His head snapped up to look in the direction the sound had come from.
A person in a floor-length, gold-patterned black cloak appeared at the end of the hall. His figure was tall and straight, and his entire body was covered under cloth—even his face was shrouded behind a curtain of black silk. All that was visible was a pair of eyes, but the darkness made it hard to see even those eyes clearly.
The person held a blade in his hand.
A narrow blade, completely black, unmatched in sharpness.
Bu'gui.
"Who are you!" "It doesn't matter who I am." The person said coldly; his voice sounded strangely warped, as if it had been intentionally distorted, "All you need to know is that I know who you are." A chill ran through Mo Ran, but he forced himself to stay calm.
"I'm just a disciple of Sisheng Peak, so what if you know me, what's your point?" "A disciple of Sisheng Peak? Heh, that's not wrong, but have you forgotten that you're also Taxian-Jun, Emperor of the Mortal Realm, a vicious ghost that slew his teacher and spit on decency, a soul that fled the road to the underworld?" Mo Ran's blood grew colder with every word.
He felt like he had fallen into a frozen cave.
Taxian-Jun.
Who bathed all seventy two cities of Rufeng Sect in blood.
Emperor of the Mortal Realm.
Who married the most beautiful woman in the world, who killed teacher and family alike, who tread on countless people to come out on top.
The person continued in an icy tone: "You are Mo Weiyu." Mo Weiyu.
Evil beyond redemption, may he die ten thousand deaths and be denied reincarnation.
Mo Weiyu, deserving of naught but to be torn to pieces at Sisheng Peak, his heart and eyes dug out, he ought not get an intact corpse!
"WHO ARE YOU!!!!" Mo Ran saw red. The youthful demeanor disappeared completely off his face to be replaced by a ruthless, fiendish snarl as he stood off against that person at the end of the hallway, on the very verge of lunging at the other's throat and ripping it to pieces along with all of those names he never wanted to hear again!
The person lifted a hand wrapped in black silk, and the entire hallway was instantly covered in layers of ice, dividing the space between them.
"You can't call this blade anymore, can you." The person walked closer, slow and leisurely, stopping some ten paces away, "Emperor of the Mortal Realm…...or maybe it's better to call you Mo Ran now? How laughable, have you ever taken a good look at yourself, the way you are now?" "A heart that is no longer cold and hard like steel; staying by Chu Wanning's side as you have, even actually developing some fondness for him." "Rebirth, rebirth. I wonder where that person is, the one you swore to protect in the last lifetime?" Mo Ran's expression changed instantly: "Shi Mei?! What did you do to Shi Mei?!" The person did not answer, only sneering coldly: "Do you know why you can't call Bu'gui anymore?" He traced a fingertip slowly along the black body of the blade, "It's because your soul is about to change, your hatred about to dissipate...your regret, as you lay dying, was that you couldn't protect your Mingjing-shixiong, and your wish was that, if there was a next lifetime…...that you definitely won't fail him again." Those piercing eyes turned on him.
"Mo Ran, have you lived up to that?!" "I——" "The ghost realm barrier is soon to rupture, and what happened back then is sure to repeat. Do you intend to watch him die again? Do you plan to beg Chu Wanning for mercy again? ——All you're doing is letting your second chance go to waste, you don't deserve to touch Bu'gui ever again." "I don't need you to tell me that!" Mo Ran roared, enraged, "What happens between me and Shi Mei is no one else's business! Since you already know I'm a reborn person, then who are you? The fake Gouchen? Or some dead ghost that's been reborn just like me!" "Heh..." The person snickered lightly, "Some dead ghost that's been reborn... yes, I suppose I am some dead ghost that's been reborn. Or did you really think, with the way the world is right now, that you were the only one who was graced by the heavens to be reborn?
Just who exactly is this!
Blurry faces flashed frantically through his mind, one after the other.
The ones who had died before him in the past life.
Xue Zhengyong, Madam Wang, Chu Wanning, Song Qiutong, Ye Wangxi...
