Even though Xue Ranran is young, she had formed a habit since she was confined to the yard by her parents. She liked to look over their wall and quietly observe and think about the people walking outside.
However, it was obvious that her Shifu was not someone she could easily figure out. She felt that her Shifu was truly unfathomable and one would find him difficult to guard against.
Clearly, he had taken advantage of the opportunity presented by the birth of the spirit fruit to carefully weave a large net. Su Yishui was like a hunting spider, while Wei Jiu was a fat and juicy worm that came charging into the net.
It's no wonder that back then, Mu Qingge ended up in such a tragic situation. If Su Yishui had intentions to scheme against someone, it would definitely be meticulously planned and undetectable.
Thinking of this, Xue Ranran suddenly felt a suffocating feeling in her chest and she sighed faintly. However, as soon as she finished sighing, she saw her Shifu looking at her coldly.
"What are you thinking about?"
Ranran hesitated and said, "I just feel that Shifu is really very…..clever!"
After saying this, she felt that her tone was not sincere enough, so she was about to put on a smiling face and start flattering her Shifu profusely.
However, Shifu did not seem very pleased. He turned around, and left the woods quickly.
Ranran touched her hair bun, unsure if Shifu was angry. But she also thought that if the seeds she planted harmed passing travelers, it wouldn't be good.
After Shifu had cooled down, he set her concerns to rest. "That plant has a very short life, once it withers, it will not sprout again. Moreover, its seeds are difficult to bear, taking three hundred years to produce one."
Ranran breathed a sigh of relief after hearing this, but she couldn't help but wonder, "Shifu, why did you ask me to plant it?"
Su Yishui brought the tree root water to her mouth and said lightly, "Your life's lot favors plants. Aren't the flowers in your yard blooming very well?"
Ranran obediently drank the water, feeling that her Shifu's words made sense. Indeed, the flowers, plants and vegetables she had been growing since childhood all flourished.
However, after drinking the water, there was brown medicine residue left on the corner of her lips. Su Yishui took out a handkerchief to wipe it. Ranran felt embarrassed and moved back a bit.
Su Yishui said flatly, "Girls should be neat, this is disgraceful, don't move!"
Ranran could only remain still, letting her Shifu wipe her mouth. But her big eyes had nowhere else to settle on, so she could only stare blankly at her Shifu's handsome face.
Seeing his face up close, like a painting, was truly like a breath of fresh air. Su Yishui did not say anything, just letting his little disciple stare at him in a daze.
However, there seemed to be something brewing in his lowered eyes, but it was difficult to discern in this moment.
Shifu and disciple sat together on a large rock, appearing to have a harmonious relationship. However, Qiu Xier, watching from afar, always felt something was off about the relationship between her little junior sister and their Shifu.
Their Shifu was cold and would sometimes teach them by simply pointing to ancient texts, letting them figure it out themselves without saying anything more than necessary.
However, he would speak more to their little junior sister. Yet it wasn't accurate to say that Shifu only favored her because sometimes, he was always particularly strict with her.
Take the fact that the little junior sister had not been allowed to touch the alchemy cauldron again! Unlike her, who had already begun a higher level of cultivation.
After successfully ambushing the demonic cultivator Wei Jiu, the journey ahead became much smoother.
Bai Baishan was worried that Wei Jiu would spread rumors about Shifu using demonic vines, so while fetching water by the river, he brought it up with his fellow disciples.
But Ranran laughed and said, "I think Wei Jiu would be the one more worried about this."
Xier didn't understand and asked, "What would he be worried about?"
"He should be worried that Shifu will spread the news that he lost alot of his cultivation!" Ranran filled the water bag while tilting her head.
After hearing the words of the little junior sister, Bai Baishan suddenly realized: Wei Jiu had always been unscrupulous and made many enemies. Now that he had been drained of his cultivation, he would definitely keep a low profile and never reveal his vulnerability voluntarily.
When they returned to Xishan, Xue Ranran finally had the chance to bathe and change clothes, lying comfortably in bed to sleep. But after lying down for a while, Qiu Xier, who was afraid of the cold, knocked on her door, wanting to sleep together.
Ranran had never had sisters to accompany her since childhood, so she was a bit unfamiliar with the late-night chats under the same blanket with her sister, which also felt novel.
Qiu Xier had been unsettled these past few days, unable to resist sharing the ups and downs she had experienced.
Although it had been less than half a month since they had left Xishan, Qiu Xier had gained a whole new understanding of her sect and Shifu.
Especially after seeing the reincarnated former Grandmaster Mu Qingge in Jue Mountain, she had already written a complete script filled with grievances and love.
It was mostly about their demonic Grandmaster Mu Qingge lusting after her handsome disciple, unwilling to let go even after reincarnation. However, Mu Qingge was so beautiful that it was difficult for any man to resist.
Is Shifu Su Yishui naturally cold-blooded or has he cultivated away desire. Back then, Shifu could still act ruthlessly even while facing such a beautiful woman, showing that one can be invincible if they are heartless.
Thinking back to the day when they were eating in town, that one look Shifu gave her made Qiu Xier shudder even in the warm blankets.
Ranran asked with some curiosity, so Qiu Xier described with effort, "It's like… being stared at by a fierce beast… no, something even more terrifying than a fierce beast, as if at any moment, Shifu would grind me into ashes…"
As she spoke, Qiu Xier remembered Shifu's iron-blooded tactics when confronting Wei Jiu in the woods, and she now belatedly started crying in fear.
Although Ranran couldn't empathize, she still hugged her fleshier sister tightly, comforting her softly.
