Killing Monks

He pointed towards the city gate, still shaken: "Those two hanging there, I heard they were hotheads from the north. They seemed to be pretty good at kung fu, but they loved to meddle in other people's business."

"Somehow, I offended Twin Eagle Fortress. It seems I interfered in the fortress's debt collection efforts and even tried to stand up for them..."

"As a result, he was arrested, tortured for several days, and finally hung on the city gate to be exposed to the sun and rot away, supposedly to 'warn' everyone."

"Isn't anyone going to do anything about this? What about the government?" Lu Fei couldn't help but ask, his voice filled with anger.

He's always been a busybody.

"Manage? Who dares to manage?" The stall owner shook his head repeatedly, his face full of helplessness and fear.

"Twin Eagle Fortress has connections! It's said they have ties with big shots in the prefecture and send them countless sums of money every year."

"Here, they are the law!"

"A couple of years ago, a newly arrived county constable didn't believe in superstitions and tried to investigate them. As a result, he was demoted to another place within three months..."

"Gentlemen, take my advice: eat and drink well, and leave quickly. Don't cause any trouble here, and don't inquire about Twin Eagle Fortress!"

After saying that, the stall owner, as if afraid of getting into trouble, hurriedly packed up the bowls and chopsticks and hid behind the stove.

Guangyuan silently finished the last bit of food in his bowl, put down his chopsticks, and sighed softly.

"Southern Tang and Northern Zhou, different regions, whether Buddhist kingdoms or not... but the martial arts world is the same."

The law of the jungle prevails, the strong prey on the weak, officials and bandits collude, and the people live in fear.

This scene is strikingly similar to the Jinjia Temple's loan sharking practices that forced people into prostitution, and to other temples in the Southern Tang Buddhist Kingdom!

After finishing the meal, Guangyuan did not leave immediately.

He and Lu Fei exchanged a glance, and both saw the same thing in each other's eyes.

"Let's walk around and take a look," Guangyuan said.

He needed to understand more specifically the strength, manpower distribution, and operating style of "Twin Eagle Fortress".

"That's exactly what I was thinking." Lu Fei nodded.

One of them was a busybody, and the other was a busybody; each used their own methods to gather information about Twin Eagle Fortress.

Lu Fei relied on the silver in his hand and some of his "spoils of war," as well as his outgoing and eloquent tongue.

He mingled around teahouses, taverns, and gambling dens, pretending to be a curious passerby.

After a few cups of cloudy wine and a few coins, one can glean a lot of fragmented information from the local idlers or small merchants who both fear Twin Eagle Fortress and can't help but complain behind its back.

Guangyuan then took advantage of his status as a monk.

Sanye City is located on the southern border of the Northern Zhou Dynasty, bordering the Southern Tang Dynasty. Although it is not as widespread as the Buddhist kingdom, it still has a small number of people who are devout Buddhists or have a deep sense of awe.

He approached several households that seemed kind or had experienced some misfortune, offering to chant sutras for the deceased and pray for the living to ward off disasters, all free of charge.

Those people, seeing that he was young and handsome, spoke earnestly, and had real skills, were willing to let him in.

During chanting or conversations, he would always "inadvertently" mention Fort Two Eagles, piecing together the situation of Fort Two Eagles from the fearful and resentful snippets of conversation among these people.

That evening, they began exchanging information in the inn.

That evening, the two met at an inconspicuous little inn in the city, closed the door, and began to exchange the information they had gathered.

Shuangying Fort, formerly known as Xujia Fort, is located in Yingzui Mountain, thirty miles east of Sanye City. Its terrain is treacherous, making it easy to defend and difficult to attack.

The fortress was said to have nearly five hundred followers, servants, and laborers, making it virtually a local tyrant.

The current lords of the fortress are two brothers, Xu Jinying and Xu Yinying.

In their youth, the two served in the Northern Border Army. With their strong skills and ruthlessness, they made some military achievements and earned the reputation of "Golden and Silver Eagles". After retiring from the army and returning to their hometown, they renamed their family fort "Double Eagle Fort", which made them even more famous.

