2HA Book 1: Ch.

60-69
143-182 minutes
二 哈 和 他 的 白 猫 师 尊 Dumb Husky and His White Cat Shizun (2Ha/Erha for
short) By 肉包不吃肉 Meatbun Doesn’t Eat Meat

This work is R18 at the very minimum.

It includes: rape, underage sex, explicit sex, gore, corporal punishment,

unhealthy relationships, questionable principles, among other
immoralities.

Please, please please do not read this if any of that will upset you. Love
yourself and close out of this tab, thanks.

✦ This is a translation of PAID CONTENT. If you’ve enjoyed it via the

translation, then please refer to this [GUIDE] to purchase it [HERE]

✦ DO NOT REPOST or I WILL lock this entire translation down

Google Drive Folder:

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1LwbkR2vZqj20tSKrdfkxYgV11N2
4FDKm?usp=sharing

Ch.60 This Venerable One Discovers a Secret

Ch.61 This Venerable One Is Really Great?

Ch.62 This Venerable One Arrives At Ancient Lin’an

Ch.63 This Venerable One Sees…...Whom?!

Ch.64 This Venerable One Tells Shidi a Story

Ch.65 This Venerable One’s Story is Super Bad

Ch.66 This Venerable One Sees the Heavenly Rift for the First Time

Ch.67 This Venerable One’s Heartfelt Anguish

Ch.68 This Venerable One Can’t Bear it

Ch.69 This Venerable One Will Learn From You, Yea~

With spells casted on the ferry, the travel was fast, and by the next
morning they had already reached the Port of Yangzhou. There were
already envoys at the harbour receiving them, stabling many of the
horses.

The party ate breakfast at the harbour, but since the feathered tribe
didn’t require sustenance, they sat by the edge of the harbour with their
eyes closed, resting their spirits. Dawn had only just broken then, and
there weren’t many merchants around conducting business, but the
deck hands had all risen already, gathering together in threes and fives
together chowing down porridge and steamed buns, peeking and
stealing curious glances at them from time to time.

Bits and pieces of talk from those beefy men in simple labour robes as
they chewed their meal fell in Mo Ran’s ears.

“Aye aye, I recognize their clothes. They’re people of the Lower

Cultivation Realm.”

“The Lower Cultivation Realm is so far away, and our sect rarely
interacts with them, so how would you know?”

“Just look at the coat of arms on their vambraces. Isn’t it exactly the
same as those on the Holy Night Guardian?”

“You’re talking about those wooden devices that expel evil?” Someone
took a glance at Xue Meng’s sleeve, and exclaimed in awe as he
chewed the pickles crunchily, “Aiyoh, it’s true. Who was the one that
made the Holy Night Guardians again?”

“I heard it was Yuheng Elder of Sisheng Peak who made it.”

“Who’s Yuheng Elder? Is he as powerful as our Sect Leader Jiang of

Guyue'ye?”

“Hehe, who knows. Who’s to say anything about the world of

cultivators.”

The deck hands spoke with a heavy Su dialect and Mo Ran couldn’t
quite comprehend, but Chu Wanning could understand what those
people were saying. Learning that the Holy Night Guardians that he had
invented was now successfully being distributed throughout the
common world, he couldn’t help but feel comforted. Thus, he started
plotting mentally, thinking that after they return he should invent more
lighter-geared wooden oxen or horses, and do more good.

Once breakfast was done, the group took haste, and it didn’t take four
hours before they had reached the foot of Mount JiuHua. It was still
early in the day, the sun of a winter’s day had only just reached its peak,
and millions of golden light threads came kissing down like silk, sinking
the snowy summit in a crystal luminescence, glittering magnificently.
Upon the slopes of the summit were hundreds of luscious ancient pines
that remained evergreen, standing resolutely in the frost, much like a
hermit cultivator with an immortal air, sleeves lowered eyes half-lidded,
deadly silent as they stood on either side of the mountain path.

It wasn’t for nothing that the mortals called the summit of Mount JiuFeng
the “Unmortal World”.

The feathered tribe whistled thrice at the foot of the mountain, and a
little golden canary with vibrantly charming feathers came flying out of
the white, snowy piedmont, and landed lightly before them. The group
followed the golden canary’s lead, heading west the entire way, and
came before a curtain of turbulent and tempestuous waterfall.

“Will my lord cultivators please step back.”

The leader of the feathered tribe stood in front, her hand imitating the
hand of Buddha, and she silently recited a spell. Suddenly, she pursed
her scarlet lips, and gently blew into the wind. Shockingly, a beam of
flames appeared in midair, lunging straight for the waterfall, dividing the
water curtain into half!

The feathered tribe breezily turned around and smiled, “I sincerely invite
my lords to step into the Peach Blossoms Spring.”

They followed after the feathered tribe and passed through the water
curtain. After crossing the barrier, the scenery suddenly brightened
before their eyes. This place was vast without an end in sight, but
bustling and lively like the other world. The Peach Blossom Springs was
a sheltered world without many connections to the cultivation world, and
while it couldn’t be compared to the real Land of the Immortals,
nevermind spoken of as equals, nonetheless this land was rich with
spiritual chi. Within the Springs, the sceneries were as if they came out
of poetry and paintings, the colours elegant and delicate, and after
having walked for a while, they discovered the changing of seasons was
randomized too.

With the feathered tribe leading the way, they first passed through the
wilderness, and the sound of the coursing rivers roared in their ears, the
cries of apes and beasts on either shores. Then they came to the
outskirts of the city, and saw vast farmlands of crisscrossing field paths,
the wheat swaying along with the breeze. Finally, when they had
entered the city fortress, there were immaculate and detailed buildings
as far as the eye could see, the eaves tall and grand.
The main capital of this Peach Blossoms land was magnificent and
beautiful, the city itself grand, its provisions complete, not appearing any
less than the lively city centres of the mortal realm. Only, falling
blossoms and drifting snowflakes danced together in the air, rare birds
and immortal herons took flight together in flocks, and all the feathered
tribe folks who passed by were neck tall and handsome, their figures
picturesque and breezy, each looking like unparalleled fairies who
emerged from paintings.

However, while such an ethereal scene appeared rather new and

interesting for Xue Meng and company, but since they had already
witnessed the bizarre sight of Jincheng Lake, this was no longer
anything that’d shock them.

They came to a fork in the road, and saw a feathered tribe folk donned
in a grand feathered coat embroidered with a gold phoenix and a pure
white under layer standing upright by an ancient tree, so tall it reached
the skies. That flame mark on her forehead was much deeper than any
of the others, signalling that her powers were far greater than the other
feathered tribe.

The envoys leading the way brought the group of them before her, then
bent one knee to the ground, bowing their respects, “Great Immortal
Lord, the four xianjun of ShiSeng Peak have come.”

“Thank you for your hard work, you may stand down.”

“Yes, milord.”

The feathered tribe folk who was beautifully dressed smiled softly, her
voice clear and affecting like the crowing of a young phoenix.

“I am named Eighteen. By the recognition from the immortal elder of my

family, I was given the grand title of Great Immortal Lord in the Peach
Blossoms Springs. We are much thankful that my lords are willing to
show us the courtesy of coming to train in this humble abode. Should
xianjun find any inadequate reception in the duration of your stay here,
please do forgive us and do not be afraid to let us know.”

Such beauty, and such grace when she spoke, she certainly gave a
good impression.

Although Xue Meng didn’t enjoy men who looked better than him, he
was nevertheless at an age where he was beginning to know beauty
and affections, so naturally he didn’t dismiss ladies so beautiful it was
as if they emerged from paintings. Thus, he smiled in response,
“Xianjun is too kind, but this name Eighteen certainly is odd. May I
inquire for xianjun’s family name?”

