173: My name is Benboerba (asking for monthly ticket)

“Deputy General Chen, you’ve arrived! The Fushi has sent someone.”

When Chen Yuan’s figure landed in front of the Zhonglang Hall in Guang’an Prefecture, Local General of the Guard Gou Zhi personally came out to greet him, a smile on his face and his posture somewhat lowered, as if last night’s incident hadn’t happened, and the full beard that had been stuck to his face was re-stuck.

“What did the messenger say?” Chen Yuan didn’t find this awkward, asked a question, and strode forward.

“He didn’t say, he said he had to wait for you to arrive,” Gou Zhi said, and the two entered the hall together.

Inside the hall, the messenger from the Fushi saw Chen Yuan, quickly stepped forward, and immediately knelt on one knee, “Ninth Zhonglang, this is a letter from Commander Pei for you to look over.”

Saying this, the armored messenger handed over a palm-sized scroll with both hands.

Chen Yuan took it with one hand, glanced to the side, where Gou Zhi was looking over with anticipation, and coughed, his eyes naturally turning to the other side.

Opening the lacquered letter, which had a Restriction on it, Chen Yuan’s gaze fell upon it, sweeping over it once, then he casually looked up, “You go back and report to Commander Pei, tell him that This General will do his best.”

“Yes!”

The armored messenger bowed with both hands raised above his head, stood up, and left the hall decisively. Soon after, an eagle’s cry was heard outside the hall, followed by the sound of wings flapping.

At this moment, a movement came from below Chen Yuan’s ear, and then he saw Gou Zhi seemingly let out a sigh of relief, rising from the ground, trying to be level with Chen Yuan, his eyebrows and eyes showing a hint of caution as he asked with a chuckle:

“Deputy General Chen, the Fushi… what news did they send?”

“Commander Gou, there’s no need to be so cautious. This news was meant to be told to you anyway.” Chen Yuan raised an eyebrow slightly, his expression normal, “The Yao Race has broken through the Heavenly Gate, and the Fushi has gathered the major aristocratic families and Sects of Shu Land to jointly resist the enemy. Four forces have already dispatched their Sect disciples, with several Heavenly Gate experts leading the teams as reinforcements. This will greatly reduce our pressure, and Brother Gou won’t have to think about a retreat for now.” Chen Yuan’s eyebrows relaxed a bit as he said this.

He had some knowledge of Commander Pei’s efforts to gather the aristocratic families and Sects for a joint effort, but he hadn’t participated and didn’t know the follow-up, nor how many forces had responded this time. But fortunately, having reinforcements was good, otherwise, with the current understanding of the situation, hope was slim.

When Gou Zhi heard that several Sects would be coming to support, his eyes lit up, and a hint of joy flashed in his eyes. However, upon hearing Chen Yuan’s last sentence, his face almost couldn’t hold up, looking awkwardly strained, and his body tensed up slightly, moving a little further away from Chen Yuan. It was this Deputy General Chen who had suddenly burst out and attacked him yesterday, causing him to suffer a great loss.

He smiled bitterly, “Please, Deputy General Chen, do not blame me. Ever since my Divine Ability Cultivation went awry, my Divine Ability has greatly diminished. Although my courage is getting smaller day by day, I am absolutely not afraid of death.”

This Heavenly Gate Zhonglang General was not like this before; he was once nine feet tall, heroic and dignified, a burly man. However, a mistake in Cultivating a Divine Ability led to reverse growth in his body. In just a few years, he became his current appearance. If he wore ordinary clothes, others would think he was a seven or eight-year-old child. Even his Heart-Nature changed, no longer as brave and diligent as before.

To maintain that last bit of dignity, he usually had to stick on a full beard, which was quite distressing.

Chen Yuan raised an eyebrow, lifted a hand to interrupt, “Brother Gou, no need to say more. I, Chen, have more or less understood your situation. I, Chen, am not a Saint, qualified to judge your merits and demerits. I, Chen, just hope that at this time, no one will stab me in the back.” As he spoke, Chen Yuan’s voice grew cold.

After Chen Yuan learned yesterday that this Local General of the Guard had thoughts of fleeing, he first intimidated him, then used the Dream Grafting Divine Ability overnight to pull some Sky Patrol Division personnel into a dream for interrogation, and erased relevant memories, learning some things. He knew this person was not bad, otherwise, Chen Yuan, even if it meant an unstable situation, would never have kept this person and talked to him here.

His words were to reassure this Zhonglang General, and of course, also to issue a warning.

“Absolutely not. Even if I, Gou Zhi, am terrible, I would never do something so despicable. Deputy General Chen, do not underestimate me.” Gou Zhi’s small face stiffened, knowing Chen Yuan’s meaning, his voice still carrying a hint of anger.

