The world is like a prison, my body is holy

Chapter 142 A Combination of Kindness and Strictness (Seeking Monthly Tickets)
That's how the law of the jungle works.

Conflicts in civilized society are like business battles between two listed companies. They are fought with money and resources. Financial strength, connections, and even law and morality are all factors that can determine the outcome. Everyone is competing with their brains, not blood.

Conflicts under the law of the jungle are like a life-or-death struggle in an octagonal cage, where victory or defeat can be decided in a minute and life or death in three minutes. Apart from real force, everything else, such as law, morality, financial resources, and connections, is just fluff!
No matter how dramatic your past experiences have been, or how impressive your past achievements have been, it doesn't prevent you from collapsing and dying on the street in the next second.

This explains why the Green Snake Demon, the mighty Dragon King of Hongze Lake and one of the most powerful demons in the Jianghuai region, would change his attitude so smoothly, from arrogant to obsequious...

Because it's not silky smooth, the snake will really die!

It is a wise snake!
……

Seeing Wang Wen's increasingly impatient attitude, the Green Snake Demon dared not test his bottom line again. He solemnly clasped his hands and said, "Lord Wang, I have truly offended you today. If there is any way to resolve the law enforcement issue other than surrendering, please enlighten me, Lord Wang... I am willing to do my best to be your friend."

Its posture was undeniably humble; it was practically begging for mercy, practically wagging its tail and pleading with Wang Wen to spare its life.

But little did it know that the more humane and tactful it appeared, the less likely Wang Wen would let it leave this place alive?

As the saying goes, don't hit the smiling person.

Seeing its subservient appearance, Wang Wen could only shake his head and sigh, saying, "From what you're saying, it sounds like I've gone too far and am unforgiving... Otherwise, let's have a fight first, and then discuss the matter of surrender."

"What if? What if you manage to narrowly defeat me by one or two moves? Wouldn't you be able to escape unscathed without paying any price?"

He spoke sincerely, with an air of "I genuinely care about you."

But in fact, he had already prepared the Heavenly Thunder Spell!

He's just waiting for this lunatic to fly into the sky, then he'll spend money to ask the Heavenly Lord to take action and strike this guy dead with a lightning bolt!
So what if we lose money!
Even if it costs me a penny, I'll chop this bastard to pieces!

"hiss!"

His sincere words inexplicably provoked the Green Serpent Demon, causing its scales to burst open. It stretched its neck, its vertical pupils suddenly contracted into a single line, and it flicked its tongue rapidly, desperately collecting Wang Wen's pheromones.

Its terrifying appearance seemed to scream from every cell in its body, "Don't do anything rash! The snake will die! The snake will really die!"

Wang Wen greeted the snake with an innocent and honest smile, but inwardly he sighed with disappointment... This snake was clearly very strong, but it was overly cautious!

After a long silence between the human and the demon, the green snake demon suddenly stood up, pulled out a chair, knelt on one knee as if a mountain were collapsing and a jade pillar was about to fall, and said solemnly with his hands clasped, "Your humble servant Ao Qing greets General!"

Its kneeling caught Wang Wen off guard: 'No, you're actually going to vote?'

He hesitated for a few breaths, at a loss, and said with great distress, "Are you really not going to give it a try? I'm really not as strong as you think, really. When I fought that big crocodile earlier, I risked my life and almost crashed..."

'I don't believe you for a second! Do you really think snakes don't have brains?'

The green snake demon muttered a disdainful remark in his heart, then slammed his head heavily on the floorboards with a "thud," and said sincerely, "This little snake truly admires General's might and is willing to serve as General's lackey. I beg General to forgive past grievances and keep this little snake under your command!"

Wang Wen held the Heavenly Thunder Spell, hesitating repeatedly.

He had no intention of fighting, and while the man was bowing and unprepared, he wanted to strike him dead with lightning, but he didn't want to harm the innocent... At that moment, outside the tavern, the crowd was surging, and when that lightning struck, who knows how many innocent people would be implicated.

Someone went out to see something interesting, and then got struck and killed by lightning for no reason. Isn't that a bit unfair?

'Fine, fine, keeping this scoundrel as a lackey isn't such a bad thing!'

Wang Wen thought to himself with disappointment, but then stretched out his arms, revealing his hands, which were holding the Heavenly Thunder Spell, from his sleeves and placed them brightly on his knees: "Swear allegiance, make a solemn oath to the Heavenly Dao!"

The green snake demon, who had been stealing glances at him out of the corner of her eye, saw him extend his hands to form a lightning spell. Startled, her scales, which she had just smoothed, nearly exploded again: 'I knew it, I knew it… Humans are simply too cunning!'

