The world is like a prison, my body is holy

The opening ceremony is over.

Wang Wen originally intended to return to the Demon-Slaying General's Mansion to continue his work, but after enjoying the breeze in mid-air, he inexplicably felt tired. So he simply landed on the ground, casually cast a simple disguise spell to change his appearance and figure, picked up an unnamed grass stem from the roadside and put it in his mouth, then rested his hands on his head and slowly walked towards Yangzhou City along the wide and straight road.

Everyone knows that immortals are good, but they can't forget fame and fortune!

Where are the generals and ministers of ancient and modern times? Their desolate graves are overgrown with weeds...

He shouted with abandon, trying to relieve his pent-up emotions.

Passersby glanced at the young man, dressed in the robes of a demon-suppressing guard but without a black sword at his waist, chanting while swaying his head. Surprisingly, no one looked at him strangely.

They could tell the young man was exhausted, and seemed completely dazed...

"Sir, are you alright?"

An elderly, kind-hearted woodcutter, carrying a heavy load of firewood, followed him for a long time. Seeing his unsteady, stumbling figure, the woodcutter quickened his pace to overtake him, then carefully pulled half a palm-sized, dark, coarse grain pancake from his food bag and handed it to him: "Are you hungry? If you don't mind, I have half a pancake here. Have a couple of bites; we'll be back in town soon, and there will be food there..."

Wang Wen glanced at his calloused, rough hands and the "pancake" in his hand that seemed to be mixed with some wild grass. If he hadn't said he "didn't mind," Wang Wen really would have.

But since he said he "didn't mind", then Wang Wen couldn't mind even if he did.

"Thank you so much, sir..."

He took the "steamed bun" from the woodcutter, took a big bite, and found his mouth full of crumbs, a sour and astringent taste, and even the texture of spoiled leftover rice. But he still ate the "steamed bun" without changing his expression, swallowing it down in big mouthfuls, and said half-jokingly, "This half 'steamed bun' of yours has saved my life. To tell you the truth, I haven't had a rest for almost half a month, and I can hardly breathe..."

The old woodcutter sighed heavily in a tone that was a mixture of weariness and kindness characteristic of the elderly, and reached out to help him up: "Ah, you've suffered so much..."

For some reason, when Wang Wen heard these words, he felt a lump in his throat and his vision blurred instantly. He lowered his eyes and said softly, "Who doesn't suffer? Aren't you suffering too?"

The old woodcutter stretched the carrying pole on his shoulder slightly, and chuckled casually: "Hey, this is nothing, I've endured this for most of my life..."

Wang Wen: "Having endured most of your life, don't you ever think about taking a break?"

The old woodcutter said, "I want to rest too, but I still have a young child at home who isn't married yet. I need to save up some money for him while I'm still able to work, so I can find him a wife..."

Wang Wen: "This generation after generation, where is the leader?"

The old woodcutter said, “What’s the big deal? Isn’t this how our ancestors have always lived? When we were as young as you, our fathers also worked hard to save money for us to build houses and find wives… Hey, life is so short. In the blink of an eye, we’ve become as old as our fathers.”

Wang Wen paused, then suddenly realized something. His tone was ethereal, as if his soul had left his body: "If you could live another life, would you still be willing to do it again?"

"Of course I'm happy to, why wouldn't I be?"

The old woodcutter was very talkative, and said cheerfully, "If only I could serve my mother again, and get another beating from my father, how wonderful that would be..."

Wang Wen: "Don't you find it bitter?"

The old woodcutter pondered for a long time before saying, "At the time, it felt bitter, but looking back now, it feels sweet..."

Wang Wen's thoughts were drawn away, flying very far, into those scenes he thought he had long since stopped caring about, long since forgotten. He smiled and waved to those figures who hadn't smiled at him in his dreams for a very long time...

He suddenly understood many things and realized many things he had never realized before. He felt relieved and a surge of strength welled up in the emptiness in his heart.

He reached out and gently patted the old woodcutter's shoulder, channeling a wisp of pure magic power mixed with the energy of the Wood element to calm the old woodcutter's soul and expel the deathly aura permeating his body: "Old man, stay alive, you will surely see a house full of children and grandchildren!"

The old woodcutter, though puzzled, still smiled and replied, "Then I'll take your kind words..."

