Mang Shusheng's Ink Painting Practice

Chapter 207: Winning All the Way

The defeated soldiers of Liao State attacked another formation of their own. The original group of 3,000 people could still hold their ground, but they were defeated with a slight charge from Yang Zaixuan who followed closely behind.

After all, people have a herd mentality.

The first group of Liao soldiers had been defeated. The Liaohu noble who commanded the second group of 3,000 people knew from the beginning that the defeat was not his main responsibility, so the first thing he thought of was definitely to preserve himself.

Then a strange sight appeared: a mere two hundred men drove six thousand fleeing soldiers away.

Several other troops along the way discovered the situation here and wanted to help suppress it, but this time Yang Zaixuan did not hold back... All the Liaohu generals who tried to stop the fleeing soldiers were assassinated by him.

Why is it so simple?
On the one hand, the defeated soldiers were in a panic, and on the other hand, Yang Zaixuan's martial arts were getting stronger and stronger, much stronger than these Liao Hu people who had enjoyed the prosperity of the Central Plains for a hundred years.

In such a state of great defeat, the death of the main general could not inspire the Liao soldiers to fight to the death.

After all, the situation was too chaotic, with their own people running away everywhere. What else could they do except be swept up and run away together?

A mere two hundred people were like a flood and a beast in their eyes... But in fact, Yang Zaixuan and the Fenglin soldiers didn't kill that many people at all.

【Wonderful, wonderful, truly an unparalleled divine general! 】

Ying Cong was so excited that he was shaking when he saw the majestic young general on white horse in the scroll who actually led two hundred people to chase the defeated enemy soldiers and roll up the pearl curtain.

Hong Zhongnu glanced at the young general, secretly took note of it, and then said, "Sir, it's time to eat."

Ying Cong waved his hand and said, "Why rush? Don't you see this is a critical moment? My General Bai Ma has already stabbed four generals in a row, killing and dispersing over ten thousand Hu soldiers. This is a rare great victory for our dynasty!"

Hong Zhongnu said, "But sir, you didn't eat much for breakfast. If you get hungry, the master will blame me."

Ying Cong was stunned for a moment, then thought for a moment and said, "Then just bring some food over, I'll eat while I watch."

"Now is a critical moment. The remaining Liaohu soldiers have reacted and are rushing towards us... I'm afraid my White Horse General is in danger!"

Hong Zhongnu could only stand by with a worried look on his face after serving the exquisite lunch... Ying Cong now needed someone to share his worries.

On the screen, a general of Liao State finally appeared and gathered the remaining tens of thousands of people to come together.

At this moment, the picture suddenly becomes high above, allowing people to see the overall situation.

Ying Cong watched the scenes switch and felt like he was watching an 'epic blockbuster'.

[Unfortunately, there is no sound.]

While eating, he dipped his finger in ink and wrote a line of crooked words.

Zhao Yifu quickly responded: [This is a bit difficult, let me study it more.]

Ying Cong said: [I told you not to get distracted!]

The critical moment is coming!

In the picture, the general of the Liao Kingdom issued a cruel order, asking his men to directly kill the fleeing soldiers, and kill all the fleeing soldiers who collided with their main camp!
In this way, he almost took control of the situation.

At this time, a row of small characters appeared next to the general: Shi Erjin, the vanguard general of Liao State's southern expedition.

Ying Cong suddenly became nervous and stopped all movements with the chopsticks in his mouth.

Because Yang Zaixuan in the picture had already followed the fleeing soldiers and rushed directly towards the military formation where Shi Erjin was!

Shi Erjin's main camp, which was still wantonly killing the fleeing soldiers, suddenly suffered a strong attack.

Yang Zaixuan was wearing silver armor and riding a white horse, wielding a red-tasseled silver spear so fiercely that no water could penetrate it.

After enduring a round of arrows, he rushed into the enemy's formation.

Originally, the enemy was on high alert and he might not have been able to charge, but Shi Erjin's army formation was shaken by the killing of the fleeing soldiers... As a result, Yang Zaixuan broke into the formation in one go.

The Fenglin soldiers followed behind him and rushed into the formation together, breaking the formation open.

In this way, the enemy no longer has the energy to suppress the fleeing soldiers, and it seems that their own position will also be lost...

Shi Erjin roared and rushed over with a long nail hammer in his hand. He looked aggressive and it was obvious that he was ready to personally remove Yang Zaixuan, the thorn in his side.

When the two sides met, they fought for dozens of rounds with clanging sounds.

