Rise of The Demon General

Chapter 277: Chapter 277. Still Human

The true Pledge Demon again used its body to cover Yon Yu. The stone hit its body. It exploded. It was not a big explosion. It also didn’t produce a bursting force that pushed everything away like a normal explosion. Instead, a black hole appeared. The black hole turned larger and sucked everything in its vicinity.

Since the Pledge Demon was directly where the black hole appeared, it was immediately sucked. Its body was warped unnaturally. It was unclear whether it was physically warped or it was just a distortion of perspective. What was sure was that its body slowly disappeared into the black hole.

Yon Yu, also in close vicinity, was sucked in as well. She screamed in horror as it happened.

During that moment of terror, the malice she exhibited was gone. She returned to being the innocent girl who didn’t understand why all these bad things happened to her. If Amon was someone with a conscience, he would feel bad for the girl. He did not.

The moment the Pledge Demon was sucked in, its illusion dispersed. The pressure holding Amon’s limbs vanished. Some of the bones in his arm and legs were cracked or broken. He had trouble standing. He fell to the ground.

The black hole created by the Plane Shift Stone wasn’t large, but its pulling power increased in intensity as time passed. Amon was not that far. He felt his body getting pulled. He hurriedly used his one good arm to stab his swan dagger into the ground. He used the dagger as a prop to keep him from getting sucked in by the black hole.

Then, suddenly, the pulling force ended. Amon turned to where the black hole was. There was nothing there, no Pledge Demon, no Yon Yu. He could not feel their presence anymore. They had been banished from this world.

Amon breathed a sigh of relief. It finally ended.

He then heard the sounds of rapid footsteps. He turned and saw Tuang Yin rushing at him.

’Heh. So, the deep hatred these world inhabitants have against demons is true,’ He thought to himself.

He pulled the swan dagger, which was embedded in the ground. He was wounded. His whole body hurt, but he believed he could still land a killing strike on the rushing Tuang Yin if he timed it correctly.

As she watched the girl rushing over, he couldn’t help but think, ’Such a pity. I have grown slightly fond of her.’

Amon readied his arm to swing as she approached, but he realized something was wrong. Her eyes. They weren’t eyes filled with hatred and condemnation. They were filled with concern instead.

Amon realized then that the killing intent he had sensed was not from her. It was from another direction. He turned and saw Xian Yang gliding in the air.

Xian Yang had more broken bones than Amon, but his movement arts didn’t need him to move his limbs to execute it. Because he was gliding in the air, he could approach Amon without making a sound.

Xian Yang had his sword thrusting out. It was aimed at Amon. It was too late for Amon to evade.

When he expected the long sword to pierce into him, something blocked his view. He saw Tuang Yin’s face instead.

Tuang Yin had put herself between Amon and Xian Yang. The sword that was meant to stab Amon stabbed into her instead.

Both Xian Yang and Amon were surprised by this interference, but Amon recovered first. His arm, which had paused in the motion to strike Tuang Yin, resumed its motion. He threw the swan dagger. Using the Xian Cloth to control the dagger, the dagger made a sharp turn and stabbed into the side of Xian Yang’s neck.

”Ugh...!” Xian Yang coughed out blood. The tip of the swan dagger came out on the opposite side of the neck from where it went in.

His eyes were on Amon. Severe frustration could be perceived from those eyes. He couldn’t accept the fact that he failed to enact revenge on Amon and instead lost his life.

Amon pulled the Xian Cloth. The swan dagger was violently ripped from Xian Yang’s neck. Blood burst from the wounds. Xian Yang’s eyes became hollow then.

Both Xian Yang and Tuang Yin fell to the ground. Amon looked at Tuang Yin. She was still alive. She was gasping in pain. Amon checked her wound. Xian Yang’s sword had pierced her heart. If he left her, she would die in minutes.

”Why?” Amon asked.

”Why... what...?” Tuang Yin asked back.

”You have seen it, haven’t you? You know I have demonic energy inside me.”

Tuang Yin smiled upon the question, which perplexed Amon.

”What a... silly thing to say,” she said. She was having difficulty speaking. ”Doesn’t... matter if you are a God... or a demon..., you are still... my boyfriend.... I will... gladly... give my life... for you, if... that’s what you... need.”

Something thumped inside him after hearing the words. He didn’t understand what it was. His mind was racing as he thought about what to do. The dominant part of him, the logical part, told him to just leave her be. This was a blessing. If she died, his secret was safe. He didn’t even have to be the one who killed her. He didn’t need to feel the guilt, not that he could feel any guilt.

Yet, his hands that were holding her refused to let go. He frowned.

Now that he had the time to analyze things, he thought back to when he was almost killed earlier. Under normal circumstances, he wouldn’t have made the mistake of confusing Xian Yang’s killing intent with hers. The reason for that mistake was her presence. He had resolved to assassinate her after learning that she knew his secret. That thought weighed his mind. The weight was heavy enough that it muddled his senses.

Thinking about this, his logical mind urged him further to slay her. Her existence was dangerous. He could reach the height of his previous life because he didn’t have leverage. He didn’t have anything or anyone who could be used against him.

If he let her live, she might become that leverage. Hence, the logical choice was to remove her. Using his will to force himself, he let go of one hand holding her. This hand picked up his swan dagger.

”Can you hold me... please...?” He heard Tuang Yin say. ”I want to... die in your... embrace.”

”Gghh...!” Amon gritted his teeth.

He let go of the swan dagger and, instead, fished out two pills from his space ring. He shoved these two pills into Tuang Yin’s mouth. One was a recovery pill. Another was a regrowth pill. The regrowth pill could help her regenerate her heart.

He then pressed his hand onto her chest. He channeled the energy of the Nine Moon Restorative Mantra into her body to help her heal.

Amon did this for three hours. Tuang Yin fell unconscious in the process, but by the end of the third hour, he could detect that her condition had stabilized. With enough rest, she would recover on her own. Amon stopped his treatment and sat beside her.

Amon wondered what Hei Gong and Hei Pho would say if they witnessed this. He murdered their entire house to keep his secret, but he couldn’t do it to this one girl. This was even when he didn’t need to dirty his hand to achieve the deed.

He chuckled to himself. He guessed he was still human, after all.

When that thought crossed his mind, he scowled. He yelled and punched into the ground, causing the ground under him to sink. He stood, picked up his dagger, and pointed it at the still-unconscious Tuang Yin.

He said, ”If you betray me and reveal my secret, I will give you worse suffering than death.”

He stored his weapon, picked Tuang Yin up, and moved away. He passed by Xian Yang’s corpse before leaving the park. He took the space ring from the corpse’s finger.

He inspected the village as he walked. The quiet village was now filled with crying voices. As he had suspected, almost everyone had died when Yon Yu activated their curse. Only a small number of villagers were unaffected. These were those who didn’t join the mob who killed Yon Pa, and most of them were old people and children. The crying voices were mostly from children.

Amon cared not for them. He would report this incident to the Royal Academy. The kingdom would deal with the surviving villagers. He continued until he arrived at his destination, Yon Niang’s house. He went inside and put Tuang Yin in one of the beds.

He went out again to pick up his flying knives which were still lying on the roof up there. After he was done, he reentered the house and looked around the place. Yon Pa was a merchant who peddled unique artifacts. That was how they came upon the sculpture that housed the Pledge Demon. If they could unknowingly have that kind of artifact, perhaps there were more in their collection.

He didn’t find anything after searching half the house, though. When he came out into the main hall to go to another room, he saw two familiar figures in that hall.

”I thought you have left this village...?” Amon asked.

”I lied,” Xin Lie answered.