Their specialty was a branch of the "Thirteen Protectors' Horizontal Training" that circulated in the Northern Zhou army, known as "Copper Head and Iron Arms".

It is said that when he practices his skills, his skin, flesh, tendons and bones become as hard as iron, especially his arms, which are incredibly strong.

Xu Jinying, the master of the Great Fortress, has already mastered the "Copper Head and Iron Arms" technique to a considerable degree and is a martial artist at the Earth Realm!

Once you start using your skills, your arms are truly like cast iron, capable of splitting stone tablets, breaking gold and iron.

Ordinary swords and blades are hard to harm him. Even if someone's internal strength is slightly higher than his, they can't do anything to him if they can't break through his body-strengthening martial arts.

"The martial arts realm classification in Northern Zhou is quite different from that in Southern Tang," Lu Fei explained.

"They don't follow the 'Three Realms,' but rather divide it into three realms: Heaven, Earth, and Humanity."

"The 'Heavenly Realm' roughly corresponds to the 'Formless Realm' of the Southern Tang Dynasty, the 'Earthly Realm' corresponds to the 'Form Realm,' and the 'Human Realm' corresponds to our 'Desire Realm.'"

"In the martial arts world, being able to step into the Earth Realm is enough to dominate a region and establish a sect."

"Xu Jinying has the cultivation level of the Earth Realm, coupled with his troublesome external martial arts skills, no wonder he can run rampant in the Three Leaf City area."

Guangyuan pondered for a moment: "Heaven, Earth, and Man... this kind of division sounds much more straightforward than the Desire Realm, Form Realm, and Formless Realm."

"Only you bald monks from Southern Tang like to make things mysterious," Lu Fei couldn't help but say.

"So, Xu Jinying is quite strong then," Guangyuan said.

Lu Fei nodded solemnly: "The people in this area are full of complaints about Twin Eagle Fortress, but no one can do anything about it."

As for the bad things Shuangyingbao did, such as seizing farmland, forcing women into prostitution, killing people in the street, and abducting women as concubines, these were commonplace.

They monopolized many businesses in Mitsuha Prefecture, set up private checkpoints to collect "tolls," and anyone who refused to comply would mysteriously disappear.

Guangyuan pondered for a moment: "For the two of us, it will be very difficult to take down Twin Eagle Fortress."

"It's very difficult."

"Therefore, I think we need to use strategy."

Lu Fei asked, "How do we outsmart them?"

Guangyuan said, "Buddha weapons are world-renowned divine weapons. If they appear in Shuangying Fortress, they will surely attract many people to fight for them."

Lu Fei's eyes lit up, and he paced back and forth, saying, "Twin Eagle Fortress is a local tyrant, and it's not surprising that Buddhist soldiers have appeared there, given its proximity to the Southern Tang Buddhist Kingdom."

Guangyuan, with a compassionate expression, said, "Amitabha."

"The Buddhist weapon is a sacred object of compassion in Buddhism, containing the supreme truth of Buddhist teachings. Although Xu Jinying obtained it by chance, due to his heavy sins of killing and his evil intentions, he has been unable to comprehend its essence despite his efforts, and the divine weapon has not yet recognized its master."

"As the saying goes, the most precious things in the world belong to those with virtue. Those without virtue who forcibly seize them will surely bring disaster upon themselves."

Lu Fei couldn't help but twitch his lips as he watched Guangyuan spouting nonsense with such a "solemn" air.

Every time he heard Guangyuan say "Amitabha" and "compassion," he felt his hair stand on end.

Suddenly, he thought of something and said, "Bald monk, are you really willing to look into the Mirror of Karma?"

Those are Buddhist soldiers!

The world-renowned Buddhist soldiers!

Guangyuan said, "It's just a 'Mirror of Idiots.' If it can be exchanged for the destruction of Twin Eagle Fortress, then it's definitely worth it!"

A mirror in exchange for peace and tranquility—it's a great deal!