Rise of The Demon General

Chapter 385: Chapter 385. Sealing the Exit

Yan Clan’s estate was located near the Eastern border of Qishurg City. They were one of the oldest clans in the city. While other clans grew big and moved their estates to a better location, the Yan Clan didn’t move. The reason was that they had created a secret escape route that tunneled through the underground to the outside of the city. This underground was built even before the city wall was erected.

Yan Clan kept this underground tunnel a secret. Aside from preparing it as an emergency exit, it was also their secret means of smuggling goods or people inside the city without going through the gate checkpoints. They used it sparingly, though, and only a select few knew about this secret tunnel. If this tunnel were discovered by the city authorities, they would be in huge trouble.

With so many clan members knowing about it now, it would be difficult to keep it secret. However, it was not the time to worry about that. If they didn’t use it now, their clan might perish. This secret tunnel’s original purpose was, after all, to allow the clan members to escape when a catastrophe befell the city and they couldn’t escape using normal means.

However, they were unaware that an outsider knew about this secret tunnel. This outsider had been researching their clan for years. He first suspected such a tunnel existed after he learned of the clan’s history and how close the estate was to the city wall.

From there, he traced the rare occurrences when the Yan Clan smuggled goods or people where it should have been impossible. After a long investigation, he managed to trace one individual who used to use the tunnel. He captured this individual and interrogated him. The individual said that he was blindfolded when he was brought in. But from his testimony, the existence of the secret tunnel was confirmed.

Using the testimony from the individual and the estate’s geographical position, the outsider roughly estimated where the exit to the secret tunnel was. He sent his team to survey the suspected areas. He learned from the survey that Yan Clan members were sometimes sighted in a small part of the area. He knew then that the area was where the exit to the secret tunnel was located.

This outsider was Amon. He was now heading toward the secret tunnel’s exit.

He had gone around the Yan Clan’s estate to pick off their members from the dark. He chose not to approach the main hall because he saw from a distance Yan Wang’s fight with the spider woman. He could disrupt most of Yan Clan members while staying in the shadow but not someone at the level of Yan Wang. The instant he interrupted Yan Wang, both Yan Wang and the spider woman would be aware of his position. He wasn’t willing to take the risk.

Thanks to Yan Wang protecting the main hall, Amon also knew the place was where most of the Yan Clan members were holing up, and the most likely place for the entrance to the secret tunnel. When he saw the situation turned dire at the main hall, he knew the Yan Clan wouldn’t hold on for long. He believed it should be time they used the secret tunnel.

Hence, he stopped searching for Yan Clan members to pick off and moved toward the exit of the secret tunnel, all the while remaining stealthy to avoid having to fight the spirit beasts invading this city. With so much prey available for the spirit beasts, they remained distracted and were unaware of Amon sneaking through them.

He promptly reached the city wall, which now had holes in many parts. He had no problem sneaking out of the city via one of these holes. He continued until he reached the exit to the secret tunnel.

*

When the exit door to the secret tunnel opened, the vanguard clan members checked the woods outside. They were relieved to find it was devoid of spirit beasts. Most of the spirit beasts in the vicinity had been lured into the city, so the wilderness had become much safer instead.

The vanguard ushered the first batch of refugees out of the tunnel, which included elderly people, women, and children.

”Go! Follow the guards,” Yan Dose instructed. He stayed at the exit to ensure everyone had a clear direction.

The vanguard at the head would lead the clan members to the nearest road checkpoints. There were facilities there for them to rest. The kingdom soldiers stationed there should no doubt have rushed to Qishurg City to provide help, so it should have been deserted, but that place was still safer than the wilderness. If the kingdom sent reinforcements, this place should also be where they passed through, so it was the ideal place to bring the refugees until the situation was resolved.

The vanguard remained at the head as they led the refugees. When they passed a tall tree with multiple vines hanging down from above, these vines suddenly came alive. The vines snatched the vanguards and pulled them into the tree’s thick crown.

Screams were heard from the thick foliage, but no one could see what was happening. The screams were soon gone.

Everyone looked up at the leaves with trepidation. Was a spirit beast still roaming these woods? Everyone held their breaths. They feared the spirit beast atop this tree might notice their presence if they breathed.

Yan Dose saw the incident from the back. He called on the veteran members to follow him. They would jump up and look for the spirit beasts hiding inside the foliage above.

Suddenly, countless shooting stars rained from the leaves above. These shooting stars were fast. They fell upon the crowds below. Those who got hit by the shooting stars dropped to the ground. A knife was seen in each of their temples.

People started shouting at the sight. They also started running. Everything turned into chaos. The panicking crowd didn’t realize the similarities between the victims of the shooting stars. They were all adult men and the elderly.

Yan Dose and the other veterans tried to calm the crowd. With everyone panicking like this, it was easy to get separated. While they called everyone futilely, more shooting stars fell from above.

These shooting stars now targeted the veterans. They were not easy targets like the crowd at the front. They used their weapons and deflected the shooting stars.

Some Yan Clan members who used bows started shooting into the leaves above. Several jumped up to confront their hidden attacker. Vines shot out and caught the ones who jumped up. Like the vanguards earlier, they also soon disappeared behind the leaves. Their screams were short.

”Who are you? Show yourself!” Yan Dose yelled angrily. This attacker was no spirit beast. Who used this chance to bully them when they were already in such deep trouble?

When everyone watched the leaves and branches above with wariness, a lightning bolt shot down and struck one of them. A Thunder Roc then dove down from the leaves. They were flabbergasted. So, their attacker was a spirit beast, after all?

While their attention was taken by the Thunder Roc, something dropped behind them. They turned and looked that it was a man in a black suit with his face covered with a black mask. The man landed near the exit of their secret tunnel. The man slapped his hands above the entrance before jumping away. Where his hands had slapped were a pair of talismans. The talismans’ words of power were flashing.

Yan Dose’s eyes were wide. He had seen those talismans before. He didn’t have the chance to yell a warning when the talismans exploded. Those who happened to be coming out of the exit during the explosion were killed by the blast. The explosion also wound and sent those in the vicinity flying away.

The explosion caused the death of many Yan Clan members, but that was not the worst issue. The worst issue was the blast had obliterated the exit. The explosion caused the ground to crumble, and the exit was sealed. Those who had not yet exited the tunnel were now sealed inside.

The masked man landed not far from Yan Dose.

”You!” Yan Dose exclaimed. He knew who this masked person was, but before he could say more, the masked man vanished from sight.

Everyone was still wondering where the masked man had gone when he suddenly reappeared right before Yan Dose. His fist punched into Yan Dose’s throat. Several energy fists followed in his wake. These fists slammed into the young master and sent him crashing into a tree.

”Huck!” He vomited blood as he dropped to the ground. His throat was crushed. He couldn’t say anything, and he had trouble breathing.

While he was in agony due to his wounded throat, he saw his clansmen surround the masked man. Before they could touch him, ten thick vines came out of the masked man’s body. These vines entangled his clansmen. While they were bound, two large knives flew out. These knives were as if alive. They flew with undefined patterns, slicing the bound clansmen as they flew.

Yan Dose was having trouble keeping his eyes open. The last thing he saw before his eyes were closed was those bound clansmen falling to the ground.