The two of them got back to work after their tea, but Chu Wanning
knew he was in for it as soon as Mo Ran lifted the mallet. The vigorous
motion made the lines of the young man's body look all the more taut and
defined. The sun's golden rays poured over his skin like a waterfall, sliding
over his sensual, chiseled muscles. He lifted his arms, and his already wide
shoulders appeared even broader. The muscles of his smooth chest were
like sunbaked rocks, firm and solid, harboring an intense heat and strength.
The wooden mallet slammed into the mortar, sank deep inside the
moist softness of the rice cake, and trailed a sticky white as it lifted again. It
was one swing after another with that immense, inexhaustible strength. Chu
Wanning thought that if he were really accidentally hit by Mo Ran's strike,
as he had warned, he just might be crushed under him, shattered into pieces.
Mo Ran concentrated as he worked, his breath coming heavier now,
chest rising and falling to the beat of his heart. Sweat clung to his brows
and the jut of his throat bobbed slightly every now and again. The muscles
in his arms flexed with each swing. Watching him, Chu Wanning suddenly
couldn't help but recall that dream he used to have over and over. In it, he
had lain on Mo Ran's bed, being thrust into like the rice cake in the mortar,
being kneaded and humiliated until his body went soft…
He stared off into space until he heard Mo Ran calling him.
"Shizun."
Or maybe Mo Ran had called him several times already.
"Shizun. Shizun?"
Chu Wanning snapped out of it, but his heart raced madly in his chest
and a faint light wavered in the depths of his eyes. His throat bobbed, and
his eyes were a little unfocused as he responded, "Hm?"
Mo Ran's clear gaze was fixed on him from above. The heat of his
body made his eyes seem even more fiery than usual. He said, "Shizun, turn
over."
Chu Wanning was miles away, lost in that gaze, in those words. He
felt dreams and reality folding into one another, becoming as one. He
suddenly felt dizzy, scarlet red flashing before his eyes. He saw two people
tumbling in red bedding embroidered in gold with a dragon and phoenix, a
well-built man on top of another, tumultuous waves of red in an ocean of
desires, the toes of the man beneath tightly curled, his calves twitching.
"Shizun, turn over…"
He could practically feel that man's hot breaths against the back of his
ear.
"Let me see your face while I fuck you."
Shocked by the images that had risen in his mind unbidden, Chu
Wanning squeezed his eyes shut and shook his head—what was that? A
hallucination? Or an overly vivid recollection of that dream? Heart
thudding, he could feel the slide of cold sweat over his skin even as hot
blood raced through his veins.
Sensing something amiss, Mo Ran put down the wooden mallet and
came to his side. "Shizun, what's wrong? Are you feeling okay?"
"I'm fine." Even Mo Ran's voice made Chu Wanning's heart tingle
like it was being nibbled by insects. Chu Wanning shoved him forcefully
away, hating the way his own mind had betrayed him. He raised his eyes in
a furious glare, the corners of those phoenix eyes tinged the faintest of reds
from humiliation, breath coming heavy. "The sun is too hot. I was just
feeling a little dizzy. Don't stand so close to me; you're all sweaty."
Mo Ran glanced down and at himself saw that he was indeed quite
sweaty. Well aware that Chu Wanning was a stickler for cleanliness, he
immediately stepped away and reproached himself. But his concerned gaze
remained fixed on Chu Wanning, unwilling to look away for even a second.
Chu Wanning kept to himself after that. By the time the rice cakes
were steamed, and everyone gathered to sit and eat, he was nowhere to be
found.
"Oh, Chu-xianjun? He said he had a bit of a headache, so he went
back to rest in the cabin," the village chief said. "His cheeks did look a little
flushed. I hope he isn't running a fever."
The moment Mo Ran heard this, he grew anxious. He left off helping
them store the rice cakes and instead dashed back to the small courtyard
where the two were staying.
Opening the door revealed only an empty bed, and he grew more
anxious still. He heard the sudden sound of water sloshing from the kitchen
and raced over, shoving the curtain aside—only to see Chu Wanning
completely naked and standing barefoot on the red clay floor, in the middle
of dunking a bucket of water over himself.
It was the end of October, well into autumn…was Chu Wanning
fucking serious, washing himself with cold water?! Mo Ran was completely
dumbfounded, his face shifting between blue, then white, then red as he
stared at his naked shizun. He felt like he could hear nothing but the rumble
of his blood flowing, like the surging tides of the Qiantang River. He
couldn't believe his eyes…
This was the first time since his rebirth that he was seeing Chu
Wanning's body in its entirety, perfectly vivid and perfectly clear. No haze,
no concealment, nothing. There was only a familiar physique, this body that
tore down his defenses and slammed open the floodgates of his memories.
