Ruyi suppressed the surging shock in his heart, slowly walked to Feng Rugu's bedside, tightened his palm, and tugged on the heartblood thread tied to his little finger.

Feng Rugu had no idea what Ruyi was thinking. He stopped his small movements and said, "There's no need for us to pursue him anymore."

Hai Jing was quite upset about the two disciples who died unjustly at Hanshan Temple. On one hand, he was concerned about the whereabouts of the real murderer, the masked man; on the other hand, he felt dissatisfied that the accomplice Lian Ruxin could not be punished. Hearing this, he couldn't help but be curious: "Why?"

But Sang Luojiu already understood.

He said, "Stones don't bleed."

Luo Fuchun and Hai Jing looked at each other, both seeing the words "don't understand" in each other's eyes.

Sang Luojiu retracted his sleeves and explained softly, "Lian Ruxin was born from the primordial chaos, without a soul or emotions. But when he fought with Master, he bled... This is a sign of having a spirit."

Luo Fuchun let out an "ah" sound: "He was originally a spirit of heaven and earth, right?"

Sang Luojiu: "No. Senior Brother, he was previously a spirit of an object, inheriting the responsibilities and memories of the divine stone over hundreds and thousands of years. He had no human emotions, couldn't feel pain, and wouldn't get injured. He would only return to nature after his spiritual power was exhausted. But now he can bleed, indicating that he has developed mortal feelings and a mortal heart, and can be considered a human spirit."

"Human spirit..."

Luo Fuchun was startled, and countless thoughts surged in his mind.

For a demonic cultivator... is it really worth it like this?

The room was silent for a long time, until there was a rustling of fine rain falling on the window lattice, and everyone looked out the window in unison.

It was near summer, and the rain often came without warning.

Amidst the disturbing sound of rain, Luo Fuchun finally noticed an important doubt: "Master, if the black-clothed masked man really wanted to kill you, how could he only send Lian Ruxin... and a demon?"

Feng Rugu asked in return, "What do you think?"

Luo Fuchun was afraid of saying the wrong thing again, so his wording was particularly cautious: "The incident at Wenshi Mountain, and the matter with Lian Ruxin, if separated, I wouldn't feel there was anything amiss; but with these two things happening one after another, I can't help but be suspicious: the purpose of that masked man seems to not be killing for the sake of killing, but..."

At this point, Luo Fuchun paused for a long time to choose his words.

He felt that thinking this way was very disloyal and seemed to be making excuses for the murderer, but he still couldn't help saying, "...to expose the ills of the Dao Sect and dig out the world's abscesses."

When the murder cases in the Dao Sect occurred, whether it was the Buddhist Sect or the Dao Sect, everyone was at a loss.

There was no connection between the victims. They were from different sects, had different cultivations, and their statuses also varied. Except for the characteristic of having their throats cut by a Tang sword, no one could find even the slightest commonality among them.

Later, the corpses of all the victims formed the character "Feng" on the map.

Luo Fuchun had personally witnessed the entire process of Feng Rugu's deduction, so he naturally believed that the masked man had a grudge against his master and came for him.

They went down the mountain to investigate. As a result, the death of Third Young Lady Wen revealed the matter of Wenshi Sect taking advantage of demonic cultivators for profit. The death of the monks at Hanshan Temple then exposed the hidden danger of the sky cracking in Shuisheng City.

If it happened once, it might be a coincidence; if it happened twice, it was no longer a coincidence.

Thinking about the masked man's message of "the Dao is no longer the Dao", Luo Fuchun began to feel that the person planning behind this might really have a deeper meaning?

"...'Abscesses'." Feng Rugu laughed, "Ha, this word is well used."

Luo Fuchun had said a lot of nonsense today and hurt his master's feelings. Now hearing Feng Rugu say this, he thought he had said the wrong thing again and hurriedly tried to make up for it: "Master, I'm not saying the Dao Sect is bad, just that in recent decades, the trend of cultivating the Dao has been prevalent, and those entering the Dao are of uneven quality. Killing is always unreasonable..."

Sang Luojiu poked Luo Fuchun's waist from behind, a silent warning to stop talking.

Luo Fuchun closed his mouth and stood there dejectedly for a while before saying, "Master, when are we going to find Lian Ruxin to retrieve the souls of the victims in the city?"

Feng Rugu leaned on the bed, looking out the window: "Let's wait for the rain to stop."

