Ranran sighed silently in her heart and reminded herself once again: Shifu is no longer the same, and she should remember to maintain some distance, to avoid his disgust.
But the days back in Xishan were much more plentiful than before.
At the very least, the amount of food to be cooked was several times more than before.
Su Yi Shui recruited ten disciples this time. Plus the previous four, there were a total of fourteen disciples now.
If you counted Shifu and the uncle masters, that was nearly twenty people to feed. Most of these people were seventeen or eighteen years old, and they all had good appetites, still far from reaching the stage of fasting!
Handling three meals a day for so many people daily was too much for second uncle master Yutong. Apart from Ranran, she had to call on Qiu Xier, Gaocang, and Bai Baishan to help.
The two girls were still alright, as they were used to doing these things daily anyway. But Gao Cang and Bai Baishan were very unhappy.
Now, they couldn't even get close to the training ground, and they had to spend the whole day in the kitchen, preparing meals endlessly.
Seeing those newcomers getting the master's true teachings and spending their days meditating in the grass hall or practicing martial arts in the training ground, naturally, they felt unhappy.
But those new disciples were very diligent. Since Xue Ranran came back, several young boys would voluntarily come to help out in the kitchen.
The ones who were fresh-looking, quick with their hands, and sweet-talkers were particularly popular.
Just like now, Ranran is picking flat beans, and the youth named Yue Sheng came over, carrying a stool and sitting next to senior sister Xue.
At this moment, he didn't show the demeanor of a noble young master. From time to time, he would chat with senior sister Xue, asking about her adventures on Tianmai Mountain and expressing his admiration as a junior brother now and then.
Eventually, the other two juniors also came over, listening to Xue Shijie talk, while eagerly watching her lively eyes and sweet smile.
When they first came to the mountain, they had only heard of this senior sister's name but hadn't seen her in person.
When senior Sister returned with the master, and they saw her for the first time in the training ground, they were amazed by her beauty.
Fourth senior sister was actually this beautiful!
Moreover, she was different from those mediocre senior brothers. She was the chosen daughter of the heavens, who had entered the Marrow-Cleansing Pool.
They wondered if she had any intention of finding a fellow cultivator to become a couple with in the future? And if she would look for one among her fellow disciples?
After all, they were all in the same sect. As the saying goes the one closest often gets the most opportunities. Practicing together and being together everyday, also made things more comfortable.
For a time, there were many young men who had these kind of thoughts. In addition to practicing, they all wanted to catch a glimpse of senior sister's figure by the corridor pool on Xishan.
But this senior sister was a little too shy and didn't really want to talk to them.
Therefore the time spent helping in the kitchen was particularly delightful. After all, in the cramped kitchen, senior sister had to talk whether she wanted to or not.
So the benches in the Xishan kitchen were rather insufficient. In the end, even second uncle master was "invited" out by her filial nephews, and they took care of everything in the kitchen!
However, Gao Cang refused to leave. He watched Qiu Xier smiling sweetly at these junior brothers, so he vented his anger by fiercely chopping white radishes with a knife.
Ranran didn't think much about these young men who were close to her age. She treated them all as younger brothers, smiling and chatting with them without much thought.
This harmonious atmosphere continued to the dining table.
Su Yi Shui no longer ate with his disciples now. His meals were brought to the study by Yutong.
And the two uncle masters also didn't eat with the younger generation anymore either. They remained in the study to serve the master.
So the large dining hall was filled with the younger generation disciples of Xishan.
Three tables were set up, each table could seat five to six people. But the table where Xue Ranran sat was particularly crowded, squeezing in eight people.
Gao Cang couldn't even spread his chopsticks and couldn't reach the dishes. He was so angry that he slammed the chopsticks down and said, "Is there more meat in the bowls on this table than on the others? Why do they all have to squeeze in here, can they let others eat or not?"
Initially, these young men still had some respect for the senior brothers of Xishan, after all, Gao Cang and the others were the first to join and had to be respected.
