Ranran dared not even take a breath as she tentatively tried to break free from her Shifu's embrace. However, although the redness in her master's eyes had faded, he did not release his grip on her, still holding her tightly.
It was only when Ranran looked up at him questioningly that Su Yishui slowly loosened his grip, but their faces remained very close.
Rannian could only tilt her head slightly and tentatively ask, "...Are you…"
Ranran had wanted to ask if he was her Shifu, but it felt strange to ask that to his face. So, she dragged out her words, waiting for his reaction.
Su Yishui also looked at her with a tilted head but just did not speak. It wasn't until he saw his little disciple frozen, almost unable to even blink her eyes that he casually removed the golden talisman from his forehead and spoke, "I am Su Yishui. The demon on the Soul Hosting Stone can mimic human voices. If you hear any voices, never believe them easily. It only steals the most memorable voices from your memory and mimics them, it does not know who you are."
His explanation was logical. The voices she had heard before has never called her name.
Ranran remained wary. Who knew if this demonic stone had already gained sentience and form, transforming into her Shifu's appearance to deceive people!
She decided to test her Shifu and said in a small voice, "You look really handsome…"
Su Yishui always forbidden discussions about his appearance, and disliked people staring at him even more. This test would reveal the truth at once.
Unexpectedly, this Su Yishui before her showed no sign of anger, just calmly said, "If you like to look, you can take your time and look all you want later. For now, stay close to me."
Ranran obediently nodded, but as Su Yishui turned, she dashed off in the opposite direction.
Demon! The resemblance is uncanny! Little did it know, her sharp eyes immediately spotted the fault!
This time, its her collar that was grabbed, and in a moment Su Yishui pulled her back into his arms. "Why run? The entrance to the cave has been blocked, and we can't get out for now."
Ranran turned her head fearfully. She looked into his eyes and said "You're not my Shifu…"
Su Yishui remained expressionless for a moment, then immediately understood. She must have recalled the statement from "Playing Classics" about him disliking discussions about his appearance, leading her to conclude he was fake.
So he dryly asked, "Did you bring the dried longan?"
Ranran nodded and took out the snack bag she always carried with her.
It was sewn by her mother, with several small compartments for carrying multiple snacks at once. One of the compartments contained the longan with sea salt that has not been eaten much. She had packed them a while ago, kept for emergencies. But after hearing from her Second uncle master she thought it was no longer necessary to carry it, but with all the recent unexpected events, she had been too busy to eat snacks and had forgotten to throw it away.
Su Yishui took it and put it into his mouth. He chewed hard and swallowed forcefully, then said coldly, "Can you follow me now?"
Only she, her Shifu, and Mu Qingge knew the complicated story behind this longan. Su Yishui's sudden action reassured Ranran and she heaved a sigh of relief.
This was indeed her Shifu without a doubt… but where did everyone else go?
According to Su Yishui's explanation, when he came down, he fell into a spiritual spring cunningly set by the demon stone.
Back then, this demonic force had attached itself to the Netherworld's Spiritual spring, and it was adept at controlling water. Later, it broke free from the Netherworld but was trapped in the Soul-Hosting Stone for many years.
After a long wait for someone to finally come down, it immediately set a trap eagerly.
Su Yishui had just opened the hidden door of the secret passage, but he was momentarily distracted, slightly influenced by the demonic force, and later encountered Ranran here.
As for the others, they were obviously confused by the disguised voices and lured into the secret passage.
"What does it want with them?" Ranran was worried about Uncle Masters and the others, so she asked Su Yishui.
Su Yishui thought for a moment and said, "The demonic force in the Spiritual spring is bound by the Soul-Hosting Stone, so it can't leave. It can only entice people who seek to use its power to smash the Soul-hosting Stone so that it can free itself completely."
Saying this, he picked up a torch and led Ranran into the secret dark passage. The demonic stone seemed to fear Su Yishui very much. When he led Ranran into the secret passage, the enchanting voice that had been alluring her stopped completely.
However, the secret passage became increasingly damp, and in the eventually the water was already ankle-deep. Ranran's Light Body technique seemed ineffective, her steps becoming heavier and she felt her strength being drained.
