Chapter 498 – Return – Diplomacy Through the Spouses (11)
While the Demon Lord was dealing with the heavenly soldier, Lord Lao’s Four Protectors seized the opportunity to take out the magical treasures he had left them and quietly approached the Demon Lord from behind.
The Demon Lord, Lou Shun, dared to act so arrogantly in front of the entire Heavenly Army. If the Demon Realm won today’s battle, where would the Heavenly Realm’s dignity be? What place would it have left among the Six Realms?
The four men focused entirely on the Demon Lord and failed to notice the ground beneath their feet.
A vine silently crept toward them.
The moment Bai Chuansu noticed the four of them closing in, he was about to push the Demon Lord away.
Before he could move—
Thud!
All four of them tripped over the vine and crashed to the ground.
Seizing the opportunity, Bai Tang immediately used an Immortal Binding Rope to tie them up.
“A Su, are you alright?”
“I’m fine. Thanks to you.”
Still shaken, Bai Chuansu let out a long sigh of relief as he stood behind the Demon Lord.
Thankfully, Tang Tang had spotted them in time. The Demon Lord hadn’t been ambushed.
Thank goodness.
“What are you all standing around for? Capture him!” one of the Four Protectors shouted at the stunned heavenly soldiers around them.
Damn it! Where did this little demon come from?
Not only had he ruined their plan, he even dared oppose the Heavenly Realm.
Wasn’t he afraid the Heavenly Realm would send troops to wipe out the Demon Realm?
Obeying the Four Protectors’ orders, the heavenly soldiers surrounded Bai Tang and slowly closed in on him.
They were already very close.
Yet not a single one of them noticed that Bai Tang carried no demonic aura whatsoever.
Instead, the immortal aura surrounding him was clear and pure. At a glance, it was obvious he had already ascended into the ranks of the immortals.
Bai Tang took a few nervous steps backward, his soft, sweet voice trembling.
“W-What… what are you trying to do…?”
“A Wu… they’re bullying me~”
The moment Jiang Langwu heard Bai Tang’s cry, he instantly suppressed all the demon soldiers around him before flying straight to the little squirrel’s side.
“Don’t be afraid, Tang Tang.”
Jiang Langwu pulled the trembling young man into his arms, his eyes turning icy as he stared at the crowd before them.
“They were trying to hit me…”
With someone powerful to rely on, the little squirrel finally had a protector.
He was no longer the helpless little squirrel who had once feared the Heavenly Dao and could do nothing when confronted with a female protagonist he disliked.
Now, he had someone standing behind him.
“You deserve to die.”
Explosions erupted one after another across the battlefield, leaving countless dead and wounded in their wake.
The heavenly soldiers and generals swallowed hard, their hands trembling violently as they gripped their weapons.
“Northern Emperor, please calm your anger!”
Forced to bow to circumstance, the heavenly soldiers and generals all knelt before the Northern Emperor.
In terms of individual combat, only the Northern Emperor could stand toe-to-toe with the Demon Lord.
If they truly angered him and he chose to abandon the Heavenly Realm, every one of them would perish on this battlefield today.
Jiang Langwu did not tell them to rise.
Leaving aside the fact that his status alone entitled him to their kneeling, the mere act of threatening Tangtang was not something that could be forgiven with a single bow.
“What exactly were you planning to do to my empress?”
The heavenly soldiers and generals felt like crying without tears.
Lord Lao had gone to seek the Northern Emperor’s help, yet he had never returned to tell them that the Northern Emperor had already found his empress.
Worse still, that empress was a squirrel who had cultivated his way to immortality.
Had they known that, they wouldn’t have dared provoke the Northern Emperor’s empress even if it cost them their lives.
The whole thing was a misunderstanding…
A complete misunderstanding…
Bai Tang let out a loud huff.
“Serves you right for bullying me. Hmph.”
He leaned into Jiang Langwu’s embrace with a pitiful expression and complained, “If Su Su hadn’t pushed me away just now, I would’ve died under their blade.”
“Tang Tang, we’re friends,” the little fox said as he peeked out from behind the Demon Lord. “I couldn’t just stand by and watch you get bullied. Besides, you helped me find the Demon Lord before. I’ll never be able to repay such a huge favor. All I did just now was give you a little push. It was nothing.”
The Demon Lord suddenly felt that his place as the most important person in Su Su’s heart had been stolen by that little squirrel.
How was this any different from having a love rival?
