Mo Ran lay on the bed like a dead fish for three days. Just as his wounds were beginning to heal, he received a message summoning him to the Red Lotus Water Pavilion to do menial labor as part of his punishment.
This was also part of his punishment. During his period of confinement, Mo Ran was not allowed to leave the mountain, but he couldn't be idle either. He had to assist the sect with miscellaneous tasks and do some hard labor.
Typically, these tasks included things like washing dishes for Auntie Mengpo's Hall, cleaning the 365 stone lions on the pillars of the Naihe Bridge, transcribing tedious archive files, and so on.
But what was the Red Lotus Water Pavilion? It was the residence of Chu Wanning's grandson, Chu Wanqing, and was known as the purgatory of the Red Lotus Hell.
Few people had ever been to that place at the pinnacle of life and death, and everyone who went in either came out with their arms or legs broken.
So besides being called the Red Lotus Hell, Chu Wanning's dwelling also had a more down-to-earth nickname: the Broken Leg Water Pavilion.
There was a joke circulating within the sect: "The water pavilion hides a beauty, the beauty beseeches the heavens. Enter my Broken Leg Sect, know the pain of broken legs. Elder Yuheng, assisting you in severing your meridians is the only choice."
There was once a fearless female disciple who had the audacity to covet Elder Yuheng's beauty. Taking advantage of a dark and windy night, she secretly sneaked to the southern peak, clung to the eaves, and tried to spy on the elder bathing and changing.
As you can imagine, that brave woman was beaten to a near-death state by Tianwen. She cried and begged for mercy, lying in bed for more than a hundred days.
Chu Wanning even made a harsh statement that if anyone dared to repeat the offense, their eyes would be gouged out.
See? How lacking in grace! How incomprehensible! What a disgusting man!
Among the sect, there were initially some naive and innocent junior sisters who, thinking that Elder Yuheng would show compassion and favor to women, always acted coyly in front of him, attempting to catch his attention. But since the elder executed the female hooligan, no one dared to have any ideas about him.
Elder Yuheng, with his ambiguous sexuality, lacked the demeanor of a gentleman. Apart from being handsome, he lacked everything else — this was the assessment of Chu Wanning by the disciples of the sect.
The junior disciple who brought the message looked at Mo Ran with some sympathy and couldn't help but suggest, "Senior Brother Mo..."
"Hmm?"
"...Since Elder Yuheng has such a bad temper, no one who goes to the Red Lotus Water Pavilion comes out unscathed. Why don't you say your wounds haven't healed yet and ask Elder Yuheng to let you wash dishes?"
Mo Ran was grateful for the compassionate heart of this junior disciple but declined his offer.
Seek Chu Wanning's favor? No, thanks. He didn't want to be served by Tianwen again.
So he reluctantly put on his clothes, dragging his heavy footsteps, and reluctantly made his way to the southern peak of the pinnacle of life and death.
The Red Lotus Water Pavilion, the Red Lotus Hell, Chu Wanning's residence, no living soul could be seen for miles around.
No one wanted to get close to where he lived. Chu Wanning's terrible taste and unpredictable temperament made everyone in the sect keep their distance.
Mo Ran felt somewhat apprehensive, unsure of what Chu Wanning would do to him. He pondered and speculated all the way until he reached the summit of the southern peak. After passing through layers of bamboo groves, he was greeted by vast expanses of vibrant red lotus.
It was early morning, with the rising sun painting the sky in a magnificent tapestry of radiant colors. The fiery red clouds reflected against the red lotus leaves in the pond, creating a dazzling display of light and shimmering water. Pavilions and corridors stood gracefully by the water's edge, while a waterfall cascaded down the mountain, producing the tinkling sound of water droplets hitting the stone walls. Mist rose, and the scene exuded an enchanting tranquility.
Mo Ran's impression of it all was:
Disgusting.
No matter how beautiful it was, anything associated with Chu Wanning made him sick!
