Confrontation

Xu Shulou looked into Yue'er's round eyes that looked like a young deer: "Since we know that the Demon Lord has no intention of starting a war, we will naturally not break off our relationship with you because of our status."

Yue Er didn't have any complicated thoughts. When she heard her say that, she immediately believed it and became happy: "You really want to be friends with me?"

Xu Shulou smiled with his eyes: "Yeah."

Yue'er lowered her head and said, "Thank you. I haven't had many friends since I was a child."

Bai Roushuang looked at her sensitively, then shook her head, laughing at herself for overthinking. Yue'er was a girl with a clear mind, and she said whatever she thought. How could she have so many little tricks to pretend to be pitiful and gain sympathy?

"Most demons are actually very peace-loving," Yue'er said softly, "So when I first went to the cultivation world, I was very sad to hear them slandering the demons. I even wanted to invite them to see it with their own eyes to eliminate their prejudice, but I knew they wouldn't agree."

“…”

"Luckily I met you guys," Yue'er said with lingering fear, "Now that I think about it, I realize how dangerous it was. If I died in the cultivation world, my father would have to avenge me no matter how much he loved peace. Who knows what kind of chaos would happen in the two worlds by then?"

The world of cultivation is indeed too dangerous for the demons. It is certainly not wrong for cultivators to be on guard against the demons. If they want to resolve their prejudice, they must first clear the demon world's bad reputation. However, the demon world's bad reputation is actually a kind of protection for the demons. The two sides must be wary of each other in order to maintain a delicate balance.

If she told Lu Beichen everything from the bottom of her heart like Ling Yuechan in the dream, and if she was used by someone with ulterior motives, it would only lead to a tragedy.

Xu Shulou was unable to comfort them for the moment, so he just nodded and said, "Since both Taoists and demons have the opportunity to practice and ascend, perhaps there is not much difference between them. It's just that many people now believe that 'those who are not of my race must have different hearts', and the hatred accumulated over thousands of years is not so easy to eliminate."

Bai Roushuang blinked: "Some things cannot be concluded without seeing them with one's own eyes. At least after we visited the Demon Realm, we know why you are so attached to the delicacies of the mortal world."

Yue Er couldn't help but laugh, then frowned a little after a moment, as if she was worried. "In fact, not all demons like to stay out of the world of cultivation. There is a demon king under my father's command who doesn't believe in my father's decisions. He has gathered a group of low-level demons who are almost insane. My father is always worried that he will do something irrational. My father asked you to come here, probably because of this person."

Bai Roushuang laughed: "Master Demon must be planning to wait until we get to know each other better before asking my senior sister. Yue'er, why did you directly tell her his intention?"

Yue'er's eyes widened: "We are friends, aren't we?"

Xu Shulou ruffled her bangs. The defenseless Yue'er in front of him indeed resembled the saint who revealed the secrets of the demon world to Lu Beichen in the dream.

The two stayed in the Demon Palace for a few days, and Bai Roushuang gradually let down her guard. She was no longer as jumpy as when she first arrived. At least she no longer asked if anything she saw was made of human skin.

Apart from the fact that the lack of sunlight made her difficult to adapt to, there was actually no big difference between the demon world and the mortal world. For example, every morning there was a creature similar to a yellow dog, which howled to wake everyone up, just like the crowing of a rooster in the mortal world, except that this yellow dog was a little more ferocious. If there were still people who hadn't woken up after barking three times, it would break in and bite them one by one.

On the third day of their stay here, the yellow dog mysteriously disappeared, causing everyone to sleep in. The demon servant couldn't find it anywhere and was wondering if it had been killed by the brutal Xu Shulou. After searching for a while, he found it sleeping soundly in Xu Shulou's arms.

The demon servant woke him up unhappily. The yellow dog looked at him with contempt, with an attitude in his eyes that said, "I called you before because I couldn't sleep either. Now that I can sleep, who will bother with you?"

Xu Shulou stroked its head and put it on the ground. It wagged its tail, gathered its strength and jumped onto her knees, then lay down to rest.

Xu Shulou was a little amused: "Maybe it's because I burned the calming incense in my room, so it came last night and refused to leave."

The demon servant sneered twice, grabbed the useless thing by the scruff of the neck, and trotted out of Xu Shulou's room.

Before Xu Shulou and the others came, Yue'er was indeed quite lonely. When she was bored, she would often climb out of the well alone to poke cochineal insects. The insects' skin was quite elastic, and each poke left a hole. After the two of them came, the cochineal insects temporarily escaped and jumped around in the yard more wildly and lively.

There are many strange-shaped mushrooms planted in the garden of the Demon Palace for decoration. Some are as small as rings, and some are as big as pavilions. They can easily bear the weight of a person. Occasionally, Xu Shulou, his junior sister, and Yue'er will sit on the mushroom caps and chat.

Yue'er told them that some demons couldn't afford to build houses, so they would look for this giant mushroom, hollow out a hole in the mushroom stem, and then live in it.

"This thing is pretty good," Xu Shulou commented, "Can I take one away?"

"No problem, you are my friend, it's okay for you to empty our garden."

Xu Shulou felt melancholy and wanted to remind her not to be so open-hearted to someone once she had chosen him/her.

"Do you usually eat mushrooms?" Bai Roushuang asked suddenly.

"Yes," Yue'er nodded, "I eat both poisonous and non-poisonous ones, but they are not very delicious."

