The news of Chu Wanning's return in heavily wounded condition was spread in Sisheng Peak in a matter of hours. Even more mind-blowing was his report that Jincheng Lake was completely destroyed, henceforth no longer serving as the fountain of holy weapons for those who coveted to get one.
After making his report, Chu Wanning went back to Red Lotus Pavilion and locked himself inside. He forbade anyone from coming in, including all of his disciples. They had no idea that they too had been excluded from their Shizun's barrier, and only found out when they tried to enter.
Xue Meng kept coming again and again, knocking at the gate doors to check up on his shizun, but not a word came from the inside of Red Lotus Pavilion as a reply.
Shi Mei too came a few times but did not get a better response than Xue Meng.
Mo Ran came one time and stayed outside for almost two hours before he too gave up.
Inside the Red Lotus Pavilion, Chu Wanning spent the whole time in the library and went through scrolls after scrolls, documents after documents, trying to find any other comparable alternatives to holy weapons for both Xue Meng and Mo Ran. The search did not yield many results and left him exhausted at all times. While he did not make any heavy movements to affect his body's recovery, he was certainly not paying enough attention to rest. His meals were also irregular. He only went down to Mengpo Hall when he really could not take the hunger anymore, and after eating half his meal he would rush back to Red Lotus Pavilion to resume his search.
Xue Zhengyong finally could not take it anymore. He showed up personally at Red Lotus Pavilion to drag Chu Wanning out.
Chu Wanning's barrier had a special property, such as when someone came to visit, Chu Wanning would find out who it was. When the Sect Leader personally came to his doorstep to visit him, naturally Chu Wanning could not ignore him the way he did to others. Xue Zhengyong thus managed to walk in.
"Chu Wanning, you are really…"
Xue Zhengyong angrily waved with his sleeves.
"Do you not know how to take care of your body? What are you doing in here, locking yourself up for days? Your disciples are worried sick about you!"
Chu Wanning calmly replied, "I am taking care of myself. My wounds have mostly healed. Sect Leader should not concern himself with me too much."
Xue Zhengyong cursed under his breath.
"This is what you call taking care of yourself? Chu Wanning, have you noticed how much weight you have lost? The ladies in Mengpo Hall informed me that you barely ate anything! You look so pale as if you are about to descend to the Underworld soon. I beg you, let Tanlang Elder take a look at you, alright?"
Chu Wanning's expression cooled down when he heard about Tanlang Elder. Chu Wanning generally did not make friends with other elders, but he especially did not have a good relationship with Tanlang Elder. He was not about to come to beg him for treatment.
Chu Wanning scoffed.
"No need. I will take my medicine and eat more if that makes Sect Leader happier."
"You… You…"
Xue Zhengyong was about to lose it.
"Why are you as stubborn as Mo Ran???"
Mo Ran?
Chu Wanning frowned.
"What is with Mo Ran?"
"You don't know? Right, how can you know? That nephew of mine reported to Discipline Court two days ago to ask for punishment."
"Punishment for what?"
"Mo Ran claimed to be responsible for your injuries."
"…"
Mo Ran did stab Chu Wanning inside the weapon arsenal, but Chu Wanning never breathed a word about it to anyone else. What was Mo Ran doing, acting on his behalf to get punished?
"Nonsense," Chu Wanning said in response. "Kick him out of the Yanluo Hall, he is wasting Jielu Elder's time."
"That is what I told Jielu Elder too," Xue Zhengyong said.
-More or less, with kinder words, of course…
"But Mo Ran stubbornly knelt at Yanluo Hall since then, refusing to get up no matter what."
Chu Wanning glared at Xue Zhengyong.
"Tell him if he's still not getting up, no need to call me Shizun anymore."
"…"
Xue Zhengyong really did go to Yanluo Hall after that to coax Mo Ran one last time. This time he did not bother to sugarcoat Chu Wanning's words.
After hearing Chu Wanning's opinion about his self-punishment, Mo Ran decided to leave Yanluo Hall and knelt in front of the Red Lotus Pavilion instead. Chu Wanning noticed that Mo Ran was kneeling outside, but he ignored him. At night, the rain started to fall. The drizzle turned into a heavy downpour in ten minutes. Chu Wanning came to remember the stubborn disciple who was kneeling outside so he finally came out to scold him personally.