And to make matters worse, that little squirrel belonged to the Northern Emperor.
The Northern Emperor and the Demon Lord locked eyes, sparks of fighting spirit flashing between them.
Meanwhile, their respective partners had already run over to each other and were standing in the middle, holding hands and comforting one another.
Jiang Langwu: That fox’s hand resting on Tang Tang’s is really an eyesore.
Lou Shun: How dare that little squirrel hold Su Su’s hand.
Since their beloveds were present, neither of them wanted the little squirrel or the little cat-fox to witness such a bloody battle. The intense killing intent that had flared between them was forcibly suppressed.
Lou Shun shot Jiang Langwu a warning look.
Just you wait.
Jiang Langwu narrowed his eyes slightly.
You think I’m afraid of you?
Their silent exchange practically screamed: “If you’ve got the guts, meet me on the rooftop after school.”
Under the “diplomacy” of their spouses, the Heavenly Realm, represented by the Northern Emperor, and the Demon Realm, represented by the Demon Lord, officially declared a ceasefire.
The two sides signed a peace treaty.
Bai Tang and Bai Chuansu couldn’t have been happier.
A Wu/A Shun wouldn’t get hurt, and Su Su’s/Tang Tang’s husband was safe as well.
However…
A ceasefire was one thing.
Settling the score was another.
Bai Chuansu wasn’t trying to target anyone in particular. He simply wanted an explanation from the Heavenly Realm.
The demons had been peacefully cultivating all this time. Under the Demon Lord’s leadership, they neither stole nor robbed. When they had spare time, they even did good deeds—like helping lost elderly people find their way home.
So how exactly had they offended the Heavenly Realm?
The Heavenly Realm accused the Demon Realm of disrupting order in the mortal world and committing indiscriminate massacres.
Fine.
Then show the evidence.
Without proof, the Demon Realm refused to accept the accusations.
The one who had claimed the Demon Realm was wreaking havoc in the mortal world was Lord Lao, and the evidence had also come from him.
But now…
No one could produce it.
As a result, everyone’s attention shifted to Lord Lao’s Four Protectors.
They had followed Lord Lao for many years and knew the situation better than anyone else.
Having served Lord Lao the longest, the Four Protectors naturally knew the truth behind the so-called war between the gods and demons.
But could they say it?
Could they?
Of course not.
The four of them stammered and hesitated, unable to utter a single coherent explanation.
“They don’t know, but surely you do, don’t you?” Bai Tang said, looking at the High Gods present.
It wasn’t that he was unwilling to stand up for his own people. The truth was, he wasn’t familiar with these gods of the Heavenly Realm at all, so he didn’t consider them “his own.” Besides, the Heavenly Realm simply couldn’t provide a reasonable explanation.
The High Gods’ faces flushed red with embarrassment, yet none of them could come up with an answer.
Could they admit that they knew nothing and had simply believed everything Lord Lao told them? That they had also felt the demons were cultivating far too quickly and feared the Demon Realm would seize their share of spiritual energy?
They couldn’t.
That excuse simply didn’t hold up.
Everyone looked at one another, hoping someone else would answer the Empress’s question.
They all knew that if whoever spoke failed to provide a convincing explanation, they would almost certainly end up like that heavenly soldier earlier—his immortal tendons torn out by the Demon Lord, his immortal bones shattered, forever barred from reincarnation, his body and soul utterly destroyed.
“Come on, you say something. You were the one supporting the war last time.”
“Bah! I clearly heard you agreeing with General Shenwei.”
“Everyone knows I’m a civil official. I don’t fight wars. I merely listened to Lord Lao’s analysis of the pros and cons for the mortal world and attended the meetings.”
“I’m just a rough soldier. I don’t understand any of that talk about pros and cons or analysis. I was only following orders from my superiors. I don’t know anything…”
No one was willing to take responsibility.
Instead, they all pushed the blame onto one another.
From their argument, Bai Tang finally identified the true instigator of the war. At the same time, Bai Chuansu remembered something.
When he had sneaked into the Heavenly Realm to steal the Mortal Mirror, it had belonged to someone named Lord Lao.
That meant…
Lord Lao had to be the one who had ambushed the Demon Lord.
“Bring that Lord Lao out here!” Bai Chuansu demanded angrily. “If he dared to scheme against Lord Demon Lord, then he should have the courage to face the consequences.”
