The light of the sword is like the moon reflecting on Kyushu

Chapter 2127 The Golden Palace
The majestic golden-roofed palace stands imposingly atop Chiling Mountain.

The White Lotus Venerable pointed to the roof and said softly, "This is a scale-like roof, said to be cast from three thousand gold ingots, with the enemy general's incisors inlaid at every seam, reportedly as many as one hundred thousand!"

Feng Jiuxiao said, "Enemy generals' incisors? Are there that many enemy generals? One hundred thousand incisors, how many enemy generals would we have to kill to collect that many? Could they all be fakes? Did they even take the incisors of innocent civilians?"

Bai Lian laughed and said, "It's not impossible! False reports of military achievements are rampant, and besides, these teeth might not all have been accumulated in recent years; they could be the result of decades of accumulation!"

Feng Jiuxiao said, "Let's just consider it as their accumulation over many years; it makes me feel better. Just now, I felt like the color of the golden tiles on the roof ridge had changed. I wonder if I was seeing things? Venerable One, do you think the golden tiles change color?"

Bai Lian slowly moved her feet and looked at the golden tiles. "Young master, you are not mistaken! If you were to look at it from this humble monk's perspective, it would be a different color! This humble monk does not know the reason for this, but this humble monk does know that the golden roof tiles do change with the sunlight. At dawn, they turn reddish-gold, at noon they turn bluish-purple, and at dusk they turn blood red."

Pang Shiwu was surprised, "Brother, how can it change three colors in one day?" Bai Lian corrected him, "The color is constantly changing. I only gave three examples: morning, noon and evening."

Feng Jiuxiao pondered for a moment, then shook his head and said, "I'm not very clear. I guess the golden tile might be coated with some kind of special material that changes depending on the intensity of the light. When the sunlight is strong, it shines with gold, and when there is no sunlight, it appears blood red. But I have no idea what material it is."

Pang Shiwu said, "The world is full of wonders!" He suddenly became eager to jump onto the roof to take a look, but Venerable Bailian reminded him, "Young master, be careful, there might be some traps or mechanisms up there."

Pang Shiwu thought for a moment, "What you said makes sense." Suddenly he drew his sword, and with a flash of light, a protruding golden tile on the roof suddenly fell down, while his sword was already in its sheath, as if it had never been drawn.

The golden tile fell, and Pang Shiwu reached out and caught it.

The golden tiles are heavy, and their surface shimmers with a layer of light, like the iridescent colors inside a seashell, changing color with the angle of view.

Pang Shiwu asked, "Could it be that seashell powder was mixed into the paint?"

Feng Jiuxiao said, "Very likely!" If the seven-colored light on the golden tile hadn't been made using seashells, Feng Jiuxiao really couldn't imagine who could have researched and mixed such a near-natural seven-colored light effect.

Pang Shiwu then asked, "But what's with the fact that it turns blood red at night? What things in the world turn blood red at night?"

Venerable Bailian said, "I suspect this might contain elements of witchcraft!" He took the fragment of the golden tile from Pang Shiwu's hand, turned it over, and pointed to the back, saying, "Young master, please look, there are Tibetan inscriptions here, which in Chinese mean 'blood-infused gold'!" He seemed to be talking to Pang Shiwu, but his eyes were on Feng Jiuxiao.

Feng Jiuxiao took it and glanced at it. Sure enough, there were Tibetan inscriptions, but he didn't recognize them. He handed it back to Bai Lian. "Blood-infused gold, what does that mean? Some kind of incantation?"

Bai Lian nodded and said, "That's right. With the help of talismans and formations, it is possible to do this! Young Master, have you noticed anything unusual about the ground beneath our feet?"

Feng Jiuxiao and the others looked down at their feet at the same time. Before Feng Jiuxiao could speak, Chang Zijing frowned and said, "These...could these be human skeletons?"

