My Demon Friends-Chapter 639 - 607: Lord Dumpling’s Treasure

Lord Dumpling still ended up going to work with Boss Bao. Brother Nan told her to earn her own living, so Zhou Li didn't dare to object.

The two headed toward the dormitory.

Brother Nan asked him, "Are Little Zheng's cherries tasty?"

After speaking, he scratched his head and rephrased, "Are the cherries that Little Zheng brought tasty?"

"They're tasty."

Zhou Li was somewhat confused about why he asked twice. He furrowed his brows, carefully pondered, and ultimately didn't figure it out, but couldn't resist his strong curiosity. "Why did you ask..."

Brother Nan nudged him, interrupting his words. "I haven't tasted such delicious cherries in a long time."

"I'm okay."

"I remember when I was a child, there was a cherry tree planted in front of my old home." Brother Nan showed a reminiscent expression. "Every year after the New Year, it would start to bloom..."

"You've mentioned it before," Zhou Li said.

"Have I mentioned it before?" Brother Nan asked blankly.

"Then one year it was particularly cold, it only bloomed a few flowers, then it was sawed down," Zhou Li said.

"Oh..."

Although Brother Nan nodded, his brows gradually furrowed. With his pale, clean complexion, he looked quite handsome.

Moments later, he twisted his body. Strength surged upward from his feet, flowed through the twist of his waist and the swing of his arms, gathering in his fist, and punched Zhou Li's arm. "Having heard it before, don't you know to pretend you haven't and listen to your big brother say it again?"

"Sorry."

"This kind of little brother, sooner or later you'll eat peanuts..." Brother Nan frowned again. "Eat bullets!"

"Understood."

"Act like it hurts a bit!"

"It really hurts."

"Hmph..."

Brother Nan steadied Zhou Li's shoulder and strode forward. Each step covered the distance of two, but he moved very slowly, maintaining the same pace as Zhou Li's normal walk. He was like an elementary school student playing on the way home from school, only lacking a backpack.

While striding, he asked Zhou Li, "It seems like you are translating some spell books?"

"How do you know?"

"Huai Xu told me this morning."

"Indeed, I occasionally translate some while reading," Zhou Li explained. "I'm helping a former client translate, and I suppose I'm also helping the Celestial Master Department. Some educational books and simple uses of spiritual power and minor spells, they might use them as textbooks."

"Why are they asking you to translate? Don't they know to hire experts? Those who study classical Chinese."

"Just knowing classical Chinese isn't enough; it's got to be a Heavenly Master." Zhou Li didn't feel upset despite his brother's doubts. "There are many professional terms that only Heavenly Masters can understand, many sentences that only Heavenly Masters can comprehend. There are also some references and vocabulary that need to be interpreted within the context of the Heavenly Master culture at that time. I have to validate them with content from different books, or guess and then verify. There's also some unclear content that I must try out myself before I dare to write it down."

"Oh, oh." Brother Nan nodded, looking somewhat well-behaved, and then asked, "So aren't you getting paid double then?"

"Yep."

"How much have you translated?"

"Not even two books."

Zhou Li felt somewhat ashamed. "I've been quite lazy before, and it's inconvenient in the dormitory. Sometimes when reading in bed, I'd use my phone to translate some."

"What if you translate something wrong?"

"I'll try to avoid it."

"Will they deduct your pay?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"They wouldn't dare."

"That's still not right; it's not ethical." Brother Nan shook his head helplessly. "Bring it, let your big brother check it over for you!"

"Really, no need to make such a big detour."

"?"

"Alright, big brother!"

「That evening」

Zhou Li sat at his desk reading.

Lord Dumpling, who had just returned from work, remained lively, though not as energetically overflowing as usual. She lay quietly on the table, nibbling on her own tail as she played, occasionally startled by the sound of Zhou Li flipping a page, and looking up at him.

As she played, she suddenly stood up and walked over to Zhou Li.

"Zhou Ni, give me your paw."

"This is called a hand."

"Hand."

"Mm."

Zhou Li put down his book temporarily and reached out his hand, not knowing what she was going to do.

Lord Dumpling took small steps towards his hand, stretched out her head as if she wanted to rest her chin on his palm, and muttered softly, "Lord Dumpling will give you a treasure…"

"What kind of treasure?"

"A very precious treasure."

