The world is like a prison, my body is holy

Chapter 154 Using a Borrowed Knife to Kill a Demon

"Boom..."

The dilapidated gate of the City God Temple was kicked open, and two bundles of explosives were thrown into the temple through the gaping gate.

“Bang, bang!”

Two muffled, violent roars followed as the half-ruined courtyard wall of the City God Temple collapsed, sending gusts of air carrying smoke and dust outwards.

"Enter!"

With a powerful shout, Xu Wu and Xie Zhixuan each led a team of demon-suppressing guards, holding torches high, and rushed into the City God Temple, drawing their swords and standing guard in all directions.

All that could be heard from the dark temple was a chaotic commotion, like chickens scattering and dogs barking, interspersed with the thuds of heavy objects falling to the ground, as if the roof tiles had collapsed...

But soon, the chaotic sounds subsided.

Wang Wen strode into the City God Temple, munching on a roast chicken. He stood between the two teams of demon-suppressing guards, leisurely munching on the chicken while gazing at the dark temple.

With his strength, he could certainly raze this dilapidated City God Temple to the ground with a single slap, forcing out the evil things hidden inside.

But their sweeping campaign was actually for training purposes.

When it comes to training troops, of course you have to follow the procedures!

The custom of ringing the doorbell twice before visiting the Demon-Slaying General's mansion is a fine one; we mustn't cause trouble here.

Otherwise, what if the demon-suppressing guards all followed his example and slapped each other without even asking questions?

If you manage to swat a rat or a bedbug, that's fine, but if you actually swat a big cat in the face, wouldn't you just slide over and feed the cat right there?

"Excuse me, is anyone there?"

Wang Wen casually tossed away the last chicken bone, and under Xu Wu's speechless gaze, skillfully wiped his greasy hands on Xu Wu's body, while politely smiling and saying, "We are pilgrims passing by. We heard that this little temple is quite efficacious, so we came here to offer incense... Is there no one to receive us?"

In the dark temple, a trembling, aged voice indeed came from within, responding politely: "Honored believer, it's getting dark, and our temple is no longer accepting worshippers. Please come again tomorrow."

Although the temple was pitch black, Wang Wen's divine sense clearly saw a hunched old man with white hair, wearing patched hemp clothes and a tattered cloth belt, trembling as he poked his head out from a hole under the offering table to respond to him...

His divine sense even reached into the cave, where the old man, leaning on his cane, was still trembling like someone with Parkinson's disease.

Wang Wen tilted his head in bewilderment as he looked at the old man, thinking to himself, "How could such a thing have managed to kill so many groups of Demon Suppression Guards?"

Are the demon-suppressing guards of the Xuzhou Demon-Suppressing Division all made of clay?

He pondered for a few moments, then raised his hand and slowly wiped his eyes with his fingers.

In the dim light, a layer of dark golden light shone in his eyes.

Through the layer of dark golden light, he looked at the old man under the offering table and saw a bald, gray-furred weasel with a white beard, trembling in its burrow, staring at him...

But that's not the point.

Even without using his divine eye, he could smell the demonic aura emanating from the old weasel and already knew it was a demon.

The key point is that he saw a golden light of merit emanating from this old yellow dog!
It wasn't just a thin layer covering the body, but a ring as big as a door basin, hanging in the old weasel's mind, shining brightly!
Without exaggeration, this was the largest golden wheel of merit that Wang Wen had ever seen, apart from the golden light of merit behind his own head.

At a different time and in a different place, some people say that this weasel is possessed by immortals or Buddhas, and he believes it to a great extent.

Shocked, he rolled up his sleeve and rubbed his eyes vigorously, then wiped his pupils with his fingers again and looked again... The golden light of merit was still shining brightly.

In a flash, several thoughts raced through his mind.

Is there a bug in the Heavenly Dao's system?

'How could the great men of Heaven possibly have bugs?'

'If there weren't any bugs, then this old weasel is a good demon, right?'

'How could a good demon betray and kill the demon-suppressing guards of the Xuzhou Demon-Suppressing Division?'

'If it had wantonly murdered the Demon-Suppressing Guards, how could it possibly possess such a radiant golden light of merit?'

There must be some misunderstanding here, right?

'Misunderstanding? You're already here, what misunderstanding could there be?'

'Why didn't you get caught in a compromising situation earlier or later? Why did you get caught as soon as you arrived in Xuzhou?'

'It's obvious someone is using you as a tool...'

"Damn it, they dare to use me as a weapon!!!"

