My Demon Friends

Chapter 747 707 Where Has Your Highness Gone?

BUZZ! BUZZ!

Zhou Li's phone vibrated. He quickly fished it out and lit up the screen.

A message from Hong Ran.

Hong Ran: You were looking for me? What is it?

Seeing this message, a weight finally lifted from Zhou Li's heart. He naturally couldn't bear to part with Sister Hong Ran. However, if Hong Ran decided to leave, he wouldn't blindly beg her to stay. He just felt that whether she left or stayed, he deserved to know. If she were to leave, he ought to see her off. A silent departure would surely leave him heartbroken for a long time.

Zhou Li: You didn't leave?

Hong Ran: I've decided to stay.

Zhou Li: Why?

Hong Ran: To be nicer to you.

Seeing this message, Zhou Li's expression was priceless.

He had said those exact words to Hong Ran before. Influenced by Lord Dumpling and Huai Xu at the time, he'd harbored some doubts about Sister Hong Ran, feeling that their meeting, acquaintance, and growing familiarity might not have been so simple. Of course, it later turned out that much of what Lord Dumpling and Huai Xu had said was true. He also genuinely believed his feelings for Sister Hong Ran were sincere, but at the time, he had indeed felt a sense of unease. Thus, he had gently asked Sister Hong Ran to be a little nicer to him. Back then, his words had stirred no ripples. He never expected she would remember.

Zhou Li suddenly didn't know what to say.

"Zhou Ni~~"

Tuanzi tugged at his arm, looking up at him. "Does this mean we'll never see the Bright Bugs again?"

Zhou Li thought for a moment and replied softly, "The Bright Bugs also moved very far away. They must really miss Lord Dumpling... Without Lord Dumpling to catch them, they'll surely spend every day bored, missing Lord Dumpling constantly."

Then he typed—

Zhou Li: Keep it up

He added a cute emoticon for good measure.

Hong Ran: Pinch your face

Zhou Li: Are you coming to find me?

Hong Ran: I'm not used to visiting other people's homes. You can come find me when school starts. I can't run away now anyway.

Zhou Li: Oh.

Tuanzi tugged at his hand again, craning her neck to peek at his screen, muttering, "Zhou Ni, what are you looking at? Let Lord Dumpling see too..."

Zhou Li picked up the phone and showed it to her. "It's very boring."

"Oh..."

Tuanzi's eyes darted around the screen. It was indeed boring—aside from being shiny, there was nothing interesting at all.

So she looked away, resting her little head in the crook of Zhou Li's arm. Tilting her head to look at him, she asked with a mix of boredom and innocence, "Zhou Ni, Zhou Ni, when is His Highness coming back?"

"I don't know."

"Oh..."

"It's gotten very cold at night. Let's go back and rest."

"Okay..."

Zhou Li glanced again at Miss Zheng, Qinghe, Huai Xu, Xing Hui, and Ji Bai, then picked up his stool and walked inside. As he did, he looked up and vaguely saw the corner of a window on the second floor, where half a small head and a round eye peeked out, quietly observing them.

Realizing it had been spotted, the head quickly withdrew.

...

Inside the house, it was just as cold, only without the wind.

Zhou Li washed his face with hot water from the electric tap, then poured more from a thermos, preparing two buckets in total. He and Miss Zheng sat in the main room, soaking their feet.

They shared a tall stool, sitting on opposite sides, about a foot apart.

The house, lacking a television, was exceptionally quiet. Neither spoke, yet it didn't feel awkward. Both preferred quietude over conversation; sitting silently like this was the most natural state for their interactions.

Occasionally, the sound of splashing water broke the silence.

Steam rose into the air.

Miss Zheng had rolled her trouser legs up to her knees, revealing her fair, beautifully curved calves. She kept tentatively dipping her feet into the water, then quickly lifting them out.

That was the source of the splashing sounds.

It was accompanied by barely audible hisses of breath...

The parts of Miss Zheng's feet that had touched the water were already turning a little red from the heat.

Meanwhile, Zhou Li was pondering.

Now that the demons are gone, or at least the few remaining ones are unlikely to cause trouble, what will become of the newly-founded Celestial Master Department? Heavenly Masters, of course, are of great value. But what about the Celestial Master Department itself? Will it be disbanded and merged into other departments or agencies, handling national security, certain special police units, national defense, or military affairs? Or will it retain its departmental structure, but shift its focus from dealing with demons and the Demon Kingdom to specializing in the aforementioned special tasks? Without the protection of the Demon Kingdom, and as the power of Heavenly Masters grows, will the lives of the remaining demons be affected or threatened in their old age? Another reason to keep working hard. Working hard is truly a difficult endeavor.

Are Huai Xu and Lord Dumpling taking a bath now?

HMM...

This question was quite different from the previous ones.

Only then did Zhou Li notice that Miss Zheng still hadn't fully submerged her feet in the bucket. She was still dabbing them in the water, letting out an incredibly faint hiss each time.

"Is it too hot?"

"No, it's not..."

"Should I get you some cold water?"

"No, that's not necessary..."

"I'll add more cold water next time."

"Yeah..."

"So it is too hot, then."

"..."

Just then, an Old monster in slippers shuffled past them.

Zhou Li quickly stopped him. "Um, do you and Lord Dumpling need to wash up now?"

Huai Xu paused, turning to look at him with an astonished expression, seemingly unable to understand why this human would suddenly care about such a thing. After a moment's thought, he said, "I guess so? But we're different from you humans. Most of the filth you humans clean comes from your own bodies, unlike us. We only get dirty from external things. And as the Great Devil King, it's very hard for me to get dirty. I'm impervious to all poisons, untouched by a speck of dust, and bacteria don't grow on me. Brushing my teeth occasionally is enough."

"Really?"