Eighteen replied gently and courteously, “I have no family name.

Eighteen is it.”

Mo Ran laughed heartily, “If you’re called Eighteen, then is there

someone here named Seventeen?”

That was meant to be a joke, but who knew when Eighteen heard him,
she grinned in spite of herself, “Xianjun is wise. Seventeen is my sister.”

Mo Ran: “......”

Eighteen explained, “We feathered tribe are born from the fallen down
feathers of the Heavenly God Zhuque. When our cultivation was still
shallow, we often appear in the form of a crested ibis. The one to form
an appearance first was the elder immortal of my family, and the rest of
the feathered tribe are thus named in order of forming appearances,
starting with One, Two… I am the eighteenth one, and so I am named
Eighteen.”

“......”

After Mo Ran heard he fell speechless. He had originally thought Xue

Zhengyong was already horrible at giving names, but he hadn’t thought
there was one who was even worse here —going by numbers directly.

Then, Eighteen said something that made him even more

thunderstruck.

“Come. Let’s get down to business. This is the first time you have come
to this place, and you’re not yet familiar with the training rules of the
Peach Blossoms Springs.” Eighteen said, “In the mortal realm, for
centuries, cultivation has been divided by schools and sects. This place
is different. We feathered tribe have always been very clear in dividing
work. There are those who specialize in ‘Defense’, those who specialize
in ‘Attack’, and those who specialize in ‘Healing’. There are three
divisions in all, and your training will also be conducted thus
accordingly.”

Mo Ran smiled, “That’s brilliant.”

Eighteen nodded towards him, “Thank you for thinking so, little xianjun.
The cultivators from Guyue'ye also came by several days ago, and
when they heard about this training method, they were all quite
displeased.”

Mo Ran felt incredulous, “Defense is defense, attack is attack, and

healing is healing. Isn’t such a clean division a good thing? What are
they unhappy about?”

“You see,” Eighteen replied, “There is a young master Duan from

Guyue'ye who belonged in ‘Defense’, and needed to reside with the
other xianjun of the same division. But, his ShiJie belonged to ‘Attack’,
and must train and live with the xianjun of the Attack Division. While I
don’t quite understand the affections and relations of mortalkind, but I
could still tell that young master wasn’t willing to be separated from his
sworn sister.”

“Haha, what’s up with th—wait, what did you say?!” Mo Ran stopped
laughing halfway through when it suddenly dawned on him, and his
eyes widened, “Not only do those who belonged in different divisions
have to train separately, they have to live apart too?”

Eighteen didn’t know why his face suddenly changed and replied in
confusion, “That’s right.”

Mo Ran’s entire face turned blue, “......”

What kind of joke was this?!

An hour later, Mo Ran, who had failed in his bargaining with Eighteen,
stood dumbfoundedly before a bright and spacious little four sided
courtyard residence, and sank into a long, deep silence.

Him, Xue Meng, and Xia Sini belonged in the Attack division, and were
sent to the east side of the Peach Blossoms Springs. By ‘east side’, it
wasn’t just any small allotted land, but the place where all the xianjun
who belonged in ‘Attack’ lived. There were already more than twenty
some of those courtyard residences that housed four, and there were
also mountains and lakes, streets and markets, built very much similar
to those of the mortal realm. It seemed it was because the feathered
tribe knew they were going to live here for a long time, so it was built
thus to help them rid of their homesickness.

As for Shi Mei, since he belonged to ‘Healing’, he was sent to the south
side of the Peach Blossoms Springs. It was exceptionally far from
where Mo Ran and the others lived, and there was even a barrier set up
in between that could only be traversed through with the Authority Staff.
This meant, while Mo Ran and Shi Mei were both inside the Peach
Blossoms Springs, other than the daily gathering of all three divisions to
learn the beginner’s cultivation method of the feathered tribe, there was
basically no other chances for them to see each other.

This wasn’t even the worst of it either.

Mo Ran suddenly looked up, and gazed towards the courtyard through
his thick curtains of lashes at the Xue Meng who was circling all over
the yard, obviously planning on picking the most comfortable room for
himself. Mo Ran could feel the veins on his forehead pop in spite of
himself.

Xue Meng…

That’s right. Fucking hell. From today onwards, he would have to live in
the same courtyard as Xue Meng everyday! Perhaps for the next long
while, he would have to thoroughly experience two of the eight great
sufferings of life: the separation from loved ones and the meeting of
enemies....

The feathered tribe had been going from the Upper Cultivation Realm to
the Lower Cultivation Realm to find their chosen ones, and by the time
they reached SiSeng Peak, they were already at the end of their
journey. Thus, those sent from all the other sects had already settled in
before them, and Xue Meng soon discovered that one of the rooms of
their little four sided courtyard was already occupied.

“Weird. I wonder who’s settled in here.” Xue Meng mumbled as he

glanced at the blanket being hung to dry in the yard.

“No matter who it is, it shouldn’t be anyone who’d make much fuss.” Mo
Ran said.

“What do you mean?”

“Let me ask you,” Mo Ran said, “Which room did you pick?”

Xue Meng immediately looked cautious, “What are you planning? I’ve
already made my choice, the one sitting in the north facing south is
mine. If you’re gonna fight me for it, then I’ll…”

He hadn’t yet figured out what he was going to do before Mo Ran cut
him off laughingly, “I don’t like rooms that are too big, so I won’t fight
with you. But let me ask you, if this residence was still empty—” He
said, and pointed at the little room that someone had already moved
into, and continued his query, “Would you change with him?”
Xue Meng looked at that simple little thatched cottage first before
glaring at Mo Ran, “Do you think I’m dumb? Of course I won’t change.”

Mo Ran laughed, “That’s why I said that person isn’t someone who’d
make a fuss. See, when he came, all four rooms in this courtyard are
empty, but he didn’t pick the best one, and only chose that short, little
hovel. If this man isn’t a fool, then he’s a humble gentleman.”

“......”

This analysis certain wasn’t wrong, but Xue Meng felt like his face was
ripped open by the hidden knife in Mo Ran’s smile. The other man was
a gentleman, leaving the best room to sleep in a dilapidated hut, then
wasn’t he a stinking, vulgar, common man, a petty cheapskate?

But Mo Ran didn’t call Xue Meng out by name, so Young Master Xue
couldn’t yell back, nor could he endure it, so in the moment, his entire
face flushed red.

“Either way… I’m used to living well.” Xue Meng choked in resentment
and rebuked with a dark face, “I can’t stand rundown places in any
case, so whoever wants to be a gentleman can go right ahead. I don’t
care.”

Having made his statement, he turned and left.

Thus, the four different styled rooms of the courtyard residence were all
taken by different masters.

Xue Meng chose the exquisite residence in the north, the walls pale and
the shingles black, the threshold lined with gold; the most luxurious
room. Mo Ran picked the stone cottage on the west, a peach tree
planted by the entrance, the flowers at the height of their blossoming.
As for Chu Wanning, he asked for the bamboo building on the east side,
and when the sun sank at dusk on the west, the tender, gentle bamboos
were like illuminated crisp, bright jades.

And on the south side, that humble, simple thatched cottage resided
that ‘gentleman’ they had yet to meet.

Chu Wanning’s cold wasn’t yet healed, and his head was spinning
crazily, so he had gone to rest quite early. Xue Meng stayed with him
for a bit, but since this little ShiDi didn’t snuggle or whine, nor did he
cared to listen to stories, wrapping himself up like a little sticky rice ball
and only cared to sleep in muffled peace, Xue Meng sat on the edge of
his bed for a little while before he found himself unneeded, and dusted
himself off and left.

