"You know?" Emily smiled and asked, "Then why did you act like that?"
Han Shuo pulled Emily into his arms and replied softly, "Women, power, wealth - I already have everything I've ever wanted in life and more. It is time for me to be satisfied with what I have. Besides, my time is very limited and I can hardly spend enough time with all of you. She would be lonely with me."
Emily gently pressed a finger to Han Shuo's chest, raised her eyebrows and giggled, "Is that so? That doesn't sound like the Bryan I know. Hehe, just look at how many ladies are in your room right now. You're telling me you've changed? Who would believe you?"
Han Shuo grimaced and awkwardly scratched his head for a moment before explaining, "I used to be promiscuous because I was in a very unique realm state in my cultivation. It was necessary. I had no choice!"
Emily rolled her eyes and replied, "What a load of hogwash."
Han Shuo put on an innocent face as if he had been falsely accused before he suddenly flashed an evil smile and replied, "Woman, you don't believe me when I tell you the truth, yet you fall for lies! This makes me angry! I will have to punish you!"
"You'll have to catch me first!" Emily tried to slip away with her soft, smooth skin, but was tightly bound in Han Shuo's arms and could not escape. Han Shuo took her into a bedroom and gave her a good spanking.
***
Half a year passed in the blink of an eye.
In that time, the Land of Chaos had only grown more chaotic. Tyre and Logue had spread the word that the Godhunter Alliance would soon be invading, and demanded that all Fringedwellers temporarily submit to the command of the Sovereigns.
Understanding the gravity of the situation, all Fringedwellers submitted to the Sovereign of their choice, hoping that the Fringe would be able to withstand the Godhunter Alliance's onslaught.
As criminals from all over Elysium, they understood that the Fringe was the only place they could truly call home, and that if the Fringe fell into the hands of the Godhunter Alliance, not only would they lose their home, but they would become prey to the Godhunters and die as their divine energy was consumed.
The Fringedwellers would not surrender their home without a fight. They stopped fighting, gathered their forces and contacted their Sovereigns.
Because Tyre and Logue had acted early and had a greater reputation, most of the fringe forces had surrendered to them. Wasir and Ossora understood that the larger the forces they commanded, the better position they would be in in the coming war. They began to make promises and use their wealth to influence the faction leaders.
Tyre, Logue, Wasir and Ossora had activated all their resources and means to attract as many Fringedwellers as possible to their temporary commands.
Han Shuo, however, despite being qualified to accept the Fringe forces under his command, had made no such effort. On the contrary, the Pandemonium had publicly declared that they would not accept any Fringedwellers or forces! Han Shuo's actions were completely beyond reason and expectation. Several faction leaders who were sympathetic to Han Shuo had even visited the Pandemonium in person, hoping to convince Han Shuo otherwise, but they had been rebuffed.
While all the other Sovereigns were busy gathering as many forces as they could, the Pandemonium was doing absolutely nothing. Although the House of Han's Celestial Pearl in the Omphalos remained open for business as usual, not a single core member of the House of Han had been seen in public.
Even Han Hao and his powerful Godhunter faction had mysteriously disappeared from the Fringe. Their tracks are rarely discovered.
The Pandemonium's puzzling and seemingly unreasonable actions had left the four Sovereigns and all the Fringedwellers very puzzled. But since the Pandemonium was protected by fearsome defences and shrouded in a dense mist, no one could approach it to gather any information. No one knew what the Pandemonium's plan was against the great threat that loomed.
Time flew and another three months had passed. Tyre, Logue, Wasir and Ossora had received information - Godhunters had been very active along the borders of the Destiny, Death, Space and Lightning Dominions!
Upon receiving the news, Tyre immediately sent messengers to each sovereign, inviting them to discuss the matter. The messenger sent to Pandemonium, however, was refused, with Stratholme giving the excuse that Han Shuo was in secluded cultivation.
Without Han Shuo, the Sovereigns reassembled and discussed why the Godhunters were appearing on the borders of the four dominions. Tyre and Logue were particularly puzzled. They couldn't understand why these Godhunters would do something so foolish as to attack the Gods travelling between these Dominions.
