The message arrived before the men did.
The Demon Suppression Guards at the Blackstone Ridge mine sprang into action that very day, assembling their squads and recalling their sentries, footsteps churning through the camp.
Lü Heng, the Deputy General stationed there, heard the commotion and guessed that Pei Xuance had arrived. His heart sank halfway.
He had volunteered for this assignment a month ago.
He had borrowed men from Wushi Commandery. Over forty had gone down; seventeen had returned.
The Stone Ogre had caused trouble three times, and he had pursued it into the mine tunnels three times. In the end, he had only managed to inflict some minor wounds on the beast. He had not even taken a leg.
From then on, he had understood that with his abilities and the few men at his disposal, he would never bring that beast down in his lifetime.
Yet he still had not written a request for reinforcements.
General Pei spent the year traveling all over Qingzhou. Battling Demon Kings was exhausting enough; Lü Heng could not take up the general's time merely because he could not finish off some old turtle hiding inside its shell.
"The Demon Plague at Blackstone Ridge remains unresolved. Investigations are ongoing."
He had submitted those words again and again, until eventually even his brush would pause before he wrote them.
Now that the general had come in person, what else could he say? Perhaps he should simply admit his fault.
He thought this over as he walked out of camp.
Halfway there, he caught a Demon Suppression Guard running past him. "What's happening outside?"
"General Pei's men have arrived..."
Before the guard could finish, Lü Heng's heart sank another inch.
Old Zhao entered the camp first, cheerfully greeting everyone.
He was an old hand who