Looking at the Song Kingdom emperor hanging dead before him, Mo Fan sighed softly in his heart.
Who could have imagined that an exalted emperor of a nation would be hanged at the front gate of his own imperial palace?
Yet, in this southern frontier overrun by countless demons, even a grand monarch could hardly protect himself, let alone the ordinary citizens with no means of resistance.
Though Mo Fan had mentally prepared himself for the emperor’s death, he still felt a pang of sorrow at this moment.
He learned of this situation from the demon generals around him.
The Song Kingdom’s capital was indeed formidable, guarded by nearly a million cavalry and bolstered by almost five hundred cultivators, including two Core Formation cultivators stationed within.
They had even set up a grand city protection array, virtually impregnable.
However, as a massive wolf claw descended from the clouds above, the impregnable city protection array shattered instantly. The two Core Formation cultivators were gravely injured and abandoned the millions of citizens in the city, fleeing in panic.
As for the five hundred cultivators, half perished from the backlash the moment the city protection array broke.
Thus, with the arrival of several King Realm great demons, the so-called million-strong cavalry was utterly defeated. Fully two hundred thousand of them were devoured by these King Realm great demons using their divine abilities.
The cavalry’s defensive line collapsed, and countless demons stormed the city, leaving no survivors in their wake.
The hellish scene was something Mo Fan could scarcely imagine.
In the end, at least half of the remaining eight hundred thousand cavalry were eaten by the demons, while the rest scattered in terror.
The city’s common folk suffered the worst fate. Half were devoured by an Ancestor Realm great demon, and the rest were nearly all confined to various areas of the city, treated as blood slaves subject to the demons’ whims.
“Why hang a grand monarch like this, humiliating him so?” Mo Fan asked, his brow slightly furrowed.
“Precisely because he is the human emperor, he must be displayed here as a warning, instilling great terror in the hearts of the remaining blood slaves, so they know the consequences of opposing our demon race,” a demon general sneered.
Mo Fan nodded, not refuting his words, but asked, “Where in this city are the most children now?”
“Demon King Laibao, I advise you not to set your sights on those children. Ancestor Sha said they are the future supply of blood food. We can only eat the older ones from now on. The younger, stronger ones are forced to mate, ensuring a continuous supply of blood slaves. When those children grow up, they can produce more blood slaves, providing an endless supply of blood food,” a demon general said with a cruel smile.
Mo Fan’s brow furrowed slightly upon hearing this, understanding that these demon cultivators treated humans as livestock. Though he didn’t approve of this practice, he said nothing more.
From the demons’ perspective, humans were their food, so keeping them as livestock made sense. After all, demon cultivators who fell into human hands would fare no better.
“So, there must be many children in this capital?” Mo Fan probed indirectly. “Where are they kept?”
Seeing that Mo Fan seemed persistent, the demon general frowned and said gravely, “Demon King Laibao, I’ve warned you. If you don’t listen, Ancestor Sha may come for you.”
“Don’t worry, I’m just curious. I won’t do anything to provoke Ancestor Sha,” Mo Fan said with a smile.
Though he didn’t know who this Ancestor Sha was, anyone called an “Ancestor” could only be a Demon Ancestor.
His aim in asking these questions was not to eat the children or save them, but to find the so-called Great Scholar through them.
He hadn’t forgotten his mission. The southern frontier was in ruins, with humans suffering, starving, and corpses strewn everywhere. Yet, the Demon Ancestor’s blood slave rules had preserved some humans, suggesting a high likelihood that the Great Scholar was among them.
Mo Fan avoided directly asking about scholars to prevent drawing unnecessary attention.
Children were different. With the Demon Ancestor’s rules in place, the demons in the city wouldn’t dare openly harm them.
After frowning for a while, the demon general spoke, “Niu Er, take Demon King Laibao to the eastern city district to see those little blood slaves.”
“Alright,” a bull-headed demon among the generals nodded, then led Mo Fan’s group away from the imperial city toward the eastern district.
After they left, the demon general who had spoken with Mo Fan grew cold and said, “This Demon King Laibao is suspicious.”
“We’ve never seen this demon king, nor even heard of him. He’s clearly not one of the demons from our city. We fought hard to take this city, and now this demon king wants to reap the rewards? He’s dreaming,” another demon general sneered.
“Exactly. Though we’re all from Moonlit Valley, we each have assigned tasks. This Demon King Laibao is clearly not part of our group. We must report this to Demon King Bloodthirsty,” a demon general huffed.
“Indeed. We didn’t dare confront him openly just now, lest he turn on us. That’s why I had Niu Er keep him occupied. Let’s head to the palace to see Demon King Bloodthirsty now,” the demon general nodded, preparing to lead the others to the palace.
But at that moment, a wisp of black mist descended from the sky, instantly engulfing the demon generals.
Soon after, the black mist receded, revealing a figure, a single-horned demon general.
“My master foresaw you would report this to the city’s great demons. Did you think he’d let you cause trouble?” the single-horned demon general muttered, then transformed back into a cloud of ghostly mist and vanished.
When White Robe returned, he noticed the bull-headed demon leading them was different, emanating a chilling ghostly aura. He immediately understood the situation.
“Master, it’s done,” White Robe said to Mo Fan.
“Have you uncovered anything about the great demons in this city?” Mo Fan asked.
“I searched the memories of those demon generals. There are five King Realm great demons in this city, all under the command of Demon King Bloodthirsty. They’re currently in the palace, indulging themselves, much to the misfortune of the emperor’s concubines,” White Robe said with a smile.
“That matches the information Langlang gathered. If we’re careful, there shouldn’t be any major issues,” Mo Fan nodded, then asked, “Have those fellows been dealt with cleanly?”
“Rest assured, Master. Not a single bone remains,” White Robe smiled.
“Well done,” Mo Fan nodded, then led the group toward the eastern city district. For convenience, he transformed into a demon form, an ugly figure with a toad’s head and a human body.
Mo Fan was already accustomed to his appearance. As a toad demon, he had no choice but to accept it.
“Being ugly is fine. It keeps me from attracting the attention of the strong. After all, most lesser demons are ugly. Only those who reach King Realm can hope to alter their appearance during a lightning tribulation,” Mo Fan thought with a wry smile, finding some humour in his plight.
Along the way, they encountered many demon cultivators, but none troubled Mo Fan’s group, instinctively assuming they were from Moonlit Valley due to their demon robes.
Upon reaching the eastern city district, they saw a massive light barrier enclosing most of the district, with demon cultivators wielding demon weapons standing guard outside.
Mo Fan’s eyes narrowed. This was the blood slave district.
As Mo Fan’s group approached, a demon shouted at them, “Halt! This is a restricted area designated by Ancestor Sha. Do you have a demon king’s token? Without one, no entry is permitted.”
