As a traveler, although he had already been corrupted, Sun Shaozong still had some resistance to the harsh punishment that could easily cause disability in ancient times.

So when Sun Shaozong investigated cases in the past, he rarely used torture on prisoners until he had concrete evidence, and a few exceptions were mostly caused by roaring at the court.

In view of this, Lu Hui believed that the White Lotus Sect would cause great harm due to the benevolence of women, so they specially sent an official file of the Northwest Rebellion before the net was closed.

The above provided a detailed record of the various crazy actions of the White Lotus Sect rebels during the winter of the 31st year of Guangde, as well as the subsequent impacts caused by them.

At that time, the rebel forces of the White Lotus Sect had transformed from a devastating situation in the summer and autumn to a complete defeat. Almost every day, news of the recapture of prefectures and counties by the official army, as well as the defeat and death of the incense lord and helmsman, returned to the ancestral home of the White Lotus Sect, Pingliang Prefecture.

In the despairing atmosphere of three surprises on this day, the high-level control of the White Lotus Sect over the rebels gradually decreased to an infinite and almost zero level.

Chaos began from here.

Starting from October 19th, until the seventh day of December, when Pingliang City was regained, in just one and a half months, the total population of Pingliang Prefecture sharply decreased by more than 30%, and there were even nine empty spaces out of ten houses in the city!

After the restoration of Pingliang Prefecture, the skeletons cleared from the city could not even fit the unmarked common graves, so a mass grave had to be built to store them.

The following autumn, the number of women dying from difficult childbirth increased fourfold compared to previous years.

In July and August, abandoned infants were abundant in the fields near Pingliang City, and some refugees secretly thought of food, to the extent that their legs and flesh were revived.

***Tch!***

Unexpectedly, homeless people who were constantly on the brink of death have developed fat on their legs while eating abandoned babies!

Even someone like Sun Shaozong, who was accustomed to various murders, couldn't help but feel a chill as he looked at the few lines of small characters in the archives.

Not to mention that the file not only contained cold data but also detailed records of many shocking tragedies.

For example, in mid-November, Zhou, the leader of the Qingmu Hall of the White Lotus Sect, became blind due to being hit by an arrow in his right eye and suffered from sores and poison. Therefore, he specialized in eating human eyes and ate more than ten of them every day, claiming to be for reincarnation.

For example, at the end of November, the Left Army Commander of the White Lotus Sect, Cheng, set up a large pot on the street and forced the wives and children of the looted county officials to rebel against human relations in the pot. If they did not comply, they ordered someone to cook it over the fire and treat the guests with minced meat, which was called Mother Son Heart to Heart Soup. In early December, the central army of the White Lotus Sect defended, Su…

No wonder the ancients said, *'It's better to be a peaceful dog than a chaotic person.'*

Of course, even if he has a deep understanding of that file, it didn’t mean that Sun Shaozong should learn from it and forcefully resort to violence. In most cases, small measures aimed at the spiritual level were often easier to break through psychological defenses than bloody torture.

Sun Shaozong left the black material and hurried to the mansion in the back alley.

This was originally a temporary resting place arranged during the last operation, but since it was still near the Qingxu Temple this time, it has been reused.

When Sun Shaozong entered, he saw three plainclothesmen of the Dragon Guards disguised as servants sweeping and sprinkling. He called out one person to whisper a few words, and when the person was ordered to go, he continued to rush to the inner courtyard.

"Inspector Sun."

Just as he crossed the second gate, Yang Licai had already heard the news and walked out, bowing down and saying, "As you expected, there are indeed two tough-tongued people again. I have been asking them for a long time, even coaxing and scaring them, but there is not a useful word."

Although the White Lotus Sect was not very capable of rebellion, its brainwashing methods were very effective. The ones sent to the Capital to carry out undercover missions were all the leaders among the fanatics. It might not be easy to pry open their mouths.

Fortunately, Sun Shaozong had already made up his mind and did not answer. He only lightly raised his chin to signal Yang Licai to lead the way.

The two of them, one in front and one behind, arrived at a secluded courtyard in the northwest corner. The Dragon Guard lifted the thick cloth curtain and saw Landlord Wu and his wife in a large shape, tightly bound to the wall by iron ropes under the dim light.

It was fine for Landlord Wu, still dressed in his green clothes and small hat.

But his wife, Mrs. Xu, had already been stripped naked, with only a crimson innerwear left on her body, barely covering the spring scenery of two points and a line.