At this point, Su Yishui squatted down, indicating for Ranran to get on his back and he will carry her from here. Since the water here had a demonic nature, and Ranran's cultivation was shallow, being in the water for too long could lead to undesired outcomes.
Listening to Shifu, she could only suppress her slight embarrassment and got onto Shifu's broad back.
Shifu usually wore long robes and appeared tall and thin, but as Ranran lay on him, reaching out for his neck, her hand accidentally touched his solid chest.
…Shifu looked gentle and elegant but was in fact really muscular… And she had just accidentally kissed his face…
"Hold on tighter, don't fall down!" Sensing that Ranran wanted to retract her hand, Su Yishui suddenly turned his head and spoke.
His sudden movement nearly made Ranran's mouth touch his face again. If Su Yishui hadn't held her steadily, she would have almost fallen backward when she whipped her head back.
And so she had no time to care about blushing and quickly wrapped her arms around Shifu's neck, stabilizing herself on his back.
Although he was carrying a person, Su Yishui's steps were as swift as he was flying, seemingly unaffected by the effects of the water.
It's unknown what happened when he went down earlier, causing him to lose his senses momentarily.
Soon, they reached the end of the secret passage. Upon entering a hidden chamber, Su Yishui waved the torch and quickly saw oil grooves on the walls for lighting.
After lighting them, Ranran couldn't help but exclaim softly. It turned out that both Uncle Masters, as well as senior brothers and senior sister, were sitting around a huge stone in the center.
The stone was covered in frost, and they were huddled against the ice, using their true qi and body warmth to "hatch" the large stone.
Second Uncle Master, who had a deeper foundation, was relatively better off. Although she was in a trance like the others, her body reacted automatically, circulating true qi to fend off the invading cold.
But Senior Brother and the others had weaker foundations. The cold had invaded their bodies, their lips turned purple and formed icicles. Beneath them, a stream of water flowed like a small creek, flowing into the secret passage.
Obviously, the water Shifu had waded through just now was the ice which melted from the stone. If all the ice on the stone completely melted, the seal on the Soul-Hosting Stone would be completely released.
Su Yishui said in a deep and calm voice, "Set up a protective formation behind me to guard your own mind."
Ranran immediately began to form hand seals, sitting down on a stone stool to help provide Shifu with some protection.
After Su Yishui finished speaking, he leaped up, and in his hands were several medical silver needles. Using true qi, he shot the needles into the Heavenly Connection Points of the others.
As the silver needles entered their acupoints, Yu Tong was the first to wake. She realized her situation and immediately tried to move backward, only to find that her body seemed firmly stuck to the stone, unable to move.
At this moment, Yu Chen and the others also woke up. Gao Cang shivered from the cold, and starting to cry out. But the worst was Qiu Xier; her body was already frail, and now she couldn't seem to wake.
The demonic force in the stone was deeply ingrained and Su Yishui also seemed very wary. He couldn't easily approach, only putting two fingers into his mouth and letting out a long whistle.
Soon, a group of swaying "people" rushed out of the secret passage. It was the strawmen they had painstakingly made over the past few days. It seemed that these strawmen had been digging with tools above, digging open the entrance and then jumping in one by one.
The strawmen walked over, three to five in a group, and started pulling the frozen Yu Chen and the others away from the stone.
Although these strawmen had no flesh and blood, with the help of Elder Jiu's talismans, they were incredibly strong, easily pulling these people off the ice stone.
However, their palms which had pressed against the ice stone had become bloody, as their frozen skin were torn off as the strawmen pulled them away.
Just at moment they were pulled off, Su Yishui quickly recited an Ice Spell, refreezing the Soul-Hosting Stone that was about to melt, and the water in the secret passage also flowed backward, wrapping the stone in a thick layer of ice once more.
Ranran also got up and helped Qiu Xier, who had been carried back by the strawmen.
"Give her a Clear Heart Pill," Su Yishui instructed.
Ranran quickly took out the pill she had refined and crushed it, stuffing it into Xier's mouth. Only then Xier slowly regain consciousnesses, shivering while half-asleep, muttering, "Did I kick the blanket again? Why is it so cold?"
