Zhou Feihua burst into laughter and pinched Ranran's tender cheeks, saying, "If you were a man, with this sweet talking mouth of yours, I'm afraid many girls would fall for you!"
When she talked about Su Yu, her tone was relaxed.
It was clear that Consort Jing had already emerged from the bitter and unspoken feelings she had when she left the palace. Spending time in the vast world had made her heart wild; how could she be willing to be a caged bird again?
Even if Zhou Feihua still had some lingering feelings for Su Yu, she was unwilling to go back to the past. Moreover, her father had publicly stated that she was dead, so she would not return and cause her father more worry.
After sharing her own troubles, Zhou Feihua was actually more interested in knowing Ranran's recent situation.
When they last met, Su Yi Shui had sealed the spiritual spring with his own body, making him unusually violent and temperamental.
But now, hearing from Ranran that they had returned the spiritual spring, Su Yi Shui should have returned to normal. However, when he saw her just now, he looked indifferent and even furrowed his brow, saying, "Do I know you?"
Zhou Feihua was somewhat surprised, feeling that Su Yi Shui's mind didn't seem to be all there.
Explaining this would take quite some time. Ranran first asked if Consort Jing was tired, then talked about their journey from the Netherworld Realm and the Soul cleansing talisman that had been cast on Su Yi Shui.
Zhou Feihua listened lying down at first, then sat up straight when she heard that Su Yi Shui had completely forgotten his affection for Mu Qingge, she snorted coldly "When I first met Qingge, he did get angry with her because of Su Yu. It turns out that he already had improper thoughts about his master back then. Was it because he couldn't have her, he wanted to destroy her? That was why he harmed Mu Qingge?"
Ranran felt it necessary to clear Su Yi Shui's name and said, "It's not like that. It was actually Mu Qingge who decided to change his destiny and prevent him from becoming a demon lord. That's what caused the misunderstanding."
Zhou Feihua didn't believe it and coldly snorted, "Why are you like Mu Qingge, always speaking well of him?"
Hmm… Ranran thought that if she disclosed that she was Mu Qingge right now, given Zhou Feihua's temperament, she might brandish a sword and demand to know what conspiracy she had with Su Yi Shui.
So Ranran decided to wait for a more suitable opportunity to reveal such explosive news.
However, she was very curious about how she and Zhou Feihua had met in their past lives. Bringing up old memories, Zhou Feihua also felt a little melancholic.
"In the past, during the rebellion of the Prince, Su Yu was still young and couldn't support himself in the court. My father was neutral at the time and didn't want to get involved in the royal family's internal strife. Once, Su Yu's whereabouts were accidentally leaked, and he was attacked. I was part of his entourage. At the time, a woman in red descended from the sky and saved Su Yu. That's how we met. Afterwards, Mu Qingge persuaded my father to support Su Yu, and I became a guard for the war goddess in the army."
Ranran murmured to herself, "I always couldn't figure it out, what kind of providence made me… made her dare to risk everything and completely change it?"
Zhou Feihua also sighed deeply. Mu Qingge had not only changed Su Yishui's sovereign destiny back then, but also altered the fate of both her and Su Yu.
She said softly, "Back then, Mu Qingge seemed to have seen some heavenly mandate that shouldn't have been seen by mortals. Su Yi Shui's fate was akin to that of King Zhou. Such a fate could make one rule the world as a supreme ruler, but the end would be extremely lonely. She once said that while people thought she sought fame and reputation and wanted to save the world, but she knew that she only wanted to save one person…"
Ranran listened quietly. Before, she couldn't understand the feelings she had in her past life, but now she understood them somewhat.
The present Su Yi Shui, who had lost part of his memories, was already so aloof and arrogant. The past Su Yi Shui had been entangled in the vortex of power struggles, so he must have been extremely radical.
Back then, he had willingly invited the spiritual spring to possess him, wanting to leverage its power but not wanting to be completely controlled by it. So he chose to endure soul-rending pain every moment. If no one would save him, wouldn't he be floating in an endless sea of suffering?
