My Twin Sugar Mommies and Two Systems are 100 Years Late! Volume 2 – Chapter 1.
Endless Cry Battleground. Demon-Suppressing Pass. Black Lotus Prison.
Humans and demons alike had given it different names as they fought there over millennia. Some sounded glorious, others grim. In the end, it was just a large valley where demons and humans fought.
The humans had long been aware that the entrance to the Black Lotus Secret Realm—the den of various demon clans—was in this valley.
However, they had never been able to pinpoint it, no matter what tricks they used. So, they surrounded the whole place, entrapping the demon race for all these millennia.
The various buildings they erected were not random but were actually part of small arrays that connected with one another to form an even more magnificent one.
Still, the higher-ups of the demon races had their ways to sneak out if they wanted to. It's just that too many people sneaking off would alert the enemy, and they simply could not abandon their home and people.
They could have probably secretly sneaked people out batch by batch over time, but the cultivation environment outside their Secret Realm was far less conducive for them.
Regardless, the endless bloodshed and slaughter had fostered flora and flowers that looked beautiful yet thrived on Death Qi.
A lady in gold-embroidered red stood in this very valley under the afternoon sun, her silver hair falling down to her waist.
The clear blue sky and three men whose white robed faded into light green reflected in her orange eyes, which looked like two calm pools of lava.
These men were over 120 meters away from her, but their grim expressions and voices were clear and audible to her. Her left hand gripped a black bow firmly as she pulled its thin, cold string with her right.
"Kneel," she commanded. "Surrender and allow me to place a slave mark in your Sea of Consciousness, and you may yet live."
"Humph! Keep dreaming!" the leftmost of the trio snorted coldly. His braided goatee swayed lightly in the murky wind. "I don't know how you found out about our plan, but... Heh! Killing us won't change anything. You demons' existence is against the will of heaven. Sooner or later, you will be wiped out."
"That's right," a chubby one voiced his agreement. "The heavens scorn you. Your kind is intolerable."
"How hilarious," Sun Ruoyun chuckled dryly. "You say we are intolerable?"
She activated a technique and condensed an arrow with her Spiritual Qi. "You humans commit all kinds of atrocities against one another—rape, murder, theft, defamation, betrayal—and even worse."
"Yet, you still dare to take the moral high ground?" Her eyes narrowed. "How laughable!"
"You—!" One of the humans reflexively wanted to retort but was cut short as he dodged to the side.
The silver-haired lady had let her fiery arrow fly. Of course, 120 meters was more than enough for a normal person to dodge a normal arrow.
But the operative word here was "normal." The speed and power of her arrows could pierce through metal and mountains. Plus, for Void Refining cultivators, 120 meters might as well be half a meter. They were all speaking at normal volumes but could hear each other clearly.
"We have exchanged more words than necessary," she said as she condensed another arrow. "Which of you is going to surrender to me? Who isn't? I do not have all day!"
"Burning Mountain Demon Empress," a narrow-eyed, chubby human with a rune etched onto his forehead called out. "Before we focus on that, I just have one question I would like to ask. If I can get a satisfactory answer, my response may be positive."
Sun Ruoyun and the other two humans' gazes locked onto him, curiosity veiled in each.
"The ambush we laid out," he said, taking a few steps forward after seeing that she did not attack. "We used special means to ensure that no one leaked anything. So—"
"You want to know how I know?" Sun Ruoyun finished for him.
The chubby man remained silent, a response in itself. The other two men's expressions changed as well. They were also curious.
Sun Ruoyun asked rhetorically, her tone full of mockery and contempt, "By 'special means,' are you perhaps referring to the Gu worms you planted in my willing Prime Minister and those other greedy scum?"
The chubby man's brows furrowed slightly. "Those are new-generation Gu developed only recently. Their concealment ability is unprecedented. How could you detect them?"
"You are right. Their concealment ability is unprecedented." Sun Ruoyun shook her head. "No matter how I tried, I could never detect them with Divine Sense or any other means."
"Then, how...?" The third of the human trio, a skinny man with a tooth that had been replaced with jade, voiced the doubt they all shared.
"About that..." Sun Ruoyun trailed off, went silent for a moment, and then said, "Why should I tell you? What does it matter to you?"
She reminded them, "It's not like you have any other choice than surrendering or perishing in soul and body at the moment. I will not repeat myself. Kneel or open your Sea of Consciousness for This Empress."
The three human cultivators exchanged looks of craftiness and suspicion. Then, suddenly, the braided-beard man drew his sword and thrust it at the back of the thin one.
The thin man showed neither panic nor surprise. He clicked his tongue as he drew his own sword and parried the incoming attack.
The chubby one noticed at a glance that the two were not putting on an act and cursed, a vein twitching on the side of his head.
"Idiots! What is the meaning of this? I was just stalling for time! You two actually started fighting."
"Are you preparing to present the other's head to show your willingness to submit?" He spat. "It's people like you who give we humans a bad reputation!"
As though responding to the chubby fellow, the braided-beard man roared at the skinny one, angry as a bull seeing red, "Ma Lei, confess! You are the one who killed my daughter, weren't you?!"
Sun Ruoyun and the chubby man's expressions changed simultaneously, though for different reasons.
