A huge barrier in form of a dome spread over Red Lotus Pavilion. It was barely visible during the day, but it glowed in a beautiful and tender light blue color at night.
Although Master Huaizui already said that it would take at least five years to complete the resurrection process, Sisheng Peak disciples still liked to pass in front of the Red Lotus Pavilion just to see whether the door would open earlier than expected. This naturally included Chu Wanning's three disciples, especially Mo Ran who did not get to see Chu Wanning one last time before the five-year-seclusion began.
After a few months had passed, only one person still paid visits to Red Lotus Pavilion every day, if only to gaze at the closed door, hoping that a certain white-robed cultivator with a familiar impassive face would open it for him.
After attending classes and cultivation training, Mo Ran went to spend time in front of the Red Lotus Pavilion every day.
In summer and spring, he swept the courtyard diligently. Afterward, he put his hands together and prayed that Shizun might come out soon.
In autumn, he collected the fallen leaves in the courtyard and roasted sweet potatoes, mushrooms, chestnuts, and milk candies over a pile of leaves. He then distributed the food to junior disciples who came by after smelling the fragrant aroma. After Mo Ran was done, he prayed that Shizun might be able to enjoy delicious food soon.
In winter, he shoveled the piling snow away from the entrance door one to three times a day. After that he made four snowmen; a big one and three smaller ones. He caressed the big snowman, gave it some pieces of clothing, and prayed that Shizun might keep himself warm inside the pavilion.
The first year went by in an instant just like that.
In the second year, Shi Mei started to study at Guyue'ye under Hua Binan with Chu Wanning's personal recommendation. He only came back once every month and stayed in Sisheng Peak for a week every time, but he very rarely got to meet his shixiong and shidi.
Xue Meng was busy with his cultivation training in preparation for the upcoming Spiritual Mountain Competition.
Mo Ran had been going down the mountain a lot to help common folk purge evil day by day. At first, he only helped out around the Shu region to complete assignments from Sisheng Peak, but then he started to travel to various regions to slay evil demons and do all kinds of good deeds. His name became rather well-known all over the cultivation realm for his contribution.
Mo Ran wrote a lot of letters to Xue Zhengyong to inform him about his whereabouts. Sometimes he was gone for a week, sometimes he was gone for a month straight. Every time he came back to Sisheng Peak, he only spent one to two days to share updates with Xue Zhengyong and Madam Wang. In his weekly letters, he never once forgot to ask about Chu Wanning.
When Mo Ran returned to Sisheng Peak in autumn that year, he had been gone for three months. Xue Zhengyong and Madam Wang reprimanded him harshly, so he promised to stay a bit longer before he went away again. On the first day of his return, he visited Red Lotus Pavilion to pay his respect as usual. Unexpectedly, the barrier around Red Lotus Pavilion was gone. Mo Ran had to slam a fist against an innocent tree to ensure that he was not dreaming.
"SHIZUN!!!"
Thinking that Chu Wanning had finally awakened from his long slumber, Mo Ran barged into Red Lotus Pavilion. And yet before he managed to catch a glimpse at Chu Wanning, he ran into a familiar but unexpected figure who was just heading out.
Jiang Xi narrowed his eyes at Mo Ran, who was running in his direction at high speed. The Guyue'ye Sect Leader raised his unsheathed sword and pointed it at Mo Ran's chest.
"Stop. Where do you think you are going?"
Mo Ran stopped, but his eyes continued to wander at every corner, searching for Chu Wanning's shadow. He was nowhere to be seen.
"If you are looking for Chu-zongshi, he is still not yet awake. Now leave."
Mo Ran disliked Jiang Xi, but he disliked the Jiang Xi who was kicking him out of the Red Lotus Pavilion even more.
Angrily, he shouted, "What right does Sect Leader Jiang have over Red Lotus Pavilion that you dare to kick me out? The master of this place is my Shizun!"
Jiang Xi raised his eyebrows in surprise. He lowered his sword and looked Mo Ran up and down.
"Long time no see. I see that you have properly grown into a young adult."
Within the two years that they did not see each other, Mo Ran indeed changed a lot. He had grown taller and his shoulders became broader. His body was sculpted nicely with powerful muscles rolling gently under his sun-kissed skin whenever he moved.