Thinking back to Su Yi Shui's secret room in his home at the capital, where the walls were covered in shocking claw marks, one could imagine the pain he endured at the time.
Even though Su Yi Shui now resented Mu Qingge for changing his destiny, if Ranran faced such a choice as well, she would probably do the same without hesitation…
Talking about the past, Zhou Feihua suddenly remembered something Mu Qingge had told her back then, "But she once told me something nonsensical. She said that the key to the Netherworld Realm suddenly fell into her and Su Yi Shui's hands, which was quite strange… Someone else like her, also seemed to have secretly glimpsed providence before…"
Ranran also sat up abruptly. She asked in a low voice, "Who was it, and where did they see providence?"
Zhou Feihua shook her head, "Qingge didn't want to say more at the time, just saying that if I knew too much, I would invite trouble…"
At this point, Zhou Feihua sighed, "I once asked Mu Qingge, but she said she couldn't remember."
Ranran frowned, "Mu Qingge? When did you see her?"
Zhou Feihua said, "Just yesterday, I took people to transport lime from the nearby town. We encountered her on the outskirts of Huxi Town. She was leading a few disciples to capture traitors in that town. It's said that her disciple Wang Suizhi had been tempted by the Demonic Sect and secretly took away some of her newly acquired disciples, so she tracked them all the way here to punish the rebels."
Ranran's eyes widened, "Did she… find them?"
Zhou Feihua said, "She should be close to finding them. When she hurriedly left me, her attendants reported something, and it seemed like they got a clue. But I told her that I'm in Qiongqi village, so if she has time, she would probably come looking for me…"
Ranran knew she couldn't sleep tonight. Time was running out, and if she didn't rescue her god of wealth disciple Wang Suizhi, this devoted disciple would likely be executed by Mu Ranwu that imposter .
So she got up quickly and went to knock on Su Yi Shui's window next door.
Zhou Feihua also followed out, surprised and bewildered, "What are you doing? Are you going to bring Su Yi Shui to create trouble for Mu Qingge?"
Ranran couldn't hide it anymore, and didn't care if Zhou Feihua could handle it. She just said honestly, "Haven't you ever wondered if the present Mu Qingge is still Mu Qingge? On the reincarnation tree, there were originally two fruits…"
After saying that, she tugged at her master's sleeve and said, "Your senior brother is in trouble, do you want to come with me?"
Su Yi Shui didn't have much affection for his senior brothers. Now, he was actually quite disapproving to seeing Xue Ranran protecting those foolish people like a mother hen.
However, he didn't say anything. After all, they were here to investigate Mu Ranwu's whereabouts. Since they had a clue, they naturally had to go and see what was going on.
But when they left the village, Su Yi Shui extended his arm and spun around outside the village. Then he said to Zhou Feihua, "I have set up a spirit shield here. You can enter from the main gate of the village. If there are unknown strangers, do not let them enter, or the spirit shield would no longer be effective."
After that, the two of them disappeared into the night.
Leaving Zhou Feihua alone in the night breeze, confused about what Xue Ranran's words meant…
According to Zhou Feihua, she had met Mu Ranwu when she was leading villagers to buy white lime powder, so Mu Ranwu should also be in Huxi Town at this time.
Ranran took out more pills and gave it to the shop assistants and the children. Then she said, "It's not the end yet, why talk so pessimistically? These Seven Evil Transformation Curses are based on people's greed. You are a good person, believe in yourself to suppress the spread of this curse. Before we come up with a solution, you must hold on!"
While they were talking, Su Yi Shui had quickly checked the entire shop. There was a passage behind the shop leading to the moat, usually convenient for boats to transport grain. The back door was half-open at this time.
The reason why no one was guarding here was that they had already hung the closed sign on the shop's gate. When the people in the shop completed their transformation, these transformed people would certainly be driven by the evil talismans to jump into the river and be dispatched by others.
After the remaining people woke up, they were all shocked by their current state and started wailing in fear.
