Unparalleled Evildoer

Chapter 406 Overall Strategy
Wuzhe void sat cross-legged, making the Buddha's hand seal. Then an expressionless golden Buddha statue appeared in the pagoda. The moment the Buddha statue appeared, the four monks all showed looks of fear. This person was not a Buddhist, so how could he know Buddhist magic, and the most superior one at that.

The Soul Refining Tower can seal the souls in the tower, but it cannot seal the Golden Buddha. However, thinking that Wuzhan must have used some mysterious magic to deceive people, one of the monks shouted, "How dare you blaspheme Buddhism? You deserve to be killed!"

Wuzhan chanted Sanskrit, and the golden Buddha suddenly grew larger. With a 'bang', the Soul Refining Tower shattered in an instant, flames burst out, and the four monks immediately vomited blood.

Shen Tu, Lu Hong and Gu Yue flew out and killed Shen Long, Xu Shi and others. Shen Tu and Lu Hong were full of anger, but they were trapped by the villains. If the news got out, they would lose all their face, and how could they establish their authority?

Mayor Xu originally thought that he could trap Wuzhan by inviting these four Western monks, but he didn't expect that it would take less than a quarter of an hour. This time he was in great trouble. The three monks were extremely vicious. Although they were numerous, they could only escape and had no power to resist.

The four monks from the west thought that Wuzhan was just being mysterious. Sariputra put his hands together and said to Wuzhan, "Since you are a Buddhist, why do you want to help the tyrant and bring disaster to the people?"

Wuzhan said: "Since Buddha is compassionate, why didn't he stop Ashoka's expedition to the east? Wouldn't this be a disaster for the people?"

Sariputra wanted to persuade Wuzhan to return to the right path, but he was questioned instead. He shook his head and said, "Good deeds have good paths, evil deeds have evil paths. Ashoka himself fell into hell, eliminated the truth of origin and extinction, cut off the cycle of cause and effect, and saved the world from suffering. This is great compassion and his merits are immeasurable."

Wuzhan sneered, "If the mind is not dead, the Way will not be born. If desire is not extinguished, the Way will not exist. If you have the heart to dominate and are militaristic, how can you save people from suffering? It's like trying to get the moon out of the water or putting out a fire with firewood. How can Buddha nature be forced? If you want to impose a method on it, it is not the true Dharma."

Sariputra: "All sentient beings have Buddha nature, how can it be added by desire?"

"All living things experience suffering and accumulation. Does that mean that everyone in the world is greedy?"

Sariputra was the best debater in the sect, and many pagans converted to Buddhism. However, he was speechless after being rebuked by Wuzhan. He then heard Wuzhan continue to say, "All sentient beings suffer the pain of reincarnation, and the pain is endless and the happiness is unattainable. The Buddha's teachings are boundless and only save those who are predestined. Fish playing in the water and birds singing in the forest are already extremely happy. How can it be the happiness of others? If you impose your own happiness on others, obsession will arise and the Buddha's heart will be lost..."

They didn’t know that Wuzha had read all three thousand Buddhist teachings in three years and debated with Dipankara. How could Sariputra be his match?

The more Shariputra and the others listened, the more their heads hurt. Every word that Wuzhai said was heart-piercing and overturned their understanding. The things that were puzzling before were now explained. After listening to the Dharma, they all sat cross-legged as if they were in a temple, listening to the Dharma, and sighed at the wonderful parts.

Wuzhan saw that the four people were listening intently, so he began to explain the Buddhist scriptures. Unknowingly, the four people were surrounded by golden light, with peaceful expressions on their faces, and they entered a great state of selflessness.

When Xu Shi dodged, he watched this scene from afar and was really furious. This was not a helper invited, but a disciple for Wuzhang. "Four holy monks, don't listen to his evil ways. He is the reincarnation of a fierce demon."

How could the four of them hear what Xu Shi said? This was a rare Buddhist scripture, and they were afraid that they would be distracted and miss a word, and thus not be able to comprehend the true meaning.

But then they saw four golden lights descending from the sky and landing on the four people's heads. The four people's bodies shook, and the shadow of Buddha appeared. After closing their eyes and reciting a Sanskrit passage, they opened their eyes, clasped their hands together, bowed deeply to Wuzhe, and said, "I have listened to your teachings and have seen the Tathagata. From now on, I have forgotten everything about myself and the world, and I will never see you again." They slowly stood up and turned into four golden lights and flew to the west.

