Chapter 20 - The Demon Sovereign's Best Buddy
In the living room.
Longyue and Lin Fan sat quietly in the living room. The silence made the air feel exceptionally heavy.
Putting aside for a moment how to find a way back to the Immortal Demon Continent, the next problem was probably how to survive in this world.
If by some chance the two great sovereigns of the Immortal and Demon Realms were to starve to death on Blue Star, it would truly be a colossal joke…
Lin Fan looked at a certain green chat software on his phone. After hesitating for a moment, he opened it and logged into his account.
The moment he logged in, the chat list immediately received 99+ chat notifications.
He had been an orphan since childhood, with no parents, so most of the chat messages were greetings and concerns from some friends.
In the year he was missing, most friends had sent one or two messages asking if he was safe. Only one person had sent him a full 99+ messages over the course of the year.
He clicked open the chat box, and messages, each clearly marked with a time, popped up before his eyes.
Starting from the day he disappeared, this person had persisted in sending messages every so often, sometimes after a few minutes, other times after a week or two.
—Lin Fan, what are you doing? Why aren't you replying?
—It's been a day, are you that busy? Don't even have time to look at messages?
—Stop messing around. Remember to reply when you see this. If you dare to play games with me, I won't let you off!
—Hey! Dead or alive, at least let me know!
—I went to your place to look for you, no one was home. Where the hell did you go, you brat?
—Lin Fan, don't do anything rash. There's no hurdle in this world that can't be overcome. Come back quick, your bro will take you for a foot massage.
—The police couldn't find you either. Where on earth did you go?
—Lin Fan, I admit I was the one who secretly drank your calcium milk in the university dorm. You just come back, and I'll compensate you for it!
—Sigh, it's not worth it for that woman! Why couldn't you think it through! So foolish!
—Brother, may your journey be smooth. You must live happily in the other world.
—Brother, I burned several billion for you, a few houses, a few cars. If it's not enough, come back and find me, I'll burn some more.
—…
Looking at the messages on his phone, Lin Fan couldn't help but let a pleased smile tug at his lips. He sent back a message:
—I'm back.
The moment the message was sent, a barrage of replies came in the very next second.
—???
—Holy shit! You really came back to find me!
—Are you alive or dead?
“Would a dead person be sending you messages?”
Lin Fan was speechless, typing out a reply with a smile.
—Damn it! Not a single word from you for a whole year, making me worry for so long.
—Hurry up and tell me, where did you run off to mess around? And you didn't even take me with you!
—Forget it, I'll just go to your place and confront you in person. You're at home now, right?
Lin Fan looked at the message in his hand, then turned his head to glance at Longyue, who was sitting on the side in a daze. After hesitating for a moment, he replied:
—Perfect, I have something I need to see you about too. Let’s meet outside, I’ll send you the address.
—Alright, I'll be there in two minutes!
“Empress, this sovereign is heading out.”
Having arranged the meeting place, Lin Fan put away his phone and opened the door.
“Where are you going?” Longyue asked nervously.
“To see a friend.”
Lin Fan gave a simple reply, then closed the door with a “bang.”
Watching Lin Fan leave, Longyue pouted her lips with dissatisfaction.
That fellow just left her at home all alone…
……
Inside a certain milk tea shop.
A man dressed in a trendy and stylish manner, with his hair combed into slanted bangs, sat by the window. His gaze was fixed on the crowd coming and going outside the shop, as if he were searching for someone’s figure.
Lin Fan pushed open the shop door, saw the man in the corner by the window at a glance, and walked straight over to him.
“Long time no see, Yan Zi.”
Zhou Yan, his best buddy from high school all the way until now.
The two of them went to and from school together, shared the same dormitory, and ate together in the cafeteria. They were as inseparable as body and shadow, and they talked about everything. It was no exaggeration to say that the only thing they didn't do was wear the same pair of pants.
From high school to university, and even after graduation, the two of them often hung out together.
Zhou Yan raised his head and looked at the Lin Fan before him, his expression filled with both surprise and shock.
