Rise of The Demon General

Chapter 757: Chapter 757. Finding Zee Whang’s Trail

The mission center had two shifts, so it was always staffed. However, the second shift was only half the size of the first. This second shift worked the night. Despite the red sky outside showing almost no difference between day and night, people’s activity remained concentrated during the day.

”Mister Jong Ziang, you are even earlier than usual today. I thought you went back especially late last night. Do you have enough sleep?”

A faction member who guarded the entrance to the staff office greeted Jong Ziang as he approached.

”There are many urgent matters to be dealt with. I can’t sleep well thinking about them, so I thought to come in early to resolve as many issues as possible.”

”You are always so hardworking, Mister Jong Ziang. I admire you. The faction and the director are lucky to have someone like you working for them. I won’t take up any more of your time. Please head in.”

Jong Ziang nodded appreciatively before entering.

After Jong Ziang passed through the door, the guard remarked to himself, ”Hm, he is more friendly than usual. I guess he is in a good mood.”

Jong Ziang entered a large office with many desks. Most of the desks were empty. The night shift was not known for its diligence. The few who noticed him greeted him with respect. He replied to them with simple nods while continuing walking toward his private office at the end of the room.

He used a key to unlock the room and went in. He closed the door again. The inside of the room was not big. There were many cabinets filled with paper. It also had no window, so the people outside could not see what was going on inside.

Jong Ziang’s cool bearing vanished after entering the room. He rushed to one of the cabinets and started riffling through the papers.

’Calm down,’ he heard Amon’s voice in his head. ’Only Jong Ziang and the mission center’s director can enter that room, and the director is on a trip outside of town. So, no need to panic.’

The mind voice that replied to Amon was female. This was because Jong Ziang was Lin Li in disguise. ’Sorry, Brother. I was a bit intimidated after seeing all this paper. It might take too long to search through them. What if I just take them all by using my pocket dimension? We can look through them safely later.’

’I prefer not to let this faction go into alert because their secret files have been stolen. They might decide to move Zee Whang to a different location.’

’But, won’t they already go into alert when three high-ranking staff of this mission center go missing?’

’The missing of those three can be attributed to many reasons. The faction might think they piss off the wrong people, go on an abrupt vacation to relieve stress, or decide to leave their current lives behind to pursue other ventures. Investigation will be carried out, but it will be different if any file inside that room goes missing.’

’I see. Still, how am I going to search through all this...?’

Jong Ziang is a meticulous man. I’m sure he had a kind of filing system. Let me see through your eyes.

Amon used their mental link to share their senses. His ability to look and hear through Lin Li’s eyes and ears had improved significantly. Lin Li surveyed the room following Amon’s instructions.

’Hm... There are symbols under each cabinet. From the look of it, the cabinets on the wall to your right are catalogued based on dates. Go to the cabinets on that wall. The sixth one from the right.’

’This one?’ Lin Li asked after standing before the cabinet that Amon indicated. She was about to reach the files on the top when Amon stopped her.

’The paper containing secret information will not be out in the open. Look at the bottom shelf with the drawer. It must be locked.’

Lin Li tried to open the drawer of the bottom cabinet. It was indeed locked. She, however, had Jong Ziang’s key. She used the key, and it worked on the cabinet.

’These should be the files from eight years ago. Look through them.’

Lin Li sifted through the file. Amon didn’t leave her. He continued to see through her eyes. After around fifteen minutes of sifting through the papers, she heard Amon say, ’Stop. This is it.’

’It is?’ She couldn’t tell. Though Amon had taught her to read humans’ letters, there were too many words on this paper for her to make any sense.

Amon read through the paper and committed it to his memory. Several seconds later, he said, ’You can put everything back again. Try your best to make it the same as before.’

As she performed the task, she asked, ’Brother, have you learned anything?’

’Yes. Jong Ziang didn’t lie to me,’ Amon answered. Jong Ziang didn’t put up much resistance to Amon’s interrogation. Even so, he sent Lin Li to Jong Ziang’s office to confirm it. Furthermore, there was still a few missing info from Jong Ziang’s statement. He hoped to find that missing info here, and he did.

’Jong Ziang’s report mentioned a high-profile captive was housed in this town eight years ago. The captive was a divine cultivator with an asocial attitude. No name was mentioned, but thanks to Jong Ziang’s detailed nature, he added reports that suspect the captive was a denizen from the surface world. The captive was transferred away after three months. Jong Ziang didn’t remember the name of the faction members in charge of the transfer, but thankfully, he wrote it down in this report.’

Lin Li finished tidying up the files, closed the cabinet drawer, and locked it back. After she was done, Amon instructed her to move to the cabinets on the opposite wall.

The cabinets on that wall also had symbols, which Amon informed Lin Li were based on the alphabet. While the previous cabinets were reports based on dates. These were reports based on faction members’ names. Amon told Lin Li to look for the one with the first alphabet of the faction members in charge of Zee Whang’s transfer.

Lin Li found the file. The faction member’s name was Li Zhong. His rank was Slayer, and his cultivation was at the Peak Fiendish Stage. Amon looked at the portrait in that file. The face in the portrait was the same man who had prevented him from killing Zee Whang in Khode. Apparently, Li Zhong continued to be responsible for Zee Whang after bringing him to this realm.

The file contained Li Zhong’s general information, his previous assignment, and his current assignment. He had one assignment that was stated as ongoing, starting two decades ago. Not many details were written about this ongoing assignment except for his location. Interestingly, the location was stated as Aetheria until eight years ago. It then changed to this town, before a transfer receipt was made for a different town. Amon doubted this next town was Li Zhong’s current location, but at least he had a clue where to continue his next investigation.

Amon told Lin Li to leave after that. They had learned what they came here to learn.

Once Lin Li returned, Amon departed for the town mentioned in the report. As for Jong Ziang and his two colleagues, they would be reported as forever missing. No one would find them anymore, because Jong Ziang had been devoured by Bo Wu, while his two colleagues were fed to Yuka.

Amon repeated the same process in the other town, except he no longer killed anyone. He located the mission center’s head officer and drugged the person to sleep. While the person was sleeping, Lin Li disguised herself as that person and entered the office. She continued to look for Li Zhong’s next whereabouts and followed the trail from there.

The task was painstakingly long, but Amon performed it with patience and caution. He always waited for the ideal time before making his move and for Lin Li to infiltrate the office. Thanks to his fastidiousness, no one was aware that anything was wrong aside from the three missing faction members in Unruly Neglect Town.

After more than half a year, they finally found Zee Whang’s tail in a settlement called Cruel Consecrate City. From the report, Li Zhong hadn’t moved Zee Whang to another place for five years. Amon figured whatever plan this faction had for Zee Whang, it was carried out in this city.

The city was located at the Northern border of the Devotion Domain. The city was large but isolated and at the edge of the domain. At the distant North was the endless mountain covered by ominous mists that never receded. The people of this realm believed that the mountain range was the edge of this realm, the end of humans’ domain. Anyone who attempted to venture there had never come back alive. Only spirit beasts roamed the place.