Unexpectedly, Ran Ran nodded and said with relief: "Master, you also know that Su Yu is not a good person. You must be wondering why I am so much better than you. In fact, I think it is because you stayed in that evil palace for too long and your spiritual power has been greatly reduced! As a woman, you should be more careful... Why don't I help you get rid of it, so that you don't fall into that dragon pool and tiger's den again."

As she said this, she ignored Mu Qingge's wide-open eyes, sealed her mouth completely, then put a sleeping talisman on her, tied her up and stuffed her into a cabinet beside her.

Mu Ranwu was stuck with a golden talisman and couldn't wake up for a while. This cabinet was empty and placed here for decoration. No one should turn it over for a while. When the people in the palace were withdrawn, Gao Cang and Qiu Xier would come to deal with her, so that she would not wake up and come back to the palace to make trouble.

Ran Ran's figure was similar to that of Master Mu. Because Master Mu had a facial injury, she always wore a veil on her head when she went in and out. So Ran Ran didn't have to bother with disguises and could just wear a veil to cover her face.

After she put on Master Mu's clothes, she tried to clear her throat and lower her voice to imitate Master Mu's speech. She was born with a parrot voice and could sing and speak very realistically. She actually managed to get back to the car and returned to the palace.

Although she imitated the voice very well, she only uttered simple commands such as "set out" and "get out", and remained silent for the rest of the time. She returned to the west palace very smoothly.

After all, Empress Zhan liked to ride in a luxurious carriage with a high roof, and she went in and out several times a day. With her guards and badges, she could enter the palace smoothly, and the guards guarding the palace gates were no longer surprised.

As for Empress Zhan, she was depressed and unwilling to talk, which was not surprising to the palace maids and eunuchs serving her.

In the past few days, Mu Ranwu's temper has been erratic due to her disfigured face. When she suddenly stopped talking, the waiters below felt relieved, and no one was so shameless as to rush up to her and show her courtesy.

When Ran Ran returned to the West Palace, he waved his hand to dismiss his followers and walked around the room. The room was very luxurious, with expensive jewelry piled on the table and several gorgeous clothes hanging on the screen.

Ran Ran knew that Master Mu loved luxurious things, and after taking a tour around her room, she found that it was true.

Although that Su Yu was using Master Mu Xian, he was really generous. For a woman like this, it would be a bit difficult for Master to support her with just the medical expenses.

Ran Ran thought for a while, then sat on the bed and tried to mobilize his true energy.

Just as the master said, the true energy in my dantian disappeared without a trace the moment I entered the palace, and I couldn't gather it up no matter what.

Of course, when you sit cross-legged and regulate your breathing, you can still circulate your meridians and stay healthy.

Ran Ran felt that Master Mu was really desperate in order to avoid the three major sects. If you stay in such an aura for a long time, even the highest level of cultivation will be greatly damaged.

Logically speaking, if the Immortal Master has the same ability as the Master, he can definitely start his own business. But for some reason, this Immortal Master Mu is always used to relying on others, using others as knives, or being used as a knife by others...

Is this her true character?

Ranran simply couldn't imagine why the woman who used to drink as much as she wanted and indulge herself in the world was now living in such a timid way.

Thinking of this, she became even more curious about Su Yu. How deep was his scheming, to be able to deceive Mu Qingge in two lives and use her for his own purposes?

But the most urgent task now is to find the location of the master. Thinking of Mu Qingge saying that the master should still be in the palace, Ran Ran felt that this made sense. Even if she couldn't find the master, she could find the spiritual spring on the master's neck.

Thinking of this, she took out the small compass made by Uncle Zeng Yi. This compass was the same as the one Qin Xuanjiu had taken. It could capture weak wave surges when approaching monsters.

Ran Ran did not plan to act at night. The palace of Da Qi was too big, she could not use her true Qi, and acting at night would attract attention.

So, taking advantage of the rare sunny day, she put on her veil, and gracefully led a few palace maids to take a walk in the Yu Garden.

When the concubines who were in groups of three or four saw Empress Zhan, they all looked at her from a distance with a hint of disdain in their eyes.

After all, Mu Qingge, a woman who was neither a concubine nor a concubine, occupied the best things in the palace and shared the honor and favor of His Majesty, which was indeed a cause for envy and hatred.

Ranran hid her face in the veil and walked around seemingly casually, but she was actually checking the small compass hanging around her neck.

There was a spiritual spring on the master's body, and the little compass should be able to sense some of the demon's aura. She walked back and forth several times and found that every time she went northeast of the palace gate, the compass would tremble a few times, as if it was moving.

She looked towards the northeast, where there was a tall pavilion. It was said to be where the previous emperor enshrined the founding heroes, and it was built right in the center of Wentan.

