My Demon Friends-Chapter 606 - 580: Undercurrents

「March 7, Sunday afternoon.」

Seizing the fresh start of the new semester, Yin Le invited Zhou Li out for a small gathering.

Zhou Li hadn't arrived yet, but Yin Le had already eaten half of his blueberry lemon cake. Xiao Hua and Su Jue were sitting beside him.

"I didn't expect Senior Brother Yin to actually like cake," Xiao Hua said with a smile. "I thought you'd prefer to meet at night for barbecue."

"Is that not allowed?"

"Not that it isn't allowed, it just feels a bit out of character…" Xiao Hua said.

Yin Le remained silent.

Just then, a figure pushed the door open. He wore a black T-shirt and jeans, was tall and slender, and had a crew cut that looked freshly trimmed. However, even the short haircut couldn't detract from his handsome features; instead, it lent him an air of sunny charm. He attracted the gazes of many young girls the moment he entered.

"Senior Brother Zhou Li!" Xiao Hua hurriedly waved.

"Long time no see." Zhou Li sat down beside them and asked in a low voice, "When did you come back to school?"

"At the end of last month," Xiao Hua said. "Senior Brother Yin called us back."

"Me too," Su Jue said, his voice even quieter than Zhou Li's.

"Don't blame me; I had no choice." Yin Le spread his hands in a helpless gesture, still biting on the small spoon he'd used for his cake. "I've been way too busy and severely short-handed. I only took three days off over the New Year and have been running all over Caiyun since. I had no choice but to call you guys back."

"Mm-hmm," Xiao Hua nodded.

"You look like you've lost some weight, Xiao Hua," Zhou Li smiled faintly.

"Not at all." Xiao Hua was delighted and promptly returned the compliment, "Senior Brother, you've gotten a lot more handsome."

"No such thing."

Zhou Li was sincere in his reply.

After selecting a jasmine matcha cake at the counter, he carried it back and continued, "Brother Nan was just saying yesterday that the club should get together. I didn't expect you guys to invite me out today."

Xiao Hua's eyes lit up. "A get-together? Great! When?"

"I don't know."

Yin Le then said, "Your girlfriend is quite fierce. If you two stay together, she'll break your legs sooner or later."

Zhou Li did not respond. You wouldn't dare say that in front of Brother Nan, he thought.

As he was finishing his cake, Yin Le slowed down, savoring the sweetness and sourness on his tongue, along with the fragrance of lemon and blueberry. The taste was light and not at all greasy. Then he said, "I asked you out today not just to catch up. There's something else I need to discuss."

What's there to catch up on… Zhou Li felt a bit exasperated. Hadn't they just chatted on WeChat two days ago? And what couldn't be said over WeChat?

Unembarrassed, Yin Le continued, deliberately lowering his voice to sound profound, though it only came off as a bit childish, "Lately, the Yu Country demons have been quite active. You've sensed it too, haven't you?"

"I've heard about it."

"I noticed it last month," Yin Le said gravely. "Chunming is still somewhat better. But a little farther from Chunming, demons fly over from time to time. Occasionally, they descend as if searching for something."

"Huai Xu said the same thing. Plus, many Great Demons have been coming and going in Chunming."

"Many Great Demons..."

Yin Le felt a chill. "Do you think it could be that matter?"

Beside them, Su Jue and Xiao Hua lowered their heads and focused on eating their cake, pretending they hadn't heard anything.

"Not sure," Zhou Li said, his expression normal. "Huai Xu was also very interested in this before, but even after a long investigation, he found nothing. The demons he could reach who were involved in this matter were tight-lipped. You know that once demons swear not to say something, they absolutely won't speak of it. He even suspects many of the demons themselves don't know what they're searching for."

"I'm very worried," Yin Le said with a heavy expression. "I'm worried they'll find out."

"That's your business. I'm not clear on it."

Yin Le sighed and changed the subject. "Our intelligence indicates that the Demon Kingdom across the sea is steadily increasing its infiltration of human nations. It might be because more demons are awakening and their power structure is becoming more complete... Have I ever mentioned to you that they have significant influence within the human nations under their jurisdiction? Many influential figures in business and politics are connected to them."