In the yard, Mo Ran had pulled a chair out and was just putting his legs
up, his arms pillowing behind his head as he watched the golden sun
sink in the west and the blazing rays peel away in leisure.

Seeing Xue Meng come out, he asked, “Xia-Shidi is asleep now?”

“En.”

“Has his fever gone down?”

“If you care about him, why don’t you go inside and see for yourself?”

Mo Ran laughed heartily, “The little guy probably isn’t deep asleep yet,
my clumsiness might rouse him.”

Xue Meng gave him a look, “Well at least you’re aware of yourself. And
here I thought you’re just like the cats and dogs mom raised, and only
knew how to chill out in the yard and be lazy.”

“Haha, and how do you know I’m being lazy?” Mo Ran twiddled with a
peach blossom between his fingers, and looked up with a smile, “The
time I spent here sitting in the yard was enough to discover a shocking,
major secret.”

Xue Meng obviously didn’t want to ask, but was still curious
nonetheless, and after bearing it in for a good while, with his face still
stiff, he worked out an expression of indifference before he muttered,
“...What major secret?”

Mo Ran waved at him and squinted his eyes, “Bring your ear closer and
I’ll tell you in secret.”

“......” Incredibly unwilling, Xue Meng lowered his gracious ear over. Mo
Ran pressed close, and chuckled quietly, “Hehe, got you. Dumb Meng
Meng.”

Xue Meng’s eyes bulged in round circles and immediately exploded in

outrage, yanking over Mo Ran’s collar, “YOU LIED TO ME? HOW
JUVENILE ARE YOU?!”

Mo Ran laughed, “How have I lied? I did discover a secret, but I also
didn’t want to tell you, that’s all.”
Xue Meng’s dark brows hardened, “If I continue to believe you then I’m
truly a fool!”

The two bickered like a bird pecking a dog and a dog biting a bird, and
Mo Ran was just about to teasingly say something else to provoke the
other to get even angrier when suddenly, a foreign voice laced with
confusion from behind went “En?” before speaking, “Are the two of you
new training peers?”

This man’s voice was clear and crisp, more supple and bright than your
average youth.

Mo Ran and Xue Meng both turned their heads back, and saw in the
crimson blood red of the remnant sun, a man dressed in a tight suit was
standing there against the wind.

This man was born with deep features, his brows inky black, a black
jaded hair crown fastened atop his head, and his honey-colored face
was both handsome and spirited. While his body wasn’t tall or buff, his
figure was exceedinging commanding, more esteemed than those
distinguished and with class. Especially those pair of long legs: with the
bindings of a tight black suit, they appeared even more shapely and
powerful, straight and gallant.

Mo Ran’s expression instantly changed, and it felt like the blood and
sins of a separate world flashed before his eyes.

It was as if he saw a silhouette kneeling in the tempest of blood, the

collarbones shot through with a steel chain[1], flesh on half the face
ripped away but would rather die than surrender, refusing to yield.

His heart trembled, like a crystal dew drop that dripped from a leaf, and
Mo Ran actually couldn’t describe what it was he was feeling.

If there was anyone he had respected and admired in his previous life,
then the one before his eyes now was definitely one of them.

So the honorable gentleman who was to live with them… was actually
him, huh…

Author’s Notes:

First day of school, Mo Weiyu🐟 came to Mount JiuHua Bird Folk

University and is living in a four person dorm room~

Mo Ran: Hi everybody! I’m Mo Weiyu from HuNan XinTang! I’m

studying philosophy! Please take care of me!

Chu Wanning: Chu Wanning, I came from Lin’an. That pile of laundry on
the balcony is mine, I’ll throw them all into the washing machine and
wash them later at night. But I don’t know how to stuff my duvet covers,
if anyone could help me with that, thanks.

Mo Ran: …………………….

Xue Meng: Xue Ziming, SiChuan, do not provoke me. The entire lower
cultivation world’s economic backbone is under my dad’s hands, if any
of you dare to bully me, my dad can ruin the stocks of your parents
hold.

Mo Ran: …………………….

Meanwhile —

The dorm room’s door opened! The dorm leader came back from
washing mosquito nets in the laundry room!!

Then, from the side character roster, is he Mei Hanxue, or is he Ye

Wangxi? This is an easy question~

The two brothers stopped bickering, and rose to their feet at the same
time.

The person in front of them had an extremely distinguished air about

him. Xue Meng stared for a moment before he finally reacted, nodding.
“Mn. That’s right. Who are you?”

Xue Meng had been headstrong since birth, and even though Madam
Wang taught him etiquette over and over again, he never took it to
heart. So, he never asked for people’s proper courtesy names, didn’t
bother with honorifics, and wouldn’t give out his own name, either. He
was, in essence, downright rude.

But Mo Ran knew that this person was too dignified to make a scene at
such actions. After all, this was…...

“I am a disciple of the Rufeng Sect, Ye Wangxi.” As expected, the

young man was calm and composed, and didn’t get angry. Below his
dark, black eyebrows were a pair of eyes that shone like scattered
starlight, exceptionally bright and piercing. “May I inquire as to your
name?”
“Ye Wangxi?” Xue Meng frowned, muttering. “Never heard of him, must
not have much of a reputation.”

His mutters weren’t loud, but the only way the other wouldn’t be able to
hear him would be if he was hard of hearing. Thus, Mo Ran discreetly
tugged on Xue Meng’s sleeve to get him to hold back a bit, then
masked the emotions on his own face and smiled lightly. “I’m Mo Ran, a
disciple from Sisheng Peak, and the one beside me is my ill-mannered
little brother, Xue Meng.”

Xue Meng pulled away from him, throwing him an angry glare.

“Don’t touch me, who’s your little brother?!”

“Oh, Xue Meng, you……” Mo Ran sighed. He turned to Ye Wangxi,

eyes curving up into crescents and smiling. “My younger brother is a bit
stubborn, please don’t mind him, Ye-xiong.”

It wasn’t that he suddenly decided to change his entire attitude and start
being courteous about Xue Meng. Rather, it was because Ye Wangxi
was an outstanding genius among his peers. Although this Ye Wangxi
hadn’t made a name for himself yet, in his previous life, Ye Wangxi was
second only to Chu Wanning in the entire cultivation world.

Heaven knows how much Mo Ran had suffered at Ye Wangxi’s hands

in his previous life. After being reborn into this life, seeing as the other
was still sharp as a knife’s edge, an upright hero pure and
noble…...even if he couldn’t get into his good graces, at the very least,
Mo Ran didn’t want to be his enemy again.

Just Chu Wanning alone was enough to beat him black and blue. How
would he even be able to live in peace if Ye Wangxi was added to the
mix?

Ye Wangxi was a man of few words, so after a few polite words, he

returned to his own room.

As soon as he left, Mo Ran’s expression returned to his annoying-as-

hell, shit-eating grin. “What do you think?”

“What do I think about what?”

“That person,” Mo Ran replied. “Like him? Think he’s good-looking?”

“......?” Xue Meng looked at him like he was out of his mind and scoffed.
“Weirdo.”
Mo Ran laughed. “The four of us are living in the same courtyard, we’ll
run into each other around every corner. You should be glad that he’s
the one we’re living with.”

Xue Meng was puzzled. “The way you talk, it sounds like you know him
already?”

Of course, Mo Ran couldn’t tell him the truth, so he joked without a hint
of seriousness: “Nope, I don’t know him, but I only judge people by their
faces. He’s good-looking, so I like him a whole lot.”

Xue Meng scorned, “Disgusting!”