Wentan was expanded twenty years ago and has become a lake of considerable size.

However, when she was about to walk towards Wentan, which is now Wenhu Lake, she was stopped and told that it was a restricted area of ​​the imperial palace and no one was allowed to approach.

Ran Ran was just curious and asked why this place was a forbidden area. The guards looked at each other and one of them said with a smile: "You know, the day before yesterday, an assassin came and fled all the way to Wen Lake. In the end, he accidentally slipped and fell down. The body has not been retrieved yet. It's such an unlucky place, you'd better not get close to it."

Ran Ran knew that he couldn't get close now. But after hearing what the guard said, he felt nervous.

She could only leave, silently comforting herself: Even if Master temporarily lost his spiritual power in the palace, he would never be drowned in such a small place. There must be some trick here, she must quickly find out what's wrong with the lake...

Just as she was absorbed in her thoughts, a female voice suddenly rang out from behind her: "Why are you still here? Have you been blinded by the wealth and fame?"

Ranran didn't even notice someone approaching. She turned around cautiously and saw that it was a concubine with a bright temperament, dressed in red, with thick eyebrows and big eyes, standing behind her with angry eyes. Then, she grabbed her wrist without any hesitation and slipped into a pavilion nearby.

"All of you go down. I want to talk to Empress Zhan for a while." The concubine in red dress and beautiful eyebrows ordered the servants.

Given Master Mu's annoying personality, Ran Ran wasn't sure whether Mu Qingge had offended the empress, so she just kept silent and let the empress speak for herself.

Seeing that she didn't say anything, the lady in red seemed to be so anxious that she gnashed her teeth and whispered, "What's wrong with you? Why do you have to live in the palace for a long time? If you don't have a place to stay, my father has a separate house in Ancheng, Northwest. You can go there to rest and recuperate. As for the poison in the resentful water, I will also find a way to get you some herbs to relieve it. If you stay here any longer, I'm afraid you will be sold out without knowing what happened!"

When she said this, the woman in red looked as if she wanted to throw her out of the palace immediately. However, it didn't look like she was jealous, but... concerned from the bottom of her heart.

Judging from what the lady in red said, she should be an old acquaintance of Mu Qingge from twenty years ago, and she does not approve of Mu Qingge staying with Su Yu.

It seemed that she had a deep understanding of the emperor's scheming and seemed very afraid that Master Mu would suffer a loss.

Seeing that "Mu Qingge" just stood there blankly without saying anything, the woman in red became anxious: "I saw you leaving the palace earlier, and I thought I had persuaded you, but why did you go to Tianmai Mountain and come back again?"

Xue Ranran tentatively whispered, "...Su Yishui was arrested, did you know?"

The lady in red was stunned for a moment, then laughed coldly: "Isn't this good? You have already died once, so don't be obsessed with evil again. Why do you care about a demon like Su Yishui? Can he really do what you want and become a good person? He is rotten to the core, there is no hope. Let him and the emperor fight each other, and you should stay away from all this, that is the right thing to do."

Ran Ran didn't expect that this red-dressed concubine would have such a low opinion of her master's character. Even if she was Su Yu's concubine, she couldn't slander her master like this!

And this "dog-eat-dog" situation...it seems that she doesn't have a very good impression of the emperor either.

At this time, a eunuch came over and said to the woman in red with a fake smile: "Empress Jing, why are you here? Your father, Lord Zhou, just came to see the emperor and is here to pay his respects to you. He is waiting outside your palace gate."

After hearing this, the woman in red, Concubine Jing, glared at the eunuch coldly, turned around and strode away.

However, her gait was not like the lotus-stepping steps of other palace concubines. Instead, she walked with long strides, neatly and gracefully, and it seemed as if she had a foundation in martial arts.

Just as Ran Ran was about to go back, he saw Master Mu's beloved disciple, Lin Yeting, the son of Prime Minister Lin, who was led by the eunuch to look for his mentor Mu Qingge.

Lin Yeting should have seen Concubine Jing approaching to talk to Mu Qingge. After paying a polite greeting to his teacher, he said to him familiarly, "Although Concubine Jing's father is the Minister of War, both father and daughter are a pair of dullards. I heard that Lord Zhou Dao has been reprimanded by His Majesty many times recently. It seems that he has lost the emperor's favor... Before she entered the palace, she seemed to have a very good relationship with you, Master. So I am brave enough to say something. You should avoid suspicion, so as not to be dragged down by them..."

When Ranran heard this, he immediately understood that Concubine Jing's father, Zhou Dao, was the old boss of General Qin Xuanjiu of Wangxiang Pass.

When someone reported Qin Xuanjiu about the soldiers jumping into the river at Wangxiang Pass, it was Lord Zhou Dao who single-handedly recommended the Qin general.

