The world is like a prison, my body is holy

Chapter 74 Back Garden (Subscribe)
The next day dawned.

Wang Wen, wearing helmet and armor, personally led a hundred cavalrymen and followed the Taoist Ji Liang out of Yangzhou City to Huangshan.

These one hundred riders were all selected by Zhao Zhiling himself. Most of them were veteran soldiers of the Western Army who had followed them from the Northwest to fight in Yangzhou. There were less than twenty soldiers from the Cao Gang.

It's worth mentioning that during the siege of the Ligui at the government office that day, all fifty-four Si Tianwei soldiers who died were veterans of the Western Army. The Cao Gang's younger soldiers, not being well-versed in battle formations, were placed in the second and third formations by Zhao Zhiling, allowing them to escape.

Wang Wen thought to himself that if he were in Zhao Zhiling's shoes, he would not be able to do what Zhao Zhiling did.

To show his respect, last night he used the soul-calling technique he learned from the "Taiyi Jiuku Hushen Miaojing" to collect the heroic souls of the 54 Si Tianwei warriors who died in the battle that night into the City God's domain. He will only wait until their spirits awaken after the seventh day, and then they can decide for themselves whether to stay or go.

"Master, shall we go directly to Huangshan?"

Wang Wen galloped on his horse, the cool morning breeze filling his mouth and nose as he shouted, "What about the altars in other prefectures? Should we stop by Jinling or Xuanzhou City?"

Taoist Ji Liang, riding astride a yellow horse and galloping alongside him, shouted back, "Don't worry too much. Our three talisman sects have already dispatched dozens of highly skilled mages to the major cities south of the Yangtze River to remove the altars set up by the White Lotus. We just need to return to Huangshan as soon as possible to reunite with them."

"All right……"

Wang Wen felt very regretful and thought to himself that if only he could know the art of clones, then with so many big cakes, he could just take a couple of bites and save himself many years of hard work!

"drive!"

More than a hundred riders rode south, resting every twenty miles and eating every fifty miles. They passed through prefectures and counties along the way, and did not enter any city they encountered. They slept in the wilderness and traveled day and night.

Finally, on the afternoon of the third day, the group successfully entered Jingde County. A few dozen miles further west, they arrived at Huangshan...

After three days of forced march, the veteran soldiers of the Western Army, who had been through many battles, were as tired as eggplants hit by frost, but they could still hold on.

But the Cao Gang disciples who were not in the right profession could not stand it at all. Many of them had blisters as big as the palms of their hands on the inner thighs. They half-lay on the horse's back with their buttocks sticking out, grinning and gasping for breath.

"Master, we won't reach the foot of Huangshan until tomorrow anyway. Why don't we rest in Jingde County tonight?"

Wang Wen couldn't bear to see this, and whispered to the Taoist priest Ji Liang, "Brothers, given our current state, even if we rush to the foot of Huangshan overnight, I'm afraid we won't be able to kill the bandits..."

Taoist Ji Liang nodded without hesitation and said, "You are the commander of the army. You should make the decisions on these matters. You don't need to ask me... However, the road ahead will be difficult. You must be extremely careful and don't let yourself get into trouble."

Wang Wen understood what he meant and said, "I'll take care of it, don't worry!"

He pulled the reins, turned his head and shouted loudly: "Er Gou."

"coming!"

Xu Ergou rode out from the crowd and said, "Brother, what's the matter?"

Wang Wen casually pulled out a purse from the saddle and threw it to him: "Pick a few brothers and go ahead to Jingde County to find a large inn to book. We'll arrange good wine, good food, and hot water... Keep your eyes open and don't lead the brothers into a den of thieves."

Xu Ergou put away his money bag and nodded, "Don't worry, I'll do it!"

After saying this, he turned his horse around and picked out five old soldiers of the Western Army who were still energetic from the team, and rode ahead.

After Wang Wen watched them leave, he turned around and saw Taoist Ji Liang calculating something with a look of surprise on his face. His five fingers were almost forming shadows. He immediately asked curiously, "Master, is there something good?"