Wuzhan saw that Xu Shi could have escaped but deliberately stayed there in order to delay them. He said to Lu Hong and others, "I'll leave this place to you!" He pulled up Xia Kexin and flew towards Yutian.

On the way, he met Bai Haotian, who came to greet him. After giving him a few instructions, he continued to rush to Yutian.

Xia Kexin looked at Wuzhan's disappearing back, feeling complicated inside. She knew that none of this could be undone. How could she care about someone day and night, or have him or her by her side?

……

Meng Yi stood on a high mountain, looking at the nearly eight million troops of Tuo State. The dark mass was endless, and the rumbling sound was breathtaking. It was really creepy and frightening. It was hard to imagine what would happen if this army entered Longxi.

In the formation, Ashoka is dressed in white exotic clothes, holding a scepter in his hand, wearing a golden mask on his head, and sitting on a giant elephant. He looks like a god, and his imperial dominance is so evident that it is intimidating.

Meng Yi suddenly burst into laughter. "Even if I die on the battlefield today, Meng Yi will die without regrets."

"Woo..., Woo..." The horn of Tuo Kingdom sounded, and thousands of giant elephants carrying trebuchets slowly walked to the front of the formation with shouts, and formed a long line. "Squeaky..." The trebuchets were ready to go.

The Qin army had never seen such a powerful team of giant elephants. One of the legs of the giant elephants was thicker than their horses, and there were many long spikes fixed on their tusks. In front of them, it was like a towering city wall. How could they fight this battle? There was no way to resist. The Qin army was silent, but they could hear the "thump..." of everyone's heartbeat.

Not only that, "hiss...hiss..." hundreds of giant pythons swam out from under the giant elephant, with fangs bared and long tongues breathing out. The pythons' bodies were also covered with dense spikes. More than ten people could stand on the body of one python, holding spears, which was terrifying.

Meng Yi said to himself sadly: "My dear brother, you are right. We can't hold this place anymore." He then ordered a retreat.

The Qin army turned their horses around and retreated quickly.

When Tuo's army saw the Qin army abandon the valley and retreat, they thought they were frightened by the huge army and their mocking laughter was like a tsunami.

"Huh..., huh..." The huge rock flew high into the sky and fell into the middle of the Qin army, immediately knocking down a group of people, blood and flesh flying everywhere. Meng Yi looked back and saw the dead cavalry, and felt heartbroken. The Qin army had no choice but to pierce the chest directly, how could they die in cowardice? He gritted his teeth and glared, shouting, "Retreat!"

Having learned from previous experience, the Tuo State did not advance rashly, but instead sent its infantry slowly through the valley. However, it would take a long time for such a large army to pass through the valley.

After the front team had passed about 200,000 people, a loud "boom..." was heard from both sides of the canyon. Looking up, the mountains on both sides collapsed and huge rocks poured down.

When the Tuo army in the canyon discovered that they had fallen into a trap, it was too late. Although the canyon was wide, it was difficult to advance or retreat. Tens of thousands of people were buried almost instantly. The rolling boulders blocked the road in the canyon, and the Tuo army could not pass.

Meng Yi heard the loud noise behind him and ordered Ling Kongzi to wave the flag. The Qin army stopped, replaced their horses, and after adjusting their formation, they faced the passing Tuo army, waved their long spears, reined in their horses, raised their front hooves, and roared, "Kill!"

One hundred thousand cavalrymen rushed into the Tuo army out of the valley like a torrent. The Qin army was covered in blood and charged again and again. The Tuo army had no way to retreat. Wailing was everywhere, blood flowed everywhere, and the Tuo army was completely wiped out in this battle.

Meng Yi's body was stained with blood, and he let out a long roar. The Qin army seemed to have escaped death, and they shouted in unison: "The valiant Qin army will fight together to save the country. We will not stop fighting until our blood has run dry!"

Ashoka looked at the blocked valley and the river flowing with blood. His eyes in the mask gleamed fiercely and his fingers trembled.

