Chapter 102 Old Master Second’s Skills

Old Master Second’s skills were useful.

It was just that these skills grew higher and higher, and the same technique, when used, was naturally different.

These people who had crawled out of the rebel army clearly had strangely powerful red bellybands. They hid among the rebels, originally just wanting to use the rebel army as cover to get close to the grain-protecting general and tie him up in one fell swoop.

They just didn't expect this grain-protecting general to be so arrogant, actually coming out of the city alone. Seeing him not far away, they naturally wanted to take this opportunity to attack, relying on the red bellyband on their bodies, they were confident of tying up this grain-protecting general from among thousands of troops.

Xu, the Grand Manager on the city wall, was shocked when he saw them. He hurriedly called out to Hu Ma in a panic, "Quick, quick, save the grain-protecting general..."

"These妖人 (yaoren –妖:strange, 妖邪 evil spirits/demons；人: people) of the women's sect are not easy to deal with. They are from the Three-Headed Flood Dragon of Huzhou."

"..."

"Three-Headed Flood Dragon?"

But Hu Ma, after quietly exhaling that breath, no longer cared. In the army, it only seemed like a flash of fire, mixed with the surrounding dust. The earth seemed to shake, but it didn't seem to change much.

Xu, the Grand Manager, also had skills, but he couldn't understand what Hu Ma had done at all. He anxiously said, "They are also a force to be reckoned with, fiercely powerful."

"They saw that our Mingzhou's incense was flourishing earlier, so they were thinking of coming in, but they were blocked by the grain-protecting general. I didn't expect them to be so bold, actually using邪法 (xie fa – evil magic) to sneak into the army, and wanting to take advantage of this rebellion to cause trouble."

Hu Ma wasn't worried, but asked in surprise, "What the hell are these 'women's sect'? The name is quite wicked."

"It is said that they are from the Jiangtou Sect (a Southeast Asian black magic sect). Isn't that wicked?"

Xu Wensheng was shrewd. He came to remind Hu Ma because he was naturally anxious, but seeing Hu Ma so calm, he knew that he must have a grasp of the situation on the field, so he was no longer anxious, and just whispered:

"Shousui (Night Watchers) are fierce, Zougui (Ghost Walkers) are miscellaneous, Baxijing (The Tricksters) are refined, but this Jiangtou Sect occupies the 'evil' character."

"Many spells are useless in the army, because the army has heavy baleful aura. When the spells of ghosts and gods are hit by the baleful aura, they are gone."

"Only this Jiangtou Sect is different, they can always figure out some weird and strange things."

"Look at these big men, but they are wearing women's red bellybands. This is their magic weapon. These bellybands are all picked from those worn by the women in the sect, and they are not changed for several years, just for this yin energy, and the monthly blood energy."

"When the time comes, they will take them off, and the masters of the 'women's sect' will draw talismans on them to cast spells. When they are worn on the body, they become invulnerable and inexplicably ferocious... But the problem is that if they are worn for a long time, they will no longer be manly."

"So they have a tradition of killing their wives in this sect. When they cultivate to a certain level, they will kill their wives and offer them to the sect, or invite their brothers to share them."

"This is called the 'Wife Offering Banquet'."

"When this table is set up, others will know that his skills have reached the right level, and he doesn't need his wife anymore."

"..."

Hu Ma looked at it, nodded, and his eyes were still fixed on the battlefield, and said, "Then the price is not small."

When it came to the ability to be invulnerable, both the Shousui and Fulings possessed it, but Shousui relied on their strong bodies, Fulings relied on the things they carried on their backs, but this Jiangtou Sect seemed to rely on something to condense a body of yin energy.

This kind of invulnerability, when the evil energy arrived, was even stronger than Shousui and Fulings, but there were also many requirements.

For example, the invulnerability of Shousui was because their skills had reached the point where it was difficult to hurt them.

Fulings invited things down, and the more powerful the things were, the more difficult it was to hurt them.

But Jiangtou belonged to, the more chaotic the situation, the more difficult it was to hurt them.

The same person, if in a state of panic and confusion, holding a knife or gun, towards this person wearing a red bellyband, no matter how they slashed or stabbed, it would be difficult to hurt them at all.

The more anxious they were, the stronger the other party became.

But if they calmed down, concentrated their energy, and stabbed the other party like this, they might be able to stab in.

