My Demon Friends-Chapter 661 - 623: You Started It First

His Highness the Demon King, encountering a cell phone for the first time, was clearly bewildered. She didn't immediately show signs of internet addiction, nor was she very talkative. Most of the time, she just intently watched Zhou Li operate it, observing how this magical little square changed its display as his fingers slid across it.

After teaching a few basics, Zhou Li refused to teach any more, adding, "You can't just play with the phone recklessly. In our era, money is stored inside the phone. Maybe with just a casual tap, the money would be gone."

"The money is inside this?" Elm King widened her eyes and scrutinized the phone closely.

"It's virtual money, just a number. However, specialized technology ensures its reliability. It can buy things just like physical currency and can also be exchanged," Zhou Li explained patiently, worried she might misunderstand and think physical money was inside the phone.

"I know!"

"..." Zhou Li paused thoughtfully. "I know you know."

"Let me try."

"Hmm..."

Zhou Li just wondered how to get through the hour; after all, this was the Demon King, and only Brother Nan could handle her. Even the Great Devil King was playing dead right now... Half an hour had already passed; victory was in sight.

"Hm?"

Zhou Li suddenly realized that in this half-hour, he and Elm King had spoken a great deal. They had been lying side by side on the bed the entire time, completely oblivious to how inappropriate the situation was. His expression quickly turned strange, and he began to feel uncomfortable all over.

A sneaky glance—

His Royal Highness, the Prince of Yu, started scrolling through TikTok.

Zhou Li stared at the wall ahead, his mind drifting into emptiness.

But His Royal Highness, the Prince of Yu, tossed a new question at him: "What is this iron box running on the road?"

"A car."

"And this thing with a tail on fire flying into the sky, what is that?"

"A rocket."

"Rocket, descriptive. What does it do?"

"It launches things into the sky."

"Hm? Can it carry things up into the sky? To other stars?"

"For now, it can only go to the Moon and Mars, which are close to Earth," Zhou Li answered honestly. "It can't reach the farther stars yet."

"Oh~~" Elm King sounded somewhat disappointed. "And what is this then?"

"A missile, I guess."

"What does it do?"

"A long-range military strike weapon..."

"How does the long-range strike work?"

"It's a long story..."

"Then don't tell me! I'll observe on my own!" Elm King cut him off, wanting to spend her limited time on the endless TikTok videos. "Why is this vehicle so long?"

"A train."

"It's not on fire, though!"

"It's a long story..."

Zhou Li couldn't help but wonder why Brother Nan's interests were so diverse. For the first time, he felt anxious because Brother Nan wasn't just a plain old lecher. How much easier it would have been if Brother Nan's TikTok feed was filled with nothing but videos of pretty girls!

"Right!"

He suddenly had an idea. His gaze swept the room and quickly locked onto Tuanzi at the foot of the bed.

Lord Dumpling had originally been sleeping between him and Brother Nan. But this peculiar little thing had somehow moved to the foot of the bed in her sleep. She ended up on the very edge, her round little head even poking out and hanging precariously in the air.

Zhou Li's foot moved slowly under the thin blanket, tapping her slightly.

THWACK—

Tuanzi fell off.

A few seconds later, she groggily climbed back onto the bed, murmuring as she climbed, "Zhou Ni, Lord Dumpling fell off..."

Suddenly, she saw 'Brother Nan,' and her eyes instantly cleared.

"Your Highness!"

"What is it?"

"MEOW!"

Tuanzi immediately ran towards her Highness, crashing into 'Brother Nan's' arms, rubbing her little head against her hand while whimpering, "Zhou Ni said Your Highness would come tonight! Lord Dumpling was waiting for Your Highness for so long! It's just that Lord Dumpling was too sleepy and fell asleep..."

"I know."

"Your Highness, where have you been, MEOW MEOW MEOW~~"

"Me?..."

Zhou Li quietly listened to their conversation, a smile forming on his lips.

Another ten minutes passed—

Elm King fell asleep again.

Just like during the day, Brother Nan's eyes had barely closed when they opened again; clearly, it was Brother Nan who had woken up this time.

Zhou Li whispered, "I thought you'd wait until tomorrow morning to wake up."

"Nonsense—" Brother Nan's response was as distinctive as always, then she retorted, "Could you sleep if you were in my shoes?"

Zhou Li didn't respond, instead handing over a folded piece of paper. "She wrote you a letter. She said if you two need to communicate in the future, use this method."

The piece of paper was quite interesting. Elm King had simply folded it in half before handing it to him. But the moment Zhou Li held it, he had a strong feeling—he wouldn't be able to open it. But that didn't matter; he could still see its contents.

Zhou Li leaned back against the headboard, shifting his body, comforting Tuanzi softly while moving a bit closer to Brother Nan.

But Brother Nan took the letter without hurrying to open it. Instead, she turned to look at him.

"Don't tell me you two have been lying in bed this whole time?"

"I was too nervous; it was an oversight."

"Don't let it happen again," Brother Nan huffed softly. "There wasn't any further physical contact, was there?"

"Isn't this you?" Zhou Li asked timidly.

"Still not acceptable!"

"Understood."

"..."

Only then did Brother Nan open the letter in her hands.

