Heikou (Black Dragon Mouth)
Heicheng (Black Dragon City)
Censorate (Supervisory Court)
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"Will-o'-the-wisp? Are you sure?" Yin Jixue thought she must have misheard. Could there be will-o'-the-wisps in the demon realm?
Teng She hesitated, and Lou Zhao returned with a dark expression.
"What's wrong with you?" He didn't seem to be in a good mood.
Teng She silently retreated.
Yin Jixue quickly changed the subject to distract him: "Teng She just reported that will-o'-the-wisps have appeared outside the city!"
Lou Zhao raised an eyelid, seemingly uninterested: "Do you also think it's will-o'-the-wisps?"
"Probably not, right?" If she remembered correctly, will-o'-the-wisps appeared in places with graves and only during dry summer weather.
She added, "I think with you around, no foolish demon beasts would dare come down the mountain to attack."
Lou Zhao's mood improved slightly, and his expression softened.
Yin Jixue found it strange. Did he just want to be praised?
When it was time to sleep, she noticed that a few of the night pearls in the room were missing. She shook the demon king, who was sleeping on the small couch.
"It seems like our palace has been robbed."
Lou Zhao pretended to be asleep, turning his back to her.
Suddenly, Yin Jixue understood.
Night pearls? Will-o'-the-wisps?
Did he secretly take the night pearls to use as lighting tools?
She covered her mouth with her hand, trying not to laugh, and tiptoed back to bed. For the sake of the demon king's dignity, she decided to laugh quietly under the covers.
Lou Zhao's back stiffened. Did she think he didn't notice her stifled laughter?
The next morning, Yin Jixue walked briskly to find Old Demon, who had indeed created the streetlights she wanted.
The streetlight pole was made from a tree trunk, nearly four meters tall, and the lamp itself resembled a flower bud.
Old Demon explained, "Once the tree is fixed in place, the trunk acts as a medium to supply the magic crystal energy. The flower bud receives the energy and emits a bright light."
Perfect! This was exactly the effect she wanted.
She had thought technology would change their lives, but in the end, it was magic that triumphed.
To test the results, they decided to try it out in the palace first.
Admittedly, it looked a bit comical—like a coconut tree that had lost its leaves.
To be more specific, it resembled a 2.2-meter-tall man with a shaved head, leaving only a patch of hair like a watermelon rind.
Before nightfall, around 5 p.m., Yin Jixue saw a bright white light illuminating half the sky outside the study.
This streetlight was a bit too intense.
But this meant fewer streetlights would be needed along a road, and they might not even need to install them on both sides.
Yin Jixue inspected the results. The streetlight was comparable to a modern high-powered flashlight, even more exaggerated, reminding her of a xenon lamp.
The first few streetlights were sent to the mines, and once more were produced, they would be installed throughout the city.
However, Yin Jixue was a bit worried: "This light is too bright. Is there a way to make it less intense?"
She didn't want to be blinded while reading in her study.
Old Demon took the flower bud and kneaded it repeatedly, shrinking it from the size of a soccer ball to a sandbag.
"Here, try this."
Was that it?
Yin Jixue took the flower bud, half-doubting, and decided to test it that night.
Since the size had been reduced, the flower bud was now attached to a branch.
"What's that snack you're holding?" Lou Zhao suddenly appeared.
Yin Jixue handed it to him: "Do you want some?"
Lou Zhao looked at her like she was an idiot: "I don't eat that."
But to be fair, it did look like an ice cream ball in her hand.
By the afternoon, her small desk lamp lit up.
The light was exactly what she wanted, illuminating the entire desk like a regular lamp.
The only issue was turning it off, which required removing the flower bud.
She went back to Old Demon to improve the desk lamp and accidentally noticed that the exterior of the bus was already completed.
Although the bus was modeled after modern designs, it resembled the buses from the 1970s and 1980s, not fully automated.
The materials were sourced from the system but could also be found in the demon realm, though it was more troublesome.
The seats inside the bus were already installed, but there was still a pile of parts on the floor, indicating something was missing.
Yin Jixue was so shocked she almost forgot her original task.
Old Demon pulled out a black string from his pocket and tied it to the connection between the flower bud and the branch: "Here, pull the string, and the flower bud will flip up, turning off the light."
Yin Jixue was amazed. Was Old Demon secretly from the modern world?
"And this bus, I made it, but there are some leftover parts."
Yin Jixue:
She had just finished praising Old Demon.
The worst part of disassembling a machine was finding an extra screw after putting it back together.
The same applied to assembling a car. The parts were all from the system's blueprint.
"Maybe you should test it first?"
She didn't want to discourage Old Demon. It was best for the creator to test it himself to identify any issues.
Old Demon jumped onto the bus and asked Yin Jixue if she wanted to join.
Yin Jixue hesitated.
"Alright."
The magic crystal was inserted into the groove in the steering wheel, and the bus started moving.
