Mang Shusheng's Ink Painting Practice

Chapter 153 I can’t help it anymore
Fenglin County has recently returned to its former tranquility, but after absorbing tens of thousands of refugees, it is still somewhat turbulent.

The several large families that were assigned the task were very busy, not to mention Li Liang, who even went to the villages where the refugees were resettled in person for fear that something might go wrong.

In fact, the key point is that many of these refugees have fought in wars and are absolutely restless people.

After a little thought, Zhao Yifu decided to go and take a look at those villages.

Wherever he went, the people's hearts became stable and firm.

It was just because he used his old trick again, he would stay and paint wherever he went, and he could calm everyone's hearts with just one painting.

Li Liang, who caught up with him, felt that it was a magical skill.

"Young Master is truly a god!"

In front of them, a group of people were huddled around a large wooden drawing board, discussing something enthusiastically.

The drawing board was made of wood and was not covered with paper. Instead, the artist painted directly on it with paint, completing a painting of the "new countryside".

In this painting, neat and uniform houses are spread out in a very beautiful way, surrounded by large tracts of cultivated farmland.

This is a lacquer painting about a vision for the future, but it has undoubtedly mobilized the subjective wishes of all the villagers present.

The policies and other things had been announced by the officials before, and these refugees who had lost their homes just listened and did not react much.

But when Zhao Yifu really planned a beautiful future for them that seemed perfect to most people, and it became a concrete picture, everyone lost their composure.

Zhao Yifu put down his pen and quietly left with Li Liang, saying, "I just gave them a hope that they could see and achieve. It's nothing special."

Li Liang responded respectfully. He had now been completely conquered by Zhao Yifu. At least he no longer had any complicated thoughts around Zhao Yifu.

But Zhao Yifu took two steps and paused, then asked anxiously, "Do you understand what to do next?"

Li Liang was stunned for a moment. He asked, "Sir, please give me some instructions?"

Zhao Yifu said helplessly: "You were not like this before..."

"It's fine during the busy farming season, but when the season is off, they'll have nothing to do and might be instigated to cause chaos again. So, during this off-season, we can use this painting to keep them busy. When they're busy, they won't have time to think about other things."

"Once the scenes in this painting are realized, they will naturally settle down completely. After all, no one wants to destroy the home they built with their own hands."

Li Liang nodded repeatedly, secretly blaming himself. He felt that he had been using his brain less and less recently, so much so that he couldn't see such an obvious thing and needed Zhao Yifu's advice.

He quickly said, "Sir, leave the rest to me. I will definitely be able to complete your plan."

Zhao Yifu waved his hand and said, "There's no plan. Just do your best."

After saying this, he put his hands behind his back, looked at the people who were still crowded together discussing things enthusiastically, and nodded silently.

He did not leave his own seal on the lacquer paintings of these villages, because in his opinion they were just graffiti made with techniques he was not proficient in and could not be considered works of art.

However, from a professional perspective, this is not considered a work, but he does it seriously.

Facts have proved that even graffiti, when he devotes his whole heart to it and even carries the hopes of many people, can become a moving true yang.

After doing all this, Fenglin County was completely stabilized.

Zhao Yifu returned to the county town and could finally make himself a pot of tea in peace and then lie comfortably in the yard to bask in the sun.

I've been so busy lately, I finally have time to stop and have a good rest.

The 'Thousand Miles Painting' was spread out next to him. Yiyi dipped her claws in ink and pressed out 'plum blossoms' on it. After the plum blossoms appeared, strips of paper would immediately appear on the picture, connecting them together to form a plum blossom painting.

Zhao Yifu burst out laughing at this, casually flicking out a piece of ink, which then turned into an ink stain on the paper: [Rich man, do you have so much free time? Why do you tease my Yiyi all day long?]

Ying Cong immediately replied: [During that time when you were in seclusion, it was thanks to Yi Yi that she kept me company.]

[By the way, when will Yiyi transform into a human? I'm really looking forward to it.]

Zhao Yifu: ...

