My Demon Friends-Chapter 560 - 538: The Case of the Stolen Naan Pit

"It's so beautiful, Heaven Mountain," Zhou Li uttered sincerely.

"This isn't even its most beautiful time; it's winter now, so it's all covered in snow." Huai Xu was not entirely satisfied and added, "Do you see the grassland at the foot of the mountains? In spring, the grass is lush green, and the wild fruit trees are filled with flowers of various colors. During summer, the grass remains verdant but is dotted with small flowers—you can't see them from afar, but the green foothills against the snowy peaks are even more beautiful than it is now. When autumn comes, the grass turns golden yellow, and the weather is clearest, making it the best time to view the snow-capped mountains."

"But then there isn't any snow."

"There's still snow—always snow—but only on the very peaks," Huai Xu explained. "And it's not cold like in winter. I used to love finding a grassy slope, lying down, and gazing at Heaven Mountain from a distance. I'd let my horse graze freely beside me, and I'd slowly fall asleep."

"I see."

Zhou Li turned his head to look. The slope was gentle, and he could almost imagine what it looked like without the snow, covered in green grass.

Back then, the Old monster, no matter where she lay, must have been crossing her legs, a blade of grass in her mouth, probably even plucking a leaf to shade her eyes before blissfully falling asleep.

Zhou Li quietly gave himself a thumbs up for his imagination.

Then, Huai Xu casually kicked the snow, sending flakes flying everywhere. "But sometimes Heaven Mountain can be annoying. When I'm riding and traveling, sometimes the mountain seems as far away in the afternoon as it was in the morning. It feels like I've been walking in circles all day. It's so frustrating!"

"That's nice."

"Ah..."

"Lord Dumpling gets like that sometimes too! We walk and walk and get nowhere!" Tuanzi chimed in again.

"TSK..."

"Zhou Ni tsked at Lord Dumpling!"

"Tattletale..."

Zhou Li couldn't care less about the two of them and simply scooped up a handful of snow from the ground. His hands felt so cold they were numb. This was undoubtedly a common human experience, except he felt no pain. During this, Tuanzi clutched his clothes tightly to avoid falling from his hat, exclaiming in alarm.

"Zhou Li, you're about to knock Lord Dumpling off!"

"Sorry." Zhou Li compacted the snow in his hand and passed it behind him. "An apology for Lord Dumpling."

"I don't want it."

"You didn't call yourself Lord Dumpling this time."

"Weirdo!"

"That's not nice," Zhou Li said helplessly. "Besides, Lord Dumpling, don't think I can't hear you just because you whisper. You're very close to my ear."

"Weirdo!" Tuanzi burrowed deeper into the hat, speaking even more softly, then popped out and asked, "How about now?"

"Lord Dumpling is a pest."

Zhou Li stopped paying attention to Tuanzi and simply leaned back, then with all his might, he threw the snowball.

Neither of the expected scenes—"the snowball arcs through the air and lands" or "the snowball whooshes off into the unseen distance"—occurred. This was probably because Zhou Li's strength was too great; the snowball disintegrated into several pieces mid-flight before scattering to the ground. If it hadn't fallen apart, it might have flown quite far.

Another snowball soared through the air.

This time, Huai Xu threw it.

Zhou Li shrugged, showing no intention of competing with her. Instead, he turned to Tuanzi. "Lord Dumpling, would you like to throw a snowball too?"

"No, thanks."

"It's fun."

"It's so cold."

"Hmm... How about we build a snowman then?"

"Let's make a Lord Dumpling!"

"Would Lord Dumpling like to help?"

"Nooo..."

"Lord Dumpling is a little lazy kitten," Zhou Li teased.

"That's what cats are like."

"I see."

So, Zhou Li roped Huai Xu into building snowmen. They gathered nearly all the snow from the top of the slope and eventually built three snow figures: two large and one small. The smallest was a Little Cat Girl.

The Old monster had a very bad character.

