My Demon Friends-Chapter 542 - 521: Seeing Off

The night deepened gradually.

After reassembling the bed, it seemed not as firmly and tightly connected as before, sometimes making a slight creaking noise when the person on the upper bunk turned over.

And tonight, the Old monster seemed unusually excited, needing to move about every so often.

Tuanzi was also vigorously exploring "burrows" inside Zhou Li's blanket, burrowing from head to toe, from the left side to the right, or crawling along the gaps at Zhou Li's sides and between his legs, utterly disregarding that humans were, in fact, ticklish, and that some areas shouldn't be stepped on carelessly.

Zhou Li lay awake for a long time.

Actually, he would have preferred Tuanzi to practice parkour in the room.

However, it was too cold in winter, and it had snowed in Yan City a few days ago. Though Lord Dumpling, being a Great Demon, was not afraid of the cold, she preferred warm places.

"Ah…"

Zhou Li sighed.

Hearing his sigh, Tuanzi, who was inside the blanket, immediately stopped moving, as if a dragon guarding its burrow had noticed something and she needed to hide.

The bed creaked slightly again, and the Old monster's head peered down from the top bunk, his face looking eerily white in the dim room. He even retorted, "What are you doing up so late? Can't sleep, huh?"

Immediately, Tuanzi resumed crawling forward. She poked her head out from the edge of the blanket and gazed at Zhou Li with a puzzled look. "Zhou Ni, why are you sighing? Are you unhappy?"

The concern from both demons seemed very genuine.

Zhou Li felt even more helpless. In this situation, he couldn't bring himself to blame them.

"I'm not unhappy."

He responded to Lord Dumpling first because her status was more distinguished. That's just the reality of this world. After patting Lord Dumpling's head and watching her dive back under the covers to continue her exploration, he then looked up at the Old monster, whose eyes gleamed, his face full of helplessness. "I should be asking you that. What are you doing tossing and turning instead of sleeping in the middle of the night?"

"I rarely sleep much anyway, I just lie in bed. I'm not like you humans who'd die without sleep."

"Brother Nan doesn't die without sleep; she pulled seven all-nighters in a row in high school and was fine," Zhou Li countered. "Besides, you never used to toss and turn like this."

"She's not human... Back then, I was looking out for you, worried you wouldn't sleep well. And lots of times, after you fell asleep, I'd sneak out to play; otherwise, it was just too boring," Huai Xu said honestly. "I'd come back just before dawn and pretend I'd been in bed all night. You never even knew."

"…" Zhou Li felt like he was dealing with some pet from TikTok. "When I have time, I'll put a GPS tracker on you and see all the places you run off to at night."

"No way!"

"Let's not get sidetracked, or I'll lose what little sleepiness I have left." Zhou Li rubbed his forehead, steering the conversation back on track. "Are you really that excited? You want to go to Qingjiang, right? Can't you just get there in a WHOOSH or two...?"

"I'm not excited."

"Then what are you doing?"

"I'm..."

The Old monster hesitated, afraid Zhou Li would see from his expression that he was making things up. He pulled his head back, and only after thinking for a moment did he poke it out again. "I was just thinking about our trip, about how I can take you to eat lots and lots of delicious Northwestern food. It makes me happy, so happy I can't sleep…"

"Yeah, right. Like anyone believes that."

"Hmm…" The Old monster's eyes darted around. "That stupid cat isn't asleep either! How come you're not saying anything about her?"

"Cats are like that," Zhou Li said.

"Cats are like that!" Tuanzi's muffled voice came from under the blanket.

"If you can't sleep, go drive the car back to the foot of the mountain," Zhou Li said to Huai Xu. "Remember to take it to the other side. Don't drive to Mingjiu Mountain again; Brother Nan is coming down that way."

"Sure!"

Huai Xu instantly appeared beside the bed, already fully dressed. He picked up the keys and said to Zhou Li, "Hey, are gas stations open this late at night?"

"There's still half a tank left."

"But are gas stations open this late?"

"They should be 24-hour ones, I guess."

"Got it!"

With a soft sound, Huai Xu disappeared. Outside, the cold wind gently rustled the curtains.

Zhou Li didn't close the window.

In this cold weather, of course, one had to sleep with the window open. Just having a warm blanket wasn't enough. To sleep comfortably, to feel that sense of bliss, it needed to be cold enough outside the blanket. The colder, the better. That stark contrast between the warmth inside and the cold outside was what made him reluctant to get up in the morning.

Zhou Li was curled up completely under the blanket, only his head exposed. His eyes were open, and he suddenly found he couldn't fall asleep again.

It was all Huai Xu's fault.

"Ah…"

Tuanzi, under the blanket, went still again. This time, she didn't poke her head out to look at Zhou Li but asked from within, her voice muffled, "Zhou Ni, are you unhappy again, meow?"

"No."

"Then why are you sighing, meow?"

"I'm sighing because I'm happy."

"Oh~~ What about Huai Xu? Where did Huai Xu go?"

"He went out."

"Isn't he coming back, meow?"

"He'll be back soon."

"Oh~~"

There was no more movement from under the blanket, but then it started to get ticklish again.

「The next morning.」

Zhou Li opened his eyes.

The bed creaked, and immediately half a head appeared at the edge of the upper bunk, a pair of eyes staring unblinkingly at him, as if silently urging him on.

Zhou Li rubbed his hair and asked, "Where did you go last night?"

"Returning the car."

"Did it take that long?"

"I drove slowly."

"I don't believe that."

If Zhou Li remembered correctly, the Old monster had only returned when it was nearly dawn. By then, Zhou Li was half-asleep. The light outside still looked like night, but Tuanzi was already snuggled against his neck, asleep—that was how he judged it was just before dawn. What a depressing thought.

But Zhou Li didn't dwell on the issue, just shook his head helplessly. "Oh, you..."

Huai Xu made a sound. "Do you know what kind of strawberries those were that we ate yesterday?"

"I don't know."

"I know."

Huai Xu's eyes sparkled as he stared at Zhou Li, his expression practically screaming, 'Go on, ask! Ask me, and I'll tell you!'

Zhou Li, however, was puzzled. "How would you kn—"

No need to ask.

His peripheral vision had already caught sight of strawberry tops in the trash can—to be precise, the calyx leaves. Only half a leaf remained, stuck to the rim of the can. The Great Devil King was getting more and more unprofessional.

He couldn't be bothered to talk to him.

Zhou Li gritted his teeth and got out of bed.

So cold.

He quickly turned to cover Lord Dumpling properly with the blanket again. Seeing Lord Dumpling, who was curled into a ball, start to shrink further inward from the blast of cold wind—risking collapse into a black hole—he thankfully managed to get the blanket back over her just in time without waking her. He couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

He dressed and walked out.

The Old monster's gaze followed him, waiting for him to ask.

Zhou Li didn't look back.

Aunt Jiang had just finished preparing a lavish breakfast. It was spread out on the table, still steaming. The air conditioner warmed the living room, making him reluctant to leave.