Feng Rugu was quite pleasantly surprised, wanting to teach him the meaning of the scripture word by word, but felt it was too troublesome to teach across half a table, so he simply held him and placed him on one leg, pointing with the brush and explaining to him word by word: "'Purity and tranquility' can refer to good weather, and can also refer to a calm and peaceful state of mind. In our Daoist scriptures it is said, 'Restlessness overcomes cold, tranquility overcomes heat, purity and tranquility are upright for all under heaven', my grand-master once used this as his Daoist name..."

You Hongchen didn't look at the paper; he only looked quietly at him.

After lecturing for a while, Feng Rugu finally noticed his intent gaze: "What are you looking at me for?"

You Hongchen: "Remembering."

Feng Rugu was interested: "Tell me, what have you remembered."

When You Hongchen opened his mouth, he actually recited everything Feng Rugu had just said, and although some places were mispronounced, not a single word was missed.

Feng Rugu beamed: "Very good, picked up a clever little parrot. Being able to remember is a good thing, but after remembering, you need to think carefully, internalize it, and make it your own. There are no two completely identical people in the world; after all, you can't live as another me."

You Hongchen nodded slightly, his expression solemn and serious, but it was unclear whether he understood or not.

You Hongchen was indeed very smart.

It's just that this intelligence would sometimes cause Feng Rugu endless distress.

He didn't understand anything, Feng Rugu was the first person to bring him into the mortal world, so he would instinctively imitate everything about Feng Rugu.

Feng Rugu had developed the habits of a young master since childhood. When getting up in the morning and going to bed at night, he would always use green salt to clean his teeth and rinse his mouth. You Hongchen loved to be his little tail, imitating him, taking the exact same amount of green salt as him and holding it in his mouth, the big and small child standing side by side under the eaves, brushing their teeth in unison.

When he rinsed his mouth, little Hongchen would imitate him.

When he spit out the water, little Hongchen would follow.

The two of them rose and slept together, and ate together. From whichever dish Feng Rugu took food, You Hongchen would also take a chopstick's worth—no more, no less—always the same amount that Feng Rugu had taken.

Feng Rugu could only restrain his romantic nature, fearing that his every word and deed would lead the youngster astray and incur the wrath of heaven.

As time passed, he himself felt that he was becoming more and more like his senior brother, like a true gentleman, but the occasional flashes of frivolity were fundamentally unavoidable.

In Jing Sanchai's words, he was a natural young master, languid and loose-limbed, always leaning against something for support.

Fortunately, You Hongchen had a naturally straight back and an upright posture, which Feng Rugu liked to see, so how could he allow him to follow his own bad example. When he himself was lying on the couch reading, he would still remind him from time to time to "straighten your back".

Back then, it was just like it was now.

He would wake up groggily, covered by the outer garment washed by You Hongchen, emitting a faint fragrance of soap nut, while You Hongchen sat upright in a corner of the room, either cultivating or practicing calligraphy, quiet and silent.

A habit cultivated for four years, impossible to change.

During the ten years trapped on the mountain, when he opened his eyes and only saw an empty room, the thought of getting up would vanish like smoke, and he would bury his head and go back to sleep.

Now, with his eyes half-blind and body half-crippled, he was fortunate to see again the familiar scene from his youth that he was accustomed to, and his heart felt at peace.

However, this peace of mind did not last long.

After knocking on the door, Luo Fuchun poked his head in: "Master..."

Feng Rugu grabbed a pillow and threw it over: "Get out. What master, I don't have a disciple like you who disturbs your master's sleep."

Luo Fuchun immediately withdrew, his voice sounding quite aggrieved through the door: "Master, I just wanted to ask, when are we going to capture the villain who hurt you. I'm afraid if we're late, he'll escape with the souls of the people, or harbor some other evil intentions..."

Feng Rugu rubbed his eyes and sat up: "Come in."

Luo Fuchun, Sang Luojiu, and Hai Jing were all there. Feng Rugu sat cross-legged and retold the story of Lian Ruxin, omitting much information.

Sang Luojiu's expression remained the same, but Luo Fuchun's eyes were already red.

On one hand, he felt that Lian Ruxin's experience was really too miserable, and if he were in his place, he would probably go crazy; on the other hand, he felt that his master had suffered this harm unjustly.

He sniffled, momentarily at a loss.

Luo Fuchun's appearance reminded Feng Rugu of Han Jing, that emotionally rich senior brother.

Han Jing loved books, and would read scriptures, Confucian books, miscellaneous books, and plays. But he was born with a compassionate heart, and when he reached a moving part, his eyes would often brim with tears. Despite his upright and righteous gentleman's appearance, he would often sit on the peak of Danyang with a book in hand, tears in his eyes, a true spectacle.

Thinking of that person, Feng Rugu's heart softened a little, and he threw a handkerchief to Luo Fuchun.

Luo Fuchun received it with surprise and gratitude, not daring to use it, only clutching the handkerchief in his palm.

After calming down, Luo Fuchun said, "Master, although Lian Ruxin is detestable, he is not the chief culprit. Capturing that masked person is the top priority. Moreover, Lian Ruxin does not belong to the six paths of reincarnation in the first place, so even if we wanted to pursue the matter, there would be no way to do so..."

Feng Rugu was silent, his fingertips lightly and repeatedly rubbing the small mole on the side of his nose tip.

Ruyi, who had been quietly listening on the side for a long time, suddenly remembered the two sentences Feng Rugu had muttered to himself after wiping away the residual blood on his shoulder when they met again.

"Ah, this is not mine."

"...Yes, why is it not mine?"

In a flash of inspiration, Ruyi already understood the reason for Feng Rugu's silence and lack of urgency to search.

Ruyi stopped meditating, bent down to put on his shoes, and happened to glance at Feng Rugu's unconscious little movement.

In a flash, Ruyi froze in place, the faint doubts lingering in his heart had found their reason—

This was a movement his adoptive father often made!

Before, Ruyi had only considered it a special habit of his adoptive father, and had imitated it for a while himself. When his adoptive father discovered it, he lightly tapped Ruyi's bottom a few times with a small teaching whip, telling him not to learn everything.

Now that he thought about it, his adoptive father had no mole on the tip of his nose, so rubbing the nose tip was a meaningless action.

...but there was still a light brown mole on the side of Feng Rugu's nose tip.

Author's Note: The essence of humanity is... qwq