"I am!"
Zhou Li placed his hand on Yin Le's shoulder, signaling him not to be nervous.
The Demon nodded at Zhou Li and bared a row of serrated teeth. "My name is Liu Chu, from the Local Government. Long ago, I was in charge of dealing with illegal incidents involving Demons in this area. I just received a notice. Was it you who reported it?"
"Yes." Liu Chu stretched his limbs. "I didn't expect that, just over two years after waking up, I'd have to start working again… I'm all rusted!"
"It's inside."
"I feel it. I'll handle it now," Liu Chu said, then looked towards the two men and one Demon. "The three of you, sirs…"
"Is there anything we can help with?" Zhou Li asked.
"Yes, the one inside is a Demon we've been chasing for a long time. I don't know why it appeared here; it's very fierce, but I can take care of it myself," Liu Chu explained. "But with the help of you three sirs, we could minimize the damage."
"We're willing to help," Zhou Li said, glancing at Yin Le.
Yin Le didn't say anything, but judging by his expression, he seemed to agree.
At that moment, Huai Xu interjected, "This Demon was clearly driven here by someone. Before we arrived, I sensed other Demons guarding it, trapping it here. You need to take care of this too, right?"
Liu Chu paused, then said, "I will check it out. Whatever the result, I will try to prevent this from happening again…" He hesitated, his expression troubled. "But my ability is limited. I can't guarantee the result."
"Just do your best."
Then he turned to Zhou Li, arms crossed, with a pretentious air, "I won't make a move this time. You're already like this; you'll definitely encounter conflicts with Demons in the future. So use this little fry to practice!"
Zhou Li nodded.
Thus, Zhou Li, Liu Chu, and Yin Le went inside.
Hu Weimin's villa was spacious, containing a garden that uncomfortably mixed Western and Chinese styles, making it rather nondescript. It was now ravaged and in disarray, with even a rockery and one wall having collapsed.
In the eyes of the two men and one Demon, another Demon with blood-red eyes crouched in the corner, menacingly watching them.
At the same time, Huai Xu appeared out of thin air on the rooftop.
Liu Chu spoke in a deep voice, "Be careful. He's lost his rationality and is extremely fierce. I will lead the attack; you two keep an eye on the surroundings and don't let him escape and cause more damage."
Silently, Yin Le moved next to Zhou Li and whispered, "Do you know any sealing Spells?"
"No."
"I do know one, but it's too noisy and might easily cause panic among ordinary people afterward," Yin Le explained, eyeing the sleek Demon in front of them. "I guess it's very fast; you'd better activate some kind of defensive Spell in advance."
"…I don't know any either."
"Then what do you know?"
"To gather Spiritual Power, compress it, and shoot it out."
"Now is not the time for jokes."
"Is it not…"
"You can't be serious?"
"I'm serious."
"You don't know anything else?"
"Nothing else."
"What kind of trash Spell is that! Anyone can do that…"
Zhou Li silently looked towards Huai Xu.
Huai Xu, sitting on the rooftop, stopped swinging his legs and immediately retorted, "What are you talking about! How is that not a Spell? Just because a Spell is simple doesn't mean it's not a Spell! Do you understand the principle that 'greatness lies in simplicity'? Do you understand being straightforward and forceful?"
Yin Le fell silent, then told Zhou Li, "Don't stray too far from me; we'll just hang back."
Zhou Li nodded.
Meanwhile, Liu Chu had already charged forward.
The Demon too, baring its teeth, pounced towards him.
Their speeds were so fast it was hard to see them clearly. In moments, the courtyard was filled with flying sand and swirling leaves, and objects like lamp posts, stone plinths, and sculptures shattered to bits at the slightest touch!
Yin Le then raised his hands. A red light rose from all around, forming a dome that seemed to divide the courtyard into a small, separate world.
The red light was extremely hot, and the surrounding vegetation looked as if it were being roasted by fire.
"SWIPE!"
A paper knife flew from his hand directly towards the Demon, igniting instantly upon striking.
Zhou Li heard the Demon's scream.
With Yin Le and Liu Chu coordinating, the Demon soon sustained injuries, but that only made it more ferocious. Liu Chu could have completely suppressed it initially, but when the Demon stopped caring about its own life, it was able to fight Liu Chu on equal footing.
"HISS!"
"BANG!"
The Demon clawed Liu Chu, leaving a deep gash. In return, Liu Chu swung his staff, knocking the Demon flying back.
The thick stone steps were smashed to pieces!
Struggling to rise, the Demon suddenly turned its head, looking past Liu Chu towards the two humans.
SWIPE!
It transformed into a blur!
Yin Le calmly raised a hand, firing several paper projectiles to block the Demon. But the Demon, giving its all, dodged most of them, and the few that hit failed to stop it.
Flames blazed all over it as it crashed forward, heedless of the consequences.
Yin Le turned his head, just about to warn Zhou Li to dodge, when he felt an overwhelming Spiritual Power gathering—
BOOM!
