The young scholars who came down from the mountain had never heard their master mention anything about stoves.
So when Bai Baishan heard Master Mu's question, he quickly agreed, turned around and ran up the mountain to ask his master if he had left any stove behind.
Su Yishui was tuning his zither strings by the stream pavilion in the courtyard, and when he heard Bai Baishan asking, he answered the question irrelevantly, "Did your junior sister give the things out personally?"
Bai Baishan said respectfully, "You asked Junior Sister to deliver it, and she delivered it without fail. But among the things she brought, there was no alchemy furnace!"
Su Yishui plucked the strings of the newly repaired zither with his long fingers, producing a deep and ancient rhythm. He then lowered his eyes and said, "Tell the people coming down the mountain that the alchemy furnace was made by me from meteorite and black iron mined from the snowy peaks. I just lent it to Mu Qingge. It is not hers. If I am not willing to give it to you, no one else can take it away."
After Bai Baishan remembered what his master had told him, he continued running.
When she went up Baibai Mountain to ask questions, Mu Qingge had been chatting with the remaining three disciples. Although she had just fallen from the tree, Mu Qingge was very talkative and experienced in dealing with people, which was consistent with her experience in two lives.
In just a few words, she had clearly inquired about the family backgrounds of Su Yishui's several new disciples.
Ranran didn't say much. Whenever Mu Qingge asked her, she would just smile foolishly as if she was mesmerized by Mu Qingge.
It's not that her family background has any unspeakable secrets. Ran Ran is a man of many thoughts. She feels that Mu Qingge and her master have too many grievances and entanglements, and now they are still enemies and friends. What if this Mu Qingge does not change his evil nature and uses her family as a threat to force her to murder her master?
So when Gao Cang saw that she didn't say anything and couldn't wait to answer for her, Ran Ran interrupted the eldest senior brother at the right time, pointed at the persimmon tree beside the mountain road and asked with a smile: "Master Mu, are you thirsty? Do you want me to pick some persimmons for you to eat?"
Mu Qingge smiled and shook her head, and looked at the little girl named Xue Ranran a few more times.
Among Su Yishui's disciples, this little girl is probably the smartest and pretty one...
As her mind raced, she suddenly reached out and grasped Ranran's slender wrist, squinting her eyes to carefully appreciate her pulse and spiritual power.
However, after grasping it, there was nothing, no echo, and no spiritual wood aura... This girl is just an ordinary person with mediocre qualifications and no outstanding qualities.
Su Yishui used these misfits as an excuse to reject her outright and refused to continue their relationship as master and apprentice...
She remembered that before she died, she clearly heard Su Yishui's heart-wrenching song... Why did he look so cold when they met again?
Did he know about the spiritual fruit that fell first...
Thinking of this, Mu Qingge took a deep breath. She had asked Master Jiuhua, Kaiyuan Zhenren, tactfully, but he didn't know how many spiritual fruits grew on the tree.
What’s more, what about Su Yishui who has been living in seclusion!
The unripe fruit was squeezed out sixteen years ago, which shows that "she" had no will to survive. Now there is no trace of her, so she should be gone.
She just needs to work hard and manage everything well.
Thinking of this, Mu Qingge felt relieved, but when she heard Bai Baishan's message, something seemed to be swirling in her eyes. Tears welled up in her eyes, which made people feel sympathy.
Wei Fang, who was standing by, widened his eyes when he heard this: "You Xishan Sect are too arrogant. You should know that this furnace is used to refine elixirs for His Majesty..."
Before he could finish his words, Mu Qingge gave him a sharp look. Wei Fang immediately realized that he had said something wrong, so he shut up in annoyance.
Since he was rejected, Mu Qingge no longer mentioned the alchemy furnace. Instead, he talked about missing his old house in Xishan and wanted to go up the mountain for a walk and take a look.
Unfortunately, when Mu Qingge wanted to revisit Lingxi Palace and go to the back mountain to take a look at the ice lotus that she had planted with her own hands, her master rejected all her requests.
Poor Bai Baishan was so exhausted from climbing up and down the mountain to deliver the message that he could hardly straighten his back. In the end, he had to gasp for breath and carefully consider his words to convey his master's words so as not to hurt Master Mu's feelings.
However, having already taken back the precious sword bestowed by His Majesty, Mu Qingge did not say much. She just gently instructed a few young scholars from Xishan to take good care of the lotus pond in the Lingjiu Palace in Xishan, and then left with the Jiuhua disciples.
Everyone knows that Mu Qingge loves lotus the most. It is said that in order to collect the rare ice lotus, he went to the Yaochi Pool in the Snow Mountain to slay a dragon and snatch it. He is really obsessed with it!
So her instructions were reasonable and logical, and she sounded like she was reluctant to part with her former favorite.
However, after returning, when Ranran was washing vegetables, cutting meat and chatting with Second Uncle, Second Uncle sighed slightly.
Few people know that the reason why Mu Qingge built the lotus pond was entirely for Su Yishui. At that time, his heart fire was too strong, and he could not control the Jindan that he had cultivated early, and he almost collapsed and died.
Fortunately, Mu Qingge found a pool of Yaochi Ice Lotus and blessed it personally. They soaked in the lotus pond for 49 days, slowly guiding Su Yishui's mind back to normal.
At this point, Second Uncle had to admit that although Mu Qingge's behavior was weird and absurd, he was very kind to his disciples.