But in the past month, the new disciples had also sensed something — Master didn't really care about these previous disciples, which was why he had made such a big deal out of recruiting new ones.
Moreover, Gao Cang and the others have very shallow foundations. There were several occasions when they couldn't resist showing off their skills outside the training ground, but these new disciples with superior aptitude noticed their flaws right away.
Gao Cang and the others couldn't even enter the training ground now; they were just rough laborers in Xishan.
People like that were eating at the same table as them, they hadn't complained about him, so what right did he have to slam down his chopsticks and lecture them?
Yue Sheng was, apart from Shen Kuo, the best disciple in terms of foundation. Like Shen Kuo, although he hadn't joined the three major sects, he came from a cultivation family. Plus, he had encountered opportunities and had already opened his meridians early, reaching the second stage of Foundation Building at the age of eighteen.
So the new disciples regarded him and Shen Kuo as leaders among them.
These days when he went to help in the kitchen, Yue Sheng was often teased by Bai Baishan's words, with Gao Cang was always chiming in. Yue Sheng had already developed some resentment.
Now, being scolded by Gao Cang in front of Xue Shijie, Yue Sheng felt his face burning and stood up coldly, saying, "Is this table reserved for you? Why do you get to sit here? If you feel crowded, can't you sit at the other tables?"
Gao Cang was sitting at this table because Qiu Xier was here. And Qiu Xier was inseparable from Xue Ranran. Plus there were many handsome young men at this table, so she naturally refused to leave!
But he couldn't reveal these complicated reasons.
Back then Shifu had clearly stated that he and Bai Baishan were not allowed to flirt with the junior sisters. The ambiguous affection of young people was all implied.
In front of Qiu Xier, bring ridiculed by a junior who just started is intolerable!
Their argument escalated gradually, voices growing louder. The insults became more and more intense, with words like 'greenhorn,"rice bucket who entered first', 'useless old-timer,' and similar phrases flying back and forth.
Finally, when they were both yelling and wrestling each other, Qiu Xier couldn't stand it anymore. She gave a shout and rushed over to help Gao Cang scratch Yue Sheng.
Several young men who were close to Yue Sheng also refused to back down, coming over to confront Qiu Xier. Even Bai Baishan, who was usually congenial and calm, couldn't take it anymore and joined the fray.
When he found himself grappling with someone and his hands were occupied, he unexpectedly threw his shoes. His agile feet, well-trained, aimed straight for the nostrils of the younger disciples!
Unfortunately, Yue Sheng got a whiff of his toes and cried out in anger. Enraged, he gathered his inner energy and attacked Bai Baishan.
Since Bai Baishan had stopped cultivating after being under Uncle master Zeng Yi's care, his dantian was quite depleted. If he was hit by Yue Sheng, he would probably have coughed up blood and been injured.
Ranran acted quickly and cleverly, flipping over a table to push Bai Baishan's away. She then grabbed a plate of peanuts from the table and applying a little inner energy, struck the knee paralyzing acupoints of several people with just three to four peanuts.
As a result, those youths didn't have time to react and all ended up kneeling on the ground.
By now, Yue Sheng's eyes were red with anger, and he didn't care anymore about seniority or respect. He shouted at Xue Ranran, "You're actually helping those bastards. Quickly release me, the young master…"
As a result, their smiling and gentle senior sister did come over, not to release his acupoint but to raise her hand and give Yue Sheng a resounding slap.
"Whose 'young master' are you? You're not even close to being a master here on Xishan!" Xue Ranran's face was no longer smiling, and her stern small face actually carried a hint of chilling aura.
Yue Sheng still continued to glare, but Xue Ranran coldly continued, "In the rules of Xishan, there has never been one which allowed the disruption of the normal order, where juniors can use their abilities to bully their seniors. If it's just a physical fight, just use fists and legs, but you actually used true energy to ambush someone! Do you want to kill second senior brother? If you are so capable, why did you come to apprentice? People like you, when your abilities grow, won't you end up bullying your mentors and destroying your ancestors?"