My goodness, this sentence simply exposes this person's sinister intentions... Does he like cats or cat girls?
Zhao Yifu loved Yiyi dearly, and quickly hugged her in his arms, saying, "Even if she can transform, she's still my raccoon slave, don't even think about touching her!"

Ying Cong replied: [Don’t be stingy, I’m just curious, just pure curiosity…]

The look of him licking his face is so vivid on the paper!
Perhaps this cat-loving emperor is really curious about what a cat-eared girl looks like.

Zhao Yifu thought about using his strength to lure the emperor into the trap of the "Er-spined Newt", but then he thought better of it. What if the emperor forced him to paint?
He thought for a moment before saying, "Did you receive the Hundred Cats Picture I sent you? It should be arriving soon."

The paintings he originally drew for cats for his own entertainment have now been given away as gifts among friends.

Ying Cong said: [It's almost there, I've already asked Zhong Nu to get it... Now that you mentioned it, I can't wait any longer.]

Zhao Yifu secretly felt ashamed. After all, he was suspected of treating his friends as mines in this regard.

But... after all, it is the Yang and spiritual energy of "Wan Dad".

Zhao Yifu admitted that he was greedy and faced up to this greed. He condemned himself in his heart, but he still had to do it... Without the inner demons bothering him, he was much less constrained in doing things.

However, just as he was waiting for a huge wave of yang and spiritual energy, Li Liang suddenly came hurriedly to report.

"Young master, something is wrong!"

Zhao Yifu asked, "What's the matter?"

"I'm from Yuzhou and want to see you, young master."

Zhao Yifu frowned: "What will Governor Cheng do then?"

Li Liang said: "The problem is, that person is not from Chengzhou Prefecture... I don't know that person, and he speaks with an accent from Jingshan!"

Zhao Yifu grasped the key point and asked, "You want to see me under the guise of Cheng Zhizhou?"

Li Liang nodded and said, "You come with bad intentions."

Zhao Yifu snorted coldly and said, "Let him in, and then immediately dispatch the thousand militiamen in the city to set up camp on that small willow slope."

Li Liang quickly responded and left.

A moment later, Zhao Yifu saw the group of people in the lobby of the government office.

This was a group of warriors, Zhao Yifu could tell at a glance.

But according to official rules, the performance still had to be performed. Zhao Yifu said calmly: "May I ask what your orders are, and what brings you here?"

The leading warrior said, "You don't need to know who I am. Here is a letter from Governor Cheng. Once you read it, you will know what to do."

Zhao Yifu was surprised, then took the letter and began to read.

Very interesting, this is a letter of persuasion for surrender, the whole letter talks about how cruel the current court is, how foolish the emperor is, and urges people to abandon the dark and join the light, and jointly build their own local forces to fight against the central government, so that when the time comes, they can change the world...

Zhao Yifu was shocked when he saw it, and then he copied the letter of surrender on the "Qianli Painting".

The 'Thousand Mile Painting' was hidden in his sleeve, and there was enough space in the sleeve to spread out the entire painting.

And his divine consciousness can also control the ink to form words at any time.

Especially when you find him using ink, there will be a black kitten in his sleeve grinding ink for him.

What's up with this Cheng guy? Does he want me to exterminate his entire clan?

Ying Cong was furious.

Zhao Yifu responded, "I think he was coerced by the warriors from Jingshan. He himself didn't have the courage."

Ying Cong asked: [How do you know?]

Zhao Yifu said, "Last time, he brought a demonic monk who practiced evil magic to show off in front of me. I struck him with my sword right in front of him, and he was so scared that he peed his pants."

[Oh, words are not enough, I'll show you a picture. ]

As soon as the words fell, the ink-splashing technique was activated, and Cheng Zhizhou's "grace" on that day was completely reflected on the scroll.

Ying Cong's anger suddenly subsided: [How disgraceful! It seems he's just incompetent and not really rebelling.]

The tone sounded much more submissive, and it seemed that he could not tolerate betrayal more than his subordinates being stupid.

Zhao Yifu: [This is the situation now. What do you think I should do?]

