"Hey, you dog."
Mo Ran looked up in irritation. Who else would dare to call This Venerable One dog if not his fearless, stupid cousin? Sometimes Mo Ran played with the thought to bully Xue Meng thoroughly in this lifetime. Of course he would not kill him, what would Chu Wanning say if he ever found out? A little bullying was tolerable, especially among boys. Right? Right? Heheeee, when could he start and what would he do first? Mo Ran was completely immersed in his evil schemes that he did not listen to what Xue Meng had to say at all, and instead grinned like an idiot at the latter.
Xue Meng stared at Mo Ran, his gaze full of disgust.
"What the hell are you grinning so creepily for??"
That scream pulled Mo Ran back from his fantasy world. He gloomily asked, "What is it…?"
"Let's wipe the lions at Naihe Bridge together. All three of us. Shi Mei is already there."
"… the fuck? Why would I go and wipe the lions voluntarily?"
"You idiot! Of course to replace Shizun! He is still wounded, do you have no heart? Did he not get hurt for saving you???"
-Now that you said it…
Mo Ran sighed. He ate a few spoonfuls of what was left of his lunch before dragging his feet out of Mengpo Hall and followed Xue Meng to Naihe Bridge. Shi Mei was indeed there, already hardworking at wiping the lions one by one.
"Ah, A-Ran, you are here!" he called cheerfully.
Mo Ran automatically smiled. So what if he had to wipe the lions clean from top to bottom? He got to spend some alone time with Shi Mei. Was it not good enough? Mo Ran energetically grabbed a spare cloth and started wiping the lions next to Shi Mei, chatting happily all the while. He did not even notice that Xue Meng slipped away.
The boy ran hurriedly toward Red Lotus Pavilion, intent on reporting the success of his mission just now. He was so excited that he almost bumped against his father, who was just taking his leave.
"Aiyaaa, Meng-er! Don't run, what if you bump into your Shizun instead!"
Xue Meng only giggled.
Behind Xue ZhengYong, Chu Wanning stood still. In his hands, he was holding a lot of tiny pots, presumably medicine made by Madam Wang. Xue ZhengYong turned around to face Chu Wanning and repeated, "Listen well, Yuheng. I want you to diligently apply those ointments every night. No, I don't want to hear any excuse. You are on house arrest until you are fully recovered!"
"…"
"…"
-Dad, is Shizun not already on house arrest…?
After Xue ZhengYong left, Chu Wanning directed his calm but sharp eyes at Xue Meng. Xue Meng responded with an "Ah" before he quickly reported, "Reporting to Shizun, Mo WeiYu and Shi Mei are now at Naihe Bridge wiping the lions together."
"En."
"…"
That's it? Xue Meng was a little disappointed. His Shizun had come up with a basically impossible request : to get Mo Ran to clean the lions in his stead. Alright, his exact request was to have Mo Ran and Shi Mei clean the lions together. Asking Shi Mei was like eating a cake. Easy stuff. But asking Mo Ran? It required a high level of persuasion! Xue Meng had spent a long time scheming and planning before he finally came up with a scenario so that Mo WeiYu that dog would go clean the lions without holding grudges. Otherwise, the lions would not only not be cleaned but might be vandalized instead. After all that, his Shizun had nothing to say other than "En"??? Xue Meng felt terribly wronged. He was not good at hiding his feelings, so the disappointment quickly showed on his face, making him appear sulky. This did not escape Chu Wanning's sharp observation.
"What is it?"
Xue Meng turned bright red.
"N-nothing!!!"
"… Is that so."
Chu Wanning carefully lined up the tiny pots of medicine on the table. It was not as messy as before, but some iron scraps were still piling on one side. Chu Wanning wondered if he should throw out the iron scraps, or store them somewhere safe for future usage. While he was deep in thought, Xue Meng suddenly piped up.
"S-Shizun, I have been practicing hard. Can you check my spiritual core?"
-Why not.
Chu Wanning motioned him to come close and put his palm against Xue Meng's chest. A warm, stable surge of spiritual power flowed into Chu Wanning's hand. He smiled slightly and nodded in appreciation. Xue Meng really had worked hard to improve his cultivation.
"A massive improvement since last year. Very good."
Xue Meng's cheeks turned pink from happiness.
"S-Shizun, this disciple wants to ask something."
"Yes?"
"That, um… Does Shizun remember? You said you would take me to Jincheng Lake to get my own holy weapon when my core is finally stabilized."