Well, the engine seemed fine.
The bus slowly moved through the palace.
"Beep beep…" Old Demon honked the horn twice, and the sound was loud.
Yin Jixue couldn't figure out what was wrong. Everything seemed to be working fine.
Old Demon must have gotten excited because the bus started speeding up, likely with the accelerator pressed to the floor.
Ahead, two groups of soldiers were changing shifts.
"Stop! There are soldiers ahead!"
Old Demon slammed on the brakes, but the bus showed no signs of stopping. Yin Jixue's heart sank.
She finally realized what the leftover parts were for.
But the cost of this realization was too high.
Driving without proper brakes, sigh.
She prepared to jump out, but at the critical moment, Lou Zhao appeared out of nowhere and stopped the bus with his bare hands.
The soldiers on duty were startled. The strange vehicle had come within ten centimeters of hitting them, and the demon king had stopped it with one hand.
Old Demon was shaken. Although it was thrilling, he was too old for such excitement.
He had almost caused a major disaster. Not because he nearly hit the soldiers, but because his niece-in-law was on the bus. She was a fragile human, and any accident could have cost her life. The demon soldiers were tough; at most, they would have suffered minor injuries.
His relationship with the demon king was already strained, and now this incident made him too embarrassed to face his niece-in-law, whom he liked.
Lou Zhao gave him a cold glance, got on the bus, and carried Yin Jixue down.
Yin Jixue pushed him: "I'm fine." She was good at pretending to be composed.
Being carried like a princess was embarrassing, especially in front of so many people. Her dignity as the queen was at stake.
But the demon king's embrace was so comforting, hehe.
Lou Zhao walked forward: "You're not fine."
She wanted to poke his chest to see if he had muscles.
But she had to restrain herself. She couldn't become a female pervert!
She sighed: "I'm fine. I was ready to jump out, but what if the soldiers had been hit?"
Lou Zhao: "Then they'd be too useless."
His mouth was better off not speaking.
When they reached Lou Zhao's office in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, he set her down: "You're a human. Can't you have some sense of self-preservation?"
Yin Jixue blinked innocently: "I do have self-preservation. I never leave the palace."
Lou Zhao: "Then why did you get on his bus?"
His tone sounded like a boyfriend catching his girlfriend in someone else's luxury car.
Yin Jixue decided to play the weak card: "I trusted him because he's your uncle. I thought since you treat me so well, he wouldn't harm me. Today was an accident. I was careless."
Lou Zhao had planned to scold his disobedient wife, but her sudden soft tone disrupted his plans.
He spoke in a cold but gentle voice:
"You can trust me. I won't harm you. Don't trust that old man. He's unreliable."
Yin Jixue looked up at him: "Mhm, I only trust you!"
What a contradictory demon king.
So cute.
After sending her away, Lou Zhao realized he had meant to scold her.
Old Demon, knowing he had almost caused a disaster, kept a low profile for the next few days. Lou Zhao didn't confront him, which made him suspicious.
Was the little brat planning something big?
While keeping an eye on Lou Zhao, he continued improving the bus.
His niece-in-law had said all the materials had to be used, or there would be problems. He now believed her and was determined to find a way to incorporate all the leftover parts.
Yin Jixue couldn't focus on her study. The image of Lou Zhao stopping the bus with his bare hands was too heroic.
Her mind was filled with slow-motion replays and the princess's carry.
Tonight's dream material was set.
Recently, streetlights had been installed in the city, making the nights as bright as day. Children in the city came out to play after dark.
This made the boarding school children envious. Because they were young, they weren't allowed to leave the school after classes and could only watch the brightly lit city from their dormitory windows.
When would they get to go out and play?
Soon, good news came from the palace: the first bus in Black Dragon City was ready for a trial run.
Four symmetrical white lines were painted in the middle of the main road, extending from the city to the outskirts, marking the dedicated bus lanes.
Although the bus was designed like an old-fashioned vehicle, its wheels were modern, and the magic crystal energy was similar to electricity. For now, they could call it an electric bus.
The first bus driver was selected from the Ministry of Justice, a former patrol member.
On the day of the trial run, the bus was packed with palace soldiers. Concerned about potential accidents, no ordinary demons were allowed on board.
Still, everyone came out to watch the spectacle.
The visiting Heikou city lord and his envoy were stunned. This was the bus the queen had mentioned. In the future, if the two cities were connected, Black Dragon City would provide buses to transport Heikou's citizens.
They had thought it would take years, but now it seemed just around the corner.
Little Ye pressed his face against the dormitory window and shouted to his grandma: "Wow, a car that moves by itself!"
Dog Sheng chased after the bus: "I want to ride it too!"
Onlookers along the road chattered: "I heard that in the future, buses will take workers to the mines every day."
"If I had known, I would have gone to the mines. Farming only gives us food, nothing else."
Someone nearby retorted: "You've had it too easy. Your brain's gone soft."