Chapter 2198: Anger Against a Common Enemy
At this point, when he saw the Dragon King’s reddened eyes, Zu An knew that it would be useless no matter what he said. The Dragon King was already completely overcome with rage. Suddenly, however, he thought of something and said, “The Unleashed Dew was something that the Skin-Flaying King secretly gave Hongyu. I was just saving her.”
Sure enough, the Dragon King now stopped and turned around to look at the Skin-Flaying King. So the perpetrator was actually this guy! When he recalled how this guy had allied with the Lord of Myriad Transformations to kill him, both new grudges and old hatreds immediately filled his head. He released a draconic roar and charged at the Skin-Flaying King.
The Skin Flaying King was speechless. With a wave of his hand, all sorts of creatures made from ghostly energy rushed out to stop the Dragon King. Then, he said, “Dragon King, the one who toyed with the Mermaid Queen wasn’t me. We can settle our grudge slowly afterward.”
However, Zu An suggested, “Dragon King, how about we join together to get rid of this ghost king? Once we get rid of this grudge, let’s settle things between us after.”
The Dragon King said through clenched teeth, “Either way, both of you must die!” Then, he opened his mouth and fired dragon breath at Zu An.
Zu An was speechless.
The Skin-Flaying King said with a smile, “Regent, since this dragon is courting death, how about we join hands to send him on first, and then settle the grudge between us after?”
Zu An smiled. “Sounds good to me!”
Since the Dragon King wasn’t listening, the two of them reached an agreement almost immediately.
But while the two of them were defending against the Dragon King’s attacks, they both suddenly attacked each other at the same time. Two blasts of power collided in midair. Even the Dragon King could only back off for the moment.
Zu An sighed and asked, “Aren’t we allies? Why are you attacking me out of nowhere?”
The Skin Flaying King retorted with a treacherous smile, “You're no different!”
At the same time, he now felt much more confidence.
...
In the distance, the late Fiend Emperor was delighted to see these three fight with each other, hoping that they would end up taking each other out. Then, he could find the best timing to attack all three of them and thus obtain the final victory, seizing the underworld’s authority. At first, he had been full of resentment because Zu An was the one who had killed him. But now, it seemed that could have been a blessing in disguise. He couldn't be the Fiend Emperor anymore, but wasn’t the throne of the underworld an even mightier position?
Just then, the Skin-Flaying King suddenly called out “Why is the Fiend Emperor only watching? I heard some rather interesting rumors when I was in the Ocean races' territory. After this Zu guy became the regent, even though the Fiend races declared that your son was the emperor in name, almost everything fell under his control.
“The Second Empress is so stunning and charming. Which man do you think could resist the temptation of a widow? There are already many rumors surrounding Zu An and the Second Empress’ relationship.
“They’ve even made it into some operas, like ‘The Second Empress’ Secret’, or ‘Untold Affairs Between the Regent and the Second Empress’.
“I thought those were just unfounded rumors and sent some people to look into them, only to find that this Zu An stayed in the emperor’s bed day after day. The Second Empress couldn't even get off the bed after.”
The Skin-Flaying King spoke eloquently, with every sentence tugging at the emotions of the listeners.
The late Fiend Emperor had been quite happy just enjoying the drama from the sidelines, but his smile quickly froze on his face. Why did the drama suddenly involve him too? The Skin-Flaying King was especially hateful, describing everything in such vivid and lifelike terms. Those scenes couldn't help but appear in his mind.
“Shut up! Stop talking!” The late Fiend Emperor ground his teeth in rage.
You have successfully trolled the late Fiend Emperor for +446 +446 +446...
When he saw the other side’s reaction, the Skin-Flaying King became even more confident. “Tsk tsk tsk, I wasn’t the one who bullied the Second Empress, you know? Why are you getting angry at me? The main perpetrator is right here.”
Zu An was speechless.
The late Fiend Emperor glowered at him like a tiger ready to feast. “Zu An, did you really bully my Second Empress?”
Zu An directly denied it. “Of course not.”
That couldn't be considered a lie. The Second Empress had always enjoyed herself to the fullest. Even if she was asked later, she wouldn’t say that she was bullied in the slightest.
The late Fiend Emperor sneered. The expression on his face became extremely sinister. “You still dare to lie to me? Do you remember the words you said in that secret dungeon back then? You personally admitted to it. I still remember the words ‘your wife is so good’ clearly!”
He had thought that Zu An only said those words to distract him so he wouldn’t immediately choose to run. As a result, he had always been full of regret. Instead of staying behind in his righteous fury, it would have been better to flee in order to preserve his own life. Once his injuries healed, he could have killed Zu An easily. And yet, the Skin-Flaying King had confirmed that those words were true!
The Dragon King had been chasing after Zu An. When he heard that, a shiver ran through his body.
If one were to rank the words that were the most humiliating for a man to hear, the phrase 'Your wife is so good' would probably rank in the top three. Compared to the other two, ‘The happiness I experienced with him in a day is greater than all of the years I spent with you’ and 'If you can, then you can; if you can’t, then you can’t. What do you mean you need to take a break?’, which one was worse would differ from individual to individual.
At first, the Dragon King had been the main victim, and felt that he had already lost all face. He had become so angry he wanted to skin Zu An alive. But now that he saw a fellow sufferer, his mood seemed to have improved quite a bit...
The Skin-Flaying King continued to fan the flames. “That’s right, this Zu bastard truly is despicable. Not only did he steal everything you created, he even toyed with your woman. can you really endure such a thing?”
Sure enough, as he stared at Zu An, the late Fiend Emperor’s eyes seemed as if they were about to spew out flames. A terrifying aura began to surge around his entire body, as if he was ready to attack at any time.
Zu An looked at the Skin-Flaying King. “Just who are you?”
“I’m the Skin-Flaying King, of course.” The Skin-Flaying King sneered and continued, “What, did you lose your mind from fear, for you to ask such a stupid question?”
Zu An shook his head. “No, you know our world way too well, and you know me too well. An ordinary ghost king definitely wouldn't have such knowledge.”
The Skin-Flaying King remained calm. “I was lying low in your world and studying it, so I naturally investigated things about your world.”
Zu An chuckled. “Every single individual who can participate in this trial is the king of a respective part of the underworld. I'm the king of the Naihe Oblivion Ferrymen, and I believe that the Fiend Emperor and Dragon King are also the kings of their own regions. As for you, you're definitely the king of the Skin-Flaying Hell, but that's merely your identity in this underworld. What was your identity when you were alive?”
With that, both the late Fiend Emperor and the Dragon King looked at the Skin-Flaying King curiously. They had both been among the most powerful individuals in the world when they were alive. They had just been too angry to consider Zu An's point before. Now, they quickly realized that something was strange.
The Skin-Flaying King sighed. “That mouth of yours really is glib, as expected. I believe that the two others must have also suffered from it as well, right? As for who I am, is it really that important?”
The late Fiend Emperor nodded in agreement. When he first met Zu An, he had felt that this kid spoke extremely well, and just treated him as a favorable subject. Never had he expected that he would ultimately die at Zu An's hands, and even his empress would end up being defiled under Zu An!
You have successfully trolled the late Fiend Emperor for +444 +444 +444...
The Dragon King thought to himself,
As soon as he thought of that, his expression immediately became unpleasant.
You have successfully trolled Dragon King Ao Zhan for +233 +233 +233...