For the next three days, Chu Wanning was even more sullen than
usual, his temper even worse. Resentment was written plainly all over the
Yuheng Elder's features, and a miasmic haze followed him wherever he
went. The disciples scattered like prey animals at the mere sight of him. Even
Xue Zhengyong dared not talk to him too much for fear of his murderous aura.
Chu Wanning didn't want to admit that he had any untoward feelings
for Mo Ran, but when he had seen his two disciples rendezvous by the
training dummies and act so affectionate, he had simply been unable to stop
his rage from flaring and a sour feeling from flooding his chest.
He was disgusted. With others, yes, but more so with himself.
Chu Wanning and Mo Weiyu were master and disciple, nothing more.
How was the matter of whom Mo Ran liked to stick to or whom he wanted to
be involved with any of his business? What right did Chu Wanning have to
wave around his willow vine just because he didn't like what he saw?
If he likes someone or likes being near them, what's that got to do
with you? Did it inconvenience you in some way? Chu Wanning, how are
you this pathetically petty?!
Anyway, backing up a thousand steps—so what if he felt unspeakable
longing for Mo Ran? He had his pride and plenty of self-restraint. Those
were more than enough to keep his feelings in check, more than enough to
suppress that terrifying yearning for however long it would take to suffocate
it.
No one would ever know of his unsightly affections.
Nothing would remain but for the brocade pouch that held the two
locks of hair.
Mo Ran would never know about Chu Wanning's feelings, just as he
would never know that, at the bottom of Jincheng Lake, the one who had
endured searing agony to save him hadn't been Shi Mei, but Chu Wanning
himself.
But what was this feeling? Was it…jealousy? The mere thought made
Chu Wanning choke.
For months after the training field incident, he tried to avoid Mo Ran
as much as possible, minimizing all interactions outside of routine
instructions in cultivation and training.
Time flew by, and before they knew it, it was nearly the end of the
year. One day, as Chu Wanning was returning from a trip down the mountain
to deal with monsters, it began to snow just as he got to the front gates.
Sisheng Peak was quickly covered in a veil of silver. Chu Wanning
was no good with the cold. Tugging his robes closer for warmth, he walked
briskly toward Loyalty Hall.
A hearty fire warmed the interior of the hall as firewood crackled
inside the copper basin. Chu Wanning had come to report to Xue Zhengyong,
but the sect leader was nowhere to be seen. Instead, he bumped into Mo Ran.
There was no one else in Loyalty Hall. This was the first time Chu
Wanning had been alone with Mo Ran in many months, and he felt a little
uncomfortable despite himself. What's more, this was the location where that
absurd dream had taken place.
Speaking of, Chu Wanning had experienced that dream several more
times since, and each time was clear and vivid. The first few times, he tried
to struggle, but after a while, he grew accustomed to it and just let the Mo
Ran in the dream run his mouth like a lunatic while Chu Wanning idly counted
his eyelashes out of pure boredom—one, two, three…
That dream always abruptly ended at a certain critical moment. After
multiple identical repetitions, Chu-zongshi decided that this cut-off must be
due to his innately pure and noble disposition. Even his fantasies refrained
from getting overly sordid.
Having come to this conclusion, the Yuheng Elder and his maidenly
heart of fragile glass finally managed to retrieve a bit of dignity.
However, the combination of Mo Ran and Loyalty Hall filled Chu
Wanning with an instinctual sense of danger.
Unfortunately, the young man in question hadn't the slightest idea about
any of this. At the sight of Chu Wanning, Mo Ran's face lit up in a toothy grin.
"Shizun, you're back."
Chu Wanning paused. "Mn."
"Are you looking for Uncle? My aunt's feeling a little under the
weather, so he's been taking care of her. What do you need? I'll let him
know."
Chu Wanning pressed his lips together and said mildly, "No need."
Then turned on his heel to leave.
Mo Ran called out to him. "Shizun, please wait."
"What is it?" Chu Wanning looked over his shoulder as he spoke and
was unexpectedly met with Mo Ran's extended hand brushing against his
brow.
Mo Ran brushed his brow a few more times, and said, like it was the
most natural thing in the world, "Look at you—you're covered in snow."