Mo Ran laughed, waving his hand as he turned around, flipping an

offensive hand gesture at Xue Meng behind his back. He then lazily
walked back to his own little stone house, barring the door with a klunk,
and shutting all of Xue Meng’s cursing and swearing outside.

The morning of the next day, Mo Ran got up early.

The feathered cultivators delayed cultivation practice for three days so

they could get accustomed to life at Peach Blossom Springs. After Mo
Ran freshened himself up, he saw that Ye Wangxi left on his own. The
other two hadn’t woken up yet either, so he went for stroll through the
streets.

Amidst the thin layer of morning fog, quite a few cultivators glided by
with light steps, rushing to their own individual cultivation grounds.

Mo Ran passed by a breakfast stall and saw a fresh pot of steam-fried

buns. He thought of his little shidi, who was still sick, and walked over to
say, “I’ll take eight fried buns and one bowl of sweet congee to go, Mrs.
Shopkeep.”

The feathered stall owner didn’t even lift her head up and replied: “Give
me six feathers.”

Mo Ran stared blankly. “Six what?”

“Six feathers.”

“......So do I need to find a chicken right now and pluck a couple of

feathers?”

That feathered shopkeeper raised her eyes to give him a look. “No
feathers and you still want food? Go, get lost.”

Mo Ran was both irked and humored, but just as he was about to ask
again, a familiar voice suddenly came from behind him. A hand
wrapped in bandages reached out, six glimmering, resplendent golden
feathers pinched between his fingers.

“Mrs. Shopkeep, some porridge please. It’s on me.”

The feathered shopkeep took the feathers, not wanting to waste any
more time on them, and turned to pack up the breakfast to go. Mo Ran
turned his head, and saw that Ye Wangxi was standing by his side,
standing tall and handsome, his presence elegant.

“Thank you very much.” Mo Ran grabbed the still-steaming, piping hot
buns and the sweet congee, and walked away with Ye Wangxi, “If I
hadn’t run into you today, I’m afraid we might’ve gone hungry.”

“No worries,” Ye Wangxi said. “Miss Eighteen doesn’t have a good

memory, and always forgets to give newcomers some feathers. I also
ran into you by chance; it’s not much skin off my back, so don’t worry
about it.”

Mo Ran asked him, “Do you need these feathers to do all the business
in Peach Blossom Springs?”

“That’s right.”

“Where do the feathers come from?”

Ye Wangxi replied, “They’re plucked.”

“P...Pluck…ed…” Mo Ran felt slightly dumbfounded. These feathers

really were plucked straight off the body of a bird? Then wouldn’t the
birds around here all end up completely bald?

Seeing his shocked face, Ye Wangxi glanced at him with amusement:

”What are you thinking about? In Peach Blossom Springs, there’s a
place called the Ancestral Abyss. Legend has it that that was where the
Zhuque immortal ascended. The bottom of the abyss is filled with
roaring flames, it’s hot beyond measure and hard to endure. Not a
single inch of grass can grow there, and no beasts can survive either.”

Mo Ran listened to his description, and immediately thought of the

blood-red sky that he’d seen in the distance when he passed through
the outskirts of the city yesterday. “Is the abyss near the northern part of
the city?”

“You are correct.”

“What does that have to do with the feathers?”

Ye Wangxi replied, “It’s like this: although no other creatures can live
around the Ancestral Abyss, there is a flock of angry owls that lives
inside. They make their nests with the fire, hide during the day, and
come out at night. Their feathers can help people from the feathered
cultivators’ tribe refine their cultivation.

“So that’s how it is,” Mo Ran grinned. “No wonder they want to trade
goods for feathers, then.”

“Mn. But you should be mindful, because when they come out at night,
their feathers will turn into normal ones, the same as those from regular
owls. Even if you catch them then, they won’t be useful at all. Only at
daybreak every day, when the sun rises in the east, will the flock of owls
return to the Ancestral Abyss in the hundreds and thousands. The
moment right before they enter their abyss, their feathers will turn gold
again, and only then is it useful to pluck them.”

“Haha, wouldn’t that be the same as practicing footwork and flying

skills? If your skills are subpar, then you’d fall in and become barbeque.
If you don’t go and harvest feathers, then you’d probably starve to
death.” Mo Ran couldn’t help but click his tongue. “That’s pretty rough.”

Ye Wangxi asked, “Could it be that you’re not good at light footwork?”

Mo Ran chuckled. “Just so-so.”

“That won’t do,” Ye Wangxi replied, “The owls’ movements are swift and
violent, no slower than a falcon or hawk. If you don’t practice diligently,
then you’ll go hungry after a couple of days.”

“So that’s how it is……”

When he saw that Mo Ran was still spacing out, Ye Wangxi sighed and
spoke again: “I’ve acquired quite a few feathers, and I’m not lacking for
the time being. If the three of you need some, then just ask me for now.”

Mo Ran waved his hand again, smiling. “How could we do that? Let’s
just count this as me borrowing these six feathers from you. I’m going to
go back and eat some food first, and if I can harvest some feathers
tomorrow, I’ll pay you back. Thanks a lot.”
Mo Ran bade farewell to Ye Wangxi, carrying the congee and food back
to the courtyard.

Xue Meng’s room was empty. He’d probably woken up and gotten
bored, and went out for a stroll. Mo Ran then went to Chu Wanning’s
bamboo house.

Chu Wanning hadn’t woken up yet. Mo Ran set the congee and steam-
fried buns on the table, and went to his bedside. He lowered his head to
take a look.

All of a sudden, a familiar feeling washed over him.

This little shidi’s appearance while sleeping…… why did it seem like a
certain someone?

But he couldn’t think of exactly who his shidi’s appearance resembled.

He only had a fuzzy impression of someone else who was just like this,
someone who always curled himself up into a ball while laying on his
bed, his hands under his cheeks——but who was it, exactly?

While he was busy getting lost in his thoughts, Chu Wanning woke up.

“Wuuh……” He rolled over. Chu Wanning saw the person beside his
bed, and suddenly opened his eyes wide. “Mo Ran?”

“How many times have I told you, you should call me Shixiong.” Mo Ran
ruffled his hair a bit, and then took his temperature by feeling his
forehead, “It seems like your fever’s broken. Come on, get up and eat
some food.”

”Eat food……” The child on the bed repeated blankly, his messy hair
just making his face look cuter.

“Look at how much shixiong cares about you, I got up so early to go buy
breakfast. You should eat it while it’s still hot.”

Chu Wanning put on his spotlessly white inner robes and got off the
bed, walking towards the dining table. On top of the dining table, there
was a single fresh lotus leaf. The steam-fried buns inside had thin skins
and crispy bottoms, with jade-green pieces of chopped green onion and
black sesame scattered over top. On the other side, there was a small
bowl of longan and osmanthus congee. It was soft and sticky, but thick
and rich at the same time, still piping hot, with clouds of steam rising
from it.
The usually strong and steadfast Yuheng elder was suddenly unsure of
himself. “For me?”

“Ah?”

“Do you buy all of this…...for me?”

Mo Ran was stunned for a second. “That’s right.”

He watched Chu Wanning, who looked all hesitant and unsure. He

thought about it and smiled, “Hurry and eat up, otherwise it’ll go
cold.”

Although Chu Wanning had been in Sisheng peak for so many years,
and everyone respected him, almost no one would eat food with him
because his cold and stiff personality. They were even less likely to
bring him a portion of breakfast from the canteen. Sometimes, he’d
watch the disciples taking care of each other, and he was unwilling to
admit it, but he couldn’t help being slightly jealous of them in his heart.
And so, faced with this bowl of porridge and a couple of buns, he
couldn’t bring himself to actually eat them. A long while passed in
silence.

