The world is like a prison, my body is holy

Chapter 149 Dragon Slaying Technique

A handsome young monk stood in the bright hall, which was decorated in black, wearing a spotless, pure white robe that seemed to glow.

Faced with Wang Wen's sinister and violent aura, as imposing as a black tiger lying on a mountain, Ji Yan remained silent for a moment, bowed slightly, and replied softly, "Someone has done wrong. If they refuse to admit it, I am willing to admit it. If they refuse to repay it, I am willing to repay it. I implore the general to have mercy and grant me a chance to make amends."

Wang Wen merely sneered, the coldness in his eyes remaining unwavering.

Ji Yan noticed his indifference, but did not offer another word in defense.

After a few breaths, Wang Wen smiled and asked, "Are you done?"

Ji Yan nodded: "That's all."

"readily!"

Wang Wen nodded: "Someone come here!"

Two burly and muscular demon-suppressing guards responded to the call, drew their swords, and entered, bowing respectfully with their hands clasped.

Wang Wen pointed at Ji Yan: "Fork this mad monk out, break both his legs, and throw him out of the city!"

Ji Yan remained calm and composed, as if the person Wang Wen was referring to was not him.

"Here!"

Two demon-suppressing guards responded loudly and strode forward like wolves and tigers, grabbing Ji Yan on the left and right and dragging him out of the hall.

Ji Yan finally raised his head and glanced at Wang Wen, then lowered his eyelids and softly murmured, "Amitabha."

Wang Wen had already picked up his pen and continued processing official documents, without giving him another glance.

Before long, the crisp sound of the water-and-fire stick breaking came from outside the gate.

There was also a faint sound of bones breaking, but Wang Wen heard it.

"interesting."

He smiled and muttered to himself softly.

Under his divine sense, very few things could escape his notice.

As soon as the young monk stepped into the hall, Wang Wen sensed that he possessed considerable magical power.

If it really comes to a fight, there are no more than four living and non-living beings in this general's mansion who could control him.

But he simply let two ordinary demon-suppressing guards drag him away and break his legs with their clubs, without uttering a sound.

Wang Wen couldn't understand what this monk was up to...

But it doesn't matter. No matter what kind of opera the monk and Lingyin Temple behind him are performing, he can simply ignore it.

As for murder...

Wang Wen wasn't born a killer. He just came to pay off his debts. Even if he looked down on him, there was no need for him to kill him.

Let's break both legs first and see.

If they still don't behave even with both legs broken, then the only option is to kill them.

Before long, Hei Erniu walked into the hall, wagging his tail, and called out with his head held high, "Master, dinner is ready!"

"Hmm, is it lunchtime yet?"

Wang Wen looked up at the bright sunshine outside the hall, put down his brush, stood up and said, "It's still New Year's Day today, let's go... back to Qinghe to eat."

"That's great..."

Hei Erniu grinned from ear to ear; his handsome cow face always looked rather sly when he grinned.

"Have I mistreated you?"

Wang Wen laughed and slapped it: "Every day, you eat whatever I eat!"

Hei Erniu grinned and rubbed his trouser leg against his chest: "Isn't the food at home better?"

Wang Wen habitually lifted the horse armor to check it, and saw that there was no cow hair left under the armor. The black scales on its body were neatly arranged, reflecting the metallic luster in the sunlight.

This scale armor is no mere decoration. He personally tested it; even with a two-stone longbow and ordinary arrows, it was impossible to leave a mark the size of a grain of rice on the armor within fifty paces.

Only a powerful bow with a three-stone capacity and a three-edged armor-piercing arrow as thick as a thumb could leave an arrow mark on this scale armor... but it would only be an arrow mark, far from actually piercing the scale armor.

Currently, the only weapons he can find that can pierce through Hei Erniu's scales are the Dawn Spear and the Yin-Yang Needles on his body.

Compared to its scale armor, its horse armor was as fragile as paper.

The main reason it still wore this vest was to avoid frightening ordinary people...

Of course, Wang Wen also harbored a little secret: to leave a surprise for those who were interested.

He could already imagine himself riding Black Ox into battle, slaughtering everyone in his path. His enemies would struggle to break through his armor, only to be surprised to find... alas, they couldn't break through!

After that, I turned around and tried to shoot the horse first, but after a lot of effort, I finally managed to break through the horse armor on Hei Erniu's body. But to my even greater surprise, I found that... sigh, I still couldn't break through it!

Wang Wen couldn't help but laugh at the thought that such things might happen frequently in the future.

Seeing his master examining him again, Hei Erniu suddenly remembered something, and with a wide grin, he leaned closer to Wang Wen: "By the way, sir, could you take a look at my teeth? I don't know why, but my gums have been itchy these past few days..."