Look at this extravagant and decadent place. The disciples' dwellings were closely connected, with small rooms, but Elder Yu Heng had the entire mountain peak to himself, along with three large ponds filled with lotus flowers. Well, these lotus flowers were of special varieties and could be refined into valuable medicinal herbs, but still...
He simply found it repulsive. He wished he could set this wretched water pavilion on fire!
While harboring such resentment, and considering that he was just sixteen years old this year and unable to compete with Master Chu, Mo Ran still arrived at Chu Wanning's residence. He stood at the door, squinting his eyes, and put on a sweet, innocent act.
"Disciple Mo Ran pays respects to Master."
"Hmm, come in."
The room was in disarray, with scattered sketches and pieces of broken metal. The cold-hearted Chu Wanning, dressed in a white robe with the collar neatly folded, emitted an aura of restrained desire. His long hair was tied up high, and he wore black metal gloves while sitting on the floor, tinkering with a pile of mechanical parts. He had a pen in his mouth.
Looking at Mo Ran expressionlessly, he mumbled with the pen between his teeth, his words somewhat unclear, "Come here."
Mo Ran went over.
This was quite challenging because there was hardly any place to set foot in this room, strewn with sketches and broken metal pieces.
Mo Ran's eyebrow twitched. In his past life, he had never entered Chu Wanning's room, so he had no idea that this refined and handsome man's living quarters could be so... messy. It was beyond words.
"What is Master doing?"
"Night Roaming God."
"What?"
Chu Wanning grew somewhat impatient, possibly because he had a pen in his mouth and it hindered his speech. "Night Roaming God."
Mo Ran silently glanced at the jumble of parts on the floor.
His master, hailed as Master Chu, was not just famous for show. Honestly speaking, Chu Wanning was an incredibly formidable man. Whether it was his three divine-level weapons, his barrier techniques, or his expertise in mechanical engineering, he truly lived up to the phrase "reaching the pinnacle." That's also why he had such a bad temper and was difficult to handle, yet major cultivation sects still scrambled to recruit him.
As for the "Night Roaming God," Mo Ran, who had been reborn, was well aware of it.
It was a type of mech created by Chu Wanning, affordable and powerful in combat, capable of protecting ordinary people within the Downward Sect's domain from supernatural threats during the night.
In his previous life, the well-crafted Night Roaming Gods became almost a necessity in every household. Each unit was priced equivalent to a broomstick, yet their effectiveness surpassed the traditional fierce-looking door gods.
Even after Chu Wanning's death, these Night Roaming Gods continued to protect impoverished families who couldn't afford Daoist priests. The compassion behind this act, coupled with Chu Wanning's indifference toward his disciples...heh, it truly disgusted Mo Ran.
Mo Ran sat down, gazing at the "Night Roaming God," which was still a pile of parts. Memories from the past brushed through his mind as he couldn't help but pick up one of the articulated fingers of the mech and examine it closely.
Chu Wanning finally removed the components from his mouth, freeing his hand, and glared at Mo Ran. "The one you just touched was coated with tung oil. Don't touch it."
"Oh..." Mo Ran put down the articulated finger, adjusted his mood, and maintained an innocent and harmless appearance as he smiled and asked, "Master, did you summon me here with the intention of asking for my help?"
Chu Wanning nodded. "Hmm."
"To do what?"
"Clean up the room."
Mo Ran's smile froze as he looked at the room that resembled a post-earthquake scene. "......"
Chu Wanning was a genius in cultivation but a fool in daily life.
After cleaning up the fifth shattered teacup that hadn't been promptly cleared away, Mo Ran finally couldn't take it anymore. "Master, how long has it been since you last tidied up this room? My goodness, it's so messy!"
Chu Wanning was looking at the blueprints and didn't even raise his head. "About a year."
Mo Ran: "......"
"Where do you usually sleep?"
"What?" Perhaps the blueprints had some problems, but Chu Wanning, even more irritated than usual due to the interruption, rubbed his head and replied angrily, "Of course, I sleep on the bed."
