"Mo Ran!"
Chu Wanning pulled a disgusted face when he saw Mo Ran on the bed with someone. This disciple of his was really beyond remedy, he thought. While his two shixiongs were close to being fed to the willow tree, here was Mo Ran, committing debauchery underwater.
After deeper observation, he noticed that Mo Ran was making out with nothing other than a bewitched human corpse with a talisman hanging at the back of its fox head.
"..."
Maybe Mo Ran was not committing debauchery after all. Unless this guy was sick in the head since his youth.
Mo Ran started cursing around.
"Who the fuck did this to you??? I'll kill him!!! I'll kill him!!!"
Chu Wanning's face was as dark as the pot bottom. He did not need to ask why Mo Ran was so worked up for no reason. The eerie corpse with fox head was wrapped in a piece of QingQiu fox fur. It was said that anything that was wrapped with the QingQiu fox fur with some blood of a person would automatically take the appearance of the person's most desired person. It must have taken Shi Mei's appearance. Gouchen the Exalted wanted to draw Mo Ran's spiritual essence, and Chu Wanning was pretty sure that he did not do that for noble purposes. They might not have much time to escape from this underwater trap.
Chu Wanning wordlessly summoned Tianwen and ripped the talisman off the fox corpse with one movement. The talisman turned into a jet-black chess piece in Chu Wanning's hand after he scorched it using his spiritual energy. Chu Wanning's eyes widened upon seeing the remaining chess piece.
"Zhenlong Chess Formation," he whispered to himself in disbelief.
Zhenlong Chess Formation was one of the three forbidden techniques that existed in the cultivation world. Of the three, Zhenlong Chess Formation was the most destructive one. Chu Wanning knew this very well because this was the technique that Mo Ran learned in secret and refined to the point that he managed to become the first and only emperor of the cultivation world. He annihilated a lot of people, destroyed sects, all by using the Zhenlong Chess Formation.
Chu Wanning's eyes flashed dangerously. So in this life, someone other than Mo Ran was also using the Zhenlong Chess Formation? Chu Wanning gritted his teeth. Good that his cultivation had not been destroyed then. He knew very well how to handle it.
"S-Shizun!"
The teenager scrambled up from the bed and out of the cell, rubbing his arms in disgust after seeing what it was that he made out with.
Chu Wanning eyed Mo Ran, wondering if he's the real or fake one.
No matter, he thought. I will eliminate all the chess pieces soon.
"Mo Ran, come with me!"
"Y-Yes, Shizun."
Mo Ran's face was glowing red. He ran behind Chu Wanning with shaky steps. Chu Wanning turned his gaze away from Mo Ran, his eyes full of contempt.
So the boy still has some sense of shame. Hmph.
No matter how much Chu Wanning wanted to make the hatred flower in Mo Ran's heart go dormant, he also could not tolerate Mo Ran lusting after Shi Mei senselessly. He made a note to make sure that their relationship advanced at a healthy, acceptable rate.
They exited the underground prison area and arrived where the giant willow tree was. The four coffins were still there, but now they were empty after Chu Wanning woke Shi Mei and Xue Meng up. Chu Wanning wanted to confront the perpetrator, but he could not just forsake his three disciples. At the very least, he must bring them to safety before he attempted anything.
"Let's go," Chu Wanning told Mo Ran, leading him to where he hid Xue Meng and Shi Mei.
His two other disciples were supposed to wait in a safe corner of the underwater palace. When Chu Wanning and Mo Ran arrived, they were not there anymore.
"…"
"Shizun, where is Shi Mei???"
Chu Wanning's face darkened.
"They are supposed to wait here. Something must have happened and they ran away. Let's go, we must find them."
The two of them flipped over the palace walls and ran outside. Outside of the palace, the market that they visited yesterday was again bustling with underwater sea creatures.
"Fish blood mantou! Freshly made, freshly made!!!"
"Skin of Shuairan Snake, fine clothing material! Only three feet left!"
Chu Wanning knitted his brows. He stopped in his track, pulled at Mo Ran's arm, and looked around warily. All these vendors said exactly the same thing as yesterday, and they seemed to re-enact what happened the day before perfectly!
