The area at the west side was allocated for those in the Defense group. It would do the feathered tribe injustice to claim that the area only served as temporary lodging for the cultivators. The allotted space included not only twenty-something residence courtyards that housed up to four people but also markets, gardens, streets with their own mountains and lakes. It would be fair to call it the West-Side Village instead.
Although Mo Ran had seen the wonders underneath Jincheng Lake, the breathtaking scenery of the west-side area still managed to knock the air out of his lungs.
"Look, Shidi. How beautiful."
"En."
"Look, Shidi, the water is so clear."
"En."
Chu Wanning was dragged around by Mo Ran to look at various beautiful spots in the scenic area. The little boy subconsciously felt that Mo Ran was pulling him as far as possible from the other disciples in the group. When he turned his head, he could not even spot Jiang Xi anymore.
The group that came from Guyue'ye Sect and Sisheng Peak was the last batch that the feathered tribe recruited from the Cultivation Realm. Those from other sects had already filled more than half of the courtyard residences.
While the Guyue'ye Sect disciples went to pick their houses, Mo Ran continued pulling at Chu Wanning to prevent him from getting mixed up with the despicable, arrogant disciples.
After everyone but the two of them had finished picking their temporary residences, Mo Ran happily dragged Chu Wanning into the only remaining house on the west side. There were four private chambers inside, one for each person. The chambers were not equally big, with the master bed-chamber being the largest and the most luxurious one, and three evenly-sized but smaller bed-chambers.
To Mo Ran's surprise, the largest bed-chamber was taken.
"Weird," he said. "I thought that this one would be empty. Never mind. Shidi, which chamber do you pick?"
Chu Wanning never cared much about the size of a bed-chamber. He also disliked gaudy decorations. He thus chose a humbly-decorated bamboo room with the window facing a lake.
Mo Ran found himself a comfortable room made out of stone.
Just as the two people made themselves comfortable in their rooms, an authoritative voice sounded from the largest room in the courtyard.
"How many times do I have to say that this courtyard is not available for the likes of you? Scram now before I lose my patience."
The handsome young man showed up at the entrance of the largest room, leaning against the door frame arrogantly. Dislike was written all over his face. Mo Ran raised an eyebrow and wondered who this asshole was.
Chu Wanning widened his eyes in surprise. The last time he saw the young man, he was only a boy who just lost his mother. As years passed by, the boy had grown to be a handsome young cultivator, who unfortunately had an ego the size of a whale.
Nangong Si.
The corner of Mo Ran's lips tugged up in a smile.
"And who are you again? Thirty?"
He was of course referring to the feathered tribe folks who were named according to the order they came to the world. Nangong Si did not catch the mockery. He frowned and asked instead, "Do I look like I am thirty years old? Are you blind?"
Mo Ran, "..."
Chu Wanning, "This is the last house with empty rooms."
Nangong Si clicked with his tongue.
"Seriously? Heavens, can the feathered tribe not build some humble hut for you two? I have stated very clearly at the beginning that I don't like to live with strangers. Get out."
Neither Mo Ran nor Chu Wanning moved from their spots.
Nangong Si squinted at them and approached them slowly, his every step sounded like a threat.
And then, someone else entered the courtyard residence and announced his arrival.
"Oh ho. Booking a whole courtyard for your own use? The Young Master of Rufeng Sect is beyond modest."
Nangong Si's face turned pale.
Mo Ran turned his head and cursed quietly.
Chu Wanning threw a glance at the man who just entered.
Jiang Xi stood behind them with his hands at his back. He eyed the interior of the courtyard and then his gaze shifted from Mo Ran to Chu Wanning, and finally landed on Nangong Si.
"Sect... Sect Leader Jiang."
"Is Young Master Nangong Si expecting the three of us to build our own humble huts outside?"
"N-no, of course not."
Jiang Xi smiled full of mockery.
"Then I must thank Young Master Nangong Si for his kindness."
Nangong Si's facial expression was ugly, but it was about to turn uglier when he heard what Jiang Xi had to say next.
"By the way, your bed-chamber looks impressive. It coincidentally is the largest in here."
Mo Ran, "..."
Chu Wanning, "..."
Nangong Si gritted his teeth and answered, "Yes..."
Jiang Xi, "I am not used to living in a place that is smaller than this whole courtyard altogether. Young Master Nangong is very lucky to have the largest bed-chamber."
Nangong Si, "... Sect Leader Jiang, the room is too big for me. I plan to pick a smaller room anyway."
Jiang Xi made a surprised face.
"Is that so? Then I will be waiting until Young Master Nangong is done with moving things out."
Nangong Si used every patience in every cell of his body not to kick at the door and smash everything inside the large bed-chamber. Just like that, the luxurious bed-chamber with shining black tiles was occupied by Jiang Xi. The haughty Sect Leader Jiang shut the door in front of Nangong Si's face, who had to pick the only remaining chamber in the courtyard. It was not even worthy to house his pet faewolf, let alone him!
The feathered tribe gave all cultivators a few days to get accustomed to the Peach Blossom Springs before the training officially began.
Mo Ran woke up early the next morning, and the first thing he did was to check up on his sullen little shidi who was still sleeping. Thinking that he should get some breakfast to cheer the little shidi up, Mo Ran happily skipped to the market area.
