My Demon Friends-Chapter 676 - 637 Of Course, Playing is More Important

Zhou Li returned home and found no one to open the door for him.

CLICK.

The living room was filled with light. Huai Xu was sitting on the floor playing video games, Brother Nan was shaking her legs on the sofa, and Tuanzi crouched next to her with SpongeBob playing on the TV.

On hearing the noise, Tuanzi turned his head, his eyes sparkling as he curiously asked, "Zhou Ni, where have you been?"

Lord Dumpling always seemed so lively.

Zhou Li smiled.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Brother Nan still shaking her legs, slightly tilting her chin as she looked at him. "Huai Xu told me you took my motorcycle and ran off to the hills with a girl?"

"Ah?"

Zhou Li was momentarily stunned at these words.

"This..."

He couldn't even refute it! 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

He speechlessly looked towards Huai Xu—

The Old monster was still sitting on the floor playing video games, her back to him, silently affirming that everything she said was true.

How childish.

Zhou Li shook his head and sat down next to Brother Nan. "Coincidentally, I wanted to tell you... This morning, Baozi went out to take pictures and encountered a demon. I had to take the bike to find her. Then I accompanied her to the police station, and I just sent her back home. I doubt she'll dare to go to remote places for photography again."

"Where did you encounter the demon?"

"Outside the city, on a mountain."

"So you really did take a girl to the hills!" Brother Nan said seriously, and even slapped her thigh as if imitating a wooden gavel.

"..." Zhou Li ignored her and continued, "I told Baozi that we went together, and you hurt your leg halfway through and were taken down the mountain by the police. The place is called Xidian Village. We encountered a thick fog while climbing. Pay attention to the details and don't slip up."

"What if I don't want to lie?"

"Then just gloss over it."

"Hmm." Brother Nan thought about it. "That could work."

"Thanks a lot, big bro."

"No need for formalities, little bro," Brother Nan responded grandly with a hand gesture. "Was Baozi scared?"

"Somewhat..." Zhou Li said. "Any normal person would be."

"I thought she wasn't a normal person!" Brother Nan feigned surprise, then added, "Since it was a demon causing trouble, just have it compensate Baozi with money, hehe, Baozi would definitely like that."

"Do you want to hear what happened?" Zhou Li picked up a strawberry and put it in his mouth. "To satisfy your desire for gossip."

"It's called curiosity!"

"Curiosity."

"Speak!"

"Okay..."

Brother Nan turned down the TV volume as Zhou Li started to recount the events.

Unnoticed, Tuanzi also diverted his attention from the TV, his lower body resting on the sofa, his upper half lying on Brother Nan's lap, his big eyes attentive, listening to the story, occasionally asking a meaningless question, interrupting Zhou Li's narrative.

Only Huai Xu continued to play video games, multitasking.

「Sunday morning.」

The Elm King woke up.

Having recently become addicted to gaming and eager for more, she did not immediately seek out Huai Xu to team up but instead turned to Zhou Li. "There are still demons causing trouble around Chunming. Whether they are rational or not, it is our negligence. I express my apologies to you and them. Additionally, we should make some compensation to them."

Zhou Li was actually taken aback upon hearing this.

When he told Brother Nan yesterday, he knew the Elm King could hear, so he had been somewhat dissatisfied.

But in fact, this was a new era. The Demon Kingdom had only recently awakened, so management lapses were inevitable. Moreover, the Elm King had long since resigned from her position; it really had little to do with her anyway.

Zhou Li candidly said, "I've gained some respect for you."

"It is what it is."

"So, how will you compensate?"

"According to the rules. These matters should be determined by the rules, not by me," the Elm King said lightly. "I'll only urge them to initiate the compensation process."

"I see..."

"Furthermore, I will immediately issue an order to have the Great Demons skilled in this area develop screening methods. We will deploy the armies of Yu Country and the Blood Demons to conduct a comprehensive search, aiming to locate and restrict the freedom of all demons lacking reason or emotions as soon as possible," the Elm King stated calmly, her eyes without a flicker. "So, such events will rarely occur in the future."

"There's no need to go so far as to hit everyone on board with the same stick, is there?" Zhou Li hesitated, his eyes flashing as he reminisced. "There are harmless ones among those demons."