This Shi Erjin is also one of the bravest generals in Liao State, and he is extremely brave.

However, normally he could handle all his opponents with just brute force, but this time he encountered Yang Zaixuan, who was as strong as him but far superior in martial arts skills...

The spear came out like a dragon, and the red tasseled silver spear suddenly flashed a dazzling light at a certain moment, making Shierjin's eyes flicker suddenly.

At this moment, the red-tasseled silver spear had already pierced into Shi Erjin's throat like a spirit snake emerging from a cave...

"Pfft!"

The huge body fell off the horse with a bang.

The people around Shierjin were shocked when they saw this. They obviously couldn't believe that Shierjin would die in battle like this.

After that, the Liao army was completely unable to hold on and was defeated like a tide.

This is a glorious victory!

But as the leader of this victory, Yang Zaixuan did not feel complacent at all, because he knew that he had only put in the effort, and the one who was truly controlling everything behind the scenes was the god-like young man.

Only with such complete intelligence could he start with the weaker ones, gradually build up his momentum, and finally kill Shi Erjin with one blow, thus completely defeating the 30,000 strong enemies who were invading.

This is actually also a victory of intelligence.

Seeing the battle stop, Ying Cong finally breathed a sigh of relief and quickly wrote: [Why don't you continue to pursue and kill to expand the victory? ]

Zhao Yifu quickly responded: "The soldiers are tired. After all, they have traveled thirty miles in one day and fought seven battles in a row. They are all exhausted."

[Also, the last battle earlier cost many of the brave men I brought from Fenglin County... Sigh, I am ashamed to face the people of Fenglin.]

Ying Cong was silent for a moment, then said, "I will follow up on the compensation issue. We must not let those termites hurt the hearts of these heroes."

Zhao Yifu ignored Ying Cong and quickly cleaned up the battlefield and returned to Manshan County to rest.

In this battle, thirty-four people died and seventy-seven were injured, which would mean a loss of half the troops for other armies.

Zhao Yifu was also very sad about this, but fighting 200 against 30,000 was already the limit of what he could do.

Next, he spent a lot of energy on treating the wounded.

He can mix the best medicine for wounds, and the 'Qi-invigorating Pills' and 'Bone-strengthening Pills' he knows how to make are also good medicines for internal use.

He followed the rules and didn't take action on the battlefield, but after the battle...

Then he would have to play a "borderline ball". All the injured have been treated, and their conditions are stable and recovering well. It shouldn't take long for them to recover as before.

Even if they died in battle, Zhao Yi Fu would make arrangements for them.

Of course, they were not thrown directly into the underworld, but a special 'Heroic Soul Map' was made to keep all their heroic souls in the map.

Because he knew that there would be a big change in less than a year, and by then it would be hard to say whether it would be better for people to be reincarnated in the underworld after death or to stay in the mortal world first.

During this intermission on the battlefield, Zhao Yifu's spirit left his body and connected with Zhou Su.

Of course, he would not reveal his Yang Shen to others.

As soon as they met, Zhou Su smiled and said, "That young man is really good. How did you find him?"

Zhao Yifu said, "I just saw that he was a good match for my sister because of his sturdy build, so I decided to give him a try... Who knew he would be so capable?"

Zhou Su said, "Haha, if this really works, Yun Gui won't have to nag me all day long."

Zhao Yifu was a little surprised, but he immediately understood the whole story... He studied Zuo Zhuan very hard and was greatly loved by Zhou Su, so he took the name Yungui because of his name Guhe.

From then on, Zhao Guhe became a respectable person.

Zhao Yifu smiled and said, "It seems that my second uncle is very trusted by the teacher."

Zhou Su said: "Yun Gui is a man who respects his superiors but sympathizes with his subordinates. He is a man who can handle things and lead his troops to victory."

"If you hadn't discovered that young general named Yang, I think Yun Gui would be the only pillar of the future army of Daxu."

"But now, it's a good thing to have one more pillar."

Zhao Yifu nodded after hearing this and was happy for his second uncle from the bottom of his heart.

Only then did Zhou Su say, "It seems your strategy of conquering the heart has not been successful."

Zhao Yifu's soul turned and he already knew what he meant.

Those defeated soldiers had been gathered by Liao State's southern expeditionary army. Just as he had thought, it was impossible for the other side to kill all of these tens of thousands of defeated soldiers in one breath.

If the other party does not kill, it will shake their basic military system. This is Zhao Yifu's "psychological strategy".