He paused for a moment, glanced at Su Jue and Xiao Hua, and continued, "You know that one of the most powerful human nations lies almost entirely within their territory... If this continues, it will be dangerous."

"Your intelligence?" Zhou Li was taken aback.

"The national intelligence department," Yin Le explained. "It's not like it is here. Over there, demons and humans interact more frequently, so ordinary intelligence personnel might encounter them. When they find something odd, they share the intelligence with us, and we analyze the results."

"I see..."

"If only the other Demon Kingdoms were as amiable as Yu Country," Yin Le couldn't help but sigh.

"You're just realizing that now?"

"Yeah..." Yin Le mumbled. He finished his cake, scraped the cream off the plate, threw it and the spoon into the trash can, and then started to chat casually. "Are your classes heavy this term?"

"Not sure yet."

"Did you fail any classes last term?"

"No, I got lucky. I barely passed both subjects." Zhou Li glanced at him. "What's up?"

"I failed three subjects. It's so annoying."

"You're not worried, so are you just humblebragging?"

"I'm not worried about failing, but I genuinely liked this major. I enrolled in the program I loved." Yin Le sighed. "It feels like my whole university experience is going to waste."

"That's tough."

「An hour later.」

Yin Le said to Xiao Hua and Su Jue, "You two go back first. Zhou Li and I will walk for a bit."

They both obediently agreed and left.

Zhou Li looked left and right along the roadside, asking curiously, "Why didn't you ride your motorcycle today?"

"I crashed it. It's being repaired."

"I just got my D license."

"Thinking of buying a motorcycle?"

"Brother Nan dragged me along to take the test."

"That explains it." Yin Le glanced at Zhou Li. "Is your girlfriend back at school yet?"

"Not yet. She's at my place. Her 'aunt' is visiting, so she doesn't want to go out."

"Her 'aunt' is visiting?"

"Haven't you been in a relationship?"

Yin Le fell silent for a moment before getting straight to the point: "If they really find out about the Demon King, then it's all over. The Demon Kingdom closest to humans might also turn hostile. Considering the relationships between the Demon Kingdoms, it would surely incite resentment among the others. A war could break out, especially since things have been so chaotic these past few years."

"How did they find out?"

"Could it have been leaked by other descendants?"

"Not very likely," Zhou Li said after a moment's reflection. "If they had learned this news, even if they didn't go completely berserk, there would have been undercurrents stirring long before now."

"Hong Ran is the one in power now..."

"Demons aren't as prone to scheming and internal strife as we humans are." Zhou Li understood his meaning. "And from what I know of her, although she's gentle and seems to dislike conflict, she's very straightforward. If she knew this, she wouldn't be able to tolerate it; she most likely wouldn't choose to suppress the information."

"Then what could it be?"

Hmm... Zhou Li thought of Shui Zhenzhu's book. After a slight hesitation, he mentioned it.

But mentioning it was pointless, as no one knew what Shui Zhenzhu's book actually recorded. It might or might not be related to Shui Zhenzhu's book. However, one thing was certain: if the book had stated that 'the Demon King was sealed and suppressed by a human nation somewhere,' Lord Yue Yin's reaction wouldn't have been shock, but rage.

This puzzle wasn't easy to solve.

Yin Le was silent for a long while. He chatted a bit more with Zhou Li, then changed the subject again: "A Heavenly Master from America said they suspect demons might be researching methods to turn humans into demons."

"Yu Country has had this technology for a while now."

"They've most likely obtained this technology from Yu Country and are now researching how to implement it on a large scale."

Zhou Li's eyes widened in disbelief.

Yin Le nodded, his expression also very grave. He let out a long, heavy sigh. "Humans have two ultimate dreams: one is immortality, and the other is flight. If one day these dreams could come true, nothing would stop people from pursuing them..."

He looked at Zhou Li. "Not even you."

Zhou Li blinked, still in shock.

Was this one of the 'countermeasures' devised by the Demon Kingdoms? Truly insane and audacious.