Ranran didn't have time to answer her senior sister because the Soul-Hosting Stone, which had been resealed, suddenly emitted angry screams and what sounded like many people talking. At one moment, it was Su Yishui's voice shouting, "Let me out! I will make you all stronger!" and then it changed to Yu Chen's roar, to Qiu Xier's crying, making everyone's ears ache.
Su Yishui remained unfazed, continuing to recite the Ice Spell, leading the water in the secret passage to flow back, gradually thickening the layer of ice.
But just then, the backflowing water seemed to have a consciousness of its own. It struggled hard, breaking free from Su Yishui's control and converging into a female form.
Gradually, under the illumination of the firelight, the clear surface grew eyebrows and eyes, as well as the color of skin. A woman who seemed to have just finished her bath, dripping with water, appeared in front of everyone.
Ranran widened her eyes in astonishment because she recognized this woman… This beauty…..isn't it Mu Qingge?
No, she was even more beautiful and charming than Mu Qingge who had just been reborn from the Rebirth Tree. It wasn't about her physique but the lively spirit in her eyes.
Before, she thought that the Mu Qingge reborn from the tree, should look very similar to her portrait. Now, seeing this beauty, she realized that Mu Qingge after rebirth seemed… to look different from before.
The woman who appeared in front of everyone now, actually bore a striking resemblance to the red-clothed beauty riding a tiger in the Lingxi Palace's painting.
Her eyes were watery, her clothes half undone, her pearly teeth gently biting her red lips as she softly said, "You have such a cruel heart. Are you going to continue to seal me? Let me out, and I promise you everything…"
Su Yishui looked at the lifelike Mu Qingge in front of him, and his body suddenly stiffened as she approached slowly.
While Ranran was stunned, she remained clear-headed. Seeing "her" approaching, she immediately reminded loudly, "Shifu, be careful!"
However, her worries were unnecessary. Su Yishui had already taken action while she was speaking. Using the torch in his hand as a sword, he thrust it straight towards the woman's chest.
As the torch pierced through her, the woman stared wide-eyed, looking at Su Yishui with disbelief.
In Su Yishui's handsome eyes, there was no struggle or reluctance, only an unmistakable disgust…
"How could this be? Your heart… wasn't it…"
Su Yishui didn't let "her" continue. He unleashed his spiritual power, causing the condensed spiritual water to collapse, losing its human form.
Seeing that Shifu wasn't bewitched, Rang Rang breathed a sigh of relief. However she couldn't help but wonder if Shifu had acted similarly when they besieged Mu Qingge with the three major sects, ruthlessly striking her with a sword through the heart?
She was actually curious about what the creature that could manipulate people's hearts wanted to say. Because she always felt that Shifu's feelings towards Mu Qingge were ambiguous.
However, in Cultivation and enlightenment, one must learn to let go and cut off worldly attachments, only then can they attain true enlightenment.
So, Su Yishui could hardly be blamed when he cut down his demonic Master on behalf of the righteous path…
In this critical moment, Ranran couldn't help but be distracted for a moment. When she snapped out of it, she sighed softly again but then she saw Shifu's cold eyes staring at her, a gaze akin to being stabbed with ice picks.
Ranran shrank her neck slightly, fearing that Shifu would get addicted to enlightenment and continue to kill disciples in pursuit of it, especially targeting a weakling like her.
After the spiritual water was dispersed, it flowed back onto the ice stone, forming a thick layer of ice again. The temperature in the entire secret chamber also dropped sharply.
After completely sealing the Soul-Hosting Stone again, Su Yishui walked up to the stone, and the others followed him cautiously, carefully observing the demonic stone.
It was obvious that this anomaly of the demonic stone was not caused by their entry into the cave because there were already many cracks on the stone, as if a touch would cause it to split open. That's why there was spiritual water that kept bubbling out of it.
Now that Su Yishui had frozen the spiritual water again and resealed the Soul-Hosting Stone, once the ice melted, this thing would be uncontrollable again…
With his heart still racing from the scare, Bai Baishan asked Senior brother in a low voice, "When we were being controlled by this creature earlier, what did you see?"