However, Zhou Dao and the treacherous Prime Minister Lin have always been sworn enemies. Now this kid Lin Yeting has found an opportunity to make remarks, obviously trying to help his father.

Xue Ranran had a natural aversion to the Lin father and son. Although they had never worked together, she had smelled their stench for a long time.

And if Lin Yeting kept following her, she would not be able to do anything.

So Ran Ran tightened her throat, imitated Master Mu's voice, and coldly said the master's one word: "Get lost!"

After saying this, she walked towards her palace without looking back.

Although Lin Yeting knew that his mentor had been in a bad temper these past two days, he never expected that she would reprimand him so rudely today. He was stunned for a moment.

But then he remembered that Concubine Jing Zhou Feihua was once a close friend of Mu Qingge, and he immediately realized that what he had said just now was too inconsiderate and might have displeased his master.

Although his master was unhappy, Lin Yeting was not too frightened.

Does she really think she is a deity? Although His Majesty's worship of her is grand, the day when the favor is withdrawn will also catch people off guard.

Although he called the woman "Master", he was instructed by his father to stay by her side to monitor her. Did she really think that he, the son of a prime minister, was a young boy who could be summoned and dismissed at will?

Master Lin couldn't help but snorted coldly, then turned around and left.

After Ranran returned to the West Palace, he dismissed his attendants, prepared to change into neat clothes, and waited for the night to come.

When she had nothing to do, she would sit cross-legged and regulate her breathing, hoping to calm her mind so that she could distinguish the master's voice amid the noise of the palace. But no matter how hard she listened, there was no sound of the master.

However, she did hear some other irrelevant sounds.

I only heard her "favorite disciple" Lin Yeting whispering to someone not far from the West Palace: "That old fellow Zhou Dao doesn't know how to behave and is unwilling to move his position. He has to be taught a lesson... I heard that the emperor has been changing the name of Concubine Jing for several nights in a row recently. Concubine Jing is being favored continuously... In this way, Zhou Dao can still turn things around with the help of his daughter!"

Another eunuch said in a shrill voice, "If the Prime Minister is worried about this, it's easy to deal with. Recently, Concubine Jing's cousin has also joined the Imperial Guard. I heard that they grew up together as childhood sweethearts... If you are interested, there is a drinking party in the Imperial Guard's rest room tonight. It's a good opportunity..."

The two of them bit their ears, and Ran Ran tried to listen carefully, but they could only hear some mumblings, and they didn't listen carefully.

Now her only thought was to save her master. As for the intrigues in the palace, they were not within her consideration at all. So even though she heard about them, she did not take them to heart.

Soon, night finally fell. She silently calculated the time for the guard change in the West Palace. Finally, during the night shift, she jumped out of the window and leaped onto the eaves. She walked quickly along the high and low roofs towards the northeast tower.

Thanks to her master's usual strictness, she was able to jump lightly even without using her true energy. As she got closer and closer to the tall building of the lake, the small compass hanging around her neck also moved vigorously. Ranran was filled with ecstasy, thinking that perhaps her master was imprisoned there.

When she stopped at the last roof, she found a large open space in front of her, and the tall building was built in the center of the lake. The island was surrounded by deep green water. The imperial guards seemed to be very afraid of the lake, and they all stayed away from it, as if there was some man-eating monster in the lake.

With the help of Suzaku's eyes, she had seen her master running towards the tall building. Combined with what the guards said during the day, could it be that her master slipped and fell into the lake and never came out?

Under the cover of night, Ran Ran crouched on the edge of the roof like a little bat, so that people far away wouldn't see her. She closed her eyes and tried to calm down and listen, and soon she heard a strange gurgling sound in the depths of the lake.

Amid the gurgling sound of water, there seemed to be a hint of painful groaning, and that sound... sounded very much like Master!

When Ranran heard this, her eyes suddenly widened. Could it be that... the master was imprisoned underwater?

At this time, the soldiers who seemed to be changing guards were talking, and a man who seemed to be the leader asked, "Has the Winged Immortal Lord made any unusual moves today?"

The person being asked answered, "It's much better than yesterday. Didn't the assassin fall into the lake yesterday? The Immortal King seems to have eaten a lot. He is very obedient today and has not even come out of the water. You can see it's not raining today."

The leader who asked the question whispered, "You must not be careless. If the Immortal King fully awakens, he will overturn the entire capital. You must feed him on time and check the Zhen Tower in the lake from time to time to see if there is any abnormality..."

Ran Ran was stunned after hearing this. He suddenly remembered the things in the inner river and the recent heavy rains in the capital. Could it be that there was some deadly evil thing hidden under the lake in the imperial palace?

