Rise of The Demon General

The reports provided by the counter detailed the location of the merchant's house and his shops, also brief information about his family and his normal itinerary. Based on these basic reports, Amon started to follow and spy on the merchant in secret.

Scouting and trailing someone was child's play for him. With the addition of him being in the body of a kid, it made the job even easier. People tended to not suspect children. Amon brought many different attires and hats that he changed regularly while trailing the merchant. After all, if the bodyguards kept on seeing the same kid, they would still get suspicious.

The merchant followed a clockwork routine. Other than some occasions where he had to meet his associates, he always visited his many shops situated around White Cloud city for daily inspection. He departed from his house early in the morning around 7 o'clock and went back home late at night around 11 o'clock. All the while, his five bodyguards always followed him around. The bodyguards were dismissed after he arrived home, but his house itself was filled with more guards. Amon didn't see attacking the merchant in his house as a good option.

Amon spent more than two weeks studying the merchant's habits. The merchant mostly ate at the same restaurant, which was actually owned by him. His food was cooked in front of him by a trusted cook in a private room and he ate them inside the same room. Even the ingredients of the food were inspected by his bodyguard before being cooked. The level of security employed by the merchant bordered on paranoia. Amon saw little chance to use poison on the food.

One notable thing about his routine was he always visit the same brothel thrice a week, and always spent his time with the same hooker. Amon found out that while the merchant was inside the room with the hooker, the bodyguards waited outside. After spying for these two weeks, Amon surmised the time the merchant spent with the hooker was the most ideal time for him to perform the assassination.

With that thought, Amon made preparation when the merchant visited the brothel for the third time in the second week. Amon came to the brothel an hour before the time the merchant usually showed up. The brothel was named Sinner's Bliss. It was situated in a business block near the outskirts of the city where many wealthy citizens spent their night-life here. The block had taverns, restaurants, inns, and various brothels. The Sinner Bliss was one of the more reputable ones amongst the brothels on the block.

Amon had always scouted this area from the roofs of the surrounding buildings when he was following the merchant. Now that he was walking the street towards Sinner's Bliss, the rowdy denizens around the block looked at him with curiosity. This was not a place for little children after all, especially at night.

"You lost, boy?" One of the hookers from a more low-class brothel called out to him. "How about you come and help big sis here? I will let you stay the night."

Amon ignored the hooker, which caused the woman to pout, "Such a rude kid."

When he arrived in front of the Sinner's Bliss, he just entered like nobody's business. The guard of the brothel, who was chatting with his friend at the time, didn't see Amon when he passed by. The guard's friend pointed at Amon, which made the guard turn to look. Seeing it, the guard immediately gave chase.

When he caught up to Amon, Amon was already inside the main hall where many customers were lounging around chatting with various women. A middle-aged woman was standing in front of Amon. The guard who just arrived immediately spoke nervously, "I'm sorry, madam. He just barged in."

The madam was looking at Amon with a hard stare. Amon stared back at her with a calm face.

"This is not a place for kids, child. Do you lost your parents?" She asked.

"I'm not. I'm here to use your service," Amon replied.

The madam's one eyelid rose in fascination upon Amon's reply. The guard, who misinterpreted the expression as the madam being displeased, went forward and grabbed Amon's shoulder.

"Don't worry, madam. I will drag him ou… Ouch! Ouch!" The guard's words were twisted into pained yells when Amon twisted the guard's arm that was grabbing him. Amon was squeezing the guard's pressure points.

The physiology of the humans in this world was no different than in his past world, so Amon could still utilize his knowledge of the human body's pressure points in this world. The guard's cultivation was also less than Amon, at the beginning Strength stage. Thus, he was powerless to resist Amon's grip.

Amon was still staring at the Madam while the guard made a whining sound helplessly. The Madam's surprised gaze turned to amazement. She then said, "I see you are not an ordinary kid. Do you mind letting him go?"

Amon let go of the guard.

"Can we talk business now?" Amon asked.

The Madam waved for the guard to leave, who then left reluctantly as he massaged his pained arm and threw an angry glance at Amon. The Madam then called for one of her girls to bring some drinks. She then gestured for Amon to sit on an empty sofa. After Amon sat down, she sat beside him.

"May I know this young master's name?" The Madam asked.

"You can call me Amon," Amon gave his real name. No one knew his name in this world and the mission required him to not leave a trace to the Lin clan. Hence, he was using his real name as a disguise instead.

"So, what can I do for young master here?"

"I'm interested in one of your girls," Amon answered.

"You are too young," the Madam replied. "I will get into trouble if someone reported me of giving indecent service to a kid."

"What kind of service is considered indecent?" Amon asked, to which the Madam replied with a chuckle.

"You don't seem like an innocent kind of kid, so I believe you understand what I mean," the Madam said.

"How about if I only require a dance? Will that be considered indecent?"

"A dance?"

"A dance. I have heard that there is a girl here that is very good at dancing. I was told that her name is Ning Ning. Can you bring me to her?"

"I'm sorry, young master. Ning Ning is unavailable."

"If you are worried that I have no Aer stones, you can lay your worry to rest," Amon said as he placed fifty Aer stones on the table.

Fifty Aer stones were not exactly a large amount. That was the price the madam usually charged her customers for one session with her best girls. For her more ordinary girls, she usually charged around twenty Aer Stones per session, but these ordinary girls had more sessions per day. Hence, generating fifty Aer stones per day for a single girl was not a difficult sum. Yet, to see this amount brought out by such a young child was indeed surprising.

Amon had also learned about this price beforehand. He learned about it when he was following Man Sam on the street. The merchant liked to chat with his bodyguards along the way, which allowed Amon to learn many things. Just like his eyes, Amon had honed his hearing to be able to eavesdrop easily from a distance. He had practiced this for the scouting missions in his past life. This world's cultivation further increased his senses as his level grew, and he had an even better ability to discern conversation from afar.

From this snooping, he had learned about the situation inside the brothel. Since he could not go into the brothel without being noticed. His objective at the moment was to identify this Ning Ning and to find out the room where Man Sam and Ning Ning would be meeting.

"You misunderstand, young master. It's not a matter of price. It's because Ning Ning will be having a visit from a regular VIP soon, so she is truly not available. If it is only for dancing, perhaps I can interest you with my other girls. They are as good as Ning Ning in dancing."

"I am curious about what I have heard about Ning Ning, not the others," Amon said as he took back his Aer stones. The Madam had a slightly disappointing glint in her eyes.

"You do say that she will be having this regular VIP soon, correct? That means she is still available at the moment. A dance will not take long. Half an hour will be enough. Tell you what, just for a simple dance, you can have these Aer stones. I will even increase them to eighty Aer stones. I believe none of your girls made such an amount for such a short period where they don't even need to touch their clients, right?"

The Madam's brow creased, she seemed to be deep in thought. Amon let her think in peace, while his hand continued to play with the Aer stones. The Madam couldn't seem to let go of her sight from the stones in Amon's hand.

"You won't ask for any indecent request, right?" She asked.

"I can promise you I won't lay a hand on your girl," Amon answered.

She finally said, "All right. Follow me."