Ying Cong was still very angry about this. He asked: [How many people do you have?]

Zhao Yifu said: "There are a thousand that can be used, but if they are used, there will be no one left to defend the county."

Ying Cong said: "One thousand is enough. You lead the troops to suppress the bandits for me, and I will support you in the court!"

It is absolutely a serious crime for a county magistrate to lead troops out of the country without authorization.

Of course, under normal circumstances, the imperial court would allow Zhao Yifu to organize local militia to deal with the rebels, but the problem was that he did not have authorization and the procedure was wrong.

Even if he and the emperor were good friends, without an imperial edict or court documents, everything he did would be against the law.

But Zhao Yifu didn't care about that. He said, "Okay."

Then he raised his head, looked at the newcomer and said, "How could Lord Cheng, a man so loyal to his country, become a traitor? Come, arrest him!"

The warriors immediately became nervous upon hearing this. The others looked around and were on guard, while the leader pounced on Zhao Yifu like a tiger, seemingly ready to capture the leader first.

However, he soon discovered that something was wrong, because when he pounced, Zhao Yifu also pounced, and the two were running in two directions!
What was worse was that when the warrior leader got closer, he realized that Zhao Yifu seemed to be very tall...

The two men crossed their arms, and the warrior leader felt as if he was touching muscles as hard as steel, and his scalp immediately went numb.

Then the two men wrestled for a while, and the warrior leader felt like a child facing a strong adult man, and was pushed to the ground with one hand.

No, why would scholars today train their muscles for no reason?
The other four warriors who were paying attention to their surroundings turned their heads when they heard the noise and were completely stunned.

Their leader, who was the most skilled in martial arts, was being held in someone's hand by the neck like a little chicken at this moment.

No matter how the warrior leader punched and kicked, he could not shake Zhao Yifu at all.

Zhao Yifu was already tall, and at this moment he was brimming with aura, making him look like a giant.

The other four warriors then realized that there was no one ambushing outside, and it was Zhao Yifu inside who ambushed all of them!

So they rushed forward...

However, Zhao Yifu's current level of cultivation is no longer something they can touch.

He just casually swung his sword at the two men's knives, and the two knives began to vibrate together, which in turn transmitted the force to the men holding the knives, making them tremble all over and finally fall to the ground dizzy, spitting out foul language.

This is because all the internal organs are shaken and some irresistible physiological reactions are produced.

With Zhao Yifu's current control over strength, it is too unfair to use it against ordinary warriors.

The remaining two people were glared at by him, as if they had seen a prehistoric monster. They trembled and dared not move forward.

Then one of them suddenly dropped his weapon and ran outside, and the other one turned around and ran. Of course, they couldn't escape, after all, Xiaohu was guarding outside.

Zhao Yi Fu carried the leading warrior out and threw him to the ground. The force transmitted almost made him lose his breath.

He said to the person beside him, "Take them to see Xu Meng and let Xu Meng identify them."

"Yes!"

The burly man transformed by the tiger immediately ordered the other two men transformed by the big cats to pick up two people each and leave.

What horrified the warriors was that they couldn't even resist these people.

Then he said to the mustache man, "Let my uncle Wu prepare for the battle. I will go to the front line myself."

Li Liang was next: "I'll leave the county town to you. Have each family send out a few more clansmen to simply guard it. This concerns everyone's life and property, so don't take it lightly."

Li Liang nodded and said, "Don't worry, sir. I know that each family can still provide at least 3,000 people. The previous small number was because you asked for less. Now your order concerns their lives and property. No one dares to disobey."

Zhao Yifu nodded and said, "Okay, I'll go to Xiaoliupo right away."

With that, he stood up and set off.

At the same time, Wu Zhong at Xiaoliupo had already begun preparing to deal with the enemy.

With Wu Zhong's current level of cultivation, he could actually display the strength of a peerless master. If he were to enter the battlefield, he would naturally be invincible.

It’s a pity that in order to protect him, Zhao Yifu would never let him go to the battlefield to kill people. Therefore, to be on the safe side, Zhao Yifu chose to go to the front line in person.

