Zhao Rong bent down, released the cat, and waved goodbye.

He raised his hand to press down his hat, stuffed the odds and ends he had picked up into his arms, and continued down the mountain holding the Tingni Purple Gold Furnace in both hands.

I walked on the moss-covered bluestone steps, not daring to walk too fast, otherwise I would easily slip.

This winding mountain path is hidden in the quiet and lush forest. For Zhao Rong at this moment, its advantage is that it is sparsely populated. However, looking back, the winding path makes him lose his vision in the distance, which makes him feel a little uneasy.

The gurgling sound of the clear spring beside the road is the only noise in this quiet place.

Zhao Rong hurried on his way in silence.

At a certain moment, Gui's voice sounded in his heart. Zhao Rong curled his lips and looked at the Tingni Purple Gold Furnace in his hand. The next second, the divine furnace indeed changed!

However, what Zhao Rong did not expect was that the divine furnace did not become smaller, but larger!

Getting big!

Zhao Rong was shocked and felt like a mountain barbarian was growing in his hands.

His body tilted, and he fell straight into the rushing spring on the right. He quickly let go and pulled back violently. After escaping from danger, he lost his balance and staggered.

Bang!

The spring water splashed, and a few flying birds were startled in the forest on one side.

Zhao Rong stood up and looked silently at the purple gold furnace that had fallen into the spring water. At this moment, it was about five feet high and wide, and half as tall as him.

The cold, clear spring that flowed hurriedly from a great height encountered an obstacle, deviated from the waterway, overflowed onto the stone steps, and wet someone's cloth shoes.

Zhao Rong raised his eyebrows, "You call this the size of a fist?"

Gui was still in shock at the scene he saw when he gained control of the Tingni Purple Gold Furnace with his spiritual consciousness and probed into the furnace. He was speechless for a moment.

The angrier Zhao Rong got, the calmer his tone became. “I’m sorry, Zhao’s fist isn’t that big, and I can’t hold it. I’m sorry to disappoint you.”

He took a deep breath and looked left and right at the winding mountain road above and below, "Change it back for me now!"

Gui recovered and said in a faint voice: "Put your hand back on it."

Ignoring his soaked cloth shoes, Zhao Rong stepped forward, bent down slightly, picked up the furnace cover that had fallen to the side, walked into the spring, and prepared to straighten the Tingni Purple Gold Furnace that had fallen sideways in the spring.

"Will it take another quarter of an hour?"

"No, three breaths will be enough."

Zhao Rong felt relieved.

"What are you doing?"

A woman said.

The voice was cold and clear.

It was like the clear spring that was now soaking Zhao Rong's ankles, sending the bone-chilling coldness into his heart.

Zhao Rong's body stiffened and the movement of his hands stopped.

There is a woman at the lower left looking at him.

The mountain air that was fresh and comfortable a second ago was now as thick as mercury in a grave and was poured into the mouth and nose.

Zhao Rong held his breath.

The leaves move silently and the spring flows silently.

A breeze blew across the green forest, mountain springs, bluestone, ancient furnace, man, and woman.

"say."

The woman's voice was like a silver bottle shattering.

She looked coldly at the bent man with his back to him above her, and the three-legged ancient stove lying on the pebbles at his feet.

Zhao Rong raised his eyes slightly, continued to hold one ear of the stove with one hand, used his body to block the view with the other hand, quietly put down the stove cover, and took out a rag from his arms.

Then, the man turned around and said blankly to the woman who appeared at the corner below and was playing with the pure white jade Ruyi in her hand:

"Ah, what?"

Lan Yuqing did not repeat himself, but took a closer look at the man's face which was half covered by the hat.

The next second, she suddenly said, "Take off your hat."

The man was slightly stunned when he heard the words, then he smiled and nodded. Where the woman couldn't see, he arched his right foot that was immersed in the mountain spring and grabbed into the sand and stones.

The man raised his right hand, freed two fingers of the hand that was holding the rag, pinched the low brim of the hat, paused for a moment, then lifted it up with force, revealing his entire face in an instant.