Finally, he added, "Perhaps, after the rain stops, the souls will all come back."

While Feng Rugu was speaking, Ruyi kept staring at him.

From more than ten years ago, he had heard of Feng Rugu's name and speculated about his appearance and personality.

During the ten years of separation, he never saw his adoptive father again, and of course, he couldn't see Feng Rugu either.

But after all, Feng Rugu was the world-renowned Lord Yunzhong, the youngest Dao Lord with the title of "Zun". Of course, this was related to his master ascending early, and also to his shocking feat of protecting everyone's safety in the "Forgotten World" back then.

As Ruyi walked the world, he heard his name many times and also heard many stories. Whether they were true or false, good or bad, which version was closer to the real him could no longer be verified.

Only the reputations for his beauty, talent, ruthlessness, and arrogance always accompanied the stories of Feng Rugu, never changing.

A few days ago, Ruyi, entrusted by his adoptive father, ascended Fengling Mountain and truly met Feng Rugu for the first time.

After a few days of interacting, Ruyi thought it was perfectly normal for his adoptive father to have him in his heart.

And it was also perfectly normal for him to be disliked by others.

Feng Rugu was a person who was content to be still, but once he moved, he shone in all directions. However, because his intelligence was too exposed, he appeared aggressive when sharp and seemed to be deliberately sarcastic when he was casual. Coupled with his unorthodox and crazy temperament, he was really hard to figure out. No one knew whether the heart in his chest was cold or warm.

At best, people would respect him but keep their distance. At worst, they would inevitably feel disgusted by this kind of person who couldn't be grasped.

And at this moment, reading Feng Rugu's thoughts from the way he looked at the rain, Ruyi saw another side of him.

...Feng Rugu clearly knew that Lian Ruxin, who was injured, bled, and realized he had gained a human spirit, would do something.

But he didn't have much of a sense of pride, nor did he take the opportunity to pursue and kill Lian Ruxin to avenge the attempt on his life. He just quietly watched the falling rain outside the window, giving Lian Ruxin enough time to do what he wanted to do.

...

In the Mizhi Mountains.

Lian Ruxin stumbled through the dense forest, unable to stand steadily, and tumbled into the jumbled rocks in the stream.

The stream water reflected his pale, bloodless face.

He got up, stirred up a stream of reflections, and continued to run forward.

Raindrops fell in a rustle, making jumping rain lines in the accumulated puddles on the ground. He came to an elm tree beside the sacred stone, knelt down on both knees, and using his hands and feet, dug out the corpse of Yi Shangchen from the soil softened by the rain.

After Yi Shangchen was beaten to death, his corpse was placed in a charitable cemetery. At midnight, Lian Ruxin secretly took the corpse back home, buried it under the tree, and drew a magic array, wanting to use spiritual power to keep his body from decaying. However, he could not defy the will of heaven, and could only watch helplessly as Yi Shangchen decayed and rotted, until he was no more.

Stealing a corpse was the first wrong thing Lian Ruxin had done in his life of more than ten years.

Afterwards, Lian Ruxin became obsessed, making one mistake after another.

If there was really no other way, Lian Ruxin would not have thought of using unorthodox methods, and would not have been tempted by the man in black to kill Feng Rugu.

Fortunately, now he had a way.

He was in a hurry, and still had to rush to return those stolen souls, to find Feng Rugu and apologize, so he wanted to get this matter done early.

Lian Ruxin held the half-decayed corpse and laid it flat in front of the sacred stone. He knelt down and bowed devoutly to the stone.

"Sacred stone, this sinner comes to confess." Lian Ruxin's long hair was dampened by the misty rain. "I conspired with others to harm the lives of innocent people, betrayed the will of heaven, and committed a grave sin. My death would be well-deserved. I am willing to follow the example of the believers and sacrifice my spirit to the stone. Before I die, I have only one wish, and I hope the sacred stone will grant it..."

"Yi Shangchen... He was born into the demon sect and never committed great evil in his life. He suffered this calamity all because of me. This sinner knows that this request is presumptuous, but I can offer my soul as a sacrifice. Please, sacred stone, resurrect him and those two innocent young monks who were killed."

The sacred stone remained motionless, like an old monk in meditation.

Lian Ruxin knelt on the ground, his pounding heart gradually cooling down.

