Feng Rugu was waiting to cross the bridge. Seeing Ruyi not moving, he naturally said, "Hold me, won't you?"

Ruyi: "..."

He felt ashamed of the vague notion that had just popped up in his mind, and stepped onto the bridge first, "Walk by yourself."

Unexpectedly, Feng Rugu shamelessly reached out and grabbed his belt, "What if I fall down? Although Feng Er knows a bit about swimming, falling in would still be unpleasant. Master Ruyi has a Buddhist heart, can you bear to watch Feng Er suffer?"

Having said that, he even shook Ruyi's belt shamelessly, his smile dazzling.

Ruyi turned his head, his ears tingling and slightly heating up, but it was barely visible in the darkness.

He pushed the wooden sword at his waist back, "...Hold tight."

Feng Rugu grabbed Ruyi's sword with one hand, following behind him, and with the other hand, he took out that blood-stained family letter and studied it carefully under the remnant light of the ever-burning whale oil lamps lit beside the river.

After walking halfway across the bridge, a disciple wearing the attire of Qingshuang Sect passed by them on the bridge, bowing his head from a distance to greet them.

Feng Rugu, who was reading the letter, leaned to one side to ensure the disciple could pass safely, and took the opportunity to hand the letter to Ruyi.

Ruyi took the letter and immediately noticed something unusual at a glance.

The letter was crumpled, as if it had been tightly clenched in the palm of the deceased.

This was not unusual in itself, but the letter happened to fall near the corpse and was stained with clear bloody fingerprints, which was very strange.

...This indicated that when he died, he was still holding this letter in his hand.

If he had really secretly met with the Tang saber swordsman as Hua Ruohong speculated, what reason did he have to clutch this letter when going to meet him?

Ruyi returned the letter to Feng Rugu and put forward a guess, "Su Ping may have really gone home. From Qingping Prefecture to Jianchuan, a round trip, with his cultivation, the time is just right."

Feng Rugu continued, "But what he saw may have been an unharmed father."

Ruyi said, "Under the tense situation of the three families confronting each other in Jianchuan, it's not difficult for Su Ping to realize that this is a fake letter and Qingshuang Sect has been schemed against."

Feng Rugu said, "During this extraordinary period, Sect Leader Yan privately let him leave the river, definitely taking a huge risk. Perhaps at this time, he is already under attack by the other two family heads."

Ruyi said, "Sect Leader Yan usually treats them well. At this time, he must hurry back to help him."

Feng Rugu said, "This is just speculation."

Ruyi said, "At least there's a direction now."

Feng Rugu: "Yes, for example, if this letter is really fake, who sent it?"

As they were talking, the two had already gotten off the Ice Bridge.

Feng Rugu casually pulled over a disciple wearing the attire of Qingshuang Sect, "Do you know Su Ping?"

As luck would have it, when the disciple heard Su Ping's name, his eyes immediately turned red, "Replying to Lord Yunzhong, Su Ping is my fellow townsman. ...When he received the letter, I even told him that I would accompany him back. He said that he was afraid it would be difficult for the Sect Leader. Sneaking out one person was already a risk. If two people were sent out at once, if something happened, it would be even harder for the Sect Leader to explain clearly."

Feng Rugu said, "Then please don't go back for now. Run an errand for me and go to Qingping Prefecture."

The disciple was obviously a little troubled, "Lord Yunzhong, although I know his mother, she is already advanced in years. I'm afraid that losing her husband first and then her son, she won't be able to bear such a big... After everything is settled, this disciple plans to bring his body back home with Sect Leader Yan..."

Seeing that he was truly heartbroken, with his nose and eyes all red, Feng Rugu no longer made things difficult for him. He patted his shoulder and told him to go back.

After sending away this young disciple, Feng Rugu looked at Ruyi, "You go?"

With Ruyi's cultivation, a trip to Qingping Prefecture would take less than an hour to return.

But Ruyi refused, "I'll send you back, then I'll go."

Feng Rugu laughed, "This is at the entrance of a Daoist sect ah. No matter how much the three families scheme against each other, who would dare to secretly attack me? Besides, even if that Tang saber swordsman comes, do you think his swordsmanship is really above mine? If he had that skill, he should have come to kill me long ago."

What he said was actually not bad, but for some reason, even though Ruyi clearly knew that this person possessed unparalleled sword talent, and even his own protection was likely unnecessary, he still felt that this person was like glaze, fragile and easily broken, just like his wrist hidden under his sleeve, which would bruise if grabbed.

Ruyi insisted, "...Or we go together."

Feng Rugu's heart trembled, and the smile on his face became even brighter, "Alright then, after investigating the scene, let's go together."

Ruyi acquiesced and handed the handkerchief that he had been holding until it was hot to Feng Rugu, his face cold as usual, "The sword is not very clean. Wipe your hands."

Watching Feng Rugu obediently wipe clean the fingers that had touched Luo Fuchun, Ruyi's expression softened quite a bit, "Let's go."

The road ahead of them was still very long.

The small grove where Su Ping's body lay was not by the bridge, but on the back side of Jianchuan.

That grove was the only way from Qingping Prefecture back to Jianchuan.

As soon as he saw how long the road they had to walk was, having to go around a full half of the lake, Feng Rugu immediately went weak in the knees and started acting like a spoiled child, "Feng Er is tired, Master carry me."

"..." Ruyi withdrew his handkerchief, ignoring his obvious attempt at flirting, and walked straight ahead.

Feng Rugu hung his hand on Ruyi's belt, mumbling and grumbling, as Ruyi led him towards the forest that still had a faint scent of blood lingering in the air.

At this moment, on the ice bridge.

The Qingshuang Sect disciple who had just spoken with Feng Rugu earlier encountered another Qingshuang Sect disciple who was walking towards the outside of Jianchuan with his hand on the bridge railing.

Upon seeing the other person's face clearly, the disciple was momentarily dazed.

The youth had a delicate and cold appearance, giving off a strong sense of being untainted by the mundane world.

He seemed like a branch of lush beauty, yet also like a clear night devoid of dust.

Although the disciple felt that this person looked somewhat unfamiliar, he had the impression that he had seen him before.

So he nodded in greeting to the latter.

The latter also returned a polite nod to him.

This was just an ordinary nod of greeting, but if Feng Rugu had been present, he would have surely noticed that this person was the same disciple who had brushed past him on the bridge earlier.

After exchanging greetings, the former continued walking towards the interior of Jianchuan, thinking as he walked:

Was it because the night was too dark that he had seen wrongly?

The eyes of that disciple just now, weren't they actually blue in color?

Author's Note:

Swordsman removes mask.jpg