Yue Sheng's face turned red, gritting his teeth, "If I did something wrong, Master will teach me, who are you to lecture me?"
Xue Ranran laughed, feeling that these half-grown youths were sometimes like unreasonable children, always unwilling to admit their mistakes. So she bent down, looked at the kneeling Yue Sheng who couldn't move on the ground, and flicked his forehead with her finger, smiling as she said, "Because I'm more skilled than you!"
Now Yue Sheng not only blushed, but his eyes were also red. He had always thought his foundation was good, but when Xue Ranran's peanuts flew over, he couldn't even react and failed to dodge them.
Being chastened in a demeaning tone by a woman and flicked on the forehead, such humiliation was enough to make one's dantian explode…
"Is everyone done making a scene?" At that moment, a cold voice suddenly came from the door way.
Everyone looked up and shrank their necks. Without them realizing, Su Yi Shui had already appeared at the entrance, looking at them coldly.
This time, there was no more dinner to be had.
Su Yi Shui didn't even bother to ask for reasons; he just ordered them all to go down the mountain to fetch water and fill a dried-up pond halfway up the mountain.
Everyone was dumbfounded, wanting to wail but not daring to.
When the others have all run off unwillingly, Su Yi Shui cast a glance over at Ranran who was still standing there without moving.
"Don't you hear what I just said? Why aren't you going?" Su Yi Shui's tone was icy, with a hint of anger in his eyes.
But only he knew that the inexplicable anger bursting out of him wasn't because his disciples were disobedient.
It was because the scene just now had seemed familiar, stirring up his long-held anger—Young Su Yi Shui remembered deeply how he had also been flicked on the forehead by an arrogant female demoness.
She was smiling at the time, and said, "What? Are you still dissatisfied after I criticized you? Since my abilities are greater than yours, you should obediently listen to me…"
Similar tone, similar situation, all ignited his anger, so Su Yi Shui's tone towards Xue Ranran was quite harsh.
But who would have thought that the usually obedient little girl who always followed his instructions, would raise her head high this time and speak firmly, "I haven't done anything wrong, why should I be punished?"
Su Yi Shui smiled instead of getting angry. "If you're not wrong, whose fault is it?"
Ranran didn't back down. "Discord among disciples, disrespect for seniors, infighting among fellow sect members, naturally, it's your fault as the master!"
Su Yi Shui looked at her coldly and suddenly grabbed her by the *back, gritting his teeth. "Say that again?"
*命门 a point on the lower back where energy is focused and circulated during movements and exercises.
Ranran knew he wasn't just bluffing, the current Shifu, was different from the soft-hearted master she knew before.
But she remained fearless and calmly said, "Shifu, when you accepted Gao Cang and the others, their innate talents were already like this, you weren't deceived. You said back then that accepting disciples is about fate, they are all people destined to be with you, so regardless of their talents, you will teach them wholeheartedly. Although you seem to have forgotten the past, they are indeed your disciples. Just like adopted children, how can you abandon them easily?"
Su Yi Shui said coldly, "I didn't kick these useless people out, are they not still on Xishan?"
But Ranran still calmly retorted, "Why do Yue Sheng and the others have no respect for senior brothers? It's all because of your contempt for them, only letting them do menial tasks but not allowing them to train with you. For young cultivators, this is not just punishment, it's also humiliation! But what did they do wrong? They followed you in dangerous situations, even if their abilities are lacking, they never backed down when facing demons and monsters. Even after you became irritable due to the Spirit Spring's possession, mocking and ridiculing them often, they had never thought of leaving. Now, they are being looked down upon and bullied by the juniors, but you didn't differentiate right from wrong. You punished them all without a valid reason, why should I accept the punishment to fetch water?"
Su Yi Shui laughed, mocking the rare display of obstinacy by the girl before him. "Just because my skills are greater than yours! Isn't that enough reason for you to be punished?"
Ranran knew Su Yi Shui was using her own words against her.
