Zhuo Fan bowed with a smile, âHow may I address you, young masters?â
âXu Tianchuan of the 3rd Sacred Mountain!â The leader spoke with his head held high. The second guy chuckled, âQu Xiangfeng of the 5th Sacred Mountain!â
âWu Qingqiu of the 7th Sacred Mountain.â The last one huffed.
Zhuo Fan nodded at their self-important introduction, âHow may I help you young masters today?â
Xu Tianchuan mocked, âWe hear that youâre the Demonic Emperorâs aide and most familiar with the Eight Emperors. We came to see you so that we can understand the situation.â
âYoung masters, you honor me.â
âItâs nothing great, justâŠâ
Xu Tianchuan frowned, âIâm sure you know why weâre here. We three want to meet with the Eight Emperors and discuss the circumstances of their domains, yet everywhere we went we found no one. We had no choice but to come to the Demonic Emperor, but we heard that Devil Mountain was flattened a few months ago. We reckoned that the Demonic Emperor had to be missing so we came to you instead.
âTo be frank, the Eight Emperors donât look after their lands, going around all day long. Now they vanished out of nowhere? Itâs outrageous we had to run around all over the place until we could barely walk.â
Zhuo Fan smiled and shook his head, âYoung masters, itâs still not my place to speak. Itâs best to wait for them and clarify things. Iâm sorry that I canât stay, but I must get back to work.â
Xu Tianchuan shouted, âYou look like you know something about this. Tell us!â
âYoung masters, Iâm in no position to discuss the Eight EmperorsâŠâ
âHey, I told you to speak! You fear them or us?â
The three glared, âTheyâre the Eight Emperors, but weâll be part of them soon enough, but weâre also part of the Sacred Mountains. Refuse us and your life is forfeit!â
Zhuo Fan gasped and played the frightened chicken under that threat, âYoung masters, how can I not say?â
The trio looked smugly at him.
âI only ask that you donât get angry.â
Zhuo Fan sighed, âYoung masters, a few months ago, the Eight Emperors met and had a heated argument about your arrival at Devil Mountain.â
âWhat did they argue about?â
âTheyâŠâ Zhuo Fan smirked, âArgued about how to deal with sirs.â
They slapped the table in outrage, âThey have some nerve! Are they itching to die?â
âYoung masters, they knew their strength and couldnât be open about it. So they could only operate in hiding.â
âWho knows? Young masters came to replace some of the Eight Emperors. Once this happens, thereâs no doubt that the Sacred Mountains will replace all of the Eight Emperors.â
Zhuo Fan looked around and leaned over as he whispered, âThe Sword Emperor said to never let you succeed.â
Xu Tianchuan slammed the table hard, âHumph, what gall! They can do nothing against us controlling the lands!â
âUh, they donât need to stop you. As long as they donât do anything, you will just screw up naturally.â
Xu Tianchuan punched the table, âWhat did he mean?â
[Hey, donât the Sacred Mountainsâs entitled pricks know anything else besides hitting tables?]
Zhuo Fanâs face twitched at the deep palm imprint in the table, âHe said young masters lack common sense and experience with the people below and will cause chaos. They just have to wait. Once you ruin everything, the Sacred Mountains will just call you back and ask them to clean up. That will make Eight Emperors crucial to the Sacred Domain, and to the Sacred Mountains. At the very least they canât be replaced.â
âHumph, as if! Those decrepit fools are too cocky!â
The trio laughed, âWe are all great talents of the Sacred Mountains, yet we canât control the meager lands of the Emperors?â
Zhuo Fan nodded, âYeah, the Demonic Emperor thought the same, persuading others not to go against you, but he got pulled into hiding with them, to force the mess on you, young masters. As a result, the Demonic Emperor refused and thusâŠâ
âThey killed the Demonic Emperor.â
Zhuo Fan looked devastated, âThey said if the Demonic Emperor helped you, then the Sacred Mountains would get in their way and they would become enemies with the mountains, dying in the end. So they killed the Demonic Emperor and retreated. The disaster on Devil Mountain is proof of this. With five against one, the Demonic Emperor had no chance.â
The three slapped the table again, âOutrageous, they arenât loyal and stop others from being loyal to us as well. Are those bastards underestimating us? Humph, weâll look after your lands and set them straight! Just you wait!ââ
The trio flicked their sleeves and walked out with supreme confidence.
âYoung masters, arenât you here to replace three Emperors? This is the best chance. The Gambling Emperor and Falcon Emperor are gone, while the Demonic Emperor is dead as well. Young masters can just take their lands.â
âYouâll take it for now while we go after the five Emperorsâ lands to settle.â
Xu Tianchuan waved carelessly and laughed, âWeâll show those hiding fools how their lands will be peaceful without them. Nothing will change. They still want to be Emperors? As if, ha-ha-haâŠâ
The trio laughed and faded away. Zhuo Fan grinned in disdain.
[Bunch of fools is what you are. Iâll be waiting here for you to come crying back.]
Li Jingtian came over, âSteward Zhuo, should we continue our takeover with them taking over?â
Zhuo Fan chuckled, âOnce they send the lands into chaos, we have the perfect reason to take them for ourselves, ha-ha-haâŠâ
Li Jingtian snickered along.
Three months later, Devil Mountain was restored and Zhuo Fan sat in the main hallâs main seat with a grin.
[After so many years, Iâm back where I was.]
Li Jingtian rushed in with a grin, âTheyâre all in chaos, ha-ha-haâŠâ
Zhuo Fan asked, âWhat chaos?â
âThe Emperorsâ lands, all are in chaos besides ours.â
Li Jingtian was excited, âThose five went into hiding to kidnap people. Then, when peopleâs fears were greatest, the Sacred Mountainsâ youths came to take over. The people were hopeful and the youths happy, thinking theyâd soon found the missing people. Only there has been no clue as to where they went.
âThe report angered the young masters, saying the old fools were messing with their affairs. So they were punished, stipulating that they had to find the missing people in three days or all heads will roll. As you can imagine, thousands of people died, whole clans and even children. Now everyone lives in fear of the three young masters. Now they themselves have no one to order around, with the people leaving their homes and lives they built for generations instead of dealing with them. While the population in the Demonic Emperorâs domain is growing constantly!â
Zhuo Fan nodded, âI knew those pricks were crude and would mess up the lands big time. They only care for results and not the people. Soon, those lands will be left empty.â
âRight? Those three are getting restless too, going after the fleeing people. If one escapes, their whole family is executed. They made a slaughterhouse, wanting to kill people for staying and for leaving, ha-ha-haâŠâ
Zhuo Fan leaned back on his seat, âWith the lands in chaos, they will soon turn to us, ha-ha-haâŠâ