"Of course, it's true! Would the Great Devil King lie to you?" Huai Xu looked at him, baffled. "You should focus on managing your Little Trash Cat and stop bossing around the Great Devil King. After all, I am now a genuine Great Devil King. You need to show me a little more respect."

"I suspect you're just making excuses for your laziness."

"Tsk! Boring!"

The Old monster waved his hand dismissively and headed upstairs. The Great Devil King wouldn't deign to argue with such a minor character.

Zhou Li glanced at Miss Zheng, who happened to be looking at him. Their eyes met, and they exchanged a silent opinion on Huai Xu's performance before both looking away to concentrate on soaking their feet.

「Twenty minutes later.」

Zhou Li lay in bed, feeling warm. Hugging Lord Dumpling, he said, "From now on, Lord Dumpling can't rely on entering the Old Land World to get all fragrant. You'll need to take baths more often..."

The Little Trash Cat repeated his words, "Need to take baths more often..."

"That's right."

"Zhou Ni, tell Lord Dumpling a story~~"

"Has Lord Dumpling ever heard the story of McDull?"

"The story of McDull..."

"Alright, then I'll tell Lord Dumpling the story of McDull."

Zhou Li began to narrate softly. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the Old monster on the adjacent bed also staring blankly at the ceiling, listening intently. Meanwhile, Zhou Li kept an eye on his phone as he spoke.

Li Daimao: Big Brother is coming back tomorrow. What do you think? Do you miss Big Brother a lot?

Zhou Li: Big Brother hasn't lost any flesh, has he?

Li Daimao: Big Brother is the Child of Destiny. How could he?

Zhou Li: Has he lost any hair?

Li Daimao: That's one strike against you.

Zhou Li: I'm just concerned about Big Brother! /Pout

...

Yin Le: !!

Yin Le: You saw it, right?

Zhou Li: It's beautiful.

Yin Le: To think they just left like that... it feels so unreal...

Zhou Li: Give yourself a break.

Zhou Li: And give everyone in the Celestial Master Department some annual leave.

Yin Le: Hmm.

...

「The next morning.」

From a distance, a gigantic Ladybug Monster flew towards them. It was larger than a car and flew steadily until it landed in Miss Zheng's yard.

Zhou Li quickly went out to greet them.

Two figures descended from the Ladybug Monster. One was a tall girl with a distinctive cowlick, wearing a windbreaker, casual clothes, and sneakers. The other was a slender demon, nearly three meters tall. He looked disproportionately like a tree trunk and very strange.

Seeing the cowlick was still there, Zhou Li felt relieved.

But...

Zhou Li looked at the nearly three-meter-tall demon. This couldn't possibly be His Royal Highness, the Prince of Yu's, original form, could it? Although he had never seen His Royal Highness, the Prince of Yu's original form, he had pieced together an image from occasional indirect descriptions by Lord Dumpling and demons like Hong Ran. Considering His Royal Highness, the Prince of Yu's own behavior and aesthetic preferences, he thought her true form must be quite beautiful, most likely that of a cute girl, because she adored cute things. She was very satisfied with Brother Nan's appearance, feeling it was similar to her own style. Yes, Zhou Li had also guessed that her stature probably wasn't very tall, since her scepter was quite short; it would look awkward if held by an adult.

"Brother Nan."

Zhou Li still went forward to greet them, then looked at the demon beside Brother Nan with a puzzled expression.

At the same time, Tuanzi also ran over quickly. She first went to Brother Nan, crisply called out, "Brother Lan," then looked quizzically at the demon beside her, glancing left and right, her nose twitching as she sniffed eagerly, clearly searching for someone.

"Where is Your Highness?"

"Are you hiding, MEOW?"

"I am here at the invitation of Your Highness to eliminate the negative consequences of the human Heavenly Master's innate talent," the tall, thin demon said with a slight bow. "You may call me Dao Min."

"So you are Lord Dao Min. Thank you for coming all this way." Though confused, Zhou Li didn't forget his manners.

Miss Zheng also hurried over and nodded.

"Thank you, Lord Dao Min."

Zhou Li looked around again and asked, "Excuse me, where is Your Highness?"

"Right here..."

Brother Nan pointed to his windbreaker pocket. Then he lowered his head and gently poked it with a finger. "Hey, wake up. Time to pee."

"Mmm..."

A peanut-sized head peeked out, looking around in confusion.

"Have we arrived...?"

"MEOW!"

Seeing this, Tuanzi immediately bounced with joy. After regaining her balance, she stood up straight, her two front paws hanging naturally, and looked up at the miniature demon in Brother Nan's pocket.

"Your Highness!"

"Quiet!"

"Oh..."

"Let me out."

Brother Nan held out his hand in front of the pocket.

A miniature demon crawled out.

This demon looked human but was extremely small, only about ten centimeters tall. Very tiny.

And very cute.

Zhou Li looked closely. If she were enlarged, she would probably look like a sixteen or seventeen-year-old girl. Her features were different from Brother Nan's, but they shared a similar style and build. She wore a rather ornate ancient-style costume that didn't hinder her movements and held a tiny scepter—so small it resembled a toothpick—in her hand. She had a cape on her back... No, not a cape! It was two pairs of transparent, dragonfly-like wings, folded together.

After landing on Brother Nan's hand, His Royal Highness, the Prince of Yu, spread her wings and quickly flew up. She hovered in front of Zhou Li, staring at him. "What are you looking at? Do you think I look funny like this?"

"No, you're very cute," Zhou Li said honestly.

"Cute in what way?" His Royal Highness, the Prince of Yu, immediately asked.

"..." Zhou Li was momentarily speechless but recovered quickly. "Everything about you is cute, especially the wings."

"I designed them myself!"

"Exquisite."

"Such a sycophant."

"..."