Chapter 582 - Cornered (1/2)
“Yes! You seven families need to apologize to your senior, the Demon King!”
“Even Region Lord Qin, this venerated senior, has taken the initiative to step forward and apologize before all those present. So as the main perpetrators, in addition to the matter concerning the Demon Emperor’s Seal… what reason do you have to refuse?! Aren’t you afraid of becoming the laughingstocks of the realm?!”
“Patriarch Chiyang, back in the day, your Chiyang Family sent people to our Southern Sea Region to proclaim the sins of the Demon King… But now that the truth is out, it would not be seen as excessive if your entire clan were to kneel in front of the Yun Family and apologize. Could it be that right now, you are not even willing to acknowledge your mistakes to the remains of the Demon King?”
“Do you not feel the least bit ashamed or guilty when you are faced with the corpse of the Demon King?! If that is truly so, even though all of you are part of the Guardian Families, we will still look down on you!”
Not a single person who was able to gain admittance into this Demon Imperial Hall was a fool. What they had seen and heard today were two clearly divided factions, Duke Huai, who was deliberately trying to provoke dissent, and the exaggerated arrogance of the seven Patriarchs and their suffocatingly obvious allegiance to him. Furthermore, all of this was painstakingly exposed by Yun Che, piece by piece, so how was it possible that the crowd would not smell anything fishy by now?
The thing that stood out the most was that… the seven families had ganged up to fiercely oppose the Yun Family. This was coupled with the fact that the same seven families had also instigated and pushed for the Demon King and the Yun Family to be found guilty. It was definitely premeditated and it might even hide some kind of scheme that they did not dare think too deeply about.
Under the driving impetus of the seven families one hundred years ago, all the hegemons here became accomplices and chess pieces, even to the extent of becoming sinners who defiled the name loyalty and devotion. These hegemons had failed the descendants of the Demon King, so how could their hearts not be filled with anger and regret? However, the other party still consisted of the seven great Guardian Families, so they could not afford to offend them… But when someone raised his head, the rest corresponded as well, and the situation had naturally become completely different from before.
Qin Zheng’s words were just like a drop in the ocean, yet they generated a tsunami of waves. All the region lords, city lords, and hegemons stared at the seven families with undisguised outrage as they exchanged heated words with each other. For a period of time, the entire Demon Imperial Hall was filled with voices denouncing the seven families; the sound of this criticism grew more and more deafening and more and more ferocious.
The faces of all the seven Patriarchs twitched violently, a sheen of cold sweat appeared on their foreheads; their hearts felt like they were being weighed down by a thirty thousand kilogram boulder. Even if they were to be severely reprimanded and scolded by the Demon Emperor himself, they would not feel as much pressure as they were feeling now. If they were to pick any random person out of all of the people who were criticizing them right now, that person would have no choice but to bend his head to them. But if all the people whom they originally regarded as lesser mortals banded together, they represented the will of the entire Illusory Demon Realm and all the people in it!
“Duke Huai… What… What should we do right now?” The seven Patriarchs hurriedly sent sound transmissions to Duke Huai while each and every one of their bodies became matted with sweat. They were incomparably clear that given the current situation, making a single misstep today would cause the prestigious reputations that they had held for ten thousand years to drop like a rock. The situation was so severe that it was possible that they would be targeted by the entire Illusory Demon Realm if they made a mistake.
Duke Huai had practically ground two of his teeth into fragments. All these years of scheming had resulted in Duke Huai possessing a greater power base than that of the Little Demon Empress, but his movements had always been slow and restricted, mainly because the will of the people was something that he could only dream of having over the past few years.
Today’s Demon Empress Reign Ceremony, when all the heroes of the realm were gathered, was the excellent opportunity he had always been waiting for! He had genuinely staked all his ambitions on today, but who would have thought that before he could make a single move, Yun Che would smash his plan into the ground… But it did not stop here. In the instant that he was caught unawares, the will of the people had shifted to the Yun Family, and the seven Guardian Families that he had acquired at great expense had become the enemy of all those around them in the blink of an eye...
Regarding the Yun Family’s hundred years of vilification; not only were they unable to expel the Yun Family from the ranks of the Guardian Families, they had even evoked the guilt, remorse, and wrath of all the heroes of the realm. And not only did the hearts of the people, the one thing he wanted to grasp the most, not sway towards him, instead, they sided completely with the parties opposed to him.