Chu Wanning's gaze landed on the merfolk apothecary that Xue Meng and Shi Mei visited the day before.
All of them, all of them assumed the same positions and replayed yesterday's events with accurate perfection! This was not something that could be done with living beings. Chu Wanning's blood froze in his veins. All of these sea creatures… they were dead!
"Mo Ran," he whispered, without taking his eyes off the sea creatures.
Behind him, Mo Ran unexpectedly reached out and grabbed Chu Wanning's hand.
"Shizun, I am here."
They were underwater, and the surrounding temperature was low. Mo Ran's hand was so warm. As warm as Chu Wanning remembered. Chu Wanning closed his eyes. There was a time, a long time ago when he would have given everything to be able to hold hands with Mo Ran like this. When the feelings he had for him were tender buds of spring flowers, when Mo Ran did not come to hate him yet.
Chu Wanning saw Taxian-Jun's hatred-filled face with his mind's eye.
"It was you who killed Shi Mei! You left Shi Mei to die! Shi Mei was the unluckiest person to have a shizun like you!!!"
Chu Wanning gave Mo Ran's hand a squeeze, so hard that Mo Ran groaned from the pain. Only then did Chu Wanning release his hand.
"Stay next to me, don't wander around."
Aggrieved, the disciple answered, "Yes, Shizun…"
Chu Wanning flicked with his sleeves and shouted, "Jiu'ge!!!"
A guqin with a black body and a tail that curled upward to form blossoming haitang branches appeared from thin air, hovering lightly in front of Chu Wanning.
Mo Ran's eyes widened. Chu Wanning summoned Jiu'ge! This was the one weapon that Mo Ran did not want to ever see in this life again. This was the weapon that Chu Wanning used against him so many times to foil his plan. Why would Chu Wanning summon Jiu'ge at that moment?
Mo Ran turned to look around the market one more time.
Then he realized.
Zhenlong Chess Formation.
All of the sea creatures underwater, possibly including the merfolks in the palace were all controlled by the Zhenlong Chess Formation!
Chu Wanning plucked a string and sent a wave of energy toward their surroundings. All around them, the sea creatures froze in their movement when hit with the energy wave, and then they all crumbled in a heap of bloody, bubbling mess. The blood diffused into the lake water, dyeing it red.
Chu Wanning grabbed Mo Ran's arm and dragged him toward the palace. The man in the white robe glared in the direction of the palace. There was no mistake. Xue Meng and Shi Mei must have been captured and dragged back to where the culprit was. There was no other place they could go. Not if Chu Wanning insisted to take away all three disciples with him.
"Shizun," Mo Ran called out to him anxiously. "Shizun, what is happening here? Why would Gouchen the Exalted do this kind of thing?"
Chu Wanning shook his head.
"You are wrong. It is the fake Gouchen."
"How can Shizun be so sure that it is the fake one? How can a fake god do all of this?"
Mo Ran pointed at the bloody mess they left behind.
"If it is the real god, do you think he needs to kill the sea creatures before taking control of them?"
Chu Wanning avoided explaining the technique called "Zhenlong Chess Formation". He did not know how Mo Ran heard about the forbidden technique in his previous life. In this life, Chu Wanning would not be the one who first informed him that this kind of horrifying technique did exist.
He was not aware that Mo Ran also went back in time and thus knew about Zhenlong Chess Formation all along. The teenager even noticed the black chess pieces lying in the pool of blood, but he said nothing. A sixteen-year-old Mo Ran knew nothing about forbidden techniques, let alone how to put them into practice. In order to keep his identity hidden, he had to play the role of ignorant youth for now.
Chu Wanning knew where to go. Since the sacrifice coffins were supposed to feed the willow tree with blood, then it had to be the center of the fake god's operation. The giant willow tree towered over them menacingly when they arrived. No guards were around to watch it. From inside the willow tree, the two people heard some shouting sounds.
"Shizun! Shizun, helpppp!!!"
"Young Master, I don't think that Shizun is outside."
"You don't know that! Shizun must have realized that we are missing! Maybe he's outside!"
