The Feihua Sect warmly received Feng Rugu. At the banquet, Hua Ruohong was extremely cordial, like a butterfly flitting among flowers, toasting and serving wine with great respect.

Sang Luojiu sat beside Hua Ruohong with his eyes lowered and a gentle, obedient demeanor.

An 11 or 12-year-old child sat on Hua Ruohong's other side. However, he reached past Hua Ruohong and unabashedly picked dishes for Sang Luojiu, speaking to him warmly with a smile and calling him "Big Brother" with every sentence, his gaze towards him cautious yet full of admiration.

This must be his little brother Shuang'er.

In contrast, Hua Biefeng on the other side had a face full of gloom, his eyes unwilling to linger on Sang Luojiu as he downed a full cup of wine.

"Junior Brother," Luo Fuchun secretly transmitted his voice, "Why does your second brother hate you so much?"

Although Sang Luojiu was an illegitimate child, he was born to a respectable family and had a clean background. It was one thing for his second brother to despise him when they were young and ignorant, but now that his elder brother had appeared, why was he still making such an unpleasant face?

Even though he was using a secret voice transmission technique, Sang Luojiu still didn't forget to use respectful language: "In response to Senior Brother, the Feihua Sect has an unwritten rule of passing on the lineage through bloodline: only the eldest son is considered the legitimate heir to inherit the mantle of the Feihua Sect."

Previously, the Feihua Sect was unaware of Sang Luojiu's existence, so Hua Biefeng was naturally the eldest son in the family and enjoyed all the glory and favor, considering himself the rightful heir to the Feihua Sect from a young age.

But Sang Luojiu's arrival turned everything into a mess.

Sang Luojiu was the eldest brother, but also an illegitimate child. Although his status was proper, his position was not. How should this be handled?

For a time, even the disciples were discussing whether Hua Biefeng could still inherit the Feihua Sect. Several inner sect disciples who used to be close with him also distanced themselves from him.

How could Hua Biefeng endure such humiliation? He made things difficult for Sang Luojiu at every turn, as well as for his tactless third brother, who now refused to acknowledge him. In the end, he ruined his own reputation, and by the time he realized it, even his mother started criticizing him for being petty and ungrateful.

The reality of being the heir was gone and his reputation was damaged. How could Hua Biefeng not hate him?

Although Luo Fuchun had never heard Sang Luojiu speak of family matters, based on what he witnessed today and the few words Sang Luojiu said, he could guess how difficult life must be for him at home. His heart ached with pity, and overcome with emotion, he reached out and tightly grasped Sang Luojiu's hand.

Startled by the grip, Sang Luojiu spared a glance at his foolish senior brother, his gaze truly softening for a moment.

On the other side, Hua Ruohong was already tipsy and inquired earnestly, "This unworthy son is fortunate to be Lord Yunzhong's disciple. I hope I haven't caused any trouble for Lord Yunzhong?"

Feng Rugu commented flatly, "Luojiu is a good kid."

Hua Ruohong was hoping for more praise, but unexpectedly, Feng Rugu only said this one sentence before shifting the topic elsewhere: "Is that young Daoist priest's corpse still in Jianchuan?"

Hua Ruohong was a bit disappointed. He didn't want to discuss a dead person in front of a table full of delicacies, but since Feng Rugu asked, he could only answer truthfully: "That Daoist friend was a disciple of the Xiafei Sect and was still wearing the Xiafei Sect disciple robes. Upon discovery, we immediately sent a letter. The Sect Leader of Xiafei personally came to retrieve the body for burial."

"When was the corpse discovered? Who discovered it?"

"It was over a month ago. I'm ashamed to say it was discovered by two disciples of the Feihua Sect. They were young and undisciplined. The two of them skipped morning lessons to play and catch birds in the back mountains. They found the corpse in a mountain hollow. The body was lying with the head facing south and feet facing north, the throat slit with one stroke... When the Xiafei Sect Leader came, I already recounted these details. If Lord Yunzhong has any other questions, I can have those two disciples wait on standby for you to ask them after the meal."

Feng Rugu nodded in agreement and asked, "When was the valley sealed off?"