Gao Cang's eyes welled up with tears. "I saw my deceased mother holding me and humming under the peach tree at home… Whenever I heard her sing before, I would fall asleep quickly, so I couldn't open my eyes no matter what… What about you?"
Bai Baishan wiped the cold sweat from the back of his neck, feeling lingering fear. "I… saw myself become a great Cultivator, and the three major sects were bowing to me in worship…"
When it came to Qiu Xier, she blushed and remained silent, but her eyes secretly glanced at Shifu. Ranran understood her thoughts and felt that she might have done something disrespectful to their elder in the illusion, so she tactfully didn't ask.
However, listening to their accounts, this demon truly understood human hearts and could magnify the deepest desires, making people immersed in them, unable to resist.
It was too bad that Shifu was too strong, and the Soul-Hosting Stone couldn't bewitch him, falling short of success in the end.
At that moment, Ranran suddenly noticed inscriptions on the stone walls of the chamber, and Su Yishui was holding a torch and examining them.
Her fellow disciples were trying to meditate and recover their strength. So Ranran walked over to look at the inscriptions.
Those inscriptions were probably also written by Mu Qingge, and they were as free-spirited as the person, with graceful unrestrained strokes.
"My good disciple, Shui'er, when you see these words it is like seeing me, by the time you read this letter, you should have let go of your grievances against me. If you can do this, that will be good. I believe you can also control the Spiritual Spring and send it back to the Netherworld. This thing has been tainted by the mortal world for too long, learning too much of human greed and vices. I fear that if this continues, its demonic nature will become stronger… Behind the waterfall in the western mountain valley, there is a cave with excellent temperatures throughout the seasons. Inside, there is a hidden jar of "Detain Heaven's Immortal" wine. I'm afraid I won't have the chance to drink it. By the time you find it, it should have already matured. Even though Elder Jiu has a technique to let ten years pass in a day, can true fine wine be rushed in a day? Only with the passage of time can one truly enjoy the essence of youth. Once matters here are settled, if you can taste this wine on my behalf, it would not have been in vain for it to age for so many years…"
According to Qin Xuanjiu's account, Mu Qingge had hidden the Spiritual spring here not long before she was besieged in Jue Mountain and had her soul scattered.
So, these words were probably Mu Qingge's final wish from her past life.
Aside from entrusting the important task of returning the Spiritual spring, what Mu Qingge had on her mind and could not let go of, was unexpectedly a jar of fine wine hidden in the cave behind the back mountain. How could such a carefree person plot to release a demon lord and plunge the Three Realms into chaos?
At this moment, she stole a glance at Shifu beside her and couldn't help but be shocked. Because Shifu, who was usually cold and indifferent, now had an expression as if a river of ice had cracked, his eyes filled with indescribable desolation and resentment…
He suddenly used spiritual energy and wiped away the inscriptions on the wall. He then slowly turned to look at Ranran, staring at her with eyes that seemed ready to tear her apart in the next moment.
Ranran thought that Su Yishui did not like that she peeked and saw Mu Qingge's message, so she quickly tried to step back discreetly. However, Su Yishui grabbed her wrist and didn't let her go.
"To what extent can a person be so simple and so heartless? Knowingly heading to certain death, yet what they hold in their heart…. is just a jar of wine?" He suddenly asked Ranran.
Ranran stole a glance at the Soul-Hosting Stone. Seeing no abnormality, she verified that Shifu wasn't possessed by the demon, so she could only answer the question seriously, "Um… although "Detain Heaven's Immortal" becomes more fragrant with age, it's indeed best after around twenty years. Shifu, when you go back, don't forget to drink it. I'll make scallion beef and salted peanuts as side dishes for the wine, alright?"
The lingering taste of "Detain Heaven's Immortal" was very strong, with both sweet and spicy notes, which complements tender beef and peanuts perfectly!
Unfortunately, his disciple's sincere answer only intensified the anger in Su Yishui's eyes, and he gripped her wrist even harder.
