Ranran only discovered these words just now because she laid down on the ground.
Elder Jiu was probably lying here before and used his nails to write them at the bottom of the stone.
She slowly got up and then realized that the place where she had been lying down was a drag mark, with even traces of someone's nails scratching the ground. It seemed that after someone had lain here, they were dragged away by someone else…
Ranran felt cold sweat on her back. Elder Jiu was not an common elder without any strength; being dragged away helplessly like this clearly indicated some kind of sinister trickery.
However, due to the angle, the person who dragged Elder Jiu away did not notice the traces he left at the bottom of the big stone. Was Elder Jiu trying to warn her Shifu and her?
Were the attackers from the remnants of the Fantian Sect?
As Ranran was examining the ground, Su Yishui also approached. After squatting down and seeing the line of words, he furrowed his brows tightly.
The Fantian Sect was a demonic sect from hundreds of years ago, a group of greedy individuals who were gathered and manipulated by the Spirit Spring when it intruded into the mortal realm.
Back then, when they first heard of this name, they had been tracing the Water Demon and only learned about it after coming to the Cuiwei Mountain from Elder Jiu.
However, the Fantian Sect had long been destroyed by a powerful figure Dun Tian, wiped from existence. So how could a group from the Fantian Sect suddenly emerge again?
Unable to find many clues, Ranran and the others had to descend from Cuiwei Mountain. When she looked up, she unintentionally saw a crow on a branch.
Elder Jiu used to communicate with the people below through this crow. But now, this crow had no talisman symbols on its feet, just tilting its head stupidly and cawing.
Ranran felt a little sad and resolved to find Elder Jiu's whereabouts. His brother, the Medicine Immortal, had ascended, no longer concerned with worldly matters.
So, she, as his young brief acquaintance, was the only one left to worry about the old rascal's fate.
When they were searching for clues on the mountain, Second Uncle Master did not come up. These past few days, Second Uncle Master had poor appetite, eating very little, mostly they ate and chatted during meals, she would take a cup of tea and go for a walk to relax.
Qiu Xier secretly whispered to her, speculating whether Second Uncle Master was expecting another bundle of joy with the scholar at the foot of Western Mountain.
Ranran didn't dare ask about that, but her Shifu probably thought so too. Second Uncle Master said she was a little fatigued, so he didn't let her go up the mountain with them.
At this moment, Second Uncle Master was bored waiting, sitting on a large stone, staring blankly at the smoke rising from the nearby village.
Following her gaze, Ranran thought of something.
So on the pretext of buying some dried rations in the village, they managed to gather some clues from the villagers at the foot of Cuiwei Mountain.
Ten days ago, a group of outsiders came here. But it happened to be at night. Some people saw that those people were floating as they walked, with their heels not touching the ground.
This frightened several villagers who were catching loaches in the canal. It was said that one timid person, was so frightened to the point of vomiting bile, kept saying that they had seen a vengeful ghost.
Ranran, however, felt that what they saw was a group of cultivators who had mastered the Wind Control Technique. When using this technique, they would appear to be floating, as if riding the wind.
But when they got on the road mentioned by the villagers, Ranran's nose was keen enough to detect the faint scent of Detain Heaven's Immortal wine on the ground.
She thought that since Elder Jiu always carried a gourd of wine with him, if the cork of the gourd was not tightly sealed when he was abducted, the wine could have leaked along the way.
The scent of Detain Heaven's Immortal wine was distinctive, and it has not rained here for more than ten days, so the lingering aroma remained. Luckily, Ranran had a keen nose, much more sensitive than the average person, so she followed the faint scent of wine all the way to the side of the river port.
Right now, the boats at the river port were very busy.
With the border in flames and this being an important transit point for goods, the boatmen coming and going were all busy loading and unloading cargo.
Yuchen quickly learned that twenty days ago, the boats at this river port were all headed to *Wuma Town.
*五马镇 literally Five Horses Town
There, a large army had been gathering, urgently needing supplies. As for merchants who wanted to go elsewhere, they were strictly prohibited from using the water route and were only allowed to travel by land.
In that case, did those people also take Elder Jiu on the boat to Wuma Town?
After hearing this, Su Yishui said, "In that case, let's head to Wuma Town. After all, we already intended to investigate the front lines."
Back then, Uncle Master Zeng took care of many businesses on behalf of Su Yishui, and in that Wuma Town, there was also a place called *Qianli Horse Trading Post, which would provide them with a place to stay.
*千里 Qianli is thousand miles
These past days, they had been roughing it outdoors. Qiu Xier also did not dare to eat much in front of her Shifu, causing her to suffer enough to lose some weight. Now, she was revealing a bit of her youthful and slender figure.