In addition,術法 (shu fa – magic arts) generally emphasized balance, requiring both magic and body nourishment, but they had a reckless meaning.

As long as it was useful, anything would do.

Of course, that being said, there were not a few evil sects in this world. They didn't have much contact with people in the sect, and they didn't even have a resounding reputation in the martial world. They usually just secretly took advantage of the gaps in the bureaucracy and did some cruel things.

But precisely because of this, sometimes they could figure out a few vicious tricks.

To put it bluntly, the Ten Surnames were not very clean... Except for our Hu family... But the reputation was here, they had to maintain some face, and the people under them couldn't act too wildly, with no bottom line, and were vaguely restricted.

But they, behind closed doors, were unscrupulous, and the poisonousness of their hearts was far more powerful than those on the surface.

Hu Ma's skills were not weak now, but he couldn't see through all their spells at a glance, so he could only use this clumsy skill of True Yang Arrow.

Now, only those wearing red bellybands were seen to have already killed their way to Yang Gong's front, completely ignoring the burning meaning coming from above their heads, only caring about rushing forward, and not even caring about the soldiers and horses that were surging up behind them.

It seemed that they might really be able to take down the grain-protecting general, but suddenly they felt that the sounds around them seemed to become blurred, and the surroundings were full of hot wind, as if the ground had become a volcano.

Looking down, they suddenly saw that the golden runes on the bellyband had melted away and were dripping down little by little.

Their hearts were suddenly shocked. Some hurriedly chanted spells, and some slapped hard, but unexpectedly it was of no use at all. The surroundings were as hot as being stuffed into a stove. Not only did the runes and golden characters on the red bellyband melt, but suddenly, with a bang, it caught fire all at once.

Amidst the chaotic army formation, dozens of burning fireballs suddenly appeared, and even the screams in their mouths were blocked into their throats by the flames. The flames burned more and more vigorously, and suddenly soared several feet high.

The soldiers and horses surging up on both sides were all startled by this movement and gave way.

"Ouch..."

Xu, the Grand Manager, was also almost knocked down by the scene. He looked at Hu Ma suspiciously, "You... how did you do it? Did you do it?"

Hu Ma just smiled. There was no way, his eyesight hadn't reached the point where he could break through all spells at a glance. He couldn't see through the secrets of this vicious spell, so he could only use a clumsy method.

He could see the aura on their bodies when they made their move. They were walking the path of yin and evil, so the problem was simple to solve. He spat out a mouthful of True Yang Arrow, not hurting people, but turning that area into a pure Yang copper furnace.

These guys wearing red bellybands not only had their yin energy exhausted, but they couldn't get rid of the remaining Yuan Yang fire energy either, so naturally, their bodies became firewood and burned up.

I have to say, Hu Ma used to envy the fire-spitting skills of The Trickster sect. Now, he could be considered to be able to do it too.

"Hehe, you didn't even pick a day to die!"

And when this group of yaoren who wanted to take down the grain-protecting general were suddenly burned to death, as if by a miracle, Yang Gong, behind this raging fire, had a stern look on his face, and the golden knife in his hand pointed forward, his shadow seemed to be constantly growing larger.

"Take down all these troublemakers and cut off their heads to show the public."

"..."

Those who had rebelled originally thought that they could take advantage of the situation to force the palace, but when they saw that the soldiers and horses behind them were not listening to orders, and saw that several commanders and deputy generals, who they thought were their own people, were actually taking the initiative to protect the grain-protecting general, they knew that the situation was over.

They only saw a dark mass of soldiers and horses surging up, and several personal soldiers who wanted to break through were all killed by random knives. They had no intention of resisting, and allowed everyone to take them down.

One by one, they were tied up and escorted behind Yang Gong, re-entering the city.

They knew they had no hope, and at this time they even saved the trouble of begging for mercy. Only one stubborn person, with his neck stiff, cursed at Yang Gong, "So you deliberately set a trap to trick us, you just wanted to take over our troops."

"But don't be so proud, King Flood Dragon has his eyes on this place. Who dares to disrespect his old man's thousand years of cultivation?"

"At worst, I'll go one step ahead and wait for you on the road to the Yellow Springs!"

"..."

"That old thing has a big mouth!"

