Starting with The Eagle Shooting Heroes: I gain a year's worth of skill every day.

Chen Guangyuan gripped the knife handle tightly, the veins on the back of his hand bulging.

Behind him, three hundred Golden Guards stood as if facing a formidable enemy.

The crossbows were drawn taut, the arrowheads gleaming coldly in the firelight, locked onto the figure in blue robes in the courtyard.

The torches crackled and popped.

The breathing of the crowd was heavy and suppressed.

Shen Mo ignored the hundreds of armored soldiers and the crossbows aimed at him.

He simply looked down at the girl in his arms who was still sobbing softly.

"Your uncle?"

The voice was very flat.

Yang Yuhuan trembled and followed Shen Mo's gaze, meeting Yang Xuangui's face, which was distorted by anger and fear.

"uncle……"

She called out instinctively, her voice filled with confusion and a hint of pleading.

"How dare you call me uncle!"

Yang Xuangui reacted like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, instantly bristling with anger.

He pointed at Shen Mo and shouted vehemently at Chen Guangyuan:

"General Chen! It's this sorcerer! He used his sorcery to destroy the villa and kill all the guards in the manor!"

He became more and more excited as he spoke, spitting as he spoke.

"He even tried to take advantage of my niece! Look! He stripped her clothes off and put her in his stinking Taoist robe! This is an utter disgrace!"

Yang Xuangui beat his chest and stamped his feet, looking heartbroken.

"My Yang family is an upright family! Yu Huan is about to marry into the Prince of Shou's mansion and become a princess! Now that such a disgraceful incident has occurred, how can our Yang family still stand in front of others?!"

He knelt down with a thud, repeatedly kowtowing to Chen Guangyuan, tears streaming down his face:

"General Chen, you must avenge our Yang family! Capture this evil Taoist priest and tear him to pieces! Restore my niece's innocence!"

These words were spoken with heart-wrenching intensity.

The Imperial Guards around Shen Mo exchanged bewildered glances, their gazes towards him changing.

So he was a womanizer?

Or is he a womanizer who knows sorcery?

Looking at Yang Yuhuan now—her hair was disheveled, her clothes were in disarray, she was wearing a man's Taoist robe, and she was hiding in his arms crying.

This scene looks like a humiliation no matter how you look at it.

The sentiment is exciting.

Many young soldiers gripped their weapons, waiting for the general's order to rush forward and tear this "evil Taoist" to pieces.

Chen Guangyuan did not give the order immediately.

His brows furrowed in worry.

Yang Xuangui's words sounded reasonable, but he still felt that something was wrong.

If this Taoist priest was truly a wicked sorcerer, why didn't he just take Miss Yang and elope far away?

Why stay here and wait for them to surround us?

And there was that strange pile of metal debris in the yard, and that corpse with a hole in its forehead...

This is something no ordinary "demon" could do.

There must be some hidden story behind this that he doesn't know.

more importantly--

Chen Guangyuan glanced at the ruins that filled the courtyard.

The destructive power was something even the most powerful catapults he had ever seen on the battlefield couldn't achieve.

If this Taoist priest really has such abilities, are his three hundred men enough for him to kill?

Just as Chen Guangyuan hesitated, a voice, tinged with sobs yet remarkably clear, rang out.

"No! That's not it!"

Yang Yuhuan peeked out from behind Shen Mo, her red and swollen eyes fixed on her uncle, shaking her head desperately.

"Uncle, how can you say that! The Taoist priest came to save me!"

The sound wasn't loud, but it carried clearly to everyone's ears in the deathly silent courtyard.

Yang Xuangui's cries came to an abrupt halt.

He looked at his niece in disbelief.

This usually docile and obedient niece actually dared to contradict me in front of so many people.

"Yu Huan! Have you been bewitched by this evil Taoist priest?!"

Yang Xuangui was both shocked and furious.

"Come here quickly! Don't be afraid, with your uncle and the generals of the Imperial Guard here, no one will dare to do anything to you!"

"No!"

Yang Yuhuan's voice grew louder, tinged with a desperate stubbornness.

"Those monsters! That blonde woman tried to kill me! It was the Taoist priest who saved me! Didn't you see what happened while you were hiding behind the artificial hill?!"

Upon hearing this, Yang Xuangui's face turned deathly pale.

Chen Guangyuan's sharp eyes immediately caught the fleeting panic on Yang Xuangui's face.

His heart skipped a beat.

It seems things are indeed not that simple.

"Miss Yang."

