Demons Beside You

Translator: Larbre Studio Editor: Larbre Studio

Just as Chen Zhao was having his meal, Deon Slote showed up.

However, he did not enter Chen Zhao’s house. They stood outside the door and chatted.

“Chen, thank you for taking care of Azina for me.”

“No problem. Actually, my pet accidentally killed her poodle.”

“Err…” Deon was also momentarily stunned. “Don’t worry. The poodle wouldn’t have been alive for too much longer anyway.”

“What?”

“Since she was young, she has never raised a pet for more than a month. For example, her first pet, a rabbit, was crushed by her on her bed. I need to prepare a new pet for her every month, or maybe every half a month…”

Sometimes, parents who did not have time to accompany their child would hope that pets could replace their role.

“If it’s convenient, can you let her come here and play with your pets?” Deon pleaded.

Regardless of what kind of person he was or what he had done to the town, he was nothing more than a father at the moment.

“Of course. I welcome Azina here anytime.”

Chen Zhao and Deon continued to chat in the courtyard until Azina finished her dinner. Then, Deon brought Azina home.

Azina was extremely reluctant to leave Chen Zhao’s pets and finally bid them goodbye.

…

“Chen, he’s the town’s mayor, isn’t he?”

“Yup. Have you seen him before?”

“Just once. I heard that his reputation here is pretty bad.”

“I don’t really care. Our interests don’t conflict anyway.”

Chen Zhao shrugged his shoulders, not bothered. As for whether being too close to Deon would affect his own reputation, Chen Zhao cared even less. Anyway, he did not need everyone to accept him.

It would be good as long as his friends accepted him. For example, Bant and Mary would not unfriend him just because he was close to Deon.

Chen Zhao did not care about how strangers would think.

“Fali, do you have money?”

“Huh? How much do you need?”

“How much do you have?”

“Two thousand,” Fali answered.

“How long have you been working for?”

“Three and a half years.”

“Do you not have any savings?”

“Why do I need to save?”

It was a very strange logic, at least to Chen Zhao.

On the other hand, Fali thought that Chen Zhao was the weird one. Why would one save one’s money instead of spending it?

To wait for the USD to devalue?

Many people in America preferred advanced consumption. To them, saving too much money in the bank was a foolish act.

Chen Zhao, on the other hand, had the typical Chinese mindset. He would save as much money as possible to handle urgent and unforeseeable situations.

Moreover, by how much could the USD devalue? It would not affect Chen Zhao too much unless the USD was to devalue to the Japanese yen.

“Is it urgent?”

“I want to buy a piece of land and build a house of my own.” Chen Zhao told Fali the truth.

“How much more do you need?”

“I had enough at first, but now it’s not enough again.”

“I’m afraid I can’t help you… Two thousand dollars and a $100 fake black diamond pendant I bought from a flea market are all I have now. Actually, even the two thousand dollars were borrowed from the bank.”

“Forget it. I’ll think of another way.”

Suddenly, a shadow enveloped the two people on the sofa.

Chen Zhao and Fali lifted their heads together. They saw a giant two-headed wolf staring at them from above.

“Ah!!!” Fali screamed.

Chen Zhao pulled Fali’s arm and leaped forward.

“Humans? It’s the human world?” The two-headed wolf looked at Chen Zhao and Fali and then inspected its surrounding.

“Chen… Where did it come from?”

Chen Zhao’s face was also filled with bewilderment. Just then, Beelzebub and the rest appeared.

All of their faces were filled with anger. Beelzebub complained, “Human, you’ve just summoned another demon, a truly trash demon.”

“Who are you?” Chen Zhao stood in front of Fali.

Chen Zhao was certain that the two-headed wolf was a demon. Nonetheless, he was the first demon servant not to appear in the form of a small animal.

Chen Zhao was also unsure if the demon could understand him just like Beelzebub and the rest.

“Me? Mammon Bishop. I’m a subordinate of the King of Greed. Human, why am I here?”

Greed, one of the seven sins.

“Chen, I… I’m scared!” Fali grabbed Chen Zhao’s shirt tightly as she hid behind him.

“It’s fine. He won’t hurt you.” Chen Zhao took a deep breath.

Beelzebub, Raymond and Carrie had all been summoned by his desires.

As a subordinate of the King of Greed, Mammon Bishop must have been summoned by his desire for money.

“Mammon, do you plan to keep talking to me like this? I’m your master, after all.”

“Master? How dare a human claim to be my master!” Mammon was clearly disrespectful. Then, he leaped forward.

Suddenly, he split into two wolves, one black and one white.

The white wolf jumped forward and turned around to face the black wolf, as if he was trying to stop the black wolf.

“White, are you stopping me from killing this human?”

“Black, he is indeed your master. If you attack him, you’ll be punished too.”

“Master? I have no master.”

“Feel his scent carefully,” the white wolf said.

The black wolf finally stopped being aggressive and began to inspect Chen Zhao.

“Huh? How did this happen? Why do I have a master? Why am I in the human world?”

“Looks like you already know your identity and the situation.” Chen Zhao heaved a sigh of relief. It would be best not to have a conflict.

“Chen.”

“It’s really fine now,” Chen Zhao assured, patting Fali’s shoulder.

“Did you summon them here?”

“Yup. It was purely an accident. Even I was shocked.”

“If you summon any strange things again in the future, can you tell me in advance?”

“I said it’s an accident.”

“You sure they won’t attack me?”

“Go back to your room first. I’ll tell them the rules.”

“Alright. Call me when you’re done.”

Fali escaped into her room, bringing Walter with her.

Chen Zhao stared at the black wolf and the white wolf before him. They looked as if they were a single entity.

“Shouldn’t you introduce yourselves?”

“I’m White Mammon. He’s my brother, Black Mammon. I represent wealth, while he represents price.”

“Be straightforward. I don’t understand what you mean.”

“I can give wealth, while he can demand the price.”

“Can you make money appear?”

“No,” White Mammon answered.

“Can you make me win the lottery?”

“No.”

“Then what can you do?”

“I can guide you towards wealth. Of course, you need to pay a price too.”

“What price?” Chen Zhao took out a piece of demonic crystal. “Is this okay?”

White Mammon immediately jumped in front of Chen Zhao. Black Mammon also swallowed his pride and stuck his tongue out, his face filled with greed.