After she was standing silently for a while, the three major sects finally reached a decision: Mu Qingge would be supervised by the Jiuhua Sect on a daily basis. If she dared to act rashly, the Jiuhua Sect would immediately execute her. Otherwise, the other two sects would take over.
If the other two sects' powerful figures encountered heavenly tribulations, the Jiuhua Sect would send disciples to assist them with all their might.
With this arrangement, everyone was satisfied.
It was only after the people from the other two sects had finally dispersed that Mu Qingge turned and smiled at Kai Yuan Zhenren. She glanced at the folding fan in his hand – it was painted with a picture of a white tiger lying under the shade of some banana leaves.
This fan was painted by Mu Qingge herself and had been taken away by the current Emperor, who was the little prince Su Yu at the time.
The realm of cultivation and the secular world are like water in separate wells, not interfering with each other.
Mu Qingge's involvement in the struggle for the throne was already improper. And since Su Yu was the Emperor, even if he was grateful for Mu Qingge's assistance, it would not be appropriate for him to intervene directly and provoke the future powerful immortals.
But how could he, as the Emperor, stand by and watch his benefactor from the past be reduced to a prisoner?
It was obvious that Kai Yuan Zhenren received this fan as a trust from the Emperor, signaling to Mu Qingge that he would take care of her on behalf of the Emperor.
That's why, after she glanced at the fan, she immediately understood and chose the Jiuhua Sect to "supervise" her.
Sure enough, after everyone left, Kai Yuan Zhenren, with a smile on his face, took out a letter from the Emperor and handed it to her.
Mu Qingge took the letter and read it slowly. The gist of the letter was that Kai Yuan Zhenren was a trusted expert by the Emperor, and he would definitely take good care of "War Goddess" Mu Qingge.
Kai Yuan Zhenren has always been tactful in his actions, and it seems that he has had many contacts with the court of Qi in secret. No wonder, among the three major sects, the Jiuhua Sect's reputation is the most magnificent, and its disciples are spread all over the world, with unparalleled strength.
Mu Qingge's heart was reassured after reading the sincere words in the letter.
See, everything is going smoother than she imagined – Mu Qingge indeed had a notorious reputation. But as long as she is willing and put in effort, not wasting her innate talent, she can stand at the pinnacle of power and look down on all beings!
With this thought, she wrapped her cloak tighter around her and slowly exhaled in the wind: It's really good to be able to live again. She will definitely plan every step carefully and live... even more brilliantly than Mu Qingge did!
Taking a break from how the powerful figures on the summit of Jue Mountain has distributed the ginseng fruit for now.
Speaking of the early departure from the Xi Shan Sect, the first thing the master and disciples did after descending the mountain was to go into a town to eat at a restaurant.
Previously, because of Su Yishui's sealed appearance, to avoid scaring people, the Yu siblings rarely went to lively places in towns when they occasionally went down the mountain with him.
Firstly, it didn't fit the habit of cultivators who usually isolate themselves from the crowd. Secondly, they were afraid that Su Yishui would be ridiculed by those commoners.
But today, Master's curse is finally lifted, and there's no need to cover up with a veil or a mask anymore.
Yu Tong was happy for her Master, and coupled with the clamoring of the younger disciples, she decided to splurge on a lavish restaurant for a "Forever Young Banquet."
Xue Ranran had already been hungry when they were on the mountaintop. When dish after dish of beautifully plated dishes were served, her big eyes shone brightly, and her chopsticks moved without stopping, practically inhaling the dishes, soup and rice.
However, Qiu Xier ate without tasting the food at all. She just stared blankly at her stunningly handsome Shifu, and finally clutching her chest, swallowed an emergency pill to save her trembling heart.
Goodness, Shifu is so youthful and handsome! How is one supposed to keep their heart calm and focus on cultivation?
While she was staring helplessly, Su Yishui suddenly looked up, casting a glance her way.
Just that indifferent glance sent a shiver down the spine of the infatuated Qiu Xier. Her heart beat even more intensely, but it was not palpitations but due to fright.
She dared not raise her head to look at Shifu impolitely anymore and just imitated her junior sister Ranran, burying her head in food.
After she was about a third full, Ranran resumed the demure airs that a young girl should possess. She stopped focusing on her own eating and drinking, and diligently served dishes and soup for Shifu and her Uncle Masters.
However, Shifu seemed to have not moved his chopsticks at all. His fasting periods seemed to come and go unpredictably. After they had left XiShan, he had only eaten some food cooked by Ranran when he was in Juefeng Village.
The rest of the time, Su Yishui would occasionally drink some water, but never seemed to eat anything bought along the way.
Ranran wondered if this was a side effect of eating the "Gluttonous Pill" she concocted, as Shifu seemed to only be willing to eat what she cooked.
Feeling overwhelmed with honor, Ranran also felt a great responsibility resting on her shoulders. At the very least for the next meal, even if they were on the road, she would have to find a way to prepare some warm and palatable food for Shifu.
After the meal, Ranran obediently took the medicine bag handed over by Shifu and drank most of the bag of tree root water under his gaze, before starting their return journey to Xi Shan in Yongcheng.
However, not far after exiting the town, Yu Tong whispered to Su Yishui, "Master, someone is following us…"
Su Yishui did not respond, continuing to lead his disciples leisurely on the country path. Obviously, he had long noticed someone tailing them but had remained silent.
Ranran who experienced the carnage on Jue Mountain, naturally did not think that the person secretly following them would be an admirer of Shifu.
