After seeing off Chang Boning, Hai Jing waited for a long time but Ruyi did not arrive. He simply started discussing with Sang Luojiu and Luo Fuchun where they should go next.

Yan Jiangnan had already gone to investigate the deaths of the Fengling disciples, so they didn't need to go there again.  

The deaths at Hanshan Temple had a basic outline now, and the jade sent by the man in black had been handed over to Sa Si for investigation. Where they should go next had become a rather important question.

The three young people, whose ages added up to less than sixty, put their heads together and pored over a map to study their destination.

Hai Jing suggested, "Why don't we go to Yongjing Mountain, where the first murder took place."

Luo Fuchun made an "mm" sound and habitually turned his head to ask Sang Luojiu, "Luojiu, where do you think we should go?"

"I dare not make the decision..." Sang Luojiu smiled gently. "However, if Master were to choose, he would probably choose here."

He lifted his sleeve and politely pointed to a spot on the map.

...Jianchuan.

There were three small sects near Jianchuan, and the body was found at the intersection of the three sects.

The deceased was a disciple of an unorthodox sect, so when the body was discovered, although the three small sects were shocked, they were not too panicked.

Hai Jing was curious, "Why here?"

Luo Fuchun also muttered to himself, but after carefully considering his master's reasoning about the actions of the man in black, his expression changed slightly, and he seemed to want to stop Sang Luojiu from speaking.

However, Sang Luojiu was not at all reticent and said calmly, "Among these three sects, one of them is my home, Feihua Sect."

Hai Jing's memory was not bad. He still remembered the casual chat they had not long after he first met them.

Moreover, after getting along for nearly ten days, he felt that they had become much more familiar with each other. Unable to restrain his gossipy heart, he said, "Senior Sang, I remember you said that you joined the sect three years ago. Then Brother Luo..."

"Senior Brother joined the sect three years before me," Sang Luojiu said amiably. "Hai Jing, I'm only a year older than you. You don't need to call me 'Senior' every time. You can call me Luojiu. My original surname is Hua, so you can also call me Xiao Hua. It's no problem."

Hai Jing couldn't help but smile, "That would be too improper. But... your original surname is Hua, so why did you change it to Sang?"

Luo Fuchun interjected resentfully, "My elder brother's name is Xiao Rang. Did you really think my surname was Luo?"

Hai Jing was new to the affairs of the sects and only had a partial understanding of many things. Upon hearing this, he could only stare blankly, at a loss.

Sang Luojiu patted Luo Fuchun's back soothingly and said with a smile, "Senior Brother, it's been so many years. You're still so bothered by it."

"How can I not be bothered?!" Luo Fuchun said indignantly. "If it was just changing names and Daoist titles, I wouldn't say anything about Master. But it was wrong of him to arbitrarily change our surnames! And he even randomly changed it to an alcohol name—"

Sang Luojiu rubbed the tip of his nose and explained to Hai Jing, "When we joined the sect, Master changed both of our names. My senior brother's original name was Xiao Ran, with his surname being Xiao. My surname was Hua, and my full name was Hua Bieyun."

Seeing that the two had completely different attitudes about the name change, Hai Jing was quite surprised for a moment. "Luojiu, you seem... to not mind this matter very much?"

"I am my father's illegitimate child. My name was not very respectable to begin with," Sang Luojiu said. "Master wanted to change it, so he changed it. It's not a big deal to me."

Sang Luojiu's frankness when talking about his background even made Hai Jing react for a moment before realizing what he had said.

Looking at the dumbfounded Hai Jing, Sang Luojiu clasped his hands behind his back, his eyes gentle. "...Will you look down on me?"

Hai Jing hurriedly shook his head, while new doubts arose in his heart.

...In his simple understanding, the sects in recent years placed great importance on family background. Although Sang Luojiu's conduct and talent were both first-rate, he still carried the title of "illegitimate child". Logically speaking, he shouldn't even be able to touch the edges of Fengling Mountain, so how could he become a disciple of Lord Yunzhong and his top student?

When Hai Jing carefully chose his words to ask this question out of irrepressible curiosity, Sang Luojiu pursed his lips and smiled, "It's just a trivial story not worth mentioning."

...As trivial as he was when he was brought into the Hua family back then.

In that year, Sang Luojiu was only seven years old.

In his memory, his mother's surname was Li. She was a gentle shepherdess who lived near Li Village. Their home was an independent and dilapidated thatched cottage that often leaked when it rained, so he learned to repair the roof from a very young age.

When he was little, his mother would often put him on the back of a sheep. While she played a captivating Yimeng tune on the flute, they would count the clouds that looked like white sheep in the sky.

She taught Sang Luojiu to be optimistic and to smile no matter what.

Sang Luojiu also grew up happily and healthily, just as she wished.

The only thing that made Sang Luojiu sad was that he didn't have a father.

The village children would tease him, running over to ask him which sheep was his father.

When he was very young, he asked his mother once where his father had gone.

For the next two days, the corners of his mother's mouth were turned up, but there was no laughter in her eyes, only shimmering ripples.

After that, Sang Luojiu never asked again.

From the conversations of the adults in the village, setting aside some of the overly insulting remarks, he pieced together a general truth.

