Truthfully, Mo Ran was terrified of the ancient barrier at the back mountain of Sisheng Peak. Or any barrier at any location that separated the ghost realm from the human realm. At the back of his mind, he kept recalling Shi Mei's tragic death. His heart became more and more uneasy the closer they got to the back mountain as if the tragedy was going to repeat the very day.
After putting on his clothes, Mo Ran accompanied Chu Wanning to the back mountain. He initially was walking by Chu Wanning's side. After some time, his feet became as heavy as clay and he started to lag behind. Chu Wanning noticed and turned around to give Mo Ran a quizzical look.
Mo Ran looked pale, and he sweated a lot too. When he noticed that Chu Wanning was looking at him, Mo Ran quickly replaced his terrified expression with a bright smile.
"… Are you okay?" Chu Wanning asked, narrowing his eyes at Mo Ran.
Mo Ran nodded.
"Un, I am okay. And you?"
What a silly question. Why would he not be okay? He was not the one who lagged behind. Chu Wanning turned around and continued following behind the golem without answering Mo Ran. Mo Ran ended up catching up to him.
"Shidi, wait!!!"
Mo Ran took Chu Wanning's tiny hand in his. Chu Wanning frowned. He wanted to pull out from Mo Ran's grip, but the large hand that wrapped around his tiny one felt like a big, metal shackle. Besides, he was in a little boy's body. He should act more like a child, lest Mo Ran would become suspicious.
"Shidi, you are amazing. Are you not afraid of this barrier?" Mo Ran sincerely praised him when they finally arrived.
"Why should I be afraid?" Chu Wanning asked.
"Well…"
Mo Ran's face turned serious, the smile disappeared abruptly.
"Do you know? Beyond this barrier, there is a so-called ghost realm. If the barrier ever breaks, then ghosts will come through the crack and they like to devour little children like you the most!"
Mo Ran expected to see Chu Wanning crumble and cry, but this little Shidi did not even flinch in fear. He shot Mo Ran a cold stare and snorted.
"…"
Mo Ran scratched at his head.
He did not have any experience with children, but did children not freak out over ghosts anymore? As expected, someone who was able to stay with Chu Wanning under the same roof could not be considered normal.
"Shidi, I am just kidding," Mo Ran said, beaming again with a smile.
Chu Wanning ignored him. He directed the golem to stand at a certain place and softly murmured the spell to strengthen the barrier. A soft glow enveloped the golem. It raised both hands in front of its chest and the same glow covered a small area of the barrier. Chu Wanning was a little disappointed. He swept a gaze over the vast barrier that he wanted to cover. If one golem could only have such a small coverage area, then he would need at least a hundred golem. No, it did not work that way. Chu Wanning had to find a better solution.
A soft crackling sound emanated from the barrier, accompanied by occasional flashes of light. The ghosts were working hard to trespass as always. While Chu Wanning was deep in thought, a pair of arms hugged his shoulders from behind and a big head was stuck at the back of Chu Wanning's little neck.
Chu Wanning gasped. He could feel the tiny hairs at the back of his neck rising. He was used to being alone and revered from a distance. Naturally, he did not feel comfortable when another warm body suddenly stuck to him like this. His tiny body went stiff and he felt very uncomfortable.
"…"
Chu Wanning gazed at the pair of browned hands under his chin and said nothing.
"Shidi, don't be scared. The crackling means nothing. The light also means nothing. You will be fine. I will protect you, okay?"
Mo Ran's arms were trembling. It was laughable that he said he wanted to protect Chu Wanning, all the while trembling in front of the ancient barrier.
Wait.
Trembling?
Chu Wanning frowned. It had been a long time ago, but was Mo Ran always this afraid of the ancient barrier? Chu Wanning could not remember. Or was he simply envisioning the terror that would be unleashed when the ancient barrier broke?
"Mo Ran, why are you trembling?" Chu Wanning asked.
"I am not trembling. It is just very cold here," Mo Ran said in denial. The trembling dissipated somewhat, and he still did not let Chu Wanning go.
"Oh."
Chu Wanning did not feel the need to pursue the matter. It was natural if Mo Ran was embarrassed to admit in front of a little child that he was afraid of the ancient barrier.
They remained in the awkward position for some time, with Mo Ran hanging his arms around Chu Wanning from behind and kneeling behind him. And then, a high-pitched voice full of disbelief was heard coming from the trees, followed by the rustling of dried leaves that were stepped on.
"What the hell are you two doing here???"
Both Mo Ran and Chu Wanning glanced to the side and found Xue Meng some distance away from them. His saber was neatly tucked at his back, and he had his arms crossed while eyeing his two suspicious shidis.
Mo Ran straightened himself up and sneered at Xue Meng.
"Oh, it's Mengmeng. How is it going with the training?"
It was an innocent question, but these days whatever Mo Ran said only served to enrage Xue Meng.
"You shut up, you dog!"
Chu Wanning rubbed at his temple and sighed. Now that he had a chance to relive everything one more time, he could see the bad relationship between Mo Ran and Xue Meng. It was no wonder that in their adult years they ended up going after each other's life.
Never mind.
Chu Wanning was busy. He had no time to spare for these two bickering fools. He was just about to walk away when he was violently yanked to one side before he even took three steps.
"???"
It was Xue Meng who pulled at him. He grabbed Chu Wanning's shoulders and spoke to him in a serious tone.