Hua Ruohong replied, "After discovering the corpse, we immediately sealed the valley and took stock of the disciples from each sect to see if any were missing. If anyone was not in the valley, they would be under heavy suspicion."

Feng Rugu asked, "Isn't that too arbitrary?"

Hua Ruohong answered, "Lord Yunzhong, if I may explain, Jianchuan is situated in a precarious location. It is extremely difficult for junior disciples to leave the valley. Even senior disciples need to take a token and state their destination before they can leave. Therefore, few disciples leave the valley to begin with. For a disciple to inexplicably disappear at this time, I don't think it's an exaggeration to say they would be under 'heavy suspicion'."

Feng Rugu sighed, "In the end, not a single disciple was missing."

"That's the strangest part." Hua Ruohong nodded, "To prevent each sect from shielding their own, the three of us exchanged rosters and cross-checked. Not a single disciple in the valley was unaccounted for. This means that either the murderer is a disciple in the valley who never left, or a valley disciple is colluding with the murderer and devised some trick to bring the corpse into the valley!"

Ruyi seemed deep in thought, "Therefore, Qingshuang Sect..."

"This venerable monk hit the nail on the head," Hua Ruohong grew somewhat agitated. "The day before the corpse was discovered happened to be the birthday of Sect Leader Yan from Qingshuang Sect. Several of his Daoist friends sent him some gifts. Who knows if that disciple's corpse was hidden inside one of those gift boxes?"

Ruyi reacted mildly to being called a "venerable monk", "Impossible."

Hua Ruohong choked, feeling like he had just flattered the wrong person.

"The blood stains on the rocks were from the slit throat," Ruyi said. "He was killed in the mountain hollow, not killed elsewhere and transported there."

But at this moment, Madam Zhu, who had been accompanying them, spoke up, "Not necessarily. With enough care, the scene of the murder can be completely staged."

Among those present today, it was obvious who was the most meticulous.

Feng Rugu asked directly, "Who is Madam referring to?"

But Madam Zhu was unwilling to state it outright, either because she lacked confidence in her judgment or intentionally wanted to pique Feng Rugu's curiosity: "When you arrived this morning, Lord Yunzhong, you only took a glance at the site of the corpse from afar without examining it closely. Once you take a careful look, you will understand what I am saying."

This meal left Hua Ruohong feeling very frustrated.

Feng Rugu had no intention of favoring anyone, and the monk beside him was just as unyielding, unmoved by flattery or bribes.

...Each and every one of them was difficult to get along with.

Hua Ruohong silently sighed. After the meal, he asked Sang Luojiu to stay behind, saying that they hadn't seen each other for a long time and wanted to chat and enjoy some father-son bonding time.

This was a normal human sentiment, so Feng Rugu naturally had no reason to refuse.

After bidding farewell at the main hall, Feng Rugu said he wanted to go with Ruyi to investigate the place where the young Daoist priest's body was found. He told Luo Fuchun and Hai Jing to go back first and tidy up the guest rooms.

Luo Fuchun agreed. After parting with Hai Jing at the Moon Gate in the back courtyard, he suddenly heard Sang Luojiu's voice in his mind: "Your son is doing well in everything at Fengling Mountain. There's no need for Father to worry."

Luo Fuchun was startled for a moment before realizing that the secret voice transmission technique between the two of them had not been undone.

He had used this technique on Sang Luojiu because he felt it was impolite to whisper at the banquet table. Only the caster could undo this technique, and the connection was so subtle that Sang Luojiu probably didn't even know it was still active.

Luo Fuchun did not want to eavesdrop on other people's private father-son conversations.

He was about to cut off the spiritual energy sustaining the connection when he heard Sang Luojiu say, "Father, I don't understand what you mean."

Luo Fuchun had a bad feeling. He injected some extra spiritual energy just in time to hear Hua Ruohong's deliberately lowered voice: "Don't play dumb. I'm talking about the sword art secrets of the Guixu sword technique. Did you get them?"

Luo Fuchun felt a chill throughout his body, his hair standing on end.

At this moment, he felt a thousand times colder, both physically and emotionally, than when he had put his hand into the "Sinking Water".