He felt like all the blood in his body was boiling, surging like lava, trying to
break free of his skin and flesh.
Chu Wanning's body was exactly as he remembered. He suddenly
found that he couldn't breathe. He could see the perfect curve of Chu
Wanning's shoulders, the lean strength in those lines like that of a bow
pulled taut, tension ready to be unleashed. He could see Chu Wanning's
shoulder blades, moving beneath skin as delicate and exquisite as thin ice.
His gaze traveled down with the streams of water—oh yes, it followed
those rivulets as if they were carrying his gaze down, down, down to Chu
Wanning's slender waist, to the dip of his back where two dimples lay. The
water pooled within those dimples like an intoxicating liquor, promising to
poison any who tried to slake their thirst on him.
Even further down, and there were those pert, shapely buttocks, like
autumn-ripe fruit, plump and sweet. Mo Ran knew too well the exquisite
ecstasy that would come from touching that fruit, knew the shuddering
pleasure that came from joining with it, so intense it felt like his very soul
might shatter and meld into the person beneath him. A heady, addicting
flavor that drew him back, time and again.
"Mo-xianjun!" All of a sudden, someone was calling for him. "Moxianjun, are you there?"
Startled, Mo Ran turned, but the door curtain was whipped aside
before he could stop it. Ling-er came through it, saying, "Why did you run
off in such a hurry? My mom sent me to fetch you. We're about to eat the
sweet rice cakes, do you—" She caught sight of the bathing Chu Wanning,
and her voice died in her throat.
Chu Wanning was frozen, speechless. Ling-er was also frozen,
equally speechless, until—
"Ahhh!" The girl screamed, covering her eyes in a panic.
Chu Wanning's expression was dark as could be as he scrambled for
his clothing, uncharacteristically fumbling. When he'd first fled back to his
room to cool off, there was no way he expected not one, but two uninvited
guests to barge in on him. What the actual hell! He'd stripped as he entered
the kitchen and dropped his clothing right by the door; he'd always been
casual about these things. Was he now supposed to make his way across the
length of the kitchen, stark naked, right in front of a young lady, to fetch his
clothes?
As he stood caught in this dilemma, Mo Ran strode over and pressed
his hands against the wall on either side of Chu Wanning, blocking him
from view in a mock-embrace. He turned and said to Ling-er, "Get out."
"Ah! Right! Yes!" The girl broke from her momentary stun and
stumbled out in a hurry, running far away in shock.
Chu Wanning remained completely silent.
Mo Ran's face was gloomy. Only after he made sure the girl was
really gone did he sigh in relief and turn his gaze back—only to meet with
Chu Wanning's cold expression.
He realized at once that his actions were very much like a ferocious
hound protecting his food, baring his teeth to scare off intruders before
turning back around, whimpering, to lick and eat the hard-won prize. His
arms were still braced against the wall. In order to keep Chu Wanning
firmly shielded, he had pressed very close, close enough that he could pick
up Chu Wanning's scent, and he froze unconsciously…
His head was burning, dizzy and heavy.
Smell was the sense with the greatest power to evoke memories and
desires. The aroma of meat would make one hungry, smelling plum
blossoms would make one think of winter snow, and so on and so forth.
Lust was no exception. Mo Ran felt his mind surge, and the wall of
determination he had so painstakingly erected seemed to crumble right
there. Chu Wanning's scent was a spark that landed in Mo Ran's hot and dry
chest, igniting his animal instincts, ready to burn him to ash.
In their daily life, Mo Ran's heart would flutter despite himself any
time he got close to Chu Wanning, regardless of how covered up and
properly dressed he was. And now that person was before him, stark
naked…
He desperately wanted to seize Chu Wanning's icy cold wrists, still
dripping with water, wanted to twist Chu Wanning around and push him
against the wall while ripping his own clothes off, wanted to press his chest
firmly against that man's back, wrap his arms around him, hold him down
as he drove brutally into him. Just as he had in the previous life when he
had held absolute power over this person, had indulged liberally in the
sweet allure of shuddering breaths and sweat-slick bodies.
He really couldn't take it anymore… He wanted him so badly.
Mo Ran's breathing abruptly turned heavy. He didn't speak, and
neither did Chu Wanning make a sound. The two stood pressed against the
wall, so close they would be touching if not for Mo Ran's arms bracing
himself, muscles taut and trembling as he endured.
Do not touch him. Do not touch him.
Respect him. Cherish him.
Do not repeat those immoral absurdities. Do not.