Chu Wanning froze. At a loss for what to do, he stood paralyzed as the
young man fussed, dusting the snow off his head, then took out a white
handkerchief to dry his hair.
Chu Wanning was terrible with the cold. He couldn't be exposed to it
or he would easily fall sick. However, this person didn't know to take care
of himself. In their last life, after he had been imprisoned, he had often liked
to sit in the courtyard and watch the koi fish in the pond, unheeding even
when it began to snow.
As such, he constantly took ill and ran fevers. He had been even more
frail after his spiritual core was destroyed. Every time he got sick, he would
be bedridden for at least half a month, and bowl after bowl of medicinal
decoction would have practically no effect.
And so, when Mo Ran saw Chu Wanning covered in snow, half-melted
and half-frozen, he reflexively started dusting him off. Halfway through
drying Chu Wanning's hair, he belatedly realized that his actions might have
been a little too intimate. His head snapped up just in time to come face-toface with a pair of inscrutable phoenix eyes.
Chu Wanning was glaring at him mutely.
Mo Ran's hands withdrew sheepishly. "Ah ha ha, this disciple
overstepped his bounds. Shizun can dry himself, of course."
Chu Wanning was quite relieved when he backed off. That dream was
just a dream, after all. His disciple was still the same as ever, nothing like
that man in his dream who referred to himself as "this venerable one."
Chu Wanning was silent for a while before he took Mo Ran's proffered
handkerchief. He doffed his cape and walked over to the fire to warm his
hands, then wiped the melting snow from his hair.
"Since when did you finally learn what a boundary is?" Chu Wanning
asked. Face illuminated by the warm light of the fire, he glanced sideways at
Mo Ran through narrowed eyes. "Haven't you always been oblivious to such
things?"
Mo Ran wisely kept his mouth shut.
Neither spoke for a moment. Chu Wanning finished drying his hair and
absentmindedly tucked the handkerchief away, then shot an impassive glance
at Mo Ran. "Anyway, what are you doing here?"
"It's the end of the year," Mo Ran hurried to reply. "There's a year's
worth of files that need to be organized, so I'm helping—"
Chu Wanning cut him off. "I know the files need to be organized, but
isn't that Shi Mingjing's job? Why are you doing it?"
Mo Ran paused. "Shizun's memory is truly quite impressive."
Chu Wanning was totally unmoved by the flattery. "Where is he?"
"He said he was a little feverish and headachey this morning." At the
look in Chu Wanning's eyes, Mo Ran hurriedly continued, "Sorry, Shizun, I
was the one who told him to get some rest. Please don't blame him."
This effort to cover for Shi Mei was like a sharp needle pricking at
Chu Wanning, and it made his brows draw together. He was quiet for a
while, then asked, "Is he okay?"
Upon realizing that Chu Wanning wasn't laying any blame, Mo Ran let
out a breath of relief. "I gave him medicine and waited for him to fall asleep
before leaving. He just caught a cold—should be fine in two or three days.
Thank you for your concern, Shizun."
"Who said I'm concerned about you lot? I was just asking."
Mo Ran shut his mouth.
"I'll leave you to your organizing, then."
With that, Chu Wanning left.
Sisheng Peak forbade its disciples from performing each other's
duties. Mo Ran had thought his shizun was definitely going to punish him, but
to his surprise, Chu Wanning had let him off easy. He stood in place,
dumbstruck, for quite a while, and didn't react until Chu Wanning was
already a distance away.
"Shizun!" Mo Ran picked up the umbrella leaning against the door and
ran after the lone figure in the snow. "Shizun, wait!"
Chu Wanning turned around. Mo Ran came to a stop in front of him,
shook the snow off the umbrella, and opened it above their heads.
"The snow's really coming down. Take this umbrella with you."
Chu Wanning shot a glance at him. "No need."
Mo Ran tried to hand the umbrella over, but Chu Wanning felt only
irritation and refused to accept it. In the back-and-forth struggle, the umbrella
fell right as a wind picked up and was blown several feet away.
