Rise of The Demon General
Chapter 269. Information About the Pledge Demon

Chapter 269: Chapter 269. Information About the Pledge Demon

"When Wui Gu was off checking a clue, we used the chance to storm into Yon Pa’s house. Yon Pa was a cultivator of the Peak Transformation Stage, but so was I. He couldn’t overpower us all. We tied him up and took him outside."

Tuang Yin covered her mouth. She could guess where the tale was going.

"The parents whose children had gone missing questioned Yon Pa, who was bound, but things turned heated. They started beating him. As they did, other villagers joined in. The situation turned into a mob beating, some of whom were cultivators. Yon Pa could not withstand the abuse. He died from the beating. All of this was witnessed by his wife and daughter..."

Yang Jun stopped speaking then. Leng Ku took over when he saw Yang Jun remain quiet, "Wui Gu came after Yon Pa’s death. Following him was Ba Ji, who was tied up. We later learned that Ba Ji was responsible for the missing children. He had always harbored a dark desire for small children. He had been suppressing it all that time. When Yon Yu came with her parents, he supposed if the missing child was an outsider, it wouldn’t cause much fuss. However, Yon Pa stopped and chased him away after seeing him trying to drag Yon Yu away.

"Yon Pa didn’t report that incident?" Tuang Yin asked.

"It turned out he didn’t mention it to anybody, even his wife," Yang Jun returned to being the speaker. "He probably thought Ba Ji’s intention was not malice and didn’t want to create tension with the villagers, them being newcomers and all. I guess we will never know. The thing was, in our haste, we had killed an innocent.

"It was too late by then. We also learned that Ba Ji had decided to ignore all precautions and went after the other children for his urge. Because those children knew him, he tricked them into following him without their parents being aware. Wui Gu told us what he found inside Ba Ji’s secret lair where he kept the children. The children were no longer alive. There were signs they were sexually abused before they died.

"Out of guilt and anger, we turned our aggression to Ba Ji. Wui Gu was a beginning Mystic Stage cultivator. He could protect Ba Ji if he wanted but chose not to. Ba Ji became the second person who died from a mob beating on that day.

"After everyone unleashed their anger, all that was left inside us was guilt. The guilt was not going anywhere because Yon Niang and her daughter, Yon Yu, were still watching us. We all knelt before the mother and daughter and begged for forgiveness. We vowed to do everything to pay for what we had done. We pledged our lives to them, telling them that we would take care of them from now on. Even Wui Gu joined in because he, too, blamed himself for failing to catch the culprit quickly enough.

"That was when we first laid eyes on it... The Pledge Demon."

"So, the Pledge Demon was activated from the pledge these villagers made to Yon Niang?" Tuang Yin asked. She turned to Amon and asked, "You said the Pledge Demon was sealed in an artifact, didn’t you? Was that how one activates the artifact?"

"I don’t know," Amon answered Tuang Yin. To Yang Jun, he said, "That was an interesting tale, but I did not ask how the Pledge Demon came about. What I asked is about the Pledge Demon itself. I’m sure some of you have tried going up against it. How did the confrontation go?"

"Well, the confrontation happened during that time when we first laid eyes on it," Yang Jun replied. "We all thought it was a spirit beast that had somehow entered the village. However, before we even got close to it, something held us back."

"Something?" Amon asked.

"The curse on us who had pledged ourselves to Yon Niang is not only limited to the Pledge Demon coming for us if we break our pledge but also prevented us from harming the Pledge Demon and its master. If we try to, the curse is activated, and we are incapacitated. Yon Niang then made an example by having the Pledge Demon kill some of us, particularly those she saw beating her husband earlier."

"I see. In that case, the killing strike must come from us, who are not bound by the pledge," Amon muttered.

"Killing blow?" Yang Jun asked.

"To kill the Pledge Demon, we must kill Yon Niang," Amon said. "But I take it you have suspected as much."

"We do. We just never have the chance to put it to the test," Yang Jun said. "Wui Gu, the strongest in this village, tried to. He forcefully destroyed the bind from the curse using his high cultivation. It worked. He rushed to Yon Niang while the Pledge Demon was still slaughtering the villagers marked by her. He believed... We all believed if he accomplished that, the Pledge Demon would be gone. We all watched hopefully as he got close to Yon Niang."

"I guess he failed," Tuang Yin said.

"If he didn’t, we wouldn’t be in this mess right now," Yang Jun said. "He failed. The Pledge Demon, who was away, suddenly teleported between Yon Niang and Wui Gu. It used its body to block Wui Gu’s strike. Although Wui Gu was evidently more powerful, the Pledge Demon didn’t appear hurt or wounded by the hit. To make matters worse, the curse on Wui Gu was activated again. He was bound mid-fight.

"He again used brute force to break free, but the curse returned at short intervals. Fighting an opponent that seemed uninjurable while having recurring handicaps like that, even a strong cultivator like Wui Gu had to yield.

"After a long fight, he finally ran out of energy and could no longer free himself from his curse’s bindings. All of us could only watch as we were also bound. All we could do was beg Yon Niang to spare Wui Gu. She didn’t. She commanded the Pledge Demon to bash him until he was no more than broken bones and ripped flesh.

"She then commanded us to get rid of the corpses and continued to live like normal. We are not allowed to tell any outsiders about her or the Pledge Demon. We are also forbidden to leave the village. Some of us tried to leave. It was considered defying her will and violating our pledge. The Pledge Demon came and killed every single one of those villagers who tried to flee.

"We have been her prisoners from then on. We have no choice but to do her bidding."

"How did the kingdom inspector find out about the demon?" Tuang Yin asked. "I mean, the one who came before the most recent one. The kingdom issued the mission to the Royal Academy because of that incident."

"He was asking for Wui Gu, who was registered as stationed here," Yang Jun answered. "I guess he got tired of our excuses and used a more extreme way to force an answer out of a villager. That let him witness the Pledge Demon in action. He immediately fled the village after that."

"Learning about the inspector, Yon Niang brought her daughter and chased the inspector," Leng Ku added. "She can command the Pledge Demon to assault a target, but the target cannot be too far from her."

"Before she left, she gave us a warning," Yang Su said. "She said if we tried to flee the village, the Pledge Demon would come for us, no matter how far we were. She said that we are under pledge, so the Pledge Demon didn’t have a distance limitation."

"Anyone ever put that claim to the test?" Amon asked.

"... No one dared to risk it," Yang Jun answered.

"All right. Let us review what we know about the Pledge Demon," Amon said. "It can’t be killed. It can’t be wounded. It attacks using physical force, either with its four arms or hair with a longer reach. However, it first debilitates its opponents using mental attacks. It needs to be within a certain distance from Yon Niang unless it is assaulting a target under the pledge. Everyone under the pledge can’t attack it or Yon Niang because it will activate a curse on them. It can move by teleporting, albeit a short distance. It can move instantly to protect Yon Niang when she is in danger. Anything more to add?"

"I guess that sums it up," Yang Su said. He turned to Yang Jun and Leng Ku and asked, "Right?"

Leng Ku shrugged. "We only ever saw the Pledge Demon fight Wui Gu. It was not a fair fight, so we can’t say if the Pledge Demon has any other abilities."

"Hm...," Amon thought about the matter. Too bad Xin Lie and Li Jing were gone. Otherwise, they should have more information about the creature.

"Now, let’s talk about your offer. How do you propose to free us from our predicament?" Yang Jun asked Amon.