To prevent her from chewing her tongue and committing suicide, Xu's mouth was also stuffed with a specially made bronze mouthpiece ball.

The dark iron chains, emerald green copper balls, fair skin and flesh, and vibrant red innerwear, under the flickering light, sometimes appear as thick and colorful, sometimes as ink and blue

Thick and mellow, light and sorrowful!

Originally just a slightly handsome Xu, after this manipulation, she was suddenly shrouded in a different kind of charm.

At this moment, Yang Licai explained quietly on the side, "I heard that the landlord loved her very much and wanted to use her body as a threat. Unfortunately, although the landlord was furious, he still gritted his teeth and refused to speak."

After a pause, he added, "Perhaps, he thought I didn't dare to do things to the end, or maybe it was time to take action..."

Before Yang Licai could finish speaking, Sun Shaozong had already taken steps inside. Even if he fell into corruption, he had not yet reached the point of using the *’husband's current crime’* to coerce a confession.

However, as a member of the national spy agency, Yang Licai's unscrupulous actions couldn’t be attributed to any wrongdoing. Therefore, although Sun Shaozong disdained to listen, he did not intend to blame him.

After entering the room, Sun Shaozong's gaze first twirled around Xu's innerwear, staring at the embroidery on the picture of the Qilin sending a child, secretly pondering whether to make any plans for the child.

For example, the one in the Crown Prince's Residence, fabricated the illusion of Li's pregnancy and used *'hope for the future'* to crush their determination to die at this moment.

However, on second thought, although Mr. and Mrs. Wu were not doctors, they had been operating a pharmacy for many years and were definitely more proficient in medical knowledge than ordinary people. If any loopholes are found, it will stimulate a stronger resistance in their hearts, which will affect the subsequent interrogation.

So this method was quickly forgotten by him again.

Staring at the unorthodox place and thinking about something extremely serious, Xu suddenly struggled violently and cursed vaguely, "Dog thief, if you have any ability, just use it. If I frown, I will be a disciple of the Holy Cult in vain!"

Sun Shaozong withdrew his gaze from the trembling picture of the Qilin delivering a child and was about to talk to her so that he could take the opportunity to get to the bottom of it. However, Landlord Wu rushed to remind her, "Dear, today you and I are dead. Don't argue with this scoundrel. Be careful what he identifies and harm the robe in the sect!"

***Tch!***

This Landlord Wu was clever.

When Sun Shaozong said these few insults, he didn't feel any pressure.

But the several Dragon Guards next to him were furious. The ones who took the whip, the ones who held the soldering iron, and the ones who raised the flogging all scolded, "Bold rebels, dare not act recklessly in front of my Thousand Households Inspector!"

Xu sneered disdainfully, and the Landlord Wu silently responded, clearly determined not to speak again.

***Sigh***

Sun Shaozong sighed helplessly at the sight of the situation and said, "I originally wanted to handle the task with kindness, but the attitude of the two of them rejecting people thousands of miles away has put me in a bit of a dilemma."

"My Lord, use your punishment."

Yang Licai stepped forward at the right time, lifted his white face, raised his hand, and made a feint in the air, sneering, "There is a saying that *'people's hearts are like iron, and officials and laws are like a furnace.'* Under the Three torture, there is no fear that they will not reveal the truth!"

As he spoke, he pointed towards the western wall and said, "Look, I have had someone bring all the torture tools over."

With this gesture, someone immediately shone the lantern over, only to see a three-story wooden frame placed at the bottom of the western wall, filled with various strange torture tools.

Sun Shaozong casually approached and picked up a hard-haired horse brush, exclaiming, "What kind of torture tool is this?"

"My Lord, look at it."

Yang Licai quickly picked up the thin-mouthed copper pot next to him and smiled, saying, "These two are in duplicate. First, pour boiling water on the skin and meat, and then use a brush to vigorously rub it until the bones are rubbed out before it is considered complete. The Punishment Department calls this *'white wash.'*”

This name was quite interesting.

Sun Shaozong put down the hard-bristled brush and carefully picked up an iron ring with sharp spikes both inside and outside. Before he could even ask a question, Yang Licai rushed to explain, "This thing is called *'to boil'*. You just need to put it around their neck; no matter how severe the punishment is, they won't faint."

"This is *'lotus root broken and connected,', much more ruthless than that clamp!"

"This is called *'smash it,'* and the meat scraped off with it can be used directly as dumpling filling."

"This thing is used on the nose..."

"Unisex..."

