Chapter 50: This Venerable One Likes You

As someone who cherished weapons, this kind of scene made Chu

Wanning so outraged that he couldn't even speak. He beheld a moron.

Under a flowering tree not far away, Mo Ran had summoned Jiangui.

The size of a holy weapon could be changed at will; most people liked to

make their weapon larger and more impressive-looking, or at least keep it at

its normal size, as Chu Wanning did. Conversely, Mo Ran had made Jiangui

tiny, about the length and width of a cord for tying hair, its leaves minuscule.

The dignified holy weapon looked absolutely pitiful.

Moreover, people had different innate spiritual energies. Thus,

Tianwen glowed golden when Chu Wanning poured his spiritual energy into

it, but Jiangui took on a scarlet hue. So, leaves aside, at present, Jiangui

looked just like a red string of fate…

"Shi Mei, tie this to your hand. I want to see if Jiangui has Tianwen's

power to coax the truth out of people."

"Uh…you want to test it out on me?"

Mo Ran smiled. "Yep. Cause I'm closest with you, and I know you'd

never lie to me."

Shi Mei was still hesitant. "That's true, but…"

"Aiya, I won't ask anything tricky. If you don't believe me, let's pinky

swear?" As Mo Ran said this, he stuck out his pinky finger.

Shi Mei didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "How old are you? Isn't

this a little childish?"

"C'mon, let's pinky swear! If it's fine at eight, then it's fine at eighteen

—and eighty-eight too. Nothing childish about it." Mo Ran grabbed Shi

Mei's right hand and pried his pinky out with a cheeky grin. Shi Mei, caught

between annoyance and laughter at this ludicrous behavior, could only go

along.

Unexpectedly, instead of hooking their pinkies together, Mo Ran

grinned, his eyes smiling as well. "Jiangui, time to get to work."

Jiangui zoomed faster than lightning, and in a flash it had wound itself

around Shi Mei's pinky, with its other end around Mo Ran's.

The handsome young man laughed like a sly fox that had schemed its

way into ascension. "Congrats, you fell for it." he said happily, framed with

dimples.

"You!" Shi Mei really didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He

hesitated, then said, "Let me go, come on."

"Later, later." Mo Ran grinned. "Just a couple of questions first."

Truth be told, Mo Ran had been feeling uneasy ever since that episode

at Jincheng Lake—the one when he received the box Ever-Yearning, yet Shi

Mei hadn't been able to open it. Even though Shi Mei had been wearing

gloves at the time and hadn't directly touched the box, Mo Ran just couldn't

shake his doubts. What's more, Chu Wanning had ultimately been the one to

open it.

Chu Wanning… How was it possible?

So Mo Ran concluded that the box must have been broken. He wanted

to use Jiangui to confirm that, just to make sure.

He was absolutely certain in his feelings for Shi Mei, but he worried

that he might not have the same weight in Shi Mei's heart. As for that

confession in Jincheng Lake, he couldn't be sure that he hadn't imagined it.

Shi Mei had a gentle temperament and was nice to everyone. He was

totally unlike that Chu Wanning, with his sullen face day-in and day-out, like

everyone else owed him something—thoroughly disagreeable.

Taxian-jun was a crude person, but when it came to his beloved, he

would overthink so much that his thoughts would tie themselves up into knots.

"First off." Mo Ran's heart was filled with anxiety, but he kept

grinning and feigning nonchalance. He decided to toss out a couple of easy,

inconsequential questions first as padding. "What do you think of Xue

Meng?"

A prickling sting on his finger, and Shi Mei fessed up. "The young

master is a good person, but he's too straightforward, sometimes even

intolerably tactless."

Mo Ran burst out laughing, clapping in glee. "Eh? Even you get fed up

with him? Ha ha ha, understandable, he's way too annoying."

Shi Mei turned red. "Don't be so loud. What if the young master

hears?"

"Okay, okay, okay." Mo Ran grinned. "But it makes me happy when

you badmouth him."

Shi Mei had no response to that.

"And what do you think of Shizun?" Mo Ran continued.

"Shizun is a good person too, it's just that his temper is a little…" Shi

Mei seemed like he really didn't want to critique Chu Wanning. However, he

was bound by Jiangui, so even though he bit his lip for a while, he still ended

up having to say, "His temper is a little short."

