Rise of The Demon General-Chapter 262. Mesmerizing Gaze

Amon caught a sudden change in the glint of Xin Lie and Li Jing’s eyes when he mentioned his purpose in coming to this village. It only lasted an instant, though.

"Hahaha!" Xin Lie laughed heartily. "It seems the little boy from that small town has truly grown. Are you someone important that you involve yourself when there is a rumor about demons?"

"We are the students from the Royal Academy," Amon informed.

"The Royal Academy in Qishurg City? I’ve heard about that. So, you managed to enter that place? I’m impressed."

"Your turn now," Amon said.

"Sure. I am here to sell my wares but lost them on our way here. So, we are stuck here figuring out what to do next."

Tuang Yin slammed the table. "Fucker! Are you toying with us?"

"Lin Mo, you have a rude girlfriend here," Xin Lie said.

"Tuang Yin, be quiet," Amon said.

Tuang Yin pouted in response. Li Jing gave her a ridiculing expression, which pissed her off more. She stood and walked outside to cool herself.

The village’s three self-appointed security officers watched her stomping out.

"Boss, those two groups seemed to know each other," Yang Su whispered.

"They don’t seem to be on good terms, though," Leng Ku said.

"Let’s continue to observe them first," Yang Jun said.

Amon resumed chatting with Xin Lie, but the woman continued to dodge from telling Amon their reason for coming here.

"Since you are unwilling to tell us anything, so be it," Amon said. He rose from his seat.

"Wait. Do you have a place to sleep," Xin Lie asked.

"No, but I have no problem sleeping on the street," Amon replied.

"So uncouth," Xin Lie shook her head. "You do realize you have a lady with you, don’t you? Are you asking her to sleep on the street as well? How about this? We will give you one of the bedrooms we rent."

"We are?" Li Jing asked. She didn’t sound thrilled about this.

"What? You don’t like me sleeping with you anymore?" Xin Lie asked her back.

"Hm... I will pay you for the rent," Amon didn’t reject the offer.

"Don’t you worry about that. Come, I will bring you to the room," Xin Lie said.

Amon called Tuang Yin before following Xin Lie and Li Jing.

The old innkeeper came and cleaned the table. He then went over to the table where Yang Jun and his aides were at.

"It seems they might stay here longer than we thought. What should we do?" The innkeeper asked.

Yang Jun sighed. "This is our own fault. We deserve this punishment..."

"How can you say that? This is that damn Ba Ji’s fault!" Leng Ku exclaimed. "That fucking asshole! Not only did he do those despicable things, but he also blamed it on someone else. I wish he could come back to life so I can tear him apart again."

"Keep your voice down!" Yang Jun scolded.

"Maybe we should block the road? To prevent more people from coming here," Yang Su suggested.

"What good will that do? It will just attract more attention," Yang Jun replied. He sighed again. He paid the innkeeper for the drinks before saying, "We will come here again tomorrow to watch these people."

*

Inside one of the inn’s rooms, Xin Lie and Li Jing sat around the only table there. Amon and Tuang Yin had taken the room next door.

"What should we do?" Li Jing asked Xin Lie. "That boy might complicate matters. If our target is truly here, we might have to kill everyone to avoid revealing our identities. That includes the boy. Can you do it?"

"You say it like he is someone important to me," Xin Lie replied.

"You refused to deal with him in the past," Li Jing said. "Can you still feel what you said you felt from him the last time?"

"No. He is shrouded. He must have learned concealing art. Never mind him. Let’s focus on our task. We have wasted enough time. The villagers are uncooperative. We may need to use a more forceful method."

"Are you finally going to let me use my art?" Li Jing asked, excited.

Xin Lie nodded. "We can’t afford to waste more time. The Royal Academy sends its students here. This means the kingdom is still interested in the case. We better finish our business here before more kingdom goons arrive."

"Who should I use it on? You know I will have to waste that person once I use my art."

Xin Lie thought for a while before saying. "The innkeeper seems to know something. He also lives alone."

"If the innkeeper dies when we are renting his place, we will be the main suspects," Li Jing said.

"Why do you think I offer my room to those Royal Academy students?" Xin Lie chuckled. "We will still be one of the suspects, of course, but we just have to move fast after that. If push comes to shove, we will go rough on everyone. We then split once we located and procured our target."

"Everyone will come and chase us when that happens," Ji Ling warned.

"Like I said, we just have to move fast," Xin Lie replied.

*

At midnight, the innkeeper shut the door. Nowadays, no one spent time here anymore. People used to gather here to drink and chat. It was always lively every night. This place was a small village, but everyone loved to get together.

He only closed when it hit midnight because that was the time the last person used to leave this place. The habit still carried on, even when he had no customers now. He was sighing as he bolted one of the door leaves. When he grabbed the other door leaf, he realized someone was standing right next to him.

He turned and saw that it was one of the women who rented his rooms. It was the little one, the girl.

"Miss..."

He stopped his words when he saw the girl’s eyes turn pitch black. Threads of black aura appeared around the girl. The black eyes seemed to enlarge. They then started spinning. He tried to pry his eyes away but couldn’t.

Xin Lie came beside Li Jing. The innkeeper’s eyes were vacant. His expression was blank.

"Your mesmerizing gaze is still as impressive as ever," Xin Lie praised.

"He is just someone at the mortal stage. If I can’t subdue him in an instant, I should be embarrassed," Li Jing replied.

"All right. Let’s not waste time then," Xin Lie said. She turned her attention to the innkeeper. "Dear innkeeper, we would like to know a few things."

"Yes, ma’am," The innkeeper replied. His tone was flat.

"Have you ever seen this figurine?" Xin Lie produced a piece of paper with a drawing. The drawing was a statue of something that looked like a deformed human body and a head covered by long, flowing hair.

"I have," The innkeeper answered.

"Where?" Xin Lie and Li Jing asked at the same time. They sounded excited.

"Inside Yon Niang’s house. She owned that sculpture," The innkeeper informed.

"See? We should have used my art from the start," Li Jing said.

"... But you may not go to Yon Niang’s house," The innkeeper said.

Xin Lie and Li Jing turned to the innkeeper with surprised faces. They haven’t asked a question. The person under Mesmerizing Gaze should only say something when asked.

"Why may we not go to her house?" Xin Lie asked.

"Because that was her request. We may not go there without her permission. We may not disturb her. We must listen to her. We must obey her..."

The innkeeper’s voice turned more erratic as he spoke. Li Jing frowned. This was the first time her subject behaved like this.

"Why do you have to obey her?" Xin Lie asked again.

"Because that is our pledge to her. We must do everything to repay her for what we did to her husband..."

The innkeeper’s vacant eyes suddenly turned alert. He uttered frantically, "You... You...! What have you done? Why did you force me to say that?!"

"Impossible! He broke my art on his own?" Li Jing exclaimed.

The innkeeper turned around and ran. All the while shouting, "No! No! It’s not my fault...! They forced me to say it!"

Xin Lie and Li Jing were about to chase, but they stopped when they saw a dark shadow appear in the path where the innkeeper was running. Following the appearance of the shadow was an unsettling hum.

The innkeeper jumped back in response to the shadow. He fell to the ground. His face was full of terror. "No! No! It’s not my fault...!"

The dark shadow coalesced and turned corporeal. It became something that looked like a human, but its body was bent at the wrong angle on multiple parts. It had four unusually long arms composed of three segments instead of the usual two. Its head was covered by thick and long hair. The hair flowed all over the place even when no wind was blowing.

"No...," Xin Lie muttered. "Someone has released it..."