Seeing that Shifu didn't refute and just urged her to go up, Ranran knew that what Wei Jiu said should be mostly true.
She didn't expect her Wood attribute to be so useful in the Netherworld Realm.
However, she did not climb up by herself. Instead she grabbed her master's hand and pulled him quickly forward, leaving Wei Jiu and Tuo Jiuyuan far below.
She noticed that the black lines on her master's neck has nearly circled around it, indicating that they needed to reach the cliff where the water fell soon to restore the Spirit Spring.
But she didn't notice that the constantly rising water droplets have wet her clothes.
Su Yishui was very close to her at this moment. When she turned back to pull him up, her collar opened slightly, revealing her alluring white neck and collarbones.
Su Yishui needed to close his eyes and adjust his breath to suppress the surge of demonic impulses inside him. How was he going to climb fast?
But Ranran became faster and faster as they went, almost pulling Su Yishui up quickly in the end.
On the other side of the cliff, Wei Jiu also stopped talking. His objective here was clear: either obtain the Spirit Spring or take advantage of Su Yishui's weakness after he stripped the Spirit Spring from himself, to kill him in one blow.
If the two tasks could be combined, it would be well worth the trip.
Although he had come here last time with a key, the Netherworld Realm was a dry land back then, weak in Yin energy, completely different from now.
Perhaps it was because Su Yishui brought back the Spirit Spring that the Yin energy in the Realm surged, and the water flow rose rapidly. Wei Jiu found it quite difficult to climb.
Seeing the two on the opposite cliff climbing faster and faster, Wei Jiu no longer cared about Tuo Jiuyuan behind him. His arm veins bulged as he tried hard to speed up and catch up.
Ranran and Su Yishui arrived first to the cliff of falling water above them.
However, diving into the upside-down riverbed was another difficult task. Just as Ranran reached out to touch the water, Su Yishui stopped her with his hand.
"Don't touch it. The boundary of the falling water will only dissipate every two hours. Otherwise, we won't be able to pass." After speaking, he took out a handkerchief and threw it into the river.
Before the handkerchief touched the water surface, it seemed to touch something and instantly turned into ashes.
It was still far from two hours passing. Ranran looked around and unexpectedly found a recessed mountain hollow on the cliff, where they could rest and wait quietly.
As they entered the hollow, the two people on the opposite cliff also disappeared from sight.
Ranran shook her wet hair, wiped the water droplets off her face, and was about to speak when Su Yishui pulled her into his arms and started to kiss her passionately.
He had wanted to kiss her badly since just now, but thinking of Wei Jiu nearby, he had been enduring it.
After being kissed, Ranran would look a little dazed, with her blushing red cheeks she looked absolutely adorable. He didn't want to let Wei Jiu get a free feast with his eyes.
Ranran wrapped her arms around his neck in response, and after their passionate kiss, she whispered softly against his lips, "Will you return to normal after returning the Spirit Spring, Shifu?"
Su Yishui's arms around her waist tightened involuntarily. "Do you want things to return to normal?"
Ranran actually didn't want to. These days, she and her Shifu were always close, even when they were silent under the moonlight, there seemed to be a subtle rapport.
But she also knew that her Shifu's original temperament should be cold and somewhat distant. If it weren't for the Spirit Spring, he wouldn't never have taken an interest in a silly little girl like her.
Could she cling onto Shifu because of this critical period and force him to take responsibility?
However, thinking about a future where she had to pretend to get along with her Shifu as if nothing had ever happened, was really agonizing.
Perhaps after this, Shifu might feel uncomfortable around her, then she should really leave Xishan, and leave her Shifu.
Now that she knew the root cause of her illness, which was because she didn't grow to maturity on the Rebirth Tree, as long as her master allowed her to take the Rebirth Tree planted in the small courtyard of Western Mountain with her, she could rely on the small tree to sustain her life. This way, she wouldn't make her master doubt her and think that he would have to take responsibility for these absurd days.
However, she wouldn't say any of these. After all, her Shifu couldn't handle any talk of her leaving him at the moment.
So when Su Yishui asked, she slowly leaned her face against his chest, listening to his steady heartbeat, and said half-truthfully, "Of course, I hope you return to normal. Then we can take the newly made lanterns to catch fireflies…"
Su Yishui reached out to touch her long hair, and also slowly closed his eyes. Amidst the rushing sound of the rising water, the two of them leaned serenely against each other, as if this was not the gloomy and terrifying Netherworld Realm.