"Great thing!"

Taoist Ji Liang replied affirmatively: "The White Lotus Sect's altar in Jinling City has finally been removed!"

Wang Wen was shocked and said, "This can even be calculated? Is it so effective?"

Taoist Ji Liang was about to respond, but then he looked at him in confusion and said cautiously, "Sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn't..."

Wang Wen didn't think much about it and asked, "So how many altars have been removed so far?"

Taoist Ji Liang said, "There are four that I know of."

"That is to say..."

Wang Wen felt reassured. "As long as the White Lotus Cult doesn't have more than four prepared altars, their 'Ten Perfect Heaven-Mending Formation' won't work, right?"

After a moment's hesitation, Taoist Ji Liang slowly nodded and said, "Logically speaking, this is correct..."

Wang Wen caught the blind spot and quickly asked, "What if it's not reasonable?"

Taoist Ji Liang smiled bitterly and said, "I'm not a White Lotus Demon, how can I know what other tricks they have up their sleeves?"

Wang Wen sighed helplessly, "This is the case of those who strike first and gain the upper hand, while those who strike later will be controlled by others!"

Taoist Ji Liang also sighed: "Who says it's not..."

After slowing down to rest for a while, the group marched quickly again and finally entered Jingde County under the setting sun.

Xu Ergou, who had gone ahead, had already arranged for someone to meet them at the city gate. After entering the city, they headed straight for the inn Xu Ergou had arranged...

……

Moon on the branches.

After Wang Wen meticulously arranged the food, drink, toilet, night watch, patrol, and other matters for the hundred or so men, he returned to the guest room alone. He pulled out a palm-sized miniature palace from his arms and placed it on the coffee table: "Three knives!"

Chen Sandao's figure rushed out of the miniature palace. After landing, he looked around and took in the furnishings in the guest room: "Brother, where is this place?"

"A county town near Huangshan."

Wang Wen slowly sat down on the coffee table, letting out a long sigh before picking up the teapot on the table and pouring himself a bowl of tea. "Brothers, we've been traveling for three days and are exhausted. We need to rest here tonight. This place is too close to Huangshan Mountain, and there might be demons from the White Lotus Sect. You'll have to work hard and walk around more at night..."

Chen Sandao patted his chest without hesitation: "It's a small matter, leave it to me."

Wang Wen nodded, picked up the tea bowl and took a sip.

Chen Sandao clasped his fists at him, then turned and floated out of the guest room. However, he floated back in as soon as he left. Pointing at the miniature palace on the coffee table, he said, "Brother, there's a ghost in there who's awakened. They've been asking me all sorts of questions. You didn't say whether I could tell them these things, so I couldn't answer them..."

"So fast?"

Wang Wen raised his eyebrows in surprise: "It's only been five days?"

Chen Sandao nodded: "The other ghosts are still standing there, only he has woken up..."

Wang Wen immediately put down his tea bowl and said, "Let's go take a look!"

There was a "thump" sound as the tea bowl fell on the tea table. A shadow emitting a hazy golden light floated out from above Wang Wen's head, turned into a golden light and sank into the miniature palace.

The next second, Wang Wen felt a flash before his eyes, and he found himself in a gray world.

There is no sun in this world, and the sky is as dim as the cloudy day before nightfall. There is no grass or tiles on the earth, and it is as bare as a flat desert.

However, in such a dead and silent space without even a breeze, Wang Wen's Yin Spirit felt refreshed and even his mana flowed much more easily...

This is the City God's domain, a blessed land that is almost identical to the underworld in every way.

This was not the first time Wang Wen came here. During the past few days, he would use his own magic power to refine the miniature palace every night while camping. The Yin Spirit also often visited here and was familiar with all the functions of this place.

He raised his eyes to the gloomy sky, and the dim sky was lit up with a soft golden light, as if it was dawn.