Unfortunately, she did not follow the right path, and ended up causing great disaster and ruining her reputation.
After hearing what Second Uncle Master said, Ran Ran suddenly understood.
She had been a little puzzled before as to why Mu Qingge mentioned only the lotus pond when she was leaving.
Now that she thinks about it, although she was nostalgic for the flowers and plants in the West Hill, she was actually hoping to evoke Su Yishui's memories, remind him of her goodness, and restore the relationship between them as master and disciple, right?
After finishing her meal, Ranran took a walk in the mountains. She even went to the back of the mountain to take a look at the lotus pond.
Now it is autumn and the season of winter is about to begin. The lotus flowers have long since withered and become completely withered. It is hard to see what is so memorable about this lotus pond.
She looked at it for a while, rolled up her trousers, and planned to take a shovel to try to dig out some lotus roots by the pond.
Ever since the day she revealed her mortal ambitions to her master, which was to go down the mountain early to serve her parents, get married, have children and live a stable life, her master's expression when he looked at her showed some displeasure.
Ran Ran thought that it was probably because the master had been in seclusion for too long and had not eaten any delicious food. So she planned to make some refreshing lotus root dumplings today.
Unfortunately, the edge of the pool was too slippery, and Ranran almost slipped into the pool several times. She was so scared that she quickly stepped back as she couldn't swim, and returned with only her feet covered in mud.
Because his feet were dirty, Ran Ran rinsed them with a bucket and decided to take a bath at the same time. As an alchemist, the most convenient thing is to have warm hot water all day long.
When you want to take a hot bath, you can use the several large stoves for boiling medicine in the alchemy room. But after taking a bath, Ran Ran looked at the alchemy stove that Second Uncle Master sent back to him a few days ago. It was black and dirty, which was a bit unbearable.
Since I have taken a bath, the alchemy furnace has also been refreshed. Perhaps my sincerity has touched the alchemy furnace, and the next time I open the furnace to make the elixir, it will not embarrass me.
With this thought in mind, Ran Ran found a rag and some alkaline water to remove dirt and stains, and wiped the alchemy furnace while humming a beautiful tune.
After wiping it a few times, Ranran felt that the base of the alchemy furnace was quite good, and there were even beautiful patterns on it, so she rubbed it more vigorously.
After wiping most of the stove clean, she discovered that the stove was originally cast from a material that looked like gold but was not gold, but perhaps the bottom of the stove was burned, so it was repaired with a black metal.
It can be seen that the repair was done very carefully, even the patterns were closed and repaired. Ran Ran accidentally saw a line of small characters engraved on the bottom of the stove.
She looked at it carefully and read it out softly - "Nine-turn Black Iron".
After reading, Ran Ran was silent for a while, and then his eyes gradually widened: Could this "Nine-turn Black Iron"... be the one that Mu Qingge wants to take away?
Since Jiuhua Sect came all the way here specifically to get this thing, it must be precious and rare. But the master just casually gave this stove to a newbie like her?
Ranran felt a little uneasy, so she quickly washed her hands, then picked up the wild persimmons she had just picked at the foot of the mountain and ran to find her master.
When she entered her master's courtyard, she didn't find anyone. She searched all the way and ended up back at the dried-up lotus pond.
Before she saw anyone, she heard the melodious sound of a guqin.
This simple tune with ancient melody has a lingering sense of throbbing. Ranran couldn't help but slow down his pace and listen to the leisurely music.
At this moment, the man with long hair draped over his shoulders sat cross-legged on the wooden plank bridge, closing his eyes and plucking the strings of his zither while facing the withered lotus pond.
At first, it was like a nocturne, with the moonlight half exposed, and gradually the sound of the piano became louder, like the fighting on the battlefield, with clanging sounds. In a trance, Ran Ran seemed to have come to the battlefield where the fighting was noisy, and countless arrows were shooting at her.
But the next moment, she was pulled onto the white tiger, and someone shouted in her ear with endless anger: "You save the world, why don't you save yourself first?"
In a trance, the exciting piano music calmed down again, and she came back to her senses. She touched her itchy face and found that it was covered with tears.
At this time, the sound of the zither was about to stop, but the fragrance of lotus flowers was everywhere. Just as Su Yishui closed his eyes and played the zither, the lotus pond that had already bloomed was once again full of lotus flowers...
The ice lotus in Yaochi is extraordinary. Each flower is white and bright, as if it were carved from ice and snow, crystal clear and bright...
Ran Ran didn't even have time to wipe her tears. She came to the lotus pond with a look of surprise, looked at the blooming flowers and said, "Master, you really have magical powers. This flower..."
At this point, she paused slightly.
Just now, Mu Qingge said that she hoped someone would take good care of her lotus pond. Then, the master used music to disperse his energy, causing the pond to be filled with beautiful and rare ice lotuses.
These former master and disciple really have a tacit understanding!
People say that there is something mixed up between Su Yishui and Mu Qingge, and now it seems that it is true!
The master's words were very cold and hard. But the guqin just now was clearly filled with tenderness and reluctance.
Ranran had heard many stories of master-disciple grudges told by her third senior sister, and her mind was very sharp. She figured out in one go that Su Yishui was tough on Mu Qingge but had a soft heart.
If he still cared about their past friendship, why didn't he let anyone go up the mountain? If Mu Qingge could see the beloved lotus flowers in the pond, their irreconcilable hatred would be gone!