In the frozen wasteland, a hunting puffshroom lay silently on the ground, its body covered by pristine white snow.
Under the extreme cold’s erosion, even the resilient mycelium within its body had frozen stiff, with delicate ice crystals crawling across the surface of its mushroom cap.
A heavy boot covered in thick fur showed no mercy as it stepped onto the puffshroom’s snow-half-buried corpse.
The boot’s owner casually twisted his ankle, roughly sweeping away the surface snow to reveal the hardened puffshroom beneath.
The figure bent halfway down, his breath condensing into white mist in the frigid wind.
He wore a dark coat bearing the empire’s inverted twin-headed bat insignia, and his eyes beneath the brim carefully examined this peculiar corpse on the ground.
“Strange,” his puzzled voice seemed somewhat muffled in the wind and snow, “I’ve never seen this type of magical creature before.”
“Who cares what the hell it is!” another companion, bundled just as tightly but whose voice carried obvious impatience, urged, “This godforsaken place is freezing to death! Can’t we just hurry along?”
“Is the constant-temperature pendant they gave you just for decoration?” the observer replied without turning his head, his tone carrying a barely perceptible contempt.
“Maintaining it doesn’t consume magical power?!” his companion’s voice rose a pitch, tinged with resentment, “Constantly maintaining a slight magical output—isn’t it exhausting to keep your mind tense like that? It’s just a frozen unknown magical creature, what’s there to study?”
Though he looked down on his partner’s weakness, there really was no need to waste time on a magical creature’s corpse.
Applying slight pressure with his foot, accompanied by a crisp crack, the puffshroom’s body shattered on command, becoming scattered fragments on the ground.
The two continued forward, their destination pointing directly toward the demon tribe.
……
“Imperial envoys?”
Shou, who was counting the tribe’s remaining meager supplies with the help of his clansmen, couldn’t help but furrow his brow upon hearing Xinghuo’s report.
The empire would send people to contact them?
This was the first time he’d encountered such a thing since birth—clearly abnormal.
But… they still had to meet them.
Besides, he did have intentions of migrating south, and dealing with the empire would be unavoidable sooner or later.
He gestured for Xinghuo to lead the envoys to the main tent.
“Tsk… this place doesn’t even have warmth inside the tent.” Upon entering, the fellow wearing a constant-temperature pendant around his neck immediately began complaining.
His pale skin exposed to the air easily reminded one of his vampire identity.
However, Shou only stared at the other figure, sensing from him a strange yet peculiar blood kinship.
That person seemed to have no intention of concealing it, boldly rolling up his sleeve to reveal the magical markings on his arm.
“A demon!” Shou’s pupils contracted slightly.
However, unlike the unified deep blue magical markings within the tribe, this imperial clansman’s arm bore markings that displayed a molten, blazing crimson red!
As the patterns flowed, they emanated an invisible scorching aura.
“In the name of the Red Moon and Imperial Law!” the vampire arrogantly raised his chin, his voice carrying unquestionable authority, “I am the Northern Envoy appointed by His Majesty, the Emperor of the Hermit Empire, Protector of the Demon Race, Master of the Continent, Mortis Dracourn—Viscount Hao Henderson! This beside me is Grey. We come bearing His Majesty’s decree to bestow grace upon you. Where is your chieftain?”
His gaze swept over Shou’s empty sleeve where his severed arm should be, finally settling on Xinghuo with obvious confusion, not understanding why they were brought to see a disabled person.
“Shou, current chieftain.” Shou’s voice was calm and unwavering.
The single-character name left Grey somewhat stunned.
“You?” Viscount Hao looked Shou up and down again in disbelief, his expression changing slightly, “According to my knowledge, the one leading this tribe should be an elderly demon. Moreover… where are the other diamond-rank members?”
Shou didn’t directly respond to his question, only steadily meeting the other’s gaze: “I am the chieftain now. Both envoys, please state your purpose.”
