Blood splattered all over the inside of the coffin, dripping on Mo Ran's face. The heavy scent of blood permeated the whole coffin and brought him back to his senses.
"Shi…!!"
A trembling finger pressed against Mo Ran's lips and his lips were immediately sealed. A silencing spell. Mo Ran struggled underneath the man, almost mad with worry. How could Shi Mei be injured to this extent?? And why were they inside this cramped box? What was happening?? He was close to tears. Shi Mei… Shi Mei… why was Mo Ran so useless? Why could he not protect his lover properly? Two lives!! Shi Mei was such a delicate person, how could he survive this kind of injury? Who did this to him? He would kill them! He would kill them!
And yet, Shi Mei was unexpectedly tenacious. He did not go unconscious. Insane. Such heavy injuries, how did he…
Shi Mei whispered with hoarse voice next to his ear, "Hold on to me."
Mo Ran did not know what he planned to do, but he did as he was told. Shi Mei wrapped an arm around his back and leaped out of the coffin with him in his arms, and attacked with Tianwen!
Wait, when did Shi Mei learn to use Tianwen? When did Shi Mei even get a hold on Tianwen?
Tianwen was bound around the clay figure of Ghost Mistress of Ceremony.
"Who are you?? How dare you!!!"
Shi Mei angrily screamed, "Scram!!!"
Mo Ran did not know what happened. Suddenly ghosts from all sides went insane and started to attack them. Shi Mei's grip on him tightened. Mo Ran's eyes widened when he saw Shi Mei did the move that he had seen Chu Wanning do so many times before : Tianwen's area destruction attack, Wind!
What the fuck, when did Shi Mei become so proficient at wielding Tianwen??
Shi Mei raised the hand holding Tianwen toward heaven. Tianwen immediately grew in length and spun into a golden vortex, drawing everything and everyone in sight to its center, mincing everything into debris and dust.
Mo Ran had tasted Wind's ferociousness so many times, but he still couldn't help but tremble a bit when witnessing its power. After everything settled down, Shi Mei lost consciousness and fell to the ground, dragging Mo Ran with him.
"Shi Mei!! Shi…"
Shi Mei seemed to be a little taller than he remembered. Avoiding the wounded shoulder, Mo Ran slowly turned Shi Mei's face toward him. His soul almost left his body out of shock.
It was Chu Wanning! It was Chu Wanning the whole time!
But then, where was Shi Mei?
Mo Ran looked around at the aftermath of Wind. His heart immediately went cold. Shi Mei couldn't have been minced together with all the ghosts, could he…?
Mad with worry, Mo Ran grabbed Chu Wanning's collar and yelled, "Where is Shi Mei???"
Chu Wanning regained his consciousness. He coldly shoved Mo Ran's hands away and slowly stood up.
"Shi Mei is safe under a barrier. Follow the trace of my spiritual power and you will find him. Go and get him and Chen Yao back to town."
Mo Ran felt a pang of guilt. So Chu Wanning did not hurt Shi Mei. Shi Mei was not even present. He yelled at Chu Wanning without reason, and accused him of doing things that he did not. And he looked so terrible too with such deep wound on his shoulder. Mo Ran reached out to support him, but Chu Wanning refused his aid.
"…"
Chu Wanning, "Go."
"But Shizun, your injuries…"
Chu Wanning sneered at Mo Ran's pretense. He did not need Mo Ran's pity. No need to care for him, just make sure that Shi Mei was safe. No one had ever cared for Chu Wanning's well being anyway, especially not Mo Ran who always put Shi Mei first and everything else last. When Mo Ran still did not move from the spot, Chu Wanning shoved him so hard that Mo Ran fell on the ground and left to go to another direction.
After watching Chu Wanning disappear in fury, Mo Ran had no other option than look for Shi Mei. He found him and Chen Yao under Chu Wanning's barrier, safe and sound.
"A-Ran!! Are you okay?? Where is Shizun?"
Mo Ran did not know what to say. Did he misremember things from the past? This was not how it went, definitely not.
"A-Ran, why are you wearing wedding clothes?"
Mo Ran stared at Shi Mei. If Shi Mei had been outside the whole time, then the one who was with him the whole time was indeed Chu Wanning!! Mo Ran's head started to hurt. He remembered bits of what happened in there. Was Chu Wanning not wearing wedding clothes with similar pattern? Did they not… get married? Or was it a memory from the past? He didn't know. He didn't know!
Shi Mei touched his shoulder and gasped when blood stuck to his hand.
"A-Ran, you are injured!!! We need to tend to your wound!!"
-No, it's not my blood, it's…
Mo Ran's heart lurched to the ground. Chu Wanning held him in his embrace while long claws burst through the coffin lid and stabbed into his shoulder. Chu Wanning. Protected him. And he completely disregarded that when he thought that Shi Mei had been pulverized along with the ghosts. Immense guilt flooded Mo Ran's heart. No, this would not do.
Mo Ran grabbed Shi Mei's arm.
"Shi Mei, let's go. I am worried about Shizun, he's gravely injured."
They supported Chen Yao between them, taking each of her arm while walking slowly back to Chen Manor. When they arrived, the sight that greeted them was completely beyond comprehension. Chu Wanning stood before the Chens, Tianwen flew through the air and landed on Landlord Chen and his youngest son mercilessly. Mo Ran was horrified.
"Shizun!!!"
Maybe because he lost too much blood, but Chu Wanning's gaze was unfocused. He turned to look at Mo Ran and squinted for a while at his direction, as if he could not recognize him.