His plan had just begun, but it had been completely ruined and even made him look extremely miserable and wretched. This was a result that he had not even dreamed would happen. He ground his teeth together and exclaimed in an incomparably deep voice, “What else can we do?! Hurry up and apologize to that corpse… or are you waiting to drown to death under the curses of everyone under heaven?!!”
Now that things have come this far, apologizing to Yun Canghai’s corpse was something they had to do no matter what. If not, the consequences would be so severe that even as a Guardian Family, they might not be able to bear it. So at this moment, the seven Patriarchs simultaneously gnashed their teeth and made their way through the multitudinous crowd as they flew towards Yun Canghai’s body… after which, they knelt down with incomparable difficulty.
The Demon Imperial Hall fell into a hush and the gazes of all the people were concentrated on the figures of these seven people. For Helian Kuang and his six compatriots, these gazes were akin to the looks given to criminals who were being judged, and it was extremely unbearable for them. The seven of them had never dreamed that they, as Patriarchs of Guardian Families, would actually fall into such a predicament one day.
Helian Kuang gnashed his teeth fiercely and after that, he gave a violent exhale, putting all his effort into portraying a calm and serene facade. He bent his head towards the body of Yun Canghai and declared, “Most revered Demon King, this junior was initially unable to see the forest for the trees, and in a moment of folly, this junior presumptuously thought that he was acting on behalf of the entire Illusory Demon Realm. But this junior would never have imagined that he would commit such a grave mistake instead, so this junior humbly seeks forgiveness from the most revered Demon King.”
Even though Helian Kuang had sought forgiveness, he had made his ‘sin’ sound extremely trivial. The words from his mouth muddled it to become something that was done for the sake of Illusory Demon Realm. Yun Che gave a cold, silent laugh but he did not speak. Chiyang Bailie, Jiufang Kui, Bai Yi, Nangong Yan, Xiao Xifeng and Lin Guiyan all followed suit and strode forward to seek forgiveness. The words that they shouted out were exactly the same as the words uttered by Helian Kuang.
When the seven Patriarchs had risen to their feet, their faces were so black that it looked like they had climbed out of the bottom of a pot. They shot glances at Yun Che through the corners of their eyes, as they all wished to tear him apart with their bare teeth.
Even though it was clear that the ‘admittance of guilt’ on the part of the seven Patriarchs lacked conviction, because they had bowed their heads towards the body of Yun Canghai for all to see despite their status as the Patriarchs of the Guardian Families, no one could utter any further condemnation against them. Yun Che silently looked at Yun Canghai’s peaceful corpse as a sour feeling invaded his calm heart… Grandfather, the rehabilitation of the Yun Family cannot be accredited to me. If not for the fact that you stubbornly defended the Demon Emperor’s Seal to your dying breath for a hundred years... if not for your loyalty and righteousness that is reflected by the sun and the moon, even though I have immense ability, I would still not be able to cause the Yun Family to gain the hearts of the people. It was Grandfather who used his own life to allow me to see the light of day again… yet what I can do for Grandfather is only this much… It is not even a fraction of the affection that Grandfather had showed to me.
“Haha, the seven Patriarchs have personally gone down on their knees to acknowledge their sin against the Demon King. Even though it was something that had to be done, it has clearly demonstrated the broadness of the hearts of these seven Patriarchs, as well as their noble bearing!” Duke Huai said as he stood up with a serene expression. He calmly praised the seven people who had clearly committed a grave mistake and who were blatantly despised by all those who were present here and his demeanor was like that of a person who was completely uninvolved in the current messy state of affairs. He looked towards Yun Che and said in a steady voice, “Yun Che, the seven Patriarchs have disregarded their own dignity and have gone down on their knees to acknowledge their sins against the Demon King. This has been in complete compliance of your wishes! So now, it is time for you to return the Demon Emperor’s Seal to the Little Demon Empress.”
“It looks like Duke Huai’s memory is not that good!” Yun Che blandly said as he slanted his eyes, “I had said it before very clearly. If you want me to return the Demon Emperor’s Seal, these seven people must first kneel in repentance in front of my grandfather, and after they have done so, they still need to swear loyalty to the Little Demon Empress once more! I certainly did not see any of them swearing loyalty towards the Little Demon Empress!”