"That person is meticulous and very likely spying in secret." After expertly acting coy in front of his juniors, Feng Rugu became serious again. "If I had told you beforehand and he saw that we had colluded, he would not have shown himself. Wouldn't I have set up this scheme for nothing then?"

Sang Luojiu changed the subject for his embarrassed senior brother: "Has Master seen the mastermind yet?"

"No," said Feng Rugu. "He also sent someone else... So I guessed correctly, he is indeed a meticulous person, and used to employing transparent schemes."

Luo Fuchun, his face still red, muttered discontentedly: "Hiding his head and revealing his tail, killing people in secret, how is that a transparent scheme?"

Feng Rugu looked at his foolish disciple, intending to teach him a lesson: "Let me ask you, the mastermind killed a total of sixteen people, including Lady Wen. What was his purpose?"

Luo Fuchun thought for a moment: "It was to make Master leave the mountain."

"Yes, even you can see what his purpose was. But could I not go down the mountain?"

Luo Fuchun was at a loss for words.

...The mastermind used fifteen corpses and one skull to form a huge "Feng" character in blood, and used Master's fiancée's skull to end the bloody writing, clearly targeting Master.

If Master did not personally descend the mountain to catch this murderer, the victimized sects would certainly pressure Fengling Mountain, forcing Master to give the Daoist and Buddhist sects an explanation.

Therefore, Master had no choice but to take the initiative to descend the mountain before everyone's accusations, to avoid their sharp words.

Feng Rugu continued to guide him patiently: "Think again, why did we come to the ancient city at the foot of Mizhi Mountain to investigate the murder of the monks from Hanshan Temple? Why didn't we go investigate other places first?"

Luo Fuchun had never thought about such a simple matter before. Only after careful consideration did he gasp in realization.

—Because that person did it too cleanly. Apart from the Tang knife, they couldn't find any clues about the murderer at all.

And the zelkova leaf left under the tree where Lady Wen's body was found, a specialty of Mizhi Mountain, was their only clue.

Therefore, they followed the mastermind's instructions and came to the ancient city.

Feng Rugu took the opportunity to enlighten him: "Master Ruyi is also traveling with us. Master Ruyi is from Hanshan Temple, and as it happens, the monks from Hanshan Temple were killed in the zelkova forest. So..."

Luo Fuchun finally understood and continued: "Master Ruyi is a guardian monk responsible for investigating the murder of the Hanshan Temple monks. If he found any clues related to the murdered monks, he would definitely choose to come to the ancient city first!"

Ruyi glanced at Feng Rugu.

With his mere status as a layman, he was not worthy of the title "Master Ruyi" at all.

Feng Rugu kept calling him Master, clearly mocking him. Who would have thought that by him addressing Ruyi that way, it would lead Luo Fuchun astray too.

On the other side, as Luo Fuchun spoke, he felt something was off again: "Master, it doesn't make sense, it doesn't make sense."

Feng Rugu: "What doesn't make sense?"

Luo Fuchun: "In the beginning, you had to descend the mountain. It was Senior Uncle who wrote a letter asking Master Ruyi to come protect you. How could the mastermind have calculated that Master Ruyi would travel with us?"

Feng Rugu retorted: "How could he not have calculated it?"

Luo Fuchun was completely baffled.

Feng Rugu said nonchalantly: "I have made many enemies in the demonic path. Senior Brother would not let me descend the mountain alone with peace of mind. But he has to manage the affairs of Fengling and cannot split himself in two; Junior Sister Yan has also descended the mountain to investigate the death of Fengling disciples and is not at the mountain. So, he would naturally seek help from someone he can trust. Therefore..."

Luo Fuchun looked at Ruyi, and then a chill crept over his heart.

"In that case..." he murmured, "that mastermind is also very familiar with Fengling's affairs..."

While Luo Fuchun's heart was in turmoil like stormy waves and swirling clouds, in comparison, Feng Rugu's reaction was quite flat, obviously having seen through the mastermind's schemes step by step long ago.

"Clearly knowing what he wants to do, but unable to avoid it or escape it, falling into his machinations step by step, this counts as an obvious scheme." Feng Rugu patted Luo Fuchun's forehead. "Silly boy, learn from this."

"But he still can't beat Master!" Luo Fuchun broke out in a cold sweat, but for some reason proudly puffed out his chest. "That person wanted to secretly harm Master when we were all away, but wasn't he still driven away by Master?!"

Feng Rugu held his forehead for a moment: "Get out, get out, get out. I'm really casting pearls before swine. Next time I discuss strategy, I'll just bring Luojiu."

Luo Fuchun shrank back after being scolded, but Sang Luojiu heard the underlying meaning and pulled Luo Fuchun with one hand and tugged Hai Jing with the other: "Master is tired, let Master rest first."

Luo Fuchun still wanted to ask how the wounds on Master's body came to be, but before he could open his mouth, he was pulled out the door by Sang Luojiu.

Ruyi stood still without moving.

Feng Rugu, wrapped in his monk's robe, curled up on the bed. The elegant color slightly diluted the glamor of his features, quite matching him: "Great Monk, is there anything else?"

Wearing only a thin inner garment, Ruyi walked to the bedside, took Feng Rugu's pipe, silently laid him down, turned him to the side, and pulled open the back of his monk's robe, revealing a patch of bruising on his shoulder.

...It was what he had personally twisted just now.

Ruyi reached out to touch it, then withdrew his hand, averted his gaze, and looked at Feng Rugu's wrist.

—At the junction of Feng Rugu's wrist and hand bones, the curve was extremely beautiful, but there was an additional circle of bruised finger marks from being grabbed.

If Feng Rugu were wearing clothes, these marks probably wouldn't have a chance to be shown and would be concealed by him, just like the lacerations all over his body, covered by lotus flowers, never seeing the light of day.

Ruyi's eyes darkened slightly, feeling the person before him was strange and contradictory.

He was smart, yet he did the foolish thing of putting himself in danger.

They say he is righteous, yet he can steal Hai Jing's soul without batting an eye.

They say he is pretentious, yet he always hides his scars without a thought.

Ruyi, unable to see through him, simply decided not to waste any more energy on irrelevant matters. He took out the medicine, removed the stopper, and the room was instantly filled with a medicinal fragrance.

Feng Rugu sighed and was about to get up, "No need to trouble yourself, I'll call Fuchun and the others..."

Ruyi said nothing, and just pressed Feng Rugu back onto the bed with one hand.

Feng Rugu then lay still, resting on his arms, letting him do as he pleased.

When applying the medicine, Ruyi discovered that Feng Rugu indeed had delicate skin. Just touching and rubbing with the medicinal oil made his skin show a layer of faint redness.

To better apply the medicine, Ruyi shifted the monk's robe that was covering Feng Rugu.

The moment the clothes were pulled down, Ruyi slightly frowned.

Feng Rugu's body was covered in clusters of green lotuses, and on his lower back bloomed an exquisite red lotus.

Last time at the hot spring in Wenshi Mountain, Ruyi had caught a glimpse of the green lotus tattoos on Feng Rugu's body. Because he was unwilling to look closely, he had not paid attention.

...But he did not remember Feng Rugu having a blooming lotus on his body, let alone one so enchanting, blazing like an unquenchable fierce fire.