Mo Ran saw him sitting on the small stool, staring at the food in front of
him and not moving his chopsticks, and thought the food might not be to
his tastes. “What’s wrong?” Mo Ran asked. “Is it too greasy for you?”

”......”

Chu Wanning looked back at him and shook his head. He picked up his
spoon, scooping up a spoonful of congee. He blew on it, and took a
careful sip.

If he was still the beautiful, cold, and distant Chu-zongshi from before,
then he would seem elegant and refined eating congee in such a
manner, as though he was practicing restraint.

But in the body of a child, he just looked slightly awkward and pitiful.

Mo Ran misinterpreted his hesitation, and said to him, “Do you not like
longans? You can pick them out and leave them by the side then, it’s no
biggie.”

“No.” The little shidi’s face wasn’t too expressive, but when he looked
towards Mo Ran again, his crow-black eyes were soft. “I like it.”
“Oh…… Haha, that’s good then, I thought that you didn’t like it.”

Chu Wanning’s thick curtain of lashes swept downwards, and he

repeated his words quietly, “I like it. No one’s ever taken care of me like
this before.”

As he spoke, he lifted his eyes to glance at Mo Ran. He spoke again,

earnestly.

“Thank you very much, shixiong.”

Mo Ran didn’t expect that he’d say something like that, and couldn’t
help feel stunned.

He wasn’t a naturally kind person, and didn’t particularly like kids. He

only treated Xia Sini well because his skills were unusually good at a
young age, and he seemed like a junior worth making friends with.

Mo Ran was only thinking about things practically, but seeing how Chu
Wanning was treating this matter sincerely, he couldn’t help but blush
with shame. However, after hearing what his shidi had said, he thought
it was a little strange. Mo Ran waved his hand to tell Chu Wanning that
he didn’t need to thank him, and asked, “Has nobody ever bought you
breakfast before?”

Chu Wanning nodded expressionlessly.

“Do Xuanji Elder’s disciples not know to look after one another or
something?”

Chu Wanning replied, “I don’t hang out with them much.”

”What about before you came to the sect? When you lived at your old
house, your mom and dad……” After saying the first half of his
sentence, Mo Ran stopped.

Seeing how his little shidi was so quick-witted and pure as snow, what
sort of parents would have the heart to leave such a kid on top of a
mountain to cultivate, and never come back and come visit him ever
again? It seemed like he had suffered the same experiences as Shi Mei
and himself.

As expected, Chu Wanning spoke calmly: “My parents abandoned me,

and I didn’t have any other relatives, so there was nobody to look after
me.”
Mo Ran was silent for a long while before letting out a big sigh. He
thought: Originally I just wanted to be friends with this kid, one, because
his cultivation level was quite high, and two, because he was steady
and mature, unlike the usual rowdy kid. Who would’ve thought that he
came from the same background as me...

Looking at the little shidi in front of him, Mo Ran couldn’t help thinking of
his own childhood and remembering those years filled with bitterness
and hardships. He felt a surge of emotion rush through his chest that
filled him with sympathy and a sense of intimacy. Suddenly, he spoke:
“There was nobody to take care of you before, but there will be from
now on. Since you’ve already called me your shixiong, I’ll take care of
you properly from here on out.”

It seemed like Chu Wanning didn’t expect him to say this, and was a bit
surprised. After a while, his features melted slowly into a tiny smile, and
he spoke: “You’ll take care of me?”

“Mn. If you stick with me from now on, I’ll teach you meditation and
sword techniques.”

Chu Wanning’s grin widened. “You’ll teach me meditation and sword

techniques?”

Mo Ran misinterpreted his expression and scratched his head, saying,

“Don’t make fun of me, I know that your cultivation level is already pretty
good, but you’re still young, after all, and you have lots to learn. There’s
a lot of disciples under Xuanji elder, and he probably won’t be able to
teach you individually. What’s wrong with learning a bit from me? At the
very least, I’m still a person with a spiritual weapon.”

Chu Wanning was silent for a moment, and finally spoke: “ I wasn’t
making fun of you. I…...think you’re great.”

Chu Wanning would’ve never been able to say something like this
before. However, ever since his body had gotten smaller, it seemed as
though his personality had gotten gentler and softer too. It was as if he
was hiding under a cloak of darkness and could finally take off his rock-
hard mask.

As for Mo Ran, although he’d lived through two lifetimes, this was the
first time someone had praised him like that and told him “you’re great.”
Even though the one who praised him was just a little kid, he was still at
a loss at what to do, overwhelmed by the pleasant surprise. Mo Ran
could do nothing but sputter for a while. His skin, which had always
been as thick as city walls, actually flushed red.

He repeated what was said to him, stuttering, “I, I-I-I’m great…...you

really think I’m great?”

Suddenly, Mo Ran vaguely recalled that, when he was young, he had

wanted to be a good person.

But that small, gentle wish of his from back then, much like all of his
other little wishes—“When I grow up, I want to ask Li-zizi[2] from the
makeup store to marry me”, “When I have money, I want to eat pancake
fritters every day”, “If I could have just two pieces of barbecued meat for
every meal, I wouldn’t trade it even for immortality”—all of it, in the end,
became nothing more than memories blown away by the wind and
scattered in the snow.

Their training began without delay. Mo Ran liked feather-gathering the

most—after all, it’s not like he actually expected to learn much from
these losers that he had already trounced thoroughly in the last life—
having the funds to indulge with was where it’s at.

Every day before the break of dawn, they would go to the Ancestral
Abyss to loot golden feathers. Next up was meditation in the ZhuRong
Cave to refine cultivation by training their inner spiritual energy against
the burning Yang energy of the cave. And four hours after that was
demon suppression practice with the feathered tribe.

Another four hours of that, and then they would go to Asura Arena to
engage in practice matches against one another.

And finally, in the evening, before the night fell, Miss Eighteen would
lecture on 《 The Demon Compendium 》 and 《 Art of Exorcism 》 at the
Stargazing Cliffs of the Peach Blossom Springs.

Of course Mo Ran’s favorite time of day was the nightly lecture at the
Stargazing Cliffs, because that was the only lesson attended by
cultivators in all three specialized divisions.

He knew that Shi Mei wasn’t great at footwork, and worried if he had
enough to eat, so he made sure to give Shi Mei half of his harvested
feathers every day. But outside of that, he hardly even had any chance
to interact with Shi Mei. Instead, he spent every day with Chu Wanning,
the two gradually becoming inseparable.

During this span of time, they could often be seen together, day in and
day out, cloudy and sunny, with Chu Wanning sitting on the railing of a
bridge playing a tune on a leaf, and Mo ran sitting next to him, cheek
propped up in one hand.

Or, sometimes, Chu Wanning would be feeding fish by the river, and Mo
Ran would stand to the side holding an umbrella, watching the koi fish
leap, golden scales glimmering against waters of clear jade.

When it rained at the Peach Blossom Springs, Mo Ran would hold Chu
Wanning’s hand while they walked along a limestone footpath, its
stones cracked from age, an oil paper umbrella held evenly above the
two of them.

If the rainwater began to collect on the ground, Mo Ran would pick up

his little shidi and carry him on his back, and the little guy would hold
quietly onto his shoulders as the drops of rain pitter-pattered all around
them.

And if the close contact got to be a bit too warm and sweat started to
bead on his forehead, the wordless shidi on his back would reach out
and wipe his sweat for him with a handkerchief. The handkerchief was a
plain white, with a haitang flower sewn on a corner. Mo Ran kept feeling
like it looked familiar, as if he had seen it somewhere before, but the
careless thought fleeted across and was lost, like the drizzle of rain
falling into a deep pond.