At the same time, Ranran thought about how there were a few times when she caught Shifu lost in thought, and his gaze towards her seemed profound and unreadable.
It was clear that Shifu was very sensitive about others coveting his beauty. So Ranran felt a wave of lingering fear and darkly reminded herself not to be disrespectful and stare at Shifu too much.
After returning to Xishan, Su Yishui had to go into seclusion at the mountaintop for a month again. It would probably take some effort to digest Wei Jiu's spiritual power to rebuild his golden core.
During this time, representatives from the three major sects came knocking several times but they now found that the once easily penetrable West Mountain spiritual shield had suddenly become very strong, and they couldn't break through no matter how they tried.
After the trip to Jue Mountain, Wei Fang from Jiuhua Sect especially looked down on Su Yishui.
But since they failed to break into West Mountain several times, they couldn't help but wonder: That Su Yishui, who was clearly too weak and afraid to fight Wei Jiu head-on, why was his mountain protection spiritual shield becoming stronger?
Although the people below the mountain refused to leave and insisted on waiting for Su Yishui to end his seclusion, the top of West Mountain remained very peaceful.
After the white tiger came out of the forest, it had turned back into a cat-like appearance and seemed very hungry. It would disappear into the woods on most days, but every now and then, it would grab a few wild chickens and run into the kitchen, and meow non-stop at Ranran.
Only later did Ranran understand that the little tiger was asking her to remove the chicken feathers.
Although she was initially a little afraid of it, she realized that it too was a fellow gourmet and so she formed a good impression from its good taste. She would pluck the feathers very cleanly and even thoughtfully cut the meat into pieces so that it could lie on the porch, basking in the sun while eating.
Ranran followed its example. She moved a rocking chair from the old storage room, brought a plate of homemade almond walnut pastries, and spent her time leisurely in the courtyard.
While her other three fellow disciples were busy with their studies and rigorous training, Ranran used cooking their three meals as an excuse, finding lots of time to slack off.
Most of the time, she could quickly prepare the meals and then sit in her small courtyard, watering flowers, plants and the small tree, eating pastries, and bask in the sun.
Speaking of which, that small tree Shifu had instructed her to take care of had grown a lot after they returned. Its lush branches had spread out, looking like a small green umbrella from afar. Every time Ranran hid under the shade of the tree, she could take a sweet afternoon nap.
Before going into seclusion, Shifu had instructed them to get books from the study and study on their own.
However, Second Uncle Master Yu Tong prohibited them from entering without permission; she would always be the one to bring out the books for them. But on this day, Yutong had something to do, so she instructed Ranran to fetch the books from the study.
Among these disciples, Ranran was the most deft and careful, so she probably would not damage Master's belongings.
This was Ranran's first time entering Shifu's study. It was said that this had also been the study of their former GrandMaster, and it contained countless ancient texts, mostly on bamboo slips and sheepskin.
Ranran brought a large ladder and climbed up to the high bookshelves. After sorting the books according to the list given by Second Uncle Master, she suddenly noticed the tiger pattern carved onto the shelf.
This was probably the work of the former GrandMaster, depicting the scene of a Geng jin tiger playing with a hedgehog. The tiger's tail was high in the air like a hand, and quite amusing.
For some reason, Ranran felt an urge to pull the tiger's tail. But as soon as she pulled it a couple of times, she heard a "click" from the highest shelf.
Ranran thought she had damaged the shelf and panicked, quickly climbing up to check. However, she found that behind a few books, there was a secret compartment full of dust, obviously untouched for a long time.
Driven by curiosity, she reached in and pulled out a package wrapped in oiled paper. Opening it, she found a book made of some unknown material, with two big characters "Playing Classics" written elaborately on the cover.
She recognized this writing style, its similar to the palace rules on the hall walls, indicating that this was compiled by Mu Qingge herself.
Ranran nodded in admiration. The former GrandMaster was indeed unique, being able to compile a guide like the "Playing Classics" just from "playing" alone!
With a sincere mind to learn, Ranran flipped open the first page and saw all sorts of "play" listed in the index. There was Food and Culinary arts, Brewing methods of famous alcohols, Appreciation of exotic items, and Explorations of famous mountains.
The Food section recorded the former GrandMaster's experiences of enjoying delicacies.
For example, the pan-fried buns from the Capital's ShengJi, paired with condiments of a half spoonful of mature vinegar from Baiwei Zhai with three drops of spicy oil. The tofu from Bagong Mountain must be blanched with cilantro to fully appreciate its freshness… and so on, there were many detailed instructions on culinary pairings.
Grandmaster Mu was afraid that her gourmet experiences would be lost, so she earnestly compiled them into a book, intending to pass them down to her disciples and grand-disciples!
Ranran read through the pages with relish until she came across a section called "Fierce Beasts." She wondered if it recorded the method for taming the Geng jin white tiger. So she turned to that page according to the index.
But when she looked at that page, Ranran was dumbfounded again. The lifelike illustration of a beautiful young man… wasn't it her Shifu, Su Yishui?
And beside the illustration were serious annotations: "This creature is ferocious, dislikes onions and garlic, will retaliate if provoked, must be approached with caution. If praised for its appearance, its killing intent will peak. Must be coaxed slowly, and if given dried longans marinated with sea salt, can pacify anger by a third…"
As Ranran read this, she couldn't help but burst out laughing.
What a sarcastic former GrandMaster!
Shifu Su Yishui was just a sixteen-year-old teen back then. Mu Qingge played with his youthful nature like this, knowing that he avoided others discussing his appearance but she went against the grain and even compiled it into a book…
No wonder Shifu hated her so much that he eventually betrayed her and left her sect!