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

Chapter 2149 A drum made of human skin cannot resonate with the Dharma; a zither made of bones cannot play a clear melody.

When they were still a hundred feet away from the gate of the Wei family manor, Venerable White Lotus said, "Not good, they've discovered us!"

There was someone watching from a tower a hundred feet away. Their eyes met, and Feng Jiuxiao laughed, "Since we've discovered it, let's just let nature take its course."

Now that the other side has discovered the two people, it's no longer realistic to seal off all the gates of the Wei family's residence! Before one gate can be sealed off, everyone inside will probably escape!
Feng Jiuxiao smiled wryly, "Are the gatekeepers of the Wei family really that dedicated?"

Venerable White Lotus smiled and said, "Being unprofessional is probably not an option! Their masters are all perverts! Just thinking about their methods of punishment sends chills down one's spine!"

Feng Jiuxiao also looked empathetic and sighed, "Yes! Either the skull is made into a wine cup, or the leg bones are made into a flute, or the skin is made into a drum, and the worst part is that they're skinned alive! Who could stand that?"

The two walked leisurely but at a considerable pace, arriving at the south gate of the Wei family manor in no time. A guard on the tower shouted, "Who goes there?"

Venerable White Lotus clasped his hands together, looking like a highly accomplished monk. "This humble monk comes from the Great Bright Temple in the Western Regions, and my Dharma name is Venerable White Lotus."

What brings you here?

"A visit to the head of the Wei family!"

To their surprise, the sentry on the tower signaled to the guards below to open the gate and let them in!

They just let them through like that?

Feng Jiuxiao and the other looked at each other, both feeling that something was amiss!
However, the two of them quickly figured out the reason.

The gatekeeper kept glancing up at the sky! A huge bronze-colored eagle kite was floating in the sky, and the person controlling the kite was none other than the white-clad youth in front of him!
From the shocked look in the gatekeeper's eyes, Feng Jiuxiao could naturally deduce that the sentry on the tower must also be in a state of shock! Being on high ground with a wide field of vision, he must have seen the astonishing "giant kite" from afar!
The sentries on the tower were especially close to the giant eagle kite, allowing for a clearer observation. The kite's size far exceeded that of ordinary kites, and the realism of its textures far surpassed normal manufacturing standards. Its sharp beak and claws gleamed with a chilling light, undoubtedly instilling a terrifying and suffocating sense of oppression in the sentries! The lifelike eagle seemed poised to transform into a real eagle at any moment and easily tear them to shreds!
Feng Jiuxiao guessed that the sentry was most likely frightened and dared not stop them!

The guards, naturally feeling the pressure from the bronze eagle kite, could only secretly transmit the coded message of the visitors into the manor through the Wei family's unique communication device before letting the two in! Could they not let them in? The guards had been searching for the kite's string, but couldn't find it! The kite itself was strange, and the white-clad youth was flying it without a string!
These two people are probably not normal! The guards, knowing their place, didn't dare to stop them, but immediately sent a signal to the manor that someone had come to visit!
Feng Jiuxiao and Venerable Bailian had already seen the guard secretly pulling the rope.

Venerable Bailian condensed her voice into a thread and whispered to Feng Jiuxiao, "Young Master, he pulled the rope five times in total, three fast and two slow. It seems to be a code they used to pass messages."

Feng Jiuxiao also condensed his voice into a line: "Hmm, their method of transmitting signals is quite secretive; most people wouldn't be able to detect it. I guess the end of the rope is either a bell or a drumstick."

Venerable White Lotus said, "Young master, would you be interested in asking him what these secret codes mean?"

Feng Jiuxiao said, "I'm interested! You want to ask him?"

"Yes."

"If he tells you, he'll become a traitor and be branded a traitor. Given the patriarch's character here, he'll definitely make the guard suffer a terrible death. Do you think this guard would dare to leak information to you?"

"I have to try. If he really won't tell me, I have ways to make him have to!" Venerable White Lotus thought to himself: I'm not stupid enough to use the torture methods these great lords know! If it really came down to torture, could they be as cruel as me? If Feng Jiuxiao wasn't around, these people would have been killed by my shockwave long ago! As long as I take three steps of "Thunderous Steps," nothing within a radius of several dozen feet will grow, and everything will be reduced to charcoal!
Feng Jiuxiao said, "Then let's give it a try!"