The Demon Lord, however, showed no anger. Instead, he gently rubbed the little fox’s back to calm him.
“A Su, don’t be angry.”
“Lord Demon Lord, I got the Mortal Mirror from that very Lord Lao! He must have been the one who ambushed you. Why aren’t you angry?”
“Because A Su is already getting angry on my behalf. Why would I need to be angry?”
Seeing the two of them about to slip into another affectionate moment, Bai Tang interrupted them at the worst possible time.
“Su Su, is the Lord Lao you’re talking about an old man with a white beard?”
“That’s him! That’s him!” Bai Chuansu said indignantly. “No one has more tricks up his sleeve than that old fox. He didn’t dare fight Lord Demon Lord head-on and only resorted to despicable underhanded tactics…”
As Bai Chuansu continued cursing Lord Lao, he was effectively scolding all the High Gods and heavenly soldiers present as well.
After all, they had been on Lord Lao’s side.
They deserved it.
Bai Tang then instructed Qiu’er and Xiao A to bring Lord Lao and General Shenwei over from the dungeon where they had been imprisoned.
Not long afterward, an elderly man and a middle-aged man were thrown before the crowd.
Both looked utterly deranged and filthy, their clothes in tatters and their appearance wretched.
The High Gods could hardly believe their eyes.
No matter how they looked, they couldn’t reconcile these two pitiful figures with the dignified, immortal-looking Lord Lao and the proud, imposing General Shenwei they remembered.
They had only gone to the Northern Forest…
What on earth had happened to them?
“A Wu, wake them up. Let’s hear what they have to say,” Bai Tang said.
Jiang Langwu had always done whatever Tang Tang asked of him, so naturally he didn’t refuse.
A gentle immortal breeze swept over the two prisoners, and the cloudiness gradually faded from Lord Lao’s and General Shenwei’s eyes. They gasped in terror, the horrifying memories etched into their minds still painfully vivid.
A few seconds later, they realized something was different.
The air was far fresher than it had been in the dungeon, and many familiar faces surrounded them.
“Speak!” Bai Chuansu demanded fiercely. “Why did you frame the Demon Realm and ambush Lord Demon Lord? If you can’t give me an explanation that completely convinces me today, I’ll have Lord Demon Lord beat you to death! Even the Northern Emperor Immortal Lord won’t be able to stop me—I said so!”
He looked ready to roll up his sleeves and charge at them himself.
The Demon Lord pulled Bai Chuansu back into his embrace and kissed the corner of his lips.
“Be good, A Su. Don’t be angry. They’re not worth it.”
Having finally managed to reclaim A Su from that little squirrel, Lou Shun looked up and shot Jiang Langwu a dangerous glance.
Keep your person under control. Don’t let him touch my A Su.
In Jiang Langwu’s eyes, Bai Tang was the best person in the world.
How could he tolerate someone acting as though Tang Tang were a nuisance?
Only Tang Tang had the right to dislike others—never the other way around.
He returned the look without backing down.
Keep your fox under control. If he keeps clinging to my Tang Tang, don’t blame me for being rude.
The two men snorted at the same time, leaving the little squirrel and the little fox standing between them completely baffled.
Bai Tang: What’s wrong with them?
Bai Chuansu: They’re probably just disgusted by Lord Lao and his group.
When questioned, Lord Lao hesitated, unable to bring himself to explain.
Bai Chuansu didn’t have the patience to waste time with him.
Instead, he directly asked the Demon Lord to use a Soul Search Technique to examine their memories.
The technique allowed one to see a person’s true thoughts and memories without deception, but it also inflicted severe damage to the target’s soul.
It was a ruthless method.
But Lord Lao had brought it upon himself.
As someone who indulged his wife in everything, Lou Shun naturally had no objection to carrying out the little cat-fox’s request.
He cast the Soul Search Technique on Lord Lao and General Shenwei, forcibly separating their three souls and seven spirits as he extracted their memories.
“AAAH—!”
Their screams were utterly miserable.
Unable to bear the sight, Bai Tang turned his head away.
What was happening to them was cruel…
But then again, Su Su and Lord Demon Lord had suffered terribly back then as well.
“They brought this upon themselves,” Jiang Langwu said gently, his warm voice soothing beside Bai Tang’s ear. “You don’t need to feel guilty, Tang Tang.”
Bai Tang nodded.
He buried himself in Jiang Langwu’s embrace, where he couldn’t see anything…
…and couldn’t hear anything either.