One day, Chu Wanning was resting in the courtyard when Mo Ran
undid his braid on a whim and tied his hair up into a high ponytail
instead. He was halfway through brushing his hair when Ye Wangxi
walked in holding his left shoulder, expression gloomy.

Mo Ran, ever observant, raised his eyebrows slightly: “Did Ye-xiong get
injured?”

“En.” Ye Wangxi paused, then furrowed his brows, “It’s nothing, just got
grazed in a fight. But that guy was truly such a depraved lecher, how
despicable!”

“......”

Mo Ran sputtered in disbelief: “Did you get groped?”

Ye Wangxi glared daggers at him, and said, coldly: “What exactly are
you thinking about.”

“Hahaha, just kidding.” Mo Ran laughed awkwardly, but couldn’t resist

the curiosity, “Who was it though?”
Ye Wangxi replied: “Who else could it be but that flirt from Kunlun
Taxue Palace.”

Mo Ran let out an “ah” at these words, thinking: Could it be that guy?

Recently, he often came across female disciples at the Peach Blossom

Springs whispering amongst themselves, “da-shixiong” this, “da-
shixiong” that. It was one thing for the younger ones, but just yesterday
he saw a forty, maybe fifty-some year old female cultivator in hysterics
by the flower bushes, muttering with distant eyes: “Not a single man in
this world could even hope to hold a candle to da-shixiong…… if only
he would look my way, speak to me, I’d willingly go to hell with no
regrets.”

Mo Ran had lost it right there and burst out laughing at the lovelorn
display. He had a sneaking suspicion as to whom this “da-shixiong”
might be, but the Peach Blossom Springs was full of cultivators who
barely even interacted, so he had never seen this person despite
hearing his name mentioned time and again, and he knew enough
shame to not go inserting himself into the gossip of female disciples, so
he couldn’t be sure.

“I was having a drink at the LingHu Tavern in the western market,” Ye

Wangxi said, “That bastard happened to be there too, with a girl in each
arm. It was depraved, but that’s their choice and none of my business,
so I couldn’t exactly say anything.”

Mo Ran agreed: “Makes sense.”

“But then, a female Guyue'ye disciple ran in, looking around with an
anxious expression, clearly looking for someone.”

Mo Ran laughed: “Let me guess, she was looking for that ‘da-
shixiong’?”

“You’ve heard of this da-shixiong too?”

“Haha, well, I mean, if even an upstanding individual like you has heard
tell of his philandering ways, how could a gossipy person like myself not
know?”

Ye Wangxi shot him a wordless glance, then continued: “That da-

shixiong is truly a piece of work. Turns out, the Guyue'ye girl came
looking because he had exchanged tokens of affection with her some
days ago, saying he’ll be her cultivation partner and stay by her side
forever.”

Mo Ran laughed again: “Yeah that’s bullshit. I bet da-shixiong has like
seventeen copies of that ‘token of affection’, one for every girl he’s after.
Probably spouts the same pledge of undying love word for word too.”

Chu Wanning had been listening quietly, but now he glanced at Mo Ran
and said, disgruntled: “Of course you would know.”

But who would have thought that Ye Wangxi would take Mo Ran’s side:
“Mo-xiong has the right of it, the truth is exactly so. That girl was a
secret admirer of da-shixiong’s to start with, so she took him at his word
and gave her virginity to him that very night.”

Mo Ran hurriedly covered Chu Wanning’s ears with an “aiyo.”

Chu Wanning, unfazed: “What are you doing?”

“Little ones can’t listen to this, it’s bad for your cultivation.”

Chu Wanning: “......”

Mo Ran made sure that Chu Wanning’s ears were firmly covered, then
immediately asked, with sparkles in his eyes: “And then?”

Ye Wangxi was a respectable individual; he had no idea that Mo Ran,

the rascal, was listening to his recount of righteous indignation like he
would some trashy romance, so he replied with an air of integrity: “What
do you think? Da-shixiong denied it, of course, he didn’t even want to
give her the time of day and have some words at least. That girl took
out the sword tassel he gave her as token, but didn’t expect the two on
da-shixiong’s arms to each pull out their own, saying that he gives one
to every friend, that it wasn’t something special for a cultivation partner.”

“Tsk tsk, that’s shameless all right.”

“Right?” Ye Wangxi said, “I couldn’t just sit and watch, so I went over to
have a word with him.”

His expression shifted slightly, and there was a pause before he

continued: “The talk went nowhere, so we got in a fight instead.”

Mo Ran gave a smile: “I see.”

But he was actually thinking: That’s probably not the whole story. If this
“da-shixiong” was indeed the person that he thought he was, then
based on his personality, he definitely wouldn’t get in a fight with
someone over something like this. Ye Wangxi had probably omitted
something out of embarrassment.

But since Ye Wangxi didn’t want to say it, Mo Ran didn’t press the
issue, changing the topic instead: “That da-shixiong must be pretty good
in a fight then, I can’t imagine just any random person being able to land
a hit on Ye-xiong.”

Which was evidently the wrong thing to say, as it only seemed to make
Ye Wangxi even madder, anger flickering like a wildfire in those dark
eyes.

“Pretty good? Yeah right.” Ye Wangxi said with indignation, “He himself
can’t get any more mediocre, the women did all the fighting for him——
what a good-for-nothing!”

“Ah? Hahahahaha.” At these words, Mo Ran took a closer look at Ye

Wangxi to find that, aside from the sword wound on his shoulder, there
were a couple of bloody scratches on his cheek that were clearly from a
woman’s nails, and almost fell over laughing, “Da-shixiong sure does
live up to his reputation, hahahaha.”

Chu Wanning said nothing. He seemed to have been pondering

something ever since Ye Wangxi said “the talk went nowhere, so we got
in a fight instead.”

He waited until Ye Wangxi left to go bandage his wounds in his room

before saying: “Mo Ran.”

Mo Ran bopped his head: “Call me shixiong.”

“......” Chu Wanning continued, “This da-shixiong, is it Mei Hanxue?”

Mo Ran said with a grin: “That’s what I think.”

Chu Wanning fell silent again, deep in thought.

Then, as if suddenly coming to a realization, his eyes opened wide:

“Could it be that Ye Wangxi got——”

“Shh! Quiet!” Mo Ran raised a finger to his lips in a hushing gesture,

then crouched down to Chu Wanning’s height, smiling, “Aren’t you a
little too young to be thinking about that stuff?”

“......I’ve long heard that this Mei Hanxue person is very……unreliable,

that he’s done all sorts of preposterous things, but to think that he’d
dare to have a go at even a disciple of Rufeng Sect……”

Mo Ran laughed: “Hahaha, unreliable is one way to put it. But anyway,
let’s stay out of other people’s business. Here, let shixiong finish putting
your hair up. I saw a pretty hair clasp while I was out at west street
earlier, and it wasn’t too pricey either, so I grabbed it. Let’s have you try
it on.”

Just like how Mo Ran didn’t like Chu Wanning’s tastes, Chu Wanning
was also less than impressed with Mo Ran’s tastes.

Chu Wanning stared silently at that overly vibrant and honestly gaudy
hair clasp decorated with golden orchids and butterflies: “......Are you
sure that’s for me?”

“Yup! Little kids should wear lively colors like gold and red.”

Chu Wanning: “…………”

He really didn’t want it, but thinking about it again, this seems to be the
first time that Mo Ran’s ever gifted him something, so he closed his
mouth and said nothing, face full of gloom as Mo Ran fastened the
clasp to his ponytail. The golden orchids and butterflies glimmered
garishly against his long, inky hair.

Chu Wanning lowered his lashes.

