A few days have passed, the squad of mystics that have laid their eyes upon the bandit queens lair have retuned from the scouting mission and returned to lord Jinzha. As they entered the room in their hideout they all went to one knee and bowed their head in respect.

'Lord Jinzha we have returned.' One of them stated as soon as the door was shut behind them. Jinzha got up from his chair and walked around the table and stood in front of them. He glanced at both of them before replying.

'I thought I sent three of you, where is Tusca?' He questioned them. They both looked at each other nervously, not daring to look at lord Jinzha's face as they reported to him.

'He…was slain my lord. A member of the frogs ambushed us and Tusca was a victim, we took care of the assassin and we made sure that he was buried honourably. We can confirm there is no one else who knows the bandit queens lair my lord.' The one on the right called Grus responded. Lord Jinzha scowled at this news, damn that blasted frog, wanting her vengeance. He's lost half of the people that were loyal to him. He knew he didn't have many soldiers, the ones he did have were loyal and strong. He never expected to lose half of them without getting into an actual battle with the serpent herself. However he kept his composure and calm demeanour though for how long is another question. He knew time was running out faster than expected.

'Where is this lair then? I hope his sacrifice wasn't in vain.' Jinzha replied.

'Its located south east, hidden in the mountains with various watchtowers on the path there. The serpent's forces are there though we could not risk getting closer inside the perimeter to get their exact number due to their large watch boar catching our scent.' Lyra reported.

'That is fine, we cannot afford to wait around for Zhang Yan to prepare his primitive war machines. Go to the fields south of here and prepare the amalgamation ritual. You'll find Luna there, I sent her ahead just before you arrived. You will get a thousand. That should be more than sufficient.' Both Lyra and Grus looked at each other with shocked expressions.

'My lord, is that the best choice of action?'

'Are you questioning my decision?' He asked abruptly. Both of them lowered their heads.

'Of course not my lord. Its just that such a ritual may attract unwanted attention is all and you seemed to be adamant on no one finding us.'

'Do you not think I know that!?' He retorted as he raised his voice, both Lyra and Grus cowered at his unusual violent behaviour. After seeing this he sighed as he put his right hand on his head as he shook it.

'Forgive me, it is a rather unusual predicament we're in and I fear it has impacted me more than I initially thought. I am aware the ritual will draw some unwanted attention but they're closing in naturally as we speak. The longer we wait, the less time we have until they all gather around that blasted serpent and finish her before us. And depending on who does it, it could mean disaster for the mystic realm.' He explained calmly after clearing his head a bit as he paced backwards and forwards.

'Of course my lord, but what if this siege fails? Won't that mean we have even less time?' Lyra responded. Jinzha glanced at her from the corner of his eyes, the very sight of the noble Jinzha looking annoyed at her intimidated both of them.

'Yes, which is precisely why we will not fail, do I make myself clear?'

'Yes, lord Jinzha.' Both of them stated.

'Good, go to the south and prepare for the ritual, I'll talk to the fool Zhang yan and grant us the proper amount of sacrifices necessary.' Lyra and Grus immediately rushed to their feet and sprinted out of their hideout to meet with Luna. Jinzha sighed again, he didn't think this would take a toll on him as much as it has. He needs to finish this quickly for the sake of everyone. He made his way to the main hall of Zhang Yan surrounded by various officials and warriors while he sits on a throne, eating an apple. The bickering with the officials and warriors turned silent as soon as Jinzha appeared in the main hall.

'Ahh, you're back, well did you find the information we need?' Zhang Yan asked with his mouthful, bits of apple was spat on the ground as he spoke. Jinzha was repulsed by the general sloppiness of this so called lord. Though his hood managed to hide his facial expressions.

'Indeed my lord. We've found the hideout of the serpent I've been seeking and by extension your bandit queen. They're hiding out in a city south east of here, veering off on a hidden path of mountainous terrain. My scouts report that there's only one way in the city however, through the front gates. If we besiege them there will be nowhere for them to flee. And with the amount of resources you have, taking it should not be an issue for you. You also need not need to worry about preparing any war machines. My men and I will be able to cover that, though we will need support.' All the various advisors and warriors started converse with each other in hushed whispers. Zhang Yan stroked his chin as he takes in this information.

'Interesting. So that's where she has her base of operations.'

'Excellent. Lord Zhang Yan this is the perfect opportunity to strike! Let us gather our men and put the final blow to this bandit queen.' Yu Du emerged from the warriors who immediately bowed as he was revealed.