The Godhunter Alliance that was moving to attack the Fringe should try to conceal their movements as much as possible, and would never reveal their tracks until they reached the Fringe. Attacking travellers between the four Dominions would not only do them no good, but might also invite counterattacks from the Divine Guardians of the four Dominions. Therefore, the Godhunter Alliance's actions seemed completely unreasonable to them.
The four Sovereigns spent a whole day discussing the information, but came to no conclusion. They could only ask their followers to keep an eye on these regions.
*** Above an unregulated region between Ethereal City and the Fringe, Han Hao wore a surprised expression as he stared at someone he did not expect to meet.
""What's wrong? Is it my face?" Scarlett, who had brought all her followers from Ronson Canyon to Han Hao, asked smilingly. She thought Han Hao was surprised at the lack of scars on her face.
"Why are you here?" Han Hao knitted his brows.
Scarlett was stunned and looked at Han Hao in confusion. She asked, "Didn't you ask me to come?"
Han Hao shook his head and replied firmly, "No".
Bitterness filled Scarlett's heart as she suddenly realised that Han Shuo had lied to her. She stared at Han Hao carefully before she sighed and said, "I thought you wanted me to come here. Since you do not want me here, I will return."
"Who told you that?" asked Han Hao after a moment of silence.
"The house of the Han Patriarch. He came to Ronson Canyon, killed all the faction leaders, and healed the scar on my face. He told me you wanted me to come to the Fringe." Scarlett lowered her head in disappointment and muttered to herself, "I should have known, this isn't like you... You don't care about anyone. Why would you ask me to come to the Fringe? Indeed, yet again, I'm being delusional…"
Han Hao thought it was strange that Han Shuo had told her so. Suddenly, a bizarre thought came to him, Is Father trying to be my matchmaker? When he began exploring that awkward idea, it seemed as though something deep in his soul was touched. He started gazing at Scarlett foolishly and his mind was thrown into disorder. Something seemed to be thawing his ice-cold heart.
"I'm going back to Ronson Canyon. Goodbye… take care." Scarlett felt ashamed and uneasy under Han Hao's uncanny gaze and humiliated for being fooled into traveling thousands of miles for nothing. She wanted to leave the place as soon as possible.
"Don't leave…" said Han Hao softly after keeping silent for a long time.
Scarlett was stupefied. She opened her round eyes wide and stared at Han Hao as though he had become another person. "What… what did you say…?" Scarlett spoke stammeringly as her heart palpitated.
"I said don't go..." It seemed that Han Hao was not used to speaking so softly and he found it uncomfortable. He did not know what was going on with him and found his actions rather puzzling.
Scarlett gasped, "You... you have never spoken to anyone like that!" Her face suddenly lit up and her eyes shone like a star. It was as if she had become a million times more beautiful and captivating than she already was. "Your words made travelling thousands of miles worth it!"
A most inexplicable feeling suddenly came over Han Hao. He did not understand this bizarre and unfamiliar 'thing' that was making him somewhat nervous. Returning to his callous and cold demeanour, he said, "Now that you are here, you must obey me! You will do as I command!"
Deep in Han Hao's heart, he had decided not to treat Scarlett the way he treated others of his followers. This feeling made Han Hao very uncomfortable. So he reverted to his standard behaviour and tried to be the one in control.
Scarlett nodded happily and submissively. With a dazzling smile on her face, she replied, "I would do anything for you! I would even die for you!"
"Very good," Han Hao nodded, satisfied with the answer. Then he callously commanded, "Come here, let me touch you!"
Scarlett's face immediately turned red and she asked in a trembling voice, "Wha... what?"
"Let me touch you. I don't know why, but I want to touch you," Han Hao replied as he scratched his head. It seemed as if he did not understand why he would want to do that.
"Okay..." Scarlett secretly glanced at some of her followers who were standing nearby with confused faces. She felt so ashamed she wanted to dig a hole and bury her head in it. With her head bowed, she walked slowly towards Han Hao.