Ranran rarely showed her stubbornness, but once she did, nothing could sway her. She coldly said, "Your skills are indeed greater than mine, but a mistake is still a mistake. Masters can make mistakes, its nothing, and they don't even need to admit it to their disciples. I just don't know if there are enough dried-up ponds on Xishan, in case you punish disciples again in future without a legitimate reason!"
Su Yi Shui usually had a deep sense of composure, even when he was angry, his face would still remain cold. However, at this moment, he was truly exasperated by this eloquent girl. Just as he was about to raise his hand, Yuchen and Yutong rushed over and quickly separated the master and disciple. Yutong scolded Ranran loudly for speaking nonsense and then secretly gave her a signal to leave quickly.
Although the master had a smile on his face just now, his eyes were full of killing intent, obviously driven mad by anger because of Ranran.
To avoid the tragic drama of the master killing his disciple at Xishan, as her uncle master, she naturally had to step in and ward off the disaster for this little girl, urgently separating these two.
Ranran was also beside herself today. After speaking her mind, she felt slightly better, so she took this opportunity to leave and quickly ran back to her room.
By now, the sun was setting. The other disciples had all gone down the mountain to fetch water, leaving the courtyard empty.
Now that Ranran's anger had subsided, she laid down weakly under the young rebirth tree in the courtyard, looking up at the green leaves swaying in the wind. She murmured, "Today, Shifu will probably come to uproot you, and then we will both go to the *underworld together…"
*黄泉 is land of the dead
Thinking of this, Ranran still did not regret her impulsiveness earlier.
She was sincere about everything she said. Rather than being disappointed in her Shifu, but more like hoping "master" would improve, wanting him to live up to expectations.
*恨铁不成钢 literally hating iron for not becoming steel
She hoped her rebuke would make her Shifu come round , in case he recovered from effects of the soul cleansing talisman and would regret how he had treated the senior brothers.
But upon careful thought, the rules of Xishan were already deviant. Didn't Su Yi Shui also become arrogant when his abilities grew, eventually toppling her, his former master?
In this sense, Yue Sheng and the others were just following Su Yi Shui's teachings. If they had no respect for their elders and became arrogant with growing abilities, would they end up killing their master to prove their Dao?
Will the rules of Xishan will have to be rewritten in the future? Without killing one's master, one cannot graduate as a disciple! But then, then there won't be enough masters to go around. Writing the rules is indeed a skill…
Lost in her thoughts, she lazily lay under the tree, waiting. But there was no angry Su Yi Shui, coming to settle the score. Instead, second uncle master brought food over to her.
"Even if you are angry with your master, you shouldn't skip meals?
Ranran got up and asked Yutong tentatively "Second uncle master… Has Shifu cooled down yet?"
Yutong looked at her cautiously probing expression and couldn't help but laugh in annoyance, "So you actually know fear? How come you were talking back like you were courting death just now?"
Ranran grinned sheepishly and didn't say anything, just took the bowl and chopsticks and ate heartily. Tonight, she had stewed a soup for four hours, and it would be a pity not to eat it.
After finishing the meal, the unpleasant feeling in her heart also nearly dissipated. Ranran was never one to dwell too long in melancholy. She took out the second volume of the Fantian Records that she carried with her and started flipping through it page by page.
Back when she and Shifu were lurking in the Gao Kan camp on the front lines, she had heard Mu Ranwu telling Tu Jiuyuan that she needed more talismans.
This indicated that Elder Jiu wasn't with Mu Ranwu but in the hands of the Crimson Gate. And the spiders behind the village and the incomplete words left by Elder Jiu back then still had no solution.
Now, even though Shifu is freed of the Spirit Spring, but his mind was still not sharp. Naturally, she couldn't expect him to venture into the Crimson Gate and rescue Elder Jiu.
So Ranran thought about whether she could find some clues again, but as she read, she felt exhausted, so she lay down under the tree and fell asleep with her eyes closed.
As for Gao Cang and the others who went down the mountain to fetch water, when they heard that Ranran had argued with the master, and refused to go fetch water, everyone gasped in shock.
