Ever since arriving here years ago, he'd always had only one goal in mind: to grow powerful enough to defend himself with ease, then find a mountain to live a solitary, peaceful life on. Now in the Demon Realm, his ultimate goal was the same, but he'd have to first escape this place. But now...somehow, as he sprinkled in some more Black Lichen, a new goal budded in his heart:
He would go and make sure Li Chenyuan was all right first thing after escaping this place. And...perhaps spend some time with him.
Just to make sure he's okay and all, Qiu Yunru thought quickly to himself.
After all, that guy could be rather pitiful sometimes, couldn't he? He'd fallen over himself and gotten himself nearly killed on so many missions. Who knew how he'd handle being thrown in prison? He'd probably barely be able to defend himself! And what if there were thugs and bullies in prison? Qiu Yunru really needed to get there quickly and make sure he was all right!
Later, Liao Li and Qiu Yunru sat in the center of the tidied mud hut. It was a difficult place to tidy; the most they had been able to do was the clean up all of the excess straw, scrub some bloodstains off the ground, and wipe the strangely sticky red walls down with water and charcoal. There wasn't a single piece of furniture inside, so they'd laid down their thin bedrolls and built two stools and a crude, crooked table out of some wood. This was their headquarters now.
Drinking some Black Lichen tea, Qiu Yunru looked around and sighed despondently. This really wasn't his aesthetic at all. Ideally, he would eventually be able to live in a vibrant, quiet bamboo forest, in a clean and bright bamboo house hung with calligraphy and smelling of sandalwood, with lanterns all around. Preferably, there were also be ponds with koi swishing about, and also some bridges on which to stand and watch the moon. This was all to say, this hut really wasn't his thing, and it brought his mood down every damn time he looked around!
"So," Liao Li sighed, setting his cup down. It was empty--he'd drank it all in three gulps. He nodded towards the tea. "That was good. Thank you. I feel re-energized. We should discuss our options again."
Qiu Yunru nodded, sipping his tea again. "Agreed. It seems we have three main options: wait for the DLC to open up to the public, convince a Demon Lord to create a portal for us, or reach Nascent Soul."
Liao Li rubbed his chin seriously. "Indeed. Waiting for the DLC to be released would take a while--about a year, which would create many more opportunities for us to be killed. However, trying to come in contact with a Demon Lord and get in their good graces would also be extremely difficult. It's much easier for demons of higher rank to sense human spiritual qi, so we'd definitely be found out right away, and there's no telling what would happen to us then. As for reaching Nascent Soul..." He sighed, rubbing his eyes tiredly. This was something Qiu Yunru had noticed about Liao Li over the last few weeks: he always seemed incredibly tired. Poor guy! "In my estimates, it would take both of us about ten years to reach Nascent Soul under normal conditions. Down here...maybe twenty. Thus, it's our worst option."
Qiu Yunru nodded, pouring himself and Liao Li more tea. "I agree. We should cultivate when we can, but the priority is survival. Seeing as one option involves only waiting, I think we should try to find the safest way to contact a Demon Lord in the meantime."
"You're right. We really need to get out of here as soon as possible. It would be bad if..." Liao Li looked thoughtfully at Qiu Yunru, trailing off. "Well, it would be bad if we died. Is there something you're eager to get back to in the Mortal Realm?"
Qiu Yunru choked on his tea. Some of it shot up his nose, and he hacked and coughed into his sleeve, face red. "Ha--?" He wheezed. "No...I mean...I like my sect...and I want to become an immortal...so I want to get back quickly."
Liao Li raised an eyebrow, crossing his arms as Qiu Yunru mortifiedly wiped the tea off his face. "Hmm. Is that all? Maybe there's someone you want to get back to? You're a good-looking guy. Weren't you in a relationship with anyone?"
Qiu Yunru spat out his tea again. Thankfully, he managed to avoid choking this time. He set his cup down, putting on a neutral expression. "Do I have to be in a relationship? Maybe I just like the Mortal Realm! Ahem." He covered his mouth suddenly. That had come out a bit more aggressive than he'd meant it to. "I have friends I wish to see, is all."
After all, that wasn't a lie, was it? There were indeed friends he wanted to see! Lei Ruolan, Fang Hai, Pan Fa...and most of all, Li Chenyuan.
They were friends! Good friends! There was absolutely nothing else Qiu Yunru had been imagining recently!
There was also the fact that Li Chenyuan had confessed to him, but that--that was also irrelevant! It was all irrelevant! Don't they say all good friends confess to each other at some point? Hahahahaha...!
Liao Li was silent for a moment. His always-serious and thoughtful expression had suddenly gone utterly blank. It was a little terrifying to look at, like his face had turned to stone. Before Qiu Yunru could open his mouth to ask what was wrong, Liao Li had already shaken his head and was smiling slightly.
"It's fine," He said, shaking his head. "You don't have to tell me."