By rights, a harmonious relationship among the disciples should be comforting to the Master.
However, when Gao Cang and the others climbed to the top of the mountain with smiles on their faces, they found their Shifu standing in the middle of the mountain path, wearing an ebony wooden mask, looking at them with a stern gaze.
The joyful atmosphere immediately dissipated. They quickly bowed to greet their Shifu.
But Su Yishui's mouth seemed to have melted as well, standing in the middle of the road, silent for a long while.
At this point, Gao Cang and Bai Baishan secretly glanced at each other, wondering if their Shifu was angry.
Xue Ranran stood behind her two senior brothers, was only able to tiptoe and look over their shoulders at their Shifu.
Now their Shifu no longer wore a veil, but always wore a dark mask that covered most of his face, and his tightly pursed lips did not reveal any emotions.
Just as the young disciples were feeling uneasy, Su Yishui slowly spoke and asked the two male disciples, "Xue Ranran went down the mountain to visit her mother, why did you two follow?"
Gao Cang honestly said, "We were worried that our little junior sister would get tired, so we specially helped her carry her things."
Su Yishui nodded and said, "Helping fellow disciples… very good. However, if you had been diligent in your studies, you should have some foundation in your footwork by now. Why then did you walk so slowly when climbing the mountain? Go, exchange the baggage in your hands for a sandbag weighing twenty jin and climb up and down twenty times."
Hearing their Shifu's words, both senior brothers wailed in unison.
Although Xishan is not very high, it is extremely steep, and it takes a lot of effort to climb up and down once. But now, their Shifu told them to carry a sandbag up and down twenty times, which is very likely to kill them of exhaustion halfway up the mountain.
Xue Ranran listened to this and felt that the sudden misfortune of her two senior brothers was related to helping her carry her things.
So she softly pleaded on the side, "It's my fault for asking the two senior brothers for help…"
Although the two senior brothers actually came uninvited, they were kind-hearted but ended up in such a tragic state. Ranran wanted to plead for them.
However, Su Yishui flatly said, "Oh. And you, spending more time in the kitchen than in the alchemy room every day. I remember that I accepted a disciple, not a cook. Go! Copy the alchemy formula three times. If you can't finish copying before we set off, take the stationery with you and write while we're on the road!"
Copying that thick alchemy formula book once, would take three days.
Now, all three disciples kept their mouths shut, and dejectedly went up the mountain. They then proceeded to receive their punishment individually.
Although Xue Ranran felt a bit down initially by the punishment, but upon further thought, she realized that her Shifu's words was very reasonable.
Her senior sister Qiu Xi had already started refining a higher-level pill, the Calming Pill, and she hadn't even touched the alchemy cauldron yet!
Thinking this way, she willingly accepted the punishment. While copying and learning the medicinal formulas by heart, she could take the opportunity to practice her calligraphy and revise her homework, so her mood actually improved as she was writing. When Yu Tong passed by the study, she even heard the young girl humming a tune from Jueshan.
That clear and soft voice was sweet to the ears.
Yu Tong smiled as she looked through the window, but the sight of the girl propping her chin with one hand and writing elegantly made her feel like she was in a daydream. She felt the scene was somewhat familiar, but she couldn't pinpoint which part of her distant memories it was from…
When it was time for dinner, the two brothers who had climbed the mountain, left half alive, staggered into the dining hall and struggled to get to the dining table.
Xue Ranran, who had written too much, felt a bit sore in her wrist when holding chopsticks. Fortunately, it was the Second uncle master Yu Tong who was the main cook today, so there was no regret even if she ate a few bites less. She just closed her eyes and swallowed a few mouthfuls of white rice to satisfy her hunger.
Unfortunately, it seemed that someone couldn't put up with just that.
Since returning from his seclusion on the mountain top, their respected teacher Su Yishui had not yet recovered his cultivation from breaking his fast. He had already shared several meals with them. His appetite was not small, and he was quite particular regarding the variety of dishes.
For example, fish should not be eaten with raw items, and the knife work for cutting meat should not be done along the grain of the meat, and so on.
But today's meal was not prepared by Ranran. Yu Tong's cooking skills, which could make ghosts cry, turned a plate of stir fried green vegetables into a charred mess.
When not abstaining from eating, the immortal Su was quite particular about his food. After only one bite, he refused to try any other dishes and asked Ranran, "Which one did you make?"
Ranran bit her chopsticks and timidly said, "Shifu, didn't you criticize me for not being diligent and forbade me to enter the kitchen?"
After being reminded by his little disciple, Su Yishui paused for a moment. He then put down his chopsticks and left the dining hall with big strides, his expression hidden behind the dark mask.
Yu Tong was quite distressed and muttered to herself, "What should I do? I just don't know how to cook. If the Master doesn't abstain from meals and he can't enjoy his three meals a day, what should I do?"
Xue Ranran now suspected that Su Yishui's previous abstention from meals was forced by Yu Tong's cooking skills.
However, seeing the second uncle master so upset, Ranran still gently comforted her. Perhaps Shifu was preoccupied about going to Jueshan to have a decisive battle with the demonic cultivator Wei Jiu, which is why he had no appetite.
By the side, Yu Chen snorted coldly and said, "If the Master had not used his Golden Core to attract souls and wasted twenty years in vain, even ten Wei Jius would not be a match for him!"
Qiu Xier listened and asked nervously, "Does that mean that our Shifu can't beat Wei Jiu now? Then… aren't we going to our deaths if we go?"
Yu Chen slammed the table and said, "How could he not beat him? You're underestimating the teacher, which is a great disrespect! He is a genius in cultivating immortality who formed his Golden Core at the age of sixteen! And the righteous path of cultivating immortality is to exorcise demons and save the world! In the face of evil demons, how can we be cowardly and afraid of death?"