He told himself this again and again, mechanically repeating it in his
mind. The weather was cold, but a thin sheen of sweat slowly began to form
on his forehead.
You can't… You can't… Mo Ran, you can't… Don't let your mind
wander…
He gulped and closed his eyes with a shudder, blocking out that
scalding gaze, but there was already a dazed expression on his face…
Normally, Chu Wanning would have sensed that something was
strange. But right now, he wasn't much better off than Mo Ran. Possibly
worse. He might have looked calm and collected, but it took all his
formidable willpower to keep this pretense alive.
Mo Ran's breaths were so hot and heavy, carrying with them an
intense, masculine scent that threatened to scorch him. And the arms
pressed against the wall were so powerful. Though he and Mo Ran had yet
to spar since his return from the dead, Chu Wanning knew full well that in a
match of physical strength, discounting spiritual power, those arms would
completely dominate him, crush him into dust.
Unwilling to meet Mo Ran's eyes, he lowered his gaze to Mo Ran's
chest.
Though they weren't pressed together, Mo Ran was standing so close
that you could barely run a thread between them. Chu Wanning could
distinctly feel the raw, masculine tension radiating from that warm chest,
engulfing him in its blaze. That heat could melt the coldest glacier in the
world and turn it into an uncontrollably overflowing spring.
"Shizun…" he heard the young man say all of a sudden. He couldn't
tell if it was his imagination, but he felt Mo Ran's voice sounded a little
rough, filled with a steamy, heated lust. Mo Ran had called him Shizun
many times before; calmly, respectfully, furiously, jokingly… But this was
the first time Chu Wanning had ever heard Shizun said like this: nursed
between his lips and teeth, ground together with raw lust, almost filthy, yet
deeply alluring. It was enough to make Chu Wanning feel like his very
bones were going numb.
Impossible. Mo Ran would never address him like that. He'd heard
wrongly, he was overthinking it. It was his heart that was filthy.
He instinctively backed away. His naked back hit the ice-cold wall,
eliciting an involuntary shudder, and his quivering lips parted slightly, so
that he looked almost helpless, vulnerable.
Mo Ran's pupils darkened even further. He stared at those pale, dewy
lips. Though he made no move, his imagination ran wild. He thought about
lowering his head to press his lips to Chu Wanning's, prying them apart and
brutally violating this virginal forbidden territory with his burning tongue.
He thought about what it would be like to take Chu Wanning's waist in his
hands, to hold him so bruisingly tight that he would leave marks on Chu
Wanning's skin.
No matter how he repressed himself, the blood of a wolf still surged
in Mo Ran's veins. His natural instincts would always be scorching hot and
violently ruthless; he would always tear the person he took to bed into
shreds, devouring them whole from the inside out, lapping up every last
drop of blood, every last morsel of flesh.
He could never become tame.
He closed his eyes as he suppressed the boiling lava in his chest. This
was dangerous. He knew full well how men's desire, once awoken, made
them little better than beasts. He knew that he needed to chase this
oblivious rabbit away while he still had self-control left. He withdrew his
hands and said, voice hoarse, "Shizun, I'll…go get your clothes."
Thick and heavy breaths brushed against Chu Wanning's lashes.
Mo Ran turned and walked toward the door in long strides to pick up
Chu Wanning's discarded robes.
Chu Wanning was still leaning against the wall. He felt completely
drained, as if he had just run a hundred miles and couldn't catch his breath.
He narrowed his phoenix eyes a little, and saw that Mo Ran had his back to
him, gathering the clothes he'd tossed aside as he'd stripped. Suddenly, Chu
Wanning remembered the state of a certain body part and froze for a few
long moments. His mind started racing.
When Mo Ran had come in earlier, Chu Wanning had been sluicing
himself off with his back to the door. When Chu Wanning had turned
around, Mo Ran had been pressed so close he hadn't looked down, so he
hadn't noticed the evidence of Chu Wanning's arousal. But if Mo Ran were
to turn around after picking up the clothes, then the Yuheng Elder's haughty
and pristine reputation, the aloof and ascetic image Chu Wanning had
maintained for so long, would crumble to dust in an instant.
Chu Wanning panicked. Mo Ran had already sorted and tidied up his
robes and was holding them in his hands; he was about to turn his head…
Chu Wanning was left with only two choices. One: pretend his legs
suddenly hurt and crouch down. Or, two: jab his disciple's eyes out.
Before he could settle on one of these two awful options, Mo Ran had
already turned. "Shizun, you…"
You what?
Mo Ran didn't finish his sentence. At the sight before him, whatever
he'd been about to say never made it past his lips, the words irretrievably
lost.