Chu Wanning felt completely faint.
He blamed himself for being so distracted and unsuspecting on Life-Death Peak. He didn't even notice someone come over.
What was going on? Where did this child come from? His last name was Mo, but Mo… what was is again… ? Mo Shao? Mo Zhu? Mo… Yu?
He composed himself and put on an expression that screamed: "get away". The surprise and panic in his phoenix eyes were quickly masked by his usual harsh and threatening demeanour.
"You—"
He raised his hand out of habit to discipline him, but something suddenly caught his wrist.
Chu Wanning was stunned.
He had been around for a while yet no one had ever dared grab his wrist so casually. For a while, he was frozen in place, not knowing what he should do.
Pull it away and give him a backhanded slap?
… It felt like a good word to describe that would be "indecent," like he was no different from a woman in this situation.
Then pull his hand away and not slap him?
… Wouldn't that seem like he was being too nice?
Chu Wanning hesitated for a long time and didn't move but the young man laughed: "What's this on your hand? It's pretty good-looking, do you teach how to make stuff like this? Everyone else has introduced themselves already but you haven't spoken yet. Which elder are you? Hey, do you have a headache?"
With so many questions thrown at him, while Chu Wanning's mind hadn't hurt before, now it did.
His mind felt like it was about to split in half…
As he got irritated, a golden light in his hand started to glow. When they saw that Tianwen was about to be summoned, the other elders were horrified and moved - Chu Wanning was crazy, right? He would even dare to whip Young Master Mo?
Then, Mo Ran was suddenly holding his hand.
Now Mo Ran had trapped both of his hands. Mo Ran didn't up on the danger of his situation. He pulled him closer and stood in front of him. He tilted his head and said with a smile: "My name is Mo Ran. I don't know anyone here, but just from looking at you, I like you the most. How about I worship you as my shizun, okay?"
This was completely unexpected. The people around them were even more horrified. Several elders gaped with mouths ajar.
Elder Xuanji: "Huh?"
Elder Pojun: "What!"
Elder Qisha: "Oh?"
Elder Jielu: "Uh…"
Elder Tanlang: "Hah, ridiculous."
Elder Lucun was the most feminine of the bunch with wavy hair and eyes flooded with peach blossoms: "Ah, this little boy is so bold. He's truly a courageous young man. He might even be so bold as to touch Elder Yuheng's ass."
"… I beg you, can you not say something so repulsive?" Qisha said with disgust.
Lucun rolled his eyes gracefully and hummed: "Fine, let me put it more eloquently. He's truly a courageous young man. He might even be so bold as to touch Elder Yuheng's buttocks."
Qisha: "…" Just kill him and forget this ever happened.
The most popular of all the elders was the gentle and jade-like elder Xuanji. His techniques were easy to learn, and he was a modest gentleman. Most of the disciples on Life-Death Peak worshipped underneath him.
Chu Wanning originally thought that this Mo Ran would've been just like all the others. If not Elder Xuanji, then it should be the energetic Elder Pojun. It never should have been his turn
But Mo Ran was standing so close to him. His face showed a kind of intimacy and affection that was unfamiliar to him. He was like some clown that was just chosen. It was all so distressing for no reason.
Chu Wanning only knew how to deal with "awe", "fear" and "disgust". Something like "affection" was too complicated.
He didn't even have to think about it. He immediately rejected Mo Ran.
The young man froze. Hidden under his slender eyelashes, there was a sense of loneliness and unwillingness in his eyes. He lowered his head, thought for a second, and unreasonably muttered: "Anyways, I still choose you."
Chu Wanning: "…"
The Lord was watching with great interest. He piped in with a smile:, "A-Ran, do you know who he is?"
"He didn't tell me, how would I?"
"Haha, since you don't know who he is, why would you pick him?"
Mo Ran was still tugging on Chu Wanning's hands. He turned his head, smiling and said to the Lord: "Because he looks the most gentle and easiest to talk to."
In the darkness, Chu Wanning's eyes snapped open, everything appearing fuzzy.
… That was one hell of a scene to see.
He didn't know what the hell was wrong with Mo Ran's eyes back then to actually think that he was gentle. Not to mention that all of Life-Death Peak heard about it. They all sent affectionate greetings to Young Master Mo Ran with looks that said "look at this foolish kid".
Chu Wanning lifted his hand to the corner of his faintly throbbing forehead.
His shoulder hurt, his mind was in turmoil, his stomach was hungry, and his head was spinning.
It seemed like he wasn't going to sleep anytime soon.
He fumed on the bed for a while. He sat up and was about to light a stick of incense to calm his mind when suddenly there was another knock on the door.
Mo Ran was outside.
Chu Wanning: "…"
He didn't answer. He didn't say whether to stay or leave.
But this time, the door opened by itself.
Chu Wanning looked up gloomily. The lit match in his hand hovered in mid-air but never reached the stick of incense. After a while, it went out.
Chu Wanning said: "Get out."
Mo Ran strolled in.
He was holding a steaming bowl of noodles, fresh from the pot.
This time it was a bit simpler. The noodles weren't as fancy. The rich white noodle soup was garnished with chopped green onion and white sesame seeds, small spare ribs, bok choy, and a slightly browned poached egg.
Chu Wanning was incredibly hungry but he didn't let it show on his face. He glanced at the noodles, then at Mo Ran. He turned his face away and didn't say anything.
