking down at Zhou Li reading, and actually found it quite interesting. The only drawback was that Zhou Li's comprehension had grown much stronger by now; based on his knowledge reserve, he could almost be considered a qualified Young Heavenly Master. Thus, he seldom ran into difficulties while reading and rarely asked Huai Xu for guidance anymore, which meant Huai Xu had fewer opportunities to show off.

Suddenly, Huai Xu turned his head towards the door and said to Zhou Li, "Old Zhou is back. That's early."

"Got it."

Zhou Li closed the book in front of him.

He sniffed his hand and detected an indefinable scent of decay, likely because the book's special material had been stored away for too long.

He got up and walked out lazily.

Aunt Jiang sat on the sofa, not watching TV, her phone resting on her lap. When she saw Zhou Li, she smiled and asked, "Awake?"

"Yeah."

"Have some strawberries."

"Oh."

Zhou Li noticed a plate of strawberries on the coffee table—bright red, large, and still glistening with water. They hadn't been there at noon; Aunt Jiang must have bought them after lunch.

He picked one up and popped it into his mouth.

Aunt Jiang also called to Huai Xu, who was behind Zhou Li, to come and eat. She even gave a strawberry to Tuanzi. Only then did she say, "You both woke up just in time. Old Zhou messaged me about ten minutes ago saying he's back; he must be almost downstairs by now. He got you a car. Later, you can go to the other side of the river to get familiar with it. It's open over there, no cars. It's better if you get used to it before setting off tomorrow."

"All right."

After Zhou Li responded, he squinted. "So sweet." 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

Aunt Jiang was very happy.

Huai Xu gave a sidelong glance.

Knowing Zhou Li well, he was somewhat disdainful of his actions.

Then he glanced at Aunt Jiang.

Hmm... This seems to be quite effective.

So he thought for a moment and, putting on a wide smile, followed suit, "Aunt Jiang, how are the strawberries you bought so delicious? Where did you get them? I can never find strawberries this sweet..."

Aunt Jiang laughed even more joyfully. "It's good that you like them. I'll buy some more once you finish these."

"Where did you buy them?"

"Just across the street from our complex."

"Got it."

"I've always thought the fruit from that place was good quality, though it's a bit more expensive than other shops," Aunt Jiang shared with a smile.

"The price doesn't matter," Huai Xu said.

"Exactly. As long as it's tasty, that's what matters. Being happy is best," Aunt Jiang said, her attitude excellent.

"Huai Xu, eat more, don't be polite." Zhou Li silently grabbed several strawberries and handed them to Huai Xu, trying to shut him up, and emphasized, "We can buy more after we finish these."

Huai Xu chuckled foolishly.

Only then did Tuanzi seem to catch on, belatedly praising how delicious Aunt Jiang's strawberries were, though Aunt Jiang couldn't understand him.

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK.

There was a knock at the door.

Zhou Li quickly got up.

Usually, the only person who knocked at home was Old Zhou. Everyone else had a key and would use it. Only Old Zhou, who was a bit quirky, liked to knock and wait for someone to open the door. Sometimes, if people were in their bedrooms or busy in the kitchen and didn't hear the knocking, he would complain that they were slow to answer.

This was also a necessary ritual for the Head of the Family.

This time, Zhou Li opened the door quite quickly.

Old Zhou nodded in satisfaction, stepped over the threshold, and walked slowly into the living room. After sitting down beside Aunt Jiang, he placed a car key on the coffee table and said calmly, "Take a look. If you don't like it, there's also a Lexus. It's four-wheel drive too, but I like driving that Lexus."

Zhou Li picked up the key. "This is fine."

Four circles.

Zhou Li didn't know much about cars. He had only driven the small domestic car he shared with Brother Nan and Aunt Jiang's Beetle. But he figured this car had to be much better than his own little domestic one.

Old Zhou rose slightly, picked up a strawberry, and began eating it, continuing to speak leisurely, "I originally wanted to get you an off-road vehicle. Your Uncle Zhang had a Land Cruiser, but he ended up using it to settle a debt... This car is parked downstairs. You two go try it out later. Driving it should be no problem. Mainly, familiarize yourselves with the features so you're not panicking when it's time to leave."

"Got it," Zhou Li agreed readily.

"How are today's strawberries?" Aunt Jiang asked Old Zhou with concern. "Zhou Li and Huai Xu both said they're delicious; they love them."

"...They're okay."

Old Zhou's hand, reaching for another strawberry, froze for a moment. He nonchalantly changed its direction but then felt too embarrassed to take any of the nearby snacks. After a bit of searching, he picked up a nail clipper.

Zhou Li stifled a laugh, picked up Tuanzi, and stood up. "Then we'll go down and try the car."

Old Zhou hummed unperturbedly in agreement.

Aunt Jiang nudged him. "Aren't you going with them to explain things? Every car is different, and SUVs aren't the same as sedans. What if they're out and misjudge the distance and scratch it..."

"You worry too much."

"Who are you calling a worrier?"

"I'm going, I'm going."

Old Zhou had barely warmed his seat before he had to stand up again, sighing deeply.

The car was parked in its space.

An Audi Q7.

It looked a lot bigger than his small domestic car.

Old Zhou drove them to the opposite bank of the river, along the road where Zhou Li often ran. Along the way, he explained the features their small domestic car didn't have, or where there were differences, like the suspension adjustment and the massage functions—which didn't help with driving but Huai Xu quite liked. It was all quite novel.

Afterward, Old Zhou got out of the car, letting Zhou Li and Huai Xu take turns driving. He stood alone by the roadside, gazing from a distance at the people fishing by the river, looking like he wanted to go over but was too embarrassed.

「Evening.」

Zhou Li lay in bed, continuing to read miscellaneous books.

Besides combat ability, a respected Heavenly Master also needed a wealth of knowledge.

Huai Xu sat at Zhou Li's desk, looking at him. "Shouldn't we plan our route?"

"Let's look at the map later."

"I don't really understand modern maps."

"I do."

"But if I don't understand the map, we won't know where to go."

"What should we do then?" Zhou Li looked up at him.

"I know some places might have maps I can understand," Huai Xu grinned. "Wait for me, I'll go find them."

"Wait! I can try searching online for maps from that time!" Zhou Li hurriedly stopped him. He really didn't want tomorrow's news to report that ancient maps had mysteriously disappeared from a museum only to reappear ten minutes later; everyone would think aliens were about to attack Earth.

"Then you search."

Zhou Li began his search.

「Twenty minutes later.」

Zhou Li rubbed his eyes and gave up.

He did find some excavated maps from the Han Dynasty. However, maps from that era were vastly different from modern ones—they were almost entirely different concepts. Due to the lack of satellites, the scales were severely distorted. Furthermore, they were oriented with south at the top, north at the bottom, east to the left, and west to the right. In short, the differences were numerous, presenting various comprehension barriers, and the cartography was also quite crude.

Huai Xu also gave up.

Because, over time, the maps he remembered had become indistinct.

In the end, Huai Xu uttered a few place names from the Hexi Corridor, established during the time of Emperor Wu of Han, which had fortunately been in continuous use to the present day. With these, they finally had a preliminary plan—

To enter Xinjiang along the Hexi Corridor!

In fact, this was how Zhou Li had intended to proceed all along.

For most provinces, the Hexi Corridor was already the optimal route into Xinjiang.

As for the rest, they'd see if they could stir Huai Xu's memories once they got there. Zhou Li would accompany him to revisit those places—a nostalgic journey of sorts. Whether or not it would help Huai Xu complete his lost memories, searching for places where one had once lived and traveled was an interesting undertaking.