The world is like a prison, my body is holy

Chapter 148 Refining the Heart in the Mortal World
The sun shines brightly during the Spring Festival, making it seem like the twelfth lunar month has just ended.

Around the 27th or 28th of the twelfth lunar month, it was still raining and snowing in Yangzhou, so cold and damp that an old dog could freeze to death.

As a result, on the second day of the Lunar New Year, the sun suddenly became as bright as after the Qingming Festival. Families who had gone out of the city to sweep tombs in the early morning, wrapped up tightly, returned to the city wearing only neat short-sleeved clothes.

As noon approached, groups of Yangzhou residents who had left the city early in the morning to sweep tombs and visit relatives returned to the city, making all four gates extremely crowded.

Just then, a group of demon-suppressing guards from the Demon-Slaying General's Mansion, dressed in bright armor, escorted a wooden frame out of the city through the Anjiang Gate in the south. The gate guards, who were basking in the sun by the city gate with their white waxwood spears, saw their armor from afar and bowed and scraped, blocking the people entering the city with their spears and making way for them.

Xu Wu walked at the very front of the demon-suppressing guards. After stepping out of the dark city gate, he stepped onto the wooden frame, clasped his hands in a grand gesture of respect, and said in a loud voice with a beaming smile: "Fellow soldiers, I am Xu Wu, the humble officer, serving as the Commander of the Demon-Suppressing General's Office in Huainan Province. On behalf of my general and all the officers and soldiers of the office, I wish you all a Happy New Year!"

The official robes of the Great Zhou Dynasty were provided by the imperial court and were strictly prohibited from being imitated by the common people. He was wearing the close-fitting clothes of the Demon Suppression Guard, and looked almost identical to the Demon Suppression Guards on his left and right.

"it is good!"

The crowd at the gate, not understanding what was going on, still cheered loudly, making the scene as lively as watching someone break a boulder on their chest.

Many people cheered while whispering among their neighbors, "What kind of official is this Commander of the Capital?"

"I don't know either... but since it has the word 'du' in it, maybe it's similar to the head constable in the government office?"

"Oh, so he's a constable."

"Old Xu's youngest son has really brought good fortune to everyone he's involved with..."

The scholars in the crowd cheered loudly while glancing disdainfully at the laborers who were chirping crickets.

Captain?

A lowly clerk like the head constable doesn't even have the right to speak to this man!
This is a genuine fifth-rank general!
Ordinary soldiers had to risk their lives to achieve three first-mover victories and risk their lives three times before they could even hope to climb to his rank! (In the Northern Song Dynasty, the lowest-ranking military officer was the ninth rank, and those who achieved first-mover victories were promoted three ranks.)
In the Great Zhou court, military generals held a high position, and there was never a saying that civil officials could control military officials. Even today, the courses for Confucian scholars in the Great Zhou still retain the skills of horsemanship and archery.

Zhang Yong, the peerless swordsman who once broke through all laws with a single sword at the summit of Mount Huangshan, was a proper civil official who had even served as a county magistrate.

"Ladies and gentlemen, please look... This is the rat demon that committed crimes in Liu Family Village the night before last. I, the Demon-Slaying General, investigated the case overnight, tracked it down, and killed it on the spot, to comfort the souls of the Liu Family Villagers in heaven!"

After exchanging pleasantries, Xu Wu stepped aside, revealing several gray-haired rat spirits, each the size of a mongrel dog, hanging on a wooden frame behind him. These rat spirits had their heads pierced by iron hooks and hung on the door-frame-like wooden frame like pork sold in a market, with thick, long tails hanging down like horsewhips.

Even though these gray-haired rat spirits were already dead, they still retained some ferocious and violent demonic aura.

A chorus of gasps, exclamations, and exclamations erupted from the crowd. Many were both frightened and curious to see what was happening, while the leader of the finger forks covered his eyes…

"Yesterday was the first day of the Lunar New Year. My general strictly ordered us not to disturb our fellow villagers..."

Xu Wu, seemingly oblivious to the gasps from the crowd, continued to laugh without changing his expression: "I think my general is overthinking it. Although it's the New Year, who doesn't slaughter chickens, ducks, and pigs for the New Year? We're just slaughtering a few dozen mischievous rats, what's so unlucky about that?"

A low chuckle rippled through the crowd. Several wealthy men dressed in fine silks and satins mustered their courage, crossed their arms, raised them above their heads, and bowed, saying, "General Wang is compassionate towards the people and protects our homeland. We are deeply grateful!"

"General Wang has established his own residence, and now Yangzhou has a righteous official!"

"It has to be people from Yangzhou who truly understand us..."

With someone taking the lead, more and more smiling faces appeared in the crowd, and many people gave a thumbs up.

Xu Wu glanced at the group of wealthy men leading the way, his smile growing even more amiable. He gestured with his hands and said loudly, "Don't misunderstand, gentlemen. I'm not here to boast about my general and his troops. I'm here on behalf of my general to inform you all that if you encounter any demons or monsters in the future, please immediately report to our Demon-Slaying General's Mansion... Don't hesitate, don't hold back. My general is absolutely on your side and will support you all!"