'Hold on there warmonger, what makes you think this man is telling the truth and not leading us into a trap? Even if it isn't, what happens if this siege fails? You'll come crawling back leading them to us!' one of the advisors call out. Yu Du expressed his anger at his face started to turn red.

'You cowardly cur! You dare say we will fail? Need I remind you that we have the strongest military in these mountains while that false queen has been losing a lot of ground to us. Do you really think even if there is a trap being set that we won't be able to deal with it?' Yu Du responded.

'May I remind you of that dreaded serpent!? Thanks to her your highness, your han support has been temporarily ceased, they're starting to raid our territories, unafraid to burn them down to get to us. They annihilated one of our platoons with ease! Do you not remember hearing about how she effortlessly took out a regiment of Cao Cao's cavalry where only a few managed to live? Or how she escaped Xia Pi after the flood attack? Clearly she isn't anyone to be trifled with. Alongside her…demonic allies.' One of the other advisors stated.

'Rest assured, you need not worry about the serpent. My and my forces will deal with them.' Jinzha replied, trying to ease their worries to make sure they attack.

'Ha, that's a laugh, you only have a handful of men at best while we are many. If anyone is gong to be taking out the serpent and the false queen it will be us!' one warrior declared from the crowd.

'Do you not remember seeing one of our men burned alive right in front of us!?'

'Cheap parlour tricks.' Another voice called out.

'Parlour tricks? Are you delusional!?' The main hall was suddenly burst in uproar with the advisors and generals bickering amongst themselves to get their point across. Jinzha sighed as he shook his head, this was not going like he had anticipated.

'ENOUGH, ALL OF YOU!' Zhang yan yelled out as his order echoed throughout the grand hall, silencing everyone with his mighty voice. No one dared move when Zhang Yan was angry like this. Jinzha was starting to get a bit worried aswell, he wondered what he would do. He suspected he would go all in on this offensive and declared the attack by now.

'I understand both the concern and willingness for this siege. However though, bickering amongst ourselves will not solve any problem. You there, mysterious warrior. You say we will not need war machines and you require support. Why? How long will it take for support to replace what we need to besiege the castle?' Zhang Yan interrogated Jinzha, despite finding the bandit queens castle, was still too suspicious of him to fully give him what he wants. He knew despite his calm, emotionless voice he wanted him to besiege the castle for his objective. Who's to say that he won't simply take the castle and just replace the queen as another thorn in his side once he got what he wanted?

'It will take only a short amount of time, considerably less time you would need to construct your siege engines. I can give you a monster of destruction under our command, I would just need a meagre one thousand soldiers.' He stated. The advisors and warriors were talking amongst themselves.

'He wants one thousand soldiers?'

'Is he mad? No way would Lord Zhang Yan say yes to that.'

Zhang Yan knew, the way from the way he sounded, that there was a hidden agenda and that he would not see these 1000 soldiers again. Tch, like that was a big deal.

'All right, you'll get your soldiers. Where should they rendevouz?' Jinzha couldn't help but smirk as he bowed his head.

'Directly south my lord. They'll find my men, from there they'll help create the mighty behemoth at your disposal, allowing them to easily destroy the walls of the castle. I can show you on your maps where they can meet us once we obtain it.'

'That is acceptable. Yu Du, dispatch them immediately and meet them at the correct position.'

'At once my lord.' He bowed as he sent one of his guards to spread the word.

'My lord! Surely you jest!' One of his advisors pipes up, earning a glance from Zhang Yan.

'I do not mean to speak so out of place but surely this is the wrong thing to do, to sacrifice the lives of our men on behalf of this…stranger. We have no idea of their motives and for all we know he's just leading them to a slaughter, I urge you to-augh.' The advisor was interrupted by suddenly having a dagger thrown at him from Zhang Yan. The dagger went through his open mouth and impaled, the handle just barely sticking out as the advisor wails softly before falling promptly to the ground. The people around him suddenly became frightened and stepped away from the bleeding corpse.

'You already made your point, I do not need repeats of your concerns.' He stated to the corpse.

'With our forces besieging hers, whether we capture the city or starve them out is irrelevant. I'll send a messenger to my contacts in the imperial Han to resume our trade and get our economy back on track, both in financial and military matters. Though do try to get her head in case they need more proof, it should be easy to get them resume normal trade given their position though we cannot guarantee anything for certain. Yu Du, start preparing your forces. Do not worry about siege equipment if our associate here is correct there will be no need. If not then starve them out.' Zhang Yan ordered his general.

