The more you believe me, the more real it becomes.

Chapter 182 Forbidden Word Technique (4k)

A duel between generals is something that would never happen under normal circumstances, at least not at the level of a commander-in-chief.

This usually only happens between mid- to low-ranking officers.

If the commander-in-chief is captured and killed, should the battle still be fought? If so, how should it be fought?
Just like that day in the canyon, when Zhang Wei was captured by Wang Pingzhang.

The 20,000-strong army was instantly dumbfounded. If Wang Pingzhang hadn't had no intention of launching a major attack, Zhang Wei's troops would have collapsed in an instant.

This bald, burly man, as the garrison commander of the water fortress, should also be treated the same way.

But since only one person came, and he considered himself exceptionally capable and was not a proper military officer, he didn't care about any of that.

They just thought it was a tough nut to crack and that it would give him a chance to show off.

So when he reached the gate of the stockade and was about to have it opened, the former garrison commander he had replaced immediately asked:

"What brings you here, General? You are just an unknown soldier. Even if four or five soldiers are lost, it is nothing."

The bald, burly man waved his hand dismissively and said:
"Open the door! Open the door! This general wants to go out and meet him!"

Upon hearing this, the original garrison commander was immediately greatly alarmed:

"General, you mustn't! You are the commander of the stronghold, how can you so easily take such a dangerous risk? Let me call for my men to fire a volley of arrows, and all problems will naturally disappear!"

As he spoke, he showed the bald, burly man the archers who had already climbed the stockade.

But the bald man ignored all of that; he just glared and cursed:
"That fellow specifically asked for me. If I don't go, wouldn't I be losing face for no reason?"

"General! This won't do!" The former garrison commander stamped his feet in frustration. Throughout history, what kind of military commander would run off to fight with someone?
He was filled with even more resentment: he had joined the rebel army because he hated the corrupt and incompetent court that stood idly by while the southwest suffered disaster, and he had hoped to put his skills to good use. But now, not only had the opportunity he had been hoping for been snatched away out of thin air, but this bald man was also a complete scoundrel!
Unexpectedly, his heartfelt words enraged the bald, burly man, who grabbed him by the collar and said:

"Are you angry that I took your official position and power, and you're deliberately trying to undermine my prestige?"

Upon hearing this, the former garrison commander immediately lost his temper.

"Since the general speaks of me this way, then I will naturally not stop you. Please do as you see fit!"

"Hmph, I bet you wouldn't dare!"

After releasing the man, the bald, burly man immediately carried the broad-backed, nine-ringed broadsword out of the village gate.

From afar, the man in the blue robe came into view.

Just as he was about to utter a few harsh words as usual, he heard the man in the blue robe look at him and say:

"That man is quite right, you really shouldn't have come out, although it wouldn't have made any difference anyway. And if I'm not mistaken, this easily defensible stronghold was also his doing, wasn't it?"

As Du Yuan spoke, she also looked at the man who had already reached the gate of the village.

This person carries the weight of literary destiny, the most of all the people Du Yuan has ever seen.

People like Han Zai, a renowned scholar from Qingzhou, and the noble young master of the Liu family, are both talented in literature, but their overall demeanor is quite different from this person's!

There are indeed capable people among the chaotic troops!
The bald, burly man was startled and quickly turned around to look.

The gate to the village was more than a hundred paces away. How could this person hear what was being said inside the village?

However, he remained calm, since he could easily lift the boulder himself, so it wouldn't be surprising if he encountered one or two others with supernatural abilities.

"Not bad, you're quite capable! In that case, do you know how heavy this broadsword in my hand is?"

Du Yuan withdrew her gaze from the man on the hill, then looked at the broadsword in the burly man's hand and said:
"It weighs about a hundred pounds, which is indeed a heavy weapon for ordinary people."

"Hmph, I knew I misjudged you. Let me tell you, this knife of mine isn't just some twenty or thirty pounds, it's..."

The bald, burly man, realizing what was happening, was speechless again.

After a moment of twitching at the corner of his mouth, he lifted the hundred-pound broadsword with one hand and pointed it at Du Yuan, saying:
"You arrogant scoundrel! Tell me, who are you?"

Du Yuan pointed in the direction of Cold Pine Mountain and said:
"Don't you all talk about me every day?"

The burly man's eyes widened instantly, his eyeballs almost popping out of their sockets:

"You...you mean you're that Taoist priest from Cold Pine Mountain?!"

Du Yuan raised an eyebrow slightly, a faint smile playing on her lips:
"Why, it doesn't look like it?"

The bald, burly man kept muttering to himself as Du Yuan spoke, his eyes scanning her up and down, trying to find something to bolster his confidence.

