Zhou Li leaned on the mop and began to type.

Zhou Li: Is there good news?

Yin Le: Saved you a lot of trouble.

Zhou Li: What about you?

Yin Le: Me? Exhausted with a capital 'E.' *sighs*

Zhou Li: I've troubled you too much.

Yin Le: *sighs*

Zhou Li: I'll definitely treat you to a meal when I get back.

Yin Le: Okay.

Zhou Li thought about it again, glancing sideways at Huai Xu wiping the floor with a rag. He should still ask about Yin Le's situation, otherwise it might seem neglectful.

So he asked, "Is the negotiation going smoothly?"

Yin Le: The progress is smooth, but there's someone with a not-so-great brain and a fiery temper. You might have trouble with them later.

Zhou Li: Lacking society's harsh lessons?

Yin Le: The way you describe it...

Zhou Li: Learned it from Brother Nan.

Yin Le: A pretty accurate description.

Zhou Li: Brother Nan will protect me.

Yin Le: …

Yin Le: I think the establishment of the Heavenly Master Department might happen faster than I initially thought, including the other matters we discussed previously. I feel the government's attitude is more urgent than I expected.

Zhou Li: Because they realize that a Heavenly Master's abilities can be used for more than just combating Demons?

Yin Le: Exactly.

Zhou Li pondered for a few seconds, then continued to type.

He had just tapped the screen a few times when he saw Huai Xu push the rag over to him, stop wiping the floor, and stare at him skeptically—the diligent Huai Xu had already cleaned half of the living room floor.

"What's wrong? Staring at me," Zhou Li asked.

"I suspect you're playing tricks!"

"What kind of tricks?"

"The trick of slacking off—your stupid cat made such a mess on the floor, and you're tricking me into cleaning it up alone!"

"Okay, okay…"

Could such a tactic really be so transparent?

Zhou Li shook his head, deleted the words he had just typed, and held up his phone to take a short video for Yin Le, speaking as he filmed, "I'm cleaning. Today, Tuanzi made a mess with my clay everywhere. Huai Xu has already cleaned up half of it and just expressed his dissatisfaction with me. I'll talk more after I finish."

Yin Le: You're the one having fun.

Yin Le: You go ahead and get busy. I'm going into a meeting now.

Zhou Li: Okay.

He pocketed his phone and started mopping the floor. A glance to the side showed the old monster's expression had finally balanced.

While mopping, he continued to think.

Without a doubt, Heavenly Masters were a very special force.

Perhaps in this era, ordinary Heavenly Masters might not be as effective on the battlefield. Maybe only a First-Generation Celestial Master like Yin Le, after mastering their potential, could possess combat power far stronger than most tactical forces—like destroying an armored unit or several main battleships. But for now, they were relatively small fry. However, this did not mean they were weak.

Because Heavenly Masters are human.

This was an infinitely great advantage.

In ancient times, Master Ming presided, prohibiting Heavenly Masters from participating in human conflicts, which is why these battlefield deities left so few traces.

What about now?

Rely on Zhou Li?

He wasn't exactly a walking nuclear arsenal right now.

Zhou Li started to dig into his memories—how did Heavenly Masters and secular powers coexist before Master Ming reached his full potential?

He realized that there seemed to be no such records because Master Ming's era was too ancient, and many things, even if recorded, were hard to pass down. However, rumors from around the world during that time always mentioned extraordinary humans; even rulers of some places and eras were not ordinary people.

Of course, it's different now.

Fortunately, there were other differences; at least the prospect of being forcibly conscripted seemed very slim.

"You're mopping over my feet!"

Huai Xu's voice interrupted his thoughts.

Zhou Li uttered an "Oh" and hurriedly moved the mop away, then shook his head, clearing his mind of cluttered thoughts.

National affairs, why should he worry about them?

「Half an hour later.」

Zhou Li leaned on the mop and let out a long sigh of relief.

The room had returned to its clean state. Even the plum blossom marks on the ceiling had been wiped away by Huai Xu—thankfully, it was clay and not ordinary mud or ink, so even smeared on the ceiling, it was easy to clean, leaving no trace once wiped off.

