My Demon Friends-Chapter 706 - 667 Baozi Really Deserves a Spanking

The distant mountain peaks were barren, a swath of grayish-white rock, void of snow, but as the sun set, it took on the golden hue of sun-kissed mountains.

Lying on the lawn, his head covered by Brother Nan's coat, Zhou Li was awakened by a kick from her. Brother Nan kicked at him, and Tuanzi also kept nudging him with her little paws.

"Ugh..." Zhou Li pulled the coat off his face and found the world overwhelmingly bright.

Brother Nan stood above him, high and mighty with the sky as her backdrop, resembling a deity. "The sun has set," she said. "Get up quickly, or I'll leave you here for the wolves to eat tonight."

Tuanzi eagerly joined in the clamor, "Eaten by bad wolfies! Eaten by scary tiggers!"

Zhou Li got up reluctantly.

This girlfriend of his was not gentle at all. And this cat was incredibly stupid.

Zhou Li bent down, picked up Tuanzi, and whispered, "This is a plateau, grassland. Where would tigers come from? Tigers live in forests."

Tuanzi, allowing herself to be held, continued to yammer, her voice soft and thin, "Big birds fly in the sky; they'll eat you up!"

"Eat up Lord Dumpling."

"Eat up Zhou Ni!"

"You're so childish, Lord Dumpling," Zhou Li said.

"MM!" Tuanzi hmphed, her voice slowing. "You're so childish, Zhou Ni~~"

"Heh." Zhou Li yawned, rubbed his nose with the back of his hand, and returned Brother Nan's coat to her. Her scent lingered in his nostrils, mixed with a faint, milky fragrance from an unknown source. It was this smell that had lulled Zhou Li to sleep. He then dreamt of riding bikes to school with Brother Nan during high school, though in reality, they had never biked to school together then.

"I had a dream..."

"Tell me!"

"In the dream, we were still in high school..."

Zhou Li followed Brother Nan down the mountain, speaking in a hushed voice, fearing his younger siblings might overhear and make fun of him.

After listening, Brother Nan was quite pleased, in a very good mood.

They had already decided on tonight's lodging. It wasn't in the county town itself, but rather on its outskirts. The conditions were slightly inferior to the main hotels in the town center yet much better than small guesthouses. Its advantage was that you could step right out to see the vast grasslands. From the rooftop, you could watch the sunrise or sunset, and at night, enjoy the moonlight or the starry sky.

Zhou Li shared a room with Zhu Shuang. No helping it; little brothers have to stick with big brothers.

Huai Xu could only stay in a single room.

Zhou Li had just put down his luggage and was about to sprawl on the bed, connect to the WiFi, and play on his phone when Huai Xu started knocking on doors, summoning everyone downstairs for dinner.

"Always thinking of eating," Zhou Li muttered. That was his assessment of Huai Xu.

However, the Old Monster didn't care in the slightest. He was too lazy to even acknowledge him and went to knock on Zhu Bing's door.

The young girl was very well-behaved and came out as soon as she was called.

Then Brother Nan and Baozi also emerged.

Zhou Li walked up to Huai Xu and whispered, "I was planning to connect to the WiFi and play on my phone a bit more before going downstairs."

"I was thinking of scrolling through TikTok too," Huai Xu replied.

"We can scroll while sitting downstairs as well," Zhou Li said.

"How's the room?" Huai Xu asked. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

"Better than last night," Zhou Li replied.

"Well, it's a county town, after all," Huai Xu remarked.

Brother Nan recalled where they'd stayed the night before. It was a Tibetan guesthouse in a village. While the accommodations weren't ideal, it provided good meals and was mostly frequented by cyclists. There was one very unique thing about that place which she found rather interesting.

"Interview time." Brother Nan made a fist, holding it like a microphone to Zhou Li's face. "About the owner of the guesthouse yesterday who practiced polyandry, what do you think?"

"Quite novel," Zhou Li said honestly.

"Elaborate," Brother Nan pushed.

"..."

Looking at the fair fist before him, Zhou Li opened his mouth, leaned forward, and took a playful bite.

SMACK!

Brother Nan's punch was incredibly fast.

The guesthouse had its own restaurant downstairs, reputed to be quite good. The group ordered sweet tea, yak yogurt, and silverweed root with butter, as well as many meat dishes and a jin (about half a liter) of highland barley wine, then sat down to wait.

The sweet tea arrived first, tasting like a budget version of milk tea. The yak yogurt and silverweed root with butter were both refreshingly cool.