But the more I looked, the more it seemed like I was looking at flowers through a fog, with nothing real at all.

After a moment of hesitation, he roared and charged forward with his knife.

"You can fool others with your nonsense, but you dare to lie to your own Buddha? I'll break these arms of yours!"

The bald, burly man roared, then leaped up and delivered a fierce slash to Du Yuan's shoulder.

But the next moment, all that could be heard was the sound of metal and jade clashing.

The reason why the Golden Light Protecting the Three Mountains Monarch could be broken was because the Monarch's golden body and esteemed position were there. At that time, Du Yuan, whose power was still shallow, naturally could not withstand it.

But what are you, you bald thug?

Naturally, a flash of golden light appeared, and he was sent flying backward with a scream.

In a dizzying moment, he felt his body being lifted up by an invisible force. When he could barely make out what was in front of him, he found himself being pulled back into the air and suspended in front of the man in the blue robe.

The faint smile on the other person's face had vanished without a trace, replaced by a chilling coldness.
"Hmph! Let me ask you, since you took over this place, have the surrounding disaster victims suffered from your tyranny and evil ways, causing them unbearable misery?"

Is he really a Taoist priest from Cold Pine Mountain?
The burly man felt far more dizzy than before. His whole body went limp.

"Grandpa Immortal, spare me! Grandpa Immortal, spare me!"

"Spare my life? How dare you ask for that?"

The bald, burly man was so scared he almost peed his pants.
"Grandpa Immortal, please see the truth! Grandpa Immortal, please see the truth! Although I have acted improperly, at least I did not kill anyone!"

"Please, for this reason, spare my life!"

After he arrived, he did indeed commit all sorts of evil deeds, but there was one thing he always guarded against.

That means not causing any deaths.

Since the day he suddenly became as strong as an ox, he suddenly realized that while this could indeed be his capital to rise to prominence in this chaotic world, he might encounter someone even more powerful one day.

Therefore, he wanted to always leave himself a way out.

I never imagined that it would be so soon, and now it's time to use it!

I wonder if this immortal grandfather will spare his life because of this.

Du Yuan suddenly realized why the disaster victims said that although this guy was not a human being, at least he would never harm or kill anyone.

The reason you act so differently on the surface is because you want to leave yourself an escape route!

After giving a cold laugh, Du Yuan lifted him up in front of her from a distance and said:

"That's not impossible. Tell me, who's behind you? Where are you hiding? If you do, I might spare your life!" Although this bald man looked strong, he was definitely not the kind of person who could casually wield a hundred-pound broadsword.

Therefore, there must be some old man hiding behind him.

Moreover, Du Yuan could sense that something was hidden inside the water fortress.

Upon hearing this, the man seemed somewhat puzzled and said:
"The person behind me? I am a subordinate of General Yingtian."

Du Yuan frowned and said:

"Still spouting nonsense?"

The bald man hurriedly cupped his hands and begged:

"Grandpa Immortal, I... I really have no one else behind me. Ah, ah, I remember now! The Left Route General once tried to win me over, and even said that once the Yingtian General died, as long as I helped him ascend to the throne, he would make me the Left Route General!"

Amidst the chaos of battle, apart from the leading General Yingtian, the two generals on the left and right were the most distinguished.

But that's not what Du Yuan wanted to ask.

Du Yuan looked carefully at the bald man who was almost scared out of his wits and asked:

"I'm asking you, who exactly is this person like me standing behind you!"

The bald man was instantly dumbfounded.

If you were like that, wouldn't you be an immortal?
But how could I possibly know any immortals?

Even my identity as a monk is fake!
So, he immediately put on a mournful face and said:
"My lord, please spare me! How could I possibly know any immortals? And to tell you the truth, I have absolutely no connection with Buddha either, because even my identity as a monk is fake!"

"Ok?"

There's no one behind you? Then how come you have strength that's beyond human capabilities?

Du Yuan was a little taken aback for the first time. This guy definitely didn't have anything more important than his own life, so he would never lie.

But given the current situation, how is that possible?

"Then where does your extraordinary strength come from?"

The bald man hurriedly said:

"I...I don't know either! I just suddenly realized I've become stronger!"

As he spoke, he seemed to remember something and hurriedly added:

"Perhaps...perhaps Buddha took pity on me? I remember when I was fleeing with some fellow villagers, we hid in a dilapidated temple and slept there for the night. When we woke up the next day, we felt something was wrong! Because of this, I even shaved my head and became a monk with my brothers!"

He glanced at Du Yuan's face again, and seeing that Du Yuan seemed to be in a bad mood, he quickly changed his words:
"Ah, ah, Immortal Grandfather, you are wise. Actually... actually, becoming a monk wasn't because I suddenly realized something and turned to Buddhism. It's just that in this chaotic world, having a shaved head makes it easier to rob people!"

