On the night of the lantern festival, the scent of sandalwood incense permeated the air, and the bustling scenes were shrouded in a hazy mist.

Feng Rugu strolled down the street, dressed in casual attire, his eyes curved with a smile. He wore a crystal monocle over his right eye, looking every bit like a celestial being descending to the mortal world. Ruyi, whose temperament was the polar opposite of Feng Rugu's, walked by his side. Yet, they complemented each other perfectly, like a flower adorning brocade - one worldly, the other ethereal.

The pair of jade-like lords naturally attracted attention. A bold young fruit vendor secretly threw fresh fruits at them. Feng Rugu caught them without hesitation, tucked them into his bosom, and smiled at her, not forgetting to say to Ruyi, "Fuchun loves peaches. These will be perfect for him."

...Ruyi suspected that Feng Rugu was here to enjoy himself rather than investigate a case.

Indeed, Feng Rugu deliberately chose the liveliest places to walk. Along the way, he bought a Nuo mask, a "divine stone" bracelet, and a long Daoist whisk said to ward off plagues.

Feng Rugu arrived at a small stall selling lip rouge. His fingertips hovered between the soft rouge and the boxed rouge, finally selecting a box of bright red rouge. He opened the small porcelain jar, dipped a jade stick, and dabbed a little on his fingertip, admiring it as he spread it evenly.

The shopkeeper enthusiastically introduced, "Sir, this rouge is of the highest quality. It's infused with fresh cherry blossom juice and mixed with borneol. It's completely natural, suitable for both lips and face. It doesn't easily fade, and it's harmless even if ingested."

Feng Rugu brought his rouge-stained finger to his lips and lightly tasted it. Indeed, there was a floral fragrance.

He held the rouge jar and turned to look at Ruyi.

Sensing something amiss, Ruyi took a step back.

"Don't be so stingy. Your complexion is similar to Miss Qing Ni's. Try the color," Feng Rugu held up the small rouge jar. "Miss Qing Ni told us quite a lot today. We should be grateful to her. It's a matter of courtesy... Crouch down a bit."

Ruyi's expression seemed somewhat tolerant, but in the end, he didn't abandon Feng Rugu in the market and leave.

Feng Rugu took the jade stick used for testing the rouge, carefully dipped it, and drew a delicate, bright red four-petaled flower on Ruyi's forehead.

He was born into a merchant family. Although the family had fallen on hard times, he had seen the ways of many romantic lords and admired them. Later, he took his senior brother's name and left the mountain, intending to enjoy a few years of romance. Unfortunately, not long after leaving the mountain, he picked up a child. Suddenly becoming a father, he no longer had the opportunity for romance.

Now that the child had grown up and he had left Fengling again, perhaps there was still a chance to pick up his abandoned dreams.

With a rouge flower on Ruyi's forehead, Feng Rugu took two steps back to admire his handiwork, secretly sighing that he was truly a master of romance, unrivaled in his charm.

If he were to paint eyebrows and draw flowers for a young lady like this, coupled with his outstanding appearance, nine out of ten women would likely fall in love with him. It would be a sin.

While Feng Rugu was painting his forehead, Ruyi wanted to leave several times. But remembering his adoptive father's instructions to take good care of Feng Rugu, he refrained.

To distract himself, Ruyi kept his eyes on Feng Rugu's index fingernail, which was stained red at the corner by the rouge.

For some reason, that bright red, moistened by his mouth and resting on his slender, fair fingertip, seemed particularly vivid and eye-catching under the swaying lantern light.

He lowered his eyes, no longer looking closely.

Feng Rugu took the rouge box and went to the shopkeeper. "I'll take it."

The shopkeeper looked at the two lords thoughtfully and sighed. "I'll wrap it up for you two."

Feng Rugu took the rouge and wanted to dive back into the dense crowd.

Unexpectedly, before he could lower his hand, a string of prayer beads came rolling in, wrapping around Feng Rugu's wrist twice, steadily pulling him back.

