Not far from the capital, in a hidden place, inside a cave, a black cloak silhouette slowly stood up and walked out of the familiar cave where the Law Enforcement Hall master had come for an exchange just a day ago.
"First one of the shadows disappeared, then another one, and now all of those greedy sect masters.
This Emperor has some tricks up his sleeve...
Or maybe a backup plan left by the scholar?"
The voice of this person was the same as the one who received a scroll from the Law Enforcement Hall master and gave him another scroll in return.
The mysterious lady turned to black smoke and flew towards the capital while muttering to herself,
"In the end, if you want anything to be done correctly,
You should do it yourself."
....
Back in the capital, inside the Emperor's mansion,
The Empress was speaking about the 12 sect masters' unreasonable request, while the little sect master listened, drinking his spirit tea and puffing out blue smoke.
By now, they knew this gathering of 12 sect masters had offended him in some way that they didn't know, and now he was here for blood!
Additionally, this little monster and the spirit energy were like a mirror and light, so they tried to ignore the blue spirit energy emanating from his mouth and nose.
The Empress reached this point in her story:
"So, they asked us to divide the cities between them so that they can sacrifice our citizens!
But how could we accept it!?
Only over our dead bodies!"
At this part of the story,
The little mysterious senior, who was obviously Little Mortal, became enraged all of a sudden.
'BAM!' He slammed the table angrily, and while a second handprint appeared on it, said,
"I thought they were bandits!
It turns out they are terrorists!
The act of terror and sacrifice cannot be tolerated!"
The Empress tried to calm him down by giving him another teacup.
"Not only that, they even said another guest will come when my husband is done with dividing the cities between them.
They said he will bring a technique called 'Harmony—'"
Little Mortal, who was drinking tea to calm his anger, interrupted her.
"I know, I know, 'Harmony with All Beings'!"
The Empress was surprised that he already knew the name.
"Big brother, how do you know the name?
Do you have any information about its origin?"
Little Mortal suddenly changed mood, placed the teacup on the table, looked outside the window, and, as if he was trying to remember some memories, said,
"I remember it was a long time ago.
I was only a young man at that time."
Then he looked at the couple to see if they were listening carefully or not, and continued,
"One day, the scholar of that era, scared and panicked, came to me with a request."
Then he shook his head and sighed in sadness; it seemed that he remembered a bad memory about that day.
"The request was to kill a man...
A man who had gone down the wrong path, and the whole world was in danger!
How could I, the sect master, say no in such a situation?"
Then he clenched his fist, like he could once more feel the danger and excitement of that day.
"So, we assembled the strongest team of that era to go and face this world threat!"
And then, while the couple was suspicious of how a little boy had grown into a young man back then, and if he had ever met the scholar, they saw him start walking around and telling them the same story that Lady Butterfly had told him before.
He just added a heroic young man in the mix who cooperated with other big shots to complete the mission.
And low-key, he was the main character.
By the end of the story, he was at the window, hands behind his back, looking outside like he was recalling the memories of the past...
In the end, he turned to the astonished couple, who couldn't imagine what kind of disasters this technique could bring to the world, and said,
"But don't worry, I already caught the guy with the Harmony technique.
He is in hell now."
Then he turned to the Emperor, who had tried to stay silent and dignified the whole time, not breaking character.
"By the way, you are the poorest Emperor I've ever seen.
There is a guest here, and you only have tea in the house?
No cookies, no biscuits, no nothing?"
The Empress hurriedly answered in his place,
"I'm so sorry, big brother, it's my fault!"
Then she ran somewhere and came back with a plate of cookies.
The little boy looked at her, then at the cookies, then at the Emperor, and said,
"And no servants either?"
A vein popped out on the Emperor's forehead.
He was angry but didn't dare talk back to this unknown little kid who claimed to be his big brother and could make people disappear.
The little boy asked the Empress,
"Are these cookies or spirit cookies?"
The Empress, while thinking to herself,
'Why do you even care when you can't absorb the spirit energy inside?'
answered,
"Spirit cookies, big brother."
Little Mortal came back to the table—now with two small handprints on it—and while standing between the two, started eating cookies and drinking tea again.
Whoever didn't know what kind of monster was standing between the two would think they were just a happy family of three.