Yang Gong turned back to look at him and smiled, "I was just about to find someone to open the knife on. Before he comes, I'm going to find him, but I'm too lazy to let you see it."

Saying that, he was too lazy to say anything more, waved his hand towards his neck, and said, "Why bother talking, just cut them down!"

Each of them was taken to the top of the city wall, and in front of the rebel army outside the city, their heads were cut off one by one, and then hung on the city gate tower to show the public.

The rebel army inside and outside the city, under the scolding of Zhao Zhu and a group of generals, threw down their weapons one after another, knelt on the ground and pleaded guilty.

Hu Ma also saw that this rebellion was probably originally Yang Gong's plan. He now had a large plate, and many people came to join him from all over the place. Some were naturally useful, and taking them down was a fierce general.

But some were unruly and only wanted to find someone to lead the food and raise their troops. These troops that were taken in, unless in very special cases, had to be disbanded and reorganized before they could be used, but these people would not agree.

So Yang Gong was secretly designing for them to jump out on their own initiative, killing the leaders, and then hanging a crime on the rest before slowly subduing them.

This plan didn't seem very upright, but Hu Ma didn't intend to interrupt.

The Heavenly Book of the previous life, falling into this world, contained great principles, but it also had to conform to the situation in this world. Yang Gong had his own way of survival.

The last "昌" (chang - flourish) character of the Nameless Treasure Seal could not be obtained by his own ability alone. It needed to be obtained through the fortune of the people in the world. Therefore, after this competition, a real emperor had to be selected.

He couldn't completely replicate the principles of his previous life in this world, but the words "民心" (min xin - the will of the people) were the most basic and precious thing, indispensable.

This determined that he had to lead out an emperor who knew the people's hearts, valued the people's hearts, but also conformed to the world's understanding:

An emperor.

That was what he thought in his heart, and that was what he said. At night, Yang Gong held a grand banquet to welcome him, but Hu Ma didn't drink a few cups. Instead, he waited until after the third round of wine, when the banquet was over, before sitting with him in the courtyard, only taking a pot of wine and sitting leisurely under the pavilion.

While drinking together, he frankly said, "You are my brother, not my pawn, so I still think it's better to explain some things to you clearly."

"Your foundation is strong, and the last incense of Dou Yi is gone. When it's time for you to leave the city, with your current troops and talented people under your command, although you don't have a big advantage, you still have a chance to compete for the world."

"It's just a pity that among the grass-roots kings in this world, there are not many who really come from the grass-roots. Most of them are supported by the nobles and powerful people in various places, as well as the capable people in the sects."

"You seem to be facing all kinds of grass-roots kings, but in fact, you are facing those nobles and powerful people and the capable and strange people in the sects, with your head hanging on your neck."

"So, you have two choices."

He paused slightly here and said, "One is that the sky is high and the sea is wide, let you go and venture out."

"With your current family fortune, elite soldiers and capable generals, it is not difficult to create a career. Even if you really encounter powerful people in the future and suffer a great defeat, or encounter a wise ruler, you can also surrender to the other party, be loyal, and exchange it for a wealthy future."

Yang Gong directly said, "What about the other one?"

Hu Ma was silent for a while, and said, "The other one is that I use your battle formation to cut down the grass-roots kings, gather the Mandate of Heaven, destroy evil magic sects, and suppress妖祟 (yao sui – demonic apparitions) ghosts and gods. I want to refine my altar and my magic."

"If you are willing to help me, you can still embark on this path of fighting for the emperor, and you will get my help. However, because of me, you will encounter even more powerful opponents and more evil people."

"The risk is probably ten times greater, and the difficulty will be ten times greater."

"Moreover, there will be no more opportunities to bow down and be loyal to others. You will go all the way to the end, or to your death."

Yang Gong listened, and fell silent, staring at Hu Ma with wide eyes.

"Also..."

Hu Ma also looked at him and slowly said, "Not only will I help you, but there will be more people willing to help you, but they are all proud people. The reason why they are willing to help us is also because of the most precious and sincere things in their hearts."

"So, as a reward, you can't forget the contents of the Heavenly Book I taught you, you can't forget your original intention. Although I don't ask you to refine a Heavenly Army, there are some principles that you must always remember!"

"..."

After saying this, Hu Ma stopped and just looked at Yang Gong seriously, waiting for him to make his own choice.