He suddenly felt that this wasn’t bad.

This kind of color, this kind of Mo Ran, this kind of himself. If he was in
his normal form, none of this would have happened.

It was as if the butterflies had come from a dream.

The clouds overhead shifted and colored as sun and moon chased one
another across the sky.

Half a year of training at the Peach Blossom Springs flew by in the blink
of an eye.

Miss Eighteen had said that they would be tested at the half year mark
to gauge their progress.

“This will be your first test since coming here.” Eighteen announced
gracefully to the assembly, “The content of the test will differ depending
on your division, with three different disaster scenarios. Those of you in
the defense division will enter the ‘Domain of Blood River’, those in the
healing division will enter the ‘Domain of Great Sorrows’, and those in
the attack division will enter the ‘Domain of Fiends.’”

“Each of the three scenarios is an illusory realm that has been

reconstructed using memories of the ghost realm invasion from
hundreds of years ago. You will not be any danger while inside, and you
will be returned here once you have resolved the crisis therein.”

“Up to two people can enter the illusory realm at a time. In other words,
you can challenge it alone, or invite one other person to go together. As
for the order of testing, that will be announced by the envoys anon.”

The assembly was dismissed, and the tests began. Mo Ran didn’t know
how things were going over at the defense and healing divisions, but for
the attack division at least, half a dozen people have already gone
through it, and all did pretty well, so it seemed the test probably wasn’t
too hard.

Ten days later, it was Mo Ran’s turn.

Eighteen was the one in charge of the attack division. She smiled and
asked: “Will Mo-xianjun[3] be going with a partner?”

Mo Ran thought about it: “If I choose someone to go along with me,
would they then be exempt from having to go through the test again?”

“Of course.”

“Then I’ll bring my shidi.” Mo Ran pointed at Chu Wanning, “He’s still
young, I’ll worry if he goes at it alone.”

The moon hung bright overhead as they followed Eighteen to a pitch-

black cave, its entrance covered with a thin layer of reddish-gold mist.

Eighteen said: “Please listen well—the scene within the Domain of

Fiends is that of the calamity from two hundred years ago, the first
breakage of the ghost realm barrier. At that time, because the barrier
wasn’t able to be repaired in time, masses of vengeful ghosts and
malicious spirits escaped into the human realm and slaughtered
countless living beings. This illusory realm is an emulation based on the
memories of a survivor from Lin’an back then. Stepping into this cave
will bring you to the battle-torn Lin’an City of two hundred years ago.
Slay the Ghost King leading the army, and the illusion will dissipate on
its own.”
Mo Ran glanced at Chu Wanning, then turned to smile at Eighteen: “Big
sister, I’m sturdy so it’s whatever, but my shidi is only six, and swords
don’t have eyes, what if he gets injured……”

“There is no need to worry, the weapons inside the illusion will not
actually hurt you.” Eighteen explained, “Any injuries you sustain will only
be marked with a spiritual signifier. However, if you get marked at a vital
area representing a fatal injury, you will have failed the challenge.”

Relieved, Mo Ran clasped his hands together and grinned: “I see, thank
you for the kind considerations.”

And so, Mo Ran and Chu Wanning headed into the test without worry.
The cave was pitch-black; stepping inside felt like missing a step, like
their bodies were abruptly suspended in mid air, followed immediately
by blurry images flashing before their eyes, countless contorted faces
flowing together into a river passing below them.

When their feet landed back on solid ground, they found themselves
transported to ancient Lin’an, on a road at the outskirts. It was noon, the
sun blazed from above, and a putrid smell filled the air.

The sight of the ancient Lin’an City of two hundred years ago, plagued
nightly by hordes of ghosts, accompanied by the heavy stench of rotting
flesh, unfolded slowly before Mo Ran and Chu Wanning’s eyes like a
weathered scroll scorched by the flames of war

Mini Theater 【Feathered Tribe Instanced Dungeon Options】

What would be the ending to an instanced dungeon with Mo Ran and

Chu Wanning?

No healing, death.

What would be the ending to an instanced dungeon with Mo Ran and

Shi Mei?

No opportunity, the author refused.

What would be the ending to an instanced dungeon with Mo Ran and

Xue Meng?

Bicker in front of the boss about who can self destruct faster.

What would be the ending to an instanced dungeon with Xue Meng and
Shi Mei?

Normal composition, there is a possibility of winning.

What would be the ending to an instanced dungeon with Xue Meng and
Shizun?

Death, one DPS standing at the sidelines cheering for another DPS.

What would be the ending to an instanced dungeon with Shizun and Shi
Mei?

Boss dies under the hands of a rampant Mo Ran, this instance does not
exist.

>>gory

Lin’an City back then was deep in the midst of war, congealing blood
covered the ground everywhere the eye could see, and all around were
crumbled walls and ruined houses. Suffocated by the heavy miasma of
malicious ghosts, the trees and flora had all withered away.

Mo Ran hadn’t even collected himself yet when he heard some strange
sounds and looked up. Not far away, fresh entrails were hanging off the
branch of an old pagoda tree, and a dozen crows had set upon it in a
feast, blood and flesh dripping nonstop.

And underneath the tree was the corpse of a middle-aged man, blood
and organs spilling out from his stomach where it had been torn open
by claws. No one would ever know if he had died with his eyes open or
closed, because his eyeballs had already been pecked away.

Mo Ran was no stranger to such scenes.

In his past life, he had once crossed the breadth of the human world to
put all seventy two cities of the Rufeng Sect to the sword. Back then,
blood flowed like rivers and corpses covered the fields, making for a
sight much like this one.

But for some reason he couldn’t understand, even though he had

reveled in the blood spilt in that life, with every fiber of his being roaring
willfully, to suddenly see a similar scene of devastation before him now,
he felt instead a biting sympathy…… had he been faking tameness for
so long that his true nature had actually gotten unwittingly changed?

He was just pondering the point when he heard the sound of hooves
from up ahead, accompanied by a cloud of dust.

Anyone galloping around in such war-torn times was probably bad

news.

Mo Ran immediately pulled Chu Wanning behind himself, but there was
nowhere to hide on this barren old road. A group of riders quickly
emerged from the dust cloud, some dozen in all, but when they got
closer to see, it was apparent that their horses were the opposite of
sturdy—a few were so starved that their ribs were sticking out.

They were dressed in the same style of white attire with patterns in
bright red, wore helmets embellished with feathers in like colors, and
each donned a circlet of entwined dragons. The clothes were dirty yet
neatly worn, and the people were thin but spirited. Even more unusual
was the fact that each of them had a bow and a full quiver of arrows on
their backs.

In times of war, the two most valuable things were food and weapons.

These were clearly not ordinary people.

Mo Ran was still trying to decide if the new arrivals were good or evil,
friend or enemy, when one among them—a youth of only fourteen or
fifteen—cried out in horror: “Dad! DAD!!”

The youth stumbled off his horse and fell in the muddied ground below,
but immediately crawled up and staggered toward the tree to throw
himself on the mangled body of the middle-aged man, crying miserably:
“Dad! Dad!”

The others wore expressions of pity, but they had all clearly seen too
much death already, so much that they had become numb to it. And so
the youth held the corpse and cried in agony, but no one else so much
as got off their horse to offer any comfort.

One of them noticed Mo Ran and Chu Wanning standing not far away,
and was startled for a moment before asking in a thick Lin’an accent:
“You guys aren’t from around here, are you?”

Mo Ran answered: “Yeah…...we’re from the Shu area.”