Chu Wanning stared at that umbrella planted in the snow and kept
staring for quite a while. This was such a nonissue. He wanted to
indifferently turn and leave, just as he always had in the past. Yet his feet
refused to move.
Just like a candle will always sputter out in the end, and how even an
ancient well will dry up in time, even the most tolerant person will
eventually break down.
Chu Wanning turned with a sweep of his sleeve. "Mo Weiyu, would
you stop messing with me?" he snapped. "I'm not Shi Mingjing. I don't need
someone else to take care of me!"
A golden light gathered in his hand as he spoke, and Mo Ran
reflexively took a step backward, thinking Chu Wanning was going to
summon Tianwen for another whipping. Instead, the light rose into the sky
like a gushing spring of gold and formed a resplendent barrier that blocked
wind and snow alike.
Mo Ran stared. Oh. A barrier for blocking rain and snow…
Chu Wanning's expression was frigid, his brows even. "Do I look like
I need an umbrella?"
He seemed to be truly offended; the barrier rapidly changed colors
with the movement of his fingertips, from gold to red, to purple, blue, then
green. The effect of the barrier changed with the color. One warded against
only snow, one blocked the wind as well, and another even kept the interior
of the barrier warm despite the freezing storm.
These techniques were quite powerful, and Chu Wanning normally
wouldn't have wasted his spiritual energy to block the snow in this way.
Such a sulkily showy display was so childish that, for a moment, Mo Ran
was left utterly speechless.
"Shizun, don't be angry…"
"Who said I'm angry?!" Chu Wanning's face was pale from anger.
"Get lost already!"
"Okay, okay, okay, I'm getting lost." Mo Ran glanced at the barrier.
"Don't waste your energy like that, though."
"Get! Lost!"
With a wave of Chu Wanning's hand, the spiritual energy forming the
barrier suddenly gathered into a strike of lightning that landed right in front of
Mo Ran.
Mo Ran had just been showing him some concern out of the kindness
of his heart, and for all that, he'd nearly been struck by lightning. It made him
feel a bit resentful. He was about to say something, but when he looked up,
he saw Chu Wanning standing in the snow, his face as pale as the drifts. The
rims of his eyes were a little red.
"You…" Mo Ran said, startled.
"You and I are merely master and disciple, nothing more. There's no
need for any unnecessary concern between us. So take your umbrella and get
lost."
Mo Ran jerked, understanding dawning on him. "Shizun, that day at the
practice field, when I was talking with Shi Mei, did you…"
Hear?
Chu Wanning said nothing. He only turned to leave.
This time Mo Ran didn't call out to him, and neither did Chu Wanning
turn to look back.
A little ways away, Chu Wanning sneezed. His steps faltered, but he
put his head down and walked even faster—as if he was angry, but also as if
he was running away.
Mo Ran stood in the snow the entire time, lost in thought and staring
numbly at Chu Wanning's back until he disappeared.
Chu Wanning fell sick as soon as he returned to the Red Lotus
Pavilion.
He could use barriers to ward off rain and snow, but he never bothered
to do so when it came to himself, seeing it as a waste of spiritual energy.
That was why, when it rained, he used an oil-paper umbrella like any
ordinary person would.
He sneezed a ton, and the headache and fever were quick to follow as
well. He was used to self-medicating after all the times he had fallen ill, and
he didn't even bat an eye at a little cold. So he took some medicine, washed
up and changed his clothes, and burrowed into bed to sleep it off.
Maybe it was due to the chill, but the nausea that had been cropping up
ever since his injury at Jincheng Lake was especially acute this night. Time
passed in a haze as he slept, his entire body drenched in a cold sweat even as
it burned like a furnace.
Chu Wanning didn't wake until noon the next day. Blinking his eyes
blearily open, he laid there staring at nothing for a while before he slowly
got out of bed to put on shoes.
He paused and stared. His boots seemed to have become quite a bit
bigger overnight…
He looked more carefully and was rendered speechless. Wholly
speechless. Even the Yuheng Elder's composure couldn't handle this degree
of shock.
The problem wasn't that his boots had become bigger. Chu Wanning
stared blankly at his hands, his legs, his bare feet, and the shoulder off of
which his robe had slid.
The problem was…that he had become smaller