My Demon Friends-Chapter 589 - 563: Descending the Mountain

「Day four.」

Early in the morning, a rooster's crow awoke him. When Zhou Li opened his eyes, he felt clear-headed and refreshed, full of energy.

Turning his head, he saw Old Monster was also awake—or rather, had returned. He was lying in bed, lost in thought, or perhaps just bored from waiting for Zhou Li to wake.

Zhou Li thought for a moment and said, "Just as I was about to wake up, I thought I heard an alarm clock. Was it yours?"

"Do you think it sounded like one?" Old Monster asked without turning his head.

"Hard to say."

"How so?"

"Although you don't rely on an alarm clock to wake up, perhaps you use it to remind you to do other things."

"Your brain must be playing tricks on you," Huai Xu said flatly, rolling over to stare at him. "It was Little Zheng's alarm next door; she's getting up to make breakfast."

"I see."

Zhou Li took out his phone to check the time.

It was almost eight o'clock.

At eight o'clock, and Miss Zheng still needed an alarm clock to wake up. It seemed her biological clock was on the verge of collapse.

Zhou Li fell silent at this thought.

It's all that darn novel's fault, he thought. Nothing to do with me.

Shaking his head, Zhou Li said to Huai Xu, "Since that's the case, let's go downstairs too."

After speaking, he quickly started getting dressed. He then pressed down on Tuanzi, who was beside the pillow, and gave her a vigorous shake. "Lord Dumpling, it's time to wake up for breakfast!"

Tuanzi just stretched out a small paw and swatted, as if telling him not to disturb her; she was still sound asleep.

Zhou Li didn't mind and went downstairs.

The early morning in the mountains was still somewhat chilly. Little Zheng stood quietly in front of the stove, her eyes slightly closed, as if meditating. She wore a very fluffy down jacket. Brother Nan had taken her to the county to buy it during a visit, sneaking away to see her while Zhou Li and Huai Xu were in Qingjiang.

In fact, she was dozing off.

Hearing footsteps, she opened her eyes, turned to see Zhou Li, and gave him a slight smile. "You're up?"

"Up."

"Brother Nan stayed up late again last night."

"She often does that; let her be." Seeing Qinghe stoking the fire, Zhou Li, who couldn't bear to see him work so hard, quickened his pace to wash up. Once he finished, he hurriedly took over Qinghe's job, letting him rest.

After breakfast was ready, Zhou Li went upstairs to call Brother Nan.

Miss Zheng's bedroom was very tidy, with nothing embarrassing in sight, except for Brother Nan lying on the bed.

As usual, he first playfully touched the tuft of hair on her head, then pinched her cheek. Brother Nan began to stir. She tried to shake off his pestering, waving her hands to shoo him away, or even making half-asleep, empty threats. When none of that worked and she finally hid her head under the covers, he stopped, contented, and called out—

"Time to get up."

"Breakfast is ready."

Soon, Brother Nan woke up.

She was certainly more responsive than Tuanzi in this regard.

Sitting up, eyes still closed, she sat for a while, then suddenly swung her arm in a sweep, hitting Zhou Li in the ribs, and said lazily, "I'm changing clothes..."

"Oh."

Zhou Li waited outside the door, ears perked. The sounds from inside seemed a bit off.

He pushed the door open again and saw Brother Nan had actually lain down again, wrapped tightly in the blanket, sound asleep.

Hmm... Such childish tactics, he thought.

Zhou Li retracted his earlier praise and asked helplessly, "Aren't you going to have breakfast?"

"I am~~"

"Then why aren't you getting up? If you don't, I'll save it for you. You can eat when you wake up later; I'll heat it up for you—it will still be good." Zhou Li thought this idea wasn't bad, mainly because it accommodated Brother Nan's sleeping habits. "Let's do that then."

"No!" After answering, Brother Nan opened her eyes and looked at him, her voice still lazy and soft. "You pervert, coming in while I'm changing clothes..."

"You obviously haven't changed."

"I'm going to change now."

"Then hurry up."

"I want to savor this cozy feeling a little longer."

"Sigh..."

Zhou Li scratched his head and walked out again, this time heading straight downstairs.

「After breakfast.」

Brother Nan went back to sleep for a while.

Zhou Li took out a carving knife and wood and sat in the courtyard to practice the Carving Technique, pulling Qinghe over to pose as a model. He planned to create a statue with certain recognition and offensive capabilities based on Qinghe's appearance—Qinghe's image was quite intimidating and matched well with the statue's function.

The first step was to carve out the exterior.

Miss Zheng moved a chair next to him, tilting her head curiously.

Although she couldn't see the piece of wood in his hands, what he was doing wasn't mere carving. As he worked the knife, he drew lines with Spiritual Power. These lines lingered on the statue's surface, unfading. To Miss Zheng, these lines seemed to glow, outlining the statue's contours.

"What are you..."

"This is a Carving Technique. I'm carving a Qinghe," Zhou Li replied softly.

