Had he been wrong all along?
Back when Chu Wanning was held hostage by Taxian-Jun, the latter kept saying how much he hated him because Chu Wanning let Shi Mei die. Since he was revived before the terrible awful thing happened, Chu Wanning thought that his relationship with Mo Ran was considered harmonious. Sure, he disciplined him now and then, but ever since he revived, he had made sure that he did not punish Mo Ran carelessly anymore. Chu Wanning thought that he had tried his best to accommodate Mo Ran, be it by being a more merciful shizun or by giving him a lot of opportunities to pursue a relationship with Shi Mei.
Why was it, that Mo Ran still had such a poor impression of him?
The sword stabbed him brutally in the stomach.
Chu Wanning spat out blood right away, some of it splattered on Mo Ran's face.
Mo Ran's eyes grew big. He let go of the hilt immediately. Chu Wanning pulled the golden sword of Gouchen the Exalted from his stomach and it fell with a loud clang onto the ground. The blood was flowing incessantly. Chu Wanning had always acted tough in front of others, hiding his own pain and suffering but this time he could barely stand up straight. Pressing a hand against his wound, Chu Wanning dropped on his knees in front of Mo Ran.
How ironic, he thought.
In this lifetime too, maybe he was meant to die in Mo Ran's hands.
No matter what he did or not did.
"Ru…n…" he mouthed to Mo Ran.
The teenager shook his head many times.
"Shizun… Shizun, I am sorry. I do not mean it."
"Finish him, Mo Ran. Finish him and you will have everything. Shi Mei and a spiritual weapon of first grade. No one would know what happened in here. This secret will be kept underneath Jincheng Lake, forever and ever!"
Mo Ran heard the voice, but he could no longer listen. Chu Wanning was kneeling in front of him, bleeding profusely. He had stabbed Chu Wanning. He had personally stabbed him! This sin, could it ever be forgiven? How could he live with himself? In this life, Chu Wanning had done him nothing of a magnitude that would justify his killing! He had done something irreversible!
"Shizun… Shizun, I…"
Mo Ran was close to tears. He knelt in front of Chu Wanning as well, pressing his hands against Chu Wanning's hand, wishing that it would be enough to stop the blood from flowing, to undo what he had done. The blood seeped through his fingers. Mo Ran's tears fell from his eyes.
"No… No…"
Chu Wanning ruthlessly pushed him away.
"I told you to run, you fool," he hissed, glaring at Mo Ran.
"You see, Mo Ran? Your shizun does not want you at all. Not even at the brink of death will he be nice to you. Come, pick up the sword from the ground and finish him. Kill Chu Wanning and grab what you want with your own hands!"
Mo Ran went to pick the sword from the ground. Chu Wanning coughed up a mouthful of blood. Panting hard, he looked up to see Mo Ran gripping the sword before him.
-Is this the end?
Chu Wanning sighed.
"If you want to do it, make it quick," Chu Wanning said. "The tree… collapsing soon…"
The man could not hold on long enough for Mo Ran to give him another stab. His disposition was originally weaker than the others, and his grave injuries from Butterfly Town had not healed completely. Adding to that the massive blood loss, Chu Wanning's body finally gave up and he keeled over.
"That's it… That's it, Mo Ran, very good… AHHHHHHH!!!"
Zhaixin Liu screamed in Mo Ran's mind. Mo Ran had used the sword to stab Zhaixin Liu in the heart. Just as Zhaixin Liu perished, the sword also lost its godly aura, becoming nothing more than a scrap. Mo Ran tossed it on the ground. Then, he gathered all power he had left in his body to haul Chu Wanning up and drag him out of the weapon arsenal.
-Shizun, I have wronged you. Even if you die in this place, I will not let your corpse remain under Jincheng Lake. I will take you home, and I will bear whatever punishment from Sisheng Peak!
Chu Wanning kept drifting between consciousness.
When he opened his eyes again, they were somehow sitting on a dragon's back as it swam up, leaving the destructed giant willow tree behind. Xue Meng was questioning Mo Ran about what happened within the weapon arsenal.
"Mo Ran, I ask you once again. What happened in the weapon arsenal? Why is Shizun injured so severely?"
Mo Ran's lips trembled. He was not ready to tell what he did down there. He was still trying to brace his heart to confess to his uncle.
"Well?? Speak!!"
"Xue Meng."
All three disciples turned to look at Chu Wanning, their expression a mix of relief and fear.
"Shizun??? Shizun, don't talk too much, you are losing a lot of blood!"
