Child of Light

Volume 9: Chapter 37 – The Demon Emperor’s Bitterness

The Demon Emperor went deep into thought.

After a long time, he replied, “Can it be that it’s real?”

I replied, “Of course, it’s real. It’s undeniable as I’ve personally fought against the Monster race once.”

“Do you have any evidence?”

“Even though I currently don’t have any, there definitely will be. If Your Majesty doesn’t prepare for the changes now, once the Monster King resurrects, the very first race that he’ll invade will be your Demon race. It can’t be that you don’t care for your citizens?”

Uncle Firewood knew that the Demon Emperor wasn’t listening. “Qi Meng, if you still don’t believe me, I don’t have any other means of persuasion but I do hope that you’ll let Zhang Gong and his friends go. You can deal with uncle anyway you like.”

A cold gaze fell upon me as the Demon Emperor looked at me. He then said icily, “Zhang Gong, even if uncle hadn’t interceded on your behalf, I’d still have let you go. Do you know why?”

I asked, cluelessly, “Why?”

“It’s for my most beloved daughter. I didn’t expect that you’d have such a tenacious life and unexpectedly survive, but had resulted in your disfiguring. I admit that it was due to my carelessness at that time when I allowed the dark powers to invade your body. I was almost killed by my daughter in her fury.” After a short pause, his gaze became benevolent as he continued, “If I were to kill you again, I’m afraid that I’ll lose her.”

My feelings got the better of me and I blurted out, “Mu Zi?”

The Demon Emperor nodded. “I’ll believe you for now, but it isn’t due to what you have said. It’s due to my trust in uncle and faith in Mu Zi’s sight. You can go now, but you must find the evidence of an invasion by the Monster race.” Such an unexpected opportunity had presented itself that made me momentarily stupefied with happiness.

Uncle Firewood said with tears, “Your Majesty, thank you.” Upon saying that, he began to get on his knees facing the Demon Emperor. 　　

The Demon Emperor quickly went to pull Uncle Firewood up. “Uncle, don’t you ever do that towards me. In front of you, I’ll always be the rash Qi Meng. Zhang Gong, I can let you go, but I’ve a condition.”

I calmed myself and said, “Please state it.”

The Demon Emperor said in smiles, “I want to dispatch two people to follow you.”

I frowned. “Is it to monitor my actions?”

The Demon Emperor replied loftily, “Of course, do you think I’ll let you go freely?”

“Who are you going to dispatch?”

The Demon Emperor replied, “Ke Lun Duo and Mu Zi.”

My heart lept to my throat as I cried out involuntarily, “Why?”

The Demon Emperor replied, “My purpose in doing this is to make Mu Zi clearly see your unsightly appearance and feel the disparity between you and Ke Lun Duo, making her to completely give up on you. Moreover, with Mu Zi around you won’t have any opportunity to plot or scheme.”

I immediately said, “I swear that I definitely don’t have any sinister plots and you can just dispatch Ke Lun Duo to follow me.”

I wouldn’t know what to do if I were to face Mu Zi on a daily basis. But deep within my heart, I felt a small surge of joy.

The Demon Emperor snorted coldly, “Is that something that you can decide? Moreover, it’s Mu Zi’s wish. You aren’t willing to see her again?”

I was willing, ten thousand times willing, but I had finally made my decision with great difficulty. With this move, all I had done would be wasted. If Mu Zi were to leave me due to my unsightly appearance, I didn’t know if I would be able to handle it.

The Demon Emperor said, “That’s decided then. Wait a moment.” After saying that, he went into the armory in a flash.

The Demon Emperor took out a stack of weapons quickly. My Sukrad’s staff was surprisingly within that pile.

The Demon Emperor tossed the weapons towards me. I hastily opened my space pocket to keep them, excluding Sukrad’s staff.

The Demon Emperor coldly said, “If you were to expose this matter, hmph! You should know what will happen.”

I contained my excited heart and said, “Your Majesty, I can accept your condition, but I’ve also another condition that I hope that you will accept. It will be beneficial to both sides.”

The Demon Emperor frowned. “You dare set a condition? Don’t forget that you little life is in my hands.”

I replied with a smile, “I have already said that this condition will be beneficial to the both of us. I believe that you will definitely accept it.”

The Demon Emperor’s eyes gave off an frosty gaze. Even though I looked calm, I was actually scared. If I were to enrage him, I wouldn’t have any chance at all.

“Speak.” When I heard that word, I heaved a sigh of relief.

I tried my best to maintain a calm appearance. Suddenly, I felt the gentle caress of a cool breeze, helping me clear my mind. I stated my condition, “I hope that His Majesty will temporarily stop plans to attack the human race while I find evidence of the Monster race’s invasion.”

The Demon Emperor wasn’t angered as I thought he would. He just calmly said, “Why?”

I replied evenly, “It’s for the benefit of both sides. Think about it, if the Demon and Beast races were to have a great war against the human race, it’ll definitely lead to the increase in hatred between races. Even if I were to find evidence of the Monster race’s invasion, do you think that your race can still be able to ally with the Human race to fight against Monster race? Moreover, if war were to break out, there’ll definitely be casualties and the depletion of resources. The fewer the resources you possess, the greater the disadvantage you will have against the Monster King. Currently, the most important matter is for us to be able to live in this world.”

The Demon Emperor looked at me silently. I knew that he was thinking it through.

Uncle Firewood said, “Your Majesty, what Zhang Gong said is correct. There is no need for unnecessary sacrifices.”

The Demon Emperor replied, “Zhang Gong Wei, do you know how many rations are consumed daily at the camp for my Demon race’s great army at the frontline and how many resources are used?”

I was startled as I didn’t know that he would say such words, but was happy as I knew that there was a chance of this matter could be resolved. I thought for a moment and said, “I’m not sure about that, but the consumption for a million soldiers will definitely be enormous.”

The Demon Emperor suddenly sighed and looked up at the moon. His current appearance was like a benevolent senior, rather than the imposing ruler of the western continent.

“The land of my Demon race is barren so it can only produce some Demon beasts and ore. I can only rear Demon beasts as a means for survival. The Beast race’s ground is slightly better, but they can only plant the meanest of grains. Our races have already prepared for a hundred years to fight against the Human race and gather enough resources to support the army. Every day you ask me to wait, the great army at the frontlines will have consumed a month’s worth of resources from the Empire. Waiting for a month, would be equivalent to two years of resources to the Empire. Do you think that my Demon race naturally loves to invade? It’s because we don’t have any alternative for our survival. Even though your conditions are tempting and are morally right, I can’t accept it. I’ll commence a full scale war against the human race with the combined forces of the Beast race from the Valiant Mist Empire soon. I must start the war so as to have ample resources to sustain it.”