Chapter 2597: Motive

Feng Meng was flabbergasted. He had neutralized Zu An’s arrow with three arrows earlier, so he thought he could catch Zu An off guard by firing many arrows at once. He hadn't thought Zu An could unravel his arrow rain with just a single arrow!

Was he toying with me earlier?

The arrow forcefully pinned him to the city wall, and the excruciating pain nearly caused him to pass out. He tried raising his hand to pluck out the arrow, but he couldn’t muster the strength. He finally understood how the Golden Crows felt when being shot down.

It was a terrifying feat, considering how Zu An hadn’t taken his time to build up energy for this arrow, and the earlier arrow rain had weakened the arrow’s might by at least half. If not for that, it would have torn Feng Meng apart.

Salamay could no longer be counted on in this situation. She had just clawed her face apart and was now glaring at Ji Xiaoxi with venomous eyes.

As for the Lord of Slaughter, he had finally struggled free of the purple lightning storm, but he was in terrible shape. His body was charred black, and his red flesh could be seen through his cracked skin. Smoke was rising from his body. He smelled so delicious that a few people gulped.

That further angered the Lord of Slaughter.

How dare these ants think of eating me?!

But he didn’t dare to charge in recklessly anymore. With Feng Meng incapacitated, it would be suicidal for him to continue the fight.

Zu An paid no heed to the Lord of Slaughter; his eyes were focused on the city. Seeing no one was coming out, he shot another arrow at Feng Meng.

This is the culprit who caused the Mermaid Queen to ascend to the Frost Palace. I’ll exact vengeance for her.

Feeling the devastating energy harnessed in that arrow, Feng Meng’s every cell frenziedly screamed at him to dodge the attack. However, he was pinned to the city wall and was unable to move at all. He could only watch as death encroached on him. He cried, “Save me, master!”

A divine light descended and knocked away the arrow at the last moment.

Feng Meng felt his crotch turning wet, but he felt no shame at all; only relief.

I’m glad that master intervened. I should be able to survive this ordeal now.

A figure emerged from the city’s skyline and leisurely approached Zu An a step at a time.

“Emperor Yao!” The humans in the city kneeled and kowtowed to the figure.

Zu An assessed the humans; there was no fear on their faces. They hadn't been coerced into worshipping him. Their respect for him came from the bottom of their hearts.

The figure landed on the city wall as he asked, “Isn’t it too much for you to come to Taoqiu to kill my people?”

He had a squarish face, thick eyebrows, and deep eyes. He naturally commanded authority when he spoke.

“Is he one of your people too?” Zu An glanced at the monstrous-looking Lord of Slaughter.

Emperor Yao’s expression stiffened. It took a while before he recovered and asked, “Why have you come to Taoqiu to cause trouble?”

“You’re asking why?” Zu An sneered. He pointed at Feng Meng and scoffed, “Not too long ago, that fellow went after my friend. You were the one who ordered him to do so, Emperor Yao, so why are you feigning ignorance?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Emperor Yao didn’t seem surprised that Zu An knew his identity. He gestured for the human warriors to seek refuge in the city.

The human warriors insisted on fighting alongside him, to which Emperor Yao replied with a chuckle, “They are very powerful. You’ll only lose your life in vain if you remain here. Besides, there might not necessarily be a fight between us.”

Upon hearing those words, the human warriors finally retreated into the city. There were no longer any humans in the city gates’ vicinity.

Zu An frowned. “Are you roleplaying a good ruler in front of me?”

“You’re overthinking it. Since they worship me as the Human Emperor, I am obliged to protect them well. It has nothing to do with you,” Emperor Yao replied calmly.

“You put on a righteous face in front of them, but do they know about your despicable deeds?” Zu An sneered.

“Despicable deeds? What do you mean?” Emperor Yao chuckled, unfazed by Zu An’s accusations.

“You orchestrated the war between the Fiends and the Shamans, didn’t you?” Zu An glared at Emperor Yao.

“Nonsense. Who doesn’t know that Emperor Jun is the mastermind behind the war between the Shamans and the Fiends? What does this have to do with me?” Emperor Yao shrugged. The faint smile on his lips hinted at his interest in this conversation.

“Yes, Emperor Jun’s ambitions played a huge part. He secretly forged the Myriad Souls Banner, collected souls from all over the world, and even killed and possessed the ten Golden Crows. However, you have also been actively pushing things along,” Zu An sneered.

“Take the events at Zhong Mountain, for instance; Zhuanxu sacrificed his grandson to sever heaven from earth. That should have suppressed the conflict between the Shamans and the Fiends, but shortly after, Nuba began publicly cursing Emperor Jun, demanding he reveal himself.

“Emperor Jun had carried out his plans covertly. Nuba wouldn’t have figured out the truth so quickly if someone hadn’t tipped her off. Due to Nuba’s relentless actions, Emperor Jun had no choice but to accelerate his plans and bring the ten suns out to devastate the world.”

Emperor Yao calmly replied, “It’s only normal for Nuba to seek vengeance for her son in a fit of anger. Besides, if not for my reminder, Emperor Jun wouldn’t have been forced to put his plans into motion in a rush. More people would have died if he had more time to prepare.” He turned to Ji Xiaoxi and added, “This lady would have also become a part of the Myriad Souls Banner if not for my reminder. You should be thanking me for that.”

Zu An was rendered speechless. Emperor Yao made so much sense that he couldn’t retort against that.

The Goddess of Wu Mountain asked, “Yao, isn’t Emperor Jun your father? I don’t understand why you did all this.”

“Emperor Jun is a womanizer. I am but one of his many sons. My mother was a rag to him—to be used and thrown away—and she died lamenting her fate. That made him pay even less attention to me.” Emperor Yao chuckled self-deprecatingly. “But I am thankful for that, or else I could have ended up in the same plight as the ten Golden Crows.”

“Did you foil his plan out of hatred?” The Goddess of Wu Mountain nodded in realization.

To her surprise, Emperor Yao harrumphed in disdain. “Don’t take me to be that shallow. Ultimately, his deeds were reprehensible. Anyone with a conscience would do everything they could to stop him.”

He spoke with an air of righteousness, which made him look bigger than before. Even the Goddess of Wu Mountain had a better impression of him.

But Zu An coldly pointed out, “You could have publicly exposed him if you wished to stop him, but you quietly supported his ploy instead. I was perplexed about your aim all along, but it finally made sense when I saw how much the human race respected you.

“Emperor Jun sought to obliterate the shamans so the fiends could monopolize the world. He attempted to attain Sainthood through accomplishing this unprecedented deed.

“And yet, your gaze was set further ahead. You wished to use the war between the shamans and the fiends to stage the downfall of the two races, so the human race could rise through the ranks and prosper. Your goal was to attain Sainthood through your merit as the Human Emperor.”

If you find any errors ( Ads popup, ads redirect, broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.