Rise of The Demon General

”Senior Thien Huo, I swear that I meant neither you nor Di Ying any ill intent,” Amon said with the most convincing tone he could muster.

Thien Huo smirked. ”Don’t bother. I know for a fact that an oath from your kind means nothing. Just know that if you wrong my niece in any way, you won’t be leaving this place alive.”

”That won’t happen.”

”You should pray that it won’t,” Thien Huo said. He then told Di Ying, ”Ying Er, follow me. I want to discuss things with you.”

Amon remained there as Di Ying followed her uncle away.

’One week,’ Amon thought. It should be enough time to carry out the first part of his plan. The second part, on the other hand, would be trickier.

Di Ying was away for almost half a day. When she returned, she wasted no time asking Amon for more stories. Amon complied with her wishes.

Days continued to pass. Thien Huo sometimes came and stayed in the same room. Amon tried his best to be courteous when that happened. Thankfully, that didn’t happen often. For whatever reason, Thien Huo was away most of the time.

When he was around, he didn’t bother to pretend to be friendly. He made it clear that he disliked Amon. This worked to Amon’s disadvantage instead. His unfriendliness was accompanied by killing intent. This allowed Amon to know that he was in the vicinity. He could hide his aura, but not his killing intent. Amon detected it several times while he was alone with Di Ying. Amon believed he was eavesdropping on them. When that happened, Amon would make sure not to say anything that would tip off his suspicion.

When Amon didn’t feel Thien Huo’s killing intent, he brought up topics that steered Di Ying toward the path he wanted her to take. He could see his new, young friend slowly swaying in the direction he intended. Di Ying was like a child, a sheltered child who had almost no contact with the outside world or other people. It wasn’t difficult for someone like him to influence her thoughts.

When Amon was two days away from the one-week limit that Thien Huo gave him, he decided to try his luck. He avoided doing it on the last day. If Thien Huo believed he had ill intentions, the last day would be when he most likely acted, since there would be no more opportunity after that. Thien Huo might decide to be fully around that day to prevent him from trying anything.

”You and your uncle are noble dragons, aren’t you?” Amon asked Di Ying after he finished his latest story.

Di Ying seemed surprised by his statement, but her surprised expression didn’t last long. She returned to her cheery nature, as if what he said wasn’t that big of a deal.

”That I am. How do you know?” She asked.

”I have met someone like you,” Amon answered.

”Someone like me? Another noble dragon? Of course, you have. My uncle is one as well.”

Amon chuckled. ”No, not your uncle. Someone... who is very much like you.”

”What do you mean?”

”Before I tell you, I want to assure you that I only realized your identity a few days ago, and I have no idea about your existence before we met.”

”You are being weird, Amon...”

”I have met Di Yu. I believe she is your mother.”

Di Ying’s smiling face turned to a surprised one. This time, her surprise expression didn’t fade. She stammered, ”How... How do you...”

”Calm down, Miss Ying,” Amon soothed. ”I encountered your mother by accident. She is being imprisoned. That’s why she cannot return to you.”

”I... We must tell our uncle about this!” Di Ying exclaimed.

Amon placed his hand on her arm. He felt her body tremble. The news was quite a shock for her. When he felt her trembling subsided, he shook his head and said, ”The one who locks your mother up is the strongest being in this realm, the ruler of humans. If your uncle tries to save her, he will be at tremendous risk. You might end up losing him as well. I don’t think you want that, do you?”

”But... but...” Di Ying’s eyes became teary. Hearing news about her mother caused her to lose control of her emotions.

Amon wiped the tear that was about to roll out of her eye. He said, ”You have saved my life, Miss Ying. Allow me to repay the favor. I will go and rescue your mother.”

Di Ying’s eyes widened at the statement. She was again surprised by Amon’s words. ”I... I can’t let you do that. You said it yourself. The one responsible is this realm’s ruler. You are even weaker than my uncle. You will surely die if you attempt the rescue.”

”Don’t worry. Haven’t I said I have seen your mother before? I know where she is being held. Furthermore, the humans won’t suspect my intention until I do the deed. I can sneak in without alarming them. I promise I will free her. We, however, must keep this a secret from your uncle.”

”Why?”

”Your uncle rarely talks to me, but even I can tell he is hot-tempered. If he knows, I doubt he will be patient enough. He will still try to rescue your mother despite our warning. If that happens, he will instead make matters worse. The realm’s ruler might decide to move your mother to a different location. If that happens, even I will lose what little chance I have to rescue her.”

Di Ying saw the sense in Amon’s words. She nodded. ”Alright, I will keep this a secret from him... Wait, you said little chance? So, you are not confident you can succeed?”

Amon let out a long sigh. ”It’s not that I’m not confident I can save your mother. What I’m lamenting is what comes after...”

”What do you mean?”

”Your mother... She is not in her right mind. After getting imprisoned for so long, no one can blame her. Even if I break the prison that bound her, I don’t think she will look at me kindly. She is bound to lash out indiscriminately. I don’t think I can escape her reach after freeing her.”

Di Ying was lost for words upon hearing Amon’s explanation. Before she could say anything, Amon added, ”Nevertheless, I will still free her. Don’t worry. I will keep my promise. She will be freed. You saved my life. It is only right that I use it to repay you.”

”No! I can’t let you throw your life away!”

Amon sighed again. ”I’m afraid there is no other way. It’s the only way if we wish to free your mother.”

”Then... Then... Let me go with you!” Di Ying exclaimed.

Amon feigned surprise. ”No! I can’t let you do that. It’s too dangerous.”

”She is my mother. If she sees me with you, I am certain I can calm her down and convince her you are on our side. She won’t harm you, then.”

Amon shook his head. ”It is still too dangerous.”

”If someone should brave danger to save her, it should be me! I can’t sit back and let you sacrifice your life for my sake if there is something I can do about it, and I want to do it. This is what the brave characters in your stories would have done. Let me do it, please!”

Amon made a show of pondering hard. Di Ying continued to plead her case. After a while, Amon finally nodded. ”Alright, but you must follow all my instructions. The human world is not a friendly place for a spirit beast, even one who can disguise itself as a human. We can’t afford to make a mistake.”

”I will listen!” Di Ying said enthusiastically.

”Well, we still have one problem if you are to join me in this quest.”

”What problem?”

”Your uncle.”

”Oh...,” Di Ying uttered.

”He will never agree for you to do this, even if it means saving your mother.”

”So, what should we do?”

”As I said, we should keep this a secret from him. We can’t let him know we are going to free your mother. If he knows and acts, he might tip the realm ruler and cause your mother’s prison to change location. We can’t allow that.”

”No, no, we can’t,” Di Ying agreed. ”But if we leave together, he will know I’m with you. He will no doubt cause havoc in the human world to find me.”

”That’s why we can’t leave together. I will leave first. You wait two days before leaving. Leave a note telling him that you wish to explore the misty border, but point out that you are aware of the dangers of the human world and vow to remain within the misty border. That way, he will waste time searching for you without going into human territory.”

”Alright... But how do I find you if I leave two days later? My uncle says that there are many spirit beasts in the misty area. You can’t stay in the same spot. You must keep moving around and hide if you are to survive. It will be difficult for me to find you.”

”That’s true...” Amon made a show of pondering again.

He stayed like that for a long time until Di Ying’s face showed a realization expression. She said, ”Amon, what about that bond you told me before? With that bond, we can know each other’s location if we are not too far away, can’t we?”