Come to think of it, Shifu also has his favorite snacks. How delicious can this sea salt-cured longan be..
Ran Ran was quite a connoisseur, but she still couldn't imagine what it tasted like.
This book was obviously the former Grandmaster's personal item, hidden here and never discovered by anyone.
Ran Ran felt that if she took it out and kept it on herself, and Shifu found out, she would probably be grinded to dust.
So she read it for a while and reluctantly put it back, planning to return to read this great work thoroughly another time.
As the chapter on food in "Playing Classics" was right up Ran Ran's alley, she memorized a few recipes to try out.
Notably there was a kind of wine called " Detain Heaven's Immortal," which was said to be so delicious that it made people reluctant to ascend to immortality.
Ranran was curious, so she found rice grains for brewing, bought wine jars, and tried to brew some. Although the process of making this wine was complicated and required precise control of temperature and humidity, Ranran managed to grasp the technique after a few failed attempts.
Her parents ran a snack stall in town, so Ranran thought if she could brew some wine and let her mother sell it, they could earn more money and her parents wouldn't have to work so hard.
Of course, she also made some sea salt-cured longan, but after a few tries, it just did not taste good. She tried adding some honey to offset the sharp taste from the salt, which finally worked.
One day, after the little tiger had eaten two chickens, it jumped into Xue Ranran's arms contentedly. A girl and a tiger, lying on the rocking chair, quickly falling asleep.
When Su Yishui finally came out of seclusion and arrived at his disciple's courtyard, what he saw was the swaying branches and a young girl hugging a cat, sleeping deliciously.
Su Yishui with his long legs, walked without a sound and stood beside the chair. The little tiger glanced at him with alertness, before running off with a swish of its tail.
In her drowsy state, Ranran felt her face itching a little. When she opened her eyes slightly, she realized her respected Shifu had arrived.
She quickly got up, still half-asleep, and said, "Shifu, did you need me for something?"
Su Yishui was still in his plain clothes, reached out to pick some fallen leaves on her head and asked, "At this hour, shouldn't you be meditating in the grass hall?"
Hearing Shifu ask this, Ranran suddenly realized she had been caught slacking off. She stammered, "We're having braised duck in brown sauce and mushroom buns tonight, so I came back early to prepare the ingredients…"
Su Yishui said mildly, "Do you think just because you're getting healthier, you don't need to study anymore?"
Ranran quickly made up an excuse, "Disciple dares not, it's just… disciple truly doesn't have the constitution for immortal cultivation, so I thought I'd first memorize the Pill Alchemy classics and then practice other things, to avoid mistakes in future pill-making alchemy…"
As she spoke, she felt ashamed about slacking off and making up lies, so she decided to honestly admit her lack of progress, to save her Shifu's efforts.
So she gritted her teeth and said honestly, "My mother said as long as I cultivate a healthy body well, I don't need to truly cultivate immortality… in the future, I would still leave the mountain to serve my parents."
Su Yishui asked calmly, "So, is that your aspiration, just to live for a few decades, then marry and have children, repeating your parents' lives?"
Ranran felt that isn't this the wish of most people? Although it sounded plain and mundane, it wasn't too bad.
But hearing a hint of reproach in her Shifu's words, she decided to embellish her aspirations a bit more: "Of course, I also want to earn more money for my parents, so they can build a bigger house."
Su Yishui continued to look at her directly and said, "Then in the future, you should marry someone wealthy. If you marry a prince or a king's son, your wish will be fulfilled at once."
Ranran felt she wouldn't be so blessed, but hearing Shifu say that, she couldn't help but smile in embarrassment.
Su Yishui seemed uninterested in the girl's blushing smiles, and said with a stern face, "Since you've entered my sect, how can you lack ambition? If you continue to be lazy like this, you can pack up and leave immediately."
Ranran quickly apologized in a small voice.
Unlike the other disciples, if she were expelled from the sect and her strange illness recurred, she would have no other way to live.
Su Yishui nodded and asked Ranran to make him a cup of tea.
As Ranran was making tea inside, she suddenly glanced at the honey jar, where she had put the sea salt-cured longan according to "Playing Classics." So she grabbed a handful and plated it, along with the tea, and sent them out on a tray.
Shift clearly came to find fault today, so she had to appease the old gent.
Unexpectedly, when Shifu saw the plate with the dried longan sprinkled with fine salt, he didn't say anything for a long time. He then asked icily "Where is this from?"
Ranran did not dare to mention the impudent "Playing Classics", so she said quietly "I ate it before so I tried to make some. Shifu would you like to try some?"
Su Yishui downed his tea in one gulp, but he won't even touch that dried longan. He then turned around and left without a word.
Ranran felt a bit despondent as she ate the longan, tasting the salty-sweet flavor spreading on her tongue… this thing wasn't actually very tasty.
Although Mu GrandMaster had already been reborn, she certainly did not know that her former ferocious beast disciple had changed his taste. This dried fruit which used to reduce anger by thirty percent, was no longer effective.
The next morning, while Ranran was cooking, she heard from her cooking assistant, her second uncle Master talk about the constant stream of visitors coming to the mountain in the past few days.
It turned out that the ginseng fruit Mu Qingge had finally decided to join the JiuHua Sect.