His face instantly turned cold, and he turned around and pulled Xu Wu, who was standing beside him, in front of him: "Go to the Demon Suppression Division of Xuzhou immediately and order them to take control of that wandering Taoist priest who reported to the authorities a few days ago!"

This sudden change caused Xu Wu's mind to freeze for a second.

But the next second, he crossed his arms without hesitation and shouted, "Yes, sir!"

He turned and rushed out of the City God Temple, grabbed a squad of demon-suppressing guards outside, quickly mounted his horse, and galloped back to Xuzhou City.

This is Xu Wu.

Xu Wu is actually very smart; in some ways, he is even smarter than Wang Wen.

He simply never used his intelligence on Wang Wen...

When Wang Wen said he was going to flee, he prepared a horse.

When Wang Wen said he wanted to kill someone, he handed him a knife.

As for what happens if someone flees or kills someone...

That's all in the future.

This is why Wang Wen likes to bring Xu Wu along with him on everything. Besides the fundamental premise of loyalty, it's also because Xu Wu is genuinely easy and comfortable to use.

After the sound of horses' hooves faded into the distance, Wang Wencai raised his hand and said softly, "Sheathe your sword!"

"Keng."

A series of crisp sounds rang out as longswords were sheathed, and all the Demon-Suppressing Guards around the area simultaneously put away their gleaming blades.

Wang Wen squatted down facing the temple, clapping his hands towards the dark hall, and tried his best to soften his tone as he smiled, "Old man, please come out, we are all good people..."

He harbored prejudices against demons, especially weasel spirits. But he understood better than anyone how difficult it was to accumulate merit.

Truly, no one in the world understands this better than him.

"Really, please come out quickly, let's talk this out..."

Wang Wen tried his best to persuade it with kind words, but the old weasel under the table showed no intention of coming out. It was trembling like a leaf, but it just wouldn't run away.

He just huddled in that hole, half his head sticking out, trembling as he warily stared at the gate, without making a sound.

Wang Wendu suspected that his foot had gone numb...

"Stop hiding under the offering table, I saw you a long time ago!"

He was getting impatient, but he still tried to soften his tone and smiled as he persuaded, "Really, if I really wanted to do something to you, hiding anywhere wouldn't help. You'll see..."

Without turning his head, he casually made a gesture beside him, and a golden, dazzling crimson lightning bolt appeared beside it, like a firework that remained condensed and did not dissipate. As it illuminated the entire dim City God Temple, it also illuminated the old weasel's cloudy eyes.

It stared at the golden light, its eyes showing a dazed look.

After a long while, it laboriously crawled out of the burrow, leaning on a rough cane with bark still attached, and walked step by step out of the dark temple, into the light of the crimson palace thunder, and stopped at the threshold of the dilapidated temple gate.

It looked at Wang Wen and bowed with difficulty: "This old man, Huang San, greets you, sir. My humble abode is simple and I have nothing to offer you. I hope you will forgive me."

Looking at its hunched body, Wang Wen simply sat down on the ground and waved his hand casually, saying, "Old man, there's no need to be so polite. We didn't come here for food or drink."

He paused, then introduced himself: "I am the Demon-Slaying General of Huainan Circuit. While marching through this area, the Demon-Suppressing Division of Xuzhou requested my assistance, claiming that this temple had been seized by demons who were swindling the surrounding people out of their incense offerings. The Xuzhou Demon-Suppressing Guards had launched several campaigns, suffering heavy losses but returning empty-handed. That's why I came to take a look. After arriving here and meeting you, sir, I was surprised to find that things seemed to be different from what I had heard... May I ask, sir, is there some misunderstanding here? Is there anything I can do to help you?"

Huang San listened to Wang Wen's account, his dim eyes remaining unchanged.

But Wang Wen seemed to see a kind of sorrow, despair, and despair in its eyes, a feeling of utter despair.

He felt that he must have been prejudiced and misread the text... Its eyes hadn't changed at all, so how could it have such intense emotions?
Huang Sanchen remained silent for a long time. The night wind ruffled his snow-white beard and his tattered, empty clothes, giving him a sense of being at his wit's end.

This left Wang Wen completely baffled... What the hell did I say that you've put me in this terrible situation?
He went over his words carefully, but couldn't find anything wrong with them, so he said, "Alright, since the old man has something he can't say, I won't ask any further. We'll take our leave now. Take care, old man!"

He stood up, dusted off his backside, turned around and waved to the group of handsome men posing with their hands on their waist knives: "Let's go, call it a day!"

Just then, Huang San, who had been silent for a long time, suddenly spoke up: "Sir, I killed the man."

