Rise of The Demon General

"How dare you!" Lin Xiaoying was just about to attack Amon for the insult when he was stopped by Lin Zuyi.

"Control yourself," Lin Zuyi said. "Can't you see he is provoking you? Those guards there have their eyes on us."

Lin Xiaoying looked back and saw the two guards staring at them.

"Not only are you a loser, but you are also dumb. It's a good thing you bring a friend who still has half a brain."

"You…!"

Lin Zuyi chuckled, "Are you insulting me as well? Saying I only have half a brain?"

"Since you are associating with this trash, I consider you having half a brain as a fact, not an insult," Amon replied.

Lin Zuyi's expression was slightly distorted. "Do not think that just because you have Aunt Xi's protection, you can act like you want to. You are just someone who lives off our clan. Do you think you have the right to be compared with us?"

"If you remembered correctly, I made a deal with the master of the Lin clan. I did my share of missions every three months to earn my place, so no one has the right to say I live off the clan. Also, why do I need to be compared with trashes like you two?"

Lin Zuyi's face which was aloof at the start was now filled with an expression that signified anger. They were supposed to make fun of this bastard, how dare he mocked them instead.

"You seemed to be displeased. If you want to fight. Let's fight. How about we go one round at the Lin clan's training arena?" Amon asked.

The training area was the place where the young generation did their duel. Even adults sometimes had a bout there. Fightings amongst clans were prohibited, but conflicts always happened in a clan that pursued the cultivation way. The training arena was the place where one could issue a formal challenge for a public duel. A referee would be present in the arena to make sure the duel was proceeding fairly.

Of course, there were some clashes that happened behind closed doors such as Amon's fight with Lin Xiaolong's group. As long as there was no loss of life or permanent cripplings, the clan would turn a blind eye.

Both Lin Zuyi and Lin Xiaoying didn't respond to the challenge. Even though they considered Amon a nobody, they still kept a tab on his improvement. From what they heard, he was already at the intermediate Strength stage of the Human realm. While Lin Xiaoying was still at the beginning Strength stage.

For Lin Zuyi, he had improved to the peak Strength stage, but he was much older than Amon. Fighting Amon even if he won, would not bring any glory. He could be mocked instead. If he lost, he would have no face to see anyone anymore. Not that he thought he could lose, but he had heard the story of how Amon had beaten Lin Xiaoying when Amon's cultivation was lower. It would be unwise to take a risk when there was no benefit to gain.

Lin Xiaoying was, of course, even more mum to the challenge. He had lost to Amon when his cultivation was higher. What more of now. In fact, he had blamed Amon for his slow improvement. He considered Amon to have become his internal demon. His defeat had caused his confidence to drop significantly, which affected his mental state and influenced his cultivation speed.

"Hmph, Lin Mo, I suggest you know your place," Lin Zuyi said as he controlled his emotion. "There are plenty of ways for us to deal with a nobody like you. If you think Aunt Xi can protect you, you are greatly mistaken."

"Are you expecting me to just drop dead and let you slander me like your dog servant there?" Amon said as he gestured at Lin Xiaoying.

"I am his friend, not his servant!" Lin Xiaoying uttered with a red face.

Amon gave him a side glance and said, "Bad dog. Don't interrupt when your master is talking with his equal."

His remark made Lin Xiaoying almost burst into rage. If Lin Zuyi was not holding him, he might have caused a scene.

"I've said it before, he is trying to goad you into breaking the rule here. Don't fall for his ploy," Lin Zuyi said to Lin Xiaoying, who was trying his best to restrain himself.

"Heh, useless," Amon mocked before turning around. He was not interested to talk with these two any longer. However, Lin Zuyi's bodyguard who had blocked his path the first time came to his front again.

This bodyguard said, "My master is not done talking to you. And you are very rude to my master, apologize at once!"

"Another dog?" Amon said loudly. He then turned to Lin Zuyi. "You enjoyed bringing many dogs when you are having a walk? Do you get off from having dogs following you around or something like that?"

Despite turning to Lin Zuyi, Amon was inspecting the bodyguard's facial expression as he made the remark. The bodyguard didn't exhibit any visible discontent despite his words.

'A true dog,' Amon thought. He might have to be careful then. If Lin Zuyi gave the order for this bodyguard to attack, the bodyguard might attack without fear of consequences upon his own well-being for offending the White Cloud sect.

But Lin Zuyi didn't give the order to attack. Instead, he gave the order to let Amon go, "let him go. We are just degrading ourselves if we deal with trash like him."

The bodyguard stepped aside. Amon resumed his walk, heading out of the store. Lin Zuyi gave him a warning, "Watch your back!"

Amon stopped for a bit as he replied, "I always do." He then went out of the store.

Lin Xiaoying said to Lin Zuyi with discontent, "Big brother Zuyi, are we really to just let him go like that? He is just too cocky. We have to do something or else he will think that he can profit off our Lin clan."

Lin Zuyi was silent. In fact, he had done something before. When Lin Fong discussed his dissatisfaction with Madam Lin's act of adopting Amon as her child, he had been the one that proposed the assassination plan during Amon's first mission. The trio Lin Bu, Lin Sora, and Lin Lang were his underlings. He was the one that proposed these three for the job. But never had he expected that it was the three that lost their lives instead.

He still didn't know how that could have happened. Only those three and Amon knew the truth of what happened inside the cave. Was it truly just bad luck with the appearance of the Greasy Horned Weasel? The Lin clan had sent an investigative team to the cave as soon as they received the report. There was indeed a corpse of Greasy Horned Weasel near the corpses of the three kids. And the three indeed had wounds caused by the bladed horn of the weasel.

But the thing that he couldn't understand the most was his uncle Lin Fong had decided to stay away from this kid. He had gone to his uncle again to propose more ploys, but Lin Fong simply showed disinterest. He didn't understand what had happened to make this uncle of his change his mind.

But even without his uncle's backing, it's not like he couldn't do anything.

"Don't worry, let him enjoy his days a little bit more," Lin Zuyi said. A wicked grin appeared on his chubby face.

"You have a plan, brother Zuyi?" Lin Xiaoying asked.

"Follow me," Lin Zuyi simply replied.

Lin Zuyi took them to another shop in the Profound Treasure Market. It was a store that sold spirit beast monster parts. The storekeeper greeted them warmly seeing their wealthy attires.

"Take me to your manager," Lin Zuyi said.

The storekeeper seemed at a loss at how to reply when another voice was heard from deep in the store, "It is a pleasure to be visited by the young master of the Lin clan. What can we do for you?" An elegant woman with thick makeup came out to greet them. "This lowly one is Wei Ling, to what pleasure do we owe this visit? Do you perhaps have a particular spirit beast parts that you are looking for?"

"I'm not here looking for anything, I'm here to offer something," Lin Zuyi replied.

"Oh…?" Wei Ling showed a confused expression.

"How would you like to know about the true culprit behind Wei Feng's death?"

*

Amon was at the other end of the market. There was nothing he could do to prevent others from plotting against him. All he could do was be ready and always be alert to his surroundings. He had developed this kind of awareness when he became the most hated person in his past life.

He was about to be done with this shopping and went home with empty hands when he caught the sight of a dilapidated stall at the corner of the street. It was at the edge of the market and had very few passers-by. He approached the stall and looked at the wares.