Rise of The Demon General

Chapter 402: Chapter 402. Easier Targets

Wu Chien was one of Golden Stone City’s prison guards. He already had the job for twelve years. He neither loved nor hated it. It was simply a job, something that paid for his needs. Sometimes, the job did get frustrating, but mostly, it was fine. There was not much fuss. He just had to make sure the prisoners behaved. Most of them were bound by engraved ropes or engraved chains, so they were powerless despite some having high cultivation.

Most of his life’s problems came not from his job but from his extracurricular activity. He enjoyed gambling. The problem was that he was never good at it. Hence, this pastime ended up burning away all his salary. He knew he was bad at gambling. Yet, he couldn’t help but keep doing it. He was already too addicted to it.

This toxic hobby kept him from achieving anything. He remained single because he knew he couldn’t afford a family. He could not save any aer stones to buy cultivation resources to improve himself. Hence, he was stuck at the same rank and level even after so many years.

Lately, his situation had gone from bad to worse. During one unlucky night, he was overcome by frustration after losing all his earnings. He made a terrible decision and went to borrow aer stones from a loan shark. He ended up still losing all those aer stones he borrowed.

When the loan shark came to collect, he tried using his status as a kingdom employee to scare off the loan shark. Unfortunately, he learned that the loan shark was a member of the underworld organization. The worst thing was that the organization worked under the Xian Clan.

He was given a warning. If he couldn’t pay within a month, he would have a better chance of surviving by fleeing into the wilderness.

He had been raking his brain about the matter for weeks. The deadline for a month was next week, and he had no idea how to pay his debt. He was already thinking about leaving the city before the end of this week when a couple of strangers approached him one night. This couple covered their faces with black cloth, so he didn’t know their identities, but they told him they could help settle his debt.

He didn’t believe them until they showed him a bag filled with aer stones. The contents of the bag were one-third of the amount he needed to settle his debt. They said if he followed their demands, they would give him two more bags like this.

He was obviously tempted. However, he was uncertain after hearing their demands.

They had two demands. One was to get a complete list of the prisoners and guards inside the jail. The list was to have complete details of each prisoner’s cell positions and the guards’ routines and work time. When he provided them with the information, he would be given another bag of aer stones.

The last bag would be given if he completed their second demand, which was worse than the first. They wanted him to put something into the meals for the prison guards.

”Are you nuts? Are you telling me to poison my workmates?!” Wu Chien asked in disbelief.

”Of course not. You are overreacting,” one of the strangers replied. ”What we want you to give them is not a poison but a drug that puts them to sleep. They will not suffer any harm. If you want, you can test applying a droplet to your meal tonight. You will sleep like a baby and wake up tomorrow morning.”

The stranger offered Wu Chien a bottle while saying that.

Wu Chien reluctantly took the bottle. ”Why do you want them to fall asleep? What are you planning?” He asked.

”The less you know, the better. I assure you, we won’t harm your sleeping workmates. You can take the drug and sleep with them. Then, you can pretend you have nothing to do with what happens.”

Wu Chien couldn’t decide. Everything was too shady.

”If you aren’t interested, that’s fine. We will take these aer stones and leave,” the stranger said, picking up the bag. ”But what will you do with your debt? The Mud Sharks are known to be unforgiving. They like to make an example out of the people who cross them, which include people who owe them and don’t pay. You won’t die a pleasant death. If you leave the city, where will you go? Do you think you can survive out there living among the spirit beasts?”

Wu Chien became depressed after hearing that. He knew that was true, but hearing it got spoken made it much worse.

”Tell you what. If you complete both our demands, we will throw in something extra,” the stranger said. He placed the bag with aer stones back on the table. ”We will give you another three bags like this in addition to what we promised you. In other words, you will not only have your debt paid. You will be richer by the same amount as your debt.”

Wu Chien gritted his teeth. Not taking this offer meant either certain death or exile. He decided to take the bet. He was, after all, a gambler. He picked up the bag.

”You make the correct choice,” the stranger uttered. ”One thing, though. You need to put that drug into tomorrow’s dinner, and we want the list by tomorrow afternoon. Make an excuse to exit the jail during lunch. Someone will be waiting for you outside to get the list.”

Wu Chien nodded. He had worked in that jail for many years. He knew everything that went on inside like the back of his hand. He just needed to find out about the more recent prisoners and guards. There should be no problem for him to complete the list by tomorrow afternoon.

The two strangers left afterward, leaving Wu Chien, who stared at the bag in his hand. He continued to convince himself that this was a good gamble. He had a good feeling about this.

*

The next night, inside Golden Stone City’s jail, the prisoners had just been sent back to their cells after their dinner. It was time for the prison guards to have their meals. Their dinner might be later than the prisoners they were guarding, but their meal was much better.

As everyone gathered in the dining room, assistant warden Cho Won went in a different direction. He was accompanied by a guard. The two arrived before a locked door protected by an enchanted seal.

Cho Won’s hand holding the key hesitated when the key was about to enter the keyhole.

”Remember, the safety of your family is in your hands,” the guard who accompanied him said. ”Which is more important? Your job or your family?”

Cho Won gritted his teeth. ”If I do this, their future is destroyed.”

”If you don’t, their lives will. There is no point lamenting about it. Your life will never be the same anymore. Will you sacrifice your family for your career or sacrifice your career for your family? Make your choice.”

”I will go to prison for this!” Cho Won exclaimed.

”All right. Will you sacrifice your family to save yourself or sacrifice yourself to save your family?”

”Grhh... Fuck you! Why are you doing this to me?” Cho Won asked in despair.

”You are the easier target,” the guard answered.

The guard was Amon in disguise. He infiltrated this prison with help from Cho Won. Cho Won sneaked Amon in because he had no choice. Amon had people abducted his family and threatened to kill them if Cho Won didn’t follow Amon’s demand.

Cho Won was among the three upper-echelons Amon targeted. The warden only had one son, and the son was in the military. As for the other assistant warden, he had gone in and out of relationships with different women. Only Cho Won had a loving family at home, a wife and two kids.

”You evil bastard! I hope you burn in hell!” Cho Won cursed.

”I have to get there first,” Amon replied. ”You have ten seconds. If you still don’t open the door by the end of my countdown, I will send a message that you have abandoned your family.”

Amon took out a message talisman and started counting, ”Ten...”

”Damn you!” Cho Won cursed another time. He inserted the key into the keyhole. As he did, the words of power around the door lit up. The light seemed to scan Cho Won. After confirming his identity, the words of power stopped glowing. The door opened then.

Cho Won and Amon entered a room with a strange contraption that emitted a strange hum. The hum made it appear like a machine. The contraption and the whole room were filled with glowing words of power.

”Now, shut everything down,” Amon ordered.

Cho Won showed hesitation again. This time, Amon didn’t say anything. He just started counting, ”Ten...”

When the counting reached four, Cho Won finally acted. He did something to the contraption. The humming sound stopped, and all the words of power in the room stopped glowing.

Amon wrote on the message talisman, ”It’s done. Get ready to move.”