Oh. My. Fate?! (BL, Volume 11, Part 1)

35 Take Action First!

While Jing He seemed to get closer to the answer to one of his questions, matters were also turning out for the better in the demon realm.

Ye Yang still sat on the throne in the main hall, inwardly thinking that he should switch this one out for a more comfortable one if he really had to stay in this position for a longer stretch of time. And right now, it really looked like he would. Xia Wei had brought some like-minded people over and Ye Yang had given them the exact speech he had given Xia Wei almost word-for-word.

Naturally, they didn't all have the same reaction at first but he had always been good with words. After listening to their doubts, he dispelled them one after the other. By the end, it seemed like everyone was more or less on board. As for the ones that were less on board, well, he wasn't too anxious yet.

Words were just that: You could paint a beautiful future for somebody but whether they could imagine it depended a lot on themselves and their experiences. It was much better to let them experience that future for themselves.

In this case, he needed to allow them to see the benefits of having a good relationship with the dragons first. If that worked out well, these men would be on his side and would help him quell any problems that might arise.

Ye Yang gave a hum. "Well, I've said a lot but it's all theory. Let's talk about the details."

The more skeptical demons exchanged a glance but didn't say anything.

Ye Yang smiled in response. "Right now, the dragons are cleaning up after the battle. It's really an ... inopportune time to approach them about this. Let's give them a few days to deal with everything first and start on our plans after that."

He saw some expressions fall but wasn't discouraged. "Don't be impatient. Don't forget: The dragons and gods were allies for a long time but their relationship was shallow. It was only after the dragon king became interested in the gods' crown prince that the relationship between the two races slowly started to change. It's been more than a decade and now, they are closer than ever while there is still a tendency to draw closer to one another.

"We don't necessarily want to be close but we want an ... amicable relationship, so to speak. For that, it will be necessary to leave the past behind us. That is millennia of unceasing battles, aggravations, and prejudices. It won't be easy for either side so to even take the first step, we will need to plan well and execute this faultlessly."

Even the ones who hadn't been fully on board before nodded at that. Nobody could deny that it would be difficult to change the relationship they had with the dragons. Showing some goodwill really wasn't asking for much, was it?

Ye Yang gave a satisfied nod when he saw them like this. "In the meantime, we don't need to be completely passive. Don't we also have our own cleanup to do? Yong Hai left quite the mess behind. Let's deal with that first."

The demons gave him a questioning look, not sure what he was talking about. It didn't sound like he merely wanted them to kill off anyone who was opposing him. Otherwise, he should have said it directly.

Ye Yang smiled and finally got up from the throne. "He killed off quite a few people. Some of those weren't demons but from the Nine Heavens and the dragon realm instead. If we want to better the relationship between our races, we should send the bodies back with an apology."

One of the demons couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. "Wouldn't they misunderstand this as a provocation?"

"Not if we go about it the right way." Ye Yang turned to look at Xia Wei. Right now, this was the person he put the most trust in considering that he had managed to convince him first. "Xia Wei, if I am not wrong, we should also have quite a few half-bloods in our midst, right? You go and find some. It'd be best to find some that have dragon blood and some that have the blood of the god race."

Xia Wei nodded and immediately left without waiting for Ye Yang to say the rest.

Ye Yang turned back to the others. "They are skeptical of us as full-blooded demons but will be slightly more open to somebody who shares at least part of their blood with them. Not to mention that if the right words are delivered and the change of the one ruling is communicated, they will have fewer doubts.

"There were demon kings in the past who managed to have a rather peaceful reign. Even if the dragons and the gods will doubt us at first, they will also remember the stories of those kings. As long as we proceed cautiously, we can build upon that foundation.

"Now, let's not just talk but take action instead. A lot of the people that were killed here today should be Jin Ling's partners. So let's look through the palace first. Bring everyone you find here first so we can have a look and try to identify them."

The demons nodded and finally spread out.

Ye Yang sighed when the last one had left. Actually, identifying these people would be the most difficult. After all, you couldn't distinguish the people of the immortal races that easily. Unless they actually knew them, it'd be near impossible to say for sure where they had come from.

But then, he wasn't one to give up easily. Even if he himself didn't know and the demons that had decided to follow him for the time being didn't either, there had to be somebody who could identify them. It was simply a matter of time and effort to find such a person.