It was only then that Mo Ran recalled that he was standing before an elder. He begrudgingly cupped his hands in front of Jiang Xi.
"Mo Ran greets Sect Leader Jiang. I hope Sect Leader Jiang is magnanimous enough to forgive my impolite words just now."
"Hoo," Jiang Xi said with a bright smile. He looked as kind as a Buddha but his words were as sharp as barbed wires. "I thought that you forgot your Shizun's teaching after only two years."
The vein at Mo Ran's temple poked out, but he still forced himself to smile at Jiang Xi.
"Sect Leader Jiang came to visit, too bad that my Shizun isn't available to personally greet you."
"It's fine," Jiang Xi said graciously. "It is good enough to be able to see him."
Mo Ran unwittingly sucked in a deep breath, all the while trying hard to contain the sour taste that crept from his stomach to his throat.
-What the fuck? You? You saw my Shizun? I haven't seen him for two years and you got to see him? Who the fuck do you think you are? Get lost already!
Mo Ran coughed and smiled again.
"Then will Sect Leader Jiang kindly step aside? I also would like to see my Shizun."
"No," Jiang Xi answered without skipping a beat. Mo Ran's polite smile was scraped off his face within an instant. He wondered if he was allowed to summon Wanning and challenge Jiang Xi to a duel.
"Master Huaizui invited me for the sole purpose of purging the remaining poison from your Shizun's body. Now that it is done, he will go back to seclusion. We have to leave."
Jiang Xi prodded Mo Ran on with his sword, shooing him away like he would a dog. Mo Ran was exasperated.
"Just... Just a minute."
"No. Go."
"Just one look! One look!"
"Young Master Mo, I am not used to repeating myself many times."
A furious Mo Ran was thus kicked out of Red Lotus Pavilion by Jiang Xi. Master Huaizui put up his barrier over Red Lotus Pavilion again as soon as Jiang Xi closed the door behind him. Mo Ran was devastated. He had not seen Chu Wanning for such a long time already. It had been two years.
"Shizun..." Mo Ran whispered slowly as he gazed at the barrier that separated the Red Lotus Pavilion from the rest of Sisheng Peak.
Jiang Xi scrutinized the young man in front of him. His face was full of uninhibited longing. Jiang Xi suddenly had a question.
"Young Master Mo, how old are you this year?"
Mo Ran furrowed his brows at the random query. "I am nineteen this year."
"Ah, so you will be twenty years old next year."
"Yes, Sect Leader Jiang."
"In that case maybe you want to cut the whiny attitude. It is unbecoming of someone your age to still go around calling for your shizun like a child."
Mo Ran was about to lose it. He chanted all curse words that he ever learned in two lifetimes against Jiang Xi in his heart.
Fuck manners.
Mo Ran sneered at Jiang Xi and gave him a sharp retort.
"Shizun and I have a master and disciple relationship. I hope Sect Leader Jiang can forgive my childish attitude around him. By the way, why does Sect Leader Jiang hang around my Shizun so often? Aren't you too old for that?"
If Jiang Xi was angered by Mo Ran's words, he did not show it at all. Instead, a smug smile appeared on his face and it did not make Mo Ran feel good at all. He knew that Jiang Xi was about to say something unpleasant before he even said it.
"I am just the right age," Jiang Xi replied in an amused tone.
Mo Ran narrowed his eyes at Jiang Xi.
"The right age for what?"
"For your shizun," Jiang Xi ended with a triumphant smirk that made Mo Ran's blood boil in his veins.
-The right age for Chu Wanning?
-What???
-What the fuck???
-What the hell are you saying???
-Jiang Xi, if you dare lay a finger on Chu Wanning, I will cut you into pieces and feed you to the dogs!!!
Mo Ran was shouting obscenities at Jiang Xi in his heart while he froze on spot, struggling hard to maintain his self-control. The color on his face changed from normal to pale then to green and blue and finally settled for purple.
Jiang Xi evidently enjoyed the impact of his words on Mo Ran. Before the younger man could curse Jiang Xi for real, Jiang Xi left him behind while laughing all the way to Sisheng Peak's entrance gate.
For an unfathomable reason, Mo Ran left Sisheng Peak early the next day to cultivate in faraway mountains. When Xue Zhengyong asked why the sudden urge to work on his cultivation, a dark-faced Mo Ran merely replied that he had "a rival to beat".