She was now looking forward to a soft bed and a good night's sleep, and maybe sneak a big bowl of braised pork behind her Shifu's back.
So, as they were about to reach Wuma Town, Qiu Xier was quite excited.
But when they arrived at the trading post, they found that this largest horse trading post in the area had their business signboard smashed to bits. The shopkeeper and the staff were not there, and there was only a seventy-year-old night watchman who spoke a local dialect that was difficult to understand. He gestured and pointed, trying to tell them that all the people from the horse trading post had been arrested by soldiers.
Yuchen and Gao cang exchanged looks with each other and quickly checked for any signs of surrounding activity.
After all, now the entire Xishan sect has been freshly labeled as wanted fugitives. It was said that along the route to Western Mountain, posters of them were plastered everywhere.
Of course, this wasn't to make it easier for the soldiers to catch them. After all, they were cultivators, and ordinary soldiers couldn't even get close, let alone capture them.
But this move effectively tarnished the reputation of Xishan.
Under this pretext, it was said that the three major sects had already gathered for a meeting, discussing whether to declare Xishan as a demonic sect. In the words of the Elder Kaiyuan, the Xishan sect had not repented, and was colluding with Mu Qingge to cause a dragon to destroy the palace, causing a great calamity.
Previously, Xishan had won the Tianmai Mountain's Marrow Cleansing Pool event, which had displeased the three major sects.
So, although Elder Kaiyuan's words had loopholes, no one delved into them. Instead, they all condemned Xishan sect, and it was even said that some sects were gathering their forces, preparing to seek justice from Su Yishui.
After all, Su Yishui's actions had completely disrupted the balance between the cultivation world and the mundane world, causing trouble for fellow cultivators, which was unforgivable!
Now that something had happened to the horse trading post, was it because someone had noticed the connection between the post and Xishan?
On high alert and inspecting the area thoroughly, Ranran found out what happened while inquiring at the sesame dessert stall in town.
The recent incident with the horse trading post had nothing much to do with the disciples from Xishan.
This area produces great horses from beyond the borders, so there are many horse traders coming and going.
Due to the urgent situation at the border, where there is a need for horses, so all horses in various places have been requisitioned, including those here.
In times of crisis at the border, the requisitioned horses naturally cannot be priced at market rates; they are only compensated with basic rates. However, most horse traders would not object, as everyone understands the principle of mutual support in times of need.
However, just yesterday, a group of soldiers arrived and arrested all the shopkeepers and assistants at the horse trading post. They sent word that the owner should come to the military camp for questioning as soon as possible.
It was said that something went wrong with the horses handed over by the horse trading post. On the second day after handing over the horses, these horses were sent to the camp for deployment.
The horses handed over from other places were all fine, but only the horses from Qianli Horse Trading post had become extremely agitated when they reached Yanxing Mountain. They neighed wildly, causing great distress to the soldiers riding them, and what's worse, a general was injured.
So, the military camp concluded that someone from Qianli Horse Trading post had tampered with these requisitioned horses, intending harm to the soldiers. That's why they arrested the shopkeepers for interrogation.
Qiu Xier's long-awaited warm bed and braised pork were now gone with the wind.
The wanted individuals had to retreat into the woods again.
However, Yu chen was experienced in building tents in the military camp, so he bought a cowhide tent in town. With Gao Cang's help, they set up camp on the mountain, finally avoiding exposure to the elements.
When Gao Cang went to town with Senior Uncle Master, he brought back a piece of good pork belly, along with condiments like oil, sugar, soy sauce, and an iron pot.
While washing the meat by the stream, Ranran teased Qiu Xier, "Senior brother really spoils you. Look, you said you wanted braised pork, and he bought it to satisfy your craving."
Qiu Xier had indeed become quite close to senior brother recently. However, she felt that her own matters were insignificant compared to Ranran's.
Now she also noticed something unusual between Ranran and their master, so she asked quietly, "Shifu is so intimidating now, yet you still dare to get close to him. I saw you two sitting on the stone at the mountaintop looking at the moon yesterday. Are you really planning to become immortal partners with him?"
Ranran didn't think that far ahead. Right now, she just hoped to safely return the Spirit Spring.
When their Shifu returned to normal… naturally, it would be as if nothing had happened. Talking about immortal partners or not would be irrelevant.
Qiu Xier was familiar with cultivation stories and became anxious when Ranran said she hadn't thought that far ahead. She said, "You now also have some cultivation foundation. But do think it through. It is said that if you become immortal partners, advancing in cultivation becomes even more difficult."
Ranran understood what Qiu Xier meant.