Or the ones who had charged Wushang Palace just in time to see him off.
Xue Meng, Mei Hanxue, the executioners from the ten great sects…...
Who is it…...who is it!!!!!!
Just who found out his secret, seized his weakness! Of all his demons from a lifetime ago, just who climbed out from the underworld to chase him down and force him back on the road to ruin! Who is it!
But in the split second it had taken for him to think, there was a sudden flash before his eyes and the man had already moved to stand right in front of him with a flurry of robes. The sheer strength of this person, even after rebirth, rattled Mo Ran.
Bu'gui was already pressed against his chest; just a bit of pressure and it would pierce through his flesh and into his heart.
"Mo Weiyu, I thought you to be a devoted person in matters of affection, but perhaps your Mingjing-shixiong simply doesn't have the fortune of your favor.
Even in your second life, you still care nothing for him." Mo Ran gritted his teeth: "Bullshit." "Is it though?" The person smirked darkly, one hand closing around Mo Ran's throat and then sliding slowly down to rest on his chest, "Does he truly have any place in your heart? Even the little bit of memory you used to cherish has long since worn away, is there even anything left anymore?" Mo Ran growled: "As if you would know who's in my heart better than I do!
You've blathered on long enough, why don't you just take off that veil and show me your face already!" "Don't be in such a hurry." The person's voice was like smoke and his gaze like mist, both with a thread of contempt, "I'll show you when you're about to die in this life." "You die first, you——" He didn't even finish the sentence when he suddenly felt a bone-chilling cold underfoot. Mo Ran looked down to find that the person's icy thorns had already climbed up his body without him knowing.
Ice spells, ice thorns... water elemental...
Who is it, who from the past life used such spells…...
He had met with far too many adversaries, and his head was a complete mess as he scrambled to remember them all.
Xue Meng, fire.
Chu Wanning, metal and wood.
Ye Wangxi, earth.
Xue Zhengyong, earth.
Just who is it, why couldn't he think of someone who had such powerful control over ice.
"You're not wrong, I'll die too. But, Mo Weiyu, that won't be for a long, long time." The ice spread quickly over his entire body.
This person's strength was truly terrifying; Mo Ran released some spiritual energy to fend off the ice, and was immediately felt a burst of immense and oppressive force bearing down on him.
This person before him might rival even Chu Wanning!!!!
Water elemental.
Who!!!!
For one fleeting instant, a blurry face seemed to flash through his mind, but that person's hand clamped down on his neck before he could focus on it.
Fingertips wrapped in black silk caressed his throat. There was no reflection in that person's dark eyes.
"Your Majesty needn't concern yourself with the length of my life." He spoke slowly, "More importantly, let me help you retrieve some basic human emotions so that you don't screw up my plans doing everything but what you're supposed to." "Nngh——!" There was a wet sound of something being cut into.
Bu'gui cried out in sorrow as it pierced its former master's flesh.
"It's not deep. Just getting some of your blood to bind the seal." True to his word, the person only took some blood from the wound to mark between his brows, then began chanting some kind of incantation.
A searing pain exploded in Mo Ran's head. He cursed loudly: "FUCK.
YOUR. MOTHER! The fuck did I do to you last lifetime, did I chop you into mincemeat or kill all eighteen generations of your ancestors or some shit?
Fucking hell, the fuck you doing!!" "Shh, hold still. It's just a virtue spell." "I don't fucking care if it's a virtue spell or a vice spell, can you stop grossing me out[8]? Fuck off!!!" "Mo Ran ah." The person sighed softly while drawing a seal at his brow,
"How could you bear to tell me to fuck off?" He paused, then resumed chanting,
"Heart lesser than water, fervor unstoppable. Heart gate…...open." Agony burst abruptly through his chest!
"You..." The ice was dispelled all of a sudden. Mo Ran stumbled, legs giving out as he sunk slowly to his knees, face pale and colorless.