To fight against the Ten Surnames, he needed such a large army. Hu Ma could certainly not tell Yang Gong and not let him choose, but he still felt that it was better to say it directly, frankly and openly.

And Yang Gong, in silence, looked at Hu Ma, but suddenly slowly laughed.

He seemed to be a little drunk and suddenly said, "Brother, do you remember when Mingzhou was plagued by bandits, and I brought people out of the mountains to eliminate them?"

"That time, you saved me and gave me this knife. In fact, at that time, I seemed to see something, that was my life, too cheap. I should have died in the hands of the bandits that time, with no one remembering me."

"You changed my life and gave me what I have today. This is already something that I wouldn't dare to dream of before. So if you ask me, dare I think about being an emperor?"

"Then I definitely wouldn't dare to think about it, it's too big."

"But to be honest, if there is really an emperor's seat in front of me, I will risk my life to grab it. With my background, even if I just grabbed the emperor, my ancestral grave should emit green smoke for several years..."

"..."

Smiling, he turned to look at Hu Ma and said, "Besides, I actually know what you are worried about."

"If you have a thousand fields, you want ten thousand fields. If you become an emperor, you want to become an immortal. There is a hole in people's hearts that can never be filled. No matter how good brothers are, when it comes time to divide the family property, they have to tear their faces and fight."

"You don't want to have that day, so you always tell me a lot of principles. I'm also afraid of having that day, so I'll say a few heartfelt words to you."

"Today's Yang Gong values brothers more than the emperor. I also want to compete for this emperor's seat."

"But I know that I don't have enough skills, so I can only exchange it with sincerity. So I want to make a great wish here:"

"I, Yang Gong, will never forget where I came from, will always remember the hardships I have suffered, will never wrong the people, and will always remember why I raised my troops in the first place."

"I'm also preparing to kill out of Mingzhou and meet the heroes of this world, so I am willing to ask the gods of heaven and earth to bless me, and ask the异人 (yi ren – extraordinary people) from all walks of life to help me. If there really is a day when my ancestral grave burns high incense, but I don't know enough and become another person..."

"Then, brother, you come over and cut off my head!"

"..."

Saying these words, he actually laughed very happily. He was usually enthusiastic, but he always had some respect for Hu Ma. Now he patted him on the shoulder in a carefree manner and said, "This is what I'm asking you to do."

"With heaven and earth as witnesses, you killing me doesn't count as betraying our brotherhood."

"..."

Looking at his eyes, which were so clear that there wasn't a trace of drunkenness, Hu Ma suddenly realized that this young man from a peasant background was actually growing up no slower than himself...

He nodded gently after a long time, picked up the wine bowl, and slowly drank it down.

Also at this moment, suddenly far away outside the city wall, firelight surged, illuminating one side of the night sky. That was the rebel army outside the city, which had been reorganized. The generals lit braziers and sent messages to the grain-protecting military camp in the city.

Also at this time, far away in the night sky, red lanterns emerged from the depths of the night.

Erguotou (a type of Chinese liquor) was riding on his horse, holding a lantern in his hand, with the dark mass of the grain-protecting army behind him. When they slowly appeared from the night, it seemed that this world also produced a bit of凝沉 (ning chen – heavy/solemn) because of this.

Because he was anxious, Erguotou also hurried on his way, and finally, at this time, brought the grain-protecting army back to this Mingzhou city.

"Brother, you have sufficient troops and food, and a far-reaching reputation. This time, the grain-protecting army has brought you back enough blood food to ensure that you have the confidence to seize the world."

Hu Ma smiled and nodded to Yang Gong and said, "Now, you should enfeoff kings and appoint generals, and send troops out of Mingzhou."

Yang Gong also looked at him and slowly nodded. The Mingzhou grain-protecting army had long been prepared. He was originally waiting for Hu Ma to come back to discuss this matter with him. Seeing that Hu Ma took the initiative to say it, he knew that the time had come.

After pondering for a long time, he said, "My life was changed by you, so please bestow me a title!"

Hu Ma smiled and said, "Why bother so much?"

"Since you were born in Mingzhou, suffered in Mingzhou, and raised your troops in Mingzhou, then take the place as your title and take the title of Ming King, how about that?"

"..."

Yang Gong laughed, "I'll listen to you, then I'll be the Mingzhou King and lead the grain-protecting army!"