After all, their cultivation levels were different, and their time for ascension will also be different. Often, after one person ascended, they would cut off worldly ties. Even if they met again in the future, they would only treat each other with respect and courtesy, like strangers. Worse still, if one failed to ascend for a long time, they would become like Houyi and Chang'e, separated between two worlds, filled with regrets."
Ranran felt Qiu Xier made sense. However, it seems that Shifu did not seem very interested in things like foundation building and ascension.
Given his talent, his current cultivation level should far exceed the powerful figures preparing for ascension in the three major sects.
However, compared to twenty years ago, Shifu's cultivation did not seem to have progressed much. During the last ascension attempt of the powerful figures and their heavenly tribulation tests, he was not included.
However, with his two Beast Control feats, as well as sealing the Spirit Spring with his own body, all these things proved that Shifu's cultivation is much greater than what he shows.
After all, being able to overcome the control of the spiritual spring requires immense willpower and spiritual energy support.
With such capabilities, why did Shifu stop advancing, choosing to remain confined to the small little West Mountain?
Ranran knows her own limitations, even if she was so fortunate to become immortal partners with Shifu, her current cultivation level was far from his. As Qiu Xier said, accompanying in cultivation sometimes may just be to pass the boring years. If they were destined not to be together in the end, there was no need to take it seriously from the start.
Their Shifu's nightly activities everyday recently, mainly involved getting her to admire the moon and night scenery with him, Ranran wasn't sure, but Shifu seemed to have been here before.
He seemed to know where all the beautiful scenery were. For example, yesterday, he took her to a mountain hollow full of little purple flowers. When night fell, in just a moment, they saw fireflies dancing among the flowers.
Ranran had never seen so many fireflies before. Shining on the purple flowers, they seemed to be covered in falling starlight, incredibly beautiful.
Shifu even brought a small net for her to catch fireflies with. Ranran enjoyed herself very much, she then lamented that it would be great if there was a firefly lantern.
Unexpectedly, as soon as she finished speaking, Su Yishui took out a paper lantern made of paper. During the day, Ranran had seen Shifu cutting wood and using paper he brought with him to make something, but she didn't expect him to be making a lantern for her.
When she put the captured fireflies inside, she discovered simple line drawings on the four sides of the paper lantern.
There was a man and a woman sitting on a tree branch under the moon, looking at a sea of flowers. When fireflies danced in the flower sea, the fireflies on the lantern's flower sea also danced…
One couldn't tell clearly if this was inside or outside the painting. And whether Su Yishui had intended to paint this present scene… or was it a memory from his past.
Ranran considered Shifu's thoughtful preparations, became more convinced that he had been to these places before. These clever ideas were obviously not something a prickly free spirited man would think of.
So she tentatively asked, "Shifu, have you been here before?"
Su Yishui was silent for a moment and replied, "Yes, I have…"
Ranran gently swayed the delicate paper lantern and asked again, "So Shifu you have made a lantern for someone else before?"
This time, Su Yishui shook his head. Looking at the fluorescence of the night, he said faintly, "This is the first time I made one. But someone once made a lantern for me to cheer me up…"
Ranran listened, suddenly feeling an indescribable discomfort in her heart. She took a deep breath silently and said in a small voice, "Then Shifu must have been as happy as I am now?"
Su Yishui half-raised his head, remained silent for a while, and then said in a low voice, "I was in a bad mood at that time and smashed that lantern to pieces…"
Ranran didn't expect the memory of this beautiful scene to turn out like this. She was momentarily speechless, suddenly guessing that the person who made the lantern to cheer up her Shifu was probably Elder Mu.
So now, why did he make this lantern for her? Did he also hope that she would tear it apart and throw it back at his face to compensate for his guilt towards Elder Mu?
Thinking of this, Ranran lost interest in the scenery. Now that she thought about it, these past few days, fishing under the moon together, picking bird eggs with Shifu during the day, all these joyful experiences, Shifu might have done them with Elder Mu before.
Although Elder Mu has changed now, Shifu still reminisces about the past, so he brought her along to make up the number in order to relive those moments.
After Su Yishui finished speaking, he still seemed to be immersed in the past. By the time he turned his head, he found that Ranran had used a finger to poke the lantern into a sieve, and all the fireflies inside had escaped.
Ranran then handed the broken lantern back to Shifu, with lowered eyes, said, "I'm tired and want to go back to sleep."
With that, she lightly left and went down the mountain on her own.
When she returned, Qiu xier and the others had already gone to bed. Ranran went back to her small tent, suddenly feeling like she had eaten too much tonight, feeling stuffy and uncomfortable in her chest for no apparent reason.
