The Demon Lords-Chapter 613 - 102 Prophecy_1

"So, what is this supposed to mean? Lord Jingnan doesn't make a move, yet he allows a prince, who has technically always led troops but never truly fought a war, to command the expedition?" Zheng Fan leaned back in his seat, pointing to the official document before him.

"My Lord, according to the message from the Sixth Prince, it seems the Yan Emperor intends to purge the regional military commanders and dismantle the power structures they've established."

"Isn't it a sign of distrust between the monarch and his ministers?"

"It shouldn't be."

"Did Ji Chengjue mention in his letter how we should deal with this Eldest Prince?"

"No. On the contrary, he said he has gone to Nan'an County to become a bailiff. He even specifically mentioned that his name in the streets henceforth would be Yan Xiaoliu."

"What a bizarre name he's chosen."

"He also asked in the letter what you think of the name, My Lord."

"When you reply, tell him I think it's excellent."

"Yes, My Lord."

"Now that the Eldest Prince is leading an army here, we don't need to make any moves, right?" Zheng Fan asked.

"Strictly speaking, we are already considered part of the Jingnan Army. Therefore, it's not appropriate for us to be overly enthusiastic unless Lord Jingnan gives the order."

"But if Tian Wujing were going to give an order, he should have done so by now. After all, the Eldest Prince's forces should be on the march as we speak."

"Yes, that's correct. Logically, troops like ours stationed in Shengle, and Chen Yang's contingent in Xinsu City, should have received military orders from the Lord much earlier, preparing to coordinate with the Eldest Prince's expedition into Cheng State. Even from Li Tian City, Lord Jingnan, as an elder, should have dispatched a cavalry of ten thousand to temporarily lend to the Eldest Prince for support. After all, this is the Eldest Prince's first time commanding independently; he ought to be given some assistance. But none of this has happened. Sometimes, not giving an order is, in itself, an attitude. Given this attitude, no one in the entire Jingnan Army would dare to be too welcoming towards the Eldest Prince; doing so would mean alienating oneself from their original faction. My Lord, having received such great favor from Lord Jingnan, you, above all, cannot take the initiative to, well... *lick*..."

Zheng Fan frowned. "Lick what?"

"To naively go and help the Eldest Prince."

Zheng Fan's fingers tapped lightly on the tabletop. "Is Tian Wujing throwing a tantrum?"

The death of Dujuan, along with so many other unresolved questions, still weighed on him. Yet, as an outsider, Zheng Fan had neither the standing nor the capability to dig for the truth. But this kind of "silence" truly wasn't Lord Jingnan's style.

"There's another possibility."

"Blind Man, don't tell me you're suggesting another feint?"

The Blind Man shrugged. "A tactic's age doesn't matter, only its effectiveness."

"The problem is, what should we do? If we miss out on this war, how will our development proceed?"

Being cooped up in Shengle City, they could only deplete their resources. Even the heroes of Mount Liang, if they wanted to feast on meat and wine daily, had to periodically descend the mountain to 'enforce justice on behalf of Heaven.' But the issue Shengle currently faced was that they had sheared the sheep too thoroughly in the past. After several large-scale sweeps of the wild people in the nearby mountains, even leeks would need time to regrow, wouldn't they?

"My Lord, the best outcome would probably be the Eldest Prince's defeat, leading to a complete collapse of the situation. Then, our Shengle City could become the mainstay," the Blind Man said calmly. "As long as the situation in Jin land deteriorates into chaos, Lord Jingnan will inevitably have to step in again. That will be our chance to break this deadlock."

"Why not say we'll be overrun by a wave of wild people?"

Hearing this, the Blind Man nodded. "That is indeed a possibility."

"None of the Yan Emperor's sons are easy to deal with. With Situ Lei's example fresh in our minds, I don't believe this Eldest Prince will make the mistake of underestimating his enemy."

"Don't worry, My Lord. There's always a way out when you reach the mountain. The Eldest Prince's army will take some time to arrive, so we'll find a solution. A Cheng mentioned to me just a few days ago that the recent troop training has been effective, and they're finally shaping up. When I attended their meeting in the evening, I could sense their spirits were quite high. No matter how the winds and clouds shift outside, we just need to do our own part and wait for an opportunity. Even if an opportunity doesn't present itself, we can create one ourselves."

"Your pep talk isn't half bad."

"Thank you for the compliment, My Lord."

"Alright, go attend to your duties. I need to practice my blade."

"You work hard, My Lord."

"Heh."

After sending the Blind Man off, Zheng Fan went to the courtyard to practice his blade. Daily cultivation had become a fundamental routine. However, perhaps because he had let out a sigh of relief after advancing to the Seventh Rank, the sense of urgency wasn't as strong anymore. Consequently, his cultivation realm hadn't shown any obvious fluctuations recently. This is also normal, Zheng Fan knew in his heart that his previous advancements had already been astonishingly fast.

Just as he was starting to sweat from his practice, Xiao Yibo ran over, looking flustered.

"What's the matter? Why are you in such a panic?"

"My Lord! My Lord! That room in the rear courtyard, there's activity in that room! Because of your orders, My Lord, I didn't dare to enter and investigate on my own."

"Activity?"

Zheng Fan, blade in hand, walked directly to the rearmost room in the residence. That was where Shatuo Queshi stayed, and it was also a forbidden area within the estate. Even the other Demon Kings rarely ventured near it; only Zheng Fan himself would enter periodically.

