The world is like a prison, my body is holy

Chapter 151 Sweeping Away the Trap
On March 18th, the first full-scale operation to destroy mountains and temples by the Demon-Slaying General's Mansion officially began.

Two thousand soldiers from the southern military camp, carrying their bedding rolls, boarded a cargo boat and traveled along the Grand Canal, passing through Taizhou, Xinghua, Huai'an, and other places before heading north to Xuzhou. Along the way, they swept away the evil spirits and monsters causing trouble in various places. Then they turned back to Hongze Lake and entered the Huai River. First, they passed through Haozhou and leveled the fox tombs of Tushan. Then they went west to Shouzhou to cleanse the ghostly realm of Bagong Mountain. After that, they turned overland and went south to Tongling. They followed the Yangtze River eastward to Suzhou to meet the water god of Taihu Lake. Finally, they returned to Yangzhou... The whole journey was more than six thousand li.

Along the way, not only was the Hongze Lake Water Palace protecting them, but the General's Office and the Supervisory Office of each prefecture also provided various supplies on the spot, making the marching pressure very small.

In Wang Wen's mind, this mountain-breaking and temple-destroying operation was purely a long-distance training exercise. He also wanted to feed the demon-suppressing guards the little demons and monsters who were like monkeys ruling the land when there were no tigers in the mountains, so that they would see the blood and not be afraid of being like Lord Ye who loved dragons but was afraid of dragons. In the future, when they actually got their hands on dealing with demon and monster cases, they would be flustered and lose their lives in vain.

He didn't plan to send his Demon-Suppressing Guards with him on key missions such as "sweeping away the Fox Tomb of Tushan" and "purging the Ghost Realm of Bagong Mountain." Battles far beyond their power level would severely dampen their enthusiasm...

Two thousand soldiers quietly set off in the early morning mist, without disturbing the people of Yangzhou.

Those who came to see him off included Huang Xingde and his gang of Qinghe gang members, as well as Zhao Zhiling and his gang of officers from the Demon Suppression Division.

They stood on the opposite bank of the dock, watching two thousand Demon-Suppressing Guards carrying their bedding rolls and boarding the ship in an orderly fashion, and waved to Wang Wen.

Wang Wen, fully armored, stood at the bow of the lead boat, smiling and waving goodbye. The morning river breeze lifted his bright red cloak, which fluttered wildly, highlighting his majestic figure, just like an unyielding banner.

Among the crowd of the Demon Suppression Division, someone whispered, "This General Wang is still as petty as ever!"

Everyone around turned to look at the person who had spoken.

The speaker was Li Heng.

He met the many questioning gazes with surprise and asked in return, "Have you forgotten? He mentioned a long time ago that he wanted to launch a comprehensive, grid-like investigation, to search every mountain and every cave in the jurisdiction for all demons and monsters, to gather information about them, understand their movements, eliminate all destabilizing factors in advance, and turn the passive situation into the active one!"

The crowd paused for a few seconds, then suddenly remembered... there seemed to be such an incident, right after Chen Sandao, one of his men, was bitten to death by the weasel that was demanding the title.

Cheng Xian said speechlessly, "It's really kind of you that you still remember this."

He does not believe that Wang Wen's actions today are related to that matter.

After all, more than half a year has passed, and so much has happened in between. Wang Wendu has gone from a mere fake official to a general who leads his own army to vanquish demons. As the saying goes, times change, and people fade away...

Li Heng disagreed: "Just tell me if that's true or not!"

Cheng was about to say "Of course not," but at the last second, he hesitated and became uncertain...

"You still have the nerve to care about these things?"

Zhao Zhiling spoke up at the right moment, ending the argument between the two: "His Demon-Slaying General's Mansion has 2,500 soldiers, and my Yangzhou Demon-Suppressing Division also has 2,500 soldiers. Now his Demon-Slaying General's Mansion has set its sights on the entire Huainan Road, destroying mountains and temples, while my Yangzhou Demon-Suppressing Division has not even cleaned up the land of Yangzhou Prefecture. Don't you feel ashamed?"

His tone was somewhat harsh, and a barely suppressed anger surged deep within his eyes.

Upon hearing this, the people around couldn't help but sneer, thinking to themselves, "Don't you even know how many Demon Suppression Guards there are in the yamen?"
The Demon Suppression Division does not have a clearly defined military rank, but each Junior Officer can command 500 Demon Suppression Guards, which together constitutes a force of 2,500 officers and soldiers...

However, the Demon Suppression Guards of the Yangzhou Demon Suppression Division have never been at full strength!
Ever since Wang Wenyou was transferred to the position of Demon Suppression General of Huainan Circuit, the presence of the Yangzhou Demon Suppression Division has been declining. Now, in Yangzhou City, when people mention the Demon Suppression Division or the Demon Suppression Guard, they talk about how mighty the Demon Suppression General is and how amazing the Demon Suppression General's Mansion is. Few people remember the Yangzhou Demon Suppression Division.

Occasionally, when someone mentions their Yangzhou Demon Suppression Division, it's always used to belittle them, making their Demon Suppression Division look like a clown to highlight how amazing the Demon Suppression General is and how majestic the Demon Suppression General's mansion is.

