Rise of The Demon General

Amon went back to the Lin clan and submitted his completed mission. He lay low for the remaining days while monitoring the news.

San Guo had made the corpses of the Wei people disappear. The Wei clan as expected sent people to investigate, but they couldn’t find anything at the cemetery where Wei Fan was last known to have gone to. San Guo had done a good job erasing every trace.

The Wei people went to meet San Guo after. He was the one that had the appointment to meet with Wei Fan, after all, the Wei people naturally considered him to be the last person to have seen their young master.

When they arrived, San Guo explained that he never went to the cemetery as his wife and daughter had suddenly gotten ill. It’s a good thing that after he administered the antidote, he had called the local healer over to apply further treatments. His wife and daughter’s bodies were still weak from the shock and the poison’s aftereffect, especially his wife who also had additional wounds on her thigh, which San Guo explained to the healer as accidental cuts. The visit of the healer was known to the neighborhood, and when the Wei people visit the healer to question him, the healer also collaborated with San Guo’s story.

It was also a good thing that Amon had given him the cloak to hide himself from being identified when they were heading to the cemetery. San Guo couldn’t help but think that the kid had planned this as well from the start to allow him easier escape from the Wei people’s investigation.

But the most convincing point was that San Guo was just a beginning Strenght stage. The Wei people made a thorough checking on all his guards and the known criminals he worked with. Every one of them was accounted to not be anywhere near the cemetery at the time. There was no way San Guo alone could have done anything to two Transformation stage cultivators and one peak Strength stage.

The Wei clan, however, still maintained surveillance on San Guo. They didn’t accuse him partly because there was not enough evidence, another part was because there was another suspect. The Lin bastard who had been Wei Fan’s target. Although the kid was equally impossible to have done anything to the three high-level cultivators, his whereabouts during that night were unknown. Hence, Amon was the most likely suspect.

After that, whenever Amon took a mission, he always made sure to only pick a mission where he was close to the public area with plenty of crowds. It was unlikely for the Wei clan to ask San Guo to come after him again. Not only because he was convinced San Guo was afraid of his threat, but also because the relationship between the Wei clan and San Guo had been severed due to this incident.

If the Wei clan was still intent on coming after him, they could only hire second-rate criminals, which Amon had no worry of. Another way was for them to send their own high-level cultivators to deal with him. That’s why Amon chose his mission to be close to the public area. If a confrontation broke, everyone could see the Wei clan coming after the people of the Lin clan. Such a public display would force the Lin clan to interfere. Otherwise, they would appear weak.

*

In this way, half a year had gone by. Amon continued to be vigilant whenever he was out on a mission.

One day, he received a summon.

”The master of the clan wants to see me?” Amon asked with furrowed brows.

Madam Lin nodded. ”An honorary guest is visiting. They are meeting with my father at the moment, and now it appeared that they want to talk to you.”

”Honorary guest? Who is it?”

”The Master of the Wei clan.”

Amon creased his forehead further. Did they come to demand he be investigated? Maybe they found no chance to ambush him in the dark, so now they were making a move on him in the open. If they did, there was no guarantee the Lin clan would be willing to protect him. But to just hand him over to the Wei clan would be a display of weakness, it was unlikely.

After that brief thinking, he said to Madam Lin, ”Let’s go then.”

Following Madam Lin, Amon went to the largest building complex within the Lin Estate with that large hall where Amon had met the Master of the Lin clan for the first time, but Madam Lin didn’t take him to enter this hall. Instead, they went to a smaller structure next to it which seemed more like a garden than a building. There were several guards around this structure.

Lin Bubai was at the entrance.

”Sister, please stay with me. Father wants him to enter alone,” he said when the two arrived.

”I’m not letting him out of my sight,” Madam Lin replied.

Lin Bubai sighed, her sister’s protective instinct towards this child was truly as the report his people had gathered.

”There is no need to worry, sister. Father means him no harm. He just wants a chat with the boy.”

”What about the Wei clan? What do they want with him?” Madam Lin was not a hermit, she had also heard the news about Wei Fan’s death and the rumors about Amon’s involvement.

”They will not dare to do anything inside this wall. I give you my words that no harm will come to this boy.”

”It’s okay, mother. I’m curious to talk with the clan master as well. I believe everything will be fine,” Amon said.

Madam Lin looked at Amon, her expression softened as she said, ”if anything happens, just yell. I will come running.”

Amon nodded. He then walked through the entrance under the gaze of the two Lin siblings. Behind the entrance was a narrow stone path with high plants decorating the left and right. There was only one path so there was no need for a guide. He continued on as he followed the path.

He soon heard chattering and laughter not far away. The path took him closer to where that voice came from.

He came out of the path into a surreal pond with an elegant-looking pavilion in the middle of it. There were some stone steps on the pond which continued from the path Amon was walking on. Three people were sitting inside the pavilion chatting merrily as two maids were serving them. Amon recognized one of them to be the master of the clan, Lin Weida.

Amon continued his walks toward this pavilion.

As he got nearer, the people inside noticed his approach. They stopped talking as they looked at him. Lin Weida continued to wear a smiling face but the two men opposite him forsook their merry bearing and turned to cold expressions.

Amon continued walking leisurely, but he could feel extreme pressure from these three people, accompanied by a feeling of danger. These three completely outclassed him. But the pressure he felt from the two strangers was slightly less than Lin Weida, indicating that they were weaker than the clan master.

He arrived at the pavilion and gave Lin Weida a polite salute of a junior to a senior as was the custom in this world.

”You have improved further,” Lin Weida commented. ”You didn’t disappoint me. Come! Sit by my side. I will introduce you to these two fine gentlemen, they have been asking to meet you personally.”

Amon gave his thanks and took a sit as was offered.

”This old geezer is Wei SuangSou, master of the Wei clan. An old friend of mine. This dashing man is Wei Linkun, Suangsou’s most talented grandson. He was the third ranker during the past White Cloud tournament.”

Amon gave the two a simple salute as he asked Lin Weida, ”White Cloud tournament?”

”It is a tournament organized by the White Cloud sect every ten years. Every talented youngster who lives in White Cloud city who was fifteen years of age or below can apply to join.”

”Hmph! It’s not something a street rat like you can join,” Wei Linkun uttered. He didn’t bother to show hostility to Amon right from the start.

”Brother Weida, I see old age had started to gnaw on you. How can you let a descendant of a fallen clan join your clan? This will carry a stain on your ancestor’s pride.”

”Haha, brother Suangsou, you are too serious. Old-timers like us should know about the greatness of the Hei clan in the past. Even now, our clans can still hold no candle to it during its heyday. Unfortunately, they have to pick a taboo path. But that is all in the past. The Hei clan has suffered all this time, it is only fair that I preserved its last descendant.”

Wei Suangsou didn’t reply, he just drank his tea. As he placed his cup on the table, he said, ”Brother Weida, you know me as someone who doesn’t waste time on idle talks. So I will just get to the point. I want you to hand over this kid to me.”