"Ugh... what a big mouth! Didn't you brush your teeth this morning?"

Wang Wen held its big nose, tilted its head and looked at it closely. He carefully examined its mouth and saw that in addition to the four big incisors on both sides of its upper and lower front teeth, four fleshy bulges had appeared, as if four more teeth were about to grow.

He released Black Ox's nose and gently patted it: "Nothing serious, the little guy is about to grow teeth again."

Hei Erniu paused for a few seconds, then said in a worried voice, "I'm already this old, how come I'm still growing teeth?"

Wang Wen: "You have scales, so what's so strange about having teeth... Are you coming or not? If not, I'm going home to eat alone."

Hei Erniu immediately forgot his worries: "Master, I'll carry you back. Hurry up, or they'll steal all the food!"

"Look at how pathetic you are."

Wang Wen laughed and cursed as he straddled its back, but before he could even settle in, the dog suddenly leaped off the ground and galloped towards the gate: "Slow down! If you shake me off, you'll see if I don't beat you up today..."

In the evening, Wang Wen returned to the yamen.

The two demon-suppressing guards at the main hall immediately stepped forward to pay their respects upon seeing him. Wang Wen nodded and asked, "How is the monk?"

One of the demon-suppressing guards replied, "General, our two subordinates threw the monk outside the gate of Qiling Temple, but the monk did not enter the temple. Instead, he crawled back and is now begging on the streets of the city."

'Begging on the street?'

Wang Wen recalled that when he had seen the monk before, the monk's white robe was spotless and gleaming, which didn't seem like the kind of monk who would stoop to do such a thing. He immediately asked, "Did you really crawl back?"

"Reporting to the General, it is absolutely true!"

Another demon-suppressing guard chimed in, "We two followed him all the way and witnessed him dragging himself back into the city step by step with his bare hands."

"interesting……"

Wang Wen smiled casually: "How do the people in the city view him?"

"When my two subordinates carried the monk out of the city, many people in the city saw it and knew that the monk's legs had been broken by my Demon-Slaying General's Mansion. They all treated him coldly and ignored him."

Wang Wen pondered for a moment, then reached out and patted the two men on the shoulders: "You two handled this task very carefully. Keep an eye on that monk for me. If he does anything unusual, report it to me immediately... If he doesn't do anything wrong, then we don't need to pay him any more attention."

Upon hearing this, the two Demon-Suppressing Guards excitedly clasped their hands in salute: "Yes, sir!"

Wang Wen smiled and nodded to the two of them, murmuring "sow good seeds, reap good fruit" before stepping into the hall.

……

Time flies, and it's already mid-March.

For the past two and a half months, Wang Wen has been busy with numerous official duties at the General's Mansion, leading a very fulfilling life.

As the saying goes, you reap what you sow. His busy work over the past two months has also brought many things and systems that were previously only in his mind to fruition.

After the Lantern Festival, more than sixty high-ranking Taoist priests from the Three Mountains arrived in Yangzhou. The General of Demon Suppression's Mansion specially established a shrine to house these high-ranking Taoist priests.

On the sixth day of the second lunar month, the day of Jingzhe (Awakening of Insects), the Demon-Slaying General's Mansion was officially established, overseeing all matters related to demons and monsters in the ten prefectures of Huainan Road.

On that day, all the forces from both the legitimate and illegitimate sides of Huainan Road were present to congratulate Wang Wen on establishing his government and headquarters. The Demon-Suppressing Guards who greeted the distinguished guests were replaced seven or eight times, and everyone shouted until their voices were hoarse. The festive firecrackers rang out from dawn until dusk...

Since the founding emperor of this dynasty abolished the position of military governor, Yangzhou, the former seat of Huainan Circuit, has never experienced such a prosperous era.

On the ninth day of the second month, the nine captains of the Demon-Slaying General went to the prefectures of Bozhou, Suzhou, Sizhou, and Chuzhou under the Huainan Circuit, excluding Yangzhou, to build the Demon-Slaying General's Office of Supervision.

Each squad leader is accompanied by fifty demon-suppressing guards, a high-ranking mage, five underworld officials, and five naval soldiers. The high-ranking mage provides technical support and military guarantee, the underworld officials are responsible for reconnaissance and transmitting official documents, and the naval soldiers are responsible for eliminating some minor demons and monsters.

Wang Wen had made prior arrangements with the Caobang (Grandmaster) Jiang Jin's (Grandmaster's Uncle) law enforcement hall to contact the various Caobang branches in each prefecture, offering each branch a position of a hundred-man captain in exchange for their support of the Demon-Slaying General's Office of Supervision.

Of course, the power of the canal gang was responsible for settling the local folk forces, but Wang Wen had to handle the official disputes himself.

