The Third and Fourth Demon Kings were astounded to meet each other close to the First Demon King’s borders.
"You???" the Third Demon King exclaimed.
"Why are you here???" the Fourth Demon King growled in displeasure.
"I am here to overthrow the First Demon King!"
"What a coincidence! I am, too!!!"
The two Demon Kings let out a low roar in unison.
Zhang Fengxi was riding with a demon guard. Seeing the heated glares that the two Demon Kings shot each other, he promptly jumped down the skeletal horse. Before he reached the two mighty demons, someone else spoke up.
"Your Majesties, united we stand, divided we fall. Why not first overthrow the current ruler? It will not be too late to decide on the next sovereign later."
Zhang Fengxi suppressed a grin. It was Xia Jianyu in his disguised form. Their eyes met for a split second before Xie Jianyu looked away.
"Fine," the Third Demon King said. "Since my trusted aide has spoken, I agree to join forces with you to overthrow the First Demon King."
The Fourth Demon King humphed.
"Don’t take words out of my mouth. And why is your trusted aide a human being? Have you no regard for the demonic race?"
Never mind that he too listened to the words of a human being. The Fourth Demon King would never admit to it, and Zhang Fengxi was more than happy to stay within his shadow and pull the strings from the dark.
As the troops of the Third and Fourth Demon Kings charged into the territory of the First Demon King, Zhang Fengxi and Xie Jianyu stole away from the battlefield.
They mixed with the many human souls who served in the First Demon King’s manor.
Zhang Fengxi bit into his lower lip anxiously.
"Let’s find him as soon as possible and get out of here," he whispered to Xie Jianyu.
Xie Jianyu gave a brief nod. He took out an empty talisman paper and drew a searching spell with blood.
Zhang Fengxi stared at the blood in bewilderment. He grabbed Xie Jianyu’s wrist, intending to ask where the blood came from, but then more blood drenched the palm of his hand.
"What’s this?" he hissed at his partner-in-crime. "Did the Third Demon King cut you?"
Xie Jianyu scoffed.
"Do you know that a dragon’s blood has a range of miraculous effects? I lied to him and said that my father is a dragon from the Heavenly Empire."
"..."
"The wound is not that deep. I won’t die before the mission is over."
"That’s not what I am concerned about," Zhang Fengxi said in response.
Xie Jianyu gave him a soft, reassuring smile. "Don’t worry, we will find Liu Wenyuan soon."
"..."
Finding Liu Wenyuan was important, but Xie Jianyu should not have to hurt himself in the process. Zhang Fengxi cursed at himself. He used his Three Realm Spear as bait. Why did he not ask in detail how Xie Jianyu planned to deceive the Third Demon King?
Luck was on their side. In the middle of the chaos, they managed to slip into the First Demon King’s grand manor and searched the rooms without raising any suspicion.
"Something is not right," Xie Jianyu said when they finished searching the third room in succession. "This is the residence of the ruler of the Demonic Realm. It should not be that easy to infiltrate this place."
"It shouldn’t be when there is no riot going out there," Zhang Fengxi agreed. "I sense no trap. Do you?"
Xie Jianyu took some time to think before he shook his head slowly.
"No. But still, I can’t seem to feel at ease."
"Better safe than sorry. Do what you want to do."
Xie Jianyu performed a complicated spell in the air, and a slightly rippling barrier formed around them.
"... You can make a barrier that moves with the object?"
"Only as long as Winter Frost is moving with the object," Xie Jianyu explained.
Some demon guards stood in front of a closed door at the end of the main corridor. They quickly rushed toward the two inconspicuous human beings with axes and sabers.
The confidence in their faces disappeared when Xie Jianyu unsheathed Winter Frost and cut them all in halves in a split second. The cut wounds did not even bleed because the body parts were frozen solid.
Zhang Fengxi whistled.
He pushed open the heavy door and saw the person they meant to save.
Liu Wenyuan hung at the wall with a bowed head. Only the chains kept him in a half-standing position, for he was unconscious.
"Wenyuan!"
Zhang Fengxi tapped at Liu Wenyuan’s cheeks, trying to wake him up. Xie Jianyu swung his sword a few times and cut off the chains with little effort.
"Let’s go," Xie Jianyu said.
Zhang Fengxi hauled Liu Wenyuan on his back and they ran along the corridor back to the entrance of the manor.
Hidden behind a row of blackened trees, Zhang Fengxi drew a spell in the air.
"Three Realm Spear, return!" he whispered.
Some distance away, the Fourth Demon King was swinging the Three Realm Spear gallantly as he mowed down the rows of demon guards who dared to oppose him.
"Hahahahahahah!!! Haahahahahhahah!!!" he roared in delirium.
All of a sudden, the spear in his hand started to revolt.
"Eh?"
The Fourth Demon King held the spear with both hands, but it became slippery and flexible like a snake.
And then, all of a sudden, the spear bit into his hand.
The Fourth Demon King released the transformed Three Realm Spear with a curse. He quickly regretted it, because the spear quickly disappeared in the middle of the fighting soldiers.
"My spear!!!" he shouted. "Come back to me!!!"
The Three Realm Spear slithered on the ground like a centipede. It safely escaped the battlefield and returned to Zhang Fengxi’s waiting hand.
"Very good, Three Realm Spear!" Zhang Fengxi extended his hand to reclaim his weapon. It hissed at him and sank its fangs into Zhang Fengxi’s arm in response.