The envoys from the southern, western and northern territories had already been waiting for a long time in the peace consulate.
This time, the three envoys that had been sent were all direct subordinates of the three demon gods respectively: Daoist Horse Face under Venerated Ox of the East, Daoist Witch Demon under Ghost Emperor of the South and Daoist Bronze Turtle under Turtle Devil of the North.
Even Scorpion King hadn't expected the other three territories to gang up this time to crowd out the eastern territory. Moreover, it could be said that the talks this time completely lacked sincerity; if they really wanted to settle this peacefully, they wouldn't have sent mere envoys to negotiate; at the very least, they should have each sent a demon god representative. In the end, it was merely three envoys who were sitting here.
There was a round table in the peace consulate's meeting hall, and the three envoys were sitting around it, their chins resting on their steepled fingers as they assumed the pose of commanders deep in thought.
Elder Wen stayed silent and didn't say a single word as he found a place to sit.
After roughly two minutes of silence, Daoist Horse Face spoke. "Today we three envoys have come to the consulate for peace talks; why didn't Scorpion King himself receive us?"
Elder Wen silently rolled his eyes in his heart.
They already knew the answer to this question.
They already knew that the demon god of the eastern territory, Scorpion King, wouldn't show up, and they were deliberately putting him on the spot.
"Scorpion King is busy leveling up at home today. I'm afraid he doesn't have the time to come out." Elder Wen gave a fist salute.
The envoys from the three territories: "…"
Elder Wen casually drew out a chair and sat down with the expression of one who had nothing to fear and was already gallantly prepared to meet his death.
That Daoist Horse Face still persisted as he stared at Elder Wen. "Who gave you permission to sit?"
In the end, Elder Wen turned a deaf ear and even crossed his legs.
After all, he couldn't escape his death today, so what was there to be afraid of?
"…"
Daoist Horse Face's face suddenly turned dark. "Are you showing me disrespect?"
"We're all envoys here. The peace consulate was established in the spirit of impartial negotiations. Don't tell me the three of you don't know how to tell the difference between what is fair and unfair?" Elder Wen was completely unafraid as he simply lay all his cards on the table. "I came here today knowing I would meet my end, so I have nothing to fear."
"What does Scorpion King mean by this?" On the side, Daoist Witch Demon laughed. "Don't you know right now you're up against three territories? For your puny Sky-Swallowing Toad clan to dare incite a territorial dispute… even if any of your descendants survive in the future, they'll just be rats on the street wherever they go."
"Ever since the rumor spread that my clan was keeping magic WMDs for Scorpion King, the southern, western and northern territories have constantly been spreading groundless gossip since a lie repeated a thousand times, no matter how untrue it is, becomes real. Each and every one of the inner clans in the eastern territory knows this issue was fabricated. If the three of you envoys as representatives of the three territories continue with these unjust accusations, I can't take responsibility for the reputations of your territories being tarnished." Elder Wen waved his hand.
Daoist Horse Face's face darkened as he snarled, "Since you're already prepared to die, there's nothing else for us to say. If you can, walk out of the consulate and try us."
"What? Don't dare to directly do anything to me inside the consulate?" Elder Wen gave a composed laugh.
He was well aware that it was Demon Saint who had ordered that this peace consulate be set up with the initial purpose of balancing the views and opinions of the different demon territories. Rumor had it that Demon Saint had put a restriction on the peace consulate: if anyone dared start a fight in the consulate, the restriction punishment would immediately befall them…
This rumor had always existed but no one had ever dared tested it.
So Elder Wen felt it was a safe bet that these three people definitely wouldn't dare lay their hands on him in the peace consulate at least.
And reality indeed proved him right.
Given their overwhelming fear of Demon Saint's restriction, the faces of Daoist Horse Face, Daoist Witch Demon and Daoist Bronze Turtle from the other three territories instantly turned black.
Daoist Horse Face: "You already know that the consulate has Demon Saint's restriction on it; how can we make a move so easily?"
Elder Wen burst out laughing. "I already know I'm a dead man walking if I leave the consulate; why would I go out?"
Daoist Horse Face, Daoist Witch Demon and Daoist Bronze Turtle: "…"
Just looking at the expressions on their faces now, Elder Wen felt a huge weight lifted off him.
Although Demon Saint's restriction on the peace consulate was just a rumor, it had been around for a very long time. However, no one had ever died under this restriction because no one had ever dared to raise a hand, in case it really was activated.
Elder Wen was also disinclined to test the existence of this restriction, and had only wanted to take a chance.
Now that he had confirmed that these three didn't dare lay a hand on him, he was simply too delighted for words as he stared at Daoist Horse Face. "Come and hit me!"
Then, he directly did a standing long jump to land in front of Daoist Horse Face. "You can't!"
The envoys from the three territories: "…"
Elder Wen: "Curse me! … You can't open your mouth!"
The envoys from the three territories: "…"
The corner of Daoist Horse Face's mouth twitched. After thinking for a long time, he decided to withdraw first for the sake of gaining the upper hand later. "Our three territories are of good stock, and it's impossible for us to lay a hand on an envoy! Since Scorpion King didn't come today, how about we wait until he's free some other day for talks?" Their original plan hadn't been to kill Elder Wen but to detain and arrest him for keeping a secret hoard of magic WMDs.
However, they wouldn't be able to avoid using demon techniques even if they were just arresting him.
The problem was, who would dare make a move in the peace consulate?
"I've already seen through the three territories' plan to frame us."
Elder Wen completely didn't believe the rubbish they were spouting; when he had entered earlier, the expressions in their eyes had already told him everything.
Daoist Horse Face couldn't take it anymore. "Then what are you going to do? Don't tell me you're going to live here?"
"Pa!"
Elder Wen snapped his fingers. "Bingo!"
The envoys from the three territories: "…"
Elder Wen sat down cross-legged. He took out a brocade pouch and then from inside took out his pots and pans and his cutlery one after another, as well as a glass bottle filled to the brim with larvae eggs.
Elder Wen: "This bottle happens to store the large meat flies which my clan has an abundance of. There are altogether one hundred thousand male eggs and one hundred thousand female eggs in here, and some of them are about to hatch. In this case, I don't have to worry about my food supply. What's more, I'm also old and don't eat as much… with this one bottle, I can live here until the end of my days."
The envoys from the three territories: "…"
Holding the glass bottle in his hand, Elder Wen smiled. "Across the span of the three major territories, who do you think can beat my clan at hanging on?"
The envoys from the three territories: "…"