Unfortunately, there would always be someone who ruins the mood.
Apparently, they were not the only ones who discovered this wonderful place. Before long, the sound of water being struck suddenly echoed, and Wei Jiu, using his extendable long whip, also leaped over from the opposite side.
He and Tuo Jiuyuan also wanted to take shelter here for a while.
Because the terrain here was narrow, if they fought, there was a high chance that they would both fall off the cliff. So Su Yishui and Wei Jiu each occupied one side.
Wei Jiu looked at the black lines on Su Yishui's neck that were exposed, chuckled strangely twice, and said, "Why bother suppressing it with such difficulty? You used to be the imposing Demon son, capable of doing anything with the Spirit Spring. Is it because you want to appear like a good person before Ranran, fearing that she will remember your past shortcomings?"
Su Yishui slowly opened his eyes, which were tinged with a faint red light, and glared at him with a sinister look. "If you say another word, I will fulfill your wish, activate the power of the Spirit Spring, and kill you as easily as killing a stink bug."
Wei Jiu knew that Su Yishui was not bluffing. It was really not beneficial to anger him just then.
He shifted his gaze to Ranran again, teasingly saying, "Back then at Tianmai Mountain, if I had known that Mu Qingge was an imposter, I would have treated you nicer…"
Xue Ranran was originally meditating with her eyes closed and ignored Wei Jiu. However, after hearing his words, Ranran couldn't help but open her eyes abruptly and looked at Wei Jiu with uncertainty.
What did he mean when he said Mu Qingge was an imposter?
These days, she had also thought about her past life. Mu Qingge had been ambushed by her sister, Mu Ranwu, who grabbed her waist and allowed other sect leaders to successfully attack her.
So every time she thought that she might be Mu Ranwu, Ranran felt a little guilty. Regardless of whether Mu Qingge was good or evil, it was an undeniable fact that Mu Ranwu caused Mu Qingge's death.
This was also why Ranran yielded to Mu Qingge again and again.
But now, Wei Jiu suddenly mentioned such words. Mu Qingge is an imposter?
Ranran had always been intelligent. In a moment of clarity, she suddenly realized something she had never dared to think before—perhaps she… was actually Mu Qingge, the master of her mentor!
However, this absurd truth was rather difficult to accept. Her mind swirled in chaotic thoughts, and she couldn't help but turn to look at Su Yishui.
Did...he always know that she was Mu Qingge? Or was there some misunderstanding?
Wei Jiu had thought that Su Yishui should have informed Ranran of the truth already. When they were on opposite cliffs just now, he could see clearly through the water curtain that Su Yishui was kissing Ranran.
He originally thought that Su Yishui had somehow weaved lies, carefully covering up all of his scheming in her past life.
But now it would seem that Su Yishui hadn't revealed Ranran's true identity to her yet.
Wei Jiu understood everything perfectly now. He couldn't help but laugh loudly, "What? Su Yishui didn't tell you the truth? That's right, how could he have the nerve to say it? If he told that you are actually Mu Qingge, wouldn't he have to explain all the schemes he had against you in your past life? Why do you think Mu Ranwu betrayed you and framed you? Isn't it all his manipulations, stirring up discord between you and your sister, using his charm to seduce Mu Ranwu to betray you? I told you, he's very evil! Now that he is under the banner of righteousness, has his pretense really made him into a good person? Using your memory loss to transform himself into your master, but not respecting the master-disciple relationship, seducing an ignorant little girl like you. Hahaha, the imperial Su family is full of hypocrites…"
Wei Jiu didn't have a chance to say more. Because Su Yishui had already burst out in anger, roaring with red eyes, and exerted all his spiritual power towards Wei Jiu.
Tuo Jiuyuan had long sensed that Su Yishui was not right, and hurriedly shouted, "Your Excellency, get out of the way!"
Wei Jiu also sensed that Su Yishui was somewhat out of control. This fierce attack clearly mobilized the power of the Spirit Spring, roaring like an evil dragon as he came over.
Wei Jiu had deliberately provoked Su Yishui.
