Su Muyu halted his steps, sweeping his long sword in a fierce arc that carved a perfect circle around him. The lanterns in the hands of the children were simultaneously severed by a surge of Sword Qi, sending all the little ones flying backward. Then, Su Muyu swung his sword forward once more, cleaving through the thick fog before him with a single stroke.
The long-haired man seated atop the palanquin glared fiercely at Su Muyu as he drew an unusually long sword.
Su Muyu leaped into the air, landing right before the palanquin in an instant. With a flick of his slender blade, he clashed against the long-haired man’s sword. Su Muyu whispered sharply, “Run!”
The long-haired man swung his sword, knocking Su Muyu back, and sneered, “Run? You think you can kill me?”
Su Muyu flipped midair before landing steadily. His slender sword spun lightly in his hand as he turned his back on the long-haired man without so much as a glance. The man frowned slightly, about to give chase, when the palanquin beneath him abruptly shattered into pieces. He tapped his toes and retreated three zhang away, only to look down and find a crimson dot blooming on his chest, slowly spreading outward.
“When did you…?” The long-haired man’s voice trembled faintly.
Su Muyu stepped forward unhurriedly, sheathing his slender sword back into the paper umbrella. He then lifted the umbrella, tilting his head slightly as a raindrop struck his face. Once more, he murmured softly, “Run.”
This time, the long-haired man hesitated no longer. He turned and fled with all his might, vanishing from sight in moments. Su Muyu clenched the umbrella handle tightly, forcibly suppressing the murderous aura raging within him. Though the man had fled, the Lantern Lighting Children remained where they were. As the fog dissipated with his departure, the children struggled to their feet, each grievously wounded. They exchanged fearful glances, certain that Su Muyu would kill them.
Su Muyu opened his umbrella, shielding himself from the sudden spring rain. The canopy dipped slightly, obscuring his eyes. The middle-aged man he had faced earlier appeared before him, with Su Changli, Su Hongxi, and Su Ziyi standing behind him.
“Chang He believes that when a new Dark River emerges, there should no longer be Lantern Lighting Children or Soul-Guiding Underworld Spirits,” the middle-aged man said slowly. “That’s why he arranged this assassination.”
Su Muyu turned, hesitating for a moment. “Chang He wants to change Dark River?”
“Cross the Dark River, and you’ll reach The Other Shore. There, it should no longer be an endless night—there should be light,” the man intoned solemnly.
“Does The Other Shore truly exist?” Under the night sky, a woman wearing a rabbit mask lifted her head, gazing at the moon as she murmured wistfully.
“What are you looking at, sister?” A woman in red stepped out of the house, eyeing the masked figure before her.
“The moon,” the rabbit-masked woman replied, turning to face the self-proclaimed Miracle Healer, Bai Hehuai. “Has the Miracle Healer finished the acupuncture? Has The Head’s condition improved?”
Bai Hehuai clapped her hands. “Piece of cake. It’s just The Second Most Potent Poison Under Heaven. After all, I’m the little martial aunt of The Number One Divine Physician Under Heaven—no problem at all.”
The masked woman nodded. “Then we’ll trouble the Miracle Healer.”"Sister, you're so beautiful. It's such a shame you wear a mask every day," Bai Hehuai said wistfully.
The rabbit-masked woman chuckled: "Miracle Healer, you jest. Since I wear a mask, how could you possibly tell whether my appearance is beautiful or ugly?"
"I can read bone structure—I am the Miracle Healer, after all." Bai Hehuai took a bite of osmanthus cake she pulled from her sleeve. "Even if I only saw a hand, I could imagine what someone looks like. So without you removing your mask, I know you're stunning. As for your companion Chou Niu, I don't even need to see him to know he's as ugly as his name suggests!"
The wind seemed to freeze for an instant, then a roof tile above Bai Hehuai suddenly shattered.
The rabbit-masked woman coughed lightly: "Don't disturb the Miracle Healer. You were never good-looking to begin with."
Bai Hehuai acted completely unbothered and continued: "I think you and Su Muyu would make a great pair—one stunningly beautiful, the other refined and handsome. Are you two together?"
"Hahaha, do we match well?" The rabbit-masked woman burst into uncontrollable laughter.
Bai Hehuai raised an eyebrow, took another bite of osmanthus cake, and heard faint laughter from various directions around them.
"Scram. Don't follow us for now." The rabbit-masked woman waved her hand, shattering three more roof tiles above them.
Bai Hehuai produced another piece of osmanthus cake and offered it to the masked woman, who hesitated before finally removing her mask to accept it. As Bai Hehuai had said, the face beneath the mask truly lived up to the description of "stunning beauty." Though Bai Hehuai herself was lovely, the eyes beneath that mask held an irresistible allure that men would find hard to resist.
The rabbit-masked woman took a bite and smiled: "Delicious."
"I only brought one box. We won't find osmanthus cake this good once we reach the north." Finishing her piece, Bai Hehuai clapped her hands clean. "Sister, you still haven't answered my question."
The masked woman waved dismissively: "Lord Puppet and I are certainly not together. If Dark River People marry, they have to step back and handle internal affairs—very few continue field missions."
"What if they're unmarried but simply like each other?" Bai Hehuai pressed.
"Would Lord Puppet even like someone? I feel he neither likes nor dislikes anyone. He's boring, but boring in an interesting way," the masked woman mused.
"Why is boring also interesting?" Bai Hehuai looked puzzled.
"Being ugly and boring is just boring. Being beautiful and boring becomes uniquely interesting." The masked woman nodded firmly. "Yes, that's exactly it."
Bai Hehuai blinked, then laughed: "Sister, you make so much sense. But has Lord Puppet always been like this?"
"Probably. At least since I met him. He's different from those who emerged from The Crucible—no, actually, he's different from the entire Dark River," the masked woman replied.
Bai Hehuai frowned slightly: "The Crucible? Was Lord Puppet... one of the Nameless Ones before?"
The masked woman paused mid-bite, eyeing her curiously: "You seem to know quite a lot about our Dark River?"Bai Hehuai scratched his head. "They're all stories my master told me. By the way, what's your name, sister?"
The rabbit-masked person took the last bite of Osmanthus Cake. "My name is Mu Yumo."
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