Venerable White Lotus asked the guard, "What did you mean by pulling the rope just now?"

The guard was immediately startled: "How did you know I pulled the rope?"

Venerable White Lotus laughed and said, "I saw it!"

The guard glanced around, then at the top of the tower, his expression somewhat uneasy. "I'm sorry, it's not convenient to disclose that." If someone found out he had revealed a secret to outsiders, the consequences would be dire!
"What's inconvenient about it? It's just the inside informant that a guest has arrived!"

"Huh? You already know that? Then... then why did you ask me?"

Venerable White Lotus laughed and said, "I asked you just to confirm my own guess!"

The guard said, "Since I can't hide it from you, there's no need to hide it anymore. I was indeed informing my comrades inside!"

"Then what does it mean that the rhythm of your rope pulling changes, three fast and two slow?"

The guard's expression visibly tensed: "You... you noticed that too?"

Venerable White Lotus laughed and said, "Don't be nervous, don't be afraid. Keep your voice down, no one here can hear you! I'm just confirming my own thoughts, I definitely won't reveal it to anyone!"

The guard was now certain that the other party was telling the truth! These two uninvited guests definitely knew his secret about pulling the rope! Their so-called confirmation of the answer was clearly a smokescreen; their real intention was to test him! To test his honesty and reliability! To test whether he would answer all questions! If he lied, they would most likely kill him!
How could he have been so discreet? Yet the other party had not only noticed, but had even discerned the subtle details of the "three fast and two slow" movements. Why pretend to be oblivious? There was no need to hide it any longer. "The 'three fast and two slow' means that the two visitors are both male, and they appear to know martial arts. While their true purpose for visiting is uncertain, it is certain that they pose no danger or threat. They can be allowed to pass!"

Venerable White Lotus asked, "What about the rhythm of two fast and three slow?"

"There are three guests, two men and one woman, who know martial arts and pose no danger."

"What if one is fast and one is slow?"

"The visitor is alone, male, knows martial arts, and poses no danger." "What if there is danger? And he's alone, what then?"

"One slow, one fast, one slow."

"Hmm, that's about what I guessed. Thanks." Bai Lian clasped her hands together, smiled, and turned to face Feng Jiuxiao. "Young Master, shall we go?"

Feng Jiuxiao said, "Let's go!"

Feng Jiuxiao and Venerable Bailian passed through the doorway, while the bronze golden eagle floated above the gate, slowly drifting forward with the two of them.

The two walked deeper into the manor.

Bai Lian said, "Now that everyone inside knows we're here, it's impossible to wipe them all out in one fell swoop!"

Feng Jiuxiao said, "Since we can't annihilate them all, let's capture the big ones and release the small ones!"

Venerable White Lotus was taken aback. "Focus on the big picture and let go of the small ones?"

Feng Jiuxiao said, "Let's get straight to the point! Find the patriarch first, then the other family members!"

At this moment, many serfs were busy clearing snow in the courtyard. Dozens of people were sweeping the ground with brooms, prioritizing the clearing of snow from the various paths in the courtyard.

Feng Jiuxiao said, "Can't we wait until the snow stops before cleaning up? Do we have to make these people brave the heavy snow to clean it up? They won't be satisfied until someone dies!"

Venerable White Lotus smiled wryly: "Perhaps they're worried that the roads will be harder to clear after the snow stops? Besides, what if some young master or young lady likes to play in the snow and accidentally slips and falls? That wouldn't be good!"

Feng Jiuxiao said, "Yes, if the young master and young lady slip and fall because of the slippery road, I'm afraid the snow sweepers will be in big trouble today! They might even have to beat up a few serfs to vent their anger."

Venerable White Lotus said, "Hmm, it's highly likely that way. If it were a prince from the Central Plains who fell, I'm afraid even more people would be implicated. In the past, King Wu of Qin competed with someone in lifting a tripod, and as a result, he broke his leg and died. All the people who competed with him in lifting the tripod were all exterminated and their families were wiped out!"

Feng Jiuxiao said, "This is the drawback of absolute power! Those in power hold the power of life and death, and that sense of superiority from being high above and manipulating all living beings will make them lose themselves in the dream of power, and they will no longer regard those without power or influence as human beings!"

Bai Lian thought to herself: Power is a double-edged sword!

