Two groups of people stood still, staring at each other in the dense forest. Time seemed to stop all of a sudden, and the surroundings fell into complete silence.
True Lord Honghua spotted the jade pendant that belonged exclusively to Yu Xuzi hanging on Huan Zhong's waist at a glance. He immediately recognized the identity of the person in front of him.
His body stiffened for a moment, and then he turned around under the nervous gazes of a group of demon soldiers.
"Umm... There's nothing here. Let's go back."
The several elders behind True Lord Honghua widened their eyes. Their life-bound magical weapons were itching to be used, but True Lord Honghua desperately winked at them, signaling them to go back.
Wang Nian's heart tightened nervously. He protected Huan Zhong behind him with a cold expression, and the demon soldiers behind him did the same.
They had thought the battle was about to break out, but unexpectedly, the old man leading the group seemed not to see them at all and turned around to leave.
"General, what's going on? Should we still attack..."
A demon soldier stammered in a low voice. The title of general here referred to Huan Zhong.
Wang Nian also tilted his head and looked at Huan Zhong with a questioning look. As long as Huan Zhong gave the order, he and the demon soldiers behind him would rush forward to fight for him.
Huan Zhong came here under the guidance of Yu Xuzi. Seeing the person in front of him wearing the robe of the sect master of Qingyun Sword Sect, he immediately understood that this was True Lord Honghua.
True Lord Honghua should know his purpose here, so he pretended not to see them.
Therefore, he naturally wouldn't initiate an attack either.
Huan Zhong turned around and said to the demon soldiers behind him, "Don't attack. There's nothing here. Let's retreat a bit."
The two groups stared at each other and slowly retreated, but they were still on high alert, their nerves tense, afraid that the other side would attack first and catch them off guard.
Suddenly, there was a crisp sound of a knife falling in the demon soldiers' formation. The two groups immediately stopped in their tracks stiffly and all raised their weapons.
The hair on the backs of the necks of the several elders behind True Lord Honghua stood on end. They held their life-bound swords and immediately assumed fighting stances.
Seeing this side making moves, the demon soldiers made a move to rush forward and nervously stared at the elders.
The atmosphere became tense again. Huan Zhong sighed helplessly and walked to the demon soldier who had dropped his knife.
True Lord Honghua looked back and saw that it was just someone accidentally dropping a knife that had caused the misunderstanding. He quickly told the elders to put away their swords.
Under everyone's gazes, the demon soldier who had dropped his knife was on the verge of tears.
Due to nervousness, he accidentally dropped the knife in his hand on the ground. He didn't expect it to cause such a big reaction from everyone.
He awkwardly scratched his nose and then quickly picked up the knife. He whispered, "Sorry, my palms were sweating. I was nervous..."
Huan Zhong patted the demon soldier on the shoulder and said, "It's okay. Keep moving forward."
Both groups put away their weapons and slowly retreated until the figures of the other side disappeared among the branches and leaves of the dense forest. Only then did their tense bodies gradually relax.
"Sect Master, there are actually people from the Demon Realm in the dense forest. Aren't those demon soldiers the ones who attacked our mountain-protecting formation? Why didn't you let us attack!"
An impatient elder grabbed True Lord Honghua's sleeve and refused to let go. His face was cold, afraid that True Lord Honghua had already betrayed them.
True Lord Honghua helplessly took out Yu Xuzi's letter and showed it to the elders.
Yu Xuzi's letter had been sent before he went into seclusion. There were only two short sentences on it.
If you see someone from the Demon Realm with the jade pendant of the Five Elements Dao Sect, don't be afraid. Let them leave. That's my younger brother.
Seeing the aura and brand of Yu Xuzi on the letter, the elders finally believed True Lord Honghua's words. After all, Yu Xuzi had the Kunlun Disk and could foresee things that they couldn't. He must have his reasons for making such a request.
But seeing the relieved expressions of the elders, True Lord Honghua felt inexplicably annoyed.
As the sect master, his words didn't carry as much authority as a single letter from Yu Xuzi.
"Alright, alright. Let's go back quickly. The matter in the front mountain has been resolved. Let's go and take a look at the back mountain."
On the other side, Huan Zhong led Wang Nian and more than a dozen demon soldiers to retreat deep into the dense forest.
Without having time to catch up, Huan Zhong quickly told them his plan.
Wang Nian's face was complicated, and there was a look of entanglement in his eyes. "General, you mean... you want us to be the inside agents and help you rescue all the members of the Nether White Wolf Clan?"
"But they're all locked up in the death row and guarded by heavy troops. The Demon Lord won't let us take them out easily."
The other demon soldiers also looked embarrassed. Huan Zhong's request was equivalent to asking them to betray the Demon Realm.
Huan Zhong sighed helplessly. "I know this is very difficult, but if I didn't have a foolproof plan, I wouldn't have spoken so easily."
"Back then, I was framed by Lin Yibai. My daughter and I almost lost our lives in the mouth of the abyss. If it weren't for our good fortune, we wouldn't be alive to see you all."
"I've long since stopped wanting to serve such a master. But you're still young, and you still have a choice."
"If you don't agree, I won't force you. If you're afraid of the Demon Lord and tell him that I'm still alive, I won't blame you either. But just think about the future of the Demon Realm. Can Ji Chongming really be the Demon Lord?!"
Huan Zhong's words made everyone present lower their heads.
They weren't unaware that this Demon Lord was inferior to the previous ones. Ji Chongming was too arrogant, acting without considering the consequences. And most importantly, he was infatuated!
For the sake of Lin Yibai, he completely ignored the future of the Demon Realm and didn't care about their lives. There was only the woman in his eyes.
Since Lin Yibai came to power, anyone who disagreed with her had been secretly eliminated. There were many people like the Huan family who were wrongly killed or exiled.
They lived their lives on the edge every day, afraid that one day they would anger this little ancestor and lose their lives.
They were loyal, but they didn't want to end their lives in such a way.
Seeing them silent, Huan Zhong didn't force them. He just said one sentence, "I've said all I need to say. You can think it over yourself."
The demon soldiers' gazes fell on Wang Nian from time to time. Wang Nian gritted his back teeth and said in confusion, "But what does the task you assigned have to do with the Demon Lord and the future of the Demon Realm? Will the Demon Realm have a future after all the Nether White Wolves are released from the Demon Realm?"
Huan Zhong's eyes looked through the lush branches at the sky. That was the place that everyone longed to reach, and that was also the place where the operating rules of this world, the Heavenly Dao of this world, were located.
"Maybe you don't believe it, but the Nether White Wolf Clan may be the key for the Demon Realm to break the seal of the Demon Abyss."
"No one in our Demon Realm has ascended for thousands of years. Maybe what we believe in is wrong."
"I'm sure that the key to the continued survival and development of the Demon Realm is to make peace with the cultivators of the Nine Desolate Continent. Releasing the Nether White Wolves is just one of our steps."
"And pulling Ji Chongming down is our next step."