Lan Yuqing stopped playing with the jade ruyi and squinted her eyes to look intently at the man's smiling face.

After a moment.

She frowned slightly.

He climbed up the stairs, step by step, approaching the man standing next to a fallen ancient furnace.

Zhao Rong saw that the woman was getting closer and closer to him, with a more "flattering" smile. The sole of her foot that was gripping the ground was already deeply sunken in the sand, so that her whole body was slightly tilted to the right. However, because he was bending over "respectfully", no one could see anything.

He caught a glimpse of the gap between the dense forests on the right side and silently calculated the distance. His right hand, which was holding the rag and hat, rested on the ear of the Ting Ni Purple Gold Furnace and extended a finger to touch the surface of the furnace. The contact time had already exceeded three breaths.

Gui asked whether the furnace should be closed, and Zhao Rong silently said to wait a little longer.

He didn't know whether he had been discovered or not, and a feeling of luck and determination was intertwined in his heart.

So he was waiting, waiting for an expression from that unknown woman whose cultivation level he didn't know, no matter how subtle, he would immediately make up his mind to run or stay.

However, the woman had a blank expression on her face, and she kept looking straight ahead without looking at him, which made him even more uneasy.

Seeing the woman getting closer, Zhao Rong's mind was like a string of a musical instrument, becoming more and more tense.

The sound of footsteps hitting the bluestone steps rang out one after another, and Zhao Rong felt ridiculously that it was in sync with his heartbeat.

Boom, boom, boom…

Finally, after she took a step forward, the two were only three meters apart, and this was already a red line drawn in Zhao Rong's heart.

Zhao Rong secretly made up his mind, and said to Gui, he was about to put away the furnace and jump out in the next second, running away, desperately jumping from the gap in the dense forest, not knowing what would greet him down there...

The woman took another step.

Zhao Rong narrowed his eyes, but opened them wide in an instant and hurriedly stopped in his heart.

Because a cold and clear voice sounded again.

"What are you doing here cleaning the stove?"

Lan Yuqing tilted his head slightly and asked, then glanced at the man's ordinary face, his servant's clothes, and the stove that had fallen into the spring water.

"To answer the fairy's question... the incense ash in this stove was soaked in cat urine last night. I don't know which evil wild cat did it. The smell is a bit too strong... Well, today is a day off, so the deacon Chen in the temple asked us to move it out and wash it. Well, you smell it, there is still a bit of smell, it just can't be washed off... Another brother went down the mountain to get firewood ash, that thing should be..."

Lan Yuqing saw the errand boy in front of her holding the rag and explaining awkwardly, and he also leaned forward a few steps, spread his hands and opened his arms, exuding the smell of cat, as if he wanted to confirm something to her.

She frowned and tilted her head, covering her mouth and nose, "Don't come over! I know."

After saying this, he quickened his pace, passed the man and the stove that had fallen into the spring water, and walked up the stairs and left.

Zhao Rong stood there with his arms open at both sides, holding a rag and a hat in his hands, looking innocent, and watched the Taoist nun leave. Seeing her back disappear around the corner, he stood there in silence for a while, suddenly blinked, shrugged, put on his hat again, exhaled lightly, and returned to the stove.

"Sorry," it said.

Zhao Rong raised his eyebrows.

First time.

"It's okay, let's go now, this road is not as safe as I thought."

Zhao Rong glanced at the direction where the unknown nun disappeared. Then, he bent down and held the furnace ears with both hands, preparing to straighten the Thundering Purple Gold Furnace that had fallen forward. "Oh, put it away quickly. How can I carry it when it's so big?"

"Yes, but it can only shrink to the size of one foot at the beginning."

Zhao Rong asked curiously, "Why?"

Gui said in a sad tone, "Because...it is refining the elixir."

Zhao Rong's heart trembled.

He quickly used both hands to straighten the Tingni Purple Gold Furnace, lowered his head and looked inside.

Empty.