“You… are you Lin Fan?”
The face of the person before him was undoubtedly that of his familiar good brother, Lin Fan, but the disposition he gave off was completely different from when they had known each other before, as if he had become a different person.
In his impression, Lin Fan’s figure was rather slender, and he usually didn't talk much, belonging to the type that wouldn't stand out at all in a crowd. But the person before him gave him a completely different feeling. His physique was much more robust and muscular, and he even had the inexplicable aura of a gangster boss!
“Who else could it be? We haven’t seen each other for just a year, and you don’t recognize me?”
Lin Fan pulled out a chair and plopped down in front of Zhou Yan.
Zhou Yan repeatedly sized up the Lin Fan before him and couldn't help but blurt out:
“Lin Fan, did you join the triads?”
Lin Fan: “…”
“Why would you ask that?” Lin Fan asked, speechless.
“Hmm… I just feel like you now inexplicably look like a hired thug for the triads, especially in terms of your aura, it’s very similar…!”
“…No, how could I possibly join the triads.”
Lin Fan was awkwardly silent for a moment before denying it.
“That’s true, an honest guy like you who wouldn't even dare to kill a fish, how could you possibly run with the triads, hahaha.”
Zhou Yan was greatly amused by his own naive idea and laughed heartily, while Lin Fan sat silently to the side.
Running around in the Demon Realm… that probably doesn’t count as being in the triads, right…
“Cough cough, Lin Fan, you’re really not cool at all. You disappeared for a whole year and didn’t reply to a single message.”
“You could have at least told me where you went, right?”
Remembering that he had come today to hold him accountable, Zhou Yan quickly put away his smile and glared at Lin Fan with annoyance, his heart full of resentment.
Lin Fan had been missing for a whole year. He had reported it to the police, but they couldn't find him. The police speculated that he had most likely been murdered or had committed suicide and told him to be mentally prepared.
It had caused a grown man like him to hide under his covers in the middle of the night and shed quiet tears…
“Sorry, I went to a very faraway place. It all happened so suddenly, I didn’t have time to tell you,” Lin Fan said apologetically.
After you disappear, to have a good brother who is always thinking about and worrying about you, what more could you ask for?
“A faraway place? Did you go abroad?” Zhou Yan asked curiously.
“Mmm… I guess you could say that.”
Lin Fan gave a sheepish smile and went along with it.
He had no choice. He couldn't possibly tell him that he had actually transmigrated to another world, could he…
Even if he really said it, he probably wouldn't believe it.
“So you went abroad. That’s good too. Going abroad for a change of scenery is not a bad thing.”
Zhou Yan didn't have the slightest doubt. Instead, he looked Lin Fan up and down with a curious gaze and questioned him:
“Lin Fan, did you secretly work out behind my back while you were abroad this past year? How did your physique get so good!”
“I trained just a little bit…” Lin Fan looked down at himself.
When he first landed in the Demon Realm, he was constantly fleeing for his life, starting a period of wilderness survival. To stay alive, he ate whatever he saw, not even hesitating to consume the flesh and blood of demonic beasts and temper his own body with demon blood. Coupled with the constant life-or-death battles against various powerful enemies, he had unknowingly been completely remolded, forging this very physique.
“Holy shit! Rock-solid! This is the real deal!”
“They say working out can change your disposition, it seems it’s true…!”
Zhou Yan reached out and felt Lin Fan’s firm chest, his face full of envy. He immediately swore an oath:
“Damn it, starting tomorrow, I’m going to start working out too!”
“Lin Fan, you can be my training partner. When the time comes, the two of us will take off our shirts and stand on the street. We’ll surely charm all the young ladies to death, hahaha.”
As he spoke, Zhou Yan himself couldn't help but let out a lecherous laugh.
Lin Fan couldn't help but laugh along with him.
To him, it felt as if several hundred years had already passed, but here, only a single year had gone by. His old friend hadn't changed a bit.
It has to be said, this was truly something to be very thankful for…