“You know?” Emily smiled and asked, “Then why did you act like that?”
Han Shuo pulled Emily into his arms and softly replied, “Women, power, wealth – I already have all that I’ve ever wanted in life and more. It is about time that I start being content with what I have. Besides, I have very limited time and can barely spend enough time with you all. She would be lonely if she was with me.”
Emily gently pressed a finger on Han Shuo’s chest, raised a brow, and giggled, “Is that so? That doesn’t sound like the Bryan I know. Hehe, just look at how many ladies are inside your room right now. You’re telling me that you’ve changed your ways? Who would believe you?”
Han Shuo grimaced and awkwardly scratched his head for a moment before he explained, “I used to be promiscuous because I was in a very unique realm state in my cultivation. It was necessary. I had no choice!”
Emily rolled her eyes and replied, “What a load of hogwash.”
Han Shuo put on an innocent face as though he had been accused wrongly before he suddenly put on an evil smirk and replied, “Woman, you don’t believe me when I tell you the truth, yet you fall for lies! This makes me angry! I shall have to punish you!”
“You’ll have to catch me first!” Emily tried to slip away with her soft, smooth skin but was buckled tightly in Han Shuo’s arms and failed to escape. Han Shuo took her into a bedroom and gave her a good round of pounding.
***
Half a year passed in the blink of an eye.
During that time, the Land of Chaos had only become even more chaotic. Tyre and Logue had been spreading the news that the Godhunter Alliance would soon be invading and demanded that all Fringedwellers temporarily submit to the command of the Sovereigns.
All Fringedwellers understood just how grave the situation was and they submitted to the Sovereign of their choosing, hoping that the Fringe would endure the attack of the Godhunter Alliance.
As criminals that came from all over the Elysium, they understood that the Fringe was the place that they could truly call home and that if the Fringe fell into the hands of the Godhunter Alliance, not only would they lose their home, they would become prey of the godhunters and die by having their divine energy consumed.
Those Fringedwellers were not going to surrender their home without giving it a fight. They ceased their in-fighting, assembled their forces, and contacted their Sovereigns.
With Tyre and Logue having acted early and having a greater reputation, most of the Fringe forces had surrendered to the two. Wasir and Ossora understood that the greater the forces they commanded, the better position they would be in during the upcoming war. They began making promises and using their wealth to influence the faction leaders.
Tyre, Logue, Wasir, and Ossora had activated all their resources and means to pull as many Fringedwellers into their temporary commands as possible.
Han Shuo, however, despite being qualified to accept those Fringe forces under his command, had not made such an effort. On the contrary, the Pandemonium had publicly declared that they would not accept any Fringedwellers or forces! Han Shuo’s actions were completely beyond reason and expectations. Several faction leaders who were inclined towards Han Shuo had even visited the Pandemonium in person, hoping to persuade Han Shuo otherwise, but they were rejected all the same.
While all other Sovereigns were busy gathering as many forces as they could, the Pandemonium was doing absolutely nothing. Although the House of Han’s Celestial Pearl continued to open for business in the Omphalos as usual, not a single core member of the House of Han had been seen in the public.
Even Han Hao and his powerful godhunter faction had mysteriously disappeared from the Fringe. People rarely ever discover their trails.
The Pandemonium’s mystifying and seemingly unreasonable actions had made the four Sovereigns and all Fringedwellers very puzzled. But as the Pandemonium was protected by terrifying defenses and shrouded under a thick mist, no one could even get close to it to scout out any information. No one knew what the Pandemonium’s plan was against the great looming threat.
Time flew and three months more had gone by. Tyre, Logue, Wasir, and Ossora had received intel – godhunters had been very active around the borders of the Destiny, Death, Space, and Lightning Dominions!
Upon receiving the news, Tyre immediately sent messengers to every Sovereign, inviting them to discuss the matter. The messenger sent to the Pandemonium, however, was declined, with Stratholme giving the excuse that Han Shuo was in secluded cultivation.
Without Han Shuo, the Sovereigns reassembled and discussed why the godhunters would appear at the borders of the four Dominions. Tyre and Logue were especially puzzled. They couldn’t understand why those godhunters would do something as foolish as attacking those gods traveling between those Dominions.