Chu Wanning woke up in a daze. He stepped out of his bed-chamber to find Nangong Si sitting before a bunch of food, eating furiously like he had not eaten since birth.
When Nangong Si spotted Chu Wanning staring at him, he immediately growled like a big wolf, "You are not getting any! All of these are mine! Mine!"
-Who is asking you for food? Sigh.
Nangong Si nervously stared in the direction of Jiang Xi's room. He ate faster and faster as if worried that Jiang Xi would come out anytime and demand Nangong Si's breakfast.
A bad-mooded Mo Ran stormed into the courtyard with empty hands.
"Shidi, you are awake."
"Mm. Where did you go?"
"I was at... Hey, Nangong Si, where did you get the food from?"
"What do you mean where? I bought it of course!" Nangong Si answered with a full mouth.
"How? They kept asking me for golden feathers."
Nangong Si laughed at the stupid Mo Ran.
"You have to pluck them, duh! Do you expect to get food for free? Hahaha and you call yourself a cultivator!"
Nangong Si laughed so hard that he started to choke on his food. Just then, a few Guyue'ye Sect disciples showed up and marched straight past Mo Ran, Chu Wanning, and Nangong Si.
"Oi! Oi! Where are your manners??" Nangong Si shouted.
-You are the one to talk...
Chu Wanning turned to Mo Ran.
"Are you hungry? Let's go find some feathers to pluck then."
"Alright," Mo Ran answered with a darkened face. He was worried about Shi Mei. Shi Mei must be feeling lonely in the Healing group with no food to eat.
The Guyue'ye Sect disciples politely knocked at Jiang Xi's door.
"Sect Leader, we brought you some golden feathers. Please use them as you see fit. We also brought a list of available breakfast options. What would you like for breakfast this morning?"
Mo Ran stopped in his track and stared at the Guyue'ye Sect disciples in disbelief. Was Jiang Xi crowned as the Emperor of Cultivation World recently? How did he not know anything about it?
Chu Wanning pulled at Mo Ran's sleeve, "Let's go."
Sulking, Mo Ran followed Chu Wanning to the same stalls he had been in. A lot of cultivators already crowded the area, waving golden feathers as they stuffed their arms with all kinds of buns and fried pancakes.
Chu Wanning remembered that the golden feathers were a kind of currency that was used in Peach Blossoms Springs. It was harvested from special owls that lived in the northern part of the city at daybreak. The feathers were useful for the feathered folks to refine their cultivation. At the same time, harvesting the feathers was not an easy task as the cultivators ran danger of falling into a sea of fire. To achieve this feat, the cultivators had to practice light footwork and flying skills.
It was too late to harvest any feathers at that time since daybreak already passed. Usually, a feathered folk representative would remember to give them a few golden feathers before they hunted for the feathers themselves the next morning. The feathered folk who guided the Defense Group unfortunately forgot to share them some golden feathers.
Chu Wanning was about to trade some gold leaves with the golden feathers from other cultivators when Jiang Xi showed up behind them.
"What do you want to eat? My treat."
Mo Ran glared at Jiang Xi. He would rather starve than eat from Jiang Xi's pocket, but Chu Wanning gladly accepted that offer.
"Thanks for lending us the feathers. I will return double as many tomorrow."
Jiang Xi sneered.
"You will not get a discounted treatment by paying me with golden feathers."
"I never asked to," Chu Wanning quipped. Then he turned to Mo Ran, "What do you want to eat?"
"I… I…"
Mo Ran was humiliated to the core.
"I am not hungry!!" he exclaimed.
Mo Ran folded his arms in front of his chest and turned his face away angrily. His stomach chose that moment to growl, embarrassing him further.
Chu Wanning picked some piping hot fried pancakes, some buns with meat and vegetable filling, and also a bowl of sweet congee. The sweet congee was naturally for him because he knew that Mo Ran was not a fan of sweet breakfast.
The two people sat at a nearby stone table and bench to eat. Chu Wanning laid all the mouthwatering food he bought on the table. Mo Ran stubbornly refused to eat despite his growling stomach. He simply sat there, refusing to even take a look. Chu Wanning ate from his bowl of congee while eyeing his disciple.
"Mo Ran, eat already. The pancakes are getting cold."
"I don't want to."
Chu Wanning sighed. He grabbed a pancake and tear it into two halves. The crisp sound of the pancake breaking into two caused Mo Ran to salivate almost immediately. Chu Wanning poked at Mo Ran's lips lightly with a piece of the pancake.
"…"
"Please eat, Shixiong."
The words sounded so sweet in Mo Ran's ears. Mo Ran blinked at Chu Wanning.
"This is the first time you call me shixiong…"
"If you are not eating, I am not going to call you Shixiong ever again."
"I'll eat! I'll eat! My Shidi is so good to me, why would I not eat???"
Mo Ran grabbed Chu Wanning's wrist and ate from his hand directly. When the pancake was gone, his tongue lightly brushed against Chu Wanning's fingers. The contact was as light as the flap of a butterfly's wing, but it was enough to cause Chu Wanning's heart to stir. He yanked his hand out of Mo Ran's grip right away and pressed it against his chest. Mo Ran thought that Chu Wanning was too shy. How adorable! He went on to pester his little shidi for food.
"Shidiiii, your Shixiong is still hungry. Feed me, feed me...!"
"... Go away."