Wang Wen smiled and waved goodbye: "Please wait a moment, I still have a lot of official business at the yamen, I'll be going now."

The old woodcutter waved his hand, saying, "Then please walk slowly, okay?"

Wang Wen nodded, took a step, and in a flash appeared at the end of the straight road, leaving only a tiny black dot.

The old woodcutter was stunned for a moment, then suddenly bent down and put down the firewood on his carrying pole. He stamped his feet in surprise and joy, exclaiming, "My goodness, we've met a god!"

……

The Shugang Hill, where Zhou Tian Academy is located, is not far from Yangzhou City.

Wang Wen quickly blended into the flow of people entering the city, without attracting anyone's attention.

He followed the flow of people, slowly entering the city in a queue, observing the complexions and expressions of the crowd while listening to the chirping of crickets and the idle chatter, trying to find any gaps in his work.

The result was satisfactory. Although there were many complaints among the crowd about the sharp drop in income and rising prices this year, and how some families could barely afford two meals of thin porridge, there were virtually no complaints about food prices or the inability to buy food.

This at least shows that he did a fairly good job in Yangzhou.

As for statements like "income has plummeted, prices have risen, and the family can barely afford two meals of thin porridge," he completely ignored them.

In this year of great disaster, many places are struggling to even afford a single meal of grass roots and tree bark a day...

This is all the ability Wang Wen has; he can't demand perfection any further.

As he glanced around, he inadvertently caught sight of a somewhat familiar figure. He looked closer and saw the young monk he had met a few times before, carrying a broken bowl and begging for alms from a thin, sallow-faced woman in the crowd, whose clothes were patched and who was holding an infant in her arms…

With just one glance, Wang Wen could tell that the woman was surrounded by death energy, her remaining vitality as fragile as a candle in the wind or a lamp in the rain. Without proper external intervention, she would likely pass away within the next day or two.

He hesitated for a moment, then pointed to Cheng Jian and slowly wiped his eyes with his hand before looking closely again.

The first thing that catches the eye is the golden light of merit behind the young monk's head. The golden light of merit is not particularly grand or dazzling, but it has a kind of light and tenacity like a candle in the middle of the night.

Correspondingly, there was a dark red aura above the young woman's head that swayed like seaweed.

Wang Wen had seen many kinds of malevolent energy. Most of them were bright red mist. The deeper the sins committed, the brighter the color and the larger the area of ​​the mist.

But this was the first time Wang Wen had ever seen such a single wisp of malevolent energy, which was also dark red... Of course, he rarely used his divine eye to observe large groups of people, as it was not very meaningful.

The relationship between merit and evil, and right and wrong, is not absolute.

Just like his demon-suppressing guards, each of them exuded a strong aura of malevolence, so too did the butchers in the market, who also carried varying degrees of malevolent energy.
Even though he couldn't see it himself, he was certain that he also possessed a malevolent aura...

But does that mean they are all utterly wicked people?

Then how do we explain the golden light of merit that Wang Wen possesses?
It can only be said that Heaven has its own laws, and humanity has its own rules.

In the eyes of Heaven, perhaps there is no essential difference between humans and dogs; human life is life, and so is dog life.

But in a humanitarian context, there's a fundamental difference between humans and dogs. A human assaulting another is just a public order incident, but a dog biting someone is something that's served on the table...

Just as Wang Wen was pondering what that dark red aura above the young woman's head was, the young woman, unable to resist the monk's shameless pestering, reluctantly took half a steamed bun from her food bag and put it into the monk's broken bowl.

In an instant, a wisp of the golden light of merit from behind the young monk's head entered the young woman's body, evaporating most of the dark red malevolent energy above her head, leaving only a finger-length section. The dense, impenetrable death energy within her body also disappeared by more than half, instantly reducing her condition from critical to serious. With the aid of some medicine and proper recuperation, she should be able to live for another three to five years without much trouble.

Just then, the young monk also noticed Wang Wen's gaze. Amidst the disgusted whispers around him, he continued chewing the half-eaten biscuit as if nothing was wrong. He looked over at Wang Wen, and upon seeing him, he opened his eyes in surprise, as if he had seen through Wang Wen's disguise...

Immediately, he grinned broadly, like a carefree fool, and raised his hand to greet Wang Wen, like a seaweed dancing in the waves.