"…"
Yes, did he not promise that to Xue Meng?
And yet, different from the previous lifetime when he granted Xue Meng's wish and took him to Jincheng Lake without further thoughts, in this lifetime he could only think about one thing when Xue Meng breached the topic of Jincheng Lake.
Mo Ran's holy weapon, the long saber. The saber remained unnamed until Chu Wanning's death, but who would not tremble in fear when they see TaXian-Jun wielding it?
Many times in the past, when Mo Ran first bedded his Shizun, he left the saber in the vicinity, on the bed just in front of Chu Wanning. While Chu Wanning was pressed down on the bed and TaXian-Jun fucked him ruthlessly from behind, Chu Wanning often thought about grabbing the holy weapon and stabbing his own throat, to end the days of humiliation. One night he did move his hand slightly to reach for the saber, but TaXian-Jun noticed. The latter pulled his hand away and rammed hard inside Chu Wanning. He was tortured so hard that he eventually passed out. When he woke up again, the saber was out of sight. Ever since that night, TaXian-Jun never again left the saber on the bed when they were having sex.
"Shizun…?"
"Hmm?"
Xue Meng looked dejected.
"It's… It's my birthday in two weeks."
"…"
Xue Meng's thought process was simple. He wanted a holy weapon as a birthday present. Ever since Chu Wanning told him that he would eventually take the boy to Jincheng Lake to get his own weapon as soon as his spiritual core stabilized, Xue Meng had been practicing diligently. He had been counting the days to finally get his own weapon, and coincidentally his birthday was also nearing so he gathered all his courage to ask his Shizun.
Chu Wanning sighed in his heart.
He would love to take Xue Meng to Jincheng Lake, but the thing was that he knew Xue Meng would only go back disappointed. In past lifetime, they did go and the Jincheng Lake refused to thaw for Xue Meng. They went the first time, then a second time, and then a third time before Xue Meng finally gave up. In the end, Xue Meng was not able to get a holy weapon at all. This was not a rare occurrence because only a few cultivators managed to get holy weapons from Jincheng Lake. Most of them inherited their weapons from their ancestors. That was why most young masters of the cultivation world had holy weapons. Xue Meng on the other side did not originally come from a family with deeply rooted cultivation. Xue ZhengYong and his brother built everything from scratch, and they had not gotten their holy weapons either. The reason why Xue Meng could not simply accept this was because Mo Ran got his on the first try. And Mo Ran did not even try that hard. Jincheng Lake simply took a liking to him and allowed him to own a holy weapon.
This holy weapon of his would eventually bring calamity to the world. Without that saber, TaXian-Jun would be less of a menace. Chu Wanning had regretted taking Mo Ran to Jincheng Lake in his past life. He had the chance to redo things. If Xue Meng could not get a holy weapon anyway, why did they have to go? If they didn't go, then Mo Ran would not get a chance to obtain the saber either. Was that not the best solution?
Chu Wanning swallowed hard.
This was not how a shizun ought to think. Instead of scheming so that Mo Ran did not get a hold of a holy weapon, should he not focus more on educating Mo Ran to be a good person? If all his plans went well and the flower inside Mo Ran's heart went dormant, then the holy weapon would aid Mo Ran in protecting the cultivation world. Holy weapons were not good or bad. It all depended on the people who wielded them.
"Shizun…"
Xue Meng was close to tears. Chu Wanning was not the type to go silent when he was asked something. For Xue Meng, it seemed that Chu Wanning was thinking of the best words to say to let Xue Meng down.
Unexpectedly, Chu Wanning answered, "Alright, let's go."
Xue Meng's eyes grew big.
"Realllyyyyy??? Shizun, we are going???"
Chu Wanning frowned.
"I already said we are. After Shi Mei and Mo Ran finish wiping the lions, ask them to come to see me. I need to check their spiritual cores as well."
Xue Meng's face fell immediately.
"Aah…? They are also going?"
"What do you think?"
"Nothing…"
Xue Meng bowed his head and left. All the way out he grumbled to himself. He did not mind that Shi Mei came along, but Mo Ran the dog did nothing to earn this trip! Because Xue Meng was feeling indignant, he actually told Mo Ran that Shizun wanted him to wash off all the dishes in Mengpo Hall after dinner before coming to meet him.
"What the hell?"
Shi Mei hastily said, "A-Ran, I will help. We will go together."
Mo Ran glared at Xue Meng and gritted his teeth, "No need. Shi Mei, you go ahead. I will come after I finish washing the dishes."