"Ha ha, a little short? More like ridiculously short. He gets mad every

other day and won't even admit to it. He's a bigger handful than the empress

herself."

Over in the corner, Chu Wanning stood silent, listening wordlessly.

"If you understand Shizun's bad temper, why did you still choose to

study under him?" Mo Ran wondered aloud.

"Shizun is cold on the outside, but on the inside, he's actually kind,"

said Shi Mei. "I'm not as naturally gifted as others, but he never minds if I'm

slow on the uptake. He said everyone deserves to learn, and since I'm no

good at combat, he taught me healing instead. H-he's truly very nice to me."

Mo Ran, originally quite gleeful, grew quiet upon hearing this, the grin

disappearing from his face. A while passed before he said: "When has he

ever been nice to you? All he did was teach you some techniques and maybe

occasionally take care of you. That's only to be expected from any master."

"That's different—"

Mo Ran grew annoyed, cheeks puffing out. "Anyway, he's not really

good to you! Whatever he does for you, I can do too!"

Shi Mei stopped talking.

In the awkward silence that followed, Mo Ran slowly quelled the

flames in his heart. The sight of Shi Mei looking wordlessly downward filled

him with guilt, and he quietly whispered, "Sorry."

"It's all right." A short moment later, Shi Mei suddenly said, "Once,

some years ago, before you came to Sisheng Peak, I was walking along a

path when it suddenly started storming. At the time, I wasn't yet a disciple

under Shizun. I bumped into him while running through the rain. He was

holding a red oil-paper umbrella, and upon seeing my pitiful state, he offered

to share it with me. I had heard of his cold reputation, so I was terribly

nervous walking by his side."

"And then?"

Shi Mei's expression was soft. "Then? Then we didn't speak a single

word the whole way."

Mo Ran nodded. "He's such a stuffy person. What can anyone even say

to him?"

"Yes." Shi Mei's smile was small. "Shizun doesn't talk much. But

when he walked me to the door and I turned to thank him, I saw that his right

shoulder was absolutely drenched. I had been walking to his left, and I hadn't

been rained on at all."

Mo Ran fell silent.

"It was a small umbrella, really only big enough for a single person,

and he had used most of it to cover me. I watched him walk away in the rain,

and then, as soon as I got back to my room, I wrote a letter of intent asking

him to accept me as a disciple."

"That's enough," Mo Ran suddenly said. "You're way too softhearted.

If you keep on like this, I'll feel bad for you."

"A-Ran, isn't Shizun the one you should feel bad for?" Shi Mei asked

softly. "He only has a small umbrella because he's always alone. No one

wants to walk with him. That's why even if Shizun is a little strict with me at

times, or scolds me a little much at others, I don't mind. Because I remember

his drenched shoulder."

Mo Ran said nothing, the tip of his nose a little red, his heart a little

forlorn. It was a hazy sort of melancholy, and he wasn't even sure for whom

he felt it.

"A-Ran, let me ask you something."

"Mn, go ahead."

"Do you dislike Shizun?"

Mo Ran paused. "I…"

"Or in other words, you don't like him, do you?"

For some reason, when Shi Mei asked this, his usually gentle and

serene gaze seemed somewhat sharp. Mo Ran, caught off guard, found

himself suddenly speechless.

In his daze, Mo Ran neither nodded nor shook his head. A long while

passed before he forced a smile onto his face. "Aiya, aren't I supposed to be

the one asking questions here? I can't just let you turn it around on me like

that!"

Shi Mei didn't miss the fact that Mo Ran had dodged answering, but he

didn't force the issue, only smiling. "I was just wondering. Don't take it to

heart."

"Mn." Mo Ran calmed his emotions and looked up through his lashes

at Shi Mei's face, which was no less beautiful than the bright moon in the sky.

For his third question, Mo Ran had planned to ask Shi Mei if he liked him,

but this exchange had left his heart heavy. He was quiet for a bit, lips pressed

together, before he abruptly said, "He's just my shizun, nothing more.

Whether I like him or not is irrelevant."