Ranran suddenly realized that she had obviously fallen into the glutton's mindset and couldn't get out of it. She quickly cleared her throat and tentatively said, "I see that Grandmaster Mu cares about you, Shifu. *You are the first one she thought to offer her fine wine….. Of course, it's not quite right for Shifu to risk your life to escort the Spiritual spring. If it's too dangerous, Shifu, you shouldn't go… Your disciple can't bear to see you in danger…"
*先紧着你 giving you priority
The girl's clear and gentle voice finally calmed down the few veins that had popped up on Su Yishui's head.
He looked at Ranran with a gloomy expression until Qiu Xier finished meditating and stood up, calling out to Ranran. Only then did Su Yishui take a deep breath, slowly releasing her hand.
Ranran quickly stepped back a few steps, slipped over to where her fellow disciples were meditating, and left Shifu staring listlessly at the wall.
The others also finished restoring their breath and regained their strength, ready to leave the cave. However, the scene just now was too shocking, so everyone inevitably bombarded Su Yishui with questions about what had just happened.
Su Yishui explained simply that because this stone sealed a demonic spirit. Spiritual power had leaked for some time, it tempted a weak-willed villager and made her draw a curse on her own neck, then used her transformed into a water demon to harm soldiers, all to lure Qin Xuanjiu.
Ranran understood upon hearing this. After all, there were guards at the military platform, not something a villager like Yue'e could handle alone. If Qin Xuanjiu had been controlled, he could have made the soldiers open the secret passage to release the Spiritual spring.
It was too bad, Qin Xuanjiu's life lot was too good, that he encountered the cold spell which froze the river, narrowly escaping this disaster. As for the calls to impeach him, it could only be said that General Qin didn't know how to get along with others, and probably offended someone in the official circles.
Right now the Soul-Hosting Stone couldn't bear the burden any longer, so the Spiritual spring must be transferred into the specially-made Spiritual Jade Talisman Bottle from Elder Jiu. However, the demonic nature of the Spiritual spring was strong. Although it had been sealed for a long time and its power had diminished considerably, thinking about the situation just now, it still seemed extremely dangerous.
"You guys go up first." Su Yishui instructed them.
So the two uncle masters led them up first. But Ranran didn't move from her spot. "Shifu, let me stay with you!" Ranran said, raising the golden talisman in her hand.
If Shifu was beguiled again, she could stick the talisman on his forehead.
But for some reason, Su Yishui was certain that it would not be necessary, that nothing would happen to him. Perhaps when he decisively dispelled Mu Qingge's illusion just now, it also dispelled his inner demons?
So Ranran had no choice but to go up the rope ladder. She went to the medicine box in the carriage to get medicine powder and white cloth, and treated the bloody palms of the others.
Su Yishui also came up sooner than expected.
Ranran noticed that the talisman bottle given by Elder Jiu was tied with a golden rope, hanging around Shifu's neck. It was originally made of white jade, but now it was as red as blood, as if something had been injected into it.
It seemed that Su Yishui glanced at her and then stuffed the talisman bottle into his collar, putting it out of sight.
Shifu must have resealed the Spiritual spring in the talisman bottle. Since the Netherworld Spiritual spring was so important, there seemed to be nothing safer than carrying it on oneself.
However, only Su Yishui and Ranran knew the secret of the talisman bottle. When they went up Cuiwei Mountain, only the two of them met Elder Jiu.
So except for the two uncle masters, the other disciples only knew they found something sinister that confuses the mind, not knowing that the stone in the cave held the Netherworld spiritual spring that was coveted by all in the cultivation world. They definitely did not know that Su Yishui had already transferred the spring into the jade bottle around his neck.
Ranran always knew when to speak and when to keep quiet. Since Shifu did not want to let the other disciples know, he must have his reasons. However, how to bury the big hole they dug became a problem.
The other senior brothers didn't get up to Cuiwei Mountain, nor did they know why Qin Xuanjiu had been guarding this place for many years. Naturally, they didn't know the secret of the Netherworld's spiritual spring. Thinking that there was a demonic object here, and that the sinister stone was still in the cave. So Bai Baishan, feeling uneasy, asked Shifu, "The entrance is wide open like this. If someone breaks in there, what should we do?"