Time flew by.
Another two months passed.
The Water-Fire Devil Stronghold was as lively as ever.
Neither of its two chieftains, the Water Demon Lord and the Fire Demon Lord, had appeared in three months, but that had not affected its day-to-day operations.
After all, the two Spirit Transformation Realm chieftains had never involved themselves much in running the stronghold.
They left most matters to the four trusted subordinates they had personally raised to power: the Water-Fire Devil Stronghold's four Deputy Chieftains.
The Water Demon Lord and the Fire Demon Lord were far more absorbed in the Martial Dao.
Unless there was no other choice, or something momentous happened, no one dared disturb them.
Three months without seeing them was nothing. Even half a year would have seemed normal, hardly worth making a fuss over.
But one day—
A stronghold member returned from a trip beyond the Crouching Dragon Mountains, hurrying back in a frenzy, his face deathly pale.
As he ran toward the Water-Fire Devil Stronghold's Righteous Gathering Hall, he shouted in panic.
"Something's wrong! Something's wrong! There's been a disaster..."
The commotion immediately alerted all four Deputy Chieftains.
The four appeared together at the hall entrance.
They glared at their panic-stricken subordinate, anger written across every face.
"Fuck, what are you yelling for?"
"Did your father die or something? Why are you wailing like that?"
Zhui Long, one of the Deputy Chieftains, barked at him.
"Deputy Chieftain... something's happened. Something terrible!"
The subordinate was gasping for breath. Zhui Long's rebuke frightened him, but he could not keep the panic out of his voice.
Zhui Long grew angrier at the sight and was about to curse him again.
Another Deputy Chieftain, Si Huo, quickly stopped him and asked grimly, "What happened to make you panic like this?"
The subordinate