However, Wang Wen has yet to find the time to visit the administrative officials of each prefecture.

He was waiting for an opportunity, an opportunity to make an example of someone.

It all depends on which lucky viewer will stumble upon his blade...

On February 15th, the General's Mansion of Demon Slayers was at full strength with 2,500 soldiers.

Afterwards, a three-month-long new recruit training program was launched in the barracks of the Demon-Slaying General's Mansion outside the South City. Everyone in the General's Mansion, regardless of whether they were civil or military, participated in this grand new recruit training, including Wang Wen.

The drills began every morning, with the entire army carrying heavy loads and running around the city of Yangzhou, chanting "one-two-one, one-two-one" as they ran.

After ten laps of appetizer running, a set of standing, sitting, lying down, front, back, left, and right formation training will follow until lunchtime.

After lunch, Wang Wen personally took a gun and went on stage to teach the entire army how to use the Six Harmonies rifle. He also organized a battalion-level rifle king championship every five days, with the champion advancing one level on the spot, and an army-level rifle king competition every ten days, with the champion advancing two levels on the spot.

As the saying goes, a great reward will surely bring forth brave men. The real official position was offered, which spurred all the officers and soldiers to become bloodthirsty and constantly howled as they clung to their rifles and practiced their marksmanship to the death.

Wang Wen usually doesn't participate in the gun king competition unless some shameless officer bullies lower-ranking soldiers by relying on his family's martial arts skills. Only then will he reluctantly step in and teach them how to use a gun.

With his martial arts prowess at the Innate Realm, his performance as officers, whose highest level was no more than the Core Formation Realm, was completely natural and seamless. Almost every officer who fell to his spear felt that he was just one move short. After returning home, they would spend their days lost in thought, unable to eat or drink, clutching their spear and pondering how to break his defense. Then, the next time they went on stage, they would repeat the same "one move short" performance from the previous time...

In the evening, they began housekeeping training and unannounced emergency assembly drills, and the sharp whistles became a nightmare for all the officers and soldiers.

Of course, Wang Wen would not miss out on activities like tea parties that leave an indelible mark on one's thoughts.

All I can say is that every modern person born under the red flag and raised in the spring breeze would inevitably possess a mastery of dragon-slaying skills if they returned to ancient times!
Such intense basic training did indeed scare away many people with weak wills, especially the spoiled sons of local bullies and wealthy families. Few of them could endure three days in the military camp. Most of them threw down their bedding and ran away on the very night they entered the camp.

Wang Wen's attitude towards these people was that they could leave, but he wouldn't back down on his manners!

His general's mansion is only full, but the recruitment of new soldiers has never stopped. If you want to leave, get out of here and make room for others. Don't waste my time and effort.

Those local tycoons and wealthy families who had gone to great lengths to get their sons into the Demon-Slaying General's Mansion had no choice but to accept this outcome. They had to prepare generous gifts overnight and go to Qinghe Hall to apologize to Huang Xingde.

What can they say?
Even General Wang Wen was training, eating, and living with the officers and soldiers. What could they possibly say?
Later, when these things reached Zhao Zhiling's ears, he was filled with regret, thinking to himself, "Why didn't I think of such a good idea back then?"

But in his regret, he also felt helpless. He really couldn't handle those "showy but impractical tricks" in the Demon-Slaying General's camp.

Aside from a very small minority of those who lacked resolve, the vast majority of the Demon Suppression Guards held an attitude of "not understanding but strongly supporting" regarding the content of the new recruit training.

This is because although Wang Wen put a lot of effort into the training, he never skimped on their food and rations!

Many new recruits, who never even dared to dream of such food, were eating it all in one meal when they arrived at the military camp...

Moreover, those who perform exceptionally well will be promoted on the spot, without any promises or incentives!

They've never even heard of such efficiency before!

The people of Yangzhou could not understand the training programs in General Dangmo's barracks, nor could they comprehend Wang Wen's profound meaning.

But they weren't blind. They witnessed firsthand how these demon-suppressing guards transformed from initially running haphazardly, pale-faced and tongue-out like dead dogs, into neat, orderly ranks, synchronized movements, and a vibrant, rising spirit...

The people of Yangzhou gradually got used to falling asleep to their chants, and also got used to waking up to their chants. Every time they saw them running in neat formation, they felt a strange, indescribable feeling.

Much later, they realized that the feeling was called a sense of security.

Wang Wen immersed himself in the military camp, living and training alongside his officers and soldiers for a full month. Only after the recruit training was on track did he gradually withdraw his energy from it.

At that time, the supervisory offices of the Demon-Slaying General's Offices in various prefectures began to gradually compile information on demons and monsters from different regions.

The spring floods he had been waiting for were about to begin...

(End of this chapter)