The Boss Behind The Game

Mansion of the Dead, Beiqi.

A silhouette glided down from the sky and entered His Excellency's palace.

This instantly caught everybody's attention. However, as soon as they saw the visitor more clearly, they began to panic.

Yue Yao was heavily wounded. His attire was completely tattered while blood stains remained on his mouth, making him look extremely feeble.

"Your Majesty, what's happened?" General Crescent Moon rushed up to support Yue Yao after seeing his condition.

Yue Yao's face turned even more hideous when he heard this.

Just now, he had completely severed ties with his brother, Huo Yao. Both of them fought mercilessly.

His younger brother, Huo Yao, was supposedly just at the level of a Greater Ghost King. He shouldn't have been a worthy opponent.

However, three of his brothers, Ri Yao, Chen Yao, and Mu Yao, were on Huo Yao's side.

According to them, Yue Yao couldn't give enough evidence to prove that Huo Yao had robbed him. On top of that, they grew up together. Therefore, they knew that Huo Yao wouldn't do such a thing.

The conflict was triggered, causing Yue Yao to fight against four brothers on his own.

As for the other brothers, including His Excellency Xing Yao, they merely advised them to stop. However, they didn't step forward to help Yue Yao.

At that instance, Yue Yao suddenly had an epiphany.

After he left the Land of the Nine Luminaries, he became distant with the other brothers. Although their relationships remained, they had to think for their own benefits. Hence, Jin Yao and the others refused to lend him a helping hand.

The eight of them were still a whole unit. However, since he was now the Excellency of Beiqi, he wasn't considered their family anymore.

Yue Yao was a little bit devastated and completely enraged. After that, he didn't hold himself back anymore. Even though he was fighting four of them at once, he didn't falter and was clearly the stronger side.

Under such a situation, something out of Yue Yao's ordinary expectations happened. His eldest brother, Xing Yao, gave up on stopping the energy blasts from both sides. Instead, he joined Huo Yao and the others to counter his attacks!

Although Xing Yao was still yelling at them to stop, he chose to stand by Huo Yao's side.

Since the eldest brother had made his decision, the others followed him naturally, even though they were unsure at first.

Xing Yao was still trying to stop the fight but Yue Yao felt that they were biased against him. After all, Xing Yao resisted his attacks, instead of stopping Huo Yao and the others.

Consequently, he lost, suffering a complete defeat.

Since they were brothers, Xing Yao did not kill him. He only sighed and asked him to leave.

In Yue Yao's perspective, the main culprit was Huo Yao. His greed tore their brotherhood apart, but the seven other brothers chose to stand by him in the end. He could not accept this humiliation. As he came back injured, he was already plotting revenge in his mind.

He wanted Huo Yao to die a horrible death!

Yue Yao kept a solemn face when replying to General Crescent Moon, though, "We'll discuss this later, I need rest!"

Then, he entered his room in the palace.

The people outside were rendered speechless, as they exchanged nervous glances with one another. General Crescent Moon's face was full of sorrow and anxiety, but the Rock Ghost King and the leaders of the other forces appeared composed.

Liu Chai could not be happier.

This was because he just analyzed Yue Yao's menu and discovered his current status.

[Yue Yao (Greater Ghost Emperor)]:

Character Details: Previous Lord of the Land of the Nine Luminaries. He headed to Beiqi after the discussion with his brothers and stole the throne of His Excellency of Beiqi.

Character Status: Heavily injured (worsening)

Even Liu Chai didn't expect Yue Yao to return with such serious injuries.

Originally, stirring conflicts between the brothers was merely the beginning of their plan. Later, they would create a series of incidents to aggravate their disputes. However, things had already proceeded beyond their expectations.

Hence, Liu Chai immediately sent Yue Yao's information to the forum.

Crayon_Shinchan: "Dammit, our plan has gone astray. Aren't we supposed to injure Huo Yao? Why is our Boss Yue Yao the one that's injured instead? Call the director, let's see what she can do. (laughing emoji)"

Watermelon Taro: "The scenarios are going off track, calling for the director. @Classy_Lady_Yin_Xiaoqi"

Xueli_The_Strongest: "Boss Yue Yao was wounded? I can almost see an injured little yellow chick yelling, 'I wanna become soul coins and experience points!' (laughing emoji)"

Invincible_Loneliness: "Should we just settle him? It's a good chance after all!"