"Shidi, let me warn you. You should not get too close to Mo Ran. He is a bad influence. Ask Shizun, he will agree with me."
Chu Wanning gave Xue Meng a deadpanned stare. He could not help but sneer in his heart.
-Shidi, eh?
Was Xue Meng finally willing to acknowledge him as a shidi? So Chu Wanning already met his expectation, he was already half as good as Xue Meng, huh?
Chu Wanning's temper was not good. He was also a very proud man. If he was displeased, he either whipped a person using his tongue or Tianwen. And yet this was Xue Meng. The person who went against Mo Ran many times in his past life to free him. He had to be a benevolent, forgiving Shizun. He had to be a benevolent, forgiving Shizun. After reciting the mantra for a while, Chu Wanning took a deep breath and said nothing.
Then he was yanked to the opposite side, and this time by Mo Ran.
"…"
"Shidi, it is only fair if I give you another warning. Don't get too close to that shixiong over there, else you will start growing tail at your backside and turning into a peacock. Do you want that? Hm?"
"…"
"MO RAN, YOU!!!"
They were about to fight again. Chu Wanning did not want to waste another second of his time. He would rather go make a second golem. This time no one stopped him, as the two youngsters were too engrossed in insulting each other. Chu Wanning quickly went back to the Red Lotus Pavilion.
The Shizun did not come out of the Red Lotus Pavilion for weeks, and the Shidi only came out to do some curious errands. The two of them were staying together at Red Lotus Pavilion. At Chu Wanning's private residence. Only the two of them. Xue Meng's heart was burning with intense jealousy. He could think of no other reason for his Shizun to suddenly stop favoring him.
It had to be Jincheng Lake after all.
Xue Meng had exhausted Chu Wanning's love for him. Chu Wanning was so disappointed in Xue Meng that he adopted another disciple on the spot. This disciple was younger and cuter than he was. Xue Meng felt like an abandoned first wife whose husband just got a younger and prettier lover. His anguish caused him to be overly sensitive to the word "Shizun" and "Shidi", especially if those two words were put together in a sentence.
While Xue Meng was ashamed of himself and went to his mother a lot to vent out his sorrows, Mo Ran and Shi Mei spent more and more time together, and their relationship gradually became more intimate. The other disciples in Sisheng Peak quickly blushed at the sight of Mo Ran and Shi Mei holding hands, no matter how innocent it looked.
Another week passed, and Chu Wanning sent them all a message, saying that he still needed to be in seclusion for a while, so the disciples should continue with their self-learning period. He would test their abilities by the time he came out, so the disciples should be prepared. This naturally caused Xue Meng to train even harder because he needed to impress his Shizun at all costs! He promised himself to be a more mature, reliable, and helpful disciple to Chu Wanning by the time Chu Wanning came out of seclusion. He was definitely going to steal Chu Wanning's heart again. The first wife was determined to win over her husband and make him break up with his lover.
Winter was quickly approaching, but Xue Meng's training became more and more intensive. He practiced the sabersmanship whenever he did not have class. While Xue Zhengyong and Madam Wang were initially very impressed by Xue Meng's tenacity, they slowly understood that he was doing that solely to impress Chu Wanning. It was always Shizun this Shizun that. Xue Zhengyong thus went to visit Chu Wanning and begged him to somehow coax Xue Meng into paying more attention to his health. It was very much like a father-in-law who begged an unfaithful husband to please pay attention to his daughter, the abandoned first wife.
The unfaithful husband, Chu Wanning, left Red Lotus Pavilion in a huff to search for Xue Meng.
Indeed, he found him in the bamboo forest slashing around incoherently at innocent bamboo trees. So-called practice was painful to look at.
"…"
Chu Wanning was sure that Xue Meng would cry if he had told the boy his honest opinion. While Xue Meng's attacks were loaded with a lot of energy, his movements were uncoordinated and left a lot of holes in his defense. A keen enemy would be able to send him to the ground within three moves. With this low-level skill, how could Xue Meng hope to even pass the first round of the Spiritual Mountain Competition?
Chu Wanning sighed.
Xue Meng stopped practicing and wiped at his face.
Chu Wanning was not sure if he was wiping off his sweat or tears. After taking a deep breath, he approached the teenage boy, who flinched at his sight.
"Y-You… do not come close when I am practicing," he said, retreating with the saber to keep a distance from Chu Wanning.
Chu Wanning did not bother with small talks and went straight to the point.
"Your strikes are vigorous, but your movements lacked order."
"…"
"Start over from the sparrow form. Follow my music, go through each form according to each segment of the tune, no faster than that."
Xue Meng was dumbfounded. Yes, so he had seen with his own eyes that this Shidi was not too bad, but how did he dare to give his shixiong a lesson in martial arts??? Xue Meng stood there, his face changing color from pink to red to blue. Chu Wanning met his gaze and waited. He wanted to know whether Xue Meng was humble enough to receive instructions from a younger person. Whether he would accept his offer to guide him.
To Chu Wanning's greatest disappointment, Xue Meng turned around and flung the saber to the ground. Chu Wanning sighed in his heart. He was about to leave, but then he heard the sound of a branch being snapped off a tree.
Xue Meng called out, "Then, Shidi, I will use a branch only. Just in case I accidentally hurt you."
Chu Wanning widened his eyes in surprise as he watched Xue Meng approach him with a snapped-off branch.
Xue Meng wiped a bamboo leaf clean and handed it to him.
"Here, Shidi, for you."