In the silence of the hall, suddenly, a bunch of shiny objects came out of nowhere and dropped on the table.
Seeing the shiny objects, Little Mortal became excited.
"Oh, new rings!"
And then, he started picking the 12 new rings up one by one and putting them on his fingers.
One for each finger and two on both of his thumbs.
The Emperor tried his best to stay calm.
The Empress gulped nervously and said,
"Big brother, it's like these rings were made for you!"
They recognized the 12 sect master rings and prayed in their hearts that their storage rings wouldn't be in his hands by the end of the day...
While they were looking at him nervously, the door opened.
The couple frowned when they saw someone approaching them unexpectedly.
There was a strict order from the Emperor for every guard and servant not to come here, as he was prepared to fight those sect masters if necessary.
But now that they had disappeared, and the 'guest' they said would join them with that evil technique was probably dead—because this little monster said he was in hell—then who could it be?
While wondering, they heard the little boy comment,
"So rude.
Coming in without knocking."
Then he shook his head and resumed drinking tea.
The couple was speechless.
Is that the only thing that matters now?
The newcomer entered the hall.
A mysterious-looking figure in a black cloak entered and gazed at the three people inside.
The dignified Emperor, the kind and loyal-looking Empress, and... a kid with a mustache and so many storage rings?
Seeing the familiar storage rings on the little boy's hands, the newcomer furrowed her brow and thought,
'The Emperor is trying to tell whoever the mastermind is that all of your plans are nothing in the end but toys in the hands of a little random kid in my mansion...?'
So, thinking that she had already been exposed, the mysterious figure just revealed her face.
"Your Majesty is indeed capable of getting rid of that trash in such a short time."
She was a normal-looking young lady with red eyes, and nothing unique about her, except for her eye color.
She didn't look like a villain at all.
The Emperor, who felt fearless at the moment with a monster by his side, just said a short and simple sentence:
"Soon, you might join them."
Little Mortal hit the Empress's leg with his elbow and whispered,
"That's the Emperor for you!
So fearless in front of some ancient big shot from his ancestor's era."
The couple, if not deep enough in their acting mode,
would have turned pale from fright!
'Big shot from when?
Isn't that someone who is supposed to be in the immortal world already?
What is she doing here?
There's an extra mastermind?'
Seeing how cocky the Emperor was,
And that even the random kid in his mansion with that ridiculous mustache was making fun of her, the ancient big shot frowned.
"Young man, you seem very confident in yourself.
I assume you already know who I am?"
The couple, looking blankly at her, thought to themselves,
'No, we don't.'
But the Empress suddenly chuckled maliciously and said,
"Who else, if not the daughter of that senior who made the technique, 'Harmony with All Beings'?"
Hearing her answer, the Emperor was taken aback,
The lady in black was taken aback, and even the Empress who answered her was taken aback—
Because she didn't have any control over her own body for those 7 seconds when she spoke and delivered an unwanted line!
Little Mortal, while eating cookies, hit the Emperor's leg with his elbow and whispered,
"See, I bet the girl I found for you is 10 times smarter than your ministers."
The black-cloaked lady looked at the mustache kid, with blue smoke all around his head, and felt annoyed just from looking at him.
'Is he trying to be funny?
Whose child even is he to be so close to them?'
She shook her head and became serious again.
"So, do you know the reason why I tried to use those trash and sacrifice the people of the cities under your rule?"
The Emperor was clueless once more.
'I didn't even know you until a moment ago!
How should I know the reason?'
The Empress didn't care what she was saying anymore.
She kept glancing at the little boy beside her with fear in her eyes.
She was 100% sure that the boy had taken over her body just now!
He just told them the story of how the Harmony technique works and how it is harmful to the souls of both sides.
'And now he just used it on me?
This little demon knew the technique already?
Did our souls mix?
What will happen to me if my soul is mixed with this crazy little monster?'
While she was imagining all kinds of terrifying scenarios and crying inside,
She heard her husband answering this time.
"This Emperor naturally knows the reason.
But you, on the other hand, are clueless about the reason behind what you are doing."
The eyes of the lady in black constricted.
The Empress was taken aback, too.
'Like hell you know the reason!