Peppa_Boar: "It's a good opportunity indeed. We planned to create conflicts between the nine brothers, but Boss Yue Yao is obviously being boycotted by the others right now. The script's ruined! (laughing emoji)"

Assassin_Creed: "Where's the director? Come out and arrange some new scenarios. (laughing emoji)"

Classy_Lady_Yin_Xiaoqi: "That's it. It's clear that the other brothers are being biased due to Yue Yao's departure from the family. Yue Yao is worthless now. (sighing helplessly emoji)"

Crayon_Shinchan replied to Classy_Lady_Yin_Xiaoqi: "So director, what should we do now? (laughing emoji)"

Classy_Lady_Yin_Xiaoqi replied to Crayon_Shinchan: "I suggest that we just kill him. (sincere eyes emoji)"

...

The players allowed Yue Yao to ascend the throne easily, so that conflicts would happen between him and the other brothers in the Land of the Nine Luminaries. However, this crucial chess piece seemed to have lost his function already.

In spite of that, Yin Xiaoqi also provided a solution for this, which promptly changed the players' attitudes.

Soon, a swarm of players began to move toward the palace.

The players had a simple goal - they wanted to kill him while he was weak.

Although General Crescent Moon had noticed the players' abnormal movements, he thought that the Player Clan was simply curious. Hence, he didn't dwell on it further.

Since Liu Chai had sworn allegiance with his soul and they were on the same boat, he assumed that their betrayal was impossible.

As General Crescent Moon was observing the players, Liu Chai and his gang opened the door to Yue Yao's room, before marching into it.

Their appearance shocked Yue Yao, who was treating his wounds. So, he opened his eyes abruptly and yelled, "What are all of you doing here?"

"Boss Yue Yao, who did this to you?"

"We'll talk about this after I'm done treating my wounds, get out now!" Yue Yao ordered strictly.

"I'll lead my men to seek revenge for you!" Liu Chai turned around and growled angrily.

Yue Yao panicked after seeing this, as he knew Liu Chai's personality well. If he declared so, he would really bring people to the Nine Luminaries for a battle with his brothers.

Although his relationship with his brothers had soured, it hadn't deteriorated to such an extent, where an all out war between the two lands was needed. After all, Beiqi's forces were no match for the Land of the Nine Luminaries by itself.

They still held on to their brotherhood. It would be totally different, though, if Beiqi sent troops first.

Thinking about this, Yue Yao forcefully stopped the cycle of soul power in his body and rushed toward Liu Chai.

However, as Yue Yao passed by the Rock Ghost King and the Hydra King, an eerie feeling struck him. When he looked down, he saw that the Hydra King's hand had transformed into a huge python and bit him, while the Rock Ghost King's hands transformed into vines and entangled him.

Snap!

The python bit his chest and injected venom into his veins, causing Yue Yao's body to shiver.

Liu Chai then turned around and launched a fist at his face.

Thud! Yue Yao immediately fell onto the floor.

"How dare you betray me!" Yue Yao uttered, with a look of disbelief.

He had witnessed Liu Chai, the Rock Ghost King, and the others vow with their souls to the Six Paths of Reincarnation. If they ever betrayed him in the presence of the Six Paths of Reincarnation, their souls would disintegrate into dust.

Yet, the power of the Six Paths of Reincarnation didn't affect any of them even though they had attacked him.

Outside the room, players continued to throng into His Excellency's palace.

General Crescent Moon was taken aback by this and instantly yelled, "What are you doing? Retreat now!"

The players ignored him and didn't stop coming. A group of players even broke off from the crowd and charged toward him.

After Yin Xiaoqi announced the last option, the players knew it was time for the script to end. Their next task would be to reap their benefits.

Apart from the treasures that they brought back, Yue Yao and his army were useless to them. Hence, it was time to annihilate them from the Land of Beiqi entirely.

Countless players were swarming in and surrounding the palace.

This was their only opportunity since Yue Yao was heavily wounded. If they didn't succeed this time, there would be no second chance for them because it was impossible for them to defeat him after he had recovered his strength.

Groups of players constantly barged in. Then, all of them charged toward General Crescent Moon and started attacking Yue Yao's Army.

The sudden attack caught General Crescent Moon off guard, so he tried hard to flee and ran to His Excellency's palace. Perplexed, he wanted to ask Liu Chai what was happening.

However, when he entered and saw the scene inside the room, he was totally stunned.

At that moment, Yue Yao was kneeling on the floor with his body tangled by vines and pythons, completely immobilized.

They betrayed us!

The idea abruptly popped into General Crescent Moon's head, but the realization came way too late.