Brother Nan tapped her bowl with her chopsticks—quite rudely, but no one dared to criticize her. "Alright everyone," she began, "we're almost at the final destination of our trip, Dao City's Yading. Hiking in Yading is said to be quite strenuous, and we're all pretty tired from traveling these past few days. I have a suggestion: let's rest here on the grassland for a day and head to Dao City the day after tomorrow. What do you think? Let's take a vote, be a bit democratic about it."

"I agree." Zhou Li, covering his cheek, signaled his eternal support for Brother Nan.

"I agree." Zhu Shuang eternally supported his brother, Zhou Li.

"MEOW!" Lord Dumpling eternally supported Brother Nan.

"I agree." Baozi figured it wasn't his money being spent anyway, so an extra day of play was an extra day gained.

"I... I'm fine with either," Zhu Bing said weakly. However, as soon as she finished speaking, she was met with the focused gazes of Zhou Li, Zhu Shuang, Baozi, and Lord Dumpling.

"I agree." Zhu Bing changed her wording to match the group.

Then, everyone turned to look at the Old Monster. While they were speaking, the Old Monster had not only finished his own yogurt but had also helped Zhou Li finish his, ostensibly to prevent Zhou Li from gaining weight. Seeing their gazes, he twitched the corner of his mouth and managed to say, "I agree..."

A wave of satisfaction passed through the group. After a moment, Zhou Li twitched the corner of his mouth and said, exposing the charade of democracy, "By the way, was this vote even necessary?"

"Shut up!"

"Okay then..."

Perhaps this was the true face of democracy.

The yak meat was served. There was yak meat stewed with potatoes, yak meat in broth, hand-pulled yak meat, and stir-fried dishes. Most were tender enough that even Zhou Li, who had just injured his mouth, could eat them.

「One hour later.」

The table was a mess, and Brother Nan's jin of wine was empty. They called the waiter to clear the table and then sat together to chat.

The highland night was cold. The owner brought them a brazier and sat down to chat for a while. He talked about the local scenery, the road conditions to Dao City, and some beautiful local legends. For instance, one lake was said to be formed from a pair of devoted lovers; a particular snow mountain was an immortal who had descended to earth. He also mentioned that a few years ago, someone encountered an immortal, and as a result, all the snow on the entire grassland melted in the depths of winter.

Everyone listened with rapt attention.

The night grew deeper and colder.

Brother Nan was slightly tipsy but didn't want to return to her room. She stubbornly pulled Zhou Li to the rooftop to play games with her.

The moon was incredibly full and bright that night. In the pure highland sky, it hung large and round like a small sun, clearly illuminating the distant rolling hills and cities, the grasslands, and the roads below.

Zhou Li shivered. He wrapped his arms around Brother Nan, slipping his hands into her coat pockets to feel the warmth and softness of her body.

"It's so cold."

"No need for excuses!"

"..."

"So cold, Zhou Ni!" Tuanzi jumped onto Zhou Li's lap and burrowed into his jacket, settling on his stomach. Her muffled voice came from within, "Zhou Ni, Lord Dumpling is just getting warm in here with you. Don't forget Lord Dumpling when you stand up, okay?..."

"Okay."

Zhou Li continued to watch Brother Nan play her game, occasionally placing his hand above her screen to distract her.

After Brother Nan hit him a few times, she also turned off her phone, took a deep breath, and turned to look at Zhou Li, who was leaning on her shoulder. In a commanding tone, she said, "Turn around, let your boss have a kiss!"

The smell of alcohol wafted to Zhou Li's face, and he silently complied.

SMACK!

Brother Nan pecked Zhou Li's lips first, then pulled back to stare at his face. She licked her lips in a playfully lecherous way, her eyes sparkling. "Agh, I've been holding back for so long, it's killing me!"

"..."

Zhou Li thought he was the only one who felt that way.

Immediately, the two kissed passionately. Brother Nan's mouth tasted sweet from the wine, and her hot breath made Zhou Li lose himself in the moment.

But the good times didn't last—

Baozi, carrying a tripod, came up to the roof. He glanced at the two of them as if he hadn't seen a thing, then wordlessly set up his telephoto lens and aimed it at the moon.

The two of them were forced to stop.

This was so awkward.

「On the 25th.」

The group took Little Cousin to the airport and then started their journey home. By the time they arrived back in Yan City, it was the afternoon of the 26th. Soon after, they began receiving Little Cousin's retouched photos in their group chat.