The Devil's Tribulation

Everyone was stunned. While everyone was still in a daze, Sun Erleng had already left the tent and shouted, "The second battalion will assemble on the playground!" Then he led his personal soldiers to the playground first. After a while, the bell for assembly rang. After three rings, the troops of the second battalion had assembled on the playground. After calling the roll, the captain of the second battalion, Man Sanmiao, replied, "General, the second battalion has assembled, and there are no absentees!" Sun Erleng nodded, looked at the dark shadows on the ground and shouted, "This time, the third team of the second battalion missed the opportunity! It almost caused a big mistake. As the commander of your second battalion, I have an unshirkable responsibility! Therefore, before punishing you, I will punish myself first!" The soldiers below were dumbfounded. They had never heard of such a thing. Before everyone could react, Sun Erleng looked at the personal soldiers and shouted, "Why are you still standing there? Execute military law! Beat me the same way you beat the soldiers! If you dare to be partial, you will be subject to military law!" The personal soldiers were stunned for a while, and finally tied Sun Erleng to the cross. A group of young generals and soldiers cried out in tears: "General, this is all our fault. Please don't punish yourself! Beat us!" Sun Erleng shouted: "Shut up! Come! Beat us!!"

The guards hesitated for a moment, but they dared not disobey the general's order, so they had to bite the bullet and whip their beloved general. The whole playground was eerily quiet, and only the sound of the whip could be heard. The sound was so harsh, and every whip hit the flesh, it must be true. Sun Erleng didn't say a word from beginning to end. After whipping fifty times, the guards quickly put Sun Erleng down and put clothes on him. Sun Erleng took a breath and said to himself: "It hurts so much, little Ren, I have invested a lot in you, don't let me down." Sun Erleng rested for a while, stood up again, looked at the soldiers below, and Captain Ren who was crying, and said slowly: "Why are you crying! I am not dead!" Then he shouted: "All the members of the third team of the second battalion will have one month's salary deducted. The captain of the third team will have half a year's salary deducted and demoted to sergeant. He will also temporarily command the third team. Okay, let's disperse!"

After Sun Erleng returned to the tent, he could no longer hold back and said with a grin, "Someone, hurry up and apply medicine to me!" Several personal soldiers hurriedly helped Sun Erleng apply medicine. Sun Erleng lay down and laughed, "Chengqi, you are really ruthless." The personal soldier named Chengqi's eyes were red, "General, don't treat yourself like this again in the future. Are those bad boys worth your efforts?" Sun Erleng sighed and said, "What do you know? If I don't play this scene today, what do you say if they make mistakes again in the future? Don't think they are so obedient at ordinary times. Look, today, when they heard that I was going to behead Ren Bin, they all knelt down and begged for mercy. In fact, they were "forcing the palace". This time I used my body to take the punishment for them. If there is a next time, they will have nothing to say. I have won the hearts of the army and gained a reputation. It's a two-pronged approach. What does this little bit of physical pain matter?

After Sun Erleng finished speaking, a strange voice suddenly rang out in the tent: "Captain Sun is so calculating. I didn't expect you to be such a good leader." Several soldiers drew their swords and shouted, "Who are you? How dare you trespass into the military camp?" Sun Erleng was startled at first when he heard the voice, and then he said happily, "Put away your weapons quickly and get out." Several soldiers were puzzled, and Sun Erleng immediately shouted, "Why are you standing there like an idiot? Get out quickly, I'm fine!" Several people left the tent one after another, and Pan Cheng Feng Cai showed up and said, "It's been a long time since we last met, County Lieutenant Sun. I hope you are doing well." Sun Erleng immediately knelt down at Pan Chengfeng's feet and said, "I have always missed the immortal master. The immortal master has been very kind to me, and I really have no way to repay him. I just hope that the immortal master can tell me his name so that I can set up a place of immortality for him in the mansion, day and night..." Pan Chengfeng couldn't stand Sun Erleng's flattery, so he quickly interrupted him and said, "Okay, don't be so cheesy." Sun Erleng slowly stood up, but he was still bent over. Pan Chengfeng looked at Sun Erleng's current appearance. How could he look like a decisive general? He found a chair and sat down and said, "You should sit down too. I have something to ask you this time." Sun Erleng probably knew what the immortal master wanted to ask, so he took a small stool and sat down to the lower left of Pan Chengfeng, waiting for the immortal master to ask questions. Pan Chengfeng was speechless for a while. He didn't even dare to sit at the same height as himself. Pan Chengfeng could not imagine how much respect Sun Erleng had for him. He knew about the existence of immortals before, and now that he had personally experienced the benefits given by the immortals, he was even more in awe. The elixir that he casually gave him had made him so invincible in martial arts!

Pan Chengfeng said, "Tell me in detail about the people from the capital who came to look for the fifteenth prince." Sun Erleng immediately spoke and narrated everything he knew in full, as if he had prepared it in advance, and spoke so fluently. After listening, Pan Chengfeng began to think. Sun Erleng did not dare to interrupt and waited quietly for the immortal master to continue asking questions. Pan Chengfeng thought for a while and asked, "So the fifteenth prince went back with the third prince? Nothing else happened during that time?" Sun Erleng thought for a while and said, "I haven't heard of anything else. That day, the fifteenth prince went directly to the yamen to see the third prince, and the next day they went to Fancheng together. I don't know what happened after that, but Magistrate Wu may know something else."

