Grandmaster Wu greatly valued Chu Wanning's help, but at the same time he was worried about the little boy's health. Mending barriers day and night took a toll on an adult's health, let alone a child's. He thus did his best to distribute the jobs and only assigned the second worst cracks to Chu Wanning, leaving the biggest cracks for himself to mend.
Chu Wanning had never worked so hard in two lives. Mending the heavenly barrier required a lot of spiritual energy. After exhausting a lot of energy during the day, at night he still had to sleep on the cold ground with the other cultivators. Thankfully Mo Ran always let Chu Wanning sleep on top of him so that the little boy did not fall sick again.
One day Chu Wanning had a thorough discussion with Grandmaster Wu about the current situation of the heavenly barrier. Grandmaster Wu suspected that the break would happen at a certain crack because strong ghost energy had been seeping from that crack for some time now. It was clear that the ghosts were concentrating their whole efforts there. Mending was of no use because of the constant leak. Chu Wanning and Grandmaster Wu each set a barrier to strengthen the defense around the crack. As long as they were alive, the barriers were supposed to hold.
That night, Chu Wanning could barely sleep a wink. He lay on top of Mo Ran's warm body and thought about the Heavenly Rift in his past life. And about the mistakes he made. It was not until he had a thorough discussion with Grandmaster Wu that he realized what he did wrong.
The Discernment Barrier was no good unless two people with equal skills and spiritual power were involved. His biggest mistake during the rift in his past life was agreeing to Shi Mei's offer to help him. Shi Mei's fate was sealed as soon as Chu Wanning agreed to let him help. The ghosts sensed that he was the weaker one between the two, so naturally they attacked him to weaken the barrier.
Regret washed over Chu Wanning.
In a way, he really did kill Shi Mei with his own hands.
Why did he not refuse?
Why did he care to give Shi Mei some face?
The price for that was his life.
Chu Wanning wriggled in discomfort.
"Shidi, are you unable to fall asleep?"
Chu Wanning lifted his head and gazed into Mo Ran's bright purplish eyes.
"Mm."
"Did something happen today?"
"No, I just had a serious discussion with Grandmaster Wu about the cracks."
"Oh. Do you think it will happen soon? The breach?"
Chu Wanning glanced at the dark sky and nodded. The ominous signs were hard to overlook.
"Maybe soon. Any success with the townspeople yet?"
Mo Ran shook his head. He often hung out with Wen Yuan and Ye Zhang to mend cracks together in the afternoon. The two disciples often complained about their failures to persuade the townspeople day by day.
"Stubborn people. They wouldn't leave. They would rather be eaten by ghosts than lose their houses."
Chu Wanning sighed. He pushed at Mo Ran's chest and freed himself from his sleeping bag.
"I cannot sleep. I will take a walk for a while."
"Oh, then let me accompany you."
Mo Ran and Chu Wanning slipped out of the corridor and took a walk around the building. Gentle ripples appeared on the heavenly barrier from time to time, accompanied by flashes of light.
"Where is the biggest crack?"
"Over here, let me show you."
"Does Grandmaster Wu have any plans yet?"
"He said..."
"Ssh."
Mo Ran pulled Chu Wanning to hide behind a bush. Two silhouettes were seen under a blossoming cherry plum tree some distance away. They were holding hands.
"Aiyo."
Mo Ran put his hands over Chu Wanning's eyes.
"... What are you doing?"
"Sssh. Little children should not look at this scene."
Mo Ran said that, but he himself eagerly watched the two figures in front of him as if he were watching a romantic play.
Chu Wanning pushed Mo Ran's hands away impatiently. He squinted at the two people, but he could not see their faces at all. Their faces were shrouded by the darkness. He only found out after they started to speak.
"Ye-xiong, I cannot."
"A-Yuan, I am not asking you to answer right now. Just think about it, alright?"
Mo Ran and Chu Wanning exchanged surprised glances.
Wen Yuan and Ye Zhang!
The taller figure, Ye Zhang, put his arms boldly around Wen Yuan and said, "I like you. I really like you."
Wen Yuan stammered, "This is not the right time to talk about this. The heavenly barrier... Shizun..."
"Then, after the heavenly barrier is repaired, will you think about it?" Ye Zhang asked impatiently.
The shorter figure slightly nodded.
"Okay, after the heavenly barrier is completely mended then..."
"Okay..."
It was not possible to see the faces of the two disciples under the cherry plum tree, but the atmosphere between them was extremely delicate. Most people would end up sighing when overhearing the sweet whispers between the two lovers. Those who knew how things would end had completely different reactions.
Mo Ran pulled a grimace. Chu Wanning sighed internally. This pitiful couple most likely would not survive the heavenly barrier breach.
"Poor them," Mo Ran commented in a whisper.
Chu Wanning peeked at Mo Ran, who was still staring at the two people rendezvousing under the tree in secret.
"Mo Ran, you..."
Mo Ran turned his head and poked at Chu Wanning's forehead.