The first snowman they made was modeled after her current appearance. They strived to make it realistic. Zhou Li had experience in wood carving and pottery, and the Old monster was even better at these skills. It was challenging for them, but not impossible. After much effort, using sticks and grass for internal support, they finally managed to shape the outline of 'Huai Xu.' Next, they were supposed to build 'Zhou Li' and 'Little Cat Girl.' But at that point, the Old monster feigned deafness when Zhou Li called her, focusing solely on meticulously refining 'Huai Xu.'

She was truly exasperating.

As a result, the 'Zhou Li' and 'Little Cat Girl' snow figures were made by Zhou Li alone and looked much worse than the 'Huai Xu' next to them.

It was getting dark.

Speechless, Zhou Li set up his octopus tripod and took a group photo anyway.

This time, the group photo included three more snowmen.

"Shall we head back?" 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

"Okay."

"Ah..."

"Stop sighing." Huai Xu patted his shoulder, comforting him earnestly. "You two aren't as good-looking as I am, so these three snowmen are actually the most realistic depiction."

"Don't talk to me," Zhou Li said, turning his head away.

"Don't be angry." Huai Xu circled to his other side, continuing to console him. "Don't be so obsessed with looks. Otherwise, you'll feel very inferior standing next to me."

"..."

Zhou Li turned his head again and quickened his pace down the mountain.

The snowmen on the slope remained standing, gazing at the Heaven Mountain that Huai Xu had traversed a thousand years ago. They probably wouldn't melt until the next day.

「Hamigua City.」

Perhaps due to the year-end pandemic and related restrictions, the roast whole lamb restaurant—which Huai Xu claimed "usually has so many people you often need to queue"—wasn't very crowded these past few days. Here, Zhou Li saw the most distinctly ethnic faces he had encountered since arriving in Qingjiang: the owner and his large family.

The owner was very enthusiastic towards the two young travelers from afar. He greeted them in heavily accented Mandarin that was difficult to understand, immediately asking, "Where are you folks from?"

"Yi Province."

"Yi Province? That's really far!"

"It's alright."

"Can you understand what I'm saying?"

"Yes, I can."

"Oh... How did you find my place?"

"Online."

"Oh... I thought someone recommended you." The owner wiped his hands on his apron, a proud smile spreading across his face. "My roast lamb here is delicious! Many people drive a long way to eat it. Some even buy a whole lamb, and I vacuum-pack it for them to send home so it won't spoil..."

"We also came because of its reputation," Zhou Li said.

"It's not just people, let me tell you." The owner lowered his voice. "My roasted lamb has been stolen many times. Do you know how?"

"How?" Zhou Li was curious.

"We just put it in that roasting pit, and in the blink of an eye, it's gone!" The owner pointed to the roasting pit, which was underground and had an opening covered by something like a manhole cover. "I say either the Immortals love it, or Demons have taken it."

"Demons?" Zhou Li was startled.

"Yeah, that's right! There are Demons!" Although the owner said this, he wasn't scared. Instead, he laughed heartily. "Even Demons love my roasted lamb! It's that fragrant!"

"Are there really Demons?"

"There are! There were more in ancient times, fewer nowadays!"

"Oh..."

Zhou Li was half-believing, half-doubting.

Just then, another group of customers arrived. The owner excused himself, saying a few words to Zhou Li and Huai Xu, and went to welcome the newcomers.

This group had also driven, their car bearing Caiyun license plates.

The owner's first question remained the same, "Where are you folks from?"

"Caiyun."

"Caiyun? That's really far!"

"It is a bit far."

"Can you understand what I'm saying?"

"..."

Zhou Li silently watched the Old monster.

The Old monster was playing with her phone, her head not lifting at all.

The owner's loud voice, with its heavy pronunciation, still filled the air. He once again boasted to this group from Caiyun about the thefts from the roasting pit, as if it had become a habit. However, this group of middle-aged people didn't seem to believe such stories. They just laughed heartily, though the atmosphere became quite lively.

Zhou Li listened while continuing to stare at the Old monster.

The Old monster remained fixated on her phone, completely absorbed, not even blinking.

Gradually, Zhou Li began to admire the Old monster's concentration—at least if someone were staring at him like that, he would certainly feel uncomfortable.