"By the way, our Demon-Slaying General's Mansion is recruiting soldiers. All the good men of Yangzhou who are willing to serve the country, slay demons, and protect their hometown may wish to go to the General's Mansion to sign up and give it a try!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the wealthy men who had just noticed his gaze immediately began to applaud and cheer loudly.

Led by them, the crowd applauded and cheered enthusiastically.

Most people's thoughts are, of course, not as complicated as those of a few wealthy men.

But no matter what, it's a great thing that the government is willing to do practical things!

Furthermore, Wang Wen's reputation in Yangzhou is indeed quite good these days.

Nowadays, when the people of Yangzhou talk about his ridiculous past in private, they usually gloss over it with a sarcastic tone, saying "extraordinary people do extraordinary things," and chuckle.

The rebuilt Lichun Courtyard, in particular, has almost become the biggest beneficiary of Wang Wensheng's appointment as the Demon-Slaying General of Huainan Road.

Almost every wealthy young man in Yangzhou wanted to experience the pleasures of the Demon-Slaying General at the Lichun Courtyard...

……

While Xu Wu was giving a passionate speech at Anjiangmen, Wang Wen was still sitting in the main hall of the General's Mansion, writing furiously.

He was unaware that Xu Wu had gone to Anjiang Gate to report his achievements to him.

This is such a trivial matter that it's not worth his concern, and Xu Wu wouldn't bother him.

He had largely finished processing the personnel appointment documents for the General's Mansion, and now he was writing the military training manual.

He intentionally copied the military drills, housekeeping training, and other subjects from his previous life to train the three armies under the general's mansion.

He won't touch the military system; that's too advanced and might not be appropriate for the times.

He will not change the main training content of the three armies, which revolves around improving individual and overall combat strength.

He wanted to introduce a large number of standardized and patterned training subjects, such as drills and housekeeping competitions, in addition to physical training, to strengthen the military appearance and discipline of the three armies, thereby creating three strong armies that obey orders without question.

His idea is not wrong. What general would want the troops he leads to be a loose and disorganized mob that can be pushed over at any moment?
Unless he is an undercover agent sent by a hostile force!

The three armies under the command of the Demon-Slaying General's Mansion are a chaotic mix of humans, demons, and ghosts. If military discipline and appearance are not strictly enforced from the beginning, who knows what kind of mess it will become!

As the official opening date of the Demon-Slaying General's Mansion drew near, he was also bogged down in various heavy official duties within the mansion and had not focused on improving his martial arts skills for quite some time.

However, this is not too important, as his strength is mainly based on martial arts, with thunder magic and the way of ghost immortals as secondary.

When martial arts cultivation reaches the Innate Realm, it has already broken through the stage of "use it or lose it." It no longer requires daily diligent practice and refinement, whether it is skill or technique. Instead, it focuses more on the cultivation of the mind.

When your mindset improves, your skill level will naturally increase, and you can unleash even greater power with the same moves.

If you don't cultivate the right mindset, even if you practice everything you've learned ten thousand or a hundred thousand times, you still won't achieve anything remarkable.

What is a state of mind?

It's about mindset, vision, and spirit!

Cultivating one's mind is the process of elevating one's thoughts, perspective, and spirit.

It's like the enlightenment he had at Longchang.

But neither one's mindset, perspective, nor even one's spirit can be improved simply by wishful thinking.

Can someone imagine that by possessing the Buddha's thoughts, the Buddha's vision, and the Buddha's very breath, he can attain the Buddha's state of mind? Absolutely not!

Take the enlightenment at Longchang as an example. Countless travelers have passed through Longchang over the centuries, but why did no one else gain any enlightenment there, while Yangming, the sage, went there and became enlightened?
That's because others are not Wang Yangming, they don't have the profound knowledge of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism that the sage Yangming possessed, nor do they have the thinking and practice reflected in that knowledge, let alone the experiences of the sage Yangming...

The knowledge, thoughts, practices, and experiences of the sage Yangming are the cause.

Enlightenment at Longchang was the result.

There must be a cause before there can be an effect.

The same applies to cultivating one's mind. The wisdom of our predecessors can only serve as building materials. Only by using this wisdom to construct a building can you truly own it. And the process of constructing this building is the process of "cultivation".

The state of mind one can ultimately cultivate depends entirely on the practitioner's own accumulation and effort!
From this perspective, every action and word in life is a form of spiritual practice.

Wang Wen established the Demon-Slaying General's Mansion from scratch, which was naturally also a form of cultivation.

The same Demon-Slaying General's Mansion, in the hands of some, will only make them think about how to monetize their power, while in the hands of others, they will only think about how to fulfill their duties...

Isn't this a difference in thinking, a difference in perspective, and a difference in mentality?

