For the next three days, Chu Wanning was even more sullen than usual, his temper even worse.
Resentment was written clearly all over Yuheng Elder's features, and a haze of miasma followed 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 seeing his two disciples rendezvousing by the training dummies and acting so affectionate, he simply couldn't help the rage that flared up and the sour feeling that flooded his chest.
He felt disgusted.
Not just at others, but more so at himself.
He and Mo Weiyu were master and disciple, nothing more. How was it any of his business whom Mo Ran liked to stick to, whom he wanted to be involved with?
What right did he have to wave his willow vine around just because he didn't like what he saw? If he liked someone, liked being near someone, what's that got to do with you? Did it inconvenience you in any way? Chu Wanning how are you this pathetically petty!
…...Anyway, backing up a thousand steps, so what if he felt unspeakable longing toward Mo Ran? He had his pride and plenty of self-restraint, more than enough to keep his feelings under control, more than enough to suppress that terrifying longing for however long it takes to suffocate it.
No one will ever know of this unsightly affection of his.
Nothing will remain but the brocade pouch with the two locks of hair inside.
Mo Ran won't know about his feelings, just like he will never know that, at the bottom of Jincheng Lake, the one who endured searing agony to save him wasn't Shi Mei, but himself.
But what is this feeling?
Is it... jealousy?
The mere thought made Chu Wanning choke.
For months after that, he tried to avoid Mo Ran as much as possible,
minimizing all interactions outside of the routine instructions in cultivation and training.
Time flew by, and it was nearly the end of the year before anyone knew it.
One day, as Chu Wanning was returning from a trip down the mountain to suppress monsters, it started snowing just as he got to the front gates.
Sisheng Peak quickly became 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 inside of the hall, firewood crackling inside the copper basin.
Chu Wanning came to report in with Xue Zhengyong, but the sect leader was nowhere to be seen. Instead, he bumped into Mo Ran.
There was no one else at Loyalty Hall. This was the first time Chu Wanning had been alone with him in many months, and he couldn't help feeling a little awkward. What's more, this was where that absurd dream took place.
Speaking of, Chu Wanning actually had that dream several more times afterwards, clear and vivid each time. He tried to struggle the first few times, but got used to it after a while and just let the Mo Ran in the dream run his mouth like a lunatic, while he idly counted Mo Ran's eyelashes out of pure boredom,
one, two, three…...
But that dream always ended abruptly at a certain critical moment; after many repeats of the same, Chu-zongshi decided that it must be due to his innately pure and noble disposition, that even fantasies didn't get too overly sordid.
Having come to such a conclusion, Yuheng Elder and his fragile glass maiden heart finally managed to retrieve a bit of dignity.
But the combination of Mo Ran and Loyalty Hall still gave Chu Wanning an intuitive sense of danger.
Unfortunately, that young man hadn't the slightest about any of this. Seeing him, Mo Ran's face lit up in a toothy smile: "Shizun, you're back." "...Mn." "Are you looking for uncle? Aunt's feeling a little under the weather, so he's been over there taking care of her. What did you need? I'll let him know." Chu Wanning pressed his lips together and said mildly: "No need." Then immediately turned to leave.
But Mo Ran called out to him: "Shizun, please wait." "What is it..." He turned to look back as he spoke, but was unexpectedly met with Mo Ran's extended hand brushing against his brow.
Mo Ran brushed a few times, saying 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 frozen as the young man uttered fussily while dusting the snow off him, then took out a white handkerchief to dry his hair.
Chu Wanning was no good with the cold; he couldn't be exposed to the cold,
or he'll easily fall sick.
But this person never knew to take care of himself. Last life, after he was imprisoned, he often liked to sit in the courtyard and watch the koi fish in the pond, unheeding even when it began to snow.
So he caught colds and ran fevers all the time. Shizun was even more frail after his spiritual core was destroyed; he would be bedridden for at least half a month every time he got sick, and bowl after bowl of medicinal decoction had practically no effect.
And so, when Mo Ran saw him covered in snow, half melted half frozen, he reflexively started brushing the snow off of him.
But halfway through drying his hair, he belatedly realized that his actions might have been a little too intimate. His head snapped up just in time to come face to face with a pair of reticent phoenix eyes.
Chu Wanning was glaring at him: "..." Mo Ran's hands withdrew sheepishly: "Ahaha, this disciple overstepped his bounds, Shizun can dry himself off of course." Chu Wanning was quite relieved that he backed off.
That dream was just a dream, after all.
His disciple was still the same as before, nothing like that guy in his dream who referred to himself as "this Venerable One".
Chu Wanning was silent for a while before taking the proffered handkerchief from Mo Ran. He took off his cape and walked over to the fire to warm his hands, then wiped off the melting snow on his hair.
"Since when did you finally learn what boundaries were?" Face lit 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: "..."