When Chu Wanning heard these words from where he stood in the

shadows, his eyelashes quivered slightly, like the wings of an injured

butterfly. Even though deep in his heart he'd already known, hearing it

confirmed made his body feel so light that it could have floated away, while

his heart was so heavy that it could have sunk into the sea. He also felt a

chill. Perhaps autumn had come early this year.

Mo Ran and Shi Mei were still talking in the distance. Chu Wanning

closed his eyes, the mild nausea that had lately come and gone once again

washing over him. Suddenly exhausted, he turned to leave.

He had only taken a few steps when the autumn wind carried Mo Ran's

voice faintly toward him. Despite himself, he stopped walking.

Mo Ran was asking Shi Mei his third question. "Well, you've given

me your thoughts on Xue Meng and Shizun. Do me next." He tried to play it

casual, but he was very careful, almost pathetic, when he asked, "Shi Mei,

what do you think about me?"

Shi Mei was quiet.

Jiangui indeed seemed to possess the same interrogation ability as

Tianwen. Shi Mei refused to answer, so Jiangui's scarlet radiance grew

brighter where it was wound tightly around his finger. He frowned a little.

"Ow…"

"Just say something." Mo Ran's heart ached for Shi Mei, but this

question had burrowed so deeply into his heart, in this life and the last, that it

had practically become his personal demon, so he persisted. "What do you

think of me?"

Shi Mei shook his head and closed his eyes, as if in a great deal of

pain. His long lashes trembled and sweat gathered on his forehead.

Wordless, Mo Ran sighed, unable to bear hurting him like this. "Forget

it…"

He was about to remove Jiangui when Shi Mei reached the limit of his

endurance and, face pale, said hoarsely, "I think you're…great."

Mo Ran's eyes widened.

Shi Mei's face went from pale to red very quickly, as if vexed. He

turned his eyes down, lashes lowered, and dared not look at Mo Ran.

Jiangui vanished into specks of glimmering red light, which fluttered

like the petals of ravaged flowers back into Mo Ran's palm. With his head

lowered, Mo Ran let out a quiet, helpless chuckle, and when he looked back

up at Shi Mei, his face was warm like the first bloom of spring. There was a

lazy smile in his voice, but his eyes were a little wet as he said, "I'm glad.

Thank you. I think you're really great too. I already said it to you at Jincheng

Lake, but since you don't remember any of it, I want to say it again. I'm

really…very fond of you."

He didn't specify what kind of fond he meant, but Shi Mei still blushed

all the way to his neck and couldn't find any words.

Mo Ran stared at him with deep, inky eyes that shone with a clear,

bright light like an ocean filled with stars, like gentle waves in the night sky.

"I want to treat you right. I want to make you happy."

Shi Mei wasn't dense, and Mo Ran's meaning was written plainly all

over his expression. Shi Mei could only lower his head. Mo Ran's heart

quivered, and he raised his hand to stroke Shi Mei's hair.

Before he could get close, there was a sudden flash of sharp golden

light, and a lash of vine struck Mo Ran right on the face with an audible

crack.

"Ah!" Stung, Mo Ran turned around in shock.

Chu Wanning stood in front of the white walls with their green eaves,

pristine robes paler than snow and one hand held behind his back as he

stared coldly at them. Tianwen coiled on the ground like a hissing snake,

willow leaves rustling, golden light coursing along its length with the

occasional spark.

"Shizun…" Shi Mei said, startled.

"Shizun," Mo Ran said, holding his face.

So what if Chu Wanning was loathed? So what if he wasn't liked?

Another person might weep miserably, but would Chu Wanning cry?

Ridiculous. Instead, he would of course deliver a beatdown.

Chu Wanning's expression was frosty. He walked over slowly, voice

frozen over. "Slacking off from training to chat? Mo Weiyu, you think you're

so impressive just because you claimed the last holy weapon? You think

you're all-powerful now? Invincible? Aren't you just so relaxed and

carefree."

"Shizun, I was just—"

Chu Wanning glared. Mo Ran shut up.

"Shi Mingjing, spar with me. Mo Weiyu." Chu Wanning paused, then

said resentfully, "Go practice. If you can't hold out for at least ten moves

against me later, then you'll go back and copy the book of meditation

techniques three hundred times as punishment. Now get lost."

Ten moves?

Mo Ran felt like he might as well just go get started with the copying.