After Lord Dumpling spoke, she looked down and spat something out, and a small object suddenly appeared in Zhou Li's palm.

He lifted his hand and brought it closer to examine it carefully. It was a slightly curved, jade-white, semi-translucent little fang, no bigger than a grain of rice. A light flick of his fingers revealed what seemed to be a tiny trace of Little Trash Cat's saliva. Under the desk lamp, it appeared even more crystalline and translucent. It didn't smell odd when he sniffed it.

Lord Dumpling looked up, watching him through all his bizarre identifying moves, and said earnestly, "This treasure is very precious. You must take good care of it!"

"Is this Lord Dumpling's tooth?"

"Yes, it is!"

"Is Lord Dumpling still changing her teeth?"

"Nope! It fell out today!"

"Ah?" Zhou Li exclaimed, leaning closer to Lord Dumpling. "Does it hurt? Open your mouth, let me see."

"It doesn't hurt. It will grow back in a couple of days."

"Let me see, ah~~"

"No!"

After Lord Dumpling spoke, she reminded him again to take good care of her precious tooth, then she flopped down and started playing with her tail again.

Zhou Li asked her, "Does Lord Dumpling's tooth have any special effects?"

Lord Dumpling lifted her head to look at him. "No…"

"Then why is it so precious?"

"Because the teeth of some Great Demons are very valuable, and Lord Dumpling is an even greater Demon than them, so Lord Dumpling's teeth are even more precious!" Lord Dumpling shook her tail, maintaining her head-raised posture, staring at him. "Lord Dumpling wants to eat Buddha Jumps Over the Wall."

"..."

Zhou Li placed her little tooth in the pen holder.

That evening, Lord Dumpling didn't do parkour but slept quietly next to him all night. It made him feel utterly surreal.

Is this the benefit of working?

Loved it, loved it.

「The next morning」

He had a class and took Lord Dumpling with him.

While it was still before class, Lord Dumpling continued to sleep in the drawer. He asked Baozi, who sat next to him and Brother Nan, "Are the Bubble Pistols sold out yet?"

Baozi answered, "I've brought in another batch."

Zhou Li furrowed his brow slightly. "In that case, the sales will keep sliding downwards."

"Why?"

"Because many people are drawn here by seeing Lord Dumpling playing with the bubbles. They also think it's fun to tease Lord Dumpling with bubbles, so they want to buy one. Or, they simply play with Lord Dumpling in front of your stall for so long they can't stop, and end up buying one after using too much bubble solution. If this continues, many people will have already teased Lord Dumpling or bought bubble guns, and they definitely won't buy again." Zhou Li paused. "So you need to select more products that utilize Lord Dumpling for sales, either to sell simultaneously or to replace the Bubble Pistols when their sales gradually decline until they become unsellable, to better capitalize on the traffic that Lord Dumpling brings."

"Uh-huh!"

Baozi nodded seriously.

Zhou Li sighed. His gaze inadvertently swept downwards, only to see that Lord Dumpling had woken up at some point. She had crawled to the edge of the drawer and was looking up at him unblinkingly with those bright, starry eyes, seemingly filled with many questions.

The new version of Red Light Technique is indeed simple.

Zhou Li spent a day reading through it, analyzing the differences between the old and new versions and grasping the principles. He had updated it completely in three days.

The new version of the Red Light Technique consumed slightly more Spiritual Power. According to his personal assessment, the Spiritual Power consumption increased by about 10% and its power by about 15%, while also being simpler to learn.

Given that the Celestial Master Department had printed a simplified version of this spell, it seemed likely to become standard for future human Heavenly Masters. In that case, I could consider translating it into plain language, given its short length, as a contribution to the development of human Heavenly Master power. 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

The Town Boundary Art, by comparison, was much harder. It would be impossible to learn in less than half a year.

But Zhou Li still started tackling it actively.

Of course, I can't allocate all my energy to the Town Boundary Art; that would be too monotonous. I still need to read other books to grasp more knowledge.

In terms of combat spells, I feel that, at least in the short term, high-end combat spells have a low cost-effectiveness for me; they require too much time. It's better to read miscellaneous books. Grasping more knowledge in other areas is my real power. Alternatively, I can practice small spells; with high proficiency, they can be quite powerful in my hands. Later on, even if I want to learn high-end spells, I'll most likely lean towards non-combative, functional spells with magical capabilities first.