The JiuHua Sect was the most prestigious and powerful among the three major sects. The other two sects had nothing to say about Mu Qingge's decision.
As the new Master of Mu Qingge, Master Kaiyuan had a dignified demeanor. His first act was to send Wei Fang to escort Mu Qingge to the West Mountain and personally demand the artifacts and mount that belonged to her.
But since Su Yishui had been in seclusion all this time, the letter demanding these items couldn't be delivered. Wei Fang and his team couldn't enter the mountain, so they could only leave their calling card at the stone in front of the West Mountain gate.
When Su Yishui came out of seclusion, Yutong handed the calling notice to the Master.
The Yu siblings were very disdainful of JiuHua Sect's eager stance to let Mu Qingge claim her inheritance from the entire West Mountain.
Setting aside the grievances between Su Yishui and Mu Qingge, Mu Qingge had once said in front of the Xishan disciples that Lingxi Palace would be inherited by Su Yishui in the future.
These past twenty years, it had been the three of them managing and taking care of this place.
Now, although Mu Qingge had been reborn, she was no longer the Master of Lingxi Palace after she had passed. Now she was asking for her things again, which inevitably seemed like she was going back on her word.
Su Yishui didn't comment on this. He had Xue Ranran and others send down the little tiger, some small and large divine artifacts and a sparkling sword adorned with gemstones.
Ranran had been feeding the little white tiger often these days. As she fed it, she developed some affection for it. Thinking that she wouldn't get to see it again in the future, she felt unwilling to part with it.
So on the way down the mountain, she held the little tiger, whispered to its fluffy ears and told it not to catch mice to eat anymore, not to be too picky with food if there's no one to pluck chicken feathers; after eating, to remember to wipe its paws with a damp cloth.
Qiu Xier watched nervously from the side, fearing that her junior sister would babble too much and anger the fierce Geng jin Divine Beast, lest it bit her junior sister's head off with one bite.
But if one was not aware, that white tiger Divine Beast really did look just like a cat. It lay obediently in Xue Ranran's arms, occasionally sticking out its tongue to lick her face.
When they reached the foot of the mountain, Ranran found out that Mu Qingge was here as well. It seemed that she was treated very well in the JiuHua Sect, surrounded by a group of disciples, not looking like a prisoner under house arrest but more like a pampered guest.
Bai Baishan said softly beside her, "It is said that our former GrandMaster was good at ingratiating herself with the rich and powerful. Back then, she helped the current emperor ascend to the throne, making significant contributions. So even though she violated the taboos of immortal cultivation, privately opening up the demon realm and almost causing a disaster, she is still an eminent figure in the imperial palace!"
As he spoke, there was an unmistakable envy in the words of the second senior brother. After all, not everyone could ascend to immortality, but gaining favor and prestige among the powerful was immediately gratifying.
One would suppose that since Mu Qingge was so comfortable in the JiuHua Sect, there must be someone backing her up behind the scenes.
In this light, Mu Qingge's reincarnation wasn't a complete failure; she could definitely start anew and rise again!
There were even several people around her who looked familiar.
Ranran recognized them; they seemed to be the ones who had come to West Mountain seeking medical treatment but had been rebuffed. They seemed to be… servants of Minister Lin, and the tall, thin, fair-faced scholar they followed, could he be Minister Lin's son who came seeking medical treatment before?
Seeing that tall and thin young master Lin behaving respectfully, calling Mu Qingge "Master" repeatedly, it seemed that Mu Qingge had quickly acquired a noble disciple by her side, adapting swiftly to everything twenty years later…
However, when Mu Qingge saw that it was Su Yishui's disciples who brought the items, and not Su Yishui himself, a hint of disappointment appeared on her face.
Since Ranran and the others knew that this was their former Grandmaster— the previous owner of West Mountain, so even though they weren't on good terms with Wei Fang and the other JiuHua disciples, they just handed over the items civilly as requested.
Everything else was fine, but when it came to the Geng jin White Tiger, just as Mu Qingge reached out her hand, the tiger suddenly bristled its fur and growled menacingly at Mu Qingge with a 'Ao~u'.
Its body obviously like a cat, but its mouth suddenly enlarged, its tiger roar thundered, catching everyone off guard.
The disciples of the JiuHua Sect couldn't help but step back, and Mu Qingge seemed to resist retreating as well. With a forced smile at the Geng jin white tiger, she said with a hint of regret, "Back then, I made a soul oath with this tiger before it became my mount. Now it seems that when my spiritual energy was disrupted twenty years ago, this oath was broken. It's originally a wild divine beast of the mountains and should be free. Since it doesn't want to be with me anymore, I won't force it…"
After hearing this, the little tiger ignored everyone. It flicked its tail, and turned to the mountains to catch chickens to eat.
While others were fine with this, Ranran was very happy to hear this; it seemed that she could still bask in the sun together with the little tiger in the yard in the future.
Although Mu Qingge didn't want her former mount anymore, she accepted everything else without hesitation. Especially when she looked at the sparkling sword, she seemed to attach great importance to it. It was said that this sword was specially made for Mu qingge by the current emperor in the past and was very precious.
"How come there's no Nine Revolutions Black Iron Pill Cauldron?" she asked softly.