The skinny man, Ma Lei's eyes flickered for a moment, but his sword momentum remained the same. "Old Jing, you can eat whatever you want, but you can't say whatever you want. Words are like spilled water."
"Snort! Denying it is pointless." Ma Lei's tone was so natural that it infuriated Old Jing even more. His attacks became more aggressive. "I already discovered the evidence on you the moment you circulated your technique in the ambush earlier."
He explained, "I was going to wait until after this to make proper preparations to subdue you and make you beg for death. But who would have guessed that the ambush would fall through?"
His eyes became bloodshot. "Now that it has come to this, if you surrender and become her person, you may get to live. I can't allow that! My Xiao Li was a bit willful and arrogant, but she was my and her mother's only child! Our only light!"
At this point, the chubby man appeared to have been shocked silly as he recalled a certain matter. His lips parted, but in the end, no words came out.
Sun Ruoyun chuckled, amused. "It did not even take an incense stick's time to prove my words true. Humans... oh, humans."
As she repeated the word "humans," an image swam to the surface of her mind. It was of a young man. His black hair was silky and smooth like a divine beast's mane, and he had indifferent eyes that looked like the purest gold coins in existence.
Yan Anle, the Emotionless Emperor.
That was what the whole world knew him as. No, that was what they would come to know him as.
The reason she knew of the betrayal of her Prime Minister and a few other confidants beforehand was that she knew of events that had yet to happen.
It was not a case of foresight; otherwise, there would not be four different sets of visions. They were four distinct timelines that she had already lived through.
She told her sister and those she believed she could trust—basically, those bound by Oaths—that she had awakened a divination-type divine ability. But the truth was: this was her fifth go at life.
In all previous iterations, the Black Lotus Secret Realm was eventually discovered and invaded by the humans.
The demons, irrespective of kind or clan—Burning Mountain, Golden Feathers, Azure Serpent, Gentle Bull, and so on—would be slaughtered and enslaved to the last. Nothing she had tried had changed the outcome.
This time, she was trying a new route. She was going to do the unthinkable: place her hopes on a human.
Yes, it was insane, even illogical—especially considering that this was someone who, upon becoming powerful in the future, would oppress the whole world.
He was a man feared and respected by demons and humans alike. But… it was a gamble she was more than willing to make.
In her fourth regression, she had discovered that the so-called "Emotionless Emperor" was not truly emotionless.
He was only cold to those he had no connection with. He protected, supported, and took care of those who were on his side from the time he was weak and unknown. He only became cold after the loss of his wife, the mother of his quadruplets.
The culprit was the son of one of the human Void Refining bigshots lording over a sect here at the Black Lotus Valley.
If she could latch onto him before his cultivation soared, the crisis that she could not avert for four lifetimes would not be worth mentioning.
Still, she could not help but shudder as she recalled his ruthlessness and domineering aura. Even his four children, each named after a season, were giants. They all ruled a continent of their own before the age of 50!
What was the concept of a Half-Step Grand Unity younger than 50 years of age?
If she was praised endlessly for reaching the Void Refining Realm by the age of six hundred, then what about them?
Monsters! Terrifying monsters!
The whole family's future power filled her with so much awe and trepidation that a part of her kept whispering: "Nip him in the bud now."
Though, recalling the wails and suffering of the demons, how could she? He was, possibly, their only hope!
Besides, he was not truly her enemy. He was not among those who moved against her people. In fact, he was a friend in a way. The enemy of my enemy... or something like that.
I only stayed back to weed out the traitors, Sun Ruoyun thought. Now that they have been lured out and dealt with, I will head over there to meet him personally. Though, I will have to make some arrangements in the clan first. Perhaps the 'Burning Mountain Demon Empress' should barely manage to survive the ambush, escaping with grievous wounds?
Mm, let's do that.
She nodded to herself, then said to the trio, "You know what? You all should just... die for me!"
- - -
As for the so-called "future Emotionless Emperor," he sat in his rocking chair, his brown-eyed gaze sweeping over 21 young men and women.
Dou E and Pan Ting, his maids, had returned with them less than half an incense stick of time after the intruders left.
After a moment of silence, the transmigrator began, "I believe you have already been told this before, but I suppose saying it one more time won't hurt." He leaned forward. "Once you start working for me, you will hardly be able to return to the outside world. For a time, you will only be able to send letters, money, and resources to your friends and families. And even those items will be inspected before they will be released."
He paused for a moment, then asked, "Are you sure you want to board this ship? You have this final chance to leave. I promise that there will be no consequences if you do."
Among the 21 mortals, some shared glances and others whispered. But, even after half a minute, no one stepped forward. One of them raised a hand.
"Yes? What is it?"
"Master," the young woman addressed him with respect but confidence. "As long as the job's tasks, rules, and pay are as we were promised before coming here, then we will be more than willing."
"Yes, it is all as she told you." Yan Anle glanced at Dou E. "Your wages will be monthly, currently starting out at 100 coins each. Your work hours will be limited to 4 hours a day. And basic necessities like a roof, food, and drink will be provided within a reasonable amount. In the future, as the business grows bigger, the benefits will be increased proportionally."
"It is also worth mentioning that while good personal performance will be rewarded, negative performance and actions that harm my business' interests will be strictly punished."
He leaned back in his chair. "All that said, who will be the first to sign the Blood Oath?"