Their mission was completed successfully. Of all three of them, Chu Wanning was the only one who was wounded seriously. In fact, his wounds were so serious that he lay incapacitated on the bed for several days. After he fell asleep on the night Mo Ran came to help him with the bandages, he contracted a high fever. His consciousness slipped in and out throughout the days. He vaguely sensed that someone was taking care of him. There were lots of murmurs, calling him "Shizun" and some other things. Chu Wanning could not manage to stay lucid for longer than five minutes. The physical pain and mental anguish ate at his being, eroding his consciousness.
After several days had passed, he finally woke up. He was lying on his stomach, and the first thing he saw after he opened his eyes was Shi Mei, who was soundly asleep by his bedside.
"…"
Forgetting about his wounds, Chu Wanning tried to lie on his back and the throbbing pain immediately invaded him, making him see stars. Chu Wanning complained in silence. What's the point of waking up if one could not move at all?
The door creaked open and someone entered. Chu Wanning's view was blocked by the curtain, so he could not see who it was. The person walked in and set something on the table. Then he came closer and his eyes met with Chu Wanning's.
"…"
"…"
"Oh, Shizun is awake."
It was Mo Ran after all.
"Where am I?"
"We are still in Butterfly Town. Shizun has been unconscious these past days."
Their conversation woke Shi Mei up, who rubbed at his eyes and murmured, "Shizun is awake? How is Shizun feeling?"
"Much better," Chu Wanning lied.
Shi Mei helped him to sit on the bed. Chu Wanning glanced at the thing that Mo Ran brought with him. It was a tray with three bowls of noodles. Fragrant smell wafted from the steamy bowls and made Shi Mei's mouth water, but the red layer on top of the noodles only made Chu Wanning lose his appetite. Chu Wanning could not eat spicy foods. Mo Ran just so happened to prepare food based on his and Shi Mei's preference, which made sense because they had no way of knowing when their Shizun would wake up. The only reason Mo Ran prepared three bowls was due to his deference to Shizun. He was not prepared for his Shizun to wake up that day.
"Shizun, Mo Ran made some noodles. Let's eat first, you must be hungry."
Chu Wanning replied flatly, "I do not eat spicy foods."
Mo Ran was truly embarrassed. He seemed like an unfilial disciple. Of course he knew what Chu Wanning usually ate, after all, they had been married for years in their previous life. He just did not bother to care this time.
Feeling guilty, Mo Ran quickly offered, "What about I prepare Shizun another bowl of noodle? I won't put any chili inside."
Chu Wanning shook his head weakly.
"No appetite for that," he said.
Shi Mei coaxed, "Then, what does Shizun want to eat?"
Chu Wanning thought for a while, and then he expressionlessly turned at Mo Ran and said, "Lotus pastries."
"…"
"…"
Mo Ran smiled uneasily and replied, "But Shizun, there is no bakery in Butterfly Town that sells lotus pastries…"
Chu Wanning stubbornly replied, "I only want lotus pastries and nothing else."
-You owe me one lotus pastry. Plus interest.
Since they could not grant him the wish, the two disciples ate gloomily while Chu Wanning closed his eyes to meditate. After they finished eating, he said, "Let's go back."
They left the inn soon after and got on the horses. Mo Ran and Shi Mei thought that they were heading directly to Sisheng Peak, but Chu Wanning took them around Butterfly Town. All the while he was gazing at the ancient barrier that separated Butterfly Town from the ghost realm. Mo Ran's stomach tied into a knot as they walked through the place where the most painful incident of his past life took place. How could he ever forget the time when the heavenly rift was torn through the ancient barrier? He even remembered where exactly it was torn and how wide the tear was.
Mo Ran glanced at Shi Mei nervously. It felt as if the barrier would tear in that exact moment. What if the rift opened again and Shi Mei lost his life again? Mo Ran could not lose him the second time around. He would rather die than having Shi Mei lie in his arms again, breathing his last, closing his eyes forever. Mo Ran glanced at a spot on the ground ahead of them. It was there, the spot where he held the dying Shi Mei in his arms, begging Chu Wanning to save Shi Mei. And Chu Wanning, the ruthless bastard, did nothing…
Chu Wanning on the other side was not aware of Mo Ran's hateful stare at his back. He was busy inspecting the barrier. He knew that the Heavenly Rift was a crucial turning point in Mo Ran's life, and that this was the place when his second disciple died, but it had been too long ago and he really forgot where exactly the rift opened. He could only walk from end to end and inspect the whole barrier at Butterfly Town. As expected, he did not find anything. After all the rift would not open until years later. Chu Wanning thought that if he made preliminary inspection regularly to Butterfly Town, he would be able to detect the rift prematurely and prevent the disaster from happening. He counted the days in his head and decided to do so. That was the best plan he could come up with regarding the rift as of now.
