Rise of The Demon General

Chapter 168: Chapter 168. Dozed Off

Amon continued to poke around the veil that clouded his senses. He didn’t know how long the process lasted. Every time he felt he had found a hole in the mental veil, it disappeared. It was always out of reach as if the veil was actively covering its defects.

Amon didn’t give up. He could be as stubborn as the most single-minded person when he had a goal. If one way didn’t work, he tried different methods. He had tried a hundred different mental approaches before he finally poked the right spot in the veil. He immediately clamped his thoughts there, not letting it go.

He focused his mind, trying to bore through the hole within the veil. He could feel the veil vibrate. It was fighting back. He then sensed wild aether wash over him. The energy was almost overwhelming. He felt he could drown if he didn’t let go, but he didn’t. He continued to hold on and forced his mind to bore through.

He sensed the veil ripping as if it were a piece of paper, and then his mind was through. He felt a clarity that he hadn’t felt ever since he stepped into this ruin. Even the headache had disappeared.

He opened his eyes. The corridor still looked the same. However, the path ahead of him was not as clean as the one he had walked before. There was much debris ahead. He looked back. The corridor behind him was clean. It seemed that he had somehow stopped at this point. The illusion made it seem as if he continued walking while he had been staying at the same place all this time.

When he was about to step forward, the jade piece shone, indicating that Li Shi was contacting him. He activated the communication device, and Li Shi’s voice was heard. She sounded tense. ”Lin Mo! What happened? Why didn’t you answer for so long?”

’Long?’ Amon thought questioningly. He then asked, ”How long have you been trying to contact me?”

”It’s eight hours since I last spoke to you,” Li Shi answered. ”It is nighttime already. The others had returned. I was just about to go down there to look for you if you still didn’t answer. What happened?”

”... Nothing. I probably just dozed off,” Amon answered.

”Dozed... off...?” Li Shi didn’t know how to respond to such an unexpected answer.

”Do you want me to continue searching this ruin?” Amon asked.

”No. It’s very late already. Come back up. You can continue tomorrow,” Li Shi replied.

Amon looked at the path ahead. He was very interested in continuing searching after managing to unravel the mental pressure inside this ruin. But if he continued, Li Shi and the others would suspect he had made progress. He preferred to keep them in the dark if possible.

He wondered if the mental pressure would affect him again tomorrow if he left now. Or could it be he had broken the enchanted formation? He hoped not, because this would mean that everyone could now come in and be unaffected by the mental pressure. This would mean his worth for this mission had decreased significantly. It would also mean he might not be alone anymore when he next explored this ruin.

’Well, I will find out tomorrow,’ Amon thought. He didn’t let this probability trouble him. He would look for a way when it happened.

When he came out, he was immediately mocked by Lei Gun and Zong Kui.

”Hahaha! This is the first time I have heard someone dozed off during a mission,” Lei Gun laughed.

”You know I usually disagree with you, brother Gun. But in this regard, I do agree. It seems that the standard of the new generation has truly dropped,” Zong Kui said. ”If even such a lazy student could be the first rank among the freshman students, I’m afraid the future of the Royal Academy will not be good once our generation graduates.”

”Don’t be like that, seniors. Perhaps junior Lin Mo couldn’t bear the headache, so he lay down to take a rest but ended up sleeping,” Fan Niang tried to defend Amon.

”Well, then that means his mind is weaker than ours! What’s the point of bringing him here then?” Lei Gun didn’t relent.

”Agreed again, brother Gun. I now wonder if he truly gained the first rank in the third entrance exam or did he use a trick to get that achievement?” Zong Kui said with a snicker.

”Enough, you two!” Li Shi chided. ”Now go and get some rest. Your resting tents have been prepared. Just follow the soldiers there.”

The students went with the soldiers. Lei Gun and Zong Kui continued to laugh while showing ridiculing expressions at Amon before leaving. Amon was about to follow when Li Shi asked him, ”Are you okay?”

”I’m fine,” Amon answered.

”They are bullies, but what they said isn’t exactly wrong. I hope this incident won’t happen again. I need to know that I can rely on you for this excavation. Otherwise, I might have to cut the academic points awarded to you for this mission.”

”I understand. It won’t happen again,” Amon said.

Li Shi nodded. She then followed the others. Amon walked behind her.

*

The next morning, they again entered the ruin with the same group setup. Amon was worried that he would be assailed by the headache again. If so, he would need to spend a great amount of time to break the illusion again. But when his foot stepped into the ruin, he didn’t feel anything.

He was now worried that he had broken the enchanted formation. He looked up. He could still see Li Shi up there. He called, ”Tutor Li, please contact the others. Ask them if they are still getting the same headaches as yesterday?”

”Why? Is something different today?”

”Yes, I feel it is a bit heavier today,” Amon lied.

”I will check,” Li Shi said. She used her jade stone to contact Zong Kui.