"…"
"…"
"Let's go in," Chu Wanning said to Mo Ran. They went inside the giant willow tree and landed in the holy weapon arsenal. The appearance of the arsenal was exactly the same as the day before.
"A-Ran!!!"
"Shizun!!"
Mo Ran was so relieved to see Shi Mei. He immediately left Chu Wanning's side to go and hug Shi Mei. At the same time, Xue Meng rushed over and put his arms around Chu Wanning's waist.
"Shizun, we were so scared! We were caught by the guards and they brought us here!"
Chu Wanning stroke Xue Meng's hair.
"It's alright now. Don't worry."
At that moment, Mo Ran had his arms around Shi Mei. This was one of the rare, intimate moments with Shi Mei that he was supposed to cherish, but Mo Ran could not devote himself to enjoying the moment. When he heard Chu Wanning converse with Xue Meng, he turned around and squinted at Chu Wanning's hand on top of Xue Meng's head, and Xue Meng's arms around Chu Wanning. A fire burned in Mo Ran's heart. For some reason, he was extremely displeased to see those two together. How inappropriate of Xue Meng to throw himself at their Shizun like that. What was he, a three-year-old?? Mo Ran strode across the room while dragging Shi Mei by his hand and yanked Xue Meng away from Chu Wanning violently.
"If you are so scared, why don't you run away?" Mo Ran snarled.
Xue Meng's expression turned sour. He wrestled himself away from Mo Ran's grip and retaliated.
"You mutt! If there was an exit, we would have escaped!"
"You idiot, if there was no entrance, how did Shizun and I manage to get in???"
All four of them automatically gazed in the direction where Chu Wanning and Mo Ran entered the holy weapon arsenal. The entrance was gone as if it was not there in the first place.
"…"
They were still staring at the spot where the entrance was, when a bubbling sound from the smelting pool alerted them. Chu Wanning pushed all three disciples behind him protectively. A moment later, a ghoulish-like figure emerged from the fiery molten metal pool, with two big eyes that were glowing red. Chu Wanning retreated, and the disciples behind him shuffled to the back to make space for him.
The eerie figure seemed to observe the strangers that entered the holy weapon arsenal with its two firey eyes. It moved its head mechanically around and watched them from different angles. Chu Wanning was contemplating what to do when the figure suddenly let out an angry roar and attacked them. Molten lava surged out of the pool and flew toward Chu Wanning and his three disciples.
Chu Wanning blocked the attack by summoning a barrier to protect them. The red flaming liquid crashed against the barrier, exploding like fireworks before the blackened remains dropped on the ground. Although they did not get burnt by the attack, the impact caused Chu Wanning to retreat a few steps.
-It is a spirit.
-Can it be a resentful spirit that died in this holy weapon arsenal…?
Chu Wanning's expression turned grim. Golden light on his open palm revealed that Tianwen was about to be summoned.
Chu Wanning ran toward the smelting pool and attacked with Tianwen. Tianwen wrapped itself around the figure. As expected from a holy weapon, the willow vine did not get scorched at all.
A Truth Restoration Barrier was erected, this time with only Chu Wanning and the fire spirit inside. Within the barrier, the fire spirit took another form. A handsome, tall man with long silver hair tucked neatly by a golden hairpin on top of his head appeared. The white robe with silver embroideries at the hems made him look like a respectable god. And yet he was not.
"My name is Chu Wanning, I am an elder at Sisheng Peak," Chu Wanning introduced himself. "May I know who you are?"
The man gently replied, "My name is Zhaixin Liu, I am the spirit of this willow tree. I was brought by Gouchen the Exalted to this place, and have remained here ever since."
The willow tree spirit…
"Why are you committing all these horrible deeds? What is your goal?"
"I did not do anything like that. That person did."
"Who?"
Could it be that Gouchen the Exalted planted Zhaixin Liu in Jincheng Lake for this purpose?
As if he could read Chu Wanning's mind, he lifted his sad eyes and answered his silent question, "It is not Gouchen the Exalted. The God had left many years ago, and I have not heard of him since. This other person came in here and disturbed the peace within the Jincheng Lake."
