"… Mei! Shi Mei!"
"Mmm…"
"Shi Mei!"
Chu Wanning opened his eyes slightly. Who was it? Calling for Shi Mei so anxiously. He lifted his gaze and met with Mo Ran's bright eyes. It was Mo Ran. Mo Ran was the one who was calling for Shi Mei, and he was looking right at Chu Wanning.
"…"
"Shi Mei, I am sorry, have you waited for that long? Even so, you cannot fall asleep under a tree like this! What if you catch some cold?"
They were sitting together under the haitang tree in Sisheng Peak. This was Chu Wanning's favorite spot to hang out. He glanced up as some haitang flower petals fell around them. Candidly, he held a palm open to catch a petal. The haitang petal fluttered gently and landed in his hand. At the same time, Mo Ran reached out and removed a petal from Chu Wanning's shoulder. His movement was very gentle, and his voice as tender as the touch of a butterfly's wing. This voice, this gaze, this all belonged to Shi Mei. So how did Chu Wanning end up being at the receiving end of Mo Ran's affection?
"Mo Ran… I…"
As soon as Chu Wanning spoke, he froze. It was not his own voice. It was Shi Mei's voice. Chu Wanning looked down and found that he was wearing Sisheng Peak's disciple uniform. He was in Shi Mei's body!
"Hmm? What is it?"
"Nothing," Chu Wanning said quickly. He rubbed at his temples and glanced at Mo Ran. The last thing he remembered was him being stabbed with a sword inside the blood hourglass. How did he end up back at the Sisheng Peak, sleeping underneath the haitang tree in Shi Mei's body? It did not make sense.
Mo Ran did not seem to notice his change of behavior at all. He gave Chu Wanning a bright smile and started to talk a lot.
"My mom came to visit today. Hahaha, the elders were complaining about me to Mom, so she ended up scolding me and apologizing a lot to Aunt and Uncle. Oh, Shi Mei, I have not introduced you to her. Why don't I set up a meeting for the three of us? I… I really would like for you to meet my mom."
His mother?
But Mo Ran's mother passed away before he came to Sisheng Peak. Since Chu Wanning took Mo Ran as his disciple, Mo Ran's mother had never once come to Sisheng Peak. The realization hit him like thunder. This was not the real world. He was in a dream! In Mo Ran's sweetest dream to be precise!
Chu Wanning's face darkened immediately.
Mo Ran was startled to see his reaction.
"Shi Mei? Is something wrong?"
"No… carry on."
Mo Ran sheepishly took Shi Mei's hand in his.
"Shi Mei, actually, there is something I want to talk to you about."
The teenager lowered his gaze and played with Shi Mei's hand. As he kneaded at Shi Mei's fingers, blood slowly crept into his face and colored his cheeks redder and redder. Chu Wanning swallowed hard. He dreaded to hear what was coming next.
"Shi Mei, all this time, I… I have been in love with you. I like you. I love you. How… how do you feel about me?"
At the end of that last question, Mo Ran looked up at Chu Wanning bravely with eyes full of determination.
Of course.
This was Mo Ran's sweetest dream. In this dream, his innermost desires came true. His mother was still alive, and he was romantically involved with Shi Mei. In this dream, there was no place for Chu Wanning. He did not even appear in this dream. Chu Wanning could laugh at himself. What was he expecting? Did Taxian-Jun not tell him the same thing over and over again for ten years, that Chu Wanning should have died in Shi Mei's stead? What made him think that he would even play a minor role in Mo Ran's perfect world?
No… in Mo Ran's perfect world, there was no Chu Wanning. Chu Wanning was not necessary.
The man in Shi Mei's body gazed solemnly at the expectant-looking Mo Ran. He sighed inwardly. Just how many times did he have to feel pain before his heart was completely numb? Why was it that he still held on to some hope that he actually meant something to Mo Ran? Why was he so foolish?
-Look at Mo Ran. Look how well he is doing. He is happy. Even without your intervention, he is happy. He does not need you around, intervening in his life.
"Shi Mei?"
Mo Ran shook at Shi Mei's hand. He knitted his brows out of worry.
"Shi Mei, what's wrong? Did you hear me?"