Wang Wen paused in his steps, then turned back with a slight amusement and said, "Stop fooling around. If it's inconvenient for you to say, then don't say it. There's no need for you to lie to this general. It won't do you any good."

He believed in the workings of Heaven and in the power of his own eyes.

Huang San seemed not to hear him, and stepped out of the threshold, slowly walking towards Wang Wen: "It was indeed this old man who killed them. This old man is a weasel demon, who took over this place and deceived the people into offering incense. When they came to fight him, this old man cruelly harmed them..."

It's like it's possessed.

It's like he's contemplating suicide.

Wang Wen was a little annoyed. He turned around, picked up a small pebble with his toe, and spat it out with force.

"Bang..."

The pebble struck Huang San's cane precisely, sending it flying.

Without his cane, Huang San's legs gave way and he collapsed to the ground, but he still managed to scramble to his feet: "Sir, I killed the man..."

Wang Wen angrily rebuked, "Look at yourself! You can barely kill a chicken, let alone a person! Who are you capable of killing? If you want to die, go ahead and slit your own throat. Don't dirty my hands!"

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

Huang San stared at his retreating figure in despair, hissing, "Sir, please have mercy and spare my worthless life! Settle this case! If you don't take my life, they'll come back here, and more people will die..."

Wang Wen, who already had one foot on the threshold, heard his roar and angrily kicked the threshold, shattering it. He turned and strode back into the courtyard, looking down at Huang San and shouting, "What exactly happened? Either don't tell me, or tell me clearly! You're not afraid of death, so why are you afraid of lawsuits? Who will come? Who will die? How will they die? With your old bones?"

Huang San just kept shaking his head, repeatedly saying, "Sir, please have mercy and take this old man in..."

Looking at its state, Wang Wen felt both sorry for it and so angry that he wanted to stomp it to death.

Just then, a rapid sound of galloping hooves came from afar.

Wang Wen turned around and soon saw Xu Wu rushing in, panting and gripping his sword, saying in a low voice, "General, that wandering Taoist priest has disappeared."

Wang Wen frowned: "Is he really missing, or is he faking it?"

Xu Wu understood and shook his head, saying, "I don't know yet. Anyway, Yu Qifeng took me to the inn where that Taoist priest was staying, but we couldn't find him... According to Yu Qifeng, he returned from our boat in the evening, and that Taoist priest even visited him at the Demon Suppression Office."

"Interesting, they're trying to use me as a tool!"

Wang Wen squinted and chuckled, but inwardly he was furious: "If you get away this time, I'll change my surname to yours!"

Having said that, he disregarded the presence of Xu Wu and Huang San, pointed a finger towards the sky in the direction of Xuzhou, and a torrent of crimson lightning shot up from his arm like a fountain, instantly coalescing into a thunderstorm too large to be seen with the naked eye above the dilapidated City God Temple: "Heavenly spirits, earthly spirits, may the Heavenly Lord manifest his might... guide me, guide my thunder magic..."

The next second, he suddenly waved his hand fiercely, as if he were slaying an enemy in mid-air: "Nine Heavens Responding to the Origin of Thunder, Universal Transformation Heavenly Venerable, punish evil!"

[Merit - 200]

"Kacha!"

A violent clap of thunder was heard, and the thunderbolt hanging in the sky above the dilapidated City God Temple transformed into a bolt of lightning, shooting into Xuzhou City and illuminating the entire city in an instant.

Xu Wu: Σ(д|||)
Huang San: (ΩДΩ)
Wang Wen: 'We're done! That's it!'

He let out a soft breath, and his mood instantly improved: "Ma Feng!"

A golden light descended before Wang Wen, transforming into a golden-armored general kneeling on one knee: "Your subordinate is here!"

Wang Wen said expressionlessly, "Go to Xuzhou City, follow the direction of the lightning strike, and drag that Taoist priest out for me. If he's still alive, make him wish he were dead. If he's already dead, make him die again!"

Ma Feng crossed his arms: "Here you go!"

After saying that, he transformed into a golden ray of light and soared into the sky, disappearing into the night in an instant.

Wang Wen turned around again and looked down at the stunned Huang San: "I'll give you one last chance. Are you going to talk or not?"

Huang San suddenly came to its senses, its gaze instantly becoming eager. It scrambled to Wang Wen's feet, tilting its head back and looking at him with a proud and arrogant expression: "My lord, are you a divine general from the Heavenly Thunder Department who has descended to earth?"

Wang Wen: "Is that important?"

"Very important!"

(End of this chapter)