Wang Wen's lips twitched, but he still managed to force a smile, nodded in acknowledgment, and then looked away, following the crowd into the city.

"Those who help others to save themselves..."

He murmured to himself, his understanding of merit, malevolent energy, and the cycle of reincarnation deepening.

He never hid his disgust for Buddhism, because there were far too many bald monks who, under the guise of Buddhist disciples, engaged in swindling and predatory activities.

Just as he despises bureaucrats, it is also because there are far too many bureaucrats who, under the guise of being "parents' officials," engage in despicable acts of exploiting the people and disregarding human life.

When a large number of individual cases emerge, why should we expect others not to generalize to the whole?
But for those who truly practice idealism and goodwill, whether they are officials, Confucian scholars, Taoists, or monks...

Even if he was just an old woodcutter who was struggling to make ends meet, why would he be willing to give half a coarse grain pancake to a complete stranger?

Wang Wendu genuinely respected them.

The more he understood the corruption of the world and the difficulty in distinguishing between good and evil, the more he respected these people, their ideals, their perseverance, and their purity amidst the mire.

Perhaps, just as his senior brother, Master Hunkun, said, these people are the backbone of the Chinese nation!
Wang Wen never thought of himself as that kind of person.

But he wanted to be that kind of person...

……

As Wang Wen stepped into the main hall of the General's Mansion, the two busy Yin spirits in the hall looked at him and then transformed into two streams of light that merged into his body.

His body swayed, and his steps immediately became heavier.

The Yin spirits that are divided into separate bodies are not true clones; they do not have an independent source of energy or independent thinking ability.

Essentially, all the work done by the Yin spirit's clone was actually done by him personally.

This is what truly divides a person into three parts...

Wang Wen strode into the hall and picked up the document on the desk: "Summon Xu Wu to see me."

"Here!"

The response came from outside the lobby from the demon-suppressing guards on duty.

Wang Wen carefully perused the document, which had been perfected by a split of the Yin spirit. After a few seconds, he suddenly said softly without looking up, "Come in."

A wisp of water vapor passed through the wall and landed, transforming into a young general in silver armor. He clasped his hands and said, "Reporting to the Great General, my father sent an urgent message before noon, saying that he had broken down in negotiations with the Yellow River God. Please make a decision, Great General!"

Wang Wen frowned: "Is that serpent really that arrogant?"

The silver-armored young general added fuel to the fire without hesitation: "Reporting to the Great General, my father has repeatedly tried to negotiate with him, but that fellow has been relentlessly aggressive, saying that he only has two choices for my father: either submit to him or hand over control of the canal... There are rumors in the Yellow River basin that that long serpent is only one step away from becoming the Yellow River God. He only needs to control the canal to ascend to the position of Yellow River God immediately!"

"You ungrateful animal!"

Wang Wen said casually, "Then let's fight. Immediately send my orders to Bai Zimo of Chaohu and Zhi Baiqing, the Corpse King of Taihu, instructing them to lead their elite naval forces north to Hongze Lake to prepare for battle. I will go to Hongze Lake soon to personally supervise the battle."

At this critical juncture, he truly did not want to cause any more trouble, and repeatedly instructed Ao Qing to negotiate with that long snake of the Yellow River, even if it meant giving up some benefits.

But that long snake of the Yellow River, perhaps seeing that his Demon-Slaying General's Mansion was currently tied up by the drought in Huainan and Jiangnan, repeatedly took advantage of his kindness.

So he had no choice but to risk breaking a tooth and kill that serpent as a warning to others...

Upon hearing this, the silver-armored young general was overjoyed and immediately clasped his hands in obedience: "This humble general obeys!"

As soon as he finished speaking, he stood up, transformed into a wisp of water vapor, and disappeared through the wall.

Wang Wen put down the documents in his hand, casually conjured a ball of water, and vigorously rubbed his numb face with both hands, finally clearing his mind a little.

Before long, Xu Wu strode in, covered in sweat, and said with his hands clasped, "Brother, you were looking for me!"

Wang Wen picked up the document from the desk and handed it to him: "Take a look at it and improve it. Send it to the prefectures and counties in Huainan and Jiangnan tomorrow."

Xu Wu bowed and stepped forward, taking the document with both hands and examining it closely. He murmured under his breath, "Work-for-Relief Program and Planned Economy..." (End of Chapter)