Xue Ranran listened with wide eyes: When she initially sought to learn from a teacher, it was just for survival. If she had known that cultivating immortality also involved putting one's life on the line, she should have considered it more carefully before becoming a disciple.
Her mother said she still had to leave the mountain and get married in the future!
Unfortunately, even though Su Yishui had abandoned the old rules of Lingxi Palace, when she first became a disciple, he emphasized one point: it's easy to enter Xishan, but hard to leave.
Once you become a disciple, unless you are expelled by the teacher, there is no way to give up halfway.
As for what consequences there would be if one wanted to retreat and escape halfway, Shifu didn't say. However, at that time, when they were meditating under the tree in the grass hall, a poisonous snake suddenly crawled onto the grass mat. The teacher flicked his finger lightly and the poisonous snake instantly turned into ash and dissipated in the breeze…
So Xue Ranran felt that if she wanted to repent and flee halfway, she would probably end up like that snake, without even a chance to become a bowl of snake soup.
In any case, no one can back down on the path of exorcising demons and eliminating evil.
Su Yishui seemed to be aware that he was going against the odds and so he did not seem to be in a hurry to go to his death. He took his time until almost the end of the month before setting off.
It's unclear where he spent the thousands of gold taels from his medical consults. They did not even have a donkey cart when they set out.
It seemed that in consideration of the frailty of his two female disciples, he finally bought a horse when they passed through a village so that the two female disciples could sit on horseback to rest their feet.
As for the others, they all carried their baggage and wore bamboo hats, braving the wind and rain to move forward.
In Ranran's large water bag was the root tea brewed by her Shifu, the same kind that cost a tael of gold per cup when she first arrived at Xishan. Every morning after getting up, her quiet Shifu would remind her to drink her medicine every time.
Ranran couldn't help but feel touched. Although her Shifu was strict on a daily basis, he was considerate of his disciples. If he encountered an accident in the future during a confrontation, she, as a disciple, would definitely show filial piety by his sickbed, pull weeds in front of his grave, set up a memorial tablet, and burn incense, never abandoning him!
Su Yishui seemed very relaxed. He did not seem like he was going to exorcise demons, but more like a geomancer exploring dragon veins and burial grounds. Along the way, he would look at a rusty compass from time to time.
Later, when they passed through a forest of Scholar trees, Su Yishui stopped and instructed them to set up camp at the edge of the forest to rest for the night.
At night, after Su Yishui took a walk in the forest, he called Ranran, who was roasting sweet potatoes by the fire, to come with him again into the Scholar tree forest shrouded in the night.
Listening to the strange calls of night owls in the forest and seeing Su Yishui's steps that seem unwilling to stop, Ranran felt somewhat uneasy.
After all, even if they were teacher and disciple, it was still rather improper for a man and a woman to enter the forest together at night. Just as Ranran was thinking about how to politely suggest to her Shifu that they should go back, Su Yishui stopped, turned around, and took off his mask.
With the full moon hanging high and the clear moonlight pouring through the trees, Ranran suddenly felt relieved seeing his indescribably handsome face and thought: It turns out that good looks are useful after all. At least when committing a crime, it makes others feel less hateful.
As she was staring at her Shifu and letting her thoughts run wild, Su Yishui took out a brocade bag and said to her, "Plant these seeds in the forest for me."
Ranran took the bag and poured dozens of flat round seeds into her hand, but she couldn't tell what kind of plant they were.
However, she followed her Shifu's instructions and did as she was told.
After instructing her to plant the seeds under eight different trees, Su Yishui picked a large rock to sit on with his legs crossed, seemingly getting ready to absorb the essence of the moonlight.
However, he didn't close his eyes, he just watched the girl digging holes and planting seeds while muttering to herself.
"Sleep well, drink water, and grow quickly!" her mouth formed a sweet smile and she seemed to be earnestly taking care of a group of helpless children.
Just as Ranran buried the last seed and was about to stand up, she suddenly realized that her Shifu, who was sitting down before, had been standing right behind her from an unknown time.
She bumped into her Shifu's very broad chest when she turned around, causing her nose to feel a bit sore.
"Shifu.." She rubbed her nose and called out softly. Su Yishui looked down at her slightly tearing eyes, became silent for a while. His gaze was so focused as if something was about to surge out, but in the end, he said nothing again, turned and left.
The next morning after they had planted the seeds in the forest, they set off again.
Since they took their time and didn't rush, it took them a full five days to reach Juefeng Village again.
The usually quiet village was bustling like a town these days.
In addition to the disciples of the three major sects and Wei Jiu's sect, many other small and large cultivation sects also sent people.
The incident caused by Mu Qingge in the past stirred up a huge wave between the cultivation and demonic cultivation worlds. Now that the female demon will be reborn again, it naturally attracted attention. The great powers all wanted to know if the reincarnated spiritual fruit had repented and returned to the path of righteousness.
If she chose to join forces with Wei Jiu after she arrives, it would be a waste of the chance of reincarnation given by the heavens, and the righteous path would definitely unite to execute her.
Perhaps because the fruit was about to ripen and fall, a very domineering shield automatically formed around Jueshan's Immortal Platform, preventing anyone from approaching. No one knew when it would fall, so they could only wait at the foot of the mountain.
However, there were only so many houses in the village. Although many of the great cultivators were not short of money, there were too many people, all divided into different sects, and unwilling to share a house. Those who came later and couldn't rent a house had to endure the elements and sleep outdoors.
But Su Yishui's disciple is from the village. Moreover, since Qiaolian left in a hurry, the house was not rented out yet. So they naturally went to stay at the Xues' house.
However, when they arrived at the front door, Ranran found that the originally locked door was open, and it seemed that someone had already moved into her yard.