If this is true, Su Yu must be crazy. In such a prosperous place like the capital, he hid such an evil creature in the palace. If something unexpected really happened, wouldn't all the people in the capital be in trouble? And what do they mean by feeding the captured people to the Winged Lord? Could it be that the person they are talking about... is the master? Has the master been captured by them and fed to the evil creature at the bottom of the pond?

If Su Yu really raised some evil creature privately, it should be the same as the fairy-eating insect, and it needs someone with deep spiritual power to provide nourishment and supplements.

In some ways, Master Su Yishui is a delicious tonic! Thinking that Master might have been fed evil things, Ran Ran felt like her heart was about to burst.

Master, were you killed by a tyrant?

Ranran paused for a moment. She knew that she still had a chance to sneak out of the palace, but if she really approached the deep pool, she would most likely be swallowed up by some unknown evil creature inside.

But she heard clearly the sobbing of her master just now, maybe he was struggling in pain underwater right now!

According to Master Mu Xian, Master escaped yesterday and jumped into the lake. If he has not come out yet, then Master must still be underwater...

Thinking of this, Ranran was not too scared. She was the kind of person who would never look back once she decided to do something.

If her master really died in the water, she would risk her life to retrieve a piece of his bones...

Thinking of this, she took a deep breath and prepared to jump down, but she didn't expect her body to jump up.

Suddenly, I felt a chilling aura coming from behind me.

Ranran slowly turned her head and saw...Su Yishui appeared beside her, dripping wet, staring at her with a pair of beautiful eyes.

Ran Ran held her breath and looked at her master from head to toe - he was intact, with no missing limbs. But there was something indescribably weird about him.

She was about to speak when Su Yishui hooked his finger and motioned her to come down from the house. Then he led her down quickly along the roof and flashed into a nearby palace.

Compared with the previous emperors, there were not many concubines in Su Yu Palace, and this palace near Wen Lake seemed to have been idle for a long time and was covered with dust.

When the two of them flashed into the house, Ran Ran wanted to grab her master's wrist and feel his pulse. This was the method Su Yishui taught her to identify people.

A person’s appearance can be changed through sleight of hand, but the pulse remains largely unchanged. This is especially true of the Master’s pulse, which is different from that of other people and cannot be mistaken.

But when she stretched out her hand, it passed over Su Yishui's body and seemed to pass through his waist.

It turns out that the person in front of him was not the master at all, but just an illusion... This is the same reason why Lingquan conjured up the shadow of Mu Qingge from his previous life at the military mobilization platform.

The phantom of Su Yishui said with a sullen face: "Why are you so disobedient! Didn't I ask Yu Tong to send you out? Why did you sneak in here?"

If it was an illusion created by an evil spirit, how could it know the instructions given by the master to the second uncle?

Ran Ran stared blankly at the shadow in front of him, and finally asked with trembling lips: "Master... are you dead?"

Could it be that the master's death was so tragic that his ghost lingered and appeared before her?

As if to match the young apprentice's imagination, the man in front of him said sinisterly: "Even if I don't die, I'm going to be pissed off by you."

Ran Ran was about to choke up at this point, and whispered, "Master..."

Su Yishui didn't seem to want to scare his little disciple crazy at this time, so he just whispered: "I can't leave the palace now, but I don't have to worry about my life for the time being. It's just that my body is restricted, so I can only come to see you by leaving my soul. How did you get into the palace?"

Ran Ran whispered, "I tied a talisman to Suzaku's feet, and saw with my own eyes that you fell into the emperor's trap and were captured by him... How can I go back with peace of mind? I must rescue Master even if I die..."

After hearing this, Su Yishui not only did not feel his disciple's filial piety, but instead reached out to pinch her shoulders. Unfortunately, his hands could not even hold Ranran at this time.

He calmed down and said word by word: "I won't allow you to die!"

Ran Ran was somewhat stunned by the indescribable cruelty in his eyes. She blinked her big eyes and looked at Su Yishui's soul without saying a word.

She seemed to have offended her master again. She was a little afraid to recognize her master who was angry at this time.

Su Yishui also knew that he had scared Ranran a little. Seeing the little girl slightly shrinking her neck, he tried to take a deep breath and calm the restlessness in his heart.

At the beginning, he donated most of his Jindan to Xianshu, so he was very sensitive to the special aura of Ranran, the little fairy fruit. That was why he felt her presence when he saw her in Juefeng Village.

Just now when he was underwater, he suddenly felt Ranran's breath. He woke up immediately and transformed his soul to look for him.

However, this method of separating the soul is more destructive than the beast-controlling technique, and he cannot maintain it for too long.

So, he whispered, "Early tomorrow morning, you should find a chance to leave the palace and hurry back to Xishan... It's my fault. If I had known that the capital was so dangerous, I would never have brought you here. In addition, be extra careful of Su Yu... He..."