Say it if you know!
And why is she surprised?
Don't tell me she doesn't know!'
Then she felt the little boy hitting her with his elbow again,
while whispering to her,
"Look, sister-in-law, His Majesty knows, but she doesn't know.
This girl is so silly, she doesn't even know why she's doing what she's doing!"
The Empress's eyes widened.
He saw the Emperor looking calm, but his left hand was clenched into a fist.
It was a sign of stress in her husband.
She knew her husband, too, was probably controlled by this little demon just now, and he was as scared as she was...
'What is this?
A one-man show?
We are all puppets on strings?'
The red-eyed lady, annoyed once more by the kid, said,
"Why don't you tell me, then?"
She was indeed curious. Why did she keep getting the same message in her mind?
The little boy looked at the Emperor and said excitedly,
"Yes, tell us, tell us!
We want to know!"
While the Emperor was thinking to himself,
'How should I tell you what I don't know?'
He answered,
"You keep hearing a voice that says:
If you want to wash the shame of your father,
Gather strong followers!
Become the strongest!
And save the world!"
The red-eyed lady was shocked!
The Emperor was shocked!
The Empress... wasn't shocked anymore.
She knew this monster was playing them.
But what voice in the head?
One crazy kid wasn't enough—now there's a second ancient version too?
Even Little Mortal acted shocked by the revelation!
He hit the Empress's leg with his elbow, cookies in hand, while whispering excitedly,
"Look, look!
That's why Emperors are scary!
They can even hear what their subjects think!
They literally have the key to everyone's heart and mind!"
The Emperor thought,
'No, we can't hear anything, and we don't have any key!'
The Empress thought,
'My husband can't hear anything, and he doesn't have any keys!'
But the red-eyed lady was in absolute shock.
She thought,
'How is that even possible!
I've never heard of such a thing in my entire life!'
While she was scared, she was excited too,
'Doesn't that mean he knows what these voices are?
I should make him tell me about everything he knows.'
But before she could say anything, the Emperor said,
"You are now thinking,
'I should make him tell me about everything he knows.'"
The lady gasped!
Seeing her shock, the Empress was shocked too!
The little boy jumped behind the Empress's royal chair, put both hands on his head, looked vigilant, and whispered,
"Don't read my mind! Don't read my mind!"
The red-eyed lady couldn't take it anymore.
She walked toward them step by step,
"It doesn't matter if you can read my mind or not.
I just need to make you talk."
But while she was expecting to see the Emperor make his move,
she heard the Empress chuckling. With a teasing smile at the corner of her mouth, face full of confidence, she said,
"Auntie, don't you know where you are?"
Then she slowly stood up.
"This is my home, my territory.
And let me tell you an interesting fact: Inside their territories, mothers are invincible!"
The red-eyed lady stopped and looked at her.
The Empress stared into the red eyes of this unknown senior from the past fearlessly.
"Do you..."
Then she disappeared.
"...understand?"
This time, the voice came from behind the red-eyed lady.
The Emperor, with his body back under his control, turned to see what nonsense his wife was saying—but she just disappeared from his sight!
Little Mortal, behind the royal chair, was looking at her with awe in his eyes, fascinated!
And then, with a karate chop behind her neck, the red-eyed lady fell to the ground!
And with a short delay, two "Bam" sounds followed!
The Emperor's jaw almost dropped to the floor.
He didn't even know how she appeared behind the other party,
let alone how she took her down with a single hit.
He felt the little boy's elbow hitting his leg again,
"I'm telling you, little brother,
mothers in their home are the kindest and, at the same time, scariest and strongest!
What was this girl thinking, to come here and pick a fight when the mother of the house is at home?"
The Empress, under the frightened eyes of the Emperor, came back to her seat and sat down gracefully.
The Emperor, with a rare smile on his face, nodded at her and shook his head,
as if he was telling her,
'Indeed, what was she thinking?'
They were both under the boy's control for this scene.
Then they saw Little Mortal go to the red-eyed lady, who lay on the ground like a corpse, and while taking a sip of his tea,
say,
"Mother's domain.
'Sluuurp. '
Scary."
Then he came back to the table, picked up another cookie, and said,
"Aaaaand cut.
All the actors are free to do their own things."
