Military Barbarian Sage's Last Words

Fang Yun continued listening attentively while reviewing the dossiers on the four guard generals.

Fang Yun quickly discovered the most obvious traits of the four generals: one was hot-tempered and irascible, one drank to excess, one favored cronies, and the fourth was exceedingly lecherous.

"Since the Talent-Qi Martial Drill requires me to become a fifth-rank full general, I must bring down these four guard generals. Since these four men have such flaws, I can naturally use their flaws to borrow a knife and kill. The sharpest knife, then, is the General Who Stabilizes the North!"

After plotting for a while, Fang Yun began with the hot-tempered guard general. He first sent someone to mislead the man, saying that the General Who Stabilizes the North greatly disliked him, provoking the guard general into a furious tirade. Fang Yun then had word of that tirade passed to the General Who Stabilizes the North. Sure enough, the general was displeased and ordered that the guard general be stripped of his eligibility for promotion.

Fang Yun followed the same gourd pattern. He first found a way to get the drink-loving guard general drunk, then said a few provocative things that drove him into causing a scene in the military camp. Fang Yun immediately led the General Who Stabilizes the North there. On the spot, the general ordered his attendants to drag the guard general away and give him twenty strokes of the military rod.

Just as Fang Yun was secretly rejoicing, the General Who Stabilizes the North suddenly shouted, "Guards! Guard General Fang Yun is honey-mouthed but dagger-hearted, two-faced and three-knifed! Drag him out and reward him with forty strokes of the military rod!"

Fang Yun was dumbfounded. He realized that his first Talent-Qi Martial Drill attempt at Borrowing the Knife to Kill had