"Ah… I am sorry. I was a little lost. What did you say?"
Chu Wanning forced himself to smile.
"I said, I really like you. I want us to be together. How do you feel about me?"
Chu Wanning closed his eyes for a moment before he opened them again and smiled at Mo Ran brightly. Faking that smile took all of the willpower he had, but saying the next sentence was akin to stabbing a knife directly into his beating heart.
"I like you too, Mo Ran."
The sentence left Chu Wanning's trembling lips and tears dropped across his cheeks. Mo Ran seemed to mistake them for happy tears. He immediately pulled Chu Wanning into a tight hug.
"Shi Mei, I am so happy… So happy… Thank you. Thank you for liking me back."
Chu Wanning put his arms around Mo Ran as well, saying nothing while his tears kept flowing.
"Heavens… if this is a dream, I don't want to wake up ever again," Mo Ran whispered while they were locked in an embrace.
"Mo Ran, you know what…?" Chu Wanning started. "The most wonderful dreams are rarely real."
Chu Wanning moved a little and placed a soft kiss on Mo Ran's cheek. Mo Ran loosened the embrace and pressed a hand against the cheek that Chu Wanning just kissed. He looked so happy, just like a child who got a cart full of candies. Chu Wanning could not take it anymore.
The dream quickly ended on his side.
Back in the reality, he was still strapped on the cross and his blood flowed incessantly, dripping little by little to fill the hourglass. Chu Wanning opened his eyes and coughed up some more blood. The sword was still stuck in his chest, and his three disciples were all still sleeping soundly.
-There is no hope.
-I have lost too much blood.
-They are not going to wake up anytime soon.
-Especially not Mo Ran.
-Mo Ran…
Chu Wanning closed his eyes. He was tired. Both physically and mentally. But he had to do something. He could not die yet. If he died, then these three disciples would spend the rest of their life dreaming until they slowly perished. A dream, no matter how sweet, was not reality. A good life was built with one's two own hands. A dream was nothing but wishful thinking without any effort to make it come true.
There were so many things that Chu Wanning had to fix in this life.
He could not die yet. He could not die yet!
Chu Wanning's breath started to become jagged. His anxiety did not make things better. He was wasting too much energy for nothing. It was much better to think about a solution, and quickly.
"Shizun."
Chu Wanning glanced down at the person who spoke up. His eyes widened when he saw who it was.
It was Mo Ran!
Mo Ran woke up from the dream!
Impossible. How was he able to wake up from such a beautiful dream?
Mo Ran stepped closer and winced out of pain. Chu Wanning saw that his boots had started to melt away. Since when did the ground become scalding hot? The fake Gouchen truly did not shy from making things difficult for them.
The teenager leaped onto the thorny vines and started climbing toward the hourglass, toward the cross where Chu Wanning was bound. Mo Ran was as agile as Xue Meng, if not more agile. He reached Chu Wanning in no time. Once he climbed up to Chu Wanning, he gazed at his shizun helplessly.
"Shizun, what should I do?"
Mo Ran's eyes lingered at the sword in Chu Wanning's chest. He knew what he had to do, but he was too afraid to do anything. Chu Wanning coughed softly.
"Pull the sword out," he instructed.
"But… I… What if I hurt Shizun instead?"
Chu Wanning let out small laughter. He did not find the situation amusing at all, but he could not help laughing at Mo Ran's fabricated worry for him. It was clear that Chu Wanning meant nothing for Mo Ran, so what was Mo Ran doing, pretending to care about his well-being? Was he looking down at Chu Wanning, out of pity maybe?
Mo Ran was stunned when his Shizun who already lost a huge amount of blood gave him a fierce look all of a sudden.
"Pull it out." Chu Wanning ordered the second time.
Mo Ran nodded and put his hands around the sword hilt. The Shizun and disciple exchanged one last look before Mo Ran pulled at the hilt with all his strength. Blood gushed out like a tiny fountain when the blade left Chu Wanning's body. The thorny vines disappeared, the hourglass also disappeared. Mo Ran just had enough time to pull Chu Wanning's lifeless body into his arms and shield him as they fell to the ground. Before them, the sword hit the ground with a loud clang.