"But… impossible!!! Impossible!!!"
Mo Ran repeated that one word over and over, hoping that there was something wrong with the opening mechanism of the box and that he had not made any error of his own.
Gouchen the Exalted and Chu Wanning both gave him pitiful gaze. Seeing Mo Ran so disoriented, even Chu Wanning's heart went soft and he asked the Exalted God on his behalf, "Can he have another go on the spiritual weapon?"
Gouchen the Exalted shook his head regretfully.
"Unfortunately, every person only gets one chance to try opening the box. Since the Young Lord had used up his chance, there is unfortunately no second time."
Hearing the Exalted God's words, Mo Ran's spirit plummeted to the ground. He not only lost the chance to grasp a spiritual weapon, but he also had to swallow the bitter pill of truth. Since Mo Ran was entirely sure of his feelings toward Shi Mei, the fact that the box did not open in Shi Mei's hands only meant one thing : that Shi Mei did not feel the same toward him. Mo Ran sulked.
"A-Ran, I am sorry," Shi Mei earnestly said after the box was taken back by Gouchen the Exalted. He did not know what he did wrong, but he knew that Mo Ran was disappointed. Mo Ran, knowing that Shi Mei did not mean to let him down, forced himself to smile and said, "It's nothing."
It's nothing? Of course it's something! It is a big thing! This Venerable One does not have a weapon! Try that for nothing!!!
Mo Ran sulked the rest of the time.
"To comfort the Young Lord, why not spend a night here. You all can go back tomorrow morning, bright and energetic." the Exalted God offered.
"No, I think we should not extend our stay. Boys…"
Chu Wanning turned to his disciples. While Xue Meng obediently stayed next to him while holding onto his new weapon, Shi Mei was busy comforting Mo Ran who had wandered close to the shelves full of weapons, gazing at them like a desert traveler lusting after water.
"…"
Gouchen the Exalted cleared his throat.
"Maybe we can find the Young Lord another weapon tomorrow. It might not be as exquisite as the one he lost, but something is better than nothing."
Chu Wanning agreed.
Gouchen the Exalted did not hold back before his guests. They were served a sumptuous dinner by beautiful mermaids, and there was even a little performance to entertain them before they retreated for the night. Xue Meng and Shi Mei enjoyed the night immensely. Mo Ran stared at everything with blank eyes. He only smiled occasionally when Shi Mei tried to get him to enjoy the night a little.
Chu Wanning sighed.
In the end, both Shi Mei and Xue Meng got spiritual weapons but Mo Ran had to leave empty-handed. Chu Wanning was not sure if this could be considered heavenly retribution.
Still, he could not stand to see Mo Ran looking like an undead wandering through the underwater world. Thus when they were walking toward the guest rooms, Chu Wanning tried to comfort Mo Ran.
"Mo Ran," he called. "Don't take it to heart. Spiritual weapons are not everything."
Mo Ran unexpectedly gave him a glare.
"Shizun can say that because Shizun has three spiritual weapons," he snapped at his Shizun.
Chu Wanning remained silent, just taking the harsh words without planning to reply. In his place, Xue Meng got upset.
"Oi, dog! How dare you talk to our shizun like that? So what if he has three spiritual weapons, did you give him any of those?"
Hearing Xue Meng's words, the fire that burned in Mo Ran's heart grew even larger as if someone had just poured hot oil into it.
"Mengmeng," he said sweetly, his tone dripping with poison. "Now that you have your own spiritual weapon, you can talk big, eh? I still remember your face back when you fail to thaw the ice surface. Don't you think you are being too hypocritical?"
"YOU!!!!"
Xue Meng lunged at Mo Ran, who did not even budge a little bit. He welcomed the confrontation. It was not he who started it.
"STOP IT!"
Chu Wanning's shout was accompanied by a dancing golden whip, separating Xue Meng and Mo Ran instantly. No one wanted to be whipped to death by Tianwen, especially not in Gouchen The Exalted's underwater palace.
Chu Wanning sent his disciples to their bedrooms with one fierce look. He himself went into the chamber assigned to him with an angry huff. After they return to Sisheng Peak, he would make sure to teach these rowdy disciples how to behave in a public setting. Impudent, shameless, lacking every bit of dignity…
That was the last thing Chu Wanning remembered before falling into a deep sleep. In his sleep, he was blindfolded and chained against the bed. Chu Wanning yanked at the chains with all his strength, but the chains merely rattled without any sign of breaking. And then, he heard the voice of two people conversing.