But the other side's response was also very appropriate. They did spare the lives of those defeated soldiers, but they also sent these defeated soldiers directly to the front line to attack the city with their lives!

Therefore, the siege pressure faced by Xiangyang in the past two days has suddenly increased to a higher level, and the situation is quite urgent.

Zhao Yifu said, "Master Zhou, I didn't use any psychological tactics. I just wanted to test whether the other side was determined to implement the military system... Now it seems that they are not that determined. That's enough."

Zhou Su laughed heartily upon hearing this and said, "Your talent for military strategy is probably even better than mine. You're right, all we need to do is make them less resolute."

At this time, a new round of siege has begun on the front battlefield.

Zhao Yifu looked at it and shook his head, saying, "What a waste of lives! Is there a City God in this city? We need him to send these dead souls away quickly." Zhou Su said, "City God? There isn't one."

Zhao Yifu was surprised, and with a sweep of his Yang Shen, he instantly arrived at the City God Temple.

As a result, he saw that there were still incense burning in the City God Temple, but the god in the temple was gone.

The City God is dead!
Zhao Yifu's expression became more serious. He said, "Someone has killed the City God. This is a serious matter."

Zhou Su said, "When I took over Xiangyang, there was no City God here."

Zhao Yifu said, "In that case, I will temporarily serve as the City God."

As he said this, he opened the Ghost Gate in the City God Temple, and immediately a group of ghosts were attracted over.

Zhao Yifu led these dead souls into the underworld one by one.

But gradually he felt something was wrong, because he found that these ghosts seemed to have too much resentment.

How is this going?

Zhao Yifu was surprised.

He actually wanted to use the killing knife to kill these resentful souls, so that they would feel more comfortable in the underworld and be reincarnated quickly.

But the problem is that most of these dead souls have no sins!

He has no sins, but he is full of resentment and is almost crazy.

Even if such souls enter the underworld, they cannot reincarnate immediately. At least they have to wait until their madness subsides.

Zhao Yifu hesitated for a moment, then thought of the effect of "Lunyu" on Li Nuer, and decided to give it a try.

The next moment, the main body in Manshan County took off the "Encouragement to Study" from his waist and threw it towards Xiangyang.

The Yang God had already appeared in mid-air and caught the deadly weapon "Encouraging Learning" in his hand.

Then they returned to the City God Temple together.

Zhou Su asked curiously: "What are you doing..."

He looked at the "Encouragement to Study" in Zhao Yifu's hand with curiosity in his eyes.

Zhao Yifu mercilessly slapped the word "Encouragement to Study" on the forehead of a male ghost.

The ghost was originally roaring almost to collapse, as if it was in great pain, but no one knew what it was in pain about.

But now...

The big book, like a lump of metal, hit the ghost on the forehead, and it woke him up immediately.

In other words, it was the "Encouragement to Study" that forcibly reorganized the chaotic thoughts of this deceased soul, straightened them out into language, and then... began to recite!
The Master said: ...

The ghost stood by and recited, but in fact it was becoming more and more clear-headed.

Once its language system was straightened out, it naturally began to have logical thinking and then thinking.

When it finished reciting the Analects, it became completely sober and regained its peace.

It bowed deeply to Zhao Yifu, and then calmly walked into the gates of hell. It had already suffered so much in this life, it might as well start over.

Zhao Yifu nodded slightly in return, then looked at the increasing number of dead souls around him...

He was eager to try out the Encouragement to Study in his hand, and then he suddenly threw it out, and then the chain pulled the ghosts in groups and hit their heads.

Afterwards, a group of ghosts floated in the air and began to recite the Analects of Confucius. The scene was extremely weird.

But Zhou Su's eyes lit up when he saw this. This was simply the most magnificent scene that a scholar could imagine!
After death, ordinary people chant Confucian classics and enter reincarnation. This is really...

Zhou Su couldn't help but ask, "Jun Xin, how did you make this book?"

Zhao Yifu then talked about the process of accidentally creating this book.

Zhou Su was surprised when he heard this and said, "It's so simple?"

That expression said, "I think I can do it too?"

Zhao Yifu didn’t know whether others could do it, but he felt that Zhou Su could definitely do it.

After all, he could only enter that state of complete selflessness in reading and writing occasionally, but Zhou Su could enter it at any time!

And now this scene seems to be a Confucian method of salvation.

Both Buddhism and Taoism recite scriptures to people, but Confucianism is unique and lets the dead souls recite the scriptures themselves... although before this, Confucianism actually had no business of salvation.