Viscount Hao stepped back two paces, moving to Grey’s side: “Grey, this doesn’t match what those snake-people described at all! Only two diamond-rank members? And one of them is… disabled. Looks like there’s no value here!”
Though his voice wasn’t loud, he didn’t deliberately make it inaudible either.
“You—!” Xinghuo’s eyes blazed with fury, his fists instantly clenching, but the vampire completely ignored his anger.
“If you don’t mind, leave this to me,” Grey spoke up.
Viscount Hao shrugged, retreating a few steps indifferently. With the intelligence being wrong, this tribe held no value in his eyes.
Grey looked directly at Shou and began: “Chieftain Shou, the empire has prepared a fertile land for you—a place with mild climate, abundant resources, far from the northern frontier’s bitter cold and threats. The empire is willing to open its doors and accept you as subjects under its protection.”
Viscount Hao interjected sharply, his fingertips elegantly flicking away nonexistent dust: “Viscount Henderson reminds you that this ‘grace’ was determined based on intelligence provided by the snake-people regarding your possession of several diamond-rank combat forces.”
He meaningfully surveyed the tent that seemed particularly empty at the moment.
Grey nodded slightly: “The empire sees your current circumstances. However, His Majesty Mortis’s benevolence remains unchanged. The empire is still willing to accept you, and even if the land isn’t as fertile as initially promised, it’s certainly better than this desolate ice field.”
“Then what’s the price?” Ignoring their promises, Shou directly asked the key question.
Grey met Shou’s gaze, his words resounding: “There are two conditions. First, all combat-capable forces of the tribe must immediately join the empire’s war, subject to deployment, until victory! Second, your ‘Cradle’ must be handed over to us. The empire’s demons need only one ‘Cradle.'”
“Please return, both envoys.” Shou’s voice was decisive. He didn’t even ask what war it was—upon hearing the second condition, refusal was inevitable.
Viscount Hao beside him snorted heavily through his nose: “Ungrateful!”
Grey’s eyes lingered on Shou’s face for a moment, showing neither joy nor anger.
He stood up, and just as he was about to step out of the tent, his footsteps paused slightly. Without turning back, his low voice clearly carried back into the tent: “Chieftain Shou, the empire’s doors will remain open to you for three months. Should you change your mind, simply send word. As members of the same race, we will eventually be united.”
Having said this, both men walked toward the outside of the tribe without hesitation.
The meeting ended in discord.
Watching the two figures disappear beyond the tent entrance where wind and snow were beginning to intensify, Xinghuo turned to Shou: “Why refuse so decisively? Even if the conditions are harsh, perhaps… we could negotiate further?”
“Regardless of their original purpose, from what we can see now, what they want isn’t us, but the ‘Cradle’—the demon cores…”
Xinghuo nodded. The “Cradle” was the tribe’s foundation; handing it over would mean the tribe’s end.
But Shou was thinking even deeper. Given such an unequal power dynamic, with them coveting the demon cores, might they encounter situations where clansmen were deliberately sent to their deaths so the cores could be recovered?
This was just his worst-case speculation, but if it came to that point, however easy it might be to enter the empire, escaping it would be equally difficult!
“Then… what about our southern migration plan?” Xinghuo’s voice carried a trace of confusion.
Shou sighed deeply, contemplating this difficult problem himself.
Originally, if the empire continued to ignore the northern frontier as it had in the past, the main considerations for southern migration would be location and friction with other tribes.
But now, suddenly discovering that the demons within the empire seemed to have designs on them, he dared not migrate south rashly.
What exactly had happened to make the empire, which previously ignored them, suddenly take interest?
Unfortunately, the tribe’s information was too isolated—there simply wasn’t enough intelligence for Shou to make a judgment.
“Speaking of which…” Shou forcibly suppressed his chaotic thoughts and changed the subject, “Where’s Qiong? I haven’t seen a trace of him all day.”
