Rise of The Demon General

Chapter 248: Chapter 248. A Secret Subordinate

Lu Zu was startled by the ambush. He saw many of his people killed by the intruders who just barged in and attacked without warning.

One of the intruders came and thrust a sword toward his subordinate next to him. His hand shot out and caught the arm holding the sword before it stabbed into his subordinate. His grabbing hand turned into a claw. Trails of smoke came out of his claw. They swirled around the intruder’s arm. Where the smoke passed, the skin was torn.

The intruder screamed from the pain. Lu Zu proceeded to slam his claw into the intruder’s demon mask, shattering the mask along with the face behind it. The scream stopped then.

”Bastard! I have been looking for you, Demon Gang. It’s good that you show your faces before me. Prepare to die...!!”

Lu Zu’s claws burst into flames. He then shot toward two of the nearest Demon Gang members. He was too fast. The two Demon Gang members couldn’t react until Lu Zu was already before them. It was too late by then. Lu Zu’s claws caught the two before they could move away. The flames in his hands abruptly expanded until they engulfed the two Demon Gang members.

The scream from these two lasted only a short while because they turned to ash.

When Lu Zu was about to lunge at another target again, he sensed an assault coming. His claw swiped, and he deflected a flying knife. That knife brought his attention to one of the Demon Gang members who wore a different mask. This one had golden lines adorning his mask.

”You! You are the Demon Gang leader!” Lu Zu exclaimed. He then laughed. ”Haha. It seems heaven finally grants me justice. It is time for you to pay for my dear wife’s murder!!”

Lu Zu shot toward Amon.

”Qiang Dan!” Amon called.

A Demon Gang member near Amon suddenly rushed into the path between Lu Zu and Amon.

”Move aside, underling!” Lu Zu exclaimed. His burning hand swung and collided with the interferer’s arm. A shockwave resulted from the impact. The interferer, whose name was Qiang Dan, was thrown away. Lu Zu also recoiled from the impact, though not as far as Qiang Dan. His face showed a surprised expression.

”Beginning Mystic Stage cultivator...?” Lu Zu asked in consternation. ”I thought the Demon Gang’s strongest fighters were Transformation Stage?”

Qiang Dan was Amon’s secret weapon inside the Demon Gang. Qiang Dan was originally a member of a different underworld organization, an organization that Amon annihilated.

Amon engaged this underworld organization because he wanted to take over their territory for the Demon Gang. The problem was although this organization was small, it had two Mystic Stage cultivators, the leader and his right-hand man. The right-hand man was Qiang Dan.

With two Beginning Mystic Stage cultivators, this organization should be able to compete with the Sewer Snakes or the Street Aristocrats. However, the organization remained small because of its leader’s eccentric and anti-social behaviors. Very few people wanted to join this organization.

Amon annihilated the organization by killing almost all its members. He achieved this by disguising himself as one of the members and infiltrating the hideout. During a weekly feast organized by the leader, Amon poisoned the food. This was not difficult due to the leader’s awful personality and bad management skills.

The effectiveness of his poison was more apparent when it was ingested compared to if Amon injected it through wounds. That’s how Hei Gong was powerless when Amon poisoned him despite being a Mystic Stage cultivator.

Furthermore, Amon’s knowledge of poison had improved by leaps and bounds. He couldn’t use the Black Slaughter Poison or Cold Stiff Poison on the food because the stench of those poisons was too strong. People would easily find out the food was poisoned. He instead used a weakened version of Cold Stiff Poison, which was less foul compared to Black Slaughter Poison.

His victims didn’t suspect a thing. Everyone consumed the food ravenously, except for Qiang Dan, who only took a bite.

When the poison took effect, everyone died within a short period except for Qiang Dan and the leader. The leader survived because of his high cultivation. Amon had expected this because he had the same experience with Hei Gong. He was ready in a good position. He slit the leader’s throat when the leader focused on expelling the poison from his body.