Chen Guangyuan spoke in a deep voice, trying to slow his tone so as not to startle her.

"Don't be afraid, I'm here and will get to the bottom of this. What do you mean by 'monster'?"

Yang Yuhuan was about to explain.

Shen Mo gently pressed down on her shoulder.

He finally raised his head.

His gaze swept across the crowd and landed on Chen Guangyuan.

"I killed him."

Shen Mo spoke.

The sound wasn't loud, but it had a strange penetrating power, drowning out all the noise in the room.

"Those things aren't human. You can't handle them."

His tone was flat, as if he were stating a very simple fact.

Chen Guangyuan's heart skipped a beat.

What an arrogant tone!

One of the captains behind him couldn't help but shout angrily:

"You audacious fiend! How dare you be so arrogant before General Chen! Do you think these three hundred Golden Guards are just for show?!"

Shen Mo didn't even glance at the captain.

His gaze remained fixed on Chen Guangyuan, and he continued in that calm, almost indifferent tone:

"I have no interest in wasting my time with you."

"Now, take your people and leave this place."

The entire scene fell into a deathly silence.

Everyone was stunned by Shen Mo's words.

Leave here?

How dare he say such a thing when he was alone, facing three hundred of the most elite armored soldiers of the Tang Dynasty?

Is this madness, or is it genuine impunity?

Chen Guangyuan's face darkened completely.

As the General of the Imperial Guard, in charge of the defense of the capital region, how could he have ever been treated with such contempt?

Regardless of the Taoist priest's origins or the hidden story behind tonight's events.

He could not back down when the other party openly challenged the authority of the Imperial Guards.

What's more, there are three hundred pairs of eyes watching from behind.

If he were to retire today, he would no longer be a lieutenant general.

"Master, you have quite the big mouth."

Chen Guangyuan sneered and slowly placed his hand on the hilt of the knife.

"I have been ordered by the Emperor to patrol Chang'an. Such a serious murder has occurred here, and I have a duty to find out the truth."

"Now, I don't care who you are, or what grudges you have with the Yang family."

"Or you can surrender and come with me to the yamen to explain yourself."

"Or...?"

Chen Guangyuan's voice suddenly turned fierce, bursting with murderous intent:

"I have no choice but to treat you as a murderer and kill you on the spot!"

The words fell.

"Shuashuashua——"

Three hundred Imperial Guards stepped forward in unison.

The shields of the front-row swordsmen slammed heavily onto the ground with a dull thud.

The pikemen in the back row extended their spear tips through the gaps in the shields, forming an impenetrable steel jungle.

The archers on both flanks drew their bowstrings tighter again, pulling them to their limit with a sickening creaking sound.

An atmosphere of impending doom instantly enveloped the entire courtyard.

Yang Yuhuan turned pale with fright, clutching Shen Mo's Taoist robe tightly, her body trembling even more violently.

Shen Mo smiled.

He gently patted Yang Yuhuan's hand to reassure her.

Then--

He took a step forward.

That's it.

boom!!!

An indescribable, terrifying aura suddenly erupted from him!

That wasn't an outward release of internal energy, nor was it any kind of killing intent.

That was a pure, absolute pressure originating from the level of life itself!

Two hundred years of innate true energy surged within his body, stirring the energy of heaven and earth.

The air in the courtyard suddenly became thick and sticky.

All the Imperial Guards present felt as if a mountain had suddenly pressed down on them!

I suddenly found it difficult to breathe.

My heart felt like it was being gripped by an invisible hand, convulsing violently.

The swords and spears in his hands weighed over a thousand pounds, and he could barely hold them.

Those fully drawn crossbows could no longer be sustained.

The bowstring trembled, and arrows slipped limply from the bow, clattering to the ground.

"Well……"

Some of the weaker soldiers had already turned pale, their legs went weak, and they knelt on the ground, panting heavily.

Even Chen Guangyuan, a veteran of countless battles, felt as if he had been struck hard in the chest by a heavy hammer.

Blood and qi surged.

A sweet taste rose in my throat, and I almost spat out a mouthful of blood!

He stared in horror at the Taoist priest in the blue robe.

The other person didn't do anything; they just took a step forward!

What kind of power is this?!

immortal?

Or is it the devil?!

Chen Guangyuan's mind went blank.

He had killed people on the battlefield, seen dead bodies, and also met those so-called martial arts masters.

But I've never seen anything like this before...

This is an existence that transcends human comprehension.

