Refining the Mountains and Rivers

Chapter 1602B – Brothers

The second day, he was awoken by his elder brother, Ning Changgeng. His face was pale, as if he had fallen sick.

“Junior brother, what happened to you? Don’t scare me!”

Stone Mouth squinted, as if he was surrounded by darkness for a long time and had not seen light. He subconsciously raised his hand to cover his vision. After a few breaths, he shook his head, “Senior brother, I’m fine.”

Ning Changgeng let out a breath of relief, “You scared me to death! Something seemed wrong when you came back last night. Wasn’t it junior sister who called you outside…nothing happened, right?”

Stone Mouth frowned and a trace of pain appeared on his face, but he quickly shook his head and said, “I’m fine, I just didn’t sleep very well. Senior brother, can I trouble you to help me take a day of leave from our master. My body isn’t feeling too well today, so I will stay in the room to rest.”

Ning Changgeng nodded his head, “Okay. Just focus on resting, I will help you take leave.”

Seeing Stone Mouth close his eyes and falling asleep right away, Ning Changgeng looked slightly hesitant. He could not help but feel that there was something wrong with his junior brother. However, after thinking about it seriously for a while and not being able to come up with anything, he could only tell himself that he was overthinking this.

When he left the house, what he did not expect was for his master to have left a note saying that he brought the new junior sister to go and seize an opportunity, and that he wanted two of them to stay in the valley to cultivate and not slack off because no one was monitoring them.

Patting the bamboo scroll in his hand, Ning Changgeng raised his hand and scratched his head. He could recognize that this was indeed his master’s handwriting, but his tone…it was equally strange as the one his junior brother had this morning. Furthermore, junior sister had just arrived yesterday, so being taken away by his master just today felt a little rushed.

After thinking about it, Ning Changgeng had no new insights. He could only be patient and go and cultivate alone. His aptitude for cultivation was not bad and he had always been hardworking. He never needed his master to watch over him in order for him not to slack off, which was why he found the tone in his master’s message strange.

……

Cloud Mist Taoist’s face was pale. He trembled non-stop and felt like he was going to faint at any time out of fright. If it were anyone else who had to be stared at by these seven masters, they would also be like that. There was no way that they would react better than he did.

He only recognized one person out of these seven masters, whom he had the fate to meet when he was younger. To be more accurate, he was thick-skinned and insisted on joining in on a big banquet. At that banquet, he sat somewhere in the corner, and from afar, he saw this top cultivator from Millet Nation.

Since the other six people were able to sit on the same level as this person, they were definitely equally as powerful as he was. Cloud Mist Taoist wanted to cry. He did not know what he had done to meet with such a catastrophe.

As of now, there was one thought that kept rolling around in his mind – ‘I’m doomed, I’m doomed, this time, I’m really doomed.’ It seemed that as long as these people only moved their fingers or glanced at him a few more times, he would truly be frightened to death. His face was as pale as a sheet, as if there was not a drop of blood in his body.

“Alright, masters, this person in front of you is my master that I’ve acknowledged. Even though it has only been a day, he is still my master, so I have to treat him with the utmost respect, and nothing must happen to him,” Li Ruhua spoke with a smile on her face. She looked at Cloud Mist Taoist, who breathed a sigh of relief and had a grateful look on his face. However, her next sentence almost made him pee his pants, “Masters, I would like to invite all of you to extract his soul and refine it into a puppet that will not spread nonsense. Please cut any karma that may exist between us. It shouldn’t be too difficult, right?”

One of them was an old woman with a stern and gloomy face. She laughed after she heard Li Ruhua’s words and said, “This definitely will not be difficult. My Ghost Valley has always been the best at refining souls. However, little brat, if I help you to do this, will you promise to follow me to Ghost Valley to cultivate?”

“Hmph! Old hag, don’t cross the line. Even though Ghost Valley is good at refining souls, if you wish to take away our apprentice over such a small matter, you’re probably dreaming. Little brat, as long as you become my apprentice, I can help you complete this task and I will use my sect’s treasures to wipe away your aura and karma so that no one will be able to detect it on him.”

The remaining five masters scoffed one by one. The rough idea was that no one was willing to give up their pursuit of this apprentice. After all, fairies had a high aptitude for cultivation, and if they were properly nourished, it would open up many opportunities for them.

Li Ruhua did not stop them from bickering. She continued smiling while she waited for them to slowly quiet down. Then, she pointed a finger and said, “Ghost Grandma, I’ll choose you then.” After she finished speaking, she stuck her tongue out at the rest. “I’m really sorry, I have to ensure that this matter does not lead back to me, so I have to pick the best for the job. All of you admitted that she was the best too. That aside, I would like to invite the other masters to keep this a secret for me. Do not tell other people about what happened in Cloud Mist Valley.”

Ghost Grandma laughed loudly, causing the wrinkles on her face to crease, “Little brat, you have a good eye. Then, from now on, you are to receive our Ghost Valley’s inheritance. I’ll also take it as me taking you in as an apprentice. In the future, you can just refer to me as senior sister.”

When she finished speaking, she looked at the other masters with a dark expression, “Everyone, you heard her. It was a decision she made herself; I’m sure none of you will break your promises right? It has been many years since our Ghost Valley has opened the doors to our sect.”

The faces of the other masters changed and they looked afraid, but at the same time, they were unwilling to let go of this fairy who just now was still their potential apprentice. While they were hesitating, Li Ruhua laughed heartily and said, “You’ve heard my senior sister. Aren’t all of you going to leave? If not, don’t blame me for not even acknowledging the past few weeks where I called you guys my masters.”

For some reason, when the other masters heard this, they suddenly felt heavy and horrified in their hearts. They looked at her for a while before taking a deep breath and started to leave without saying a word. In a blink of an eye, all of them disappeared. Whether or not they had really left, or were just temporarily hiding in the dark using whatever methods, no one knew.

However, to Li Ruhua, all of this were not important, because these people would forget about her soon. Thinking about it, and ensuring that there were no big loopholes, she giggled and said, “Senior sister, then I’ll trouble you to help me complete the task I told you about just now.”

Ghost Grandma was full of smiles as she nodded repeatedly. She raised her hand and grabbed Cloud Mist Taoist’s head. He started to scream as blood flowed out from all seven orifices and his eyes widened in endless pain.

A moment later, a ball of black mist rose to the sky. Ghost Grandma smiled at Li Ruhua, “Junior sister, let’s return to Ghost Valley now!”

Li Ruhua nodded her head before energetically replying, “Okay!”