"You should thank me." Expression apathetic, the black-robed person looked down at him through lowered lashes for a while, then said evenly, "I've heightened the emotions in your heart, love and hate clearer still. Surely you should be able to figure your own feelings out now? If you still don't know to do all in your power, up to and including giving your life to protect Shi Mei, even after all this, then you…...are truly useless, nothing more than an unwanted child tossed aside!" So this virtue spell makes love and hate more intense and clear-cut?
Why would this person go to such lengths to preserve Shi Mei's life...
Water elemental…...
These were the last scattered thoughts in his head before his consciousness faded.
Mo Ran crumpled to the floor with a thud, thick curtains of lashes closing over his eyes. The black-robed person stared coldly at him for a while, then slowly crouched down to take his pulse, thinking for a short moment before lifting a hand to gather a brilliant blue light in his palm.
"Forget." The black-robed person uttered in a low voice. The blue light glowed brighter still, and Mo Ran's tightly locked brows slowly relaxed.
When he wakes, all he will remember is going out and trying to summon the holy weapon to no avail. He will remember nothing else, nor will he know that there is another reborn person in this world.
And the virtue spell, though its effects last for only a few days, is excellent for showing the lost where their desire truly lies.
"With your emotions heightened, you just might wake up to find yourself even more in love with Shi Mingjing, so in love that you want nothing more than to dig out your own heart and give it to him." The black-robed person said in a cold voice.
"See you later, Emperor Taxian-Jun." The storm blew over and the waves settled back down. Mo Ran opened his eyes the next morning to find himself lying on the floor next to Chu Wanning's bed. He turned his head to the side—the window seemed to have been blown open by the wind sometime during the night; it was half-closed, swinging gently in the morning breeze, creaking every time it contacts the wooden beam.
It was quiet inside the room. Mo Ran didn't have to check the bed to know that Chu Wanning was still asleep.
The sky outside the patterned window was a dull teal. The morning sky was often pale before the rising sun breaks through the clouds to dust a blush on her cheeks and bathe her in warmth; few people rose this early, so she didn't bother painting her wan, tired countenance.
The breeze from the outside carried the faint scent of fresh grass and morning dew.
Mo Ran lay there for a while, waiting for consciousness to come to him before sitting up, only to feel a stab of pain in his shoulder.
That's weird, why's there a rip in his clothes, and dried blood under it?
He stared at it blankly for a while.
Didn't he go out last night to test Bu'gui? He seemed to remember that it didn't respond at all, so it was probably a fake. And then…..
Tsk, can't remember.
Looking around, he found a thick nail sticking out from the dark brown floor.
Must've gotten scratched by the nail then; was he so deeply asleep that he didn't even feel it?
He draped an outer robe over his shoulders and looked toward the bed.
Chu Wanning lay there, peacefully in repose. He had long since gotten used to him being all aloof and high-up, enjoying the best, while he himself had to settle for the leftovers, like making do with the floor at the foot of the bed. But he felt extra irritable today for some reason, glaring at that person's figure with an itch in his teeth.
"How come you always get the bed while I have to sleep on the floor? Sure the saying goes 'respect your teacher,' but doesn't it also say to 'love your young'?" Mo Ran was irked.
And he only got more disgruntled when he remembered the nail sticking out from the floor that gave him a cut for no damn reason.
It was still early, and he didn't want to curl up pitifully on the floor anymore,
so he climbed on the bed and closed his eyes to go back to sleep.
The bed was spacious enough that the two of them, one facing left and the other facing right, didn't have to touch.
They had once slept in each other's arms; now they slept with an invisible barrier in between.
In the last lifetime they had been skin to skin, limbs entangled, and, in the most frenzied days, he wouldn't even pull out after making love to him. These two who had once been so intimate now lay on opposite ends of the bed to sleep.
[8] 恶心 vice/evil heart (as opposed to virtue/kind heart); this word as a whole can also be read as "disgusting"