"You too, stop asking."
"…"
Wangyue broke through the water surface and dropped all four of them at the stone banking. Xue Meng wanted to let Chu Wanning lean against his chest and give him some spiritual power, but Mo Ran was faster.
"Let me," he said.
I owe him at least that. Just let me take care of him.
Both Shi Mei and Xue Meng looked at Mo Ran in confusion. Mo Ran did not care. He leaned Chu Wanning's head against his chest and poured bright blue spiritual energy into Chu Wanning's wound. He was a novice in cultivation, so the progress was slow. And yet, it still was better than nothing.
"Daozhang," Wangyue spoke up in a low roar. "Can you still hear me?"
Chu Wanning opened his eyes and nodded slightly.
Wangyue shimmered in a golden light. All four of them put a hand against their eyes to ward off the blinding light. When the light dissipated, a white-haired elderly merman was there in Wangyue's place.
"My time is almost due. I am also one of the creatures that feed on Zhaixin Liu's energy. Now that it has been thoroughly destroyed, I too shall disappear soon."
The three disciples were distraught to hear Wangyue's words.
"But… Elder, can we do nothing?" Shi Mei asked.
Wangyue smiled and shook his head. Meanwhile, Chu Wanning's bleeding finally stopped. His face was extremely pale and his head was dizzy from losing too much blood, but he was still lucid.
"You are not a chess piece," Chu Wanning said. "Does this mean that the fake Gouchen did not manage to control everything?"
Wangyue smiled.
"Correct. Daozhang is sharp. You recognized the Zhenlong Chess Formation right away. The person who wielded the technique did not stay for long. After establishing a fake god to act in his stead and killing what he could kill to serve as chess pieces, he left. The idea was to obtain the young man's spiritual core to power Zhaixin Liu up."
Wangyue nodded at Mo Ran.
"I am Gouchen the Exalted's personal steed. He branded me with his seal. I am loyal to him for life. This was why the person could not control me. But you see, he still managed to limit my speech. As for the others, unfortunately, they all had succumbed to their death."
Wangyue's breath grew haggard. His hands trembled when he took out a wooden box from his chest. Mo Ran's eyes grew big. It was the very box that contained the wood-elemental spiritual weapon! The one he lost because Shi Mei failed to open the box!
"Other than the golden sword of Gouchen the Exalted, this holy weapon is the only other original spiritual weapon. Everything else is fake."
After saying the last sentence, Wangyue directed his gaze at Xue Meng and Shi Mei. They did not get it initially, but then the truth dawned on them.
"Wangyue, are you saying… are you saying that my… that our weapons are fake???" Xue Meng asked in disbelief.
Wangyue nodded.
"I am sorry."
Xue Meng dropped to the ground. In the end, none of them got a spiritual weapon but Chu Wanning got heavily injured instead. Xue Meng was filled with the deepest regret. He went to clutch Chu Wanning's hand and begged for his forgiveness.
"Shizun, I am sorry," he sobbed. "I know that Shizun has not fully recovered but I still asked you to go. I am sorry, I am no better than that dog Mo Ran."
That dog Mo Ran was sitting just half a meter apart from Xue Meng, and he seriously contemplated giving Xue Meng another punch.
"Silly child," Chu Wanning sighed heavily.
Wangyue held the Ever-Yearning box in his hand and offered it to Chu Wanning. Everyone else held their breaths.
"Daozhang, I entrust this weapon to you. Whether you can or cannot obtain it depends on fate as well as luck. As long as this box is in your hands, it can only be opened by one person. This person must be very important to you. You must love him dearly, and he must also love you in return. Mutual devotion to each other is the key to opening this box."
Mo Ran felt his cheeks grow hot. Chu Wanning, Shi Mei, and Xue Meng all turned to stare at him. So it turned out that the Ever-Yearning Box was supposed to be opened in that manner only. Since Mo Ran offered the box to Shi Mei, it was basically a confession on spot. It was unfortunately unrequited on Shi Mei's side.
Shi Mei opened his mouth, intending to say something but then he swallowed his words back. It was not appropriate to talk about it when everyone was present. He subtly took Mo Ran's hand in his and squeezed it. This little gesture might be nothing compared to the hugs they exchanged in the past, but for Mo Ran it was a lot of comforts. Maybe, just maybe, the box was wrong. Shi Mei definitely felt something for him. And Mo Ran did not intend to give up pursuing Shi Mei. They exchanged warm smiles.
Wangyue sighed at the sight.