"Who is it? Who did it?"
Zhaixin Liu opened his mouth to answer, but his body suddenly started to tremble.
"No time… no time left. Listen to me, this person is using me as an energy source to wield forbidden techniques. My lifespan is soon ending, so he had to find wood spiritual elements to sustain my life. You and your disciple… are in danger."
"How can we get out of here?" Chu Wanning demanded.
"Only if… if you can kill me."
Blood started to seep from the corner of his lips.
"I cannot maintain this consciousness any longer. Grandmaster Chu, all you have to do to escape is to kill me. Please kill me, I would rather die than be used as a tool to conduct a crime."
Zhaixin Liu dropped to his knees and started coughing out some blood. Chu Wanning wanted to approach him, but Zhaixin Liu held a hand up to stop him.
"I have three skills… First, Sweetest Dream will lull the person into a sweet dream from which he does not wish to wake… Second, the Temptation of the Heart will cause people of the same side to slaughter each other. The third…"
Zhaixin Liu's face was distorted and assumed an ugly expression before he could finish his explanation. With that, the barrier broke and Chu Wanning was thrown out unceremoniously. He barely managed to get off the ground in time before a heart-wrenching roar was heard throughout the holy weapon arsenal and Zhaixin Liu was dragged back into the smelting pool. In his place, nine pillars of flame surged up from the ground and four tokens hung in the air. An ancient script hung in the air on top of the four tokens before it disappeared. Chu Wanning read it out loud, "Draw the lots, break the nightmare…"
"Shizun, what writing was that?" Xue Meng asked, pulling at Chu Wanning's sleeves.
"It is Cangjie Script, I still have to teach you that one," Chu Wanning replied.
Draw the lots…
"All of you, stand behind me. Don't do anything."
Chu Wanning told the boys to stay back, but he himself walked toward the four floating tokens and reached for them.
"Shizun!" Mo Ran screamed.
Chu Wanning's hand stopped in the air. He glanced back at Mo Ran, wondering if there was something else.
"Be careful," Mo Ran added.
Chu Wanning's eyes went from Mo Ran's face to his hand, which was linked with Shi Mei's. He scoffed before turning back to face the tokens and plucked one from the air. The jade token felt cool to his fingers. He flipped the token back and forth, but there was nothing on it.
"Hmm?"
Seeing that nothing happened, his three disciples approached him.
"Shizun, what is it?" Shi Mei inquired, gazing at the token in Chu Wanning's hand.
"It's empty," he said.
Chu Wanning reached for another token, but the tokens avoided him.
"…"
"Let me try, Shizun," Xue Meng volunteered.
Before Chu Wanning stopped him, he too plucked one random token from the air and it too was empty. After Xue Meng, Shi Mei picked another and it was also empty. The three people gazed at each other in bewilderment.
Only one token was left. It floated toward Mo Ran so the teenager took it. He flipped his token and it was not empty. Something was written on it, in Cangjie Script again.
"Shizun," he called, showing Chu Wanning the ancient writing on the token.
"Blood hourglass," Chu Wanning read, knitting his brows.
"Shizun, what is a blood hourglass?"
"I don't know."
A rumbling sound was heard as the ground beneath their feet trembled. A huge copper hourglass with a cross suspended in the middle descended from the roof.
Blood hourglass.
Fast as a lightning, Chu Wanning pulled Mo Ran's token out of his hand and pushed his own into Mo Ran's hand, baffling all three disciples.
"Shizun, what…?"
A bunch of thorny vines shot forward from the hourglass and wrapped themselves around Chu Wanning's body.
"SHIZUN!!!!"
Mo Ran jumped to grab his token out of Chu Wanning's hand, but it was too late. Chu Wanning was dragged inside the hourglass as his disciples looked on, utterly horrified. The thorny vines bound Chu Wanning to the cross.
A glistening golden sword appeared from the dense thick vines and stabbed Chu Wanning into the chest. The stab caused him to vomit out some blood, while the rest trickled down his usually immaculate white robe, all the way down and pooled at the base of the hourglass.