Unfortunately, their Demon Suppression Division didn't have any impressive achievements to rival the Demon Suppression General's Mansion.

Nowadays, even the Demon Suppression Guards of the Demon Suppression Division have to lie and say they are from the Demon Suppression General's Mansion in order to buy a large steamed bun...

Zhao Zhiling came to the dock today not just to see Wang Wen off.

He came to confirm with his own eyes whether Wang Wen had really left Yangzhou with the main force... It's a journey of six thousand miles, and even if they go as fast as they can, it will take three to five months to return to Yangzhou, right?
This three to five-month gap is a good opportunity for the Yangzhou Demon Suppression Division to regain its prestige.

"Even if you won't stand up for me, you should at least stand up for yourselves, right?"

Seeing the guilty smiles on everyone's faces, Zhao Zhiling's anger was about to burst: "Are you all willing to be suppressed by the Demon-Slaying General's Mansion for the rest of your lives? My demands are not high. Isn't the Demon-Slaying General's Mansion launching a campaign to destroy mountains and temples throughout Huainan Province? I only ask that you launch a campaign to destroy mountains and temples within Yangzhou Prefecture, thoroughly investigate all demons and monsters in your jurisdiction, mountain by mountain and cave by cave, gather information on them, understand their movements, eliminate all destabilizing factors in advance, and turn the passive situation into the active one!"

Everyone stared at him in shock: 'You can't even bear to change a single word?'

What a wonderful way to despise Wang Erhu, understand Wang Erhu, and become Wang Erhu!

Standing at the bow of the boat, Wang Wen could clearly hear their conversation across the river, which was hundreds of meters away. He chuckled and turned to walk off the bow: "Damn, it's rolled up!"

Xu Wu stepped forward at the opportune moment, clasped his hands, and said, "Reporting to the general, all the soldiers in the manor have boarded the ship. There were 2,116 men expected, and 2,116 men have arrived."

Wang Wen nodded and waved his hand, saying, "Let's go!"

Xu Wu: "Yes, sir!"

He turned and left quickly, his hand on his knife. Before long, the fleet of boats, lined up in a single file, began to move steadily upstream amidst a series of neat and powerful shouts of pole vaulting and rowing.

Unseen by the naked eye underwater, hundreds of strong black fish, each as large as a fishing boat, bound by chains, were vigorously wagging their tail fins, dragging the cargo boat forward.

……

The massive fleet sailed smoothly upstream along the Grand Canal.

At every dock along the way, they would go ashore and send out a large number of demon-suppressing guards to replenish drinking water and food supplies while sweeping away the evil spirits and monsters that were causing trouble in the area.

With intelligence provided by the Hongze Lake Water Palace and the General's Mansion Inspection Office, and with the Yin Messenger Battalion acting as scouts to clear the way, the General's Demon-Suppressing Guards, having received their mission, first formulated a battle plan based on the intelligence, and then went straight to the point after disembarking. They neither took detours nor came up empty-handed, giving people a sense of perfect cure!

In addition, the local General's Office Inspectorate mobilized local officials, gentry, and wealthy families in advance to cooperate with the General's Office in its mission to eliminate demons.

In the end, the fleet of the Demon-Slaying General's Mansion would set off with red flags waving and gongs and drums beating loudly wherever it arrived at a place. After the medicine worked in a short time, it would immediately enter the stage of military and civilians being one family. The lower-level Demon-Slaying Guards would chop wood, carry water, repair bridges and pave roads for the people, while the officers would attend all kinds of banquets and receive all kinds of tributes and gifts. Then everyone would return to the ship, divide up the goods, and happily continue on their way to the next dock.

Wang Wen doesn't swindle money from the poor, but he has no reason to let go of the money of the rich and ruthless officials and gentry!

what?
How did he know that those officials, gentry, and wealthy families were rich but heartless?

What are you doing as an inspector in the General's Office?
Who absolutely needs to bleed, who doesn't need to bleed, who will bleed heavily, and who only needs a little...

The local inspector from the General's Office had already made arrangements in advance!
Xu Wu has a set of rules for dealing with people who value money over their lives! Wang Wen isn't worried about his reckless behavior offending anyone.

In the eyes of the ruling class of the Great Zhou Dynasty, these officials, gentry and wealthy families were considered commoners, while the poor and poor were not even considered commoners.

As a military general, it would be taboo for him not to exploit these officials and wealthy families, and it would be taboo for him not to help the common people but to help the officials and wealthy families...

Furthermore, although Emperor Hongtai granted him the right to establish his own government and military headquarters, he also approved the necessary funds and provisions for him to do so.

But to this day, his Demon-Slaying General's Mansion has not received a single copper coin from the imperial court.

In other words, most of the money and food consumed by the Demon-Slaying General's Mansion to date comes from the "generous donations" of "philanthropists" from all walks of life.

What else can he do but exploit these officials, gentry, and wealthy households?
Are we going to make them pay for everything out of their own pockets?