"Let me teach you a few ways to cook mushrooms," Bai Roushuang said with a smile, "I guarantee they'll be better than your stuffed mushrooms."

"Really?" Yue'er cheered and hugged her. Xu Shulou watched the scene with a smile.

What Yue'er said was right. As expected, after staying in the Demon Palace for a few days, the Demon Lord formally hosted a banquet to entertain Xu Shulou and Bai Roushuang, and brought up the matter of the Demon Lord during the banquet.

Xu Shulou took a few bites of some of the dishes on the banquet that looked relatively normal in appearance, and when he heard the Demon Lord speak, he put down his chopsticks very naturally.

The Demon Lord explained the whole story one by one: "This man was originally a member of my command, but later he rebelled and established Xuanyang Palace, calling himself Xuanyang Demon Lord. He has been training the lower-level demons under him. I am afraid that he will develop ambitions that he shouldn't have and bring trouble to the entire demon world, so... I have an unwelcome request. I hope Miss Xu can show up and shock him."

"You want me to intimidate him?" Xu Shulou's expression was indescribable after hearing this. "How come my reputation in the demon world... is even more terrifying than that of you, the Demon Lord?"

"..." The Demon Lord smiled a little embarrassedly, "It's mainly because we are too familiar with each other. He is fearless and knows that I will not use force against him just because of a little friction. Besides, Miss Xu is a cultivator, so our positions are naturally different."

Xu Shulou nodded: "Okay, I'll go take a look."

She came to the Demon Realm to investigate this kind of thing, and now that she has a clue, she naturally has to rush over.

Bai Roushuang had gone to vomit somewhere and was nowhere to be seen. Xu Shulou walked out of the palace alone and found the demon servant waiting for her outside the door: "Miss Xu, are you going to Xuanyang Palace?"

"That's right."

The demon servant looked very embarrassed: "Well, I have a personal grudge against the people there. If you want to go there, can you help me beat someone up?"

"..." Xu Shulou was silent for a moment, "First, tell me what your personal grudge is."

The demon servant immediately came over and whispered to her. At this time, the cook in the Demon Palace kitchen also came over with a kitchen knife in hand: "Girl, I'll go and help you. I've always remembered the grudge they stole my recipe last time!"

Xu Shulou looked at him and asked, "Did you cook all the dishes at the banquet just now?"

"That's right."

Xu Shulou sighed. Stealing the recipes here? Those people from Xuanyang Palace are really crazy.

The cleaning nanny also came over and said, "Young lady, that servant from Xuanyang Palace borrowed a roll of needlework from me and never returned it. Can you help me collect the debt?"

"……no problem."

"Girl, there's me, there's me! The lecherous demon from Xuanyang Palace stole my wife and husband!"

"Hmm?" Xu Shulou glanced sideways, "Wait, let me get some paper and write it down."

Seeing that she took it so seriously, everyone was deeply moved and surrounded her.

Bai Roushuang just accidentally ate something strange at the banquet, and immediately felt a fishy smell rushing to her head. What's even more annoying is that she was clearly eating it after her senior sister, but Xu Shulou didn't change his expression after tasting it, and successfully deceived her junior sister.

At this time, she finished vomiting by leaning against the wall, and came out to look for her senior sister. She saw a group of people gathered in the yard from afar. Adhering to the principle that where there is a bustle, there are senior sisters, she went over and heard someone asking Xu Shulou for help to collect a debt of love. She pricked up her ears and listened. Wow, this Xuanyang Palace has offended all kinds of people in the Demon Palace, from different political views to stealing recipes.

Under the protection of his junior sister, the cook and others, Xu Shulou and his entourage arrived at Xuanyang Palace in a mighty procession.

When Demon Lord Xuanyang heard about it, he immediately came out to greet them, followed by a number of guards. He also led out a few spider demons as protection. The spider demons had human upper bodies replaced by eight spider legs. They walked silently and looked extremely terrifying.

Bai Roushuang stared at them and couldn't help but wonder whether they could spin silk.

Xu Shulou used courtesy before force, and bowed to Xuanyang Demon Lord: "Cultivator Xu Shulou comes to pay a visit."

"Xu Shulou? The Xu Shulou from the cultivation world?" The Demon Lord was confused and uncertain, "When did you come to the Demon World? What are you doing in my Xuanyang Palace?"

Under the other party's terrified gaze, Xu Shulou slowly unfolded a roll of thin silk, cleared his throat, and recited: "On behalf of Lord Demon, Miss Saint, and the demon servant 'Jiji Fujiji'... To be honest, someone should teach them some common sense of the mortal world. Not all names taken from poems are good names... There is also the maid named 'Doesn't Eat Cochineal', the page boy 'The Brave Has No Tears and No Fear', the cleaning nanny 'Glass Heart', the cook 'Your uncle will cut you if you look at me again'... Well, there is also this 'If you dare to hurt me, I will destroy your rectum', 'Li San', eh, what a good mortal name, oh, sorry, I missed it, it's 'Li San·Sex Fades and Love Fades'... All of the above are here to seek revenge on you!"

As she chanted at length, punctuated by a complaint, everyone present yawned. The spider-demons that had been extremely alert had hung themselves upside down on the roof with their eyes open.

Bai Roushuang pinched her thigh, trying hard to keep herself from falling asleep. She felt that this was simply the most frivolous confrontation she had ever participated in with her senior sister.