The fact that the head of a county is willing to go to the front line in person can greatly boost morale.

Zhao Yifu was heading north, and just when he saw the Xiaoliupo camp, he saw a yellow shadow suddenly rushing up from behind him.

It's a big striped cat.

The cat ran to Zhao Yifu, jumped up, and when it landed, it turned into a very strong... cat girl?

Well, cats of this breed are generally larger, and even female cats appear very large when they transform into human form.

Zhao Yifu asked, "How is it? Did you find out anything?"

Cat Sister said: "My Lord, Xu Meng said that he doesn't know those people."

"He said that after several battles with the Jingshan Province garrison, the Xu family and the local gentry suffered considerable losses, but they were replaced by many people of unknown origin who spoke fluent Jingshan dialect."

"He judged that these people were probably added later."

Zhao Yifu nodded and said, "I see. It turns out someone has been planning the Jingshan Rebellion for a long time, and the Jingshan Xu family may have just happened to be the first to be pushed out."

As for why we chose Jingshan?

Zhao Yifu thought that the situation here might be more complicated.

Because Jingshan Province, as the name suggests, is mainly mountainous, it does not have as many waterways as other southern regions. At the same time, due to the mountainous barriers, the imperial court's orders cannot be conveyed very smoothly.

This is different from the Prison Mountain. The Prison Mountain is simply not considered to be under the jurisdiction of Da Xu, so Zhao Yi Fu only needs to lock up the people living at the foot of the mountain.

But Jingshan was different. Almost all of Jingshan Province's counties and towns were located in mountainous areas. It could take the Jingshan governor a month to deliver his orders to the locals, not to mention the possibility of messengers falling to their deaths or being eaten by wild animals in the mountains...

This also led to the situation that the people of Jingshan were isolated. They lived together in clans, and when government orders were difficult to implement, they felt like an independent kingdom.

So it is very easy to hide something in Jingshan.

This is also the reason why the imperial court had difficulty suppressing the rebellion. After all, no matter how many troops there were, they could not be deployed effectively.

Moreover, foreign troops have no way of tracking down local rebels when they are unfamiliar with the terrain... Only when Zhou Su's Yongyi Battalion enters the battlefield can they crush everything with the absolute quality of their troops.

Considering the location of Jingshan, to its north lies Nanhu Province, where the cultural heritage of the Great Xu Dynasty is concentrated, and Mozhou is a major border town...

If Jingshan is unstable, then Nanhu Province will also be unstable.

If Jingshan were to lose control, and a large-scale invasion were to take place from the north, the unstable Mozhou and Nanhu provinces could become a breakthrough point...

Thinking of this, Zhao Yifu immediately realized how powerful it was.

But what can he do now?
While thinking in his mind, he had already walked into the Xiaoliupo camp.

This camp is an easy-to-defend and difficult-to-attack place, and can block the connection between Yugzhou and Fenglin County.

If he had been more conservative and blocked this place, he could at least have been invincible.

By the time his teacher Zhou Su has dealt with the rebels in Jingshan, the chaos in Yuzhou can naturally be suppressed.

When the prefect of Yuzhou was taken over, it was a great achievement for him, the county magistrate, to be able to defend his homeland.

On the contrary, it would seem a bit greedy and reckless if I led my men out to fight.

"Master, our best scouts have already gone to investigate, and I believe we will have results soon."

Wu Zhong said meaningfully.

Zhao Yifu understood after listening to this. Who was their best scout? Of course, it was the little mustache.

Sure enough, not long after, the man with the mustache quietly returned to the village. He transformed into a human form and bowed before Zhao Yifu, saying, "My lord, we have ascertained the enemy's situation. They are gathering supplies and troops everywhere. It seems they have no plans to attack for the time being."

Zhao Yifu nodded and said, "Of course. I'm afraid they don't think I'll cause them any trouble."

The man with the mustache asked, "Master, do you need me to continue investigating?"

Zhao Yifu shook his head and said, "Wait a minute. It's getting late. Go get some rest for the night. I'll tell you about the mission tomorrow."