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?" Mo Ran hurriedly replied: "It's the end of the year, 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: "...Shizun's memory is truly very impressive." Chu Wanning was totally unmoved by the flattery: "Where is he?" "He said he was a little feverish and headachey this morning." Seeing the look in Chu Wanning's eyes, Mo Ran hurriedly continued, "Sorry, Shizun, I was the one who told him to get some rest, so please don't blame him." Such covering was like a sharp needle that pricked Chu Wanning and made his brows draw together. He was quiet for a while, then asked: "Is he okay?" Seeing that he didn't lay blame, Mo Ran let out a breath of relief: "I gave him medicine and waited for him to fall asleep before leaving earlier. He just caught a cold, should be fine in two or three days. Thank you for the concern, Shizun." "Who said I'm concerned about you lot, I was just asking." Mo Ran: "..." "I'll leave you to your organizing, then." Chu Wanning left.
Sisheng Peak forbid its disciples from doing each other's duties. Mo Ran thought he was going to be punished by Shizun for sure, but Chu Wanning had unexpectedly let him off this easily. He stood in place dumbstruck for quite a while, and didn't react until Chu Wanning was already a distance away.
Mo Ran picked up the umbrella leaning against the door and ran after the lone figure in the snow.
"Shizun!" "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 the two of them.
"The snow's really coming down, take the 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. The umbrella fell in the back-and-forth struggle right as a wind picked up, and was blown several feet away.
Chu Wanning stared at at that umbrella planted in the snow. He stared for a while. This was such a non-issue; he wanted to just turn and leave indifferently as he always had in the past. But his feet refused to move.
Just like how a candle will always go out in the end, and 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 a sleeve and said angrily: "Mo Weiyu,
can you just stop messing with me? 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 backwards, thinking he was going to summon Tianwen for a whipping again. But instead, the light rose into the sky like a gushing spring of gold and formed into a resplendent barrier, blocking snow and wind alike.
Mo Ran: "..." 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 angry, the barrier rapidly changing colors with the movement of his fingertips, from gold to red, to purple, blue, and then green.
The effect of the barrier changed with the color; one warded only against snow, one blocked the wind as well, and another even kept the inside of the barrier warm despite the freezing snowstorm.
These techniques were quite powerful, and Chu Wanning normally wouldn't waste his spiritual energy to block the snow this way. Such a sulkily showy display was so childish that Mo Ran was rendered completely speechless for a moment.
"Shizun, don't be angry..." "Who said I'm angry?!" Chu Wanning's face was pale from anger, "Get lost already!" "Ok ok ok, 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 instead into a strike of lightning that landed right in front of Mo Ran.
Mo Ran was just showing him some concern out of the kindness of his heart but nearly got struck by lightning for it. He felt a bit resentful and was just about to say something, but when he looked up, he saw Chu Wanning standing in the snow, face pale to match, but the rims of his eyes were a little red.
Mo Ran, startled: "You..." "You and I are merely master and disciple, nothing more than that. There's no need for any unnecessary concern between us. So take your umbrella and get lost." Mo Ran started, understanding suddenly dawning on him.
"Shizun, that day at the practice field, when I was talking with Shi Mei, did you..." Hear.
But Chu Wanning said nothing, only turned to leave.
Mo Ran didn't call out to him this time, and he didn't turn to look back.
A little ways away, Chu Wanning sneezed. His steps faltered, then 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, staring numbly at his back until he disappeared, lost in thought.
Chu Wanning fell sick as soon as he got back to the Red Lotus Pavilion.
He could use barriers to ward off rain and snow, but he never bothered to when it came to himself, seeing it as a waste of spiritual energy. That's why, when it rained, he just used an oil paper umbrella like any other ordinary person.
He sneezed a whole bunch, and the headache and fever were quick to follow as well. He was already used to self-medicating from all the times he got sick,
and a little cold was nothing to even bat an eye at, so he took some medicine,
washed up and changed his clothes, then burrowed into bed to sleep it off.
Maybe it was due to the cold, but the nausea that had been cropping up ever since he got injured at Jincheng Lake was especially acute this night. The night went by in a hazy sleep, his entire body drenched in a cold sweat but burning like a furnace.
Chu Wanning didn't wake up until noon the next day. Blinking his eyes blearily open, he laid there spacing out for a while before slowly getting 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.
Chu Wanning: "..." ...
Even Yuheng Elder's composure couldn't handle this kind of shock.
It wasn't that his boots had become bigger.
Chu Wanning stared blankly at his hands, his legs, his bare feet, and the shoulder that his robe had slid off from.
It was that he... had become smaller????
Author's Notes:
Mini Theatre (this is an edit from an old joke~) Xue Meng: Mutt I've got a quiz for you, what do you say when you see a frigid Shizun?
Mo Ran: Your Highness.
Xue Meng: What do you say when you see an angry Shizun?
Mo Ran: Your Majesty.
Xue Meng: What do you say when you see a Shizun that has shrunk in size?
Mo Ran: Come, Gege give you a smoochie (/^▽^)/ [1] Xue Meng: Failed, get lost.
[1] This rhymes in Chinese, Your highness- dian xia | Your majesty - bi xia | Come,
Gege has a smoochie - lai, gege qin yi xia