My Demon Friends-Chapter 554 - 533: The Distant Sound of Camel Bells

It was past five o'clock after dinner.

Zhou Li drove towards Mingsha Mountain.

Huai Xu sat in the passenger seat, turning his head to glance at the city's skyscrapers and every passing car.

From time to time, a blurry image would appear before his eyes, overlapping with reality.

The image depicted a small frontier town nestled in the desert. Without tall buildings to obstruct the view, one could easily see the distant sand mountains. When the wind blew, the air filled with yellow dust, and the ground was littered with the droppings of horses, sheep, and camels. The people wore ancient clothing, their faces tanned and weathered.

Zhou Li stopped at a red light.

Huai Xu spoke softly, "This place is completely different from the Dunhuang of the past. It used to be so dirty and chaotic. Now, you can't even see a single leaf on the ground. But the strange thing is, back then, walking on these roads didn't bother us at all. If it were like this now, I wouldn't even be able to set foot here."

"You're a city demon now; things are different," Zhou Li replied.

"That's right."

"Can you still find that feeling from before?"

"Not at all."

"I just dreamt you were stealing chickens."

"Huh?"

"Actually, I remember the content of the dream. It just wasn't very auspicious and was quite blurry," Zhou Li said. "Anyway, you disappeared in the end, and I was a bit sad."

"A bit?"

"Very sad."

"What was it like? Tell me."

BEEP! BEEP!

Two horn blasts sounded from behind, urging them on.

Only then did Zhou Li notice the green light. He started the car, moving into the right lane as he continued, "I dreamt you were stealing chickens, fighting in wars, and gambling—all the things you've been talking about these past few days. The final scene was you standing on the Gobi Desert, surrounded by the corpses of humans and demons. At first glance, the Gobi seems flat, but on closer inspection, it has undulations. Then it began to move, like waves, layer upon layer. After that, time passed incredibly quickly, a true 'seas changing into mulberry fields' moment. And you, like Yumen Pass and Yang Pass, were weathered by the wind and eventually buried beneath the sand."

"..." Huai Xu scratched his ear, not understanding what was inauspicious about it. "Actually, I don't usually fight wars around here."

"But that's where the dream took us," Zhou Li pointed out.

"This just shows your reluctance to part with me, the Great Devil King," Huai Xu said, smacking his lips.

"You know how in dreams, you always take things as real, even if they seem absurd when you wake up? So, at that moment, I thought I absolutely had to come back and dig you out someday. But then I felt sad again because the Gobi is so vast; how could I possibly remember the exact spot?" Zhou Li frowned. "Then I woke up, found you sitting right there playing video games, and I was just speechless."

"Heh heh!" Huai Xu was quite pleased with himself.

They arrived at Mingsha Mountain.

Taking Lord Dumpling on trips was always a hassle. Zhou Li always had to check online beforehand to see if pets were allowed in scenic areas. Sometimes the information was available, sometimes it wasn't.

Nowadays, Zhou Li's approach was generally this: if he found information stating pets were allowed, he would bring Lord Dumpling in openly and let him play freely. If he couldn't find any information, he would sneak Lord Dumpling in quietly to play. After all, Lord Dumpling wasn't really a pet, and most pet restrictions didn't apply to him.

So, he put Lord Dumpling in his backpack, went through the ticket check to enter the park, and registered for facial recognition, allowing re-entry within three days.

"Not many people," Zhou Li remarked.

"Camel!" Lord Dumpling, with one eye open and the other closed, peeked through a small gap in the zipper and whispered excitedly, "Roasted camel!"

"Shush," Zhou Li gestured.

"Shush," repeated Lord Dumpling.

"Lord Dumpling, let's talk later. There are too many people here."

"Lord Dumpling knows..." Then, lowering his voice, Tuanzi added, "Look... there are camels."

"I see them."

Zhou Li walked forward, heading towards the sand mountain ahead. "It's so tall," he said, "much taller than I imagined sand dunes to be, and so steep too."

"What did you imagine the dunes were like?"

"Like the ones in *My Fair Princess*."

"*My Fair Princess*?"

"You know, not too tall, not too steep. You can ride a horse up them, and they look like waves," Zhou Li mused. "I could sprint up one in a single dash and sprint down just as quickly."

"Those are dunes; this is a sand mountain," Huai Xu said. "But most dunes are difficult to walk on too."

"Is that so?"

"Take your time climbing. I'll wait for you at the top."

"Don't..."

Zhou Li turned his head to look around and found Huai Xu was gone. Looking up, he saw a figure standing at the highest point of the sand mountain, waving at him vigorously.

"Sigh..." Zhou Li took off his shoes and started to climb.

The sand, baked by the sun all day, was still pleasantly warm.

The slope of the sand mountain was incredibly steep, so much so that he had to use both hands and feet. The sand was loose and shifting; for every step he took, he slid back two-thirds of the way, making progress extremely slow.

The scenic area had indeed placed rope ladders on the sand mountain to offer some help. However, the ladders were only effective on the lower half; the upper half was completely buried in sand. Thus, Zhou Li resumed his journey of taking three steps forward only to slide two back. It was only then that he realized the sand mountain seemed even taller than it had looked from below. This was especially true when he stopped and looked back—the people on the ground had shrunk to tiny dots. It was probably a visual illusion caused by the color and shape of the sand mountain.

After conquering one peak, there was still more to climb.

By the time he finally reached the summit, half an hour had passed.

Zhou Li looked around the summit and walked in a couple of circles. He was stopped twice by two middle-aged women asking him to take their photos before he finally found Huai Xu.

Huai Xu was sitting on the ground, hugging his knees and gazing at the distant setting sun, seemingly lost in thought.

Zhou Li sat down beside him.

The sun was still a little while from setting completely. The top of the pavilion beside Crescent Spring was still bathed in golden light. From this vantage point, the panoramic view stretched out, even encompassing Dunhuang City, ten kilometers away. Zhou Li's gaze, however, was fixed on Crescent Spring at the foot of the mountain—this desert oasis, renowned for millennia.

"It really does look like a crescent."

"Mm."

"I heard a song once," Zhou Li said, "called 'Crescent Bay.' It's about this place."

"Sing a few lines for me."

"No."

"So heartless." Huai Xu shook his head, then pointed downwards. "My horse once peed in there. I've also drunk its water and bathed in it. Back then, this lake was much larger than it is now. I never expected it to shrink so much and end up being protected."

"In that order?"

"..." Huai Xu paused for a moment before retorting, "You're so annoying!"

"I see."

Zhou Li didn't say anything else and silently put his shoes back on.

The air temperature was still quite low. The sand's warmth came entirely from the sun. Once the sun dipped below the horizon, the chill would set in instantly. Within perhaps a minute, the surface layer of sand would turn ice-cold.

He was already starting to feel the cold.

The sun finally set.

Because the view was obstructed by the sand mountain, the sunset here wasn't as complete as one might see in the Great Desert; it was far less magnificent and imposing. However, today's sunset had the advantage of clouds. They had already been dyed vibrant colors by the setting sun and continued to change hues as it sank, offering a different kind of beauty compared to yesterday.

Huai Xu tossed a handful of sand into the air.

Down below, the camel train had finished its day. Led by their handlers, the camels formed a long line, winding around the base of the sand mountain. The gentle chiming of their bells echoed through the dunes, stirring many of Huai Xu's memories.