Then he placed the unknown crystal, hanging from his waist, on the table.
"Okay, let's see, what should I call this episode?
'The Emperor Confronts the Fake Guardian Candidate?'"
Then he looked at them,
"What do you guys think?"
The two, with their bodies back under control, just nodded in agreement while crying inside and thinking,
'Can someone tell us what's happening here?
What is he doing?
We are actors?
"Aaaaand cut"—what?'
Then the little boy turned to the red-eyed lady on the ground.
"You agree with the name, too?
In the end, you were the main antagonist in this scene."
The 'unconscious' red-eyed lady slowly stood up and, with lowered head, nodded.
The couple was speechless.
They didn't feel surprised anymore.
'She was under control, too, right?'
The red-eyed lady felt like crying.
This whole time, the big shot wasn't her, nor the Emperor with his fake mind-reading power, or the invincible housewife, the Empress.
It was this little child with a fake mustache, who could use her father's technique better than he could—without any negative effect on the soul...
She just decided to be obedient and see what her ending would be.
She heard from the scholar that her father, in his last breath, said,
"'This Harmony Technique could be the strongest and scariest technique for mutual destruction... if there was no negative effect.'"
And today, she just saw it with her own eyes...
At that moment, Little Mortal was looking at the screen in front of him that had emerged from the crystal.
The three just watched the high-quality recording of everything that had just happened in amazement.
It wasn't just a simple record, but a record from all directions—and the little boy could change the angle at will.
With cookies in one hand and a teacup in the other, Little Mortal started editing the record.
He occasionally gave orders to the crystal to add special effects.
The red-eyed lady noticed that when she entered, there was now a dark background. Every step she took had a sound effect with an echo, and her red eyes shone with a bloody light against the dark background.
Even she was amazed by her cool entrance.
When the scene reached the invincible Empress, the little boy said,
"Play this part in slow motion."
Then all three members of the audience saw how the Empress got behind the antagonist.
She just stood a little on the tips of her feet and bent her knees slightly.
Then she hit the ground and appeared under the ceiling.
There, she hit the ceiling with both palms and appeared on the ground again—but this time behind the red-eyed lady...
In the slow-motion scene, only she was moving; everything else seemed frozen in time due to her speed.
Well, except for one little head, too.
The little boy was tracking her movements the whole time, with shock and fear, yet also fascination.
They thought,
'What is he pretending to?'
Only now did they see the source of the two "Bam" sounds that came with a delay.
It was the floor and ceiling getting hit by the Empress's movement.
Then they saw the little boy stroking his mustache while munching on his cookie, deep in thought.
After some thought, he said,
"The fight is too short, and it might get a copyright strike. I remember that the first person to use this technique was Kenshiro—they might sue us. So we should take a second scene.
Be ready, everyone."
The Empress panicked. She said in a hurry,
"Big brother, big brother, it's fine! No need to extend the fight!
I mean, when I was a child, I saw my father always lose to my mother in her domain with just one move!
Sometimes, only one word!
She'd furrow her eyebrow while saying 'Honeeeey?' and that was it!
And this move shouldn't have any copyright problem, right? The ground and ceiling are free to be used."
Little Mortal's hand, with the cookie in it, froze.
His mouth opened in shock.
"Yes, what was I thinking, disrespecting mother's domain and worrying about copyright?"
Then he placed everything down, turned to the Empress,
cupped his hands, bowed a little, and said,
"Please forgive my ignorance and lack of knowledge."
The Empress, who felt she'd just saved herself from going under a certain demon's control, tried to play along again,
"Don't mind it, big brother.
In the end, it's a secret technique that only mothers understand."
The red-eyed lady and the Emperor:
"-_-"
'Do you dare not forgive him?'
Little Mortal nodded, seeming to agree with her statement.
Then he picked up the paper stick made of his map and said,
"Alright, let's get back to business."
Seeing him pick that up, the Emperor looked at the red-eyed lady with a mocking smile.
The red-eyed lady was puzzled.
Little Mortal turned to her and suddenly slammed the table, adding the third handprint on it. While attacking her, he shouted,
"How dare you try to ruin my plans!
I'll give you a lesson in place of your late father!"
And a one-sided beating broke out!