Isn't that rebellion?
Therefore, Wang Wen was completely at ease and skilled at scrapping, solving the problem of money and grain while also putting pressure on the officials and wealthy families in his jurisdiction. Why not do it?

The officials, gentry, and wealthy families in various places also paid very generously. After all, the Demon-Slaying General's Mansion does the work first and collects the money later. Where can you find such honest merchants?
The fleet continued its northward journey in a grand and imposing manner...

The canal boats served as military camps, as well as confidential mailrooms and command and control rooms.

Every day, a large amount of information about demons and monsters is delivered to the General's fleet via the Hongze Lake Water Palace and the Underworld Messengers Camp.

While sweeping away the lesser demons and ghosts, the General's fleet was also constantly gathering and refining information on the powerful demon kings who ruled the mountains.

The form of the resurgence of demons and monsters throughout Huainan Road is becoming increasingly clear.

On April 15, the fleet arrived at Hongze Lake and stayed there for three days.

As the host, Ao Qing personally slaughtered a giant turtle the size of a round table and boiled it with a large amount of aged medicinal herbs to make ten pots of nourishing soup for the entire army.

With the help of a bowl of turtle soup, Xie Zhixuan successfully cultivated the ninth level of the "Nine Waves of the Azure Sea" technique, breaking through to the Acquired Realm and becoming the number one expert in the Demon-Slaying General's Mansion after Wang Wen.

The other Demon Suppression Guards also made progress. Even those who had never practiced martial arts before entering the General's Mansion successfully cultivated internal strength with this bowl of turtle soup.

For a time, the two thousand Demon-Suppressing Guards of the General's Mansion were unable to find a single martial artist of the Ming Jin level.

This is the dividend of the times...

On April 18, the fleet continued northward. Nine days later, the fleet arrived in Suqian, in the territory of the first crimson-level dangerous monster, "Iron-Headed Baxia".

That night, Wang Wen personally took action and fought a fierce battle against the giant tortoise, which was as big as a carriage, with scales on its claws, fangs in its mouth, and sharp spikes on its back.

The next day, he carried the giant tortoise back to the ship, personally took a knife and cut out a pile of tortoise meat to nourish the entire army. As for the tortoise shell covered with barbs, he sent it to the capital to show his merit.

He used his divine eye to see that this giant tortoise had a malevolent aura but no resentment. It had harmed people but had never eaten them. Its strength was even greater than that of the giant crocodile in Chaohu Lake.

Wang Wen originally intended to subdue it and tie it with an iron chain to pull the boat.

Unfortunately, this thing is too unintelligent and cannot understand human speech.

It took Wang Wen a lot of effort to kill him.

After killing "Iron-Headed Overlord", the fleet continued north to Xuzhou.

On May 11, the fleet arrived in Xuzhou. Wang Wen ordered the fleet to dock and rest for seven days, entrusting many official duties to Xu Wu.

Then, he left the fleet with several underworld messengers and rode the Black Oxen northwards to the Yellow River...

In mid-to-late May, the Yellow River will enter its summer flood season.

He arrived just in time!
Wang Wen waited by the Yellow River for only two or three days before his underworld messengers reported that torrential rains had been falling in the upper reaches of the Yellow River for days, causing the water level to rise three feet in the lower reaches and the floodwaters to be like mud.

He rode the two black oxen southward along the ecliptic, and finally, at a narrow section of the river, he saw the torrent he longed for…

"Boom..."

Wang Wen stood in the torrential rain and threw a piece of dead wood, about the thickness of a waist, into the flood. The piece of dead wood bounced twice in the flood, and then broke into two pieces.

The terrifying thing about floods is not just the rapid flow of the water, but also the large amount of sand and gravel they carry. If an ordinary person goes into the water and is hit by those sand and gravel, they will be seriously injured if they don't die...

Hei Erniu craned his neck, gazing at the two pieces of dead wood receding into the distance, and whispered with concern, "Master, given the situation, do you still want to go into the water?"

"Well, it's not a big problem!"

Wang Wen pondered for a moment, then quickly stripped off his armor and clothes and threw them onto Hei Erniu's back.

Of course he knows the water-avoidance technique. He came to the Yellow River to be washed by the flood. If he is holding the water-avoidance technique, how can he withstand the flood?

"Don't wander off, just wait for me here..."

Soon, he was completely naked except for a pair of shorts. After stretching his neck and limbs, he plunged into the Yellow River.

Before he could regain his footing, countless stones rained down on him, some no bigger than an egg or a fist, others as big as a bucket or a millstone!

Even with his perfected Iron Shirt technique protecting him, he still felt a tightness in his chest from being hit by those stones...

He dared not hesitate and immediately sank to the bottom of the river, assumed a horse stance, and bravely withstood the torrent and boulders, silently reciting the first level of the "Nine Tribulations Return to Origin Body" mental technique.

He had already thoroughly mastered the cultivation path and mental techniques of the first level of the "Nine Tribulations Returning to Origin Body" and quickly cleared his mind of distractions, entering a meditative state.

Before long, he sensed wisps of indescribable and strange power flowing into his body through his pores, like a wild horse running rampant inside him!

(End of this chapter)