Ruyi's mind wandered for a moment, and he couldn't control his strength in time. With Feng Rugu's injured shoulder and the exertion from wielding the sword, how could he withstand such force? He immediately arched his back in pain, burying his face in his arms, his neck covered in a dense layer of cold sweat. "Hiss—"

Ruyi's thoughts returned, and he knew he had used too much force. However, since he couldn't speak, he could only support Feng Rugu's shoulders and gently massage them to help him through the pain.

After the pain subsided a little, Feng Rugu turned around.

Ruyi used his gaze to ask him: ...Are you okay?

Feng Rugu rested his cheek on his arm and said, half-aggrieved and half-jokingly, "Since Master Ruyi wants Feng Er's life so much, Feng Er can only offer it up with both hands. I only hope that Master Ruyi will cherish it well and dote on Feng Er more before he dies."

Ruyi coughed, his throat inexplicably a little hoarse.

A strange thought popped into his mind: Does Feng Rugu talk to others like this?

This thought was only fleeting.

Ruyi didn't pay attention to Feng Rugu's nonsense. He pressed his pressure points again, laid him down, and made sure the medicinal oil was fully absorbed. During this time, he was so focused that he refused to spare even half a thought.

After applying the medicine, he sat down and inquired with pen and paper: What happened?

Feng Rugu put on his clothes, leaned against the soft pillow, and truthfully recounted the matter with Lian Ruxin, only slightly modifying the details. He said a demon cultivator traveling with Lian Ruxin came to kill him. In his telling of the events, Lian Ruxin proved no match for Feng Rugu and was turned to flying ashes by a single sword strike. The demon cultivator, seeing the situation was unfavorable, also quickly fled.

Ruyi: Lian Ruxin is dead?

Feng Rugu: "The spirit of the ancient divine stone, how could it be killed by my single sword? Most likely, he returned to the mountains after turning to ashes."

Ruyi: Then there's no hurry.

Feng Rugu: "Yes, he is tied to the ancient city and can't leave it. With this failed attack, his purpose is completely exposed. After I rest for a bit, I'll go to Mount Mizhi to find him and take back the souls of the people in the city."

Ruyi: Will he give them?

Feng Rugu: "He will. Keeping those souls is of no use to him anymore."

Ruyi: What do you mean?

Feng Rugu did not answer.

He raised his hand, gently scratched the small mole on the side of his nose with his thumb, then bent his knuckle and rested it against his lips, deep in thought.

Feng Rugu had done this little action three or four times before, mostly when thinking.

Ruyi saw it and always felt there was an indescribable sense of unease.

However, he didn't consider this to be anything important. His pen fell with flair, bending like a willow in the wind: Lord Yunzhong, Lian Ruxin was instigated to come. What are your thoughts on the mastermind behind this?

Even if Feng Rugu had thousands of speculations, he couldn't discuss them in detail with Ruyi.

He said, "I only know that person didn't really want to kill me."

Ruyi: How so?

Feng Rugu said, "If he really wanted to kill me, he could have taken this opportunity to join hands with Lian Ruxin. With his quick blade and cooperating with Lian Ruxin, it's not impossible to kill me. But he didn't come."

There is no doubt that Lian Ruxin was used by this person.

This person in black clothes and a ghost mask left a message for him through Wen Chen in Mount Wenshi, and in the ancient city, he also persuaded Lian Ruxin with his glib tongue to kill him in order to mend the heavens and protect the world. But as for his purpose, it was definitely not to kill him.

Since the man in black could grasp Lian Ruxin's weakness, he must have known that with Lian Ruxin's nearly exhausted cultivation, Lian Ruxin could kill the powerless Feng Rugu, but not the Lord Yunzhong who had broken the "Seven Flowers Seal".

And for Feng Rugu to avoid dying at Lian Ruxin's hands, he could only temporarily release the Seven Flowers Seal.

...Perhaps this was his true purpose.

Sure enough, Ruyi also had questions about the Seven Flowers on his body: Lord Yunzhong, what is the purpose of the flower decorations on your body?

Ruyi had counted earlier that there were a total of seven blue lotuses on Feng Rugu's body, decorating his left chest, left arm, left shoulder, lower abdomen, left waist, lower back, and left thigh. The flower buds were elegant and delicate, but when they bloomed, they were eerily strange, like the fire of hell.

When this matter was brought up, Feng Rugu fell silent again, only taking his left arm out from under the covers and examining it carefully.

The carved scars on his bare left arm appeared particularly distinct. Although the scars were old and adorned with the wonderful blue lotus, one could still glimpse the brutality of the injuries from back then.

Ruyi's brows furrowed deeply.

He remembered that Jing Sanchai had once said while drunk that the battle situation in the "Forgotten World" back then was not as magnificent and thrilling as rumored in the outside world.

In the eighty-some days of falling into the "Forgotten World", everyone only persisted for more than thirty days before being captured by the demonic path.

What exactly happened in the following fifty-some days that made the survivors of the righteous path not wholeheartedly admire their benefactor Feng Rugu, but fear and dread him, not daring to get close?

Upon careful thought, Ruyi's brows twitched, and he had an unpleasant guess.

"Hey, what are you thinking about?" Feng Rugu seemed to have seen through his thoughts and pulled his ear. "If those little Daoist brats in the Forgotten World dared to hurt me, let alone what I would do, how could my master Lord Xiaoyao let them off easily?"

Ruyi's ears were the least resistant to being touched. This intimate action startled him, and a hint of redness surfaced on his extremely upright face. Not knowing if it was from embarrassment or anger, he forcefully turned his face away.

Only at times like this could he show a bit of the immaturity and stubbornness of a youth in his early twenties.