Bai Lian said, "That's right! They are human skeletons! Not only are the palace surrounded by skeletons, but the entire foundation of the palace is also filled with skeletons! It is said that there are eight layers of urn coffins buried under this foundation! It is unclear how many urn coffins are in each layer, but each urn coffin contains at least seven prisoners of war! Their souls were sealed with molten copper, and the surface of the urn coffins is inlaid with golden incantation wheels!"

The Golden Mantra Wheel, a magical instrument for suppression!
Yuan Zishan and the others all had solemn expressions.

Calling this place a living hell is no exaggeration!
A thought simultaneously surfaced in Yuan Zishan and Chang Zijin's minds—when would a wise and virtuous ruler appear on this land, leading the people out of their misery? Yuan Zishan remembered Feng Jiuxiao mentioning that he had met a reclusive master skilled in divination. The master had discussed the current state of Tibet, and after a divination, predicted that many years later, a sage would emerge in the Central Plains, not only unifying the entire Central Plains but also incorporating the Liao, Western Xia, Dali, and even Tibet—all the separatist regimes—into China, abolishing serfdom and granting the Tibetan people complete freedom! Later generations of Tibetans called that sage the sun, the savior! But when asked how many years it would take, the master only said, "That's many years from now; you have no hope of catching up in this lifetime." Feng Jiuxiao was about to press further when the master said, "Your son, grandson, and great-grandson won't be able to catch up! The time span is far too long! It's at least five hundred years from now!"

Thinking of the wise man's prediction that the people born and raised here would suffer five hundred years of oppression, Yuan Zishan could only sigh!
If beheading could solve problems, there would probably be no problems in this world long ago! Eight or nine out of ten things in this world don't go as planned! It's a pity we can't witness the brilliance of that sage from later generations! What extraordinary talent must he have possessed to bring the Khitan, Tibet, and Western Xia all under his control!
The White Lotus Venerable pointed to the gate and said, "Young Master, the relief on this gate is called the Sun-Eating Roc! The roc's beak lintel is made of bronze, and the thing it holds in its beak is called the Prayer-Turning Cage. If an unsuspecting outsider accidentally touches it, the cage will fall and crush the person into mincemeat!"

Feng Jiuxiao and the others remained expressionless, already accustomed to it! If this place suddenly became filled with birdsong and fragrant flowers, and bright sunshine, it would seem strange. Eerie and terrifying was the true nature of this place! Corpses scattered everywhere, blood everywhere—that's what this place was all about!

Bai Lian continued, "This bronze door knocker sculpture in the shape of two snakes hides a deadly trap! It is said that these bronze snake fangs are replicated in full scale from real snake fangs, and they are hollow inside, storing cobra venom. If an outsider pushes the door without authorization, the snake fangs will spray venom and injure people!"

Pang Shiwu sneered, "Damn it, why make such a fuss over a simple door? I'll just cleave it in two with my sword, won't that solve it?" He then drew his sword.

Bai Lian immediately stopped him, saying, "There's no need for you to do this, young master. This humble monk has already shattered the door frame!" With that, he flicked his sleeve, and the massive door crashed inwards!

Bah!
The bronze door slammed against the stone floor inside, causing the ground to tremble!
Pang Shiwu said, "Oh, you just used the Step-by-Step Thunderclap technique?"

"Yes!"

"But I didn't feel any vibration? It seems that the Venerable One's power has increased again!"

"How could that be?" Bai Lian laughed. "When you drew your sword just now, your attention was on the golden tiles. How could you have noticed your feet?"

Pang Shiwu knew Bai Lian was giving him a way out, so he stopped discussing the topic. He was certain that Bai Lian had recently been diligently practicing "Step by Step Thunder," upgrading the "External Explosion" to the "Condensation" style. She had simplified the complex, condensing the lightning power from a ripple-like surface into a single line, making it more powerful but with a smaller impact area, making it less likely to be detected. If she were to launch a sneak attack on an enemy, the success rate would be very high! Bai Lian gestured with her left hand, indicating for everyone to enter.

Feng Jiuxiao was the first to step across the threshold, and the others filed in.

Bai Lian pointed to the ground and said, "These are all pieced together from Hetian blood jade. What do the patterns on them look like, young master?"

