016 times Born to be a treacherous minister

  Zhang Jing and Zhong Shidao, although holding high positions, have a broad mind and demeanor that is not comparable to ordinary people. They can be called great men, and are admired by others. Wu Song and the other two quickly stood up to return the courtesy, Yang Jia was also delighted and smiled foolishly. The steward, due to his profession, was often looked down upon and insulted as a eunuch. At this moment, he received recognition from the military commanders, and for a time, he was so excited that he didn't know what to do.

  Up to now, Yang Zhen's performance has greatly surprised Wu Da Officer. This infamous treacherous minister not only doesn't have the slightest appearance of a treacherous minister but is instead extremely heroic and his words and deeds make people applaud with admiration. Wu Song can't help but secretly wonder if it's because of his own upright character that this treacherous minister has been influenced, causing the evil sprouts to develop in a bright direction?

  "It must be like this!" The official thought with a sense of accomplishment.

  Zhang Da and Shi Diao accompanied Wu Song and others into the city of Wuyan, where they saw over a hundred soldiers clearing the city gate. The city tower had been completely destroyed by the fierce battle between Fan the Taoist and the Viper Spirit, with two giant pythons hanging from the rubble, pierced by numerous arrows. Dozens of soldiers strained to pull them out.

  Wu Song's precious sword was still stuck in the eye of a giant python, and two soldiers carried it over. Zhou Zhi saw it and reached out to grab the hilt, but as soon as he did, his hands sank down under its weight. He exclaimed, "Wu Song is truly a fierce warrior! This sword weighs no less than 100 catties, yet he wielded it with such ease. If one's arms didn't have the strength of a thousand catties, how could they swing such a heavy weapon? I'm in awe, I'm in awe!"

  Wu Song took the precious sword and, with a casual swing of his arm, drew a sword flower. He smiled and said, "It's just brute force, Lu Da and Yang Zongbao can also wield such a heavy weapon."

  "Three heroes!" exclaimed Wu Song, as he suddenly spotted the corpse of the monk under the pile of rocks. His heart racing, he rushed over and rummaged through the monk's body, pulling out a jade bead and a small drum, his face filled with joy.

  Yang Jie and Lu Da also ran over, searched among the rocks, and found the same thing on another dead monk's body. The three of them gathered together, divided up the treasures, Wu Song got a damaged jade bead, a small drum, Lu Da got a small drum, Yang Jie got an intact jade bead.

  That monk in the dark fog used a defensive treasure, which should be the jade pearl. When opened, it was like an egg-shaped canopy that blocked Yang Jia's white bone fan and Lu Da's crescent shovel twice in a row. In the end, it was only broken by Wu Song with all his might with one sword, its defensive power is astonishing.

  This pearl, apart from its defensive properties, should also have the effect of dispelling evil, otherwise it wouldn't have caused Yang Jian to be injured.

  If I can bring this treasure to the battlefield, my survival rate will be greatly improved. Even if I encounter that monk Lotus Birth seeking revenge, I'll have a few chances of winning.

  "I'm afraid that Lotus will gather his relatives and bring his whole family, including his uncles, aunts, and cousins." Yang Jia said: "This Zhuo Pu Ba should be the leader of the secret society, passed down from Da Su Er, Xiao Su Er Xi Ruo Zha Ba, who cultivated the Buddhist scripture 'Fantian Jing'. In the Western Regions, there are many followers, most of whom are national teachers of small countries in the Western Regions. If we stay in the army, these people won't seek revenge, but if we return to the capital, I'm afraid they will definitely come looking for us."

  Lu Da said: "When I was traveling in Jianghu, I met a few good men. Why don't we invite them to come and help us?"

  Wu Song nodded and said, "I also know a highly skilled person who is a hundred times better than me. He's currently serving as an instructor at the Lin Mansion in the capital. I have some connections with him. Yang, you invite more people, we don't necessarily need to be afraid of those Tibetan monks!"

  Yang Jian was somewhat worried and said, "The people I know are all from the three teachings and nine streams, evil sects, and we didn't have much of a relationship in the past. Asking them to take action would likely require some effort. Wu brothers, our Jianghu is different from Lu Tui's Jianghu, should we pull him into our group?"

  Wu Song hesitated for a moment, then nodded. Lu Da was a good fellow, although he was a bit reckless on the battlefield, but he was straightforward and worthy of deep friendship. Moreover, he and Wu Song had similar backgrounds, both being one of the 108 demons and monsters. Now that he had pulled him in, he would surely become a great help in the future.

  Yang Jian then told Lu Da about the various immortal sects such as the Hidden Gate and the Manifest Gate. Lu Da smiled and said, "I had also heard a little about this when I was wandering in the Jianghu. When I saw your skills earlier, I had some doubts, but it turns out that you are indeed those kinds of people."

  "Wu Song said: 'Brother Lu, we are all seeking longevity and eternal life, coexisting with the world. This technique should have been passed on to you, but unfortunately, my friend and I have just started learning it ourselves, so we can't teach you yet, please forgive us.'"

  Lu Da didn't think much of it and said: "Being able to recognize you is already a blessing for the Lu family, why force it?"

  Wu Song and Yang Zongbao both admired him for his broad-mindedness, Wu Song smiled and said: "When we return to the capital, I will definitely find a good teacher for you!"

