Rise of The Demon General

"Protect the kids!" Lin Siaumau exclaimed.

Lin Siuni took out a water globe from his storage ring. She broke the globe and the condensed water within burst forth. She waved her hand and the water formed a ring of water wall around herself and the four youths.

The water wall obscured their visions. They couldn't see clearly what happened outside. But from the sounds, the fighting had begun. Sounds of weapons clashing and yelling voices were heard.

Amon had his Swan dagger at the ready. He thought that this wall of water didn't look reassuring enough.

He sensed another killing intent coming his way. He ducked away. However, when he looked at the water wall, there was a needle inside the water. It was floating in front of where he stood a second ago.

"Don't worry, my defensive water wall is not that easy to be penetrated," Lin Siuni said.

The five of them remained inside the water wall as the battle outside raged on.

"Miss Siuni, let us fight as well. We are cultivators too," Lin Baxiong said after a while. He seemed restless and eager to join the fight outside.

"No! Our task is to keep you safe," Siuni replied.

"But they are two against ten out there. Don't worry about us, we are chosen to enter the royal academy, we are not weak children who need protection from our mother." Baxiong glanced at Amon and added, "Well, some of us, at least."

"There is no need to be concerned. Those two outside are not simple cultivators. They will take care of the bandits," Siuni said.

"Yeah. How can common bandits fight against the experts from our Lin clan?" Lin Fen uttered.

Amon wasn't as confident as them, though. He didn't think those ten masked people were simple bandits.

Amon suddenly ducked away just as another needle lodged inside the water wall in front of him.

"I told you already it's fine," Siuni said.

"Hahaha, look at this chickenshit," Baxiong laughed mockingly. "He keeps on getting scared by–"

Baxiong didn't have the chance to finish his words as the needle inside the water wall suddenly released energy that caused a vibration in the water wall.

Amon didn't just duck this time. He had moved further away from where the needle was located. Before long, the energy around the needle exploded and water splashed everywhere. Those who stood near the needle were knocked by the explosive shockwave. Baxiong and Lin Fen fell to the ground, blood leaked from their noses. Lin Anwen had moved back as well when Amon passed him by, so he wasn't hit by the shockwave. Lin Siuni managed to use her defensive art to protect herself just as the explosion occurred, so she wasn't hurt as well.

As the water wall crumbled, the situation outside was in clear view.

Lin Siaumau was fighting against three opponents. He used a claw weapon in both hands. He was fast and agile. A fiery cat-like creature was fighting against another opponent behind him. This fire cat was linked with Lin Siaumau through a thin fire thread. He seemed to be able to hold his own despite fighting many opponents.

Lin Toru was fighting on another side. He was fighting against two opponents but his condition was not that good. He had multiple wounds on his body, but he was ferocious. He used a very large cleaver that he swung with ease despite looking heavy.

Three masked bandits were on the ground, seemingly lifeless. Amon was impressed. Even though outnumbered, the two still managed to take down some of their opponents.

The one remaining masked bandit, who was the woman leader, just stood by the side.

"Toru!" Siuni uttered and waved her hand. Several water pellets shot out, aiming at the two bandits that were fighting Lin Toru.

Siuni's interference caused the two bandits to stop their offense. Toru took the chance and made a circular swing with his cleaver. The attack forced the two bandits away, allowing him a reprieve. He threw Siuni a grateful glance. But that grateful expression soon turned into an anguished one as he uttered a painful yell. His legs buckled and he dropped to the ground. There was a thin needle stuck in his left leg.

As Toru was down, the bandit leader came behind him with incredible speed. Her hands grabbed Toru's neck from behind. Her five fingers clamped at his neck and prevented him from getting up. Her other hand struck Toru's arm that was holding the cleaver. The sound of bone breaking could be heard. Toru's cleaver fell out of his hand.

She then signaled to her subordinates.

"Stop!" One of the subordinates who was fighting with Lin Siaumau exclaimed. "Stop, or your friend will die!"

Lin Siaumau, who was still fighting four opponents, stopped after hearing it. The four that were fighting him also moved away. They came to their leader's side.

"How dare you hurt a member of the Lin clan! You are going to regret this!" Lin Siuni uttered.

"What do you want?" Lin Siaumau asked.

After fighting the opponents, he knew these ten were not common bandits. The four he was fighting against were in the Intermediate Transformation stage, the same as the two Lin Toru fought against. The three they had killed were in the Beginning Transformation stage. As for the woman leader, he suspected that she should be in the Peak Transformation stage, the same level as him. Otherwise, she wouldn't have been able to destroy Siuni's defensive water wall.

The bandit, who had called for them to stop, pointed to Amon and said, "Give us that kid, and we will be out of your way."

'As expected,' Amon thought.

"Him? What do you want to do with him?" Siaumau asked.

"None of your concern. You give us that kid and you will save your friend's life here. It's a good exchange, no?"

"We can't do that! We are responsible for his safety!" Siuni uttered.

"You are also responsible for these other kids, no? If we continue this fight, don't think that you can win. Our leader is a Peak Transformation stage cultivator. She can deal with that leader of yours after she kills your friend here. Do you think you can deal with the six of us while protecting those kids? They will all die, and it will be your fault. Give us that one kid, and you all will be safe. One life for many others, it is a good exchange, no?"

"Heh."

"What's so funny, kid?" The talking bandit said after seeing Amon's sneer.

Instead of answering him, Amon turned to the bandit leader who was still holding Lin Toru. "Granny Wei Sui, why let others speak for you? Are you afraid that people will recognize your voice?"

"Wei Sui? The Wei clan?" Lin Siaumau uttered after hearing Amon's words. "Are you truly Wei Sui?!" He said to the bandit leader.

Silence ensued.

"Hmph, so be it. This pretense is tiresome, anyway." The bandit leader removed her mask and revealed that she truly was Wei Sui.

"Wei Sui, what's the meaning of this? Do you wish to start a war with the Lin clan?!" Lin Siaumau uttered.

"I have no beef with you or others from the Lin clan. My grudge is with him!" Wei Sui pointed at Amon. "Hand him to me! And we will all go our ways."

"How absurd. He is a member of our clan. how can we just hand him to you like that?" Lin Siuni uttered.

"He is a bastard! I know that your clan never formally considered him as a member. Know this, I will not leave today without his head. Do you wish to risk your life and these other Lin youths' lives for him? I only use my needles because I don't wish for you all to recognize my arts. Now that my cover is blown, I don't mind using my full strength. Do you think you can take us all on? Make your decision! Hand him over or risk the lives of all of you?"

"If you dare to, your Wei clan will be crushed by our Lin clan!" Siuni said.

"At this point, I don't give a damn anymore," Wei Sui said. "I say it again, I won't leave without that kid's head. Whether you hand him over willingly or through your dead bodies, it's up to you."

"Just hand this bastard over! He is not worth risking our lives!" Lin Baxiong uttered.

"How can you say that?!" Siuni said.

"I agree with brother Baxiong," Lin Fen joined. "This Lin Mo doesn't have true Lin blood anyway. He is no different than the other henchmen we hire to work for our clan. His life is worth less than ours. It's not worth the life of uncle Toru."

Lin Siuni looked at Lin Toru who was in Wei Sui's hand. She couldn't agree to leave behind a kid that she was supposed to keep safe, but she also couldn't let Toru die.

Lin Siaumau uttered a long sigh. "Fine, let Toru go. You can take the boy," he said.