Quinn Shepherd followed the sound and saw a tall, broad-shouldered man strolling over, his robe draped loosely around him. The man looked somewhat laid-back, and his clothes hung slack, but on him, that casual look had its own kind of style.
"So it's Human Emperor Connor Hayes."
Red Plume quickly said, "I'm just following orders. Last time Human Emperor Quinn used Netherworld arts to snatch people, even Lord Hades was alarmed. Now all the ghosts in Nether City are terrified, worried he'll summon them to the Netherworld and trap them forever. That's why Lord Hades wants him arrested—it's not up to me."
Human Emperor Connor Hayes straightened his robe and smiled, "I know you're just carrying out orders, so I won't make things hard for you. But I'll be taking Human Emperor Quinn with me. Just tell Lord Hades about it."
Red Plume shook his head. "That won't do. Lord Hades still wants to interrogate him personally, so you can't take him away just yet..."
Just then, an aged voice called out, "Red Plume, I hear you arrested my disciple's grandson?"
Red Plume's expression changed slightly. He saw an old man with snow-white hair approach—it was Human Emperor Connor Hayes's master. Red Plume quickly explained, "So it's Human Emperor Ethan Graves. I can't make the decision about Human Emperor Quinn. Lord Hades wants him arrested for disturbing Nether City, so it's not up to me. Please don't blame me, Human Emperor Graves."
"It's not that big a deal."
The white-haired elder was short, his snowy beard flaring to both sides, and his voice boomed like a bell. Laughing, he said, "I know you can't make the call, so I won't ask you to. I'll make the decision—I'm taking Human Emperor Quinn!"
"No way!"
Red Plume grew anxious. "Lord Hades wants to interrogate him personally—even Human Emperor Graves can't override that..."
"Red Plume, I heard you arrested my disciple's great-grandson?"
Another voice rang out. Red Plume silently cursed his luck, seeing a woman in a blue dress with a small bamboo basket approach. He quickly said, "So it's Human Emperor Amber Brooks. About this matter..."
"Red Plume, I heard you arrested my disciple's great-grandson's disciple?"
"Red Plume, I heard you arrested my disciple's..."
"Red Plume!"
......
The crowd grew larger, completely surrounding Red Plume. He felt his head was about to explode, silently thinking, "Did I poke a hornet's nest? These Human Emperors from the Hall must all be hornets. Most of the time you can't see a trace of them, but poke one and the whole swarm comes flying out!"
Realizing he couldn't afford to offend them, Red Plume saw more and more dead Human Emperors crowding in. He could only say, "Gentlemen, you're all big names—why make things difficult for me? Please, don't put me in a tough spot. I'll hand Human Emperor Quinn over to you for now, but he can't leave Nether City. I still have to deliver him to Lord Hades..."
"Don't worry, don't worry, we won't make things hard for you!" the crowd shouted noisily.
Quinn stared blankly at the crowd around him, stammering, "Red Plume, earlier you said I had someone backing me..."
"That's right!"
Red Plume fought his way out of the crowd, shouting angrily, "You Human Emperors from the Hall are all Nether City's bullies and thugs! I'm supposed to be a local overlord here, but I can't mess with you lot! One poke and it's a whole hornet's nest—I'll come find you later!"
He squeezed out of the crowd, spread his wings, and flew off into the distance.
Quinn looked at the Human Emperors around him, feeling lost. They all smiled at him, sizing him up—men and women, old and young, tall and short, fat and thin, some impeccably dressed, some fierce and wild, some strong and burly, some looking too frail to even lift a chicken.
Quinn glanced through the crowd, but didn't see Village Chief. He quickly coughed, bowed to everyone, and said, "I am Quinn Shepherd, current Human Emperor, here to pay respects to all my grand-masters, great-grand-masters, great-great-grand-masters, great-great-great-grand-masters..."
"No need for all that ceremony!"