Just then, Su Yishui seemed to have returned as well, stopping outside her tent. Ranran didn't want to speak to him and muttered from under the blanket, "Shifu, I'm tired and want to sleep early."
Thinking he would leave, Ranran was startled when Su Yishui reached in and pulled her out of the tent. She thought that Shifu's demonic side had strengthened again.
But Su Yishui had closed his eyes and tilted his head, asking, "What do you hear?"
Ranran quickly closed her eyes too, focusing and listening intently. After a while, she heard a thunderous sound rolling over.
"What… What is this?"
Su Yishui frowned and said, "It's the sound of a herd of horses running."
The herd of horses should still be far from them, but both of their hearing abilities were better than ordinary people, so they heard it early.
Su Yishui got down on the ground to listen carefully, then looked up and said, "There should be around five to six hundred horses in this group, running towards us."
To avoid attracting attention from the authorities, they were hiding near the border mountains this time. Beyond this mountain was the territory of Gao Kan.
It was late at night, could it be that the Da Qi soldiers were preparing a night raid on Gao Kan's camp, so the horses were galloping furiously at night?
After about the time it takes to burn an incense stick, in the vast open field below the mountain, a large number of horses were indeed running under the moonlight.
Ranran and Su Yishui stood on the tallest tree on the mountaintop, watching clearly. Contrary to Ranran's original guess, these horses were all bareback, without saddles or reins, and no soldiers were riding them.
If they were being herded, why would they be herded at night? Moreover, these horses seemed to be running on their own without anyone driving them. Why wouldn't they sleep at night but instead keep running?
As Ranran puzzled over this, Su Yishui suddenly said, "Let's go. Go down the mountain and take a look."
So the two of them went down the mountain with the wind, quickly arriving at the foot of the mountain.
When they reached the edge of the horse herd, under the bright moon in the sky, Ranran quickly noticed something peculiar about these horses.
It seemed like something was attached to the backs of these horses.
Ranran hastened her pace and ran alongside the horses. She quickly reached out and tore off a piece of paper from a horse's back.
At that moment the paper was taken off, the horse seemed to instantly lose all its strength, neighing and convulsing before falling to the ground, foaming at the mouth, looking to be in extreme pain.
Ranran quickly took out a pill to protect its heart and fed it to the horse, then looked down at the piece of paper in her hand. She immediately recognized it as a beast-control talisman made by Elder Jiu.
Looking up, Ranran saw that the backs of all the passing horses were also stuck with these talismans.
It was obvious, someone was compelling them to run wildly. And with these horses running so recklessly, by the time they reached their destination, they would probably be half dead.
Su Yishui said in a low voice, "These horses should be the ones requisitioned for the Da Qi military camp. Someone is making them run into Gao Kan's territory, so that the Da Qi army will have no horses to use."
Ranran gasped at the revelation. Setting aside the jerk sitting on the throne, the current war was related to the safety of the border people of both countries, not just Su Yu's personal national affairs.
The new king of Gao Kan was a cruel tyrant. It was said that when he was still a crown prince, because he suffered a defeat in battle, he had massacred all the Da Qi villagers he saw along the way, which was truly appalling.
If Da Qi failed this time, the people along the border would probably not be spared. Elder Jiu wouldn't help such a brutal person even if he was innately mischievous.
Moreover… Elder Jiu has never been one to be interested in current affairs. It was unclear how someone from Gao Kan was so well-connected, and managed to go to Cuiwei Mountain to capture Elder Jiu, and even forced him to use talismans to aid tyranny?
As she thought about this, she looked at Shifu. When their eyes met, they immediately understood each other's intentions. So the two of them each chose a horse, grabbed the horse's mane, and rode along with the herd.
The herd quickly crossed the border and entered Gao Kan's territory.
Jiuyuan under Wei Jiu's command!
Ranran suddenly understood that Elder Jiu must have been captured by the people sent out by the Crimson Gate Sect. And Wei Jiu instructed Elder Tu, to collude with the officials of Gao Kan, intending to frame and harm the Xishan Sect!
The unwritten rule in the cultivation world has always been to avoid entanglements with the mundane world. Their previous intrusion into the palace had already committed a major taboo, causing dissatisfaction among the cultivators.
And now, if such rumors spread, that Su Yishui has helped the tyrannical King of Gao Kan win a battle, not only in the cultivation world but also within the territory of Da Qi, the Xishan sect would become *immediate targets for eradication!
*臭鱼烂虾 was used here
Wei Jiu's scheme is truly despicable. When the time comes, Xishan Sect would be crushed by everyone. Even the families of their disciples would face humiliation and abuse.
The Xishan Sect would be completely degraded to the demonic path, with no hope of turning the tide.