Mo Ran ran toward Chu Wanning and grabbed his arm.
"Shizun, what are you doing?? Why did you hit the client?"
Chu Wanning said nothing. Seeing Mo Ran as his savior, Landlord Chen immediately shuffled over and hugged Mo Ran's thigh.
"Young Master, oh Young Master! Please have pity on me! Even if I am in the wrong, I cannot take this kind of torture! Please, please talk to your Shizun, please let me go!"
Mo Ran did not particularly care about the Chens or Chu Wanning, but after all Chu Wanning got injured while protecting him. The very least that he could do right now was to drag him to an inn and get that wound tended. What's the point of lashing these people??
"Shizun? Let's go back first and tend to your wound, okay?"
"…"
"Shizun?"
Mo Ran shook at his arm, wondering if Chu Wanning had lost his hearing. After Mo Ran shook at his arm a few more times, Chu Wanning grimaced from pain and Tianwen disappeared within his palm. He flicked his sleeve away from Mo Ran's grip and walked toward the young daughter of the Chen family, giving her instructions that Mo Ran did not quite understand. Afterwards he glared at the two Chens on the ground and shouted at them about things that Mo Ran also could not relate to. Something about doing the right things. The Chens trembled and immediately agreed to do as per Chu Wanning's instructions.
After making sure that Chen Yao was properly taken care of in her bed chamber, Mo Ran wanted to rush Chu Wanning to go back to the inn. The man was standing silently before a wall, gazing at a neatly written poem. From the side, it almost seemed as if Chu Wanning's eyes looked glassy. Though when he turned aside to gaze at Mo Ran, he looked the same as always. Aloof and elegant, save for the bloody state he was in.
Shi Mei appeared from behind him and commented, "Weird, Shizun is also wearing wedding clothes."
Mo Ran's face grew hot.
"Shi Mei, don't misunderstand, we..!"
For a split of second, Chu Wanning seemed to throw them a deathly glare. And then with a burst of spiritual energy, the red clothes around him were torn to pieces and the white clothes underneath emerged to the surface. He looked up and sneered at Mo Ran, "Mo Weiyu, what is there to misunderstand between you and me?"
Chu Wanning locked himself inside the room as soon as they arrived to the inn. Mo Ran and Shi Mei stayed together in the room next door. He asked for some warm water and towel to be brought into his room. As soon as the inn attendant left the room, Chu Wanning could no longer uphold the cold indifferent mask on his face.
-It hurts.
-It hurts so much.
Chu Wanning didn't know which one hurt more, his wound or his heart. He took off his clothes to tend to the festering wound, but the bloody fabric stuck to the wound. Chu Wanning braced himself and then ripped the clothes off with one merciless pull.
"…Ngh!!"
So much blood. Chu Wanning's hand trembled as he reached for the towel and warm water. With trembling hands, he cleaned his wound with the wet towel. The color of the water in the basin slowly turned red from all the blood on his shoulder.
In his previous life on his wedding night, he also sat like this in Red Lotus Pavilion, his blood boiling from rage after the humiliation he had to sustain. As soon as he came back, he took off all wedding clothes and accessories like they were blood sucking leeches. At that time, on his wedding night, Mo Ran came to torment him. Apparently it gave him more pleasure to torment Chu Wanning than spend the first night with his empress. Chu Wanning scoffed. In this lifetime, on his "wedding night", thankfully he did not, would not come to torment him. All in all, despite the heavy injuries on his shoulder, this could be called an improvement. He rejoiced too soon. A tap tap tap knock came at his door, followed by Mo Ran's voice, "Shizun, can I come in?"
Chu Wanning had not finished dressing his wounds. In fact, he had not even started. The bottle with salve and the bandages still lay neatly on the table, unused.
"What do you want?" he asked with a hint of resentment in his voice.
The youth behind the door hesitated for a moment before answering, "I want to help you with your injuries…"
"No need," Chu Wanning snapped.
Not long after, sound of footsteps could be heard. Mo Ran left. Chu Wanning took a look at his injuries. It wasn't that bad. He had had worse. It was definitely manageable by his own. His hand trembled as he reached for the bottle of salve and started to apply it as evenly as possible across his wound. It was a challenge mainly because he could not reach and see certain parts of his back. Chu Wanning sighed. He just had to put it all over his back, then he should not miss a spot. Just as he was digging for more salve, the door opened with a loud bang. Mo Ran entered with a face full of indignation.
"Even if you don't need my help, Shizun, I still have to…"
Mo Ran was at loss of words when he saw Chu Wanning's naked, torn up back. The bloody gash was so huge and deep that he could see white bone at some places.
-What the fuck!!! Is this guy even human??
Chu Wanning opened his mouth in anger. He wanted to say "Get the hell out" but then he was caught in surprise when Mo Ran strode toward him and roughly grabbed his arms. Chu Wanning inadvertently let out a pained cry.
"Would it have killed you to ask for help??"
Chu Wanning blinked. What did he just say? This brat actually dared to…
Mo Ran grabbed the bottle of salve and started to smack the salve none too gently all over his gaping wounds. Chu Wanning's knuckles turned white when he grabbed the sides of the table to endure the excruciating pain. The pain caused him to go numb, unable to respond to Mo Ran's rough treatment.
Mo Ran worked in silence and Chu Wanning endured in silence. After he finished bandaging him, Mo Ran draped clean robe over Chu Wanning's shoulders. Chu Wanning did not say anything. Neither gratitude nor a snappy "Get the hell out". Mo Ran stood there for a while but then he exited after murmuring a "Good night, Shizun."