As time went by, Zhao Yifu discovered something was wrong again.

There are many innocent resentful souls, which he can understand.

But then an innocent evil spirit appeared!
This is beyond imagination.

It is not easy for a ghost to take shape. In addition to its own resentment, the influence of some external environment is also very important.

But no matter which one it is, even if the evil ghost has self-awareness, it must go through a process of irrationality and loss of control, and it will inevitably commit endless killings.

Therefore, an innocent evil ghost... is unbelievable, unless it had been staying in some extremely dark and evil place without moving until the transformation was complete.

If guilty blank ghosts are the favorites of the underworld, then these innocent evil ghosts are the most troublesome existences for the underworld.

Because innocence means that the underworld cannot judge them and they cannot be sent to hell to eliminate their sins and resentment.

But if it is directly sent into reincarnation, it will only become a disaster... If a fierce ghost is reincarnated, wouldn't that mean that evil ghosts will walk the human world?

Zhao Yifu also felt that the situation was extremely difficult, but at this point he could only film "Encouraging Learning"...

The evil spirit seemed to have a physical body and was hit directly by "Encouraging Learning".

There was even a gap on the corner of his forehead, from which tangible resentment emanated.

But it was forcibly controlled by the "Encouragement to Study" and stood still and began to recite...

Zhao Yifu's heart moved when he saw this, and he grabbed the killing knife with his other hand and pressed it against the broken forehead.

The next moment, the spreading resentment seemed to have found a place to go, and flowed into the blade like a clear spring.

This greatly enhances the power of resentment and hatred on the blade.

The growing resentment and hatred began to spread from the blade into Zhao Yifu's mind, as if a voice was crying out to him, telling him to hate the entire world...

Fortunately, the voice that sounded beside his ears did not trigger the evil thoughts in his heart.

Otherwise, if evil thoughts arise in his heart, he will think that this is what he thinks, and his cognition will be confused and he will gradually be controlled by resentment and hatred.

Zhao Yifu breathed a sigh of relief, and those thoughts no longer affected him.

After all, he is a Yang God, so he still has some concentration.

However, this demonic knife is indeed dangerous. It seems that it is looking for an opportunity to release the resentment and hatred within it.

After absorbing all the resentment and hatred, the ghost in the endorsement became an ordinary old ghost... No, after the resentment and hatred disappeared, its virtue became apparent.

You can tell at a glance that this old ghost must have been a kind person when he was alive.

Zhao Yifu didn't care about anything and just let it go to the underworld and reincarnate quickly.

He hadn't thought much about it at first, but the old ghost suddenly stopped beside Zhao Yifu and said, "Underground, under Xiangyang City, someone has buried something very bad."

"It is this thing that has bound us underground in this city and continues to torture us..."

It seemed to have finished what it was saying, but also seemed to have something unsaid. It just shook its head and walked into the gates of hell.

Zhao Yifu said, "Master Zhou, do you know anything about this?"

Zhou Su shook his head solemnly and said, "I don't know either. There's nothing related to this in the Xiangyang City diary records."

It seems that Zhou Su's Yang Shen is not good at calculations, so what is he good at? Is it peeping?
Zhao Yifu's thoughts went astray for a moment, and then he started to make inferences based on the known information.

After counting his fingers for a while, he said, "There's some clues... This is related to the shamans of Liao Country!"

When Beixu was defeated, it lost a large amount of land and was even driven south of the Yangtze River before it could stabilize itself.

Twenty years later, the Taoist Zhenyi trained that unrivaled general, who recovered the lost territories of Lianghuai through repeated northern expeditions. Most importantly, he retook Xiangyang and pushed the battle line completely north of Xiangshui River.

I heard that the Liao Kingdom was so badly beaten that the people were in a panic and could not sleep or eat, and they were almost considering withdrawing from the Central Plains... What a pity.

Zhou Su followed Zhao Yifu's line of thought and said, "You mean, when Xiangyang City was captured, the Liaohu left something behind?"

Zhao Yifu said, "The shamans of the Inspiration School are very good at this. Who knows... We can just go down and take a look at the details."

Unexpectedly, Zhou Su suddenly said awkwardly, "Master has to look after the overall situation from up there, so I won't be going down..."

Zhao Yifu was stunned, then responded with a helpless smile.

Only then did he realize that this Master Zhou was just a weakling who could only let his spirit leave his body but had almost no actual combat ability. He was completely different from the Demon-Subduing Emperor Wenheng whom he was familiar with.

(End of this chapter)