The power of the Spirit Spring was indeed terrifying. However, if the person possessed by the Spirit Spring went berserk, they would be devoured by it, and during the moment of soul consumption, there would be a brief period of stupor before the Spirit Spring took over completely. Su Yishui would then completely lose his soul and become a puppet of the Spirit spring. Wei Jiu had a new bottle and gold talisman made by Elder Jiu.
As long as he waited for the moment when Su Yishui completely loses control, he could seize the opportunity, and extract and seal the Spirit Spring from him. By then, Su Yishui would become a useless person with an incomplete soul. He would then slowly kill this nemesis as Ranran watched.
So when Su Yishui rushed over, he had already taken out the new bottle and gold talisman, ready to subdue Su Yishui and reseal the Spirit spring.
Unfortunately, no matter how much he had considered every possibility, he didn't expect Su Yishui's self-control to be so strong that he wasn't completely under the influence of the Spirit Spring.
The golden talisman he held was also slapped away by Su Yishui's palm, and the talisman bottle couldn't withstand the onslaught of spiritual energy and shattered with a crack.
The terrain in the mountain hollow was narrow, and Wei Jiu saw that his ambush had failed. Trying to dodge again was too late; he could only urgently mobilize his spiritual power shield to resist Su Yishui's thunderous strike.
Tu Jiuyuan suddenly raised her spiritual shield and rushed straight to the front of Wei Jiu, taking Su Yishui's furious blow for him.
Tu Jiuyuan's cultivation in the Crimson Gate was second only to Wei Jiu, but even so, her raised spiritual shield was shattered by Su Yishui's blow. The sound of her bones cracking could even be heard, and at that moment, blood gushed out. If it were in the human realm and one suffered such a serious injury, there might be a chance of survival with a deep enough foundation. But this was the Netherworld Realm; once injured, it was like a flood bursting a dam, blood and true qi would accelerate leaving the body.
Ranran hurriedly blocked in front of Su Yishui.
She wasn't trying to save Tu Jiuyuan; she was just afraid that Su Yishui would continue killing in a rage, causing him to be completely controlled by the Spirit Spring and be trapped in the Netherworld Realm forever.
Su Yishui also understood this. Wei Jiu had likely provoked him deliberately earlier. If he had unleashed the full power of the Spirit Spring, even Ranran wouldn't be spared.
If she were really injured, he would probably completely lose control…
Wei Jiu also felt resentful, feeling that the perfect opportunity had been missed just now. If Tu Jiuyuan had attacked earlier instead of blocking in front of him, perhaps the talisman bottle wouldn't have shattered!
Watching his long-time bedside companion and loyal subordinate lying in the mountain hollow, coughing up blood, Wei Jiu disdainfully glared at her and said, "Fool, did I ask you to meddle?"
Tu Jiuyuan was now lying limply in the mountain hollow, coughing up mouthfuls of blood, tears flowing continuously from her eyes.
After calming down Su Yishui, Ranran turned back to look at the appearance of the female demon Tu Jiuyuan, and couldn't help but feel a little sympathetic.
She could see that although this elder Tu helped do evil things, she loved Wei Jiu very much. Sacrificing herself like this not only fulfilled her duty as a loyal subordinate but also sacrificed herself to save the man she loved.
But in the end, what she got in exchange for her life was Wei Jiu's disdainful mockery. Ranran couldn't stand it anymore.
She took out a medicine box from her pocket and threw it beside Tu Jiuyuan, saying, "This is a Heart-protecting pill. Take one quickly, or with so much blood loss, you might die soon."
This female demon had committed many sins, but her sins would have their own consequences by the heavens. At this critical moment when her master's demon nature was difficult to control, if he really killed Tu Jiuyuan, he would bear a heavy karmic debt, and his demonic nature would become even more uncontrollable.
Tu Jiuyuan looked at Ranran with a complicated expression, but seemed as if her spiritual power had been drained. She just cried and didn't want to take the pill.
Ranran couldn't help but angrily glare at Wei Jiu. "She sacrificed herself to save you like this, are you going to just watch her die? If you don't feed it to her, are you expecting me to?"
Wei Jiu coldly snorted, then walked over and roughly pried open Tu Jiuyuan's tightly closed mouth, stuffing the pill into her mouth.
This Heart-protecting pill was refined by Ranran and had much stronger effects than ordinary heart-protecting pills. Tu Jiuyuan finally managed to stop coughing up blood, but her body was already weak, and those shattered bones needed to be reset one by one for her to fully recover.