They also took the chance to do a thorough cleaning.

"PHEW..."

Zhou Li then turned his attention to the coffee table, where a lump of clay mauled by Tuanzi lay.

And he quickly realized that the lump of clay seemed…

"This is…" he asked, looking towards Tuanzi.

Tuanzi said with a face full of pride, "This is a bowl that Lord Dumpling spent the whole afternoon making!"

Zhou Li was silent.

He sneakily glanced at the bowl.

It was a messy, indescribable… object. But if you looked closely, it was taller around the edges and lower in the center, indeed able to hold something. A plum blossom-shaped paw print was pressed into the side, like her 'trademark'.

Zhou Li, whose retribution was never delayed, said, "Get Huai Xu to help you fire it. From now on, you'll use this thing to eat at home."

"You can also use it when going out!" Tuanzi declared seriously.

"Going out…"

Forget about going out. Zhou Li was thin-skinned; he couldn't afford to lose face like that.

So he thought for a moment and said, "This bowl is too heavy to take out; it's inconvenient. Let's just use the disposable little plates from before."

"Oh~~"

"Remember to take care of the house's cleanliness in the future. Look how hard Huai Xu and I worked cleaning today; it's all because Lord Dumpling made a mess." Zhou Li picked up the now-clean Tuanzi and started lecturing her.

"I got it~~"

"I heard there's an evil Demon that eats Little Demons who don't like to stay clean. If it finds out…"

"Lord Dumpling is a Great Demon! Afraid of no one!!"

"The king of lip service."

"MEOW MEOW?"

Zhou Li placed her on his lap, rubbing her soft little belly while he took out his phone and sent a message to Brother Nan.

There was no reply. She was definitely not asleep. Probably taking advantage of being tipsy to wreak havoc in the game's valley.

Zhou Li felt a bit weary at heart and turned to WeChat to chat with Sister Hong Ran. He mentioned a few things about the progress of setting up the Heavenly Master Department but didn't say much. Humans and Demons were two bowls of water that still needed to be balanced carefully, and being in the middle, he had to be extra cautious.

Soon, the topic shifted to other miscellaneous, ordinary casual chats between close friends.

Huai Xu sat beside him, sneaking a peek.

Tuanzi lay quietly in his arms, her big eyes staring at his face illuminated by the phone screen, occasionally pestering him.

The light flickered, and time slowly passed.

It wasn't until he had taken a bath and lay in bed that Zhou Li realized this was yet another day without studying.

So he quickly grabbed a book from the bedside table and symbolically read a couple of pages, but soon he was yawning incessantly. It's not good to read when you're tired, and it's bad for your eyes at night, he told himself, and closed the book to sleep, deciding to postpone today's study to tomorrow morning, as tomorrow was Saturday and he had no class.

...

「Saturday.」

Zhou Li went to Dian Lake early in the morning with Brother Nan for a relaxing time. They also brought a lot of food, laid out a picnic blanket, and sat enjoying the breeze.

The weather today was as good as ever. The sky was a brilliant blue, lighter at the horizon, adorned with clouds—some big and fluffy, some strung out in a line, and some in many small clusters huddled together, resembling scenes right out of a cartoon.

Brother Nan raised her hand, and a seagull swooped down to snatch the bread from her hand.

"These creatures are actually not afraid of people!"

"They must be used to it."

Zhou Li watched this exceptionally vibrant and sunny girl. She had forgotten her resolution from the day before to catch a seagull to stew. She was excited, her clean face displaying a childlike, pure happiness.

"Brother Nan."

"What's up?"

"Can I borrow your leg to rest my head on?"

"Why?" Brother Nan tilted her head, looking somewhat puzzled. "Don't you have your own legs?"

"I…"

Zhou Li ended up resting his head on Brother Nan's long legs.

Lying back, he watched the sky, feeling the warmth of Brother Nan's thigh, watching the bread crumbs she held and the flying seagulls, watching her laughter, watching the clouds slowly drift across the sky. It felt as if everything else had faded away, leaving only this moment, which was more beautiful than he had ever felt before... even as Brother Nan cursed that a bird might poop on his face.

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