"Carving Technique?" Miss Zheng said.

"It's..." Zhou Li searched for words.

"It's a method human Heavenly Masters use to craft magical tools," Huai Xu helped explain, then added with a hint of sarcasm, "I didn't expect you to actually do something productive. I thought you were too obsessed with carving chopsticks and spoons to do anything else!"

"Chopsticks and spoons need to be carved too."

"Neglecting your proper duties."

"That's not true."

After Zhou Li spoke, he subconsciously wanted to bring Tuanzi into the fray against Old Monster, but then he remembered Tuanzi hadn't woken up yet. Having already turned his head, he said to Miss Zheng, who had come into view, "Right?"

"Um..."

"Being a Heavenly Master and carving chopsticks all day, how improper," Huai Xu hesitated for a moment and then looked towards Miss Zheng. "Don't you think?"

"Um..."

"You really have no principles."

"..."

Miss Zheng's face turned red, and she didn't speak, just concentrated on watching him carve.

Sunlight pierced through a break in the clouds, shining obliquely down upon the abandoned tile roofs of the village. It landed on Qinghe's shoulders, his crimson skin absorbing the light.

When demons first arrived here, they underwent a transformation. They shifted from a state governed by the rules of the Old Land Universe to one under the rules of Earth's Universe. Only then did they take on forms that Zhou Li could see and understand. The initial batch of demons mostly chose their own appearances. Later, a small number of demons born in the Old Land World also had this freedom upon their first entry into the Earth Universe; they could assume whatever form they desired.

Therefore, a demon's appearance wasn't connected to its abilities or species.

But it did relate somewhat to their personality.

Demons with gentle hearts naturally gravitated towards cute appearances, while evil, murderous demons leaned towards fierce and terrifying looks. Those who aspired to power often chose to become larger. Those who yearned for peace often assimilated with human culture to appear gentler, and so on, though this wasn't always the case.

Qinghe's appearance was quite fierce.

Zhou Li had once discussed this issue with Miss Zheng because Qinghe's appearance and personality differed so greatly.

Then Miss Zheng had said, "Perhaps they were just immature back then?"

Zhou Li took the opportunity to teach her a new term—

Chuunibyou.

Of course, they discussed it behind Qinghe's back, because Qinghe was thin-skinned and would sulk if he heard them talking about him.

After completing the physical carving, Qinghe was relieved, and Zhou Li then proceeded to imbue the statue with power.

This was a relatively lengthy process.

A bee flew over from a nearby pear tree, circling Zhou Li's hand, its faint buzzing audible. Zhou Li completely ignored it, while Miss Zheng slightly tilted her head, her ears tracing its trajectory.

"Is that a bee?"

"Yes," Zhou Li answered. "It's lost."

"I heard that bees have a very clear division of labor, with some specifically collecting pollen. They just work hard collecting pollen all day, like this one, right?" Miss Zheng said.

"Worker bee."

"Right."

"Actually, I don't really know them apart either."

"Oh." Miss Zheng nodded and smiled cutely. "When do you start school?"

"There's still a while before the term starts, but in a few days we'll be heading to Chunming," Zhou Li said. "Because my mom is back, I need to spend a few days with her in Chunming before going to school; she works abroad."

"Abroad is so dangerous..."

"You know about that?"

"I listen to the news."

"Impressive, impressive..." Zhou Li praised with a smile. Glancing out of the corner of his eye and seeing her blush, he quickly added, "So we're going back tomorrow. We probably won't be able to come here again until after July."

"Oh..."

"You can come to Chunming to visit us. You can ask Xing Hui and Lord Ji Bai to help look after the little animals, and Xiao Yuan can too."

"I need to stay with Lord Evil God."

"What a pity."

"Um..."

By the afternoon of the fifth day, Zhou Li had finished making the statue.

The statue activated. As Qinghe approached, the wooden carving, which looked almost identical to him, opened its eyes. They emitted a faint glow, staring intently at him. The carving twisted its head to follow his movements, the wood components rubbing together with a soft sound.

It could shoot beams of light to burn targets. Given Zhou Li's level of Spiritual Power, its destructive capability should be quite high.

Brother Nan had already packed her things. Shouldering her bag, she headed downstairs to say goodbye to Miss Zheng. "When my summer vacation starts, I'll come visit you again," she said. "Don't worry, I've thought of a really good way so I can stay and play with you for a long time."

"Um."

"Why don't you ask what my plan is?" Brother Nan blinked in confusion. "You're not curious at all."

"What's the plan?" Miss Zheng obediently asked.

"Haha, I'm not telling you!"

"Oh..."

"I'm off!"

As they walked out to the narrow path outside the courtyard, Miss Zheng still gave them a jar of honey. It was the same delicious, freshly harvested Rapeseed Honey that Zhou Li had enjoyed so much. The honey was in an old-fashioned 800ml glass fruit preserve jar, not quite full, only about two-thirds filled.

This implied it was all she had.