The mustache boy responded, "Yes."

Wu Zhong looked at Zhao Yifu's back as he faced north, and suddenly something struck him: "Young Master, are you planning to take the initiative?"

Zhao Yifu laughed, but didn't deny it. He said, "After all, it was Uncle Wu who watched me grow up, so he knows my temper inside and out."

Wu Zhong shook his head and said, "Master, this is too risky..."

He suddenly couldn't continue. Risk?
This is funny. He has personally witnessed Zhao Yifu and the invulnerable Corpse King fighting each other with fists and claws. How could these bodies get into trouble in the mortal army?

Then he said with relief: "That's right, then I wish you a happy time, young master."

Zhao Yifu shook his head and said, "This matter is not that easy to handle. After all, we are few in number, and I will try not to do it myself."

Those who practice cultivation should ultimately avoid killing.

It's not just him, his cats also try their best not to participate in this human battlefield, also for the sake of protection.

Wu Zhong said, "In that case, Master, take these thousand people with you, and I, the old servant, will be the only one left here to watch over them."

Zhao Yifu shook his head and said, "I do want to take these 1,000 men with me, but you won't be defending the city alone."

"Xiaoliupo Camp is now the vital point of Fenglin County. I have asked Brother Hanshan to continue recruiting people. It won't be long before new soldiers arrive to support us."

Wu Zhong curled his lips in dissatisfaction: "Another bunch of noisy recruits."

It seems that he was very resentful about being asked to train the troops before.

But why does he seem unhappy on the outside, but secretly happy? It's like he's got a new toy...

Zhao Yifu patted his shoulder and said, "Take it easy. These soldiers are all local men. They have to go back to farm after the battle."

Wu Zhong scratched his head when he heard this and said with a wry smile, "I'll do my best."

Zhao Yifu observed a moment of silence for the new recruits.

Then he turned around and returned to the barracks assigned to him, and sat down cross-legged.

"Yiyi, keep an eye on it for me."

Zhao Yifu gave an order to the little black cat beside him.

Yiyi nodded seriously. He really understood what people said.

He sat solemnly in front of the tent, motionless, like a stone statue.

Zhao Yifu waited for the last ray of sunlight to disappear outside, the sky to darken completely, and the moon to dominate the earth...

He slowly closed his eyes.

The next moment, the Yin Spirit emerged from his body.

"Meow?"

Yiyi turned around in surprise, wanting to howl but worried about disturbing her master's spirit.

After all, the howling of cats can really calm down the evil spirits.

Zhao Yifu's spirit showed no emotion, he reached out to touch Yiyi's head, but naturally he touched nothing.

Unlike Yang Gods, Yin Gods do not have the ability to interfere with reality.

He said, "I'll be back soon, don't worry."

Yiyi was still worried, but now she also understood what she should do.

Then He landed lightly in Zhao Yi Fu's physical arms. He knew that his mission at this time was to protect his master's physical body.

Zhao Yifu nodded upon seeing this, then disappeared from the spot and walked into the distance.

His Yin Spirit appeared in the air, looking at the earth with a very gloomy perspective.

He saw that the land of Yuzhou seemed to be filled with karma, and he saw many dead souls floating in the air with resentment and anger.

Then he saw that the rebel soldiers were looting one town and village after another in a brutal manner. They were collecting supplies and venting their animal desires.

"Ah."

Zhao Yifu's eyes were cold, and he left these places where he was destined to be unable to help, and wrote down the situation of the rebellious soldiers in Yuzhou one by one.

The Yin God's body moved quickly and completed all this in just half the night.

Then his Yin spirit returned to his body.

Yiyi meowed in joy, but then she realized something was wrong with her owner.

Zhao Yifu's face was heavy, with a hint of urgency.

He suddenly opened his mouth, and the entire camp, which had just fallen silent, suddenly echoed with his loud voice: "Everyone, pack your bags and prepare to follow me!"

This actually violated the great taboo of military strategy, but he was not a serious general after all. He was a person who practiced cultivation and only sought to enlighten his thoughts.

(End of this chapter)