In the hands of a righteous person, it can be used to benefit the community and bring blessings to all people! But in the hands of a person with a dark heart, it becomes a weapon of slaughter, bringing calamity to the world!
Throughout history, the Central Plains dynasties have had no shortage of tyrannical monarchs who were cruel and ruthless, killing people indiscriminately!
The most famous representatives were almost all concentrated in the Northern and Southern Dynasties!

Emperor Liu Ziye, the deposed emperor of the Liu Song dynasty, committed numerous crimes and did many shocking things:

The first method was to target the "ghost": after excavating the tomb of Consort Yin, dissecting the coffin and desecrating the corpse, a shaman was ordered to summon her spirit to attach to a target, and then the crowd would shoot the "ghost" with arrows!
The second is "The Pig King Imprisoned": He imprisoned his uncle Liu Yu in a pig-raising cellar and ordered him to crawl naked and eat from the pig trough, which was called "The Pig King Eating Pigs"!
Thirdly, there was the "sibling incest": he forcibly took his own sister, Princess Shanyin, as a concubine and built a "Platform for Public Sexual Intercourse" to force his concubines to have sex in public!

Emperor Wenxuan of Northern Qi, Gao Yang, was no less impressive!

The following are the representative works:
The first was "Scorpion Pond Play": a pond was dug, filled with scorpion venom, and prisoners were thrown in to watch them struggle! The History of the Northern Dynasties records that thirty-seven people died in one night!

Secondly, there is the "Pipa Bone Music": concubines were killed, their ribs were used to make a human bone pipa, and when played, the musicians would weep and lament, "It is impossible to find such a beauty again!" Their shamelessness is despicable, and their cruelty is chilling!

Thirdly, there was the "Skull Banquet": the heads of enemies were beheaded and inlaid with gold and silver to make wine vessels for drinking. During the banquet, the emperor would suddenly kill the emperor's favorite concubine and use her thigh bone to play drinking games! It was cruel and perverse!
Emperor Wu of Liang, Xiao Yan, wrote the following:
First, there was the "sacrifice himself at Tongtai Temple": he pretended to become a monk four times, forcing his subjects to redeem the "Emperor Bodhisattva," which cost 120,000 catties of gold!

The second method was "Buddha-face torture": a hollow golden Buddha statue was used to brand the traitorous official with a branding rack inside. When the traitorous official was branded, the Buddha statue would utter Buddhist chants!

Thirdly, there is the "Sutra of Starving Corpses": During famines, disaster relief is prohibited, and it is said that "those who starve to death will be reborn in Maitreya's Pure Land." People in Jiankang City resorted to cannibalism!

The atrocities committed by Emperor Taiwu of Northern Wei, Tuoba Tao, are as follows:
First, they destroyed the statues! They melted down Buddha statues to cast coins, embedded the characters "Buddha's slave" in them, and killed three thousand monks!
Secondly, they burned scriptures! They mixed the scriptures with corpse oil to make torches, burning 100,000 volumes of scriptures to make the night as bright as day!

Thirdly, it was a matter of destroying the spirit! The imperial edict forced monks to eat meat to break their vows, with those who violated it to be executed by slow slicing. This single edict forced as many as 200,000 monks to return to secular life!
Emperor Xuan of Northern Zhou, Yuwen Yun's "world-shaking act":
First, the "Five Phoenixes Reign": Five empresses were established, and they were all ordered to wear golden shackles around their necks, with "all accompanying them on their first visit."

Secondly, the practice of caning officials during court sessions: officials had to be caned thirty times before presenting their reports, a practice euphemistically called "removing impurities."

Thirdly, the "Human Candle Hall": the skin of condemned prisoners was used to make lamp covers, fat was used as ointment, and bones were used as frames!

Sometimes God is quite fair; none of these tyrants met a good end!

Liu Ziye was murdered by his uncle at the age of seventeen!

Gao Yang's liver was damaged by alcoholism, and he died suddenly with toxins seeping from his pores!

During the Hou Jing Rebellion, Xiao Yan starved to death in Taicheng, and his corpse was infested with maggots like Buddhist prayer beads!

The evil of tyrants surpasses human morality, yet the "Records of Buddhist Temples in Luoyang" has already revealed the secret: "A drum made of human skin cannot produce the sound of Dharma; a zither made of bones cannot play clear melodies"—the bloodthirsty ones will ultimately be crushed into dust by history!
Today, Venerable White Lotus will also act on behalf of Heaven!