Before, when there were still believers coming up the mountain to make sacrifices, the sacred stone would not respond to their wishes either. It was always Lian Ruxin who fulfilled their wishes.

But Lian Ruxin would not question whether the sacred stone still had divinity.

He was born from the stone and knew that the sacred stone had to put all its power into preventing the sky from cracking, thus exhausting its spiritual power. To perform the act of bringing the dead back to life was really not worth it.

For someone like Yi Shangchen, whose body was still partially intact and whose soul was present, there was still some possibility of resurrection. But the souls of those two monks had long since scattered, and their whereabouts were unknown. Resurrecting them out of thin air and recreating their flesh would be nigh impossible.

Lian Ruxin also knew that as a sinner, making such a request was really too greedy.

He lowered his head to think for a moment, then bowed again. "Sacred stone, this sinner has only one wish: I offer my spirit and all my remaining time in exchange for bringing Yi Shangchen back to life and granting me one more day to resolve all my worldly affairs and entanglements. Tomorrow is the day of sacrifice. I am willing to sacrifice myself then, return to the stone, and never come back. I beg the sacred stone to grant this wish."

Lian Ruxin prostrated on the ground, not knowing how long he had knelt there, when his heartstrings suddenly moved.

It was an extremely special feeling.

...He knew that the sacred stone had promised him.

Lian Ruxin only felt his eyes grow hot. He kowtowed earnestly a few times. When he straightened up, he felt a warm, numb sensation on his face.

He had never shed tears before. He dazedly raised his hand to wipe his eyes, thinking, how could the sky rain hot water?

Lian Ruxin dared not waste time. He placed Yi Shangchen's corpse and the brocade pouch containing his soul in front of the stone, entrusting them to the sacred stone. He then quickly ran to the sunny side of the mountain facing the ancient city, took out the souls of the city residents that he had hidden, and released them like birds, allowing the souls to fly back to their respective homes.

In the distance, a faint chanting of scriptures could be heard.

It was the shaman physician summoning the soul for the wealthy young master who had lost his.

Lian Ruxin stood at the edge of the mountain, his expression still cold, but with an indescribable ease hidden in the corners of his eyes and brows.

He still had to go find Lord Yunzhong, apologize, and compensate for the damaged painted boat...

Lian Ruxin had planned everything.

But all these thoughts vanished like clouds in the sky when he turned around and saw that familiar face.

Yi Shangchen stood there, completely unharmed, as if it had all been a dream.

Lian Ruxin stared at him for a long time, his fingers trembling slightly and his heart numb. But he still did not move a step, afraid that if he rushed over, he might accidentally shatter this dream.

It was Yi Shangchen who took the initiative to run over and hug him tightly.

"What's wrong? Why are you looking at me like that?" Yi Shangchen mumbled. "How long was I asleep? I remember the day before I was knocked out, it had just snowed. How come in the blink of an eye, the whole mountain is in bloom?"

...He did not know that he had died once and had rotted in the soil for some time.

Lian Ruxin wiped the water from his eyelashes, his fingers shaking non-stop, but his voice was the same as usual, with no discernible joy or sorrow, as if Yi Shangchen had really just woken up from a long dream. "You went to smash someone's statue, got beaten up and seriously injured. You've been recuperating until now, and your wounds have just healed."

Yi Shangchen did not expect that his misdeeds would be reported to Lian Ruxin. His face reddened. "I... I just wanted to avenge you. If they have no statue to worship, they will come to believe in you, right?"

Lian Ruxin: "Nonsense. The divine is in the heart, not in the form. Even if you destroy the statue, they still have faith in their hearts. Thousands of statues can be recreated."

Yi Shangchen blinked, realizing his plan had failed. He pouted in frustration for a moment, then had an idea. He happily draped himself over Lian Ruxin and acted spoiled. "I don't care. I've been resting for so long without going out to play. Big Brother Lian has to make it up to me."

This was originally Yi Shangchen's unreasonable demand, but who would have thought that Lian Ruxin would unexpectedly nod his head. "Tomorrow is the triennial grand ceremony of worshipping the gods. I'll take you to see it."

The masked man, with the pace of the wind, dressed all in black, stood still on the clouds, gazing down at the gleeful Yi Shangchen, his blue eyes devoid of emotion.

He reached up to adjust his mask, then left with his hand on his sword. His black robe fluttered in the wind, merging into the dark clouds.