It was just that his appearance made it impossible for him to be imposing.

Chen Yuan smiled this time, cupped his fists, “Then I, Chen, apologize for speaking wrongly.”

“Haha, I have something else to do, so I’ll take my leave first. When the four forces arrive at Guang’an Prefecture, I’ll trouble Commander Gou to entertain them.”

With that, Chen Yuan turned and left the Zhonglang Hall.

Only Gou Zhi remained, watching this Ninth Mountain Junior General leave, stroking his full beard, his small face filled with sorrow, and he let out a long sigh, “I’ve passed the test. This Ninth Zhonglang is truly difficult to deal with.”

After Chen Yuan left the Zhonglang Hall, he went directly to the separate courtyard. By this time, the sun was already high. He instructed one of his personal guards,

“Call that Captain Xie over!”

Knowing that reinforcements were about to arrive in Guang’an Prefecture, Chen Yuan felt a little relieved. He had some ideas that he could boldly try now.

“Yes!”

An armored guard quickly responded and hurried to call for him.

After about half a cup of tea, Xie Tianhao, who had been rescued yesterday, quickly stepped into the main hall of the separate courtyard and bowed to Chen Yuan, who was already seated in the main seat,

“Your subordinate greets Ninth Zhonglang. May I ask what orders you have for me?”

“Are your injuries better?” Chen Yuan inquired about his injuries.

“Thank you, This General. Someone helped me treat my injuries, and I’m much better now, but it will still be difficult to fully recover,” Xie Tianhao said, looking up.

At this moment, Chen Yuan flicked his sleeve, and a golden glow the size of a bowl flew out from his cuff, heading towards Xie Tianhao.

Xie Tianhao received it with both hands, lowered his head to look, and first felt a peculiar and rich fragrance rush into his nose, which couldn’t help but invigorate him. His originally pale face, lacking Qi and blood, flushed red.

In his hands, he was holding a golden piece of flesh, and the rich essence Qi emanating from it wafted towards him.

“This is a piece of Heavenly Gate Devil flesh. It should be enough to treat your injuries,” Chen Yuan’s voice then sounded.

Upon hearing this, Xie Tianhao’s expression changed. He looked at the Demonic Qi flesh in his hand, then at Chen Yuan, his eyes filled with emotion. Then he knelt on both hands, bowed his head, his voice filled with unparalleled determination:

“Tianhao is but a defeated soldier. Your kindness, This General, is something I cannot repay. Once my injuries are healed, I will surely follow you to slay demons and devils, serving you wholeheartedly.”

Chen Yuan smiled slightly upon hearing this, “Don’t worry, This General needs you now.”

“Stand up and speak. This General asks you, during the great battle in Guang’an Prefecture, which six mountains from the Ten Thousand Mountains came?” Chen Yuan leaned one hand on the back of his chair, straightened his body slightly, his eyes gleaming.

Time flew by, night fell, and the moon was already high in the sky, though the clouds obscured half of it, making the mountains outside Jiang’an County appear eerie and heavily forested.

“Caw”

“Caw”

The piercing cries of crows broke the silence of the night.

At this time, a mountain about two hundred li east of Jiang’an County, called A Meng Mountain.

A group of monsters lived in a mountain stream.

At this moment, inside a pitch-black cave amidst the flowing waterfalls, a flickering firelight could be seen, and grotesque beast shadows were reflected on the stone walls of the cave.

Some had horns on their heads, some were coiled up, flicking their tongues…

Faint sounds of conversation came from within.

“Great King, it seems it’s almost… not going to work.”

“Should we run? Those big ones don’t treat us as their own kind.”

“Coo coo…”

“Where would we run to? We have to… obey, or else those big ones will eat us.”

“Do you… want to be made into snake soup?”

Just then,

“Wait, I smell Demonic Qi that doesn’t belong to this area, two of them, coming towards our cave.”

A deep, hoarse voice suddenly sounded.

Soon, inside the cave, amidst the flickering firelight, a pair of eerie green eyes emerged from a corner within. It was a black wolf about a zhang long!

Then, behind the black wolf, rustling sounds indicated several small demons walking out.

There was a two to three zhang long green-skinned, striped python with its head held high, flicking its tongue;

There was a golden-furred, red-faced, snarling large monkey;

Seven or eight small demons stared silently at the long cave tunnel exit.

Under the faint moonlight, two pagoda-like figures appeared at the cave entrance, five to six feet tall, but the tips of their hairs glowed with a faint golden light under the moonlight.

“Who are you?” the black wolf spoke.

The two shadows, with their backs to the moonlight, replied, and a pair of snow-white buck teeth were bared,

“My name is Ben Bo’er Ba!”

“His name is Ba Bo’er Ben!”