Battles had erupted in every zone of the Mansion of the Dead.

The warriors of Yue Yao's Army randomly wandering around were all attacked by the players in various ways.

At that moment, they finally revealed their true faces hidden behind their loyalty. They bit Yue Yao on his neck with a fatal attack.

Since Yue Yao was heavily injured and his soul power cycle was forcefully cut off, he was clearly too weak. Unable to retaliate, he could only struggle to defend himself from the Rock Ghost King and the Hydra King's attacks.

It was undeniable that Yue Yao, a Greater Ghost Emperor, was still strong even in this dreadful state. He snapped the Rock Ghost King's vines a few times and tried to escape. Still, the Rock Ghost King hung on with all his might.

He didn't want to die and could never just respawn like the other players.

Under the motivation of eternal death, both the Hydra King and the Rock Ghost King tried their very best to restrict Yue Yao and prevent him from escaping.

However, the presence of General Crescent Moon undoubtedly gave the Rock Ghost King and the others a sense of danger. Luckily, the players had charged him from behind. In a flash, they surrounded General Crescent Moon and launched attacks at him.

All 2.3 million warriors were attacked by the entirety of the Beiqi forces. Since the number of their opponents was ten times more, their resistance was nothing but a useless fight.

Tonight, the Mansion of the Dead was destined to be sleepless.

Massacres played out in every zone.

Soul coins, experience points, equipment, and resources galore.

It might be the player's fiesta, but it was also Yue Yao's Army's epitaph.

When the first ray of sunlight rose from the East of Beiqi, everything had come to an end.

The Mansion of the Dead, being a safe zone, was restored to its initial status by the artifact. No corpses or bloodstains could be found on the ground, as though nothing had happened there.

In the Mansion of the Dead, Yue Yao was lying on the floor, teetering between life and death. His eyes were half-closed as he stared at the sunrise on the horizon, with an incredulous expression on his face, as if he was mocking himself.

At this painful moment, he suddenly understood everything.

His brothers had never betrayed him nor robbed him of his resources. Everything was a trap and he was just a chess piece that had stepped onto the board. The actions that he thought were right were nothing more than robotic movements controlled by the others.

Finally, only his death remained!

"Yue Yao, from the moment you wanted to own Beiqi, you were destined to fail!" Liu Chai couldn't help but sigh, watching the half-dead Yue Yao.

Although they were enemies and Yue Yao was only using him, Liu Chai had regarded Yue Yao as a real person. Thus, he was slightly reluctant to kill him.

However, he knew that Yue Yao must die.

Otherwise, the players would never live a peaceful day.

"Can you tell me how on Earth you did this? You guys vouched with your souls!" Yue Yao spilled out his doubt on his deathbed.

The Rock Ghost King and the Hydra King exchanged glances and smirked.

Just then, several server announcements rang out:

[Server Announcement: the Rock Ghost King has officially become Beiqi's NPC!]

[Server Announcement: the Hydra King has officially become Beiqi's NPC!]

[Server Announcement: the Ghost General Demon has officially become Beiqi's NPC!]

[Server Announcement: the Ghost General Ground Wolf has officially become Beiqi's NPC!]

...

After listening to the server announcements, Liu Chai turned around and looked at the Rock Ghost King and the others in astonishment.

"How did you all do that?"

"We received the oaths from Tong Gua and swore loyalty to him long ago. From now on, we are truly from one family!" the Hydra King said with a grin, while holding Liu Chai's shoulder.

"Hey, you still need me when you guys launch the elixir masterclass. This is a hidden plot activated by you, since now you've met the requirements," the Rock Ghost King also pulled a grin.

Although he couldn't comprehend what they were saying, Yue Yao could almost feel their joy.

"So this is the true face of yours, Liu Chai!" Yue Yao said weakly before coughing some blood out.

"Sorry, Boss Yue Yao, you are the one who intruded Beiqi first..."

"Save your breath. The winner wins and the loser dies, this has always been the Law of the Underworld... I understand!" Yue Yao's condition deteriorated drastically and he seemed to be in a daze.

"Did you vow your soul to other people like them previously?" Yue Yao asked in his final breaths.

Liu Chai shook his head, as a big smile bloomed on his face.

"I'm different from them, I'm a player and not from around here so I'm not tied to the Laws of the Underworld!"

Just then, a ray of sunlight shone on Liu Chai's face. Half of his face glowed with a faint halo, catching Yue Yao's attention completely as he lay feebly on the ground.