Satisfied with the result of his inspection, Chu Wanning urged his disciples to go back to Sisheng Peak.
It was good that he inspected the barrier before he went back, because Chu Wanning did not expect that he would be bedridden for some time after he came back to Sisheng Peak.
After striking the client, no matter what excuse he had, Chu Wanning knew he had to be punished for that. He sent his disciples to report about the mission to Loyalty Hall, while he himself went to Discipline Court to confess his sins.
Jielu Elder's face was contorted into an ugly expression when he heard Chu Wanning's full confession. He was acquainted with Chu Wanning's temper, but hitting a client? Yuheng Elder did not hesitate to beat up disciples, but surely clients were on a whole different level? You could not beat the clients!!
On top of that, Chu Wanning did not even show any remorse. He asked for punishment as if all he needed to do was write apology letters.
Jielu Elder just had to make sure he knew the gravity of the penalty, "Yuheng, do you still know the penalty for this kind of crime…?"
Chu Wanning replied calmly, "The punishment for the crime is two hundred strikes, three days of kneeling at Yanluo Hall, and three months of confinement."
Jielu Elder's soul could have left his body and he would immediately ascend to heaven. If Chu Wanning knew about the harsh penalty, why did he not think about it before hitting the client??
Even though Chu Wanning asked to be punished, if he dared to punish Chu Wanning, the Sect Leader would surely skin him alive. Jielu Elder had never faced this kind of dilemma. He had to get out of this dilemma, and quick.
He hooked his fingers and the doors to Discipline Court closed. Chu Wanning frowned.
"What are you doing?"
Jielu Elder sighed.
"Yuheng, you know that the rules do not really apply to you. Why don't we just, pretend that you have received your punishment and let it be?"
Chu Wanning glared at him.
"It won't do. How am I supposed to discipline my students in the future if I am lenient toward myself? Carry out the punishment!"
It's not that Chu Wanning overestimated himself. He had endured so much pain in his past life so he was mentally very strong. He just did not expect that two hundred lashes would do so much damage to his already injured back that he had to rely on Xue Meng to carry him back to Red Lotus Pavilion afterward. After being brought back to his bed-chamber, he passed out right away and did not quite register the events around him. When he regained his consciousness, Xue Meng was tearfully waiting on him, clutching his hands in his.
"Shizun," he cried. "This disciple is useless, this disciple cannot protect you."
Silly child. I did this to myself, so why would I need you to protect me?
Chu Wanning patted Xue Meng's head. He regretted not being able to oversee Xue Meng's development to the end. After he was held prisoner by TaXian-Jun, he never again got the chance to talk to Xue Meng, to teach him, to be there for him. In this life, he planned to do all that he could for this disciple of his.
For Xue Meng, who remained righteous to the end, and fought against TaXian-Jun with barely any support at his back.
Chu Wanning closed his eyes and thought that it would be great if this lifetime, all three of his disciples could turn out as well as Xue Meng did. If Mo Ran could make use of his talent for the righteous path, if Shi Mei could stay alive and dedicate his life to studying medicine. Would that not be great?
After being lashed with two hundred strikes, he still had to kneel three days at Yanluo Hall. It was with great effort that he managed to persuade Xue Meng to take him there and leave him to kneel. Xue Meng would rather tear down Yanluo Hall than letting his Shizun kneel there, that Chu Wanning knew for sure. He was therefore glad that Xue Meng listened to him this one time and left after crying again.
During the three days he knelt in silence, and yet without any single regret in his heart. His time was limited. He did not have some to spare for regret. What to do next? In his mind, Chu Wanning traced back what he had done in his past life and what he had done after he came back to life. If he had done and continued to do everything correctly, then Mo Ran would be fine, Shi Mei would stay alive, and both of them would be together. The Flower would go dormant then. What was left to do was to find out the culprit who planted the Hatred Flower into Mo Ran's heart at the very beginning. The person must be pretty close to Mo Ran, Chu Wanning mused. The Hatred Flower was not easy to cultivate. Naturally after planting the flower, the owner would keep an eye on the target, make sure that everything would happen according to his plan. If the Flower failed to take control of Mo Ran's heart, the owner would need a plan B to reach the goal.
The goal started with the Gate of Life and Death.
Mo Ran learned the Forbidden Techniques by reading the scrolls in Compendium Pavilion. That's what he should do next : seal all the forbidden scrolls in Compendium Pavilion, and only then… Only then…
Chu Wanning's view started to spin. Everything turned dark before his eyes. He fainted completely before he collapsed onto the cold floor.
After three days and three nights of kneeling, Chu Wanning collapsed at Yanluo Hall again and remained unconscious for a whole week. Since he lay on the cold floor for the whole night before someone found him, he also got high fever.