Rise of The Demon General

Chapter 452: Chapter 452. Missing Member

His next target wasn’t as cooperative as the second one. The target still came following the message from his letter, albeit to a different inn several blocks away. As Amon started conversing with the person, he knew this one didn’t have the backbone nor the willingness to defy the clan head to save their clan. Hence, Amon cut the discussion short without revealing his identity.

For all his target knew, Amon was a weirdo who had too much time to waste. Fueled by the stress swirling around the city due to the ongoing siege, the appearance of such weirdos was not that difficult to comprehend.

Before sunset, Amon met with his fourth target. This target was from the same clan as the third one and was the brother of the clan head. Unlike the unwilling third target, this one showed eagerness to rebel against his brother. However, his eagerness did not come from the desire to save his clan as the second target did. His eagerness came from his ambition to replace his brother and become the new clan head.

Amon had no problem dealing with this kind of ambitious person. He easily manipulated the target and fueled his desire to rebel against his brother. He made his target see that his action would be morally justified and even virtuous. Adding the promise of rewards from the kingdom, his target was hooked in no time.

After leaving his instructions, Amon returned to the slum district. This time, he found an empty house and went in. He left a secret mark outside to let the others know this was where they would be spending the night.

In under two hours, the others walked in.

”How did it go?” Amon asked.

”I have talked with two targets. One rejected, the other is willing,” Yang Li answered.

”I found three. Two agreed to our plan. One is a no-show,” Xin Wuming reported.

”I found both my targets. Unfortunately, both weren’t willing to join us...,” Yi Chaisan said.

”Uh... I only found one target,” Wu Di uttered. ”How did you all find yours? It took me hours walking around the place until I found mine.”

”... Did you search for yours by wandering around in the hope of stumbling onto your targets?” Amon asked.

”Um, yeah...,” Wu Di replied. He looked around when the others stared at him. He asked, ”You didn’t do the same...?”

Amon shook his head. He said, ”Give me two of your three remaining targets. I will take care of them. You only need to find the last one.” Wu Di was among the two who passed their original targets to Yi Chaisan, so he only had four targets.

”Let me try again tomorrow,” Yi Chaisan said. ”I will try other members from the clan I approached today.”

”The portraits I gave everyone are the most ideal targets from each clan,” Amon explained. ”According to the information from our spies, they have influence over the clan but are not particularly loyal to the current clan head. You can’t just go around trying to turn random clan members.”

”It’s not random. I know some people in this clan,” Yi Chaisan insisted. ”I believe I can persuade them. I just need to find the ones I have made friends with in the past.”

Amon again contemplated the request. He didn’t know much about Yi Chaisan. All he knew was she was a talented formation sage and engraver. She seemed eager to help, but he wasn’t sure whether it was because she was genuinely concerned about the success of their mission or simply impatient. If it was the latter, he preferred her to stay put because the chance of an impatient person making a mistake was high.

Taking in the factor that she was an accomplished formation sage, Amon thought that her being impatient was less likely. So, he agreed to the request. The sooner they wrapped this up, the better.

*

The next day, they went around the city and resumed the hunt for their targets. They shared the tricks on how they tracked their targets the night before, so they were more efficient today, especially Wu Di.

They reconvened at the slum district again in the evening. Everyone was there except for Yi Chaisan. She was probably running late. Amon decided to start the debrief without her. She was after someone outside of the original targets, anyway.

To Amon’s content, they had a better result today compared to yesterday. All the remaining targets were contacted. More showed up, and almost everyone accepted the proposals. More people had confidence in the kingdom compared to the rebels, as it should be.

Out of the ten clans supporting the uprising mayor, seven had agreed to revolt against their clan heads and supported the kingdom. Amon gave them one day to gather their clansmen before meeting them again tomorrow night to lay out his plan. The meeting place was an abandoned shrine near the slum area.

When Yi Chaisan hadn’t shown up by midnight, Amon knew something was wrong.

”She may have been captured,” Amon told the others.

Xin Wuming was more optimistic. ”Maybe she forgot the time and failed to leave before the curfew. She could not sneak through patrols and had to hide in that district.”

”It would be best if that was the case, but we can’t assume so,” Amon said.

”If she is held, then we must save her!” Wu Di exclaimed.

”Yes, we must,” Amon said. ”She is crucial to our plan. It will be much harder to open the main gate without her.”

”That’s not the only reason you want to save her, do you?” Wu Di asked. ”She is one of us! We must save her despite her importance to our mission!”

Amon ignored Wu Di’s statement and stood. ”You three stay here. I will go check out the clan she tried contacting.”

”Brother, I’ll help,” Xin Wuming offered.

”Me too!” Wu Di said.

”You three stay here,” Amon repeated with a firmer tone. ”I’m not saving her. I’m scoping out the place to find out whether she is being held. I am better at stealth than all of you. You will just be my burden if you come with me.”

”Ugh!” Wu Di didn’t like being talked to like that but admitted he was not Amon’s equal when it came to sneaking.

Xin Wuming lowered his head. He was depressed not because he was hurt by Amon’s words but because he wasn’t good enough to be of use.

Yang Li just sat quietly. She didn’t bother to do anything if Amon didn’t order her to.

”Stay!” Amon repeated. ”I will not rescue you if you are captured out of your own fault. You are not as crucial for this mission.”

”Man, do you have to say that? Just go!” Wu Di replied with annoyance.

Amon stared at them, making sure they understood his seriousness. He left afterward.

”Dudes, I don’t understand how you two stand being his underlings,” Wu Di stated.

”Shut up! You are nothing compared to big brother,” Xin Wuming scolded.

”Are you picking a fight?” Wu Di responded.

Yang Li rose and stood between them. ”If you two want to make a mess, now is not the time. Wait until this mission is over.”

She sat back down. Wu Di and Xin Wuming looked at each other before looking away with displeasure.

*

Amon made his way under darkness. While moving, he concentrated on his Mystic Sense while powering up his Concealed Ghost Body to the max. If there were Mystic Sense cultivators among the patrolling guards, he would have a longer sensing range due to his concealment art. If there were Spirit Stage cultivators, then it would be more troublesome. However, he didn’t believe a Spirit Stage cultivator would be willing to conduct a trivial task like patrolling the streets.

Thankfully, his belief was correct. He didn’t encounter any problem getting to his target area.

The clan Yi Chaisan tried to approach was the Gu Clan. While it was considered a big clan in this city, it was not as big as the Lin or Yan Clans. It had a small estate consisting of only three buildings.

The largest building was the clan mansion. It was where the clan members lived. The other buildings were hospitality and activity buildings. The activity building was where the clan members performed gatherings, training, and cultivating. The last and smallest hospitality building was where the Gu Clan entertained their guests. In other words, the mansion and activity building were private, while the hospitality building was semi-public.

Amon circled the estate one time to get a lay of the place. It didn’t take him much time since it was not large.

After he was done inspecting the estate from the outside, he entered the estate from the back. If he had to make a guess, the most likely place for the Gu Clan to keep their prisoners was the activity building. The mansion was too personal. The hospitality building was too public. Unwanted people might stumble upon their prisoners if they were not careful. Hence, he made the activity building his first stop.