Wang Suizhi was quick-witted, fearing to attract attention, so he asked them to keep quiet and not scream. Su Yi Shui had already channeled the river water to wash away the sticky foam covering their bodies, and after letting them down, he saw strange runes tattooed on their backs with cinnabar.
It seems that these are why they are transforming.
However, the matter of undoing the talisman is not something Ranran and Su Yi Shui are good at. It seems that they were going to need Elder Jiu to help.
After saving everyone, Ranran planned to temporarily place them in the cave outside Qiongqi village.
The villagers have been frightened badly by the water demons these days. If they see these strange and ghostly figures, they might swarm up and beat them to death with sticks.
Did Mu Ranwu hate Wang Suizhi's betrayal so much that she didn't immediately kill him but used such a sinister method to torture him.
Ranran thought of the people who were accompanying Mu Ranwu, who seemed to be members of the Fantian Sect. Maybe they were eager to create a large number of water demons to expand their power, so they didn't let go of anyone they could use.
Thinking back to the water demons they encountered on the river before, those were just missing fishermen. Obviously, their numbers were not enough, and even adding the few people in this rice shop wouldn't make much difference.
If that's the case, will Mu Ranwu continue to create closed places like the rice shop and curse more people?
Ranran considered if she were Mu Ranwu, where would she go next to continue to harm others.
Thinking of this, she couldn't help but shudder. She just thought of QiongQi village which was full of people,
That village was secluded, out in the middle of nowhere. If the entire village was closed off, and everyone in it underwent a transformation, it would be a while before anyone would notice.
Su Yi Shui also thought of this. After contemplating for a moment, he said mildly, "I shouldn't have left an entry point for the village. I wonder if your old bestie understood what you said?"
If she believed Mu Ranwu's dishonest rhetoric and opened the village gate for her, the entire village would be done for.
In fact, shortly after Su Yi Shui and Xue Ranran left the village, Mu Ranwu already rushed to Qiongqi Village with her people in the night.
The entire village had people on duty at night to guard against water demons. But the person on duty recognized Mu Ranwu from when they were transporting limestone with Zhou Feihua.
Hearing she was here for a visit, they were not suspicious at all, immediately about to open the village gate and laying down wooden planks for them to enter.
Mu Ranwu leisurely stood at the village gate, glanced disdainfully at the limestone-filled ditch, and calmly assessed the surroundings without any expression.
Just as Xue Ranran had anticipated, she was very satisfied with the remote terrain here. Even if the entire village underwent a transformation, there would be no contact with the outside world.
With Mu Qingge's friendship with Zhou Feihua, she believed it would be easy to gain Zhou Feihua's trust.
Although she could directly attack the village, wouldn't it be easier to subdue these fishermen without any fuss?
Thinking like this, Mu Ranwu smiled and prepared to step into the village.
However, to her surprise, the gate only opened a crack before it was immediately closed by a hand. It turned out that Zhou Feihua had arrived at the village gate at some point. She prevented the villagers on duty from opening the gate, just looked closely at the woman outside the fence, showing no joy of reunion.
Mu Ranwu thought that Zhou Feihua who was hiding in this remote place, shouldn't have heard the news of her true identity being exposed on Red Flame Mountain, so she smiled confidently and said, "When I saw you outside the town, I didn't have time to talk to you. Now that I'm free, I came to Qiongqi village to look for you. How about it? Won't you invite me into the village?"
At this moment, Zhou Feihua spoke, "I heard that you asked about Wang Suizhi's whereabouts and mentioned he had betrayed the sect and done something rebellious. Have you… found him already?"
A hint of impatience flashed in Mu Ranwu's eyes, but she smiled again, "Of course I have found him. If such a traitor is not punished, wouldn't it set a bad example for other disciples?"
Zhou Feihua said, "Wang Suizhi is ambitious and greedy for silver. Before the Battle of Fanyao, he embezzled military funds, which shows his character. Such a treacherous disciple, you wouldn't let him off lightly, right?"