Pan Chengfeng just wanted to find out the whereabouts of Uncle Niu. Now with Sun Erleng's words, Uncle Niu's whereabouts have been basically confirmed. Pan Chengfeng thought to himself: "Since he left with the Third Prince, it was probably Master's own will. They shouldn't be able to force Master. So Master should go to the capital to see his father, the emperor. I just don't know if Master will stay in the capital for a long time." After thinking for a while, Pan Chengfeng came to a conclusion: "He probably won't stay long. Master still has to go to find his master's master. He will definitely not stay in the capital for a long time. The emperor can't keep him even if he wants to. Even if I rush over now, I probably won't run into him. But I still have to find a chance to go to the capital to inquire about Master's whereabouts."

After thinking, Pan Chengfeng stood up and prepared to leave. Sun Erleng said anxiously, "Master, are you leaving?" Pan Chengfeng's face darkened. I just asked a few questions, and you want benefits? Do you really think my blood is free? However, Pan Chengfeng took out two snake scales from the storage ring and said, "These are scales of monsters. You can find a good craftsman to make an inner armor. It should be able to save your life on the battlefield." After Sun Erleng took the scales, his eyes were straight. This is a treasure! However, he still said sincerely, "I just answered a few questions. How dare you ask for the treasure of the immortal master? Does the immortal master have any other instructions? I will do it!" Although he said so, he held the scales tightly from beginning to end and had no intention of returning them.

Pan Chengfeng suddenly felt that this Sun Erleng was a character who dared to fight when he met an opportunity. He shamelessly asked for benefits, and now he was shamelessly pretending to refuse. This was the ultimate interpretation of shamelessness. He really wanted to take it back, and then look at Sun Erleng's expression. However, Pan Chengfeng knew that this kind of person might be really useful in the future. Since he wanted to fight for a future on the battlefield, he would help him again. Pan Chengfeng turned his head and smiled, "I'm afraid General Sun can't help me with what I want to do now, but I can help General Sun again, but I have a condition." Sun Erleng immediately knelt down and kowtowed, "From this moment on, Sun Erleng is a running dog of the immortal master. As long as the immortal master says a word, I will go through mountains of swords and seas of fire. If Sun Erleng frowns, my family and I will die miserably! We will be fried in a frying pan in hell, and the heaven and earth are my witnesses!"

Pan Chengfeng was very satisfied and thought to himself, "This person is really smart, but I don't have the means to control him now. Let's do this for now and talk about it later when we have the chance." Pan Chengfeng nodded and said, "Get up, remember what you just said, and come to the inn to find me tomorrow night." After saying that, he remembered something and ordered, "Help me get a pass." After saying that, he disappeared on the spot. In fact, it was just too fast, and Sun Erleng's eyes couldn't keep up. Pan Chengfeng really took great pains to maintain the image of a master in front of Sun Erleng.

When Sun Erleng saw that the immortal master disappeared in the blink of an eye, he thought to himself, "He is worthy of being an immortal master. We don't even know when he left." However, Sun Erleng soon stopped caring about how the immortal master left. Looking at the treasure in his hand, Sun Erleng sighed, "After all, it is an immortal treasure. It is icy cold. It looks like I can't break the scale even if I use all my strength. I wonder if the craftsman can make it into inner armor." After carefully putting the scale away, Sun Erleng shouted, "Someone come here!" The personal soldier came in and bowed, and said, "General, what do you want?" Sun Erleng said, "Please ask Li the blacksmith in the city to come to me. Remember, be polite!" The personal soldier took the order and left.

After a while, Blacksmith Li came. Sun Erleng didn't say anything and took out a scale and asked, "Can you make this into inner armor? Silver is not a problem!" Blacksmith Li has been a blacksmith for 30 years. He still has a good eye. He knew at a glance that this was a rare and high-quality material. He stroked the scale for a long time and said to himself, "I never thought that I would have the opportunity to encounter such a good material in my life. It's worth being a blacksmith all my life."

Sun Erleng's eyes lit up: "So Master Li can do it?" After hearing what Sun Erleng said, Li the blacksmith retracted his eyes from looking at the scales and said, "General, I can make it for you for free, but this scale is only one piece, not enough to make an inner armor, but it can be made into a heart mirror. Can you give me the remaining scraps?" Sun Erleng's eyes glared. Even if there were scraps left, he would keep this fairy treasure as an heirloom. How could he give it to him? He said very straightforwardly: "No, there is still a piece of material here, enough to make an inner armor, I will give you one thousand taels of silver! Give me back the scraps, not a single piece less!" Seeing that the general was so insistent, Li the blacksmith could only nod and say yes, and then said: "This material is not ordinary, it may take a lot of time, please be patient, general."

Sun Erleng didn't want to listen. Why would it take so long? He might have to go to the battlefield at any time. What if he was too late? However, he also knew that slow work produces fine work, and asked anxiously: "How long will it take?" Li the blacksmith thought for a while and said: "It will probably take at least three months." Sun Erleng stood up suddenly, accidentally touching the wound on his back. He asked with a grin: "Why does it take so long? Isn't it just an inner armor?" Li the blacksmith said patiently: "It's fast to make inner armor, but it will take a lot of time to smelt these two pieces of high-quality materials."

Sun Erleng waved his hands and said, "No, no, it's taking too long. Is there any way to speed it up?" Li the blacksmith thought for a while and said, "If I can change to the best furnace, I can finish it in a month. But it's not easy to rebuild the furnace..." Sun Erleng didn't wait for Li the blacksmith to finish, and said directly, "Okay! This general will help you rebuild a furnace, personal soldier!" A personal soldier came in, bowed and waited for orders. Sun Erleng said directly, "You follow this Master Li. He will give money and people to him. He has only one goal, to quickly make this general's inner armor!" The personal soldier bowed and accepted the order.