After explaining seven or eight things in a row, Sun Shaozong stopped, and his eagle-like eyes rolled back and forth between the torture tools and the Wu couple.

Upon seeing this, Yang Licai quickly pretended to be eager and rubbed his hands, saying, "My Lord, which one do you think we should take first to give this dog couple a try?"

Speaking, he pursed his tongue excitedly.

This performance was excellent, and it was set against the backdrop of the torture tools of those people on the shelf. Not to mention anyone else, even the Dragon Guard with a lantern beside him, couldn't help but feel uneasy about it.

However, the Wu couple did not even have the nature to glance at the tools, gazing affectionately at each other as if they were already in another dimension.

Although this didn’t mean that they could truly withstand all forms of torture, this calm and composed demeanor still made people marvel at how different people were armed with faith, even if they believed in a cult.

After a moment of silence, Sun Shaozong shook his head slowly as he saw that the couple were still, as if there was no one around. "Neither of them is needed," he said.

Yang Licai was taken aback by the words and blurted out, "What do you mean, My Lord?"

This time, it was not a pretense, but rather a bit unclear.

Sun Shaozong gave a calm smile and said, "Actually, I am currently studying how much blood a person needs to shed to die if they are not seriously injured. Coincidentally, I met two people who were willing to sacrifice their lives, and they happened to be a man and a woman."

As he spoke, he grinned widely and revealed his white teeth, instructing, "Someone, take them to the kitchen cellar for me."

Several Dragon Guards on the left and right responded in unison and approached to remove Landlord Wu and his wife from the wall. However, they did not remove the iron ropes from their bodies. Instead, they bound them into a human stick and blocked the ball with a copper bar before lifting it out like a box.

When the group arrived at the cellar in the darkness, they saw that they had received the plainclothes ordered by Sun Shaozong and were leading their colleagues to dig soil on two wooden stakes.

Seeing the officer arrived, several people were busy and left their shovels to salute.

Sun Shaozong only nodded and went over to push the two wooden stakes. Seeing that they were firmly fixed, he ordered someone to tie Landlord Wu and his wife with their backs facing each other.

And the plainclothes responsible for burying the wooden stakes also got a huge copper basin from somewhere and placed it in the open space between the two.

"This test is quite simple."

Sun Shaozong said solemnly, "Later, I will cut a cut on your wrist and let the blood slowly drip into the copper basin. Every fifteen minutes, someone will come in to observe the situation. If you have the intention to forsake darkness for light, why don't you make some noise?"

"If you really take death as our last resort, it's not a big deal. Let's just assume that you solve my curiosity. Anyway, my people are still waiting in the pharmacy. Sooner or later, we can attract your accomplices to take advantage of."

During the conversation, someone approached and separated the right arm of Mr. and Mrs. Wu, fixing them firmly on top of the copper basin with several ropes.

Sun Shaozong demanded a dagger from Yang Licai and went forward to strike each of their wrists. He slowly took out his pocket watch and looked at the scale on it, saying, "It's currently a quarter past seven. I can probably see the difference before and after the hour 11 p.m. Let's enjoy ourselves here."

As he spoke, he casually placed the pocket watch on the nearby wine jar and beckoned everyone to step back.

***Bang!***

Watching the lid of the cellar fall, isolating the last glimmer of light, Yang Licai finally couldn't help but step forward and say, "Your Excellency, I don’t understand your method? Those two knives only cut a small hole, and it doesn't look like it's capable of dying."

"Nonsense."

Sun Shaozong rolled his eyes and cursed with a smile as he said, "It was not easy to catch them. If we really kill him, how can we explain it to the Magistrate?"

"So what you're doing..."

"There's still a jar hanging on the beam."

Sun Shaozong smiled and said, "I deliberately threw the dagger into the cellar just now. When I sent someone down to pick it up later, I quietly hung the jar upside down, and the water inside would drip from the crack, creating a false impression of continuous blood flow."

"Imagine, if you were tied up in a cellar, listening to your own and your wife's blood continuously dripping into a copper basin, what kind of agony would it be in your heart?"

"Especially for people like this, the more they are in a dark and quiet environment, the more likely they are to have wild thoughts, and when these thoughts become active, they are not far from being *'greedy for life and afraid of death.'*”

"At that time, let's guide according to the situation, why worry that they won't reveal the truth?"

Upon hearing this, Yang Licai couldn't help but shake his head and exclaim in admiration, "Your Excellency's methods are truly admirable. They are truly not unjustly accused of falling into your hands."