Mo Ran put the noodles on the table, and gently said: "I asked the inn's chef to make another bowl."
Chu Wanning lowered his eyes.
Sure enough, Mo Ran didn't make this dish himself.
"Eat some." Mo Ran said. "This bowl isn't spicy, has no beef, and no bean sprouts."
After speaking, he left and closed the door for Chu Wanning on his way out.
He apologized for Chu Wanning's injury.
But he could only do so much.
In the room, Chu Wanning leaned against the window, not knowing what to think. He crossed his arms and stared at the bowl of spare rib noodles from a distance until the heat of the noodles dissipated and they grew cold.
He finally walked over and sat down. He picked up the chopsticks, stirred up the cold and soggy noodles, and slowly ate them.
The case of the Chen family's haunting had been closed.
The next day, they picked up the black horses they had boarded from inside the stables and returned to the sect the same way they had arrived.
In the streets and alleys, tea stalls and rice shops, the people of Caidie Town were all talking about the Chen family's affairs.
The not-so-small town had broken out in scandal, one large enough for the townspeople to talk about it for a whole year.
"I didn't expect that Young Master Chen had been secretly married to Miss Luo for so long. Miss Luo is so pitiful."
"If you ask me, if the Chen family hadn't gotten rich, they wouldn't be able to survive this affair. Sure enough, men can't handle their money. Once they have money, only misfortune will await them."
One man was unhappy and said: "This wasn't Young Master Chen's fault. It's his parents' fault. Mr. Chen, that son of a bitch. His children and grandchildren should only give birth to children without assholes in the future."
Another said: "The dead are pitiful but what about the living? Look at Chen Yao, Yao Qianjin. She's the one who's truly been wronged. That black-hearted mother of the Chen family deceived her. Tell me, what should she do now?"
"Just get remarried."
The man rolled his eyes and sneered: "Remarried? Are you here to get married?"
The mud-coated man who was teased bared his teeth and picked at them, grinning: "If that woman at home agrees, I'd marry her. Ms. Yao looks so beautiful, I don't mind her being a widow."
"Bah, the toad wants to eat swan meat*."
(T/N: 癩蛤蟆想吃天鵝肉 - means having unrealistic wishes or expectations)
Mo Ran sat on the back of the horse, ears perked up, listening to all the conversations in high spirits. If it weren't for Chu Wanning's closed eyes, frown, and the words "extremely noisy" essentially spelled out on his forehead, Mo Ran might have wanted to go join the villagers.
They walked together and finally left the main city, arriving at the outskirts.
Shi Mei suddenly gasped and pointed to the distance: "Shizun, look over there."
In front of the ruined Master of Ceremonies Ghost's earthen temple, there was a large group of peasants in brown clothes and shorts. They were busy moving the bricks and stones. It seemed that they were planning to repair the damaged earthen temple and remould the golden body of the Master of Ceremonies Ghost.
Shi Mei said anxiously: "Shizun, the old Master of Ceremonies Ghost is gone but they've made a new one. Will this be cultivated into an immortal body again and do evil?"
Chu Wanning: "I don't know."
"Should we go and persuade them not to?"
Chu Wanning: "The custom of ghost marriages in Caidie Town has been around for several generations. How would you or I be able to persuade them in just a few words? Let's go."
As he spoke, dust flew up from the horse's hoof and he walked away.
It was already dusk when they returned to Life-Death Peak.
Chu Wanning said to the two disciples in front of the mountain gate: "You go to Danxin Hall and explain what happened. I'll go to the Court of Discipline."
Mo Ran looked puzzled: "Why would you go to the Court of Discipline?"
Shi Mei, on the other hand, looked worried: "…"
Chu Wanning nonchalantly said: "To receive my punishment."
Although it's said that an emperor commits the same crime as the common people, what emperor would actually have to go to jail for killing someone? The same goes for the cultivation world.
The elders who break the sect rules are as equally guilty as the disciples - in most sects, it's just empty talk.
In fact, if an elder breaks a rule, it was good enough just to write an apology letter. What fool would actually go to be punished with a willow vine or dozens of sticks?
So, after listening to Chu Wanning's explanation, Elder Jielu's complexion turned green.
"No, Elder Yuheng, did you really… did you really beat your client?"
Chu Wanning was indifferent: "Yes."
"You're so…"
Chu Wanning raised his stare and gave him a sullen look. Elder Jielu shut up.
"According to the law, for breaking this rule, the punishment is two hundred cane strikes, kneeling in Wushan Temple for seven days, and being forbidden from leaving the grounds for three months." Chu Wanning said. "I have no defence, and I voluntarily accept the punishment."
Elder Jielu: "…"
He looked around and hooked his fingers, and the door to the Court of Discipline closed with a clang. The surroundings fell silent, and it was only the two of them that stood opposite each other.
Chu Wanning: "What's the meaning of this?"
"Well, Elder Yuheng, it's not that you don't understand the rules and their consequences, it's just that it shouldn't be something that you should be overly concerned with. This matter is finished. Let's forget it. If I beat you, won't the Lord be angry with me when he finds out?"
Chu Wanning didn't bother to talk such nonsense with him and simply said: "I hold people accountable according to the law, and I should also be held accountable myself according to the law."
Kneeling down in front of the hall, facing the plaque of sect rules, he said:
"Punish me."