Ranran felt that after experiencing this life-threatening ordeal, perhaps the deep wounds in Elder Tu's heart would be the most difficult to heal…
Love is misleading!
She don't know why, but a sentence from third senior sister's romance novels suddenly flashed through Ranran's mind.
As for Wei Jiu's words just now, she didn't even want to think about them now.
They have more critical matters at hand, and who she was in her past life doesn't matter right now. Restoring the Spirit Spring to its place is the priority, so she absolutely would not ask her master whether Wei Jiu's words were true or not.
Calculating the time, it should have been about two hours now. When she turned around to check the river above her head, the barrier there had indeed weakened significantly.
So she turned around and said, "Shifu, we can cross the river now!"
Wei Jiu didn't expect that after revealing such a shocking scene just now, although it had infuriated Su Yishui, Ranran, apart from the initial shock and confusion, quickly returned to normal, as if nothing had happened.
His schemes fell through. He couldn't help but sneer and say, "Have you become foolish growing on the tree? Are you lacking insight or do you think I'm lying to you?"
Ranran raised her chin slightly, saying coldly to him, "Excellency Wei, you've lived foolishly for so long, are you only concerned about yourself? This Spirit Spring isn't a good entity; the eagle-beaked flowers blooming all over the mountains are evidence. You're just blindly seeking strength, but have you ever thought about the imbalance in the world, the withering of all things? What good is it for you to become the only strong person in the land? We don't want to fight you now. If you're willing to assist my Shifu in returning the Spirit Spring, I believe all major sects will reconsider their views on your Crimson Gate. And Elder Tu has only temporarily stopped bleeding; she can't delay for long in this Realm. You should be a good person occasionally and do some good deeds now and then. How about it?"
When Ranran rebuked him coldly, the two men in the mountain hollow were slightly shaken in their hearts. It seemed like for a moment, they saw that lofty and unrestrained woman in red once again.
She never put petty emotions like love in her heart. With a straightforward and clear conscience, solitary and quiet, seeming to treat everyone she knew warmly, yet none of them could hold onto her.
Even the truly wicked Wei Jiu couldn't help but be impressed.
Su Yishui didn't pay attention to Wei Jiu this time, silently walking out of the cave and following Ranran, heading towards the waterfall.
Wei Jiu felt a bit embarrassed, jumping in anger. He glanced coldly at Tu Jiuyuan, letting her wait here, then turned around and followed Su Yishui.
Tu Jiuyuan struggled to speak, "Excellency, please go about your business, don't worry about me…"
But before she could finish her words, Wei Jiu had already left impatiently.
According to the records of the Fantian Sect, the Spirit Spring is below this waterfall. After Su Yishui had used Mu Qingge to open the gate to the Netherworld realm back then, he had been here before, so he was familiar with the way.
After Mu Qingge separated Su Yishui from the Spirit Spring and sealed it at Wangxiang Pass, entrusting it to Qin Xuanjiu to watch over. But when the Spirit Spring took an unexpected turn, she asked Qin Xuanjiu to look for Su Yishui to resolve the aftermath.
Su Yishui naturally understood the intention behind it.
That indifferent and carefree woman, even if she ended up being harmed by him in the end, still firmly believed that he could become a good person who could save the world.
So she entrusted Qin Xuanjiu to find him and then instructed him to return the Spirit Spring intact.
Su Yishui couldn't think any more. The Spirit Spring inside his body seemed to sense that it was going to be returned and kept roaring restlessly: "Don't send me back, the Netherworld Realm is cold and lifeless, how can it compare to the fun bustling world of mortals? I can make you stronger, didn't you embrace Mu Qingge in your arms? A woman like her, once she knows your true nature, how could she fall in love with you? I will help you possess her, don't send me back!"
The voice of the Spirit Spring became more arrogant and piercing. Su Yishui held his breath and closed his eyes, swiftly plunging into the falling water.
The falling water cleansed the dust of the mortal world, allowing one to reach the other side of the Netherworld Realm.
As Su Yishui jumped into the River of Forgetfulness, Wei Jiu suddenly took action, taking out a talisman and quickly pasting it towards Ranran.
The thunderous blow from Su Yishui just now finally made Wei Jiu realize how unrealistic his idea of controlling the Spirit Spring for himself was.