"Stop overthinking it."

The Elm King casually swept a glance at him and explained, "I'm not planning to capture and imprison all the demons who lack reason and emotion. Rather, we are about to leave, and they might not be able to decide for themselves whether to leave or stay. So, before we go, I must gather them all. Once we reach our new home, most of them will regain their freedom."

"I see..."

Zhou Li had actually overlooked this aspect.

Come to think of it, it was indeed a huge amount of work. It was a task of grand scale and great ambition.

"Alright—"

The Elm King got up and walked toward the balcony. "I've said what I needed to. I'll be back in about half a Shichen. Remember to call Huai Xu back before then to play games with me."

After speaking, she pushed open the window and left.

"Your Highness, Your Highness..."

"Take me with you!"

"Wait for me!"

Tuanzi trotted to the balcony and leaped. THUMP! He smacked into the glass and fell down.

"MEOW!"

The Elm King's figure had already vanished.

"You didn't get hurt, did you?"

Worried and distressed, Zhou Li hurried over. But he saw Tuanzi roll over and get up, neither sad nor resentful, naturally taking small steps back. After a few steps, he saw Zhou Li's feet behind him. He looked up in confusion and said:

"Huh! Zhou Ni?"

"It's me. Lord Dumpling, did you get hurt?"

"How could I! MEOW! Lord Dumpling is a Great Demon, you know..."

The last half of his sentence was much quieter than usual, and he couldn't help but glance outside the window as if afraid of being overheard.

This sneaky expression indeed matched that of the Old monster. When the Elm King was around, the Old monster was also too embarrassed to proclaim herself the Great Devil King.

Picking up Tuanzi and heading back, Zhou Li found Huai Xu had already appeared on the couch. Today, she was again in her female form and had switched back to her most commonly used template, albeit with slight tweaks. These tweaks didn't further enhance the attractiveness of this form—perhaps there was no room for improvement—but were stylistic adjustments to create a refreshing effect.

Zhou Li glanced at her, then glanced again.

The Old monster immediately frowned, staring at him with a confused expression. "Did you just speak ill of me?"

"No." Zhou Li instantly averted his gaze.

"That means you did!" Huai Xu asserted.

"Why are you eating again?" Zhou Li glanced at the chicken popcorn and fries placed between her crossed legs. "Didn't you just have breakfast?"

"TSK! TSK! Always changing the subject at times like this. I'm tired of this tactic!"

"..."

"Are you eating or not?"

Huai Xu generously pinched two fries and handed them to him.

Zhou Li took them and stuffed one into his mouth; they were still freshly fried and a bit hot.

He handed the other fry to Tuanzi. Seeing Lord Dumpling, who was even more sensitive to heat than he was, get burned and sharply suck in air, Zhou Li smiled happily.

Just then, he glanced at Huai Xu and was suddenly stunned. "What are you doing?"

Huai Xu looked at him perplexedly. "What am I doing... don't you dip your fries in sauce?"

With that, she continued to spread ketchup over her snow-white, delicate thighs, finishing an entire packet and drawing a circle with it. Then she picked up the remote control, changed the channel, and while watching the foreign war news on the TV, dipped the fries in the ketchup on her thigh and ate them.

This method allowed her to dip into the sauce just by putting her hand down, which was very convenient and avoided any mess on the sofa—killing two birds with one stone, a trick normal demons wouldn't think of.

It just looked... well, the bright red ketchup against her tender skin made for a stark contrast.

Zhou Li quietly shifted his gaze away.

The Old monster, not caring at all, said, "It's fine, you can dip too. I don't mind, as long as Li Daimao doesn't mind."

I... I mind too, Zhou Li silently thought to himself.

An hour later, Her Royal Highness, the Elm King, returned and joined Huai Xu in the game.

During the game's loading screen, Her Royal Highness, the Elm King, finally remembered she was supposed to communicate with this body's real owner. She quickly took out paper and pen and wrote a question, "I have already helped you master the method to block my senses, and soon you will also master the method to block me completely. What are you still testing?"

After writing, she promptly folded the paper, placed it aside, and focused on preparing for the game.