A bone-piercing chill blew into the gaps between their bones all along the way. Swaying crimson lanterns sent the shadows of trees dancing across the ground. They seemed to be walking through the King of Hell's palace, and the strange giggles and rustling around them tested every last strand of their nerves.
"Awooo!"
A wolf howled. Wu Junji pinpointed its direction by sound and dragged Wu Junzheng into a mad dash. Unfortunately, both had short legs. A bloody stench rushed into their faces. This wolf was enormous! Its teeth were razor-sharp, its four paws tipped with vicious claws.
Wu Junji was knocked to the ground, the claws pinning him down with a dull ache!
A gaping, blood-red maw descended toward his face.
Wu Junji gambled again! He bet that none of them dared kill him!
The teeth pierced his scalp, only to stop the instant they touched his skull.
Bewilderment flashed through Lang Xi's eyes, and he roared furiously.
The human emperor fortune did not budge!
The wolf's eyes fixed on the little child beneath his paws. The boy's face was taut, his breathing rapid. He was clearly afraid, yet his fortune did not budge!
The lack of any escaping human emperor fortune proved that his heart was as steadfast as a rock.
Wu Junzheng shouted sternly, "Let him go!"
A red fake flood dragon rose into the air and lunged at Lang Xi.
A flash of white streaked past. The White Tiger emerged from the mountains and bit clean through the fake flood dragon's neck. The long red dragon vanished into the air.
White King roared with laughter. "Lang Xi! So that's all you amount to! Useless trash who can't get so much as a bite!"
"Out of my way!"
White King knocked Lang Xi aside, picked up the Human Emperor cub in his jaws, and tossed him into a peach grove that appeared out of thin air.
The rich fragrance of peach blossoms became a stench when pushed to its extreme.
A black bear pounded his chest and roared wildly at Wu Junji.
A tree stood behind him, leaving him nowhere to retreat. Before him were a tiger, a wolf, and a black bear, all roaring at him, their voices threatening to tear his eardrums apart.
The little Crown Prince curled into a ball, his face deathly pale. He looked utterly pitiful.
Yet the human emperor fortune did not budge.
No matter how the demons tried to terrify him.
They swallowed his arm, bit his throat, and tugged at his thigh. The trees swayed wildly to frighten him, surrounding him and sealing him in. When he let his guard down, Gao Hu suddenly appeared in a sneak attack.
It was useless.
The human emperor fortune did not budge!
Wu Junji looked like a beggar again.
He wiped the blood from his head and still had the leisure to think that monsters were monsters: all they knew was brutality.
Wu Junzheng's flood dragon was shattered again and again.
His voice had gone hoarse from shouting.
"Let him go!"
White King lost his patience and clawed at the ground in agitation. In the past, every human who saw them had gone weak in the knees, wailing like ghosts and howling like wolves as they begged for mercy.
What was wrong with these two children?!
He turned and roared at Wu Junzheng, then assumed human form and seized him.
"If I can't eat Wu Junji, I'll make sport of you instead!"
White King opened his mouth, making as if to bite Wu Junzheng to death.
"Stop!"
The little Crown Prince suddenly spoke, pleading.
"Let him go. I'll give you the human emperor fortune. Isn't my human emperor fortune what you want? I'll give it to you!"
Two tears mingled with blood and slid down his face.
Those two crocodile tears instantly doused Wu Junzheng's heated emotions.
Wu Junji, crying? Anyone who heard that would laugh themselves to death.
Now that he was crying, my ruined voice was nothing but a joke.
So I was the only one taking this performance seriously?
White King took it seriously too.
He laughed loudly and said with malice:
"So this is what you're afraid of!"
The five of them, four men and one woman, assumed human form.
Xiong Yu said impatiently, "Then hurry up and hand over the human emperor fortune! Otherwise, we'll kill your little brother!"
The little Crown Prince wiped away his tears miserably and said stubbornly:
"I'll give you the human emperor fortune, but I have one condition."
They exchanged glances. They knew perfectly well that they could not kill Wu Junzheng, or Great Zhou would never let the matter rest.
They could not kill Wu Junji either, and ordinary intimidation could not get them the human emperor fortune. If they could pressure Wu Junji into offering it willingly, nothing could be better.
"Speak."
Two flames of hatred ignited in the little Crown Prince's eyes.
"I want every beast in Zhou She dead! I also want the Retired Emperor and Emperor Zhou killed, and everyone in Jixia Academy!"
"They're the ones who reduced me to this! All of them!"
The little Crown Prince screamed, looking as though his hatred had reached its limit.
Even the human emperor fortune around him began to fluctuate.
"As long as you help me kill them, I'll give you all my human emperor fortune!"
White King and the others looked at one another.
Mu Zhao gave a contemptuous smile and clamped her hand around Wu Junzheng's neck.
"Do you think you're in any position to bargain with us?"
Wu Junji sneered twice. "You want something from me for nothing? Then go ahead and kill him. Strangle Wu Junzheng, and we'll fight until the fish dies and the net tears!"
You want to gain something without giving anything up? Get lost!
His resolve cowed them.
For a moment, none of them dared burn their bridges completely.
Lang Xi's eyes darted about.
"We can't kill the Retired Emperor or Emperor Zhou, but we can help you with the vile beasts in Zhou She and the people of Jixia Academy."
"But you'll have to pay us first."