Yang Xuangui was in an even worse state.

He was already kneeling on the ground, and now, overwhelmed by this pressure, he lay sprawled on the ground like a dead dog, unable to even lift his head.

A foul-smelling liquid quickly spread from his crotch.

He was so scared that he peed his pants!

Shen Mo's gaze swept across the entire room.

Finally, the focus returned to Chen Guangyuan, whose face was deathly pale.

"Now."

His voice was soft, yet it reached everyone's ears clearly.

"Are you still going to take me with you?"

Chen Guangyuan opened his mouth, but no sound came out.

His throat was so dry it felt like it had been burned.

Reason told him that he should order a retreat immediately.

But his dignity as the General of the Golden Guard prevented him from speaking.

Just then—

Shen Mo spoke again.

"I know what you're thinking."

His tone remained calm.

"You're thinking that if you step down today, your position as a Lieutenant General will be in jeopardy."

"You're thinking, with three hundred eyes watching, you can't afford to lose face."

"You're thinking that even if I do have some tricks up my sleeve, you represent the laws of the Tang Dynasty, and I can't back down."

Chen Guangyuan's pupils contracted violently.

This Taoist priest...

How can I know what he's thinking?!

Shen Mo continued:

"But you should also consider: if you don't retreat today, how many of your three hundred men will survive?"

Upon hearing this, Chen Guangyuan felt a chill run through his body.

He looked at the ruins of the courtyard, at the huge pit that was several feet deep, and at the strange pile of metal remains.

Then look at the Taoist priest in the green robe in front of you.

The opponent only took one step forward, and it almost rendered his three hundred elite armored soldiers unable to fight.

If the other party really makes a move...

Chen Guangyuan dared not think any further.

"I don't want to kill anyone."

Silence rang out again.

"Especially you soldiers who defend the country."

"So, I'll give you a way out."

"Go back and tell your superior that tonight's events involved evil spirits causing chaos, which is beyond human control."

"The destruction of the Yang family's villa was the work of those evil spirits."

"As for me..."

Shen Mo paused, his tone growing even colder.

"I was just a Taoist priest passing by who happened to save Miss Yang's life."

"If anyone doesn't believe me, feel free to come and find me."

"I'm in Chang'an, I'm not leaving."

After saying that, Shen Mo withdrew his oppressive aura.

The air in the courtyard returned to normal instantly.

The soldiers who knelt on the ground were panting heavily, like drowning people finally surfacing.

Chen Guangyuan also felt the pressure in his chest suddenly disappear.

He took a deep breath, his face still deathly pale.

He knew that the other party was giving him a way out.

If he doesn't know what's good for him and continues to pester me...

The consequences could be disastrous.

"This general...understands."

Chen Guangyuan spoke with difficulty, his voice hoarse.

"What happened tonight will be reported truthfully."

"As for the Taoist priest..."

He gave Shen Mo a deep look.

"Please do not leave Chang'an, so that we may verify this later."

Shen Mo nodded.

"Can."

Chen Guangyuan turned around and said in a deep voice to the soldiers behind him:

"Fall back!"

"yes!"

The three hundred Golden Guards, as if granted a pardon, quickly gathered their weapons, lined up, and withdrew.

Before leaving, Chen Guangyuan looked back one last time.

He saw the Taoist priest in the blue robe bowing his head to comfort the girl in his arms.

His movements were gentle, and his gaze was warm.

There was absolutely no indication that the terrifying pressure from just now came from him.

Chen Guangyuan felt a chill run down his spine.

This Taoist priest...

Who exactly is this person?

He shook his head, stopped thinking about it, and quickly led his team away.

The courtyard finally quieted down.

Yang Xuangui was still lying on the ground, his body limp, and his crotch was soaked.

He looked up at Shen Mo's back, his eyes filled with fear and resentment.

But he dared not utter another word.

Shen Mo looked down at the girl in his arms.

Don't be afraid.

His voice was very soft.

"It's alright now."

Yang Yuhuan raised her head and looked at him with teary eyes.

"Taoist Master..."

"Will they...will they come back to arrest you?"

Shen Mo shook his head.

"Won't."

"At least not tonight."

He paused, then said:

"However, there might be even more troublesome people coming tomorrow."

But none of that matters.

He reached out and gently wiped away the tears on her face.

"The important thing is that you are safe now."

Yang Yuhuan bit her lip, and tears streamed down her face again.

But this time, it's not fear.

Rather, it's the peace of mind that comes from surviving a disaster.