Chapter 148: Heewa is Back

"Hello there..."

The Groot-like treant slowly turned his head, greeting Li Changluo and Xiao Qing.

"Hello..."

Xiao Qing smoothed her hair and smiled brightly at the treant. Then, she hoisted the treant up a bit higher...

In the tavern's main hall, Xiao Qing and Li Changluo, two demons, carried the treant together, one in front and one in the back, trudging laboriously toward the door...

"So rude..."

The treant spoke in a slow, drawn-out manner. It took a long time for the expression of anger to slowly form on his face...

He was like a character in a slow-motion movie, every single word and movement agonizingly slow.

Struggling under his weight, Li Changluo and Xiao Qing carried him, inching their way outside the tavern's front doors. The treant was genuinely heavy; even with Xiao Qing's superhuman strength as a maiden of might, supporting him around the middle was quite a workout...

"Changluo, can you get down?"

"With you clinging like that, I feel like you weigh a ton."

Xiao Qing lifted the treant monster high with one hand...

She tilted her head and looked in puzzlement at Li Changluo, who was gripping the treant's neck for dear life...

Her expression seemed to say...

Huh, why is your method of carrying a treant so unconventional?

Shouldn't you be holding him up like me?

Li Changluo wore a look of utter despair as he gazed at Xiao Qing...

He had originally intended to lift the treant from the behind so they could march in unison, calling out a rhythmic cadence...

Yet the moment he grabbed the treant monster, the freakishly strong Xiao Qing had hoisted both the tree and him straight up into the air...

Frightened out of his wits, he had no choice but to wrap his arms tightly around the treant's neck...

What an innocent yet deranged snake spirit...

If you take out life insurance, you definitely need to buy multiple policies when teaming up with her.

And so...

Xiao Qing trudged toward the tavern doors, carrying both the treant and Li Changluo...

After flinging aside a few improperly parked vehicles to clear a path directly bathed in sunlight, she finally set the treant and Li Changluo down with care...

By dropping them flat on their faces onto the ground.

"..."

The treant monster slowly lowered his head to gaze at the two demons before him, his eyes gradually filling with horror.

"Are you craving a round of photosynthesis?"

Li Changluo was quite pleased with his own idea...

Sitting in the tavern all day without catching any sun must be terrible for your mood. I've graciously helped you relocate free of charge, aren't you happy?

"I want..."

***

The treant monster slowly raised a hand that looked like withered vines...

"If you want to, just sunbathe a little longer. Look at how clear and bright the sky over Licheng is. Go on and absorb nature's bounty to your heart's content..."

"However..."

"Would it be a waste not to finish the food on your table? We'll reluctantly help you clear that up..."

"Don't thank me, I'm Zheng Qiguai, a waiter here at the tavern. The customer is god, my friend..."

Facing the treant monster's gradually intensifying glare, Li Changluo felt deeply gratified. This was him being considerate to customers on his very first day of work...

And without hogging the glory, he was even sharing the credit with his colleague...

Damn, I really am a model employee...

Seeing the treant slowly raise his hand, Li Changluo cheerfully leaped up and gave him a high five...

With that done, he called Xiao Qing back inside the tavern.

"I'll beat you..."

Watching the two little demons retreat into the distance, a tear welled up in the treant monster's eye...

His raised hand slowly and lazily slapped at the empty air before him.

He felt an endless wave of grief in his heart: Why couldn't you people just let me finish my sentence?

The tavern was quiet, and the job of a waiter was quite leisurely...

Only during the monthly monster banquets would the various demons gather in the tavern to drink heartily and enjoy the feast...

The days when missions were issued also brought a lively bustle to the tavern.

Normally, however, the tavern was mostly visited by lone travelers—scattered demons coming to redeem their mission rewards for food and drink...

Aside from serving dishes and running errands, Li Changluo didn't actually have much to do.

What he felt was unfair, though, was that Zheng Qiguai, the tavern's other waiter, hadn't even shown his face from morning till night...

As expected, senior employees always throw their weight around...

Better not provoke them, better not provoke them.

As for Miss Ming Shan, she seemed to prefer hiding in the back kitchen, scrolling through food short videos and learning to cook internet-famous dishes. She appeared somewhat obsessed with cooking...

It was only poor Ah Huang that suffered...

Since it wasn't a monster, it could...

Freely serve as a guinea pig for tasting dishes...

Centried braised bullfrog, aloe-stir-fried tree roots, snake-skin spring rolls—Ah Huang was left questioning its existence as a dog...

Lin Dandan spent the entire day stationed behind the cash register, busy with his schoolbag "homework," occasionally settling the tavern's inventory of food and drink for guests...

Xiao Qing was absent-mindedly helping the proprietress tidy up her room. This empty-headed snake demon had somehow been won over by the boss, her favorability toward the white lotus maxed out entirely...

Still, for homeless Xiao Qing, compared to her previous life of wandering in destitution and fleeing from monster hunters outside, the proprietress's willingness to take her in at the tavern...

That was the ultimate bribe for her.

Meanwhile, a deeply bored Li Changluo had been lying facedown on the Eight Immortals table all afternoon...

***

Looking around the tavern at the various busy demons, Li Changluo always felt like someone was missing.

Night was gradually falling as well...

"What's wrong, can't take it after just one day?"

At that moment, Zheng Qiguai, the tavern waiter, sauntered over swaying his waist and curling his pinky finger, tapping on the table in front of Li Changluo.

"..."

Li Changluo noticed a rhinestone falling onto the table, shaken loose from Zheng Qiguai's fingernail...

"Oh dear, this wretched manicurist, the quality is just too poor..."

Zheng Qiguai distressedly picked up the rhinestone that had just dropped off his nail from the table-tapping.

"Bro, I can tolerate diamonds on your fingernails, but having diamonds on your face... is that just for saving face?"

Li Changluo noticed that Zheng Qiguai's face was also encrusted with rhinestones, sparkling brilliantly under the tavern candlelight...

"Less smart talk. Let me ask you, did the proprietress tell you to—ahem, is that task finished?"

Zheng Qiguai spoke carefully, terrified that the pink diamond he had just glued to his face might fall off.

"All done."

Li Changluo replied with a cheeky grin.

"Then, was that little demon caught and brought back to her?"

Zheng Qiguai asked again.

"You mean Pig Leftover?"

Li Changluo said.

"Pig Leftover?"

No expression could be discerned on Zheng Qiguai's diamond-studded face.

"Help! Cannibals are eating cannibals..."

Right at that moment, however, Heiwa came tumbling and crawling into the tavern from outside, looking flustered and panicked...

He flopped flat onto the ground, panting heavily...

"Old Hei, why are you only just back? I knew someone was missing..."

Li Changluo felt not an ounce of guilt toward Heiwa. He cheerfully went to help him up, attempting to win back Heiwa's forgiveness with a friendly smile...

"Outside... the Guardians of the Galaxy are outside, making cats and dogs terrified..."

Heiwa pointed toward the tavern's front doors, lingering fear evident in his eyes as he butchered a four-character idiom to express his current state of mind...

"Terrified to the bone!?"