"Call me shixiong."
Chu Wanning rubbed at his forehead and glared at his shixiong.
"What is it?" Mo Ran asked with a grin.
Chu Wanning averted his gaze and stared at the bush in front of him. Wen Yuan and Ye Zhang had already left. The cherry plum tree branches softly swayed and some cherry plum petals floated gracefully in the air before dropping on the ground.
The two disciples reminded Chu Wanning a lot of Mo Ran and Shi Mei. He had always wanted to ask, but he never had the courage to. As their Shizun Chu Wanning, he would never in life dare to ask, but as Xia Sini...
Chu Wanning swallowed hard.
Mo Ran pinched at his little shidi's cheek.
"What is it~?"
"You... Why do you like Shi Mei?"
"..."
Chu Wanning stared at Mo Ran, his gaze sharp and unrelenting. The shixiong who had been teasing him up to the point was suddenly speechless from the simple question.
Mo Ran scratched at his head and then a stupid grin spread over his reddened face.
"Oh... Is it so obvious...? Hahaha."
Chu Wanning said nothing. He already used up all the courage he had, so he insisted on hearing an answer. He just wanted to know.
"That... Well, Shi Mei... He's very nice to me, you know. He always takes care of me."
-Did I not also take care of you, Mo Ran?
"Whenever I get punished, Shi Mei is always there for me. Hehehe... And I like his cooking very much."
Chu Wanning's lips trembled slightly.
"The wonton soup...?"
"Yeah!" Mo Ran smiled happily. "The taste is exactly the same as the one you made last time."
-I was the one who made the soup... It was always me, Mo Ran...
"The first time he made it was when Shizun punished me so hard after I plucked that one haitang flower from Auntie's garden."
Chu Wanning's chest tightened. He remembered it well. It was indeed the first time he made Mo Ran wonton soup. Only that he asked Shi Mei to bring it to Mo Ran because he thought that Mo Ran would reject the soup if he knew that Chu Wanning was the one who made it.
"Did it hurt very much?"
"Huh?"
"When you were punished?"
"Oh yes, it was brutal," Mo Ran cringed. "But what hurt me the most was not Tianwen. It was Shizun."
"... What do you mean?"
"Well, he took Xue Meng by his words and did not even bother to listen to me to the end."
-But Mo Ran, did I not ask? I waited to hear your explanation, didn't I?
"And that although... Although..."
"Although, what?"
Mo Ran scoffed.
"Although I picked the haitang flower for him."
Chu Wanning widened his eyes in surprise.
"... What?"
"I said, I picked the haitang flower for him. I thought that it looked beautiful."
Mo Ran sighed and thought to himself; -As beautiful as my Shizun in white. There was a time when I worshipped the ground he walked. When I felt lucky to have him as my Shizun.
Chu Wanning's face darkened. How was he supposed to know that the haitang flower was for him if Mo Ran never said it? If he had known... If only Mo Ran had said something... His temper might be bad, but he was not an unreasonable and ruthless person. He was not, was he?
-Mo Ran... Do you think that I am that kind of person...?
Mo Ran rubbed at the little shidi's head.
"Sorry. I should not even talk about Shizun in front of you. I do not mean to offend."
Chu Wanning furrowed his brows.
"Offend? What do you mean?"
"Well... you are..."
Mo Ran rubbed at his own face to disperse the complicated expression on his face. Clearly, his relationship with Chu Wanning was strained. After knowing that Xia Sini was Chu Wanning's son, why did he not stay away from Xia Sini and even stuck to him so stubbornly? He even decided to leave Shi Mei alone and joined the defense group just because he felt sorry for Xia Sini. Mo Ran did not understand himself at times.
"I just don't want to offend your parents, alright. By the way, Shidi, what is the name of your mother?"
"..."
Chu Wanning was tempted to tell Mo Ran to mind his business, but then he chose to be nice and answered, "My parents have passed. Why are you asking about my mother?"
Mo Ran looked surprised.
"Your parents? Both parents???"
"... Yes."
Mo Ran stared at his little shidi with an open mouth.
"So you are... You are not..."
"I am not what?"
Mo Ran shook his head repeatedly. And then he shook Chu Wanning's hands in excitement.
"No, no. Never mind. Nothing at all! Everything is great! You are great!!!"
"..."
It was already quite late in the night. Chu Wanning suggested that they went back to catch some sleep. Tomorrow would be another busy day. They had only walked a few steps toward the corridor where they slept at when a thundering sound was heard coming from the sky, followed by a bone-chilling roaring sound.
Chu Wanning's heart pounded hard in his ribcage. His legs gave out and he fell on his knees. For a few seconds, he could hear nothing and felt numb all over his body. When he came to himself, Mo Ran was pulling him up and asking frantically, "Shidi, are you alright???"
Chu Wanning knew what it was.
Blood drained from his face instantly.
The barrier he set on the crack had broken.
The heavenly barrier!
The heavenly barrier had broken!