It was dark brown kraft paper. The faint lines on it were completely disregarded. Elm King's handwriting, however, was unexpectedly beautiful, possessing a kind of floating elegance. This was unlike Brother Nan—her handwriting wasn't ugly, but it fell slightly short of being termed 'beautiful.' This was especially true given its overwhelming personality, to the extent that the same character might appear in several different styles.

These characters casually filled most of the page, yet the content wasn't much.

Many traditional characters, coupled with cursive script, made it hard to discern.

Zhou Li leaned towards Brother Nan, almost resting his head on her shoulder. Through the faint fragrance of her hair, he saw the first line:

"Do not let Zhou Li read."

Seeing this, Brother Nan chuckled lightly. "Ignore her. You read it to me."

Without Zhou Li, there were many characters she couldn't recognize.

Zhou Li didn't let on, but read aloud for her, "You should know I mean no harm; we are not inherently incompatible. I admit, you are stronger than I anticipated. You have a steadfast heart, and whatever you wish to do seems to effortlessly come to fruition, as if destiny itself aids you. But whether you admit it or not, I have played a role in this."

Elm King had tried her best to write in a conversational style, but traces of classical Chinese still lingered, which Zhou Li omitted as he read.

Brother Nan's cultural level was immeasurably low.

Brother Nan nodded. "Continue."

"We can collaborate.

"We can communicate amicably.

"You need to control the Spiritual Power that comes from me. I can help you with that. In return, you need to accept my existence and stop trying to destroy or completely seal me away.

"Our personalities are very similar. You should know that staying in endless darkness is an agonizing experience.

"You can trust me as you trust yourself.

"That's all."

After Zhou Li finished reading, he fell silent.

It seemed Brother Nan indeed had the ability to subdue Elm King. After all, this body belonged to Brother Nan; Elm King was merely a lodger. Moreover, Brother Nan was the Successor of Destiny, with her stepfather's backing. Elm King, projecting her own nature onto Brother Nan, feared Brother Nan might actually destroy or seal her. Thus, the earnest tone at the end of her letter carried a hint of submission. No wonder she didn't want him to see it. But if Elm King's temperament was really similar to Brother Nan's, her reemergence might bring a flare-up of anger born from shame...

Zhou Li felt a bit uncomfortable.

"Zhou Ni~~"

Tuanzi gently touched him with her paw. "When will Her Highness come again?"

"You should ask Brother Nan."

"Brother Lan~~"

"Shut up!"

"Oh..."

Seeing her so obedient, Brother Nan softened a little. "She will come again if you behave. If you don't, she won't."

"Lord Dumpling is the most obedient!"

"Who believes that."

"Huh!" Tuanzi paused, then immediately turned to ask, "Isn't that right, Zhou Ni?"

"Yes," Zhou Li nodded.

"You see!" Tuanzi said crisply.

"His opinion doesn't count," Brother Nan said, not wanting to linger on this trivial matter. She turned and switched off the main light, leaving only a dim bedside lamp on her side, which she also turned to its lowest setting. "If you're going to be good, go to sleep right now. No more talking, no opening your eyes, no meowing, no parkour."

"Lord Dumpling is falling asleep right away!"

Tuanzi immediately crawled to the pillow, lay down, and closed her eyes, yet her eyelashes kept fluttering.

Seeing this, Brother Nan chuckled lightly, then turned to Zhou Li. "You should sleep too. It's almost dawn."

"What about you?"

"I'll sleep in a bit. Come on, hug your Big Brother's waist."

"Oh."

It was indeed almost dawn. The sound of traffic outside had increased, and there was the faint sound of rolling shutters being opened. Those early risers bustling about must be working very hard.

「Eight o'clock.」

The day was fully bright.

Zhou Li, who had dozed off for a while, got up and pulled open the curtains.

Champagne-colored sunlight streamed through the window, and with it came the Old Monster, his hair moistened by dew.

Zhou Li turned and asked, "Where were you hiding last night?"

"I went… who said I was hiding?"

"Oh, then where were you?"

"I went to pick a fight with the Evil God."

"Is that so…"

It was uncertain what level of martial power the four Demon Kings possessed. However, given the Evil God's strength and his haughty, unruly nature—being a somewhat less intelligent monster—it wasn't likely that a Demon King in his untransformed state could defeat him. Moreover, the Evil God was highly territorial.

Zhou Li nodded, understanding but not saying anything.

Stepping onto the balcony and sitting on the swinging chair, he sighed deeply.

"Sigh…"

However, when he looked up, he was met by the Old Monster's schadenfreude-filled expression.

This Old Monster, imitating his mannerisms, also sighed. "Sigh, it seems I won't be able to be intimate with my girlfriend for a long time now. This truly distresses me, Zhou Li…"

Zhou Li pursed his lips, looking calmly at him. After a moment, he also said, "Can anyone tell me if there's a way…"

"Hmm?"

The Old Monster grew interested, staring at him intently.

Zhou Li shook his head and continued with the latter half of his sentence, "…to avoid a direct confrontation with the human-transformed Elm King and still maintain my Great Devil King persona? He can't always use fighting the Evil God as an excuse, can he? Zhou Li would see through that too easily."

Huai Xu: ...