"He is going to be fine anyway," a voice piped up. "You know him well."
"I never agreed to this thing. You promised that I can get him, so you are not allowed to hurt him. Only I am," the second voice rang out.
"Oooh," the first person said, followed by a chuckle. "How filial. Or should I say not filial?"
"Shut up."
Chu Wanning's heart almost stopped. No, he told himself. It could not be. But he could not be mistaken. Two lifetimes, he would never mistake the man's voice. Taxian-Jun! But then who was the other person?
Something, or someone, pressed against the edge of the bed, making it sag downward. Chu Wanning's Adam's apple bobbed up and down.
-What is this?
-I do not remember this happening in my previous life.
-Am I… dreaming?
"Wanning," Taxian-Jun called, lifting his chin up.
Chu Wanning violently moved his head to the side to avoid his touch. His rejection did not make Taxian-Jun happy, but it did awaken his sadistic blood.
"Right, how can I forget. You are always like this, my righteous, pure, virtuous Shizun."
The words sounded like a mockery out of Taxian-Jun's lips.
Chu Wanning gasped when his lapels were grabbed and his robe was forcefully opened. Layer by layer, he was pried open until the tender flesh underneath came to the surface, under Taxian-Jun's hungry eyes.
The man put both hands at Chu Wanning's waist, one at each side, and pulled at his body. A moment later, a pair of hot lips closed around one of his red buds, the warm tongue attacked it mercilessly.
"No… Don't!!!"
Chu Wanning struggled to free himself, but his frantic reaction only fueled the man to suck and bite at the pitiful fruit, while the other was being pinched and rolled between his fingers.
-I have to wake up!
-I have to wake up!!!
Meanwhile, Taxian-Jun already dragged Chu Wanning to sit on his lap, his legs spread wantonly around him. Chu Wanning's heart thumped so hard.
"Let go of me, you bastard," he cursed at Taxian-Jun.
This cannot be happening.
What kind of dream is this, why does it feel so real???
Taxian-Jun did not seem to hear him. He lovingly pulled the half-naked Chu Wanning to a sweet embrace, his own hard weapon pressed against Chu Wanning's private parts intimately, separated only by thin layers of both pants.
"Can you feel that, Consort Chu?" he whispered into Chu Wanning's ear, giving him goosebumps. "Do you know how much I want you? You have not been a good wife at all. I dote on you so much, but you have not given me a child."
Taxian-Jun rubbed their private parts together. Chu Wanning gasped for air. It felt so hot. So hot. His body was burning from the friction.
"Give me a child, Wanning…"
"Aaah… Ngh… Get off me!!!"
The bulge was now pressing against his opening. Although there was still the layer of clothes separating them, Chu Wanning trashed around, fighting for both his life and dignity. There was no way he would fall into the same state as in his previous life! He would rather die!
"That's enough," the first voice rang out again, coldly cutting through Taxian-Jun's rambling.
Then Chu Wanning fell into the darkness.
When he opened his eyes again, somehow the chamber with soft blue-colored walls and coral furniture had transformed into something that was close to a prison.
Chu Wanning, "…"
It seemed that Gouchen The Exalted indeed had a different agenda! Chu Wanning propped himself up and cringed when the two buds on his chest started to sting. To his surprise, his pants were even a little damp. Other than that, he was properly clothed. The dream felt so real, but it could not be. Maybe he was imagining it so vividly that his own body reacted to it.
How shameless.
Now was not the time to castigate himself, so Chu Wanning jumped off the dilapidated bed and cut the prison bars swiftly with one golden lash of Tianwen.
As he ran along the corridor, he noticed that the whole palace had transformed into an uglier version, most likely how it was originally before someone came to enchant it. The only thing that seemed to be real was the huge willow tree ahead of him. Chu Wanning ran faster and faster. His heart almost stopped when he saw four coffins placed neatly side by side in front of the huge willow tree. While two of them were empty, the other two had Xue Meng and Shi Mei inside!
Chu Wanning wasted no time. He rushed and slapped his disciples' cheeks impatiently. Their bodies were warm. And they quickly woke up from the slaps. Propping themselves up from the coffin, both were initially disoriented and then terrified.
"S-S-Shizun where are we??? What is this?" Xue Meng stuttered.
Next to him, Shi Mei was completely speechless. His beautiful eyes were big from fear, and he trembled at the horrifying sight around him.
Chu Wanning did not want to waste any more time. He grabbed both of his disciples and ran to find a safe place to drop them before searching for Mo Ran.