The bright light from the sky illuminated dozens of transparent figures dressed in dark shrouds and with grayish-white complexions on the ground. They were like giants in the water, floating up and down with the waves, standing in neat rows on the barren land... If this horrifying scene fell on an unaware person, it would probably make the hairs on the back of their head stand up in fear.

Among the dozens of transparent figures, only one was moving nimbly. At the moment of daybreak, that person spotted Wang Wen in mid-air. After taking a closer look, he exclaimed in surprise, "Master Wang?"

Wang Wen looked over and saw at first glance that the man was surrounded by a faint golden-red aura... The color was like the sunlight reflected by blood-stained golden armor.

After taking another closer look, he immediately felt that this tall and strong man looked very familiar.

"You are that, that..."

He landed on the ground and looked at the burly man, trying hard to recall. He only remembered that this man seemed to be one of Li Heng's men, and he seemed to have introduced himself to him before. However, it had been too long and they had not had much contact, so he couldn't remember this guy's name for a while.

The burly man stood before him, his neck hunched and his eyes downcast as he whispered, "Your Majesty, I am Ma Feng, a Lingtai official under Lord Li!"

In his eyes, Wang Wen was wearing a round-necked golden-red official robe, surrounded by golden light. He looked so awe-inspiring that it seemed as if he was facing a huge tiger with white forehead and eyes hanging down. He simply didn't dare to look directly at Wang Wen.

"Oh yes, the wind is coming!"

Wang Wen suddenly remembered and laughed, "When I first heard you introduce yourself, I thought your name was very interesting. Your father must be a wonderful person!"

Ma Feng smiled awkwardly, thinking that when others heard his name, they all thought of Ma Feng, but you, old man, only thought of Ma Feng...

"May I ask your Excellency..."

He swallowed habitually, but his saliva came up empty. He could only ask weakly, "Is this... the underworld?"

"Just think of this place as my back garden."

Wang Wen looked at the golden-red aura on his body, wondering if this was what Taoist Ji had mentioned as the 'dynasty's luck'?
No wonder among so many people, only this guy woke up early.

He pondered for a moment and then said, "You still remember how you died, right?"

Ma Feng nodded: "I remember that the evil spirit suddenly attacked me, and I couldn't avoid it. It scratched my chest with one claw, and even pulled out my intestines..."

Wang Wen pursed his lips and said softly, "Well, then I won't explain any more... After you died, I couldn't bear to see my brothers either scatter their souls or become evil spirits that harm people, so I used a secret method to collect your souls within this world. If you want to return to your hometown later, I will send someone to take you home. If you have nowhere else to go, just stay here. When the underworld returns to normal, I will find a way to send you to reincarnation."

Taoist Ji Liang had made it very clear before that this world was no longer governed by the Heaven or the Underworld, and that birth, old age, sickness, and death all followed the automatic operation of the "Tao".

Take reincarnation, for example. When the underworld still functioned normally, the souls of deceased people would be escorted to the underworld by underworld officials. They would first be judged by the four major judges: the Rewarding the Good, Punishing the Evil, Prosecution, and the Underworld Law. They would then make a final judgment based on their deeds before and after death. Then, they would be presented to the Hall of Yama, who would decide whether they should be sent to the Eighteen Levels of Hell for forgiveness or be sent to the Six Paths of Reincarnation...

After losing the jurisdiction of the underworld, the three souls and seven spirits of a person will be worn away by the underworld into countless soul fragments after death, and then the heaven will randomly combine these soul fragments and put them into a new life body.

It is precisely for this reason that Wang Wen collected the souls of Si Tianwei into the City God's domain.

These brave soldiers spent half their lives guarding the border to defend their country, and finally died gloriously defending Yangzhou...

The Tao is fair and just, so we can ignore these tiny bacteria that are as insignificant as a drop in the ocean.

But as one of their comrades, Wang Wen could not sit idly by and watch these warriors who defended their country die in fear. That would be unfair!

Just as Wang Wen was talking to Ma Feng, Chen Sandao finally came in. As soon as he landed, he habitually held his sword on his waist and landed behind Wang Wen.