As for Qiang Dan, since he only took a small bite. He didn’t have much poison inside him. His Beginning Mystic Stage cultivation was able to expel the poison in a short time. Amon expected that. He ran once he slew the leader. He knew he couldn’t fight a Mystic Stage cultivator yet.

Qiang Dan was fast, though. He blocked Amon’s way before Amon could reach the exit. Amon had the flashbang grenade in his hand. When he was about to use it, Qiang Dan told him that he meant Amon no harm. To Amon’s surprise, Qiang Dan knelt before him and thanked him profusely.

It turned out the leader’s awful behavior were much worse than what Amon heard. The members still in the organization stayed not because they wanted to, but because they dared not leave. They feared what the leader would do to them if they did. The leader had shown them what happened to those who quit previously. He tortured those people in front of them.

Due to the threat, they stayed and obeyed the leader’s bizarre needs, which included having them satisfy his sexual needs every night. His needs were not the pleasant kind, but one that involved many painful processes and humiliating acts. Qiang Dan was among the leader’s favorites, who had to serve him regularly.

Hence, when the leader dropped dead, Qiang Dan felt a huge relief off his chest. So much that he was willing to thank the person who gave him deadly poison a few minutes ago.

Amon didn’t waste the opportunity. He threw Qiang Dan an offer to join the Demon Gang. Qiang Dan was hesitant at first because of the terrible experience he had with his previous organization. But then again, where would he go? He was poor, not part of a clan, not well-connected, and had no social skills. Those were the reasons that pushed him to join the underworld.

Amon threw him bait by giving him a handful of aer stones. That bait, plus the fact that he had heard about the Demon Gang’s rise to fame, made him decide to join.

After joining, Amon taught Qiang Dan Concealed Ghost Body. Qiang Dan’s mastery wasn’t high yet, but it was enough to fool same-stage cultivators. That was how Lu Zu didn’t sense someone with the Mystic stage cultivation among the Demon Gang members.

Amon originally kept Qiang Dan in hiding as a safety net in case Dao Se turned on him. Dao Se thought the best cultivator in Demon Gang was only at the Transformation Stage. If Dao Se wanted, he could cause serious damage since both the Demon Gang and the Sewer Snakes had mingled for years. Their members knew some of the two organizations’ hideouts.

It turned out Amon had to reveal Qiang Dan earlier than expected due to the current emergency.

Lu Zu was shocked by the turn of events. Qiang Dan jumped back and used himself to cover Amon. A long iron glaive appeared in his hand. Without waiting for Lu Zu to act, he took the initiative and went for the offensive.

Droplets of water formed as he swung his glaive. The more he swung, the more droplets materialized until these droplets merged into a river of water that followed his swings. With the emergence of this river, his swinging speed increased. The power of his swings also intensified.

When Qiang Dan’s glaive collided with Lu Zu’s burning claw, their power appeared equal. The water flowing with the glaive even seemed to douse the fire around Lu Zu’s claws. After several clashes, it was Lu Zu who had to retreat.

”Another f*cking water user,” Lu Zu cursed. He took out metal claw weapons from his space ring and equipped them.

He thrust his claw forward using the Ghost Bone Claw. The ghostly image his claw conjured was not the white smoke as previously, but it was burning brightly due to the effect of his burning hand. The flaming ghostly skull emitted an eerie cry as it flew forward.

Qiang Dan used his glaive to receive the flaming skull. The blade of his glaive connected, and the water from his River Path engulfed the skull. As soon as they did, the skull exploded. Fiery bursts assailed everything in the vicinity. It even evaporated half the water from the River Path. Qiang Dan was pushed back multiple steps.

Lu Zu pressed on the offensive. His claws split into multiple images as he charged at Qiang Dan. Qiang Dan twirled his glaive and created a twister of water wall to block all the burning claws, but he had to continuously step back from the pressure.

While the two were contesting, a flying knife flew in from Lu Zu’s blind angle. It was about to stab into the back of Lu Zu’s neck when the air in the knife’s path suddenly combusted. The knife recoiled from the force.

’Tsk! He has a good defensive art,’ Amon lamented his failed ambush.