Xiao Ruofeng’s sword strike had shattered the ground, and for these Piggy Dragons, it was nothing short of an all-you-can-eat buffet.

Fang Lingxin, however, couldn’t help but speak up.

"Master... How long... how long are you two going to talk?

"It’s... so... so cold."

After all, it was the dead of winter. While they were in the water, it hadn’t felt so bad. Once they adapted to the initial chill, it had even started to feel warm.

But now that they were on shore, the slightest breeze was enough to chill them to the bone.

Fang Shuwen and Yu Yaoguang, relying on their profound Inner Strength, felt fine, but Fang Lingxin and Shui Qianrou were on the verge of freezing to death.

"The shore is dangerous. Let’s get inside before we do anything else."

Fang Shuwen didn’t have the luxury of surveying their surroundings and quickly picked Fang Lingxin up in his arms.

This was something Yu Yaoguang had been about to do herself. Even with their master-disciple relationship, Fang Shuwen and Fang Lingxin were close in age, which could make such an action awkward.

’But to her surprise, Fang Shuwen didn’t seem to have given it a second thought...’

Yu Yaoguang was slightly startled but didn’t dwell on it, simply following behind Fang Shuwen with Shui Qianrou in tow.

As he walked, Fang Shuwen began transferring his Inner Strength into Fang Lingxin’s body.

But just then, Fang Shuwen suddenly stopped. His gaze fell to Fang Lingxin’s waist, and he froze.

Something at her waist, he couldn’t tell what, was giving off a faint glow.

But the moment Fang Shuwen noticed it, the light disappeared.

"What do you have at your waist?"

Fang Shuwen asked softly.

Fang Lingxin froze for a moment, subconsciously reached down to feel around, and then, without warning, pulled out an object—the Seven-String Ancient Chapter!

In that instant, their eyes met, and they just stared at each other in stunned silence.

Fang Shuwen blinked.

"Where did this come from?"

Fang Lingxin shook her head.

"I... I have no idea."

Her voice was on the verge of tears. She already knew how important this item was, having just witnessed the bloody battle for it in the valley.

It was the kind of thing that brought nothing but catastrophe.

’How did it end up on me?’

"This is..."

Yu Yaoguang and Shui Qianrou approached, and Yu Yaoguang stared in astonishment at the Seven-String Ancient Chapter in Fang Lingxin’s hand.

Fang Shuwen let out a breath.

"Let’s put this aside for now. We need to find a place to rest. I’ll help you two dispel the cold from your bodies so you don’t fall ill."

Suppressing the doubts in his heart, the group continued forward.

But after just a few steps, Fang Shuwen stopped again.

He looked at the corridor before them. It was built entirely of stone, with identical walls stretching into the unknown. There was no telling where it led, or what dangers lurked within.

He immediately said:

"Never mind. We’ll do it here. Let’s get rid of the cold first, then worry about the rest."

Yu Yaoguang nodded.

"You use your Inner Strength to help them. I’ll keep watch. I was powerless against those Piggy Dragons in the water, but now that we’re on land, I’ll kill every last one of those damn beasts that shows up."

As the Sect Leader of Yuqing Pavilion, these were clearly not empty words.

So Fang Shuwen had Fang Lingxin and Shui Qianrou sit down, then took the small bundle he was carrying and set it aside.

Then he placed his hands on their backs. A torrent of Inner Breath flowed into them, and steam began to rise from all three of their bodies.

Seeing this, Yu Yaoguang decided to sit down as well, quietly circulating her own Inner Strength to dry off.

But at this moment, Fang Shuwen opened his eyes again and stared at Fang Lingxin’s waist.

He only now noticed that when Fang Lingxin had fallen earlier, her arm had scraped against the rock wall and was slightly injured.

’Could the Seven-String Ancient Chapter have glowed earlier because of Lingxin’s blood?’

His expression remained unchanged, but a storm raged in his mind.

He had only just heard the legend of the Seven-String Ancient Chapter from Yu Yaoguang a few days ago.

’And now... this artifact was actually reacting to Lingxin’s blood.’

’Could it be that Lingxin is a descendant of that mysterious clan?’

’And what about me...’

Fang Shuwen couldn’t stop his mind from racing.

After all, looking back, there were many strange things about what had happened all those years ago.

’Who would take such a young child on a trip to visit relatives?’

’And who were those people back then?’

’Were they really just common mountain bandits? With Fang Mingxuan’s level of Martial Arts, how could he possibly have let his child be taken?’

’But if they weren’t bandits... who were they?’

’And that mysterious clan Yu Yaoguang mentioned—why did they disappear from the Jianghu?’

’They had clearly surpassed the ten greatest masters of the era. The battle at Overhanging Heaven Cliff had nearly wiped out an entire generation of experts from the Eastern Domain Martial World.’

’Why would such a powerful group of people just vanish without a trace?’

Question after question queued up in Fang Shuwen’s mind, but for now, he had no answers.

He took a deep breath, calming himself. He would have to set these thoughts aside for now.

’If the Seven-String Ancient Chapter reacts to Lingxin’s blood... would it react to my blood, too?’

’Could it be... that we could use this to confirm our relationship?’

Suppressing the thoughts in his mind, Fang Shuwen slowly closed his eyes again. 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

The Piggy Dragons were busy with their buffet and likely wouldn’t bother them. After about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, the four of them were completely dry.

Fang Lingxin stretched lazily, finally feeling like she had come back to life.

Then she took out the Seven-String Ancient Chapter.

"Master, earlier, when we saw Xiao Rou’er’s brother and you led us over, I think someone bumped into me.

"Do you think... this was planted on me then?"

Hearing this, Fang Shuwen’s eyes widened in realization. He remembered that Lingxin had indeed let out a small "hmph" at that moment. He’d been about to ask what was wrong, but that’s when Xiao Ruofeng’s sword strike had shattered the ground.

Yu Yaoguang, however, looked puzzled.

"Wasn’t this taken by Gu Panxi?"

"That was a fake,"

Fang Shuwen said.

"It was just a trick Ye Feihua used to make them all turn on each other."

Realization dawned on Yu Yaoguang.

"Then... the one who planted this on Lingxin must have been Ye Feihua, right?"

"It must have been her."

Fang Shuwen sighed. Ye Feihua’s Non-Flower Attraction was truly incredible. With all the chaos and his attention focused on Shui Qianliu, he hadn’t noticed her approach... ’The crucial part is,’ he mused, ’she must have figured out how I sensed her before. That’s why she never even glanced my way.’

’Instead, she focused on Lingxin and planted the Seven-String Ancient Chapter on her.’

"But why would she do that?"

Fang Lingxin couldn’t help but ask.

"...If the fake was exposed while she was still carrying the real one, she wouldn’t be able to talk her way out of it.

"It was better to hide the real one somewhere she considered safe..."

Fang Shuwen sneered.

Fang Lingxin still didn’t quite understand, but Yu Yaoguang smiled and said:

"Her target wasn’t you. It’s your master..."