Ma Feng looked at Wang Wen, who was wearing a round-necked golden-red official robe and surrounded by golden light, and then looked at Chen Sandao, who was wearing a black robe, an official sword at his waist, a black mouth and face, and a conspicuous word "Cha" on his forehead. He swallowed his saliva habitually.

But this time, he was no longer frightened, but greedy...

He just felt that Chen Sandao looked familiar, but he just couldn't remember who he was.

Now that he met Wang Wen, how could he not remember this comrade of his from the Ministry of Astronomy who used to follow Wang Wen everywhere?
"May I ask Lord Wang..."

He bent over, looked up at Wang Wen, and asked in a low voice with expectation, "Have you held any official position in the underworld? Has this brother... become your disciple?"

Wang Wen was stunned for a moment and glanced at Chen Sandao beside him. After thinking for a moment, he nodded and said, "You can say that!"

"Then you see..."

Ma Feng raised his pale face, but his eyes flashed with a dazzling array of colors. He looked at Wang Wen expectantly and said sincerely, "Could I, your humble servant, also be so lucky as to become your disciple?"

"Are you so obsessed with power?"

Wang Wen complained speechlessly: "You're already dead, and you still want to be an official?"

"This one……"

Ma Feng smiled awkwardly and rubbed his hands in embarrassment: "I'm about to die, but I'm lucky enough to meet you. This is such a great fortune. If I don't take advantage of it quickly, the heavens will send down thunder to kill me!"

"This……"

Wang Wen wanted to scratch his head... To be honest, he had no intention of taking in the souls of these warriors.

At most... at most, we can just pull them out to do some short-term work and pay the rent when we need more manpower in the future.

But Ma Feng has already said this, and they are all brothers who have shared the same passion and know each other well. If he doesn't keep him, wouldn't it be a bit too hypocritical and wasteful?
Ma Feng saw his hesitation and immediately knelt before Wang Wen, saying loudly, "Sir, I will never forget your kindness in giving me a new life, even if I am reborn as an animal in my next life. If I am fortunate enough to be your disciple, I will go through fire and water, even if it means my soul is gone, to repay your kindness!"

Wang Wen pondered for a moment, then finally relented. "Working under me is not easy. You have to think it through. Once the arrow is shot, there's no turning back!"

Ma Feng was overjoyed and responded without a second thought, "The fact that Your Excellency thinks highly of me is a blessing I have earned in eight lifetimes. I can't even ask for it, so how dare I hesitate any longer?"

consider?

What the hell are you still thinking about?
This is an official from the underworld!

"That's fine."

Wang Wen called out the City God's Order and took a look, and saw:

【City God of Jiangdu County】

[Achievements: 54]

[Yin De: 150]

Yin Spirit: Night Wandering

【City God Temple: (Damaged)】

[Hundred Schools: Taiyi Rescue and Protection Sutra (First Heaven), Black Tiger Fist (Perfect), Liuhe Spear (Reaching the Peak), Iron Shirt (Perfect), Palm Thunder (Perfect), Canglan Nine-fold Waves (Sixth Heaven)]

Then, he looked down at Ma Feng in front of him with a serious expression and said loudly, "Ma Feng, are you willing to be my messenger?"

Ma Feng kowtowed quickly and said, "I am willing!"

As soon as he finished speaking, a golden light shot out from the City God's Order and entered Ma Feng's body. Suddenly, a thick black aura spread out from his body, wrapping him up.

After a while, the black aura subsided, and a strong man in a black robe, holding a sword, with a black mouth and a black face, and a big "Ba" character on his forehead appeared in front of Wang Wen and Chen Sandao.

The burly man kowtowed again: "I am Ma Feng, your subordinate, and I pay my respects to the County Master!"

In terms of momentum, Ma Feng is more than twice as strong as Chen Sandao!

Wang Wen couldn't help but turn his head and look down on Chen Sandao: "Look, you're even worse than others at being a ghost!"

Chen Sandao looked innocent: "Is it my fault?"

(End of this chapter)