Du Yuan's eyes twitched as she listened, staring at the bald man, momentarily speechless:

"In this situation, since you have no one backing you up, how dare you come out and show off?"

The last time I encountered something like this was with that red stone whose sacred quality was evident just by looking at its horse-like face.
The bald man looked bewildered and asked in return:
"This...this requires someone? Someone like Coco wouldn't even be able to find a temple to burn incense, even if she were carrying a pig's head!"

Can’t be wrong!

This guy is definitely not anyone's pawn. If there really was someone behind it all, they would have been killed by this fool long ago, otherwise they wouldn't have put such an unknown character here.

But how do we explain that strange feeling in the village?
Du Yuan suppressed her doubts and turned her gaze back to the bald man:
"Very well. You may be spared the death penalty, but you cannot escape punishment. Do you accept your fate?"

The bald man, overjoyed at being granted a pardon, nodded his head vigorously, shouting, "I confess! I confess! I confess! I'll confess as much as I can live!"

Du Yuan pointed at him, her voice suddenly rising in pitch, clear and resonant, like the striking of a bell, ensuring that every corner inside and outside the water fortress could hear it clearly:

"I possess a divine power called the Forbidden Word Technique! Besides being able to forbid all magic under heaven and sever all supernatural abilities, it has countless other wondrous uses! Today, I will use this technique on you—to strip you of your brute strength to prevent you from continuing your evil deeds, and to seal the tendons in your legs as punishment! Are you willing?"

"Huh?!" The bald man was dumbfounded, his face turning ashen. "Then, how is that any different from a living dead?!"

"Fine, then I'll just kill you!"

"No, no, no, Immortal Lord, I'm out of my mind. I was talking nonsense just now. I admit it, I admit it!"

Aside from being even worse, this guy really does have a bit of Redstone's vibe.

I just don't know if this guy will ever mend his ways.

But he did leave a way out, and I couldn't really kill him for it.

Since bad people leave a bottom line when they do things, then if you have the ability, you should also leave a bottom line for them.

This is by no means an attempt to exonerate the wicked, but rather to offer a sliver of hope to those poor souls struggling to survive.

After thinking for a moment, Du Yuan lifted him up again, made him look into her eyes, and said:
"Let me tell you, you must repent and mend your ways from now on! Otherwise, if you commit any more evil deeds, you won't even need me to look for you; you'll come running to me and be dealt with!"

The bald man trembled violently, tears streaming down his face. "I understand! I understand, I understand! Don't worry, Grandfather Immortal, I understand everything! I, I have countless gold and silver treasures! I'm willing... willing to donate them all, and distribute them to the disaster victims captured from the village! Distribute them cleanly!"

Du Yuan nodded slightly, then carried him toward the water village.

But to his surprise, he expected to see them firing at him relentlessly, just like at Liu's fortified village.

But as it turned out, upon his arrival, there was not only no resistance, but there was also no one to be seen on the stockade walls.

Just as they were wondering what was going on, they suddenly saw the village gate open.

Then the man who had been glanced at a few more times earlier came running, shirtless, with a jade in his mouth and a knife in his hands, kneeling all the way.

Behind him were many soldiers who had laid down their weapons.

They were all crowded in front of the village gate, looking at Du Yuan with fear and unease.

Having roughly understood what the man was thinking, Du Yuan continued carrying the bald, burly man to the man's front.

Seeing Du Yuan approaching.

The man holding the jade pendant bowed his head sorrowfully, offering the knife with both hands, and said:
“I, Zhang Kui, have come to plead guilty, so that the Immortal Master may know that I am willing to bear the death penalty for the Water Village’s members’ opposition to the Imperial Court. However, the brothers behind me are just a group of pitiful people who took this dangerous path because they could not survive.”

"It is said that Heaven cherishes life, so we hope that the Immortal Lord will spare them for this reason!"

As he spoke, he raised his long sword even higher, and the rebel soldiers blocking the gate all knelt down in unison.

Ever since he saw the bald man unleash a golden light protecting his body with a single slash at the gate, he knew that the immortal from Cold Pine Mountain had arrived.

Therefore, he directly ordered the garrison in the village to give up resistance, and he himself went out of the village alone to apologize.

Looking at the man before her, a man with great literary talent, Du Yuan asked with a smile:

"Holding jade in his mouth and a knife in his hand? What's the story behind that?"

The man said dejectedly:
“We should emulate the ancient emperors who descended upon Western Qin. However, since the emperor is of high status and the common people are of low status, we dare not bring ritual vessels with us.”

(End of this chapter)