The Godhunter Alliance who was moving to attack the Fringe should try to conceal their movement as much as possible and would never reveal their trails before reaching the Fringe. Impudently attacking travelers between the four Dominions would not only do them no good, but it might also invite counterattacks from the divine guards of the four Dominions. Therefore, those actions of the Godhunter Alliance seemed completely unreasonable to them.
The four Sovereigns spent a whole day discussing the intelligence but yielded no conclusion. They could only ask their followers to continue keeping an eye on those regions.
*** Over an unregulated region between Ethereal City and the Fringe, Han Hao was wearing a surprised look as he stared at someone he did not expect to meet.
“What’s the matter? Is it about my face?” Scarlett, who had brought all her followers from Ronson Canyon to Han Hao, asked smilingly. She thought that Han Hao was surprised by the lack of scars on her face.
“Why are you here?” Han Hao bunched his brows.
Scarlett was stunned and looked at Han Hao puzzlingly. She asked, “Didn’t you ask me to come?”
Han Hao shook his head and resolutely replied, “No.”
Bitterness filled Scarlett’s heart as she suddenly realized that Han Shuo had lied to her. She stared carefully at Han Hao before she sighed and said, “I thought that you wanted me to come here. Since you do not want me here, I will return.”
“Who told you that?” asked Han Hao after keeping silent for a moment.
“The House of Han Patriarch. He came to Ronson Canyon, killed every faction leader, and healed the scar on my face. He told me that you wanted me to come to the Fringe.” Scarlett lowered her head disappointedly and mumbled to herself, “I should have known, this is not your way… You wouldn’t be concerned about anyone. Why would you ask me to come to the Fringe? Indeed, yet again, I’m being delusional…”
Han Hao thought it was strange that Han Shuo had told her so. Suddenly, a bizarre thought came to him, <i>Is Father trying to be my matchmaker?</i> When he began exploring that awkward idea, it seemed as though something deep in his soul was touched. He started gazing at Scarlett foolishly and his mind was thrown into disorder. Something seemed to be thawing his ice-cold heart.
“I’m going back to Ronson Canyon. Goodbye… take care.” Scarlett felt ashamed and uneasy under Han Hao’s uncanny gaze and humiliated for being fooled into traveling thousands of miles for nothing. She wanted to leave the place as soon as possible.
“Don’t leave…” said Han Hao softly after keeping silent for a long time.
Scarlett was stupefied. She opened her round eyes wide and stared at Han Hao as though he had become another person. “What… what did you say…?” Scarlett spoke stammeringly as her heart palpitated.
“I said, don’t leave…” It seemed as though Han Hao was not used to speaking so gently and he found it awkward. He did not know what was going on with him and he found his actions rather baffling.
Scarlett gasped, “You… You have never spoken to anyone in that manner!” Her face suddenly lit up and her eyes shone like a star. It was as though she had become a million times more gorgeous and captivating than she already was. “With those words of yours, traveling thousands of miles was worth it!”
A most inexplicable feeling was suddenly evoked in Han Hao. He did not understand this bizarre and unfamiliar ‘thing’ that made him somewhat flustered. He returned to that callous and cold demeanor and said, “Now that you are here, you must obey me! You will do as I command!”
Deep in Han Hao’s heart, he had decided not to treat Scarlett as he would to others of his followers. This feeling made Han Hao very uncomfortable. Therefore, he switched back to his default demeanor and attempted to be the one in control.
Scarlett nodded happily and submissively. With a dazzling smile on her face, she replied, “I will do anything for you! I would even die for you!”
“Very good,” Han Hao nodded, satisfied with the answer. Then, he callously commanded, “Come here, let me touch you!”
Scarlett’s face instantly turned red and in a shaky voice, she asked, “Wha… What?”
“Let me touch you. I don’t know why, but I want to touch you,” replied Han Hao as he scratched his head. It seemed as though he did not understand why he would want to do that.
“Okay…” Scarlett secretly took a peek at a few of her followers who were standing nearby, wearing puzzled faces. She felt so ashamed that she wanted to dig a hole and bury her head in it. With her head lowered, she slowly walked towards Han Hao.