Feng Rugu was startled and looked down at his bound wrist.

Ruyi held the other end of the prayer beads without saying a word. His fingers tightened slightly, a hint of warning.

...Stop fooling around.

He gently tugged on the prayer beads, and Feng Rugu pouted, somewhat reluctantly following him.

The two followed the city's river and separately visited the five main temples in the ancient city of Shuisheng to investigate.

The sacrificial ceremony would be held the day after tomorrow, and the five temples would be closed for cleaning tomorrow. Therefore, the number of people coming to offer incense tonight could indicate the prosperity of the incense offerings.

The ancient city was located at the junction of the Central Plains and the Miao region. There were many traveling merchants and quite a few Miao people who had settled here, bringing with them the Nuo arts and Nuo deities. There were also divisions within the Nuo arts, so they occupied different corners of the eastern and western cities, not interfering with each other.

Here, the sound of Nuo songs and the beating of Nuo drums created a mysterious and ancient atmosphere. The meaning was both righteous and evil. An old shaman with a face full of oil paint was divining for believers, and no one paid attention to the monk and Daoist who entered the temple.

Feng Rugu was led by Ruyi, but he still seemed to be indulging in the bustling streets, unable to focus. Even after entering the temple, he was looking around, appearing quite frivolous.

Ruyi, on the other hand, kept his eyes straight ahead and bowed devoutly to show respect.

They then went to the northern city.

The northern city was the liveliest, with red silk filling the sky and lanterns and decorations everywhere. The suona they had heard during the day was playing here.

Worshipping the City God was a custom of the Central Plains, which had also entered the city along with the migration of people. On the small stalls, there were City God figurines made of clay, with thick beards and red faces, looking interesting and cute. Feng Rugu couldn't help but feel itchy. He bought two and even took out the small clay figurines to compare them with the City God on the altar when he entered the temple, only to have them confiscated by Ruyi.

They then went to the temple that worshipped the Stone God.

Qing Ni had not lied. The incense offerings here were indeed somewhat miserable compared to the other three places. Those who lit incense and worshipped were all elderly people, and the local dialect they muttered was incomprehensible.

Feng Rugu looked around again in a not very respectful manner and noticed a few cobwebs hanging high in the corner.

After leaving the temple, Feng Rugu sighed deeply, "Strange, strange. Why does this temple look the oldest, yet so few people come to worship?"

His sigh was not directed at Ruyi but at a middle-aged man waiting with his arms crossed beside them.

The face and ears of the middle-aged man bore a striking resemblance to an old man worshipping inside the temple.

As expected, the man responded, "Are you two from out of town?"

Feng Rugu clasped his hands. "Yes. Do you have any insights, sir?"

The man looked quite honest and straightforward. He was stunned for a moment when addressed as "sir" before saying, "This Stone God is an evil deity. You mustn't worship it."

Feng Rugu's tone rose with interest. "An evil deity?"

Feng Rugu knew very well how to entice others to talk. Sure enough, the man felt obliged to answer this foreigner's questions and became more talkative: "This Stone God used to be the only god worshipped in the city. Every three years, three believers had to voluntarily go up the mountain and enter the spirit stone, supposedly to absorb human spiritual energy to mend the cracks in the sky. Damn it, just hearing about this, don't you think it's very evil?"

Feng Rugu and Ruyi exchanged a glance.

"The ancestors were foolish to worship like this for thousands of years. Later, people from the Central Plains and Miao came to the city, everyone worshipped their own gods, and the human sacrifices were stopped. As a result, more than a decade has passed, and the sky hasn't collapsed." The man clicked his teeth, helplessly saying, "Only my father, who is old and confused, still insists on believing."

After leaving the Stone God Temple with its sparse incense, Feng Rugu asked Ruyi, "Do you think it's evil?"

Ruyi shook his head.

If there was evil in this temple, he would have sensed it in the Qingqiu Pavilion.

Moreover, after personally entering the temple, Ruyi felt that there was indeed some pure energy in the temple, making people feel at ease.