She whispered to Su Yishui, "Why don't we turn back?"
Su Yishui actually replied this time. He lowered his head at his little disciple and asked, "Why?"
Ranran whispered, "When we were on Jue Mountain, that demon Wei Jiu agreed too readily. Human nature is greedy, and powerful people do not deign to make choices. If possible, they would take both the fish and bear's paw… Didn't you say in our lessons before that although Soul oaths are reliable, they have a fatal flaw, which is that if the party who made the Soul oath is no longer alive, the Soul oath automatically dissolves…"
Listening to the young girl's soft and detailed analysis, Yu Tong and Yu Chen also suddenly realized: That demon Wei Jiu was determined to get Mu Qingge, so how could he give up so easily? It was just that at that time, he was wary of Su Yishui and the other powerful cultivators joining forces, so he pretended to agree, first securing the key to the Netherworld.
Then, after Su Yishui and the three major sects went their own way, he could move to eliminate Su Yishui, completely lifting the Soul oath that shackled Wei Jiu.
Just like what Ranran said, if they now return to the town, they might be able to join up with other immortal sects that have not left yet, and the demon Wei Jiu might become hesitant to act.
Thinking of this, Yu Tong urged anxiously, "Master, let's hurry back. If someone blocks the way, you just go on ahead. My brother and I will cover the rear for you!"
But Su Yishui just looked at Ranran thoughtfully and continued to walk forward.
Not far from them was the Scholar tree forest they had passed by before.
Ranran remembered that Shifu had them rest here. He also frequently went for walks alone in the forest. Later, he even took her inside to bury some seeds whose names she did not know…
Just then, a few disciples dressed in black from the Crimson Gate suddenly appeared, attacking Su Yishui with Flame Throwing Umbrellas.
The Crimson Gate uses the fire element, and their umbrellas were equipped with mechanisms. In addition to the Kunlun Mountain black oil that aided combustion, they also contained the wielder's spiritual power. Thus, ordinary flames were enhanced into Samadhi Fire. Once burned, flesh and blood would instantly turn to charred bones.
Therefore, one has to maintain a distance from these flames!
As the disciples manipulated their fire umbrellas to close in on Su Yishui, he raised his hand to draw water from a nearby canal to resist with a water wall.
At first, the water wall looked quite decent, eight feet high and difficult to cross. But in less than the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, the "wall" gradually thinned and became shorter.
Anyone familiar with cultivation knew that this was due to insufficient inner core strength and a lack of flow in spiritual power! Su Yishui was indeed a paper tiger that could be easily overcome, completely vulnerable!
The assailants were overjoyed and they advanced boldly!
Just as Su Yishui's robe sleeves were half scorched by the true fire, he frowned and instructed the Yu siblings and disciples behind him, "Enter the forest immediately, find a large tree wrapped in thick vines, and climb up. Without my command, no one is allowed to come down!"
As he spoke, he held Ranran with one arm, lightly tapped his toes and flew into the forest. He leaped onto a large tree almost covered in purple vines.
After setting Ranran down, he instructed her to hold onto a thick branch and sit down, then turned and leaped to an adjacent tree.
Qiu Xier was also carried up the tree by her second uncle master, Yu Tong, while the eldest uncle and the other two junior brothers also climbed up the trees, ready for battle.
Ranran was still in shock and looked intently at the forest. The setting sun's afterglow hadn't yet faded, and the rosy light spread throughout the forest, making everything clear.
The forest floor was covered with dense purple vines, many of which had climbed up the trees.
But just a few days ago, when she and her master entered the forest, there weren't so many thick vines here!
The tree Ranran was on was very tall. From her high vantage point, she could see clearly that the large trees climbed by the purple vines were located at one corner of the forest, totaling eight trees.
The thick vines on the ground were not growing randomly; they seemed to be arranged like a diagram. When the vines connected with the eight large trees, it looked like… like the Fuxi Bagua diagram drawn at fortune-tellers' stalls!
However, counting her Shifu and the disciples, there were seven of them, each occupying one tree, leaving one tree unoccupied, which seemed empty.
…No, that empty tree also had something, a fluffy white ball, wasn't it the white cat her Shifu kept in the cave on Xi Shan? When did it follow them here?
At this moment, the white cat climbed to the highest point of the tree, meowing with its mouth open, looking majestic like a mountain king.
As Ranran was looking around, a foul wind suddenly rose, the disciples of the Crimson Gate had already surged in like a tidal wave, surrounding the entire forest tightly.
It seemed like they intend to shoot fish in a barrel and bleed them dry!
Wei Jiu's voice now echoed from on high in the forest: "Brother Yishui, you're really good at hiding! Hiding in the forest and not coming out, do you intend to be a weak coward?"
It seemed that Wei Jiu has already heard that Su Yishui had suffered severe internal injuries and damaged his cultivation. Now he will kill him and break their Soul oath!
Thinking of the reports from the spies he planted in the three major sects, which said that after he left, Su Yishui had admitted in front of everyone that he was severely damaged internally and dared not confront him, Wei Ju was livid.
In the past, he had been repeatedly defeated by Su Yishui and inevitably had some fear. He never even considered the idea that the current Su Yishui was just a paper tiger.
Considering that he was easily tricked by Su Yishui into making a soul oath and leaving Jue Mountain, he felt that if he didn't tear Su Yishui to pieces, his hatred would not be appeased!
After receiving the report from the spy, Wei Jiu immediately turned back, planning to ambush the motley crew from Xi Shan on the way.