  Zhang Jue saw the three of them whispering to each other, and not entering the city. He asked Zhongyao: "These three people can escape alive under evil spells, they must have some tricks up their sleeves. Do you know their origins?"

  "Your subordinate, when in the capital, once heard Chen Daozi mention that Yang Jianjun had magical powers. If we encounter strange things, I shouldn't be surprised. Wu Tihu and Lu Tihu are also friends with him, they must also have magical powers. I'm thinking, if our great army can recruit more of these skilled men with special abilities, form a 'Zuoshi' camp, attack south and north, we will surely win every battle!"

  Zhang Jue listened, his heart racing with excitement. If he could gather a group of extraordinary people and give them a large army, they would be able to sweep across the north and south, invincible wherever they went, destroying the Liao Dynasty, pacifying Dali, eliminating Western Xia, and subjugating the Uyghurs, Tubo, Black Khitans, Goryeo, and Japan... Wherever the great army pointed, was there anywhere that the Song army couldn't conquer?

  "This matter still needs to be carefully considered, I'm old and may not live to see such a scene, but Shifu is still young. After pacifying the Xia Kingdom and returning to the capital, I will certainly petition His Majesty to establish regulations for this matter as soon as possible!"

  Wu Song, Lu Da and Yang Zongbao had already made up their minds. As the army arrived at Wusong City, the military doctor was ordered to come and treat the three men's injuries. When the three men took off their armor, they saw that there were wounds all over their bodies. The strange thing was that Wu Song and Lu Da's wounds had already started to scab, while Yang Zongbao's wounds were also recovering, but much slower than Wu Song and Lu Da. Although the wounds were no longer bleeding, they did not heal.

  The doctor randomly applied some wound medicine to him and let him lie in bed to recover. Yang Jiaolong shouted that it was unfair, among the three of them, his cultivation was the deepest, Lu Da didn't even have true energy, but he recovered faster than him.

  Wu Song and Lu Da ignored him, ran out to drink, after getting drunk, the two of them went to the school field to compare their fists and feet. In terms of equipment skills, Wu Song was not as good as Lu Da, but in terms of fist and footwork, Lu Da couldn't keep up with Wu Song.

  The two men exchanged skills, both gaining something. Wu Song taught Lu Da the art of fist and footwork, while also learning from Lu Da's expertise in equipment operation, combining what he had gained on the battlefield over the past few days, benefiting greatly.

  The Song army captured Wuyan Pass and did not immediately send troops to attack Xianpo Port, but instead organized soldiers to repair and fortify the city walls, transforming Wuyan Pass into a defensive fortress facing Western Xia. Zhang Jue was good at defense and was the best general in the history of the Song Dynasty for 150 years, and Pingxia City, the great rear base against Western Xia, was built by him.

  At this moment, the Song army occupied Wuyan Gorge, and Zhang Jue immediately transferred nearly 10,000 laborers from Pingxiacheng to build more than a dozen fortresses on the mountain tops of Wuyan Gorge, which stretched for thirty miles. Each fortress had enough grain and grass to sustain thousands of people for half a year, with an attitude of not seeking to advance, but only loving to defend the city.

  This grand building was built for a full five months, until the winter went and the spring came, before it was thoroughly completed. During this time, the Western Xia and Song Dynasty scouts came and went without interruption, frequently probing each other's movements, and cavalry clashed in several small-scale skirmishes.

  Wu Song and the other two spent their leisure time practicing martial arts, and when they were busy, they trained soldiers. The days passed quite smoothly. During this period, the three of them also figured out how to use the Jade Pearl and the small drum. The Jade Pearl only needed to be infused with true energy, and it would expand into a gas mask that covered the user's entire body. However, this Jade Pearl was somewhat clumsy when defending against ordinary attacks, but it was still useful for defending against magical attacks.

  That small drum is of little use, only a tool for controlling the Gu insect, no need to infuse true energy to use it, but the sound is quite astonishing, with just a light tap, it's even louder than that war drum.

  Wu Song obtained a jade pearl and a small drum, but soon discovered something strange. His physical body was special, the spiritual energy in the jade pearl and the small drum involuntarily surged into his body, and the two treasures quickly became useless.

  The grand gentleman couldn't help but feel a bit worried, this wasn't the first time it had happened. When he obtained the Luli Sword, it was also like this, the spiritual energy in the sword surged into his body and transformed into true energy. Having finally come into contact with the hidden world of immortals among mortals, if he couldn't use the treasure, that would be too frustrating.

  Wu Song asked Yang Zong for advice, and the manager also couldn't figure out why, thinking that there must be a problem with Wu Song's cultivation method.

  But Wu Song knew in his heart that before he met Zhou Tong, his body had already shown such symptoms, which had nothing to do with the practice of the military family.

  Yang Jia saw that he was depressed and comforted him, saying: "In Cai Jing's mansion, there is a Taoist named Wang Laozhi who has some connection with me. He is a high-ranking person of the Qing Dynasty on Mount Mao, with insight far surpassing mine. When we return to the capital, I will introduce you to Cai Jing and through him, you can get acquainted with Wang Laozhi and ask for his advice, there must be a solution."

  Wu Song felt even more anxious after hearing this. Cai Jing was also a treacherous official, and he had connections with the Taoist priests in his mansion. What would others think?

  "Am I destined to be a treacherous official? I wonder how the future history of the Song Dynasty will evaluate me. As one of Huizong's six great traitors, I should have a place among them..."