Finally, when they returned after fetching water, Qiu Xier couldn't help but worry, "Ranran, since Shifu already favors the new disciples, now you openly defied his orders, won't that just make him dislike you even more?"
Ranran shook her head and said indifferently "Anyway he already dislikes me, so might as well speak my mind honestly. If I can persuade Shifu to treat you better, that would be best. If not, being driven out of the sect is also fine. Then I'll just go back home and farm, with no regrets in my heart…"
These are truly Ranran's heartfelt words. If Shifu cannot treat the disciples well, there's no need to delay Gao Cang and their future.
The Foundation Establishment stage during a cultivator's youth is crucial. Spending time in the kitchen dulls their sharpness, and the eldest senior brother and the others might truly end up being unproductive for life.
But it seems that her words, aside from being scorned by others, had no effect. The eldest senior brother and the others still suffered punishment for a night, leaving them sore and tired.
However, after a day passed, when Ranran was baking biscuits in the small kitchen, she suddenly heard Gao Cang calling excitedly at the window, "Ranran, come quickly, Shifu has asked us to meditate in the grass hall!"
Ranran hesitatingly took off her apron, and followed everyone into the hall. Sure enough, both old and new disciples were gathered, all here for their cultivation exercises.
The aftermath of filling the dried-up pond was significant. Now, the new disciples were looking at Gao Cang and the others with unfriendly eyes , and when they sat down there was a clear division, with the middle aisle acting as a boundary.
Ranran was afraid of angering Su Yi Shui, so she deliberately chose to sit behind Gao Cang on a grass mat, using the eldest senior brother's towering figure as a wall, shielding her completely.
Before long, Su Yi Shui arrived in a simple and elegant robe. Now, he no longer dressed simply in old clothes. His clothes, crown accessory on his head, and even the jade pendant at his waist were all exquisite, and look like they were quite expensive.
Ranran had to admit that this more refined Shifu looked even more handsome and extraordinary.
Ranran was avoiding the master, but Su Yi Shui didn't even glance at her when he entered. After everyone sat down, he briefly explained today's exercises for Foundation Establishment before starting the practice.
However, the Foundation Establishment method Su Yi Shui was teaching now was completely different from what he taught Gao Cang and the others before. It was more complex and profound, requiring a high level of comprehension to circulate qi through the meridians.
Ranran tried to follow along, and she had to admit that although Su Yi Shui's current teaching was difficult to comprehend, but once understood, it could greatly improve one's cultivation in a short time.
But for Gao Cang and Ranran, Bai Baishan too, it was particularly challenging. It was like always running on a smooth broad road, thinking one was running well, only to suddenly come to a steep cliff. Not to mention running, even climbing would be very difficult.
While the other new disciples were smoothly circulating their qi with steam rising from their heads, the old disciples remained unchanged, showing no signs of gathering true qi.
Even Ranran herself tried several times to circulate her vitality qi but had to give up because she felt blockages in her meridians recently.
After two hours, Su Yi Shui suddenly opened his eyes and looked at the several senior disciples who showed no progress, saying coldly, "As disciples who have entered the sect first, being lax in your exercises and falling behind, such laziness, should you not be punished?"
When Su Yi Shui said this, the new disciples couldn't help but show gloating expressions, taking joy in their seniors' misfortune.
Su Yi Shui then looked straight towards Ranran, who was hiding behind Gao Cang, his gaze piercing.
Gao Cang couldn't bear it and silently shifted the cushion under his buttocks, revealing his little junior sister behind him rather heartlessly.
Ranran lifted her head and cast a glance at him, but Su Yi Shui continued to stare at her, waiting for her response.
Ranran sighed, somewhat understanding the meaning of "Seek revenge for even a small grievance " from "Playing Classics".
But there was indeed nothing to protest about this punishment, so she simply said, "Shifu is right, we will accept the punishment!"
Then the four of them slinked out of the hall, ready to drain the pond everyone had just filled.