Mo Ran was completely drenched in rainwater. When the gates of Red Lotus Pavilion finally opened, followed by Chu Wanning's scowling face, Mo Ran felt as if heaven had opened up for him to ascend to immortality.
"Mo Ran, why are you…"
"AACCHHHOOOO…!!!!"
"…"
Mo Ran rubbed at his nose and gazed at Chu Wanning. He looked as pitiful as a drenched little puppy.
"Shizun…" he whimpered.
Chu Wanning wanted to kick himself for what he said next. Gritting his teeth, he turned around after shouting, "Come in, what are you waiting for, do you want me to get wet as well???"
Chu Wanning handed Mo Ran a towel to dry himself.
"After you are dry, go back to the dorm."
"Shizun, it is still raining."
"Get an umbrella."
"I did not bring an umbrella. Can I have Shizun's umbrella?"
"…"
Chu Wanning stalked into his bedroom to find his umbrella. He took one look inside the room and sighed. Various items of various nature were scattered all over his bed and the floor. It would be a miracle to be able to spot an umbrella among all the mess. Chu Wanning gave up. He put up a barrier with warm air properties around Mo Ran to dry him up like a piece of cloth.
"After the rain stops, you can go."
"Yes, Shizun."
Chu Wanning went back to the library, and Mo Ran followed.
"…"
The shizun sat back in the middle of piling scrolls and documents, while the disciple watched in disbelief.
"Shizun, what are you doing?"
"Researching."
"For what?"
"None of your business. Sit down and keep quiet."
Mo Ran sat on the floor across of Chu Wanning. His gaze fell on the many shelves inside the room. All of those were Chu Wanning's personal collection. Yuheng Elder's library was the second biggest library in Sisheng Peak, after the main library of course. In his previous life, Mo Ran disliked reading. That was why Chu Wanning very quickly discovered that he was up to something when he started to visit the library often to read about the Forbidden Techniques. In this life, should he ever want to deepen his understanding of those techniques, he should try looking in Chu Wanning's personal library. Chu Wanning also knew about the techniques, maybe he was even able to put them into practice.
"Cough, cough…"
Mo Ran's eyes snapped back to Chu Wanning, who was coughing softly while reading. The man in front of him did not look good at all with the sunken cheeks and dark circles around his eyes. Obviously, he had not been taking good care of himself. Reading, reading, reading for what? Mo Ran wanted to kick at the mountain of documents in front of Chu Wanning, but he did not want to be whipped with Tianwen at night.
"Shizun," Mo Ran called. "If you don't want me to kneel, then give me some other punishment."
"Heh."
Chu Wanning scoffed.
"What punishment would you like?"
Mo Ran's jaw tightened. He could not believe that a day would come when he personally asked for Chu Wanning to punish him.
"Anything that Shizun wants."
Chu Wanning lifted his gaze and looked at Mo Ran.
"Then," he said slowly, "Are you willing to be interrogated using Tianwen?"
Mo Ran's eyes widened in shock.
"Tianwen? Interrogation? Why?"
"I want to hear the truth," Chu Wanning answered. "If you are not willing, it is fine. You can go, I do not need to punish you."
Mo Ran gulped. Somehow, this lifetime's Chu Wanning was a lot different from the one he remembered in his previous life. Since when was Chu Wanning willing to let him go when he deserves a punishment? And to politely ask if Mo Ran was willing to be interrogated using Tianwen, too! The usual Chu Wanning would just wrap him with the willow vine and start to torture him with questions he would answer with lies otherwise.
Clenching his teeth, Mo Ran answered, "Then, Shizun, please do."
"…"
Chu Wanning put down the scroll he was reading and squinted at Mo Ran. He held his palm up and summoned Tianwen. The golden light of the willow vine was almost blinding in the middle of the night. The willow vine gently wrapped itself around Mo Ran. When the person was not resisting, the willow vine was surprisingly quite gentle. Mo Ran closed his eyes, his lips trembled a little while anxiously awaiting Chu Wanning's questions.