"However, since you have decided to help me, I actually have a question to ask you. During this period of time, I have been pondering the contents of the Heavenly Book you taught me."

"Thinking about the army and the people, the grain and the soldiers, the nobles in the city and the peasants in the mountains mentioned in the Heavenly Book, I always feel that I have learned a lot and have confidence in my heart, but the more I think about it, the more I feel that more questions have arisen in my heart..."

"... Will you have time to tell me more in the future?"

"..."

"Ah?"

Hu Ma was a little embarrassed when he heard this. These principles were also what he had heard from other places.

It was not a problem to teach some to Yang Gong from time to time, but this guy had been practicing and experiencing all the time, and his thoughts on many of them were probably more profound than his own. If he were to tell him again at this time, he would inevitably show some timidity...

He still had to try to find a Doctor of Arts to give him guidance...

After drinking three bowls in a row, the two stood up. Yang Gong led the crowd and was about to leave the city to see the troops, while Hu Ma turned around and entered the night, used his Measuring Heaven Boots, and returned to Qing Stone Town.

Li Wa Zi had been guarding the village here and had not yet gone to sleep. Hearing the movement, he hurriedly greeted him. Seeing Hu Ma, he was overjoyed and was about to cook for him.

Hu Ma smiled and waved his hand, saying that he had already eaten, but opened one door of the village and closed one, and then had someone bring the incense table and burn a stick of incense on the incense burner.

Before long, the night around him fluctuated, and figures came to the front of the village, bowed to Hu Ma from outside the village, but only one old farmer and three or five figures dressed as江湖 (jianghu – martial arts world) people entered the village.

They stood on the left side of the courtyard.

After another half an hour, Lao Suanpan (Old Abacus), who was riding a fast horse and using spells to hurry on his way, arrived panting, followed by the fortune teller he had met on the road before.

Although the number of people was a little small, they also represented the Great Luo Dharma Sect and stood on the right side of the courtyard.

Hu Ma was not pretentious and did not pay attention to these superficial efforts. He just got up and said to them seriously, "The Grain-Protecting General is about to enfeoff kings and appoint generals, and send troops out of Mingzhou to crusade against the grass-roots kings from all walks of life to see who is the real dragon and who can seize the Mandate of Heaven in the end."

"And we must also take this opportunity to see the true chapters with the Ten Surnames."

"..."

Hearing this, the 不食牛 (Bushi Niu – Non-Eating Ox) and a group of yaoren also had their own expressions of excitement. They had been busy with rebellion for a lifetime, and now they finally saw that the big things could be accomplished, and they couldn't help but get excited and clap their palms and laugh.

Even the senior brother of Non-Eating Ox, also looked up at Hu Ma, "Has the leader decided to support this emperor seed?"

"Not bad."

Hu Ma nodded, looked at the incense in the incense burner. It was obvious that the night wind was howling now, blowing the weeds flying, but the incense was burning straight up, and he knew that the Mountain God had also come to the village and was also listening to him.

His tone was firm, and said, "It's him."

"I also know that you will all think that his life number is a little worse, and his foundation is not thick enough. It's okay to be one of the seeds, but it's not enough to bet big on him."

"But I think that our goal of recreating heaven and earth and reshaping the universe requires such a clean person. We have the help of the Heavenly Book and the protection of the gods, what are we afraid of if the life number is not enough?"

"Enfeoff kings, sacrifice to the heavens, cut down the grass-roots kings, gather the laws of the world, immediately send troops out of Mingzhou, and first take that old dragon in Huzhou, who claims to have a thousand years of cultivation, to sacrifice the flag!"

Everyone was excited when they heard this.

Even Bushi, the senior brother Xiao Heizi (Little Black), was slightly looking forward to it, "The leader is so confident, is that the third volume of the Heavenly Book..."

Hu Ma smiled and said, "Three volumes of the Heavenly Book, one volume communicates with the netherworld, and one volume peeks into the sky. Those who communicate with the netherworld understand the subtle nuances of people's hearts, and those who peek into the sky see the operation of heaven and earth. Now I want you to see the third volume of the Heavenly Book."

"Summon divine soldiers to descend to the mortal world and sweep away all the妖邪 (yao xie – demons and evil spirits) in the world!"

(End of this chapter)