Since that was the case, then the evil thing should be returned. But he didn't come to the Netherworld Realm just to be a guardian for Su Yishui.
The Soul-Cleansing Talisman from Elder Jiu was quite overbearing. Why not paste it on Ranran while Su Yishui was entering the water?
By that time, all memories related to Su Yishui could be erased from Ranran's mind.
When he brings Ranran out of the Netherworld Realm, she would be cleansed of her past and reborn again.
So Wei Jiu seized the opportunity and slapped the Soul-Cleansing Talisman towards Ranran's back.
But Ranran was not a fool and had been on guard against Wei Jiu. When she caught a glimpse of Wei Jiu's movement from the corner of her eye, she immediately turned around agilely, avoiding Wei Jiu's reaching hand.
However, Wei Jiu's other hand grabbed her shoulder, and he swiftly lunged at her again like lightning.
When he was immersed in the Black Pool on Tianmai Mountain, it was a demonic water closely related to the Netherworld Realm. So when he entered this realm, he could move as lightly as Ranran.
*But didn't Su Yishui also went in the Black pool before? Or it was too long ago? Anywaay…
He had deliberately concealed his skills earlier, just to catch her off guard. Ranran was indeed lulled by him and didn't dodge very cautiously.
Just as the Soul-Cleansing Talisman was about to hit Ranran, a hand suddenly reached out from the falling water and fiercely pulled Wei Jiu down.
Wei Jiu plunged into the water ignominiously. As he struggled fiercely, the Soul-Cleansing Talisman landed squarely on Su Yishui's forehead.
The talisman touched his skin and melted into his pores. Stunned, Wei Jiu couldn't help but curse in frustration.
But that talisman had not been easy to come by and should not be wasted. In a hurry, Wei Jiu could only quickly chant a spell to seal all of Su Yishui's romantic feelings for Mu Qingge.
He had instructed Tu Jiuyuan to make Elder Jiu drink enough wine to extract information from him about the talisman, learning that it washed away extreme emotions of deep hatred and love but could not turn people into fools.
In hindsight, it was such a pity! But it was good to cleanse Su Yishui's love of two lifetimes for both Mu Qingge and Xue Ranran!
The path was different but the end result was the same. If Su Yishui completely forgot about his belated love for Mu Qingge, he wouldn't be entangled with Xue Ranran now?
So in the depths of the falling water, that talisman turned into a spiritual light and disappeared into Su Yishui's forehead.
Ranran had also jumped into the water and saw what happened. She swam vigorously towards Su Yishui, wanting to pull him up.
But Su Yishui's body was attracted to the forces of the falling water and quickly sank, disappearing into the vortex.
Ranran also wanted to follow, but found that her body couldn't sink into the riverbed no matter what, only feeling the water getting hotter.
Wei Jiu exclaimed inwardly. This was a sign of the Spirit Spring returning to its position. When the Spirit Spring returned completely, the entire falling water would become boiling water, so he quickly grabbed Ranran, took a deep breath, and climbed up the bank. Just as Wei Jiu climbed out of the falling water, Ranran pushed him back into the water with her stick.
"Tell me, what talisman did you paste on Shifu?"
Wei Jiu was anxious; this water was really burning his buttocks! It unexpectedly triggered his spiritual power, freeing him from the heavy constraints, and he jumped out of the water.
"Of course, I pasted something good. If he can come out of the water in time, you will naturally know!"
After saying that, Wei Jiu laughed strangely, suddenly jumped backward, and left along the cliff.
Su Yishui had been absorbed under the falling water. As the Netherworld Realm had lost the Spirit Spring for too long, once he sank into the vortex, he would automatically detach from the Spirit Spring.
By then, when the Netherworld Realm restored its vitality, it would expel foreign elements and push them out of the Realm.
So he had to leave quickly, to see if he could return to the mortal world first, and then deliver a fatal blow to Su Yishui later. Without the Spirit Spring, Su Yishui should have no strength to fight him.
Ranran did not chase after Wei Jiu. She anxiously waited by the water's edge for Su Yishui to surface. The water temperature was getting hotter and hotter. If her master didn't come up soon, he was going to be cooked…
Just as Ranran was becoming impatient and preparing to jump into the water again, large bubbles suddenly emerged from the falling water, with scalding water splashing all around.