On the second day of Wang Ke’s departure from the Qing Capital—at a courtyard of the royal palace.

“I’m going to kill Wang Ke! I’m going to kill him! All of you, help me kill Wang Ke! I want him dead!” Zhu Yan roared with bloodshot eyes.

“Emperor, you should recover from your injuries first, don’t you think?” a demon offered with an inquisitive look.

The demons saw a naked Zhu Yan with bloody whip stripes all over his body when they came out from the dungeon the previous night. The candle wax that had been splashed on his body made him look even more miserable.

Zhu Yan was worried that he might expose his demonic Qi, so he didn't even break free from the rope tying him up; the demons helped him untie the knots and take out the ball of linen that had been stuffed into his mouth.

Zhu Yan kept chanting endlessly that he wanted to kill Wang Ke after he was released; he seemed to be under a spell.

“Are you going to help me or not?” Zhu Yan asked with crimson eyes as he looked at the demons.

“We want to! But we need to wait for the Nether Demon Assembly. The Parlor Lord and that mysterious Fifth Parlor Lord brought a Netherborn girl. We don’t want to miss it!” The demons shook their heads.

“How much of the Netherborn do you think you can get during the assembly? I know where the Netherborn is. Let me take you there!” Zhu Yan said.

“Oh?” The demons were surprised.

“Wang Ke leaked the information just now. She’s in the Zhu Cultivation Town! I heard it clearly. He went there to find Princess Youyue; she is the Netherborn. We should go there now!” Zhu Yan urged.

The demons looked at each other as though they were considering the veracity of Zhu Yan’s claim.

“Why don’t you head to the morning court first? Let us discuss among ourselves,” a demon suggested.

“F*** the morning court. Can I still meet people in this state? I want Wang Ke dead. I want him dead! He also took my stuff, and I’m going to take it back. I have to!” Zhu Yan roared.

Wang Ke took away the beads that concealed his demonic Qi. What was the point of holding the morning court? He would be a goner for sure the moment the righteous sect’s disciples found out that he had demonic Qi. Moreover, his face was full of whip stripes; there was no way he could appear in public like that!

He had to kill Wang Ke to exact revenge and to recover the beads.

“Are you going or not? I’ll go there on my own if you won’t! I’ll get to eat the Netherborn myself; there won’t be anything left for you!” Zhu Yan snarled.

The demons looked at each other again before finally nodding. “Fine. We trust you! ”

“Let’s go then!” Zhu Yan stared at them with bloodshot eyes.

“Hold it. You should settle things here and try to persuade your empress to cover for you in the next few days!” a demon reminded him.

“Okay, sure. You should go and get more demons who are loyal. We’ll move out tonight! I want Wang Ke dead!” Zhu Yan said sternly.

“Okay!”

-------------

On the fourth day of Wang Ke’s departure, next to a small river within the Ten-thousand Great Mountains!

Wang Ke and Zhang Zhengdao sat beside a campfire; they were roasting a crane at the moment. Zhang Zhengdao grabbed a scrumptious crane wing and took a bite.

“Not bad at all! It’s surprising to see that your cooking skills haven’t rusted after so many years! Nom!” Zhang Zhengdao almost bit his tongue while chewing the roasted meat.

Wang Ke gulped his saliva at the sight of Zhang Zhengdao eating, but he still didn't take a single bite, “You should eat more if you like it!”

“You should eat too!” Zhang Zhengdao urged while munching on the meat.

“Me?” Wang Ke’s face froze for a moment. “I don’t dare to eat. You should eat, go ahead!”

“What’s so frightening about it? You seem odd today! Nom, nom! Zhang Shenxu, the bastard... he must have sent this crane. Damn it. It must have exposed our location. Argghh! You’re right. We can’t earn any money with this crane, so might as well eat it. It tastes good at least! The Golden Crow Sect’s cranes really taste good. Hmm? Wang Ke, you should have some! Nom, nom!” Meat juice dripped from Zhang Zhengdao’s mouth.

“I wouldn’t dare eat one of their cranes. You eat it!” Wang Ke rejected his offer with an awkward look.

“Since when did you start fearing the Golden Crow Sect? Heh. It’s fine if you don’t want to eat. I haven’t had my fill anyway!” Zhang Zhengdao was a little confused, but he enjoyed himself even more.

“You sent the hunter to the Zhu Cultivation Town just now? Come to think of it, why are your people everywhere? How many people are lurking around? Even the hunter in the forest calls your ‘Clan Lord’! Nom, nom!” Zhang Zhengdao asked in amazement as he continued gobbling down the meat.

“They are the men I located around the town to offer support. My big cousin-sister is in charge of this area, which is why I was able to have her show up in town within a day. Since her responsibilities changed, he’s now the one stationed in this area!” Wang Ke handed Zhang Zhengdao another piece of meat.

“He’s in charge of surveying the town from afar? Oh, not really. From what you said, the town still has members of your clan? You’ve already swindled so much money from the Zhu Cultivation Town, yet you still dare to leave some of your men behind? Aren’t you afraid that they might get killed?” Zhang Zhengdao asked.

“What do you think? I’ve operated in the Zhu Cultivation Town for a decade. Do you think I will lose control over it just like that? Those who fled were only Wang Clan members known to the public; I still have some men who are lying low, away from the public eye!” Wang Ke explained.

“You are crazy!” Zhang Zhengdao looked at Wang Ke in disbelief.

“Crazy your a**! Do you think it would be possible for us to rescue Princess Youyue had I not prepared in advance? Do you think I wouldn’t know about the town’s current situation? Would we really be heading into it blindly? Just digging our own graves?” Wang Ke shot him a glare.

“What’s the current situation in the town?” Zhang Zhengdao asked as he munched on.

“She Tianba is still very much alive. He’s back! Those who bought financial products from me and the clans who lent She Tianba money have already made their rounds to claim their money to the She Clan. But She Tianba is too stingy to even return a single pound of spirit stones. In the end, there were some conflicts and both sides were injured. Things are peaceful for now!” Wang Ke said, passing another piece of meat to Zhang Zhengdao.

“You call She Tianba stingy? Weren’t you the one who cheated him of all his money and passed him a bunch of debts? You even snatched his storage bags! Isn’t that why he had no money to pay them back? You are the one who caused this! Nom, nom!” Zhang Zhengdao rolled his eyes and took a bite from the meat Wang Ke had just passed him.

“Bulls**t. I only took his money; he actually killed people! Don’t you think the princess’ servants died tragically?” Wang Ke stared at Zhang Zhengdao.