It immediately straightened its upper body, raised its hand and pointed to the sky, and shouted in a loud and rhythmic voice: "Heaven above, Ao Qing of Hongze Lake hereby swears that from this day forward, I will lead all of my Hongze Lake Dragon Palace to serve under General Wang Erhu, the Demon Slayer, and serve him at his beck and call. If I have any disloyal thoughts or disobey his orders, may I be struck by heavenly lightning and be pierced by ten thousand blades, and die a terrible death!"

Wang Wen raised his hand at the opportune moment, pointed to the sky, and said respectfully, "Please, Your Majesty, consider this!"

[Merit - 200]

"Kwacha".

A magnificent purple bolt of lightning, as thick as a thumb, struck Ao Qing's head with lightning speed and precision.

"hiss……"

Ao Qing transformed into a large blue python. This blue python had a waist as thick as a water bucket, and even when coiled up like a pile of excrement, it was still one and a half times the height of a person. Its body was covered with button-sized blue-green and mixed scales, with three-toed claws under its belly, carp whiskers under its jaw, and two-inch-long deer antlers on its head. Its whole body emitted a faint fishy stench.

It has indeed taken on the form of a dragon!

Ao Qing, who suddenly reverted to his original form, was stunned for a full seven or eight seconds.

Then, as if electrocuted, the entire snake suddenly began to tremble violently, and the "snap snap snap" sound of its mouth colliding was clearly audible even amidst the noisy voices.

The purple lightning bolt that struck it earlier didn't cause it any pain, but the shock it received was many times greater than the pain itself!
That sense of awe was like a towering, majestic being that stood tall and reached into the clouds, suddenly bending down from above the clouds and glancing at it...

'Is that the Way of Heaven?'

Ao Qing trembled with terror, her heart screaming hysterically, "That must be the Heavenly Dao! Who...who exactly is this General?!"

Ignoring its fear, Wang Wen reached out and wiped his eyes, opening his divine eye to look at the azure dragon before him. He saw a faint golden light of merit coexisting with a strong aura of ferocity, indicating that this azure dragon, which ruled the lake, had indeed done some good deeds for the surrounding people, but compared to its good deeds, it had committed far more evils...

After a long while, he withdrew his gaze and said lazily in a low voice, "Are you prepared to speak to this general like this?"

Ao Qing, who was in a state of panic, suddenly woke up as if from a dream. He looked up and, in a hazy blue light, transformed back into human form and knelt before Wang Wen.

Even in human form, this creature was still trembling as if it had a high fever... Wang Wen didn't bother to wake it up, and leisurely asked, "How many spirits and monsters does your Hongze Lake Dragon Palace collect?"

Ao Qing replied tremblingly, "Reporting to...Reporting to my lord, my humble abode has two demon generals who have transformed into human form, eighteen great demons with inner cores, and seven or eight hundred lesser demons."

Wang Wendao asked, "Are all these spirits truly obedient to you?"

Ao Qing understood immediately: "Left General Catfish Beard is unruly and often disobeys my orders. Once I return to Hongze Lake, I will immediately send him to Yangzhou to die!"

Wang Wen remained noncommittal and continued to ask expressionlessly, "Besides that giant crocodile in Chaohu Lake, what other powerful demons and monsters do you know?"

After a moment's thought, Ao Qing began to list them off as if they were his own treasures: "Your Majesty, I have heard of several great demons, including the Golden Scale King of Taihu Lake, the Mountain Demon King of Dabie Mountain, the Nine-Headed Bird of Bagong Mountain, the Ghost King of Licheng on Jilong Mountain, and the Master of the White Bone Boat in Huaiyin. These are all powerful demon kings and ghost kings who have gathered in the mountains and forests. I once joined forces with that scoundrel Black Crocodile to attack Taihu Lake, but we were still unable to defeat him..."

Ao Qing's inner thoughts: 'Die, all of you! Kill you all! If I, the Great King, am defeated, none of you will escape unscathed!'

Wang Wen was getting annoyed and raised his hand to stop the fellow's incessant chatter: "Which waterways does your Hongze Lake Dragon Palace control now?"

Ao Qing hesitated and stole a glance at him, but in the end did not dare to hide it: "Reporting to my lord, my humble Hongze Lake Water Palace was built on the Grand Canal. From the Tongji Canal to the Jiangnan River, I am in charge of managing everything."

Wang Wen thought for a moment, and realized that from the Tongji Canal to the Jiangnan River, that is to say, from Kaifeng Prefecture to Hangzhou City, everything was under this guy's control.

He chuckled and said, "I heard that passing ships have to pay you a protection fee, or you'll kill people and sink their ships, right?"

Ao Qing swallowed hard and chuckled awkwardly, "This... I dare not deceive you, my lord, it is true. But that was because I had not yet seen your true face. Now I have realized my mistake and abandoned the darkness for the light. I would never dare to tarnish your reputation again!"