Lang Xi licked his lips, exposing his greed.
The others stared fixedly at the little Crown Prince, eager to try.
Wu Junji refused outright. He stood and patted the dirt off himself.
"Then kill Wu Junzheng. I swear you won't get a single wisp of human emperor fortune."
Xiong Yu roared impatiently and lifted Wu Junji by his collar.
Wu Junji was forced onto his toes, his head tilted back.
"You can torture me, but I was born frail. I can't stand pain. If it hurts, I'll kill myself."
"You can see whether you save me faster than I die!"
Seeing how resolute Zhou's Crown Prince was, White King and the others gave ground.
"We can't kill Emperor Zhou and the Retired Emperor. But if you go back on your word after we kill the vile beasts in Zhou She and everyone in Jixia Academy for you, our losses will outweigh our gains."
Wu Junji's thoughts stirred. Apparently, the Demon Domain really could not seize it by force. They could only steal his fortune by torturing him and shaking his resolve.
As long as his resolve remained firm, the Demon Domain could do nothing.
In that case, his plan could work.
So Wu Junji also made a measured concession. "Help me kill the beasts in Zhou She, and I'll give you the human emperor fortune."
Wu Junji paused, then said without the slightest guilt:
"You can keep Wu Junzheng as a hostage."
Wu Junzheng: "???"
Well done, Wu Junji! Use me and toss me aside! Fuck your father!
They exchanged glances, cunning flashing across their faces.
"No. We have to inspect the goods first."
A peach blossom petal bloomed from Mu Zhao's finger, and she brushed it over the pink flood dragon between his brows.
"Exactly. What if you use something else to deceive us...?"
Wu Junji countered, "If I deceive you, don't you have other ways to take my fortune?"
"Could it be that you can only obtain fortune from me if I give it willingly?"
Their hearts jolted. They dared not expose that fact and give Zhou's Crown Prince leverage to jack up his price.
White King said, "Of course not."
"It's best if you're willing. If you aren't, you'll have to suffer some pain!"
Wu Junji did not yield an inch.
"Kill every vile beast in Zhou She, and I'll give you the fortune. Do we have a deal or not?"
The five demon heirs exchanged glances and took Wu Junji toward Risi Pavilion.
"It's time for evening study. If you can identify the people from Zhou She, we'll kill them for you. If you can't..."
White King held Wu Junji, his arms tightening continuously until they pressed against his bones.
Wu Junji frowned in pain. His expression chilled. He grabbed White King's head and slammed his own into it with a bang.
White King was stunned.
He was a demon, his skull far harder than an ordinary beast's. Wu Junji was human; however hard his bones were, they could not compare with White King's.
The impact only hurt White King a little, but Wu Junji's eyes rolled back, and he lost consciousness.
White King frantically pinched his face.
"Hey! You're not dead, are you?! I didn't do this!"
Perhaps the demonic aura was too strong, for thunder rumbled across the sky.
Lang Xi and the others were frightened and fled far from White King.
White King looked up at the thunder above his head and shook Wu Junji frantically.
"Whatever you do, don't die! I'm innocent! I didn't do it! You all saw what happened!"
Unfortunately, the companions who had been so united moments earlier parted ways with him in an instant.
"The Human Emperor died in your arms. It has nothing to do with us!"
White King checked Wu Junji's breathing. "He's still alive!"
"Heaven can't strike me!"
Something suddenly occurred to White King. He hurriedly pulled a root of wild ginseng from the animal-hide pouch on his body and stuffed the whole thing into Wu Junji's mouth.
He pressed his palms together and prayed to Heaven.
"It has nothing to do with me! I didn't kill him. He rammed into me himself!"
Whoever killed the Human Emperor would have fortune bear down on their head and heavenly lightning strike their body!
The might of the thunder at Di Xin's death a thousand years ago had been etched deep into the genes of every branch of the Demon Race!
Since then, no demon had dared kill the Human Emperor!
Wu Junji woke in a daze.
"Dizzy..."
White King watched him nervously. "You're awake? I didn't kill you!"
"You were the one who rammed into me! Explain it clearly to the heavenly lightning!"
Wu Junji held his head and looked at the thunder in the sky. He smiled with easy confidence. He had gained another bargaining chip.
Wu Junji tailored his approach to the person before him. Against the brainless beasts in Zhou She, courting death was not much of a deterrent. But against White King and the others, his death still posed a threat.
The rules had to be laid down at the start. Otherwise, the ones running wild would be everyone else.
He said weakly:
"I told you, I'm afraid of pain. Whoever hurts me will be the one I die at the hands of."
At last, White King and the others no longer dared treat those words as a joke.
They carefully cradled the little lord in their arms.
Dangling from Xiong Yu's hand, Wu Junzheng ground his teeth and bit down on that hand.
Xiong Yu bared his teeth in pain and slapped Wu Junzheng.
"Little snake brat, behave yourself, or I'll crush you to death!"
Xiong Yu looked like a teenager, but there was no telling how long he had actually lived.
His features were savage, and he threatened Wu Junzheng viciously.
With a slap mark on his face, Wu Junzheng ultimately did not dare try Wu Junji's method.
He was afraid of death. He lacked Wu Junji's ruthlessness and could not throw caution to the winds.
He obediently remained a dangling ornament.
Another day of wanting to peel someone's skin off.
Before you continue