The crowd surged in, sandwiching his little skeleton frame in the middle, clapping his bones until they rattled and nearly fell apart. They swept him into the city, laughing, "It's rare for a living successor to visit us—today we have to celebrate, make some noise!"
"You haven't burned us any offerings in years! If that Su brat hadn't died and come to Nether City, we'd have thought the Human Emperor Hall line was finished!"
"Why haven't you visited our graves? If you had, we'd know the line would continue. We've even left some treasures for you in the Human Emperor Hall."
......
With so many questions, Quinn could only answer honestly, "I've never visited the Human Emperor Hall—Village Chief never told me where it is..."
Human Emperor Connor Hayes exploded with anger: "That Su brat does things like this? He didn't even take you to the Hall! That bastard—when he gets back, I'm going to teach him a lesson!"
Human Emperor Ethan Graves kicked Connor Hayes hard, beard bristling and eyes glaring. "Is this how you teach disciples? Beating them never makes them better! It's exactly because of your methods that Human Emperor Quinn hasn't visited our graves!"
As soon as Ethan Graves landed his kick, Human Emperor Amber Brooks punched him in the head. He quickly covered his head. Amber Brooks snapped, "Ethan, is this how I taught you? How dare you criticize Connor—how did you teach your own disciple?"
"Amber, for a lady to be so violent—you shame my reputation as Colin Mercer!"
"Colin, you dare hit my great-grandson? You must have a death wish!"
......
A bunch of old-timers started brawling in the city, fighting endlessly. Quinn immediately noticed something odd—every generation of Human Emperor would help their grand-disciple beat up their own master, and grand-disciples would gang up with their great-grand-masters against their own teachers.
It seemed every disciple had a grudge against their own master.
Still, the skills of the Human Emperors through the ages were truly astonishing—almost every one had reached the Dao Realm. Yet, curiously, each had their own specialty. Disciples and masters excelled in different arts: Human Emperor Connor Hayes was Village Chief’s master, but while Village Chief was famed as a sword god, Connor Hayes specialized in fist and seal techniques.
His seal techniques were fierce and domineering, and his fist arts were even more terrifying than those of Great Thunderclap Temple.
Connor Hayes’s master, Human Emperor Ethan Graves, specialized in divine arts; Ethan Graves’s master, Human Emperor Amber Brooks, was an expert in spirit weapons. As for Human Emperor Colin Mercer, his specialty was magic that made his words law.
It seemed they all disliked their own masters—none would follow in their teacher’s footsteps, stubbornly insisting on forging their own path.
Quinn blinked and looked around. In just a few breaths, these brawling Human Emperors had flattened several streets, smashed a few shrines, and demolished countless buildings before finally stopping.
The gods and demons in the city were frozen with fear—none dared make a sound, all stopped their work to watch.
Some had their shrines smashed, but didn’t dare complain—just looked aggrieved. Many little ghosts came forward to help repair the shrines.
"Red Plume said our Human Emperor Hall is the overlord of Nether City—and it seems he wasn’t wrong."
Quinn thought, "If generations of Human Emperors can tear up streets and no one dares question them, Village Chief must be living happily here—he’s practically the little tyrant of Nether City. But where has Village Chief gone?"
Connor Hayes, battered and bruised, crawled out from under Ethan Graves’s feet, wiped his nosebleed, and grinned, "You have to visit the Human Emperor Hall. Every Human Emperor has left their ultimate skills there, hoping future generations can surpass them and forge their own path. And you must visit our graves—every festival, you need to burn us something good!"
Ethan Graves chuckled, "You can burn some defeated enemies for us to play with—Nether City has everything except entertainment. Up ahead is the Five Suns Shrine of the First Ancestor. Let's go!"
"First Ancestor?"
Quinn's heart skipped—First Ancestor was the original Human Emperor, a true god who founded the Human Emperor Hall and wielded immense power. He was eager to meet this ancient sage!
