Let Death Come for You

The garrison of the Imperial Army of Heaven might be dominated by men, but exceptional women managed to climb up the ranks. They were those who possessed incredible fighting prowess and those who wouldn't cower at the sight of demons. General Qiang was one of these women. She was not a princess from a divine empire or a child of the gods. However, she was fearless and assertive, making it possible to command a multitude of men who not only admired her beauty but also her skills as a general.

Of course, Emodao didn't look down on these female generals as well. If anything, he was more cautious in dealing with these women. Normally, they were more cunning and harder to distract compared to their male counterparts. Male immortals would just use their strength to kill, but these women would devise traps and even weaken their enemies before sending them off.

Then again, General Qiang might be one of these female generals, but she was still lacking when it came to being cunning. The demon army could easily bypass and sneak an attack against the third battalion because Bingxing was way smarter than General Qiang. Not that General Qiang was the smartest of them as well.

However, General Qiang was as ruthless as any immortal general could be. When Emodao challenged her to kill him, she wouldn't hesitate to test out the idea. If she was wrong, then they just needed to find another suspect. If she was right, she would earn a reward from the goddess.

She only harrumphed and circulated energy on her palm. She would explode Lai Mingjie's head if she was left to her own devices. Now that she was asked to kill him by the man himself, why wouldn't she oblige? Her arm pulled back as her body bent to maximize her force. However, before she could launch an attack, three knives rushed to her face from the side. General Qiang only moved her face out the way, missing the knives.

Lai Mingjie turned to the side where the knives came from. He narrowed his eyes and saw dozens of approaching figures. His eyes widened as he saw faces that were very familiar to him... those belonging to the first battalion.

Even General Qiang was horrified as she recognized the figures in the dark. She waited for their commander to arrive before clasping her hands and greeting yet another formidable female general of the Imperial Army. "General Qiang pays her respects to General Liu."

General Liu had the appearance of a small woman, only around a hundred and forty centimeters in height. She would normally be mistaken as a child, but she was one of the most lethal figures of the first battalion. Her rank in the strength list among the first battalion might not be high, but she was awfully known for her brutal methods.

The small lady giggled against her overly long sleeve, but she didn't cast a glance at Lai Mingjie. She returned the greeting: "Greetings to General Qiang. We received an order that the Crimson City was being sieged by demons who regained their essence and were attacking humans. We're to clear the streets... so why are we staying long up here? Are you scared to be attacked by them after so long?"

"Is that how it appeared to General Liu?" The other female wore a smile. She then dissipated her exploding palm and dislodged her grapple from Lai Mingjie's shoulder. "I caught the leader of the insurgents, Emodao. Do what you must—"

"Imbecile!"

General Liu suddenly barked at her and swiped her hand swiftly—too fast for General Qiang to catch. A knife struck deep into her abdomen, but she managed to contain the pain. The people around them were alarmed and confused by the other lady's action. However, General Qiang's resentful eyes and everyone else's frustrated gazes were only met by General Liu's almost crazed and murderous look.

She bit her lip hardly before stomping her little foot. "Are you not thinking? Whether Emodao led these demons to rise up against us or not—if a strand of his hair fluttered into the air, we will all die on the spot." She then looked around them, but she still dared not look at Lai Mingjie. "The scent of his blood must have wafted through the air by now. Come quick and descend to the streets. We have an order to respond to."

"General Liu, why did you stab me? This is the second time you fired in my direction." General Qiang pulled out the knife from her abdomen and healed her wound slowly. Blood dripped from her lips as she spoke with difficulty. Why must every general in the first battalion be so overbearing and unreasonable?

"Why? Hahaha, why don't you wait here and let Death come for you?" General Liu harrumphed and finally glanced down the demon king staring at them from the ground. "Go on and snitch about this event. No matter how you look at it, you're only getting General Qiang killed."

"Hahahaha!" Emodao laughed out even if his sternum hurt so bad, blood spraying out of his mouth at every outburst. "I see, I see... you're just scared of Xu Rouguang..."

"So it's true he's working with the demons?" General Qiang hissed under her breath. There were rumors about Xu Rouguang favoring the demonkind after he rose from the Abyss. For this to be held as gospel even by someone like General Liu? It only meant that their champion had deviated from their ranks.

"How ignorant." General Liu snorted again. She then bent down, grabbed Emodao, and brought him to stand on his two feet. "Kill all the demons in Crimson City, and even Death wouldn't care." She flicked her sleeve and exposed her snow-white hand. Her fingers then combed through the man's head to make sure his hair sat perfectly on his head. "Make Emodao bleed a drop of blood, and he will turn you into a blood mist."

Lai Mingjie moved his head away from the hand of the small lady general. He then sighed, coughing up some blood. "I thought you received orders to clean the streets. You go on ahead..."

General Liu only stared at him before raising a brow. "You want us to go and kill your own kind? Have you lost your heart as a demon, Emodao?"

The demon king glared at one of the generals who made his demon life a living hell before. Then again, it wasn't like he didn't like the danger and the thrill. It just wasn't good anymore now that he was mortal. "No matter what caused it, I still can't let the humans go around fearing us who had already blended with them. More when it was a voluntary consumption. Go away, Liu Xia."

With a flick of her sleeve to conceal her hand, Liu Xia went to ignore the demon king entirely. She whispered orders to her men and led them down the building. General Qiang bit her lip before turning away and leaving him behind. The demon king only leaned against the shed behind him, hoping to console his broken sternum. However, he noticed that an immortal was still there, watching him.

"Who are you?" Lai Mingjie couldn't recognize him; he must be new and from the first battalion who rarely descended to Crimson City.

"I'm Major General Steel Carapace. General Xu ordered me to find you and make sure you will get to your destination." He looked nervous as if it was his deployment to the mortal realm. "I apologize for being late..."

"What are you? A newbie?" Lai Mingjie laughed out before turning around and finding a way to get down from the heights. He then twitched and looked at the immortal with a toothy grin. "As punishment for your tardiness... get me down from here."