"Do you hate me?"
Mo Ran opened his eyes immediately and stared at Chu Wanning. He opened his mouth, but nothing came out. The willow vine started to tighten around him, forcing him to answer.
"No," Mo Ran answered.
The willow vine slackened around Mo Ran. Both Mo Ran and Chu Wanning were startled.
"…"
"…"
Chu Wanning was pretty sure to hear a "Yes" coming out of Mo Ran's mouth. No. To be exact, he was pretty sure that Tianwen would force Mo Ran to answer truthfully. Why was it that Tianwen accepted a "No" instead?
There were two possibilities. Either Tianwen was broken or….
Chu Wanning sighed.
"What you said at the weapon arsenal, was it true?"
Mo Ran's mind went numb. What was it that he said at the weapon arsenal? Did he not accuse Chu Wanning of caring only about Xue Meng? He might be under the influence of Zhaixin Liu back then, but everything that he said stemmed from his true conviction. That Chu Wanning, Chu Wanning never cared about any other person but Xue Meng.
They had come this far, and with Tianwen wrapped around him, was there any use to lie?
"Yes," Mo Ran answered.
Chu Wanning nodded to himself.
"Third," he said.
But then he started to cough violently. The usually tough frame of Beidou Immortal seemed to crumble into that of a mere mortal, a weak man at the brink of death.
"Shizun!"
Tianwen unraveled itself and disappeared. Chu Wanning kept coughing and held both hands against his mouth.
Mo Ran did not know what to do. He awkwardly patted Chu Wanning's back but earned a glare from his shizun instead. Mo Ran quickly took his hand off before Chu Wanning sliced it off in a clean cut.
"I am tired," he said with a hoarse voice. "You can go by yourself after the rain stops. I…"
His coughing became more and more violent.
"Shizun, let me bring you back to your bedroom…"
Without waiting for Chu Wanning to reply and risking another beating, Mo Ran dragged Chu Wanning up and put an arm around his waist to support him. Chu Wanning did not like to be touched, especially not by Mo Ran, but he wanted to lie down and get rid of Mo Ran. Thinking of sending Mo Ran out once he got to his bed, Chu Wanning endured Mo Ran for once.
The bedroom was a mess. Mo Ran was rendered utterly speechless.
"What's wrong?" Chu Wanning asked.
Mo Ran looked at Chu Wanning in disbelief. Without a word, he put Chu Wanning down on a chair and started to clear items off the bed. After the bed was empty, Mo Ran even made the effort to replace the bedsheet and quilt with clean ones. Chu Wanning watched him work silently. Occasional cough could be heard while Mo Ran worked as fast as he could.
After Chu Wanning was nicely tucked inside the quilt, Mo Ran continued to clean the bedroom.
"No need," Chu Wanning said to him.
"I want to," Mo Ran answered.
He could not stand the mess. How could this person be considered an adult, what kind of pigsty had he turned Red Lotus Pavilion into?
Chu Wanning fell asleep after some time. After Mo Ran was done with the bedroom, he went to the library to blow the candles and tidy up the scattered documents. It was almost midnight when he finally left the Red Lotus Pavilion.
That night, Chu Wanning ran a fever. He tossed and turned restlessly in his sleep. His body was burning from the inside, but he could do nothing about it. In his dreams, he had a feeling that someone was ripping his body apart, and Chu Wanning in the dream curled himself up like a defenseless, weak child.
He woke up feeling nauseous and bent over his bed to throw up. The bed was either unusually large or he slept on the wrong side of the bed last night…
Chu Wanning retched, but nothing came out. It was no wonder because he had not eaten much the whole day. Chu Wanning supported himself and sat up on the bed. For some reason, his legs were rather small and short.
"…"
Chu Wanning took a good look at his arms and hands. They were tiny. The arms and hands of a small child.
"…"
Suddenly the nausea and dizziness disappeared in a flash. Chu Wanning climbed off the bed like a bolt of lightning and ran toward the bronze mirror that Mo Ran hung by the wall. What he saw in the mirror knocked the air completely out of his lungs.
Chu Wanning had miraculously been transformed into a small child overnight!