Thus, by the time Qiu Yunru had spent four weeks in the Demon Realm, Li Chenyuan had been put on trial, sentences, and disappeared, without a word heard from him for two weeks since!
Of course, there was no way Qiu Yunru could know this. He could only focus on escaping and keeping himself alive and somewhat healthy.
After they had settled sufficiently into the mud hut and found some herbs that masked the scent of their spiritual qi, Qiu Yunru took to prowling the city by day and scoping it out.
He had various pieces of knowledge from all of the transmigration, fantasy, and adventure novels he had read in his lifetime. Everyone knew these rules:
If you want information, go to a tavern,
and
If you want to find rich men, go to an expensive brothel.
Thus, these were the places he first sought out. He tightly tied on his demon's mask every morning, rubbed his body with White Radish Root to hide his human scent from noble demons, and went out into the city of Leng Mo to observe. In the first three days of observation, he found three locations that would certainly be helpful in their quest to get in contact with a demon lord.
First, there was the Blood River Tavern. Located in the poorer outer ring of the city, it was the most popular tavern for the non-noble demons of Leng Mo City, always overcrowded and filled with shouting. Though it would be difficult to hear inside that place, there were always all kinds of characters hanging about, from shady drug-dealing demons who knew the underground workings of the city, to tired shop workers who drank themselves silly. He and Liao Li should definitely go to this place to scout information.
Second, there was the Red Claw Brothel. He thought the name was rather off-putting, but it seemed that in the Demon Realm, many norms were reversed--what was considered beautiful among mortals was ugly, and what was disgusting among mortals was revered. This brothel, built in the wealthiest section of the red light district, allowed only demons with large sums of money to enter. One had to produce a large sum of gold in order to enter the building at all, and there were whispers on the street that in order to spend one night with a demoness of the Red Claw, a shopkeeper would have to spend one hundred lifetimes of savings! If Qiu Yunru somehow managed to learn the clientele of this place or find information for blackmail, he was sure he would be able to get in contact with a demon of nobility.
Lastly, there was the Three Herb Apothecary.
"Why should we visit at apothecary?" Liao Li said skeptically when Qiu Yunru mentioned it. "How will that help us--isn't it better to stay as hidden as possible, and go only where necessary?"
"Yes, but," Qiu Yunru said excitedly. "The situation is unique. It seems that the medical systems of the Demon Realm are incredibly underdeveloped due to demons' regenerative powers. Demons of noble blood regenerate rather quickly, so little money is put into medicine. Thus, even though this Three Herb Apothecary is the biggest one in Leng Mo City, it still really only carries three herbs!"
"All right..." Liao Li nodded, seeming unconvinced. However, he didn't say anything more; it was better to let Qiu Yunru go on. After all, in the end, he usually had a good idea.
"These three herbs assist only with injury. Thus, in the case of any disease, demons are largely unprepared. Though disease doesn't spread easily among demons, when one of them falls ill, there's really not much they can do besides die. From what I've seen, the medical situation isn't much better for demon nobility--since they rarely get sick, they don't worry about it and just stay out of the slums." Qiu Yunru's eyes shone. He paced the room back and forth, speaking quickly.
Liao Li couldn't help but feel his chest grow warm. Qiu Yunru had always been like this when excited about something. It was a sweet thing to see.
"So," Qiu Yunru continued, "if I can manage to get a position at the apothecary with my knowledge of demonic plants and medicine, I may be able to actually have some influence, and more demons will come from around Leng Mo City to seek aid for illness at the apothecary. If there happens to be a demon lord who falls ill, where else will there be to go, but to Three Herbs Apothecary? In that case, I may have the chance to save a demon lord's life, indebting them to me, and thus making them likely to accept my request for a portal!"
Liao Li raised his eyebrows, impressed. His arms were crossed, and he was leaning against a large stone they had rolled into the hut to create a makeshift herb-chopping counter. "I see. Impressive. I'd forgotten it was like that in the Demon Realm."
Qiu Yunru nodded. "There's the issue that demon nobility is especially unlikely to fall ill due to their strong immune systems, but if we can manage to get a contaminated object from the slums, and perhaps bring that object in contact with a noble, we'll have a good plan. Of course, then there's the possibility that they'll just get better quickly, or that they won't come to the apothecary. In fact, there are many ways this plan could fail. I'm really not too confident in it in the end, but what else can we do? We--"
"Qiu-wanbei. It's really all right."
Qiu Yunru swallowed his words, stopping his pacing abruptly. His face was pale with anxiety, and a little flushed with embarrassment. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to ramble. It's just, the stakes are rather high, and my plans have failed before..."
Liao Li smiled warmly. He walked over and placed a hand on Qiu Yunru's shoulder, squeezing it once. "There's no need to apologize, wanbei. You've been working so hard. In the end, all we can do is try. We'll discuss these plans more later. For now, how about we go to the market and get something to eat? You look a little pale."