Mo Ran glanced at the bed, piled with various half-completed mechs, along with saws, axes, files, and other sharp tools, all gleaming with cold light.
Impressive. How hasn't this man accidentally chopped off his own head while sleeping?
After bustling around for half a day, the floor was covered in wood chips and dust, filling three dustpans. The white cloth used to wipe the bookshelves had turned black in more than ten spots. By noon, they had only managed to clean up half of the room.
Damn Chu Wanning. This person is more poisonous than a venomous woman.
Cleaning the room didn't seem like a severe punishment on the surface, and it didn't sound like hard labor, but who knew it would be this godforsaken place that hadn't been cleaned for 365 days straight? Even if he was covered in scars all over his body, even if he was physically healthy now, this kind of ordeal could still exhaust half his life!
"Master..." Mo Ran sighed.
"Hmm?"
"These clothes of yours..." They've probably been piled up for about three months now.
Chu Wanning finally finished attaching the arm of the Night Traveler. He rubbed his sore shoulder and glanced at the mountainous heap of robes on the wardrobe. He replied indifferently, "I'll wash them myself."
Mo Ran breathed a sigh of relief, thankful to the heavens. Then he became curious. "Ah? Master, you can wash clothes too?"
Chu Wanning glanced at him and after a while, coldly said, "What's so difficult about it? Just throw them into the water, soak them, take them out, and let them dry."
"......" Mo Ran couldn't help but wonder what those infatuated girls who admired Master Chu would think upon hearing this. He deeply felt that this man, who was of little use, was truly contemptible. How many romantic yearnings from the girls would be shattered upon hearing these words?
"It's getting late. Come with me to the dining hall. We can finish the rest later."
The Mengpo Hall was bustling with people, and disciples at the peak of life and death were gathered in groups, eating their meals. Chu Wanning took a lacquered wooden tray and picked up a few dishes, silently sitting in a corner.
Within a twenty-foot radius around him, gradually, there was no one.
No one dared to sit too close to Elder Yuheng, fearing that if they upset him, they would be on the receiving end of his thunderous anger. Chu Wanning was well aware of this, but he didn't mind. A cold and beautiful person sat there, eating his food in a refined manner.
But today, it was a little different.
Mo Ran was brought here by him, naturally needing to stay by his side.
Others feared him, and Mo Ran feared him too, but after all, he was someone who had died once. His fear of Chu Wanning wasn't as intense.
Especially after the initial fear faded away, the aversion from the previous life gradually emerged. So what if Chu Wanning was powerful? He had died at Mo Ran's hands in the previous life.
Mo Ran sat down in front of him, calmly and composedly chewing on the sweet and sour spare ribs in his bowl, making crunching sounds as he quickly stripped the bones, forming a small mountain.
Suddenly, Chu Wanning dropped his chopsticks.
Mo Ran was taken aback.
"... Can you eat without smacking your lips?"
"I'm chewing on bones. How can I not smack my lips?"
"Then don't eat bones."
"But I like eating bones."
"Go eat them somewhere else."
The argument between the two grew louder, and disciples had started stealing glances at them.
Suppressing the impulse to slam the tray onto Chu Wanning's head, Mo Ran pressed his lips together and, after a while, narrowed his eyes. A sweet smile formed at the corner of his mouth.
"Master, don't shout so loudly. If others hear us, won't they make fun of us?"
Chu Wanning, who has always had thin skin, indeed lowered his voice and said softly, "Get lost."
Mo Ran couldn't help but laugh heartily.
Chu Wanning: "......"
"Hey, Master, don't glare at me. Let's eat, let's eat. I'll try to speak more softly."
Mo Ran had finished laughing and began pretending to be well-behaved again. The sound of him gnawing on the bones did become much quieter.
Chu Wanning was a person who responded better to gentle persuasion. Seeing Mo Ran obediently following his instructions, his expression slightly softened. He no longer held such deep resentment and ate his vegetables and tofu with his head lowered in a refined manner.