"To yearn unwittingly breaks the willow branch. Daozhang and the young cultivators, this is my farewell. I hope you can put the weapon to good use…"
At the end of his words, Wangyue's body broke into countless silver scales, which quickly disappeared into nothing. The ripples on Jincheng Lake disappeared. It was as if they just arrived at Jincheng Lake and had not experienced anything underneath. The only thing remaining was the Ever-Yearning box in Chu Wanning's hand.
"Someone who Shizun loves and loves him back…"
Both Mo Ran and Shi Mei turned to stare at Xue Meng, who quickly became self-conscious.
"What? I…"
"I believe it is not wrong to say that the Young Master is the closest person to Shizun." Shi Mei commented.
Xue Meng turned beet-red. Mo Ran crossed his arms and furrowed at Xue Meng. It was no question that Xue Meng greatly idolized Chu Wanning. It was almost embarrassing to see him tag after Chu Wanning, day in and day out. What about Chu Wanning? Mo Ran shot Chu Wanning a look. Chu Wanning happened to be looking at him at the same time, so their eyes met in a gaze briefly before Chu Wanning looked away.
"That… um… Does Shizun want me to try…?" Xue Meng asked, completely red in the face.
Chu Wanning shook his head and stuffed the box into his chest.
"This is not the time. Let's go back."
Although the bleeding had stopped, Chu Wanning could feel that his body was still very weak. The smallest effort to move caused large sweat beads to roll from his forehead while he fought to feign calmness. His complexion was not good at all. Knowing that he would pass out on the way back to the village if he insisted to go back using the same route, Chu Wanning finally for once did something for his own benefit. He took out his Ascending Dragon Talisman, bit into his finger to let out some blood, and let the blood drop onto the paper dragon.
"Shizun?"
All of them were wondering what Chu Wanning was up to. Then, the paper dragon wriggled and come alive.
"Yooooo Chu Wanning, long time no see! I see that you are still your usual sullen, unfriendly self!"
Chu Wanning's face darkened.
"Grow bigger, take us back to Sisheng Peak," he said curtly.
"Whaaaat? You have not summoned me for a long time and now you are ordering me around? This Venerable One wants to enjoy his freedom for once!"
A bright red flame appeared on top of Chu Wanning's palm.
"Grow, or burn."
The tiny paper dragon screeched angrily. It disappeared in a golden light soon afterward.
"…"
"…"
"Um, Shizun…" Shi Mei started.
He was not done with his words yet but then a roar came up from the sky. A huge dragon descended and flew at high speed toward them.
"AAAAARGHHHHHH!!!"
Xue Meng screamed and ran behind Chu Wanning.
Mo Ran gave him a cold look. How disgraceful.
The dragon stopped just before Chu Wanning.
"Get on, get on. Quick, This Venerable One does not have all the time in the world…"
Chu Wanning grimaced from pain when he tried to get up. Xue Meng hurriedly went to help him. To his surprise, Mo Ran was holding Chu Wanning up from the other side. They looked at each other but said nothing. The fact that Chu Wanning did not refuse their help meant that he was truly very badly injured, and he could not move on his own any longer.
Mo Ran felt extremely guilty. If he had not fallen for Zhaixin Liu's temptation, Chu Wanning would not be injured to that extent. He wanted to take care of the man just like he used to take care of Concubine Chu after tormenting him at night, but the current Chu Wanning was far from his reach.
And there's the matter with the Ever-Yearning box…
Mo Ran's face darkened whenever he thought about it.
He did not give a damn about the weapon in it anymore, as he had lost the right to get the weapon. But who the hell was Chu Wanning going to ask to help him open the box? Whoever it was, Mo Ran might not be able to let him live. He did not know why his heart was burning because of something that did not concern him at all. So what if Chu Wanning had such a person in his heart? He's old. Maybe he really had a crush on someone. Back when Mo Ran captured him, had Mo Ran inadvertently prevented him from being with the person that he loved?
No matter how often Mo Ran replayed the scenes from his previous life in his head, he could not arrive at a different conclusion.
Xue Meng.
It had to be Xue Meng.
How many times did Chu Wanning sacrifice himself for Xue Meng's sake?
How many times did Xue Meng come to stir up trouble at Sisheng Peak to free Chu Wanning?
If Mo Ran had not kept Chu Wanning hostage, would Chu Wanning and Xue Meng…
Alone the thought of having Chu Wanning smile at Xue Meng willingly, holding each other up while whispering sweet words to each other was enough to make Mo Ran sick.