An army of eight million faced a force of one hundred thousand cavalrymen. Not only did they lose five hundred thousand cavalrymen, but they also lost two hundred thousand infantrymen today. The Qin army's tactics were too cunning. They were eroding the Tuo army bit by bit, but they were helpless.

"Roar..." came from the direction of Kunlun Mountains, and then the earth shook. Many war horses were frightened and turned around and neighed on the spot. Not long after, thunderclouds surged in the sky above, and light flashed. The strange cry was heard again, and the earth shook continuously. Cracks opened and closed again, and it was suspected that there was an earthquake.

Meng Yi looked for a long time and had a bad feeling in his heart because Wuzhan had been gone for a long time.

With the valleys blocked, Tuo's army had no choice but to bypass the mountains, enter the desert, and march toward Longxi. This would extend the marching time in the desert by three days, and supplying water to such a large army would be extremely difficult.

Ashoka had no choice but to prepare water bags and water wheels and enter the desert, determined to crush the Qin State.

The desert is hot during the day and cold at night, and it was difficult for the soldiers of Tuo Kingdom to adapt. Within a day, many soldiers were killed and most of the giant elephants also died. They also adopted the strategy of marching at night and resting during the day. Even so, the water consumption was huge.

On the second night, the Qin cavalry suddenly appeared, and the Tuo army hurriedly fought back. The Qin army went straight to the Tuo army's water wheels, destroyed them, and then left, causing the Tuo army to lose most of its stored water.

As a last resort, Tuo's army had to send a team of 100,000 people back to fetch water, while the main army remained where it was.

But after a day, there was no sign of return, so they sent another team to support them, only to find that the previous team had been completely wiped out by the Qin army. When they saw the river was right in front of them, the Qin army arrived again and the second team was also wiped out.

Over the past few days, the Tuo army had lost a million men, while the Qin army had lost no more than 10,000 men. When Ashoka learned that the Qin army had circled around to their rear, he could no longer suppress his anger, and he led his troops out of the desert, surrounding them and determined to crush the Qin army into mud.

However, the Qin army saw through Ashoka's intention and headed straight for Mount Buzhou.

Mount Buzhou is a highland, only a hundred feet wide when flattened. It has the Kunlun Mountains to the south and the Tianshan Mountains to the north. It is the only way for the invasion of Tuo State. When the Qin army arrived there, they used the terrain there to cut off Tuo State's supplies and trapped Tuo State's army in the desert.

This was Wuzhan's overall tactic. Ever since the Magadha army crossed Mount Buzhou, every step had been calculated by Wuzhan to the exact letter. His use of tactics was truly superb, and it made the Magadha Kingdom realize that the Qin State was really not something that could be messed with.

Meng Yi had such a record of military achievements in his life that he would be famous throughout the ages. He admired Wuzhan to the extreme. Looking at the endless army of Tuo State at the foot of the mountain, he no longer felt the fear he had before.

Ashoka roared in anger, and the snake army "hiss..." rushed up the hillside first. The Qin army bent their bows and shot thousands of arrows at the snake army. The arrows were burning with sulfur. The pythons were afraid and turned around to flee, crushing many of their own troops to death.

Next came the huge rocks thrown from the catapults mounted on the giant elephants. Due to the high terrain, the power of the rocks was greatly reduced, and they became the Qin army's most powerful weapons. After rolling down the hillside, they caused casualties everywhere.

The infantry of Tuo State charged forward continuously, but were repelled in turns by the Qin army. This charge lasted for a whole day. The area at the foot of Buzhou Mountain was filled with corpses piled up like mountains, and blood flowed like a river. The high ground hundreds of feet wide became an insurmountable nightmare for them.

The Qin army set fire to the corpses on the hillside, and the stench of burnt flesh filled the air. The corpses burned for a whole day, during which time they had a truce. When the fire was extinguished, the Tuo army rushed forward again, and they continued to attack for another whole day but were unable to take the corpses.

Three days later, the Tuo army had run out of food and grass, the plague spread rapidly, and the army's morale was low. Some soldiers knelt at the foot of the mountain to surrender, but were all executed by the Tuo army.

Meng Yi looked up at the sky, feeling anxious, "Why has my dear brother been away for so long and not come back? Could he have met with an accident?"

(End of this chapter)