But the peace didn't last long. Mo Ran started acting up again.
He didn't know what was wrong with him, but whenever he saw Chu Wanning in this lifetime, he wanted to provoke him and make him angry.
So Chu Wanning noticed that although Mo Ran wasn't loudly chewing anymore, he began using his hands to eat the spare ribs, getting his hands greasy with shiny sauce.
Veins popped on Chu Wanning's forehead as he tried to endure.
He lowered his eyelashes and refused to look at Mo Ran, focusing on his own meal.
It's unknown whether it was because Mo Ran was enjoying his food too much or he got carried away, but accidentally, he tossed the chewed bone into Chu Wanning's bowl.
Chu Wanning glared at the messy and ferocious bone in his bowl, and the air around them visibly froze at an alarming speed.
"Mo Ran...!!!"
"Master..." Mo Ran was somewhat apprehensive, unsure how much was genuine and how much was feigned. "Uh, that... I didn't do it on purpose."
That's far from the truth.
"..."
"Don't be angry, I'll pick it out for you right away."
Saying that, he actually extended his chopsticks and swiftly plucked the bone out of Chu Wanning's bowl.
Chu Wanning's face turned ashen, as if he was about to faint in disgust.
Mo Ran blinked his eyelashes, and on his delicate face, there was a hint of pitiful grievance. "Master, are you disgusted with me?"
"..."
"Master, I'm sorry, okay?"
That's enough.
Chu Wanning thought to himself,
Why bother stooping to the level of these juniors?
He abandoned the urge to summon Tianwen and give Mo Ran a good thrashing. But his appetite had disappeared completely, so he stood up and said, "I'm full."
"Huh? You ate so little? Master, you barely touched your bowl," Mo Ran said in a sweet voice.
Chu Wanning replied coldly, "I'm not hungry."
Mo Ran's heart blossomed with joy, but he maintained his sweet tone, saying, "Then I won't eat either. Let's go back to the Red Lotus Pavilion—ahem, the Red Lotus Water Pavilion."
Chu Wanning squinted his eyes. "Let's? " His gaze was somewhat mocking, and he continued, "Who said 'let's'? We should observe the proper order of seniority. Speak properly to me."
Mo Ran readily agreed with his mouth and had a smile in his eyes, appearing obedient, sensible, and adorable.
However, in his heart, he thought, Proper order of seniority? Speaking properly?
Heh, if Chu Wanning knew about what happened in their past life, he should be clear—ultimately, in this world, only Mo Weiyu was revered.
No matter how noble and arrogant Chu Wanning was, in the end, he was just a piece of rotten mud under Mo Weiyu's boots, surviving by his mercy.
Hastening his steps to keep up with his Master, Mo Ran's face still bore a rather radiant smile.
If Master Mei was the moonlight in his heart, Chu Wanning was the fishbone stuck in his throat. He wanted to pull out this bone and crush it or swallow it, letting it corrode in his stomach.
In this rebirth, he could spare anyone, but he would never spare Chu Wanning.
However, it seemed that Chu Wanning had no intention of letting him off easily either.
Mo Ran stood in front of the Red Lotus Hell's book repository, looking at the fifty rows of ten-story bookshelves, thinking he must have misheard.
"Master, did you say... what?" he asked.
Chu Wanning replied calmly, "Clean all the books here."
"..."
"After cleaning, make an inventory."
"..."
"I'll come to inspect it tomorrow morning."
"!!!"
What!!! Was he going to spend the night in the Red Lotus Hell??
But he had made an appointment with Master Mei to change his medicine tonight!!!
He opened his mouth, intending to negotiate, but Chu Wanning couldn't be bothered. He waved his wide sleeve, turned around, and headed to the mechanism room. As a bonus, he coldly closed the door behind him.
Mo Ran, whose plans for a date were ruined, fell deep into a profound disgust for Chu Wanning—He wanted to burn all of Chu Wanning's books!!
No!
As his mind turned, he came up with an even more damaging idea…