Mu Ranwu knew that Wang Suizhi had once embezzled military funds and thus had a feud with Zhou Feihua's father. So she sighed along with Zhou Feihua's words, "I know he is worthless. Now he has dug his own grave. I have a way to deal with him… Feihua, how long more are we to chat across a ditch? Can you open the gate and let me in?"
Zhou Feihua's face showed a hint of dark and unclear expression. Finally, she clasped her fists coldly and said, "It's getting late, and the village has set a rule of not opening the village gate at night. As an outsider, it's not appropriate for me to break the rules. Please go back first, and I will personally go to town and pay a visit tomorrow."
Mu Ranwu didn't come here to socialize or meet friends. The assistants at the rice shop in town, including Wang Suizhi, might successfully undergo their transformation at noon on the day after tomorrow.
By then, more than ten water demons would break out of the rice shop and jump into the water, causing panic throughout the town. Of course, she would not be returning.
Now, it was getting dark, and it will be *midnight soon, the best time for casting the talismans. So she didn't want to waste time talking to Zhou Feihua anymore. She suddenly leaped up, intending to rush through the ditch fence and into the village.
*夜半 称作子时 11pm-1am
However, she didn't expect that when she leaped up, she would collide with an invisible spiritual shield, which immediately repelled her.
After Mu Ranwu was reborn, the reincarnation tree on the Jue peak had withered and died. She hadn't benefited from the nourishment of the reincarnation tree, so her strength was not as strong as before.
Being rebounded by this domineering spiritual shield, she actually spat out a mouthful of blood.
She was in shock: Who had set up such a powerful spiritual shield here? Did they…. already know she was coming?
Actually Su Yi Shui had set up this spiritual shield before he left, to prevent the water demons from retaliating. However, he left a gap at the entrance of the village for the villagers to come and go daily. After all, people in the village still needed to go out during the day to make a living. Leaving only this one gap made it easier to guard.
Mu Ranwu had unfortunately decided to cross the fence instead, and so she suffered a significant repulsion and was injured quite badly.
Knowing she couldn't force her way through, she immediately let her eyes well up with tears, and said softly, "Feihua, what's wrong with you? Have the water demons scared you so much that you don't even recognize an old friend like me?"
Zhou Feihua stared at her face intently, saying clearly, "The actual truth of Wang Suizhi embezzling military funds back then, was probably only known to Mu Qingge and me. Even though he likes money, he is not a greedy person. When he embezzled the funds, it was to prevent Mu Qingge from participating in the battle. He has a special ability, he can see one's fortune, and he can also see the life and death gates of people. When he saw that the area around Fanyao was Mu Qingge's death gate, he came up with this plan, willingly bearing the blame of being greedy, just to stop Mu Qingge from going to Fanyao… He was right, Mu Qingge was indeed killed in the remote Jue mountain not far from Fanyao. At that time, he blamed himself for not having enough spiritual power to see the specific location, otherwise, he definitely could have saved his master…"
She then took a breath and smiled wryly, "Unfortunately, he didn't know that it wasn't that Mu Qingge did not believe in his words, but she was determined to change destiny even if it meant certain death! When Mu Qingge and I were drinking alone, she even joked that with such filial disciples, her life had not been in vain, but it's a pity that the fate between master and disciples were too shallow. If there was another life, she will definitely teach them to achieve greatness… But now you hate Wang Suizhi so much, just because he took away a few newly recruited disciples… You are so petty, you are definitely not Mu Qingge!"
When she heard this, Mu Ranwu finally realized where she had made a mistake. She couldn't help but burst into laughter, "Every single one of you, always talking about Mu Qingge this and Mu Qingge that? Alright, I know she's the best, so perfect that it's suffocating. She's impeccable to her disciples, to her friends… But how did she treat me? I'm her sister by blood! She knew I wasn't cut out for cultivation with such a mediocre foundation, but she dragged me into the world of cultivation. I've been ridiculed and looked down upon ever since!"