Quinn had seen the statue of the First Human Emperor in Little Jade Capital. Elder Greenmount had said the First Ancestor turned to stone out of utter despair—he never imagined he'd get to see him here.
Connor Hayes said, "First Ancestor left Nether City some time ago, claiming he had something important to do. Your master went to look for him and hasn't returned yet. Your master is odd—he's not completely dead, so he can leave Nether City, while we're all fully dead and can't."
The crowd surged inside, startling the two giant beasts guarding the Five Suns Shrine. The bird-bodied, human-faced beast on the left cried, "Human Emperors, are you here to freeload again? The master's house is almost empty thanks to you. Why not go to the Second Ancestor's place?"
"Shut up!"
The Human Emperors all shouted, "The Second Ancestor's place was emptied ages ago, and the Third Ancestor's too! Only your master's house still has anything left!"
The bird-bodied, human-faced beast quickly shut up and pretended not to see, letting them barge in.
Quinn told Dragon Qilin and Taotie to wait outside. "You two stay here—I'll go chat with the ancestors for a bit."
Dragon Qilin stayed outside, eyeing the two giant beasts. Suddenly he asked, "Have you ever seen the founder of the Heavenly Saint Cult? He's a handsome youth."
The bird-bodied, human-faced beast was more talkative. "The Heavenly Saint Cult's founder? You should go to their headquarters. All the past cult masters live there, but most are demons and fierce spirits—not easy to deal with."
Dragon Qilin was delighted. "Would you two elder brothers kindly point the way?"
Inside the Five Suns Shrine, Quinn couldn't help but marvel—these Human Emperors were like bandits raiding a village, never acting like outsiders. Before they even sat down, Amber Brooks summoned some little ghosts. "The living Human Emperor Quinn is here! Go prepare a feast!"
One green-skinned little ghost plucked up his courage. "Masters, living people can't eat Nether City's food. Look, Human Emperor Quinn is just bones—no flesh, no stomach, can't eat anything."
Second Human Emperor snapped, "Nonsense! Of course it's not for him—it's for us! I'm First Ancestor's disciple, aren't I allowed to eat? Get moving!"
The green-skinned, fanged little ghosts scattered, clutching their heads, to prepare the food. Quinn studied them, puzzled—they looked just like the Ghost Kings of the Qin King Hall, not like creatures from the living world. Could they be from Youdu?
"No one's worshipped us in years—we're starving ghosts! Take your seats!"
Second Ancestor cast a series of seals, and lotus flowers sprang from the void in the Five Suns Shrine, growing taller and larger until they lifted everyone up.
The little ghosts finished cooking and brought in the food. The Human Emperors forgot all decorum, devouring everything with gusto until they were finally satisfied.
Quinn watched, dumbfounded. These Human Emperors looked like they'd been starving for centuries—there was nothing lofty about them now.
The food in front of him remained untouched—he was just a skeleton and couldn't eat any of it.
"If Human Emperor Quinn hadn't come, we wouldn't have gotten a proper meal. Your master must hold a grudge against me—he never comes to pay respects, and I've been hungry for centuries."
Connor Hayes sighed, looking at Quinn. "That Su brat always bragged about you, said his disciple was better than mine. Since you're here, let me see how you outshine my disciple."
Quinn was at a loss. "Connor, your disciple is Village Chief, isn't he?"
The other Human Emperors perked up, all saying, "Old rules—let's have a match first!"
Quinn stood and saluted the elders. "Honored masters and ancestors, I'm only at the Seven Stars Realm—maybe we should skip the contest?"
Connor Hayes laughed, "Don't worry, we won't bully you—we'll only spar with you at your own realm. We won't hurt you, just want to see your progress and offer some guidance."
Quinn looked troubled. "Better not—I don't want to embarrass you all by hurting you. To be honest, your techniques and spells are mostly outdated..."
The room fell silent.
Ethan Graves muttered under his breath, "Suddenly I want to beat this brat to death..."