After teasing enough, Feng Rugu slowly answered his question: "This thing is called the 'Seven Flowers Seal'. It is a unique sacred artifact created by my senior brother, originally used to detoxify, ward off evil, and nourish the meridians for body cultivation. When I came out of the 'Forgotten World' back then, my injuries were a bit severe, and my cultivation base was also somewhat damaged. So after my wounds healed, my senior brother drew this tattoo on my body. One reason was to cover the scars, and the other was to heal my cultivation base. The 'Seven Flowers Seal' is connected to my seven damaged meridians. Once the meridians are used, a lotus flower will bloom."

Feng Rugu continued with a straight face, "When my injuries had just healed, I was eager to cultivate. My senior brother warned me not to misuse the meridians, but I didn't listen. So my senior brother used these Seven Flowers Seals to check every day if I had improperly moved my meridians. If a flower bloomed, he would punish me. So..."

Hearing again that his adoptive father and Feng Rugu had such a close relationship, a sour taste of envy filled Ruyi's mouth.

He regarded his adoptive father as a deity and never dared to have any improper thoughts. But Feng Rugu could easily get close to the deity and make any requests of him. This couldn't help but make Ruyi feel envious.

He gritted his teeth, calmed his emotions, and asked again: What did his adoptive father mean when he reminded him that when the three flowers bloom, Lord Yunzhong should return to the mountain?

Feng Rugu looked at the green lotus bud on his wrist, his senior brother's worried words echoing in his ears.

"Rugu, the demonic energy in your body has already merged into your meridians. Master and I have tried everything, but we still cannot remove it. I can only use the 'Seven Flowers Seal' to completely seal the spiritual power and demonic energy in your body, nourishing it in seven places within you. I made some adjustments to the 'Seven Flowers Seal' technique. As long as you use spiritual power recklessly and the demonic energy invades your body, the green lotus will bloom and turn into a red lotus, serving as a warning."

"Rugu, you must remember that you can use a small amount of spiritual power, like playing the spirit zither or removing evil energy. These are harmless, and even if the red lotus blooms, it will not fully open and will close up on its own later. However, if you use a large amount of spiritual power or sword techniques, whether it's the Fengling Sword Technique or the Guixu Sword Technique, it may cause the red lotus to fully bloom, and once it does, it cannot close again."

"If less than three red lotuses bloom, I can still solve it and erase the demonic energy for you. But if more than four bloom, even I will be powerless to turn things around. Remember this well."

Feng Rugu, coming back to his senses, shrugged nonchalantly at the flower bud on his wrist, his smile still as bright as ever.

"My dear, worrisome senior brother, he was so frightened by my injury back then that he still believes my cultivation base is damaged and I shouldn't use a sword." Feng Rugu responded fluently, spinning lies vividly and effortlessly. "In his view, an enemy that requires me to bloom three flowers to deal with is extremely dangerous... His meaning is that when I encounter a formidable foe, I should remember to return to the mountain to get reinforcements."

With that, he laughed again, "...But since senior brother was willing to give me Little Hongchen, what do I have to worry about?"

Ruyi still wanted to ask what exactly happened in the "Forgotten World" back then that left him with such a serious injury, but when Feng Rugu uttered the words "Little Hongchen", Ruyi felt uncomfortable again.

Moreover, he could see that Feng Rugu was intentionally avoiding the matter of the past and was unwilling to mention it.

He simply got up and gestured for him to rest well. He himself did not leave, but took "Nature of All Beings", placed it by his side, and sat in a corner of the room, closing his eyes in meditation, silently guarding him, worried that Lian Ruxin would return or the man in black would take the opportunity to attack.

Since Ruyi promised his adoptive father to take good care of Feng Rugu, Feng Rugu was his responsibility.

...And only a responsibility.

What happened in the "Forgotten World" had nothing to do with him. Why should he care about this person's wounds, the smile beneath his endurance, the clarity beneath his madness?

Ruyi unconsciously gripped the prayer beads between his fingers, thinking: I don't care.

Feng Rugu lay on his side, propping his chin, looking at Ruyi in meditation. For a moment, it was as if he had returned to the days when they traveled together, and he felt a little more at peace.

He pulled the blanket over his shoulders, which had been rubbed hot by the medicinal oil, and closed his eyes in thought.

...Who exactly was the black-clothed, masked figure?

Who would know about him switching identities with his senior brother back then and going down the mountain to travel, know everything that happened in "Forgotten World", and also know that he carried the Seven Flowers Seal?

Feng Rugu thought of a few people, but quickly dismissed them with a smile.

His master had long ascended, Senior Brother Chang had never left the mountain, so it was impossible for him to do these evil deeds. Junior Sister Yan and Sanchai only knew that he was seriously injured, and had only a partial understanding of the other details.

After thinking it over, there was still one person who knew quite a bit about the situation.

However, thinking of that person's eternally gentle and amiable smile, the usually flippant Feng Rugu couldn't help but waver.

If he were still alive, he would probably be the same age as Senior Brother Chang this year.

If the "Forgotten World" incident had never happened, among the three schools, that person and Senior Brother Chang could be called the Two Lords of Bamboo and Flower, the outstanding talents. Sanchai was peerless with his spear, Junior Sister Yan's medical skills were renowned, and as for Feng Rugu himself, he was in a romantic league of his own.

However, after the "Forgotten World" disaster occurred, everything changed.

He, Senior Brother Chang, Junior Sister Yan, Sanchai - none of them could return to how they were before.

And Han Jing, the disciple of the former Peak Master of Danyang Peak, Lord Qu Chi, known as the "Bamboo Lord", went missing during the chaotic battle in "Forgotten World", becoming the only disciple of the Dao Sect lost in "Forgotten World" that year.

Author's Note:

Let's introduce a new character~

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Bald Pear: I don't care about him at all, really.