Wang Wen smiled and said softly, "Wait, keep going. Now that you've pledged allegiance to me, you can use me as your protector and continue collecting protection money legitimately, right?"

Ao Qing's expression changed, and he quickly raised three fingers to swear an oath, guaranteeing that the Hongze Lake Water Mansion would never collect protection fees again.

Wang Wen suddenly turned hostile, kicking it hard in the stomach. The immense force sent it flying through the air, landing face-first on the ground like a toad: "You brainless dog! If you were still a snake, it would be one thing to do such filthy things, but you've already transformed into a dragon, and you're still doing this kind of disreputable business? How many heads do you have to withstand the heavenly tribulation? Look at all the resentment you're carrying, you wouldn't even dare to show your face during a thunderstorm, would you?"

Ao Qing, newly attached to the tribe, still harbored an unruly nature that had not yet been tempered. Suddenly, he was kicked to the ground, and the fury in his heart almost turned against him.

But upon hearing the next few words, it suddenly changed color, kowtowing repeatedly and crying out, "General, save this humble one!"

Wang Wen was right, it really was struck by lightning during a thunderstorm...

"Save you? How? By taking the lightning strike for you?"

Wang Wenyou, still not satisfied, angrily cursed, "Or will you go and plead with the Heavenly Lord on your behalf?"

"Why don't you take a dump and look in the mirror? You don't even deserve to!"

Upon hearing him mention the Heavenly Dao Lord, Ao Qing immediately stopped crying for help, curled up into a ball, and began to tremble again...

Looking at its appearance, Wang Wen calmed his anger slightly and said in a forced, composed tone, "The title of Dragon King has never been self-proclaimed, but rather bestowed by the Heavenly Court and the mortal dynasty. Where did these bestowals from the Heavenly Court and the mortal dynasty come from? They came from word of mouth among the people!"

"In other words, if the people genuinely believe that you are the Dragon King who protects them, even if you are not the Dragon King, you still have a chance to be promoted to the Dragon King; but if the people believe in their hearts that you are a monster who stirs up trouble, even if you are really the Dragon King, you will not escape the Dragon-Slaying Platform!"

"In this era of great strife, you have been able to take the lead and control such a golden waterway as the Grand Canal with the body of a dragon. What an incredible opportunity this is!"

"Instead of thinking about accumulating virtue and doing good deeds to benefit the local people, and getting rid of your dragon body as soon as possible to become a true dragon, you are learning from those lowly thugs and hooligans, blocking the river and extorting protection money?"

"How is this any different from begging for food while holding a golden bowl?"

As he spoke, he kicked Ao Qing so hard he fell flat on his face.

This time, however, Ao Qing did not fly into a rage. Instead, he suddenly realized something, got up, and kowtowed to Wang Wen, saying, "This humble demon thanks you for your enlightenment, Master. I will always remember your kindness and repay you with my life!"

It seems like a very simple principle, but not everyone can understand it.

At least, ordinary people cannot see the golden light of merit emanating from others...

Wang Wen crossed his legs and said in a light voice, "Whether you remember or not, if this general hears even the slightest word about you causing trouble on the canal again, I won't bother the Heavenly Lord to deal with you; I'll personally skin you alive!"

Hearing his tone soften, Ao Qing felt a sudden sense of relief. He knelt at Wang Wen's feet and nodded vigorously, saying, "Yes, yes, yes, when I return to the Hongze Lake Water Palace, I will strictly control the aquatic spirits and monsters in the palace. I will never again disturb the people along the river or the passing ships. I will also diligently dredge the waterways to benefit the local area and strive to shed my dragon body as soon as possible to help you, Master, achieve enlightenment!"

Wang Wen squinted, looking down at its submissive appearance, without the slightest bit of pity.

After much deliberation, he raised his hand and beckoned. Soon, a wooden statue over a foot tall flew in through the wide-open window and gently landed beside him.

"This is the image of Wu Yanzu, the god of Huangshan. You should take this image back to the water palace of Hongze Lake and enshrine it. Burn an incense stick every morning and evening without fail."

"If you have any urgent matters, you can offer incense and report to Him. He will then relay the message to me. If I have any orders, I will also ask the deity Wu Zun to issue a decree to you."

"After you return to Hongze Lake, you must keep the spirits in your residence in check, diligently train the navy, and await my orders!"

Upon hearing this, Ao Qing couldn't help but look up at him. He immediately felt that Ao Qing's majestic and handsome face suddenly became unreal, hazy and ethereal, as if seen through a thick layer of smoke.

It lowered its head in increasing awe and kowtowed respectfully, saying, "This humble demon will obey your decree, Master!"

Wang Wen's cold gaze finally relaxed slightly.

To train a vicious dog, you have to use heavy blows to subdue it first, so that it can distinguish between the king and the queen.

If even heavy beatings don't subdue them, then the only option left is a pressure cooker...

(End of this chapter)