—When his mother was young, she rescued a Daoist surnamed Hua who had been injured by demonic cultivation, and carefully nursed him back to health. That Daoist stayed in Li Village for half a year to recuperate. Attracted by her beauty and gentleness, he gave her a jade pendant as a token and pledged his life to her. His mother's parents also acquiesced to this.

Later, his mother became pregnant. However, that Daoist Hua received a spiritual letter saying that his father had deviated in his cultivation and had gone mad. He was now at death's door and needed him to return home quickly. Daoist Hua said that his mother was pregnant and should not travel far. He promised that after he took care of the matters in the mountains, he would definitely come back to take them.

Once he left, he never returned.

His mother held the jade pendant and waited foolishly until she gave birth to the child. Only then did she and her parents gradually realize that they didn't even know where that Daoist Hua's home was or where his immortal mountain was located.

Parents can't be wrong. So, all the blame fell on his mother.

In the end, his grandparents couldn't stand the pointing and whispering of the villagers. They let their daughter take the family's three sheep, a roll of bedding prepared for the newlyweds, and a wailing infant to live in the old leaky Li family house.

As Sang Luojiu slowly grew up, the village children's ridicule and bullying of him intensified. Sometimes, they would even run up to his mother and ask her if she wanted them to give her a younger ram, causing his mother to feel both ashamed and distressed.

A few days later, the child who led the trouble went up the mountain to chop firewood and got his ankle caught in a rusty animal trap on the only path.

When the child was brought back to the village screaming all the way, many physicians said that they had to go to the mountain to pick the native healing herb "Shengxi Grass", grind it into juice, and apply it to the affected area, otherwise not only the leg, but even the child's life might not be saved.

The child's parents hurried up the mountain to search.

But, as if by fate, the usually common Shengxi Grass could not be found.

When the child's parents were almost in despair, it was actually Sang Luojiu who took a handful of Shengxi Grass and limped to the child's doorstep.

He said that he picked it on the edge of a cliff, and as a result, a branch cut a bone-deep gash on his leg.

The child's leg was thus saved.

The child's parents thanked Sang Luojiu profusely.

In response, the six-year-old Sang Luojiu already had the rudimentary form of his genial smile as an adult: "Mother taught me to treat neighbors kindly, this is what I should do."

Mother proudly stroked his hair and praised him for doing well.

He curled up in his mother's arms, the corners of his mouth drooping slightly, but feeling an unprecedented happiness and peace of mind.

But later, he couldn't even keep this bit of happiness and peace of mind.

When he was seven years old, a big fire broke out in his home for no reason.

Flocks of sheep broke through the fence and ran off in all directions. He was wrapped in a soaking wet quilt and thrown out of the burning small window by his mother, but before his mother could jump out of the window, she was crushed under the collapsed and burning roof, never to make a sound again.

And before he had time to dig through the ruins, he was taken by the hand, soaring into the air, floating along the mist and clouds, and brought into a completely unfamiliar Daoist temple.

The Daoist priest who brought him was called Second Master Hua by everyone.

He introduced them one by one. He explained that this was Feihua Sect and that the man with the beautiful beard and black robe was his father, Hua Ruohong. The empty seat next to his father, he added, was for the sect leader's wife, who was ill. Sitting in the first seat on the lower left was his second brother, Hua Biefeng, and the infant held by the wet nurse was his third brother, Hua Bieshuang.

And Second Master Hua himself was Hua Ruohong's younger brother.

Hua Ruohong, who was seated in the upper position, pulled Sang Luojiu onto his lap, held his hand, and acted as if he was deeply affectionate as a father and son. He explained, "Over the years, I have been asking your second uncle to watch over you and your mother from afar, but I couldn't do anything. I never thought that I would save you by a twist of fate today... I have let your mother down."

He lowered his voice, "Back then, your father indeed had no choice. The orders of parents cannot be disobeyed, especially... Madam Zhu was the one my father designated for me on his deathbed, I had to marry her. Because of this, I have always been too ashamed to see you and your mother. Now that something has happened to Maiden Li, I must fulfill my responsibility as a father and take you back to raise you well."

Sang Luojiu lowered his eyes and brows, but his eyes were moving imperceptibly.

He looked at his second brother who openly showed contempt for him, at the wet nurse who, although holding a child, was subtly listening in on the situation on this side, and then at the empty chair on the side.

Sang Luojiu had always been clear about his family's expenses.

Over the years, Father had not sent Mother anything, as if this mother and son did not exist in the world. He had clearly ignored them for seven years, so why did he come so quickly after the fire at his home?

A twist of fate? What twist of fate?

Mother had always been careful with candles, and Sang Luojiu was even more cautious by nature. Tonight, he extinguished the candle himself, so where did that inexplicable heavenly fire come from?

And from the disgust shown by his second brother, Hua Biefeng, it seemed he had not known about Sang Luojiu's existence for long.

The hatred was still fresh, and Sang Luojiu, who had experienced quite a bit of the ways of the world since childhood, could sense it.

In other words, the madam who came from a Daoist family probably only recently learned that her husband had an old lover outside and a illegitimate son.