Rise of The Demon General

Madam Lin and Amon came to an unremarkable small house that was situated in a large empty plot of land. But Amon knew it was just made to look like that. He spotted several places that hid onlookers as he passed by. This place was carefully watched. The empty plot will let any escapees be easily spotted.

Madam Lin opened the door to the unremarkable house. Inside was just an empty room except for one desk, one chair, and a large trapdoor with a large lock in the middle of the floor. A rough-looking man was behind the desk. He immediately rose from his chair after seeing it was Madam Lin who entered. He gave a salute.

"Open the door. We are going to enter," Madam Lin commanded.

The man's eyes darted to Amon for a bit with a questioning glance. When he saw Madam Lin's frown, he threw away the query in his mind and quickly took out the key to unlock the trapdoor. There was a long stairway that descended into darkness.

"I will inform Lin Guo," the man said as Madam Lin and Amon entered. The trapdoor was closed after.

Madam Lin took out a bright flare stone to light the way. The stairs went down a long way without any lighting. The stairs stopped and they walked through a narrow corridor. They came to an intersection and Madam Lin turned. They came again to several intersections and turned a few times. It was a maze and there was absolutely no lighting. Amon figured that this was so that it was difficult for the prisoners to escape.

Amon soon saw a corridor with lighting in the distance. They walked in that direction and Madam Lin stored her bright flare stone. The corridor with lighting was much wider than the one they walked through just now. Lin Guo was there waiting for them at the entrance.

"Ma'am!" He greeted with a salute. His eyes glanced at Amon with a surprised glint.

"We wish to see Lei Pang," Madam Lin said.

Lin Guo's eyes again darted to Amon as if asking, 'We?' But his mouth didn't utter anything. He just nodded and led the way.

They walked following Lin Guo. The corridor had only stone walls for a long way before they came upon prison cells with barred doors. Some of these cells were occupied. Amon saw the people who occupied the cells. They were not in a good condition. Most of their faces showed hopeless and terrified expressions.

There was another intersection. Lin Guo took a turn and brought them to a steel door with a guard standing beside it. Lin Guo took out a key and unlocked the steel door. When it was opened, Amon heard all kinds of screams from the inside. Amon felt oddly familiar with the noises.

The three of them went in. There was again another corridor filled with rooms with barred doors on one side. The rooms that were occupied had people strapped in all sorts of positions with at least one person attending to each of them using different kinds of tools.

There was one person whose left eye was in the process of being plucked out. The nerve that stuck to the eye was still there holding the eyeball onto the eye socket. The person was shrieking as his right eye looked at his left one which was being held by a pincer. He was helpless as his hands and feet were tied to a chair.

Another person in the room next door had all his left-hand fingers missing. His right hand still had three fingers left at that moment. The next second he might have only two because one of the remaining three was in the process of getting sawn off.

Another one was being strapped naked on a wooden bed, having his chest's skin peeled off slowly using a peeler. Another one had his feet submerged in a bucket of boiling water while strong pressure of hot water was spraying from above. Another was being hung upside-down while being whipped using a scourge. Pieces of his flesh were hanging from the wounds. There was a large bowl put below the head to collect the blood dripping from the wounds.

Wails of pain and terror, begging for mercy, and the stench of death filled the air. Amon supposed these prisoners here weren't the ones who had the luxury of getting his drugs.

Both Madam Lin and Lin Guo turned back to look at Amon. They saw the boy watching each scene with indifference. The boy didn't even flinch. Madam Lin Had a complicated expression after seeing Amon's flat face, but she stayed silent and returned her attention to the front.

They soon arrived in front of a room that was not open to the outside. It had a stone wall and a wooden door. The three entered the door to find a small room with a glass wall on the opposite side from where they entered. Inside that room was a large and plump man watching the scene from the other side of the glass wall.

Amon thought that the glass wall looked like the modern glass from his previous world. Everyone from this side of the room had a clear view of the other side of the glass wall, which was another room. Inside that room was a half-naked man being chained standing to the wall. Another man was with him, holding a hot iron that was currently being used to burn his chest. There were lots of burn scars on his bare chest.

"GRRHHH….!!!"

They could hear the bound man enduring the pain. He was clenching his mouth so that he didn't scream.

"Tell us what we want to know!" The one holding the hot iron yelled.

"GRRRHH…. NEVEERRR…!!!" The bound man screamed.

The hot iron was left burning the man's chest for a little more while before the man holding it pulled it away. The bound man collapsed, his head dropped and his disheveled hair covered his face. Only the chains kept him standing.

"I take it that is Lei Pang?" Amon asked.

The large fat man who was watching from behind the glass wall turned upon hearing Amon's voice. He was at first startled by Amon's presence and was just about to yell at the kid but Madam Lin's presence was soon registered.

"Ma–Madam Lin!" He uttered. "My apology! I didn't notice you enter."

Madam Lin waved him off. "How is the progress?" She asked.

"Madam… This kid…," the fat man asked.

Madam Lin glared at him. "I asked a question!" She uttered.

At this time, the bound man behind the glass wall lifted his head. He seemed to have regained some of his strength. He then spat at the person holding the hot iron and laughed. The person responded by pressing the hot iron onto his chest again. The bound man tried his best to still laugh under the pain.

"I'm sorry! As you can see, he is still resisting. I'm requesting permission to start applying more severe methods."

"Permission granted," Madam Lin said. "Do whatever you must, just don't let him die. We need to get the information by the end of this week!"

"Yes, madam!" The fat man's eye darted to Amon again.

"This is Ta Fei. He is my warden," Madam Lin introduced the fat man to Amon. She didn't do the same to Ta Fei.

Seeing that Madam Lin didn't say anything to introduce the kid, Ta Fei bowed and excused himself. He went to the room behind the glass wall through a small side door and then whispered something to the man holding the hot iron. Afterward, he came back again.

While he was away, Madam Lin confirmed to Amon, "Yes, that bound person inside is Lei Pang."

Amon watched Lei Pang's eyes who watched Ta Fei returning to this room. His eyes were still following Ta Fei before he entered the side door, but afterward, his eyes just stared ahead. No apparent focus on any person inside the room here.

'The glass wall is see-through only from this side?' Amon thought.

Afterward, everyone just stayed silent as they watched. The torturer inside put down the hot iron. He was now holding a metal plier. Lei Pang continued throwing insults and tried to spit again. The torturer had to gag him with a cloth. The torturer then proceeded to use the plier to pull the fingernails of Lei Pang's right hand one by one. After he was done with one hand, he took off the cloth covering Lei Pang's mouth and asked, "Are you ready to talk now?!"

"Hahaha, when my clan finds out about me being kept here, and they will! You Lin clan will get what's coming for you! Marks my words! I will kill you all with my hands…!!"

Lei Pang then ended his speech with another spit.

The torturer covered Lei Pang's mouth again and continued his work on the fingernails on Lei Pang's other hand. When Lei Pang didn't submit, it was his feet's fingernails next. After that, the torturer took a hammer. He proceeded to strike Lei Pang's fingers, breaking his finger bones one by one. All the while continued asking if Lei Pang was ready to talk.

He was not.

This continued for some time while the others watched from behind the glass wall.