'Yes my lord.' Yu Du bowed and left the main hall along with his guards.

'I'm glad you made the right choice, you have made the right choice my lord. If you will excuse me then, I must return to my men to inform them of the situation.' Jinzha stated before he bowed and started to walk away. However as he did Zhang Yan smirked arrogantly.

'You can join them however you and I have unfinished business so you will need to return here to me immediately after you tell them of our plans.' Jinzha stopped in his tracks.

'But there's nothing else to discuss though surely.' He glanced back in confusion to his arrogant smirk, something he despised about humans was their arrogance. Zhang Yan stepped down from his throne and casually strolled his way towards Jinzha. Albeit regally.

'Oh I think there's plenty of discuss, about you and your reasons for aiding us more than anything. I'm sure you can stay behind and we can share our more…personal stories with each others. Seeing as we're allies and all. You asking for me to put a lot of trust in you after all. Beseiging a castle without any sort of war machines while needing to destroy the walls straight away, if I were to make a guess about this, I would say you would need to kill this snake rather quickly. What if something were to happen to the army making their way? Like it were…delayed. Would that be a problem?' Zhang Yan interrogated Jinzha as he circled around him with his hands behinds his back. Jinzha knew what he was implying but he didn't understand why.

'I found your castle and your bandit queen for you, I did in a few months what you failed to do for a year.' He replied calmly though he felt his patience for this upstart human was starting to wear thin.

'For your own personal gain not for mine. Not that I begrudge you for that of course.' He responded.

'Its for both of our gains, did you not want to get rid of your adversary?'

'Of course. But I also don't want anyone else to take her place. So to make sure you don't, you'll stay stationed here and you'll tell me all about you and your mystic realm.' Zhang Yan whispered the last part. Jinzha's eyes widened with shock, how did this fool ever learn about the mystic realm?

'Did you really think you could get that by me? I own these mountains, I would've found out eventually where the bandit queen was hiding, just like I found out about your special realm. Truth be told I don't know much about it but that is where you will aid me.'

'And what if I refuse?' Jinzha replied immediately, the venom in his voice making itself known. Zhang Yan smirked, seeing this so called god get agitated by him was…gratifying.

'Then I have no choice but to call off the invasion force and I can do that, even if you kill me I already sent given the order on the chance that if you do the invasion is off. If this is so important and if you have so much faith in your followers and your little creation then you can surely stay behind and educate me on your ways.' Jinzha tightened his right fist, resisting the urge to punch Zhang Yan. How did this fool find out about the mystic realm? What would be his endgame? Power? Does he know anything about the yellow emperor? Is that his game? A human like him couldn't be the new emperor, if even some mystics are not worthy to rule what makes this greedy, manipulative human any better? Nevertheless, if he does know about the yellow emperor he must know its only the warrior that claimed the serpents head can gain the title of emperor. So he had to be there for the siege, if he's not there he cannot be emperor and save the realm from its infighting.

'You're bluffing.' He stated, trying to sound confident. But the revelation has shocked him too much to count on that.

'Then call it out if you're that confident.' Zhang Yan arrogantly smirked once again, infuriating Jinzha on the inside. There would be too many to kill in this room and if he does have messengers on standby then there's nothing he can do…for now. He'll play along but he will not forget this. He sighed heavily, defeated by this human. This will not stand.

'All right. You win though I request to inform my soldiers of my absence, they will want to be informed by me directly otherwise they will not do as you will.'

'Heh, all right allow me to send you an escort with your personal guard. I cannot have my guests mysteriously disappearing, now can I?' Zhang Yan smirked.

'Of course not, thank you for generosity…my lord.' Jinzha stated with venom in his voice as he left the main hall with an arrogant looking Zhang Yan returning to his throne. He ordered one of his soldiers to amass a guard escort unit to keep an eye on him. The soldier bowed and immediately went on his way. Zhang Yan wondered why that woman who infiltrated his quarters told him about the mystic realm and how he shouldn't fully trust Jinzha. Heh, it doesn't matter. Judging by his reactions her information was correct. He was not about to be taken for a fool or be used like a puppet. No, he'll extract all the information he can and use it to his advantage if possible. After all, another realm of existence is a vast opportunity that can't be squandered. But first he'll deal with the bandit queen, then he'll worry about this realm of the gods. He chuckled to himself sinisterly.