It was like a tidal wave crashing onto the shore, unstoppable.
The Demon's body seemed so flimsy that when it was struck, it even broke through the high-temperature Barrier set up by Yin Le.
"?? "
Yin Le stiffly turned his head. He saw Zhou Li slowly exhaling a long breath and then slowly opening his eyes. This eyes-closed, trashy move reminded him of high school girls fighting.
Looking up again, he saw the Demon called Huai Xu still sitting steadily on the rooftop, even giving him a slight eyebrow raise.
Liu Chu was the first to leap out. Soon, he came back carrying the defeated Demon, his wounds oozing mercury-like blood.
"Thank you both so much!"
"You're welcome."
"Now that this matter is resolved, I must return to report. I will also seriously address the concerns you raised."
"Thank you."
"Of course, of course."
"Your wounds…"
"It's nothing. This happens all the time."
Liu Chu chatted with them a bit more before leaving. Zhou Li did most of the talking, while Yin Le kept a straight face. As Liu Chu walked away, he even turned back to remind them to handle the aftermath.
By now, the surroundings were dusty, the vegetation was charred and even burning, and everything was in shambles. Zhou Li really didn't know how to deal with it all.
"What should we do?"
"Let them clean it up themselves," Yin Le said, evidently having some experience. "We shouldn't have fought here; we should have gone to a deserted place. Now, we can only try to ensure as few people as possible know about this. If we scare them a bit, that should basically keep it from spreading."
"Let's put out the fire first."
"I'll do it."
With a wave of his hand, Yin Le conjured a wind that extinguished the fire. Then he consoled Zhou Li, "Don't worry too much. As long as this family doesn't report this to the police as a serious matter, then even if a video of it makes it online and sounds convincing, nobody will believe it."
"Got it."
Then they spent some time explaining the situation to Hu Xing and Hu Jin, trying to keep them from panicking and to ensure their cooperation in keeping the matter secret.
The sky had gradually darkened.
Hu Jin suggested hosting a dinner that evening to thank them, but both declined, wanting to let him focus on handling the situation.
Then Hu Jin gave them red envelopes. Yin Le insisted on refusing his, offering reasons that left Hu Jin without a counterargument. Zhou Li, however, accepted his.
「Eight o'clock at night.」
They walked side by side on the streets of the small county town. Streetlights stretched out one by one, seemingly to the horizon. There were people and cars around, yet it felt exceptionally quiet.
Zhou Li suddenly broke the silence. "Isn't it surprising? I actually found a police officer among Demons."
"A bit."
"Actually, Demons are not much different from humans. There are some utterly reprehensible humans, detested by all other humans, and there are also Demons who bleed and get injured fighting against those lunatics."
"Don't preach," said Yin Le.
"Anyway, thank you." Yin Le took a breath. "Chunming turned out to be much more dangerous than I thought. I'll be more careful in the future. But as for letting go of my prejudices against Demons and interacting with them like you do, I can't do that."
"Okay," Zhou Li nodded. "Are you going back to Chunming tonight?"
"I don't want to travel back at night. What about you? How about we find a barbecue stall, have a few drinks, and then head back in the morning?"
"I need to go back. Our academy is having its sports meet tomorrow."
"Did you sign up for any events?"
"Yes."
"For what?"
"The 100 meters, shot put, and 3000 meters."
"Do you need me to cheer you on?"
"Not nece— well, just come if you want," Zhou Li quickly amended. "We can have dinner here, but I'm not drinking alcohol."
"Alright! Juice works too!"
So, Zhou Li, with Huai Xu in tow, and Yin Le found a barbecue stall. They casually talked about being considered weirdos as kids and about industrial-scale barbecues in the Northeast, but mostly, they ate in silence.
So Yin Le could eat just fine even with Huai Xu around!
After eating, he caught a taxi back to Chunming.
The light inside the taxi was dim, and the window glass reflected their shadows.
Huai Xu gazed out the window, criticizing Zhou Li for being extravagant with money. "I heard Brother Nan mention something called ride-sharing, where you only have to pay for gas. Taking a cab all the way to school like this must cost a fortune!"
Incredibly, in just half a year, this old monster had thoroughly integrated into modern society.
Zhou Li silently opened the red envelope he had received earlier.
Inside was a bank card.
The amount was double what he had received last time.
It seemed the commotion they caused today had really scared the two brothers. He could almost imagine them looking at the pile of rubble, exchanging glances, wondering how much money they should offer.
"How much did we make this time?" Huai Xu asked eagerly.
"A lot."
"How much?"
"Much more than the taxi fare."
"You still need to save, or even mountains of gold and silver will be depleted," Huai Xu muttered under his breath.
"We'll just cut down on snacks in the future."
"That won't do!"
Zhou Li smiled quietly.
The taxi drove directly back to the school.
There was a flag-raising ceremony scheduled for the next morning. Zhou Li took his school uniform out of the closet and sniffed it—it had a woody scent. He had worn the uniform a couple of times since military training ended but hadn't washed it yet.