"Brother, are you alright?"
John Chou turned his head and looked at me. I nodded, staring at the Ghost Sovereigns before us.
"Thank you all. Thank you."
The lingering fear still spread throughout my body. Just now, I was nearly separated by the Infernal Judges and completely fused with Hell's Eye.
"Hmph, respect is something you earn for yourself. If you have no shame, then we can be just as shameless."
Redmond spat out the words viciously. The Infernal Judges were furious, but none made a move. Everyone understood the situation: if anyone started a fight now, war would break out ahead of schedule.
"John Chou, you should understand how serious this is."
The Equality King spoke, but John Chou just smiled indifferently.
"Old Lu, I really didn't expect you to agree to this. Think carefully—if you truly make Ethan Zhang the core to stabilize Hell, do you really not know what will happen?"
"There's no other way, John Chou. You know the situation. Before Old Hell launches a full-scale attack, we Infernal Judges must leave Hell and cooperate with you to destroy those restless ones. The Sanzu Force can't hold out much longer. Old Hell won't miss this chance—they will do everything to disrupt the Hungry Ghost Realm and Hell Realm. If those two collapse, Hell will descend into utter chaos."
Mona Ouyang let out a cold laugh.
"After all that talk, isn't it all for you few? I don't know what you're really scheming, but this way of doing things is truly disgusting. If you hadn't treated us like this back then, maybe things wouldn't have come to this."
Yuna Ji squatted playfully behind me and patted my back.
"Qingyuan, relax. Things in the living world have calmed down a bit. Redmond has already sent his people back to the living world."
I finally let out a sigh of relief. Basil Bertram pulled a bottle of liquor from his coat and handed it to me.
"Have a drink. You look terrible, Qingyuan."
I took the bottle, twisted off the cap, and gulped down the liquor. My mind was in utter chaos. I even started to feel some hatred toward the Underworld Court.
Lord Tai Shan snorted coldly, glaring sideways at John Chou.
"You think things turned out like this for any reason other than you evil ghosts causing trouble in the living world? When you escaped from Abyssal Hell, the consequences were immeasurable. Now Abyssal Hell has vanished, and it's all because of you. It could have been our last resort, but now it's lost forever. We're only letting Ethan Zhang temporarily stabilize Hell for us. Once this is over, we’ll find another solution. For now, this is the safest course of action."
"So your so-called safest course is to gamble everything on both the realms of Yin and Yang?"
Redmond retorted. Both sides were tense, ready to draw swords, with no sign of compromise. I stood up, clenching my fists. There was no way I would become the core to stabilize Hell. I didn't want to disappear, just like the Seven Ghost Sovereigns—they didn't want to die, which is why they joined forces to escape from Abyssal Hell.
"Why is everyone so worked up?"
Lady Meng's voice drifted over from afar. In the blink of an eye, she was standing between both sides.
"If you start fighting here, you know exactly what will happen, don't you?"
John Chou sneered as he spoke.
"Lady Meng, it's not what we want either. But we can't stand by and watch Ethan Zhang disappear completely. We may be evil ghosts, but even evil ghosts have their own code. Ethan Zhang helped every one of us, so we absolutely won't let that happen. No matter what reason you give, existence itself is justified."
John Chou stood up as he spoke. I looked at him in surprise, and all the other Ghost Sovereigns nodded slightly.
"Thank you, everyone. Thank you."
Choked up, I felt a wave of emotion. Meeting the Seven Ghost Sovereigns felt like yesterday. So much had happened along the way, and before I knew it, so many years had passed. But for them, maybe it was just the blink of an eye.
"The problem now is the Sanzu Force. What you all worry about is that the Three Evil Paths will be exploited by Old Hell, putting us at a severe disadvantage in this war."