Serenity Peak City. Martial World Sharang.
Everwood Palace.
Only about a month had passed since Aksai’s last visit to Martial World Sharang.
So he knew that the Devil’s Den would still be there.
“Finally! Back in my— hm?”
Aksai was about to stretch his arms when he realized that he was not alone in his private chamber, specifically sealed shut using various means.
“How the f—” Aksai looked at the chamber and his face turned solemn. Someone had sneaked up using the palace’s security lapse during the shift change. This was obviously an insider job.
Nobody was supposed to be in this isolated space, which he used to teleport back and forth between Dadangar and Sharang.
Additionally, this was the same room where Aksai had stored his valuable possessions: silver and gold coins, as well as some qi-essence-based treasures and elixirs that he couldn’t carry with him at all times inside his storage ring.
“My— my lord— whe— whe— when? Ho— how?” stuttered one of Aksai’s maids, who had sneaked into his private chamber with an unknown male martial artist.
Swoosh. Zoom. Grab.
Before she or her martial artist accomplice could say or do anything, Aksai took action. A Scarecrow Fiend appeared beside him and charged directly at the male martial artist.
Before the Bronze Body Martial Artist had a chance to defend himself, the Scarecrow Fiend opened its mouth wide and chomped on his head, crushing his skull like a watermelon between two metal jaws of an artificial monster from Aksai’s previous world.
The maid’s accomplice had died just like that, without being allowed to utter a word.
Aksai, on the other hand, appeared before the maid and grabbed her neck with such force that she started choking.
“Hm? You are…Lily!”
Aksai recognized the maid instantly. She was the same maid who was considered the newest member of his maid army 12 years ago.
After twelve years, Lily had lost her youthful appearance. She still looked beautiful and energetic, but she had lost a certain form of innocence that she used to have around her.
“I’ll only ask this once, so answer as carefully as possible,” Aksai spoke in a cold and callous tone as he looked into the maid’s eyes.
“What are you doing here? And who was the guy who was with you?” He released the maid’s neck just enough for her to barely speak.
“My— oghhhh,”
Cough. Cough. Cough.
“My— my lord, Everwood Palace is going to get attacked tonight,” the maid started explaining, recounting what had transpired during his absence over the past month.
***
It seemed that the brewing chaos inside Devil’s Den was more severe than Aksai had initially thought.
Various organizations located in the suburbs of Serenity Peak were struggling to keep their members well-fed and ready for battle.
The stronger organizations were swallowing weaker ones. Members of smaller communities were being coerced by well-established clans to incite mutiny among their cohorts so that the rations and resources of the weaker organizations could be consumed.
But that wasn’t all.
The tree devils were becoming fiercer too. Their range of activities had increased, reaching closer to the suburban area than it was a month ago.
Safe zones within Devil’s Den were shrinking at a steady rate. Things hadn’t turned completely hopeless yet, but the citizens trapped inside had nothing to rely on. Many of them couldn’t see the hope of survival they craved.
Anarchy had also increased during this period. People had forgotten the norms of functional societies. They would plunder and pillage anything they could, living on the edge as if there were no tomorrow. Lootings, killings, and other heinous crimes had increased within the safe zones, making the mortals even more desperate.
For the most part, Everwood Palace was probably the only place that had remained unaffected by the changes happening within Devil’s Den.
The people sheltered by Everwood Palace had avoided many risks and pitfalls simply by following the rules and regulations Aksai had set for them before disappearing from the scene altogether.
However, the Everwood Palace and its community started to stick out like a sore thumb in the eyes of the survivors as time went on. They began blaming the Everwood Palace guards and those who ventured with them for hoarding all the food supplies from the nearby, relatively easy-to-explore danger zones.
Everwood Palace’s supplies were dwindling rapidly because of the number of people it had sheltered within its walls. As a result, the palace guards were forced to carry out raids into dangerous areas, just as Aksai wanted them to. These raids often resulted in clashes with other groups of martial artists as well.
***
Temple of Guardian was one such organization that had begun to view Everwood Palace with hostility for various reasons.
This organization was once a martial arts school by the same name before Devil’s Den arose in Serenity Peak. However, with the appearance of the tree devils, this martial arts school had forsaken its principles and embraced a newer, more anarchic mentality.
Twelve years ago, Aksai had hired Lin Sahu from the Temple of Guardian as one of the five martial arts tutors to teach him Guardian’s Qi, the core martial art of the school. Thanks to her tutoring, Aksai had advanced rapidly in cultivating the martial arts.
However, during Aksai’s absence, it seemed that Lin Sahu had developed designs on her former student’s assets. After instigating various conflicts with the guards of Everwood Palace herself, she finally declared her intention to attack Aksai’s base in the evening on this particular day.
Of course, the main reason the old martial artist had declared her intentions upfront was to sow chaos within Everwood Palace and instill fear in the people inside.
One could say that Lin Sahu was not only a skilled martial artist but also a cunning strategist. She sought to easily conquer Everwood Palace by inciting chaos within it.
Lin Sahu’s idea had been quite successful.
Her declaration to attack Everwood Palace had filled the people within the palace walls with fear.
They had already begun to revolt against the established order within the palace, causing trouble with the guards and urging them to establish a cooperative relationship with Lin Sahu and the martial arts school backing her.
This was a classic case of establishing control through fear-mongering.
===
AN: Maid Lily was first introduced in chapter 76.