Is it not a process of "cultivation" to put one's thoughts into practice and constantly revise one's progress amidst the turmoil of the mundane world, ensuring that one's thoughts remain consistent throughout practice?

If we do not seek anything from external sources, then we will indeed sow good causes and reap good results in this world.

I sow my own good seeds, and I reap my own good fruits; it has nothing to do with others...

A state of mind that transcends material things is exactly like this principle.

Therefore, it appears that Wang Wen is holding a pen and writing characters at this moment.

However, from the perspective of martial arts cultivation, the pen in his hand is a spear. Every word he writes is the spearhead he thrusts out. Every distracting thought that vanishes into nothingness with the black and white words is a demon or monster that dies under his spear and hinders his path to enlightenment.

And the entire Demon-Slaying General's Mansion...

It's a divine skill he cultivated!
The final form of the Demon-Slaying General's Mansion is the final form of his divine skill.

If the Demon-Slaying General's Mansion is invincible, then he himself should be invincible throughout the world!

Conversely, if the Demon-Slaying General's Mansion were to collapse, or even go astray, Wang Wen himself would certainly not fare well...

This is the magic of cultivating one's state of mind!

Just as Wang Wen was biting his pen, staring at the military training manual on the Xuan paper, repeatedly checking for omissions and errors, Yu Shitou slowly walked in, crossed his hands, and whispered, "General, a monk has come to see you at the gate..."

Before he could finish speaking, Wang Wen impatiently interrupted him: "What the hell are you? You announce everyone who comes to see you? What do you take this general's mansion for? A public toilet?"

Yu Shitou quickly apologized. He had also been present at the final battle at Huangshan, so he naturally knew the source of Wang Wen's anger.

But after hesitating for a few seconds, he spoke again: "General, the monk outside the door handed over Master Shou'an's calling card..."

Hearing that he dared to say another word, Wang Wen inexplicably stopped being angry. He casually put down his brush, raised his head, and chuckled, "So what? I have to give Abbot Shou'an some face?"

Yu Shitou hadn't been afraid of his earlier scolding, but seeing his smile now, he felt a sudden tremor in his heart and quickly clasped his hands, saying, "It was my fault for being so talkative. I'll go and deal with that monk now!"

After saying that, he turned around and was about to leave quickly.

"Get back!"

Wang Wen picked up his teacup and said calmly.

Upon hearing this, Yu Shitou, who had just stepped out of the hall, hurriedly turned back, clasped his hands in a bow below the hall, and dared not look directly into Wang Wen's eyes.

Wang Wen looked down at him and said softly, "Since you have your own ideas, you don't need to stay by my side as a messenger. Go find Er Gou yourself later and ask him to find you a job!"

Upon hearing this, Yu Shitou was shocked and hurriedly looked up, saying urgently, "Brother, I..."

Wang Wen interrupted him again, expressionless: "How many times have I told you, use your job title when you're at work!"

Yu Shitou had no choice but to lower his head and whisper, "General, I know I was wrong. Please be lenient and give me another chance. I promise to keep my mouth shut and never say another word!"

Wang Wen: "If you truly knew you were wrong, you wouldn't be asking me for another chance... Go down, changing your position might not be a bad thing for you."

This guy is quite talented; keeping him around as a butler is indeed a waste of his abilities.

We should seize this opportunity to make an example of them and set some rules, both to remind the officers and soldiers who came from the canal gangs and to give those who did not come from the canal gangs a chance to improve themselves.

Win-win!

Yu Shitou looked up at him and could only say, "Your subordinate obeys!"

Wang Wen waved his hand: "Let that monk outside in!"

Yu Shitou: "Here you go!"

He bowed and left the hall.

Wang Wen held the teacup and sipped it slowly and deliberately.

Before long, Yu Shitou led a handsome white-robed monk into the main hall.

The white-robed monk entered, clasped his hands together, and bowed deeply, saying, "This humble monk, Jiyan, greets the General!"

Wang Wen stared at him with a cold gaze: "Should I say you are incredibly audacious, or should I say you are fearless?"

When he returned to Yangzhou from Huangshan after the decisive battle, the monk Shou'an was no longer in the Dusi Tianjian office.

He later heard Cheng Xian mention that Zhao Zhiling had sent the monk Shou'an back to Lingyin Temple after only two or three days when he led a hundred cavalrymen to Huangshan with Ji Liang.

He did not believe that Abbot Shou'an was unaware of his opinion of them.

Knowing full well that Wang Wen disliked them monks, they still dared to come see him with the visiting card of Abbot Shou'an...

What else could this be but audacity and recklessness?
"General, you have misunderstood."

Ji Yan lowered his eyes and calmly replied, "It was only after learning that the general had some misunderstanding about me, a Buddhist monk, that I had no choice but to come!"

"You'd better be decisive!"

Wang Wen sneered and casually placed the teacup back on the table: "Don't say I didn't give you a chance. Give me a reason to let you leave this hall in three sentences!"

(End of this chapter)