As he reached the entrance of the small courtyard, Zheng Fan clearly sensed that the temperature here seemed considerably lower. Liang Cheng had once said that as a "zombie," although Shatuo Queshi's zombie lineage wasn't noble, his strength was formidable, somewhat like a "grassroots prodigy" in the zombie world. Therefore, he wouldn't constantly exude cold qi like other zombies, whose chill leaked out like an improperly closed refrigerator.

"Go get the Blind Man. Tell him what's happening here."

"Yes, I'll go at once!" Xiao Yibo immediately ran off to find him.

Zheng Fan hesitated for a moment, then decided to leave his blade at the entrance. He walked into the courtyard, passed through a short covered corridor, pushed open the door, and went inside. Deep down, Zheng Fan trusted Shatuo Queshi immensely; he was, in fact, the person Zheng Fan trusted most in this world. Shatuo Queshi had saved him in both life and undeath, so Zheng Fan believed that no matter what strange transformation Shatuo Queshi underwent, he wouldn't harm him. Of course, if Shatuo Queshi truly went berserk and wanted to kill him, whether or not he had a blade would make little difference. It was better to enter empty-handed and make a good first impression.

The coffin was trembling. 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

CLANG!

CLANG!

Muffled thuds echoed from within. The commotion Xiao Yibo had mentioned the servants hearing must have originated from here.

"Mo Wan!" Zheng Fan shouted.

The other Demon Kings were all busy with their respective tasks, so the only one present in the residence at the moment was Mo Wan, who had recently been preoccupied with "babysitting."

A stone flew over directly. Evidently, Mo Wan had already been here before Zheng Fan called, having sensed the disturbance and come to check on "Grandpa."

CLANG!

CLANG!

The sounds from the coffin were growing increasingly violent, as if whatever was inside was desperate to get out.

Is this a reanimation? Zheng Fan muttered to himself.

Mo Wan floated in front of Zheng Fan, protectively.

To hell with it. Zheng Fan steeled himself. Seeing that the coffin was about to give way, he strode forward, circulated his vital energy—a black light emanating from his body—gripped the coffin lid with both hands, and shoved!

CREAK...

The coffin lid was pushed aside and fell to the ground.

Then, a green light shot out from within.

ROAR!

A roar erupted from the stone. Mo Wan's form materialized instantly, and he charged directly at the green light.

BANG!

The green light scattered upon impact. Mo Wan retreated to Zheng Fan's side, snarling and baring his teeth at the dispersed light.

As the green light coalesced, the figure of a woman appeared. She wore a fox mask, her figure slender. She seemed to be bathing, or perhaps undergoing a baptism.

ROAR!

Mo Wan continued to roar at the woman before them, as if issuing a warning.

The woman began to chant something in the language of the wild people, obscure and difficult to understand.

At first, Zheng Fan couldn't understand a word. His attention was also on the coffin, where Shatuo Queshi still lay perfectly still. So, the earlier commotion had been caused by this Jade Order, not by Shatuo Queshi.

Just then, Zheng Fan suddenly found he could understand the woman's words. It seemed to transcend language itself, becoming a form of spiritual information transfer.

"The brilliant stars shall descend once more! The glory of the Holy Race shall be renewed! A new king has been born! He shall uphold the guidance of the stars, leading the Holy Race to new glory!"

So, this is a prophecy? Zheng Fan remembered the Blind Man once analyzing that the Jade Order was a ritualistic sacred object of the wild people. It wasn't strange for such an item to possess the function of "prophesying" the clan's future. In the grand scheme of things, it must have truly sensed something—felt that the wild people were about to enter the passes and rise again—and so it began to stir restlessly.

If anyone else witnessed this prophecy, they would probably be terrified, perhaps even believing it was Heaven's Mandate for the wild people to rule the Three Jin. But who was Zheng Fan? When he used to draw comics, he himself had lost count of how many times he'd used some prophecy as a prologue; it was already a tired cliché. Besides, this Jade Order seems a bit touched in the head. This isn't some altar of the wild people; this is my, Zheng Fan's, lair! Is it brain-damaged, prancing about here prophesying the wild people's rise?

"The starlight shall bathe the land! The glory of the Holy Race shall be rekindled! The new king has been delivered by the stars! Follow the new king, and the Holy Race shall rise again!"

"Alright, alright, I get it. You can take a rest now."

Suddenly, the Jade Order seemed to sense Zheng Fan—or more accurately, the disdain emanating from him. It abruptly turned towards Zheng Fan and began to shriek, "Those who blaspheme the stars shall be buried by starlight! Those who obstruct the stars shall be trampled into dust! The Holy Race will—"

All of a sudden, Shatuo Queshi, who had been lying motionless, lifted a hand and directly seized the Jade Order.

Then, with a SMACK, his hand, still clutching the Jade Order, was drawn back into the coffin.

In an instant, the woman's figure, moments before filled with a sacred aura, vanished without a trace.

Mo Wan was stunned.

Zheng Fan was also stunned.

This whole thing ended as abruptly as someone switching off a TV with a remote.

After a long moment, Zheng Fan finally walked over, leaned against the coffin, and looked at Shatuo Queshi lying inside. "So," he said, "were you deliberately showing me that just now?"

It wasn't that he couldn't suppress it, but that he deliberately lured me here to watch a show? This feels like a family member calling you from the study or kitchen, 'Quick, quick, come look at this TV show!'

Zheng Fan didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He shook his head.

"You're being mischievous too."