Feng Jiuxiao stared intently, frowning, and said, "These aren't human blood vessels, are they?"

Bai Lian said, "That's right! These are the corpses of craftsmen who froze to death back then! When these paving stones were laid, the corpses of jade mine slaves were embedded in them, and that's how they ended up looking like this!"

Everyone lamented!

One general's success is built on the bones of ten thousand! These miners did not die at the hands of the enemy, but froze to death! After their deaths, they were not given a proper burial, but instead were mixed in with the floor tiles and trampled on every day!
Pang Shiwu's anger surged instantly!

"I want to pursue that Zanpu right now!"

Feng Jiuxiao said, "The monk may run away, but the temple can't. Why rush things?"

Bigwof said, "Yes, after Zeng Yong gets the Heavenly Roc Egg, we'll hunt down that Zanpu together!"

The dome is decorated with three hundred bronze hooks that flutter in the wind like prayer flags, and the things hanging on them look like dried lungs.

Feng Jiuxiao did not ask Bai Lian any further questions.

He was worried that what if those things really were lung lobes? He couldn't bring those wronged souls back to life, nor could he bring the murderer to justice; all he could do was add to the regret!
As Feng Jiuxiao's leather boots stepped onto the jade steps of the palace, the ice shards on the soles cracked softly. The sight before him caused the Moon-Reflecting Blade in his sleeve to suddenly hum—this was no palace, but clearly the abdominal cavity of a colossal beast's skeleton!

Looking around, the walls were made entirely of gold bricks, without a single pattern or word carved on them, but due to the difference in purity, they appeared to have natural flowing water ripples!

Scattered at the base of the wall are silver basins made of yak skulls, filled with water melted from the millennia-old ice of the Great Snow Mountain, with gold foil floating on the surface like live fish.

The dome has no beams or pillars, and the cold air on it has condensed into a natural ice crystal star pattern, which looks extremely beautiful!

The stars are all hexagonal ice prisms, refracting the water on the ground and reflecting countless fragments of light!

Feng Jiuxiao gently stroked the golden wall, closed his eyes, and stretched out his spiritual power. Through the golden wall, he suddenly frowned, and his eyes suddenly became sharp! There were indeed human ashes mixed in behind this wall!

Inside the palace, directly to the north, stands the throne, simply adorned with a single piece of obsidian. Without finely polished edges, it is rugged and simple, yet it exudes a sense of solemnity and grandeur!
There are no steps in front of the seat; it hangs three inches in the air.

A bronze stove in the corner, used for warmth.

Beside him was a desk covered with a snow leopard skin. The inkstone on the table was made from a hollowed-out wolf thigh bone, and a wolf-hair brush hung on a brush holder. Was he really trying to imitate the refined tastes of the Central Plains?
Feng Jiuxiao glanced at the floor tiles and immediately felt a chill run down his spine! He hadn't felt this way in a long time!
The ground, from a distance, appears as white as snow, but up close, it is as white as bone!

It's not just "similar," it's "is"! The deathly pale skin is the very bone!

The floor tiles were densely covered with teeth! The teeth were very small, so it must have been a young child!
Damn, this palace is covered with floor tiles. I wonder how many innocent lives will be lost?

Chang Zijing noticed something was off about Feng Jiuxiao, so she followed his gaze to the ground and was startled to see a ring of teeth that looked like they were about to open their mouths to speak! She then realized that if all the floor tiles in the palace were mixed with teeth, how many innocent people would have been killed?
Suddenly, a ball of snow-white flesh was seen curled up in the shadow of the throne.

Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be a skinned snow leopard, its eyes now replaced with Persian blue glass.

"To actually turn a live leopard into a specimen, this craftsman's skill level is quite high!"

"Yes! The snow leopard's eyes changed, and the dead leopard seemed to come alive!"

Feng Jiuxiao said, "Alright, see what you can use, take it and let's go!"

Pang Shiwu said, "Alright!" and strode towards the back hall! He guessed that was where the treasure was located!

Thank you Jiuhua for your strong support!