“So far?” The asker was shocked, “The way the world is these days,
ghosts are everywhere as soon as night falls, how did the two of you
survive this far?”
“......I can fight a little.” Mo Ran knew it was best to reveal as little as
possible, and since these people don’t seem to be malicious, he pulled
Chu Wanning out to change the subject, “This is my little brother, we
were passing by and stopped to rest for a while.”

Some of the riders, upon seeing Chu Wanning, seemed a bit taken
aback; a couple of them turned to whisper amongst themselves.

Mo Ran, alarmed: “Something wrong?”

“It’s nothing.” The young man at the head of the group said, “But onto
serious matters—you should go into the city if you want to rest. There
may not be any monsters around right now, but ghosts will be crawling
the streets once night falls. XiaoMan’s adoptive father came out looking
for food during the day yesterday, but there was a thunderstorm and he
couldn’t make it back before nightfall, and then……” He sighed heavily
and didn’t finish the sentence.

XiaoMan was the name of that wailing youth, and the one under the tree
was his adoptive father. Such occurrences were commonplace in these
chaotic times; someone in a family would go out to look for food,
perfectly fine as they leave in the morning, but never to return by night.

Even knowing that these were already events of two hundred years
past, Mo Ran, watching that youth cry miserably as if he were about to
weep blood, still felt a tightness in his chest.

Followed immediately by a sudden unease.

Had he grown so soft? He hardly even blinked when killing people in the
last life.

He quickly grabbed Chu Wanning and bid the group farewell.

The leader of the group said: “When you get to Lin’an City, find
somewhere to stay for a while. We’re planning to relocate everyone to
PuTuo soon, where the abundance of spiritual energy has warded off
the ghost invasion, at least for the time being. You should come with us,
rather than traveling with just the two of you.”

“Relocate?”

“That’s right.” The leader’s eyes sparked to life, and even his face
seemed to light up at this, “It’s all thanks to Chu-gongzi’s brilliant plan,
everyone in the city, from the elderly to the tots, will get to keep their
lives now! But enough chatter, we still have to patrol around the city
before it gets dark, see if we can find any more survivors to bring back
——ai, XiaoMan, come on, we should go.”

But XiaoMan only continued to cry, clutching his father’s corpse without
even turning around.

Mo Ran sighed and tugged at Chu Wanning, saying in a quiet voice:

“Let’s go to the city first.”

Chu Wanning nodded, but then suddenly asked: “Do you think they
managed it in the end?”

Mo Ran, holding his small hand that felt a bit cold: “Do you want the
truth, or a lie?”

“The truth, of course.”

“The lie would be better for little kids.”

So Chu Wanning answered his own question: “They didn’t.”

“You’re right.” Mo Ran said, “See, you already knew the answer, but
you still had to ask, as if that would change the outcome.”

Chu Wanning ignored him and continued asking: “Do you know why
they didn’t make it out?”

“It’s not like I’m some two hundred year old demon, how would I know?”

Chu Wanning fell silent for a while before saying gloomily: “Two
hundred years ago, practically no one in Lin’an City survived.”

Mo Ran: “......”

Chu Wanning: “Only a few escaped.”

“Wait, shidi, you’re so young, how do you know so much?”

Chu Wanning shot him a glare: “Yuheng Elder went over this in history
lessons more than once. You decide to not pay attention in class, then
turn around and ask me how I know things, how despicable.”

Mo Ran was speechless, thinking: Sure I spaced out in class, but even
my own Shizun didn’t scold me, what’re you scolding me for? But then
again, no point arguing with a little kid, so he’ll let it slide.
The two of them headed toward the city, chatting along the way, and
arrived at the city gates before long. The ancient city stood tall on the
bank of the QianTang River, and was already heavily fortified against
ghosts and demons, with defensive structures lining the walls and the
perimeter.

Countless corpses with curse marks piled outside the city. Such
remains, if not taken care of, will reanimate at night.

There were cultivators outside spreading incense ash on the corpses

while the sun was still high in the sky and the Yang energy was strong.
And for the ones afflicted with especially strong curses, they performed
exorcism using talismans drawn with cinnabar dipped in wine.

A pair of guards stood before spiked defensive frames by the city gates,
dressed just like the riders they met earlier, with white attire trimmed in
red, twin dragon circlets, bows on their arms and a full quiver of arrows
on their backs.

“Halt, identify yourselves.”

Mo Ran repeated his story from earlier. The guards weren’t there to
refuse anyone entry, but only to register new arrivals, and so they were
let through after putting their names down.

Before leaving, Mo Ran remembered that the riders earlier had

mentioned a “Chu-gongzi”; since the relocation was this Chu-gongzi’s
idea, he must be crucial to breaking the illusion.

“Sorry to bother, sir, but might I ask about someone?” Mo Ran said.

The guard looked at him: “Aren’t you from Shu? You know someone
here?”

Mo Ran smiled: “No, but we met some sentry sirs earlier who
mentioned a gongzi by the name of Chu who’s going to take everyone
in the city to PuTuo in two days, so I was wondering who this Chu-
gongzi was. I know some magic, and wanted to see if I could help in
some way.”

The guard looked him up and down, and probably decided that he must
have some skill to be able to bring a little kid all the way here without
any mishap, so he said: “Chu-gongzi is the eldest son of the lord
governor. The lord governor was killed a month ago when the Ghost
King descended, and the gongzi has led us since.”
“The governor’s son?” Mo Ran and Chu Wanning exchanged a glance,
then Mo Ran turned to ask, “That’s strange, how does the governor’s
son know magic?”

“What’s so strange about that!” The guard glared at Mo Ran, “Since

when was there a rule that you have to be in a big sect to cultivate, that
the common people can’t do it?”

“......”

Sure, there were independent cultivators, but they never amounted to

anything.

Mo Ran thought to himself, could it be that this amateur Chu-gongzi and

his half-baked idea was what got everyone at Lin’an killed?

But as they followed the guard’s directions toward the governor’s

residence, Mo Ran immediately realized how wrong he was. This
esteemed personage who just so happened to share a name with his
Shizun was clearly no amateur.

Because he saw a Shangqing barrier.

Shangqing barrier was a powerful variety of barrier formed with purified

energy, capable of warding off all evils. As long as this barrier stood,
even thousand-year malicious spirits can’t hope to enter, much less the
average ghost.

But this barrier required the caster to remain within its range in order to
ground the spell, and protected a relatively small area. Even a mighty
zongshi like Chu Wanning could only cover about half of Sisheng Peak
with a Shangqing barrier.

But right here and now, this Chu-gongzi of two hundred years ago had
erected a Shangqing barrier covering a radius of ten li [5 km] around the
governor’s residence. Although a far cry from Chu Wanning’s
capabilities, it was certainly no ordinary achievement.

The two of them headed toward the gates of the residence. Mo Ran
was going to try his luck and have someone notify the governor gongzi
that a cultivator was offering help, see if he would be willing to show
them the courtesy of a personal meeting.

But when they turned the corner, they were met with the unexpected
sight of three long lines of people queued up in front of the gates. Six
female attendants, dressed like the guards, were bringing out large
wooden barrels, and hundreds of emaciated people—the elderly, the
infirm, women and children—were waiting their turn to receive porridge.

Those who had gotten their porridge went to a haitang tree by the
residence. A man dressed in white, with his long inky hair loosely tied
back, stood under the tree, passing out protection talismans and
patiently repeating instructions.

His back was facing Mo Ran, so he couldn’t see what he looked like.

But he heard the people who had received the talismans muttering
“Many thanks for Chu-gongzi’s kindness, many thanks for Chu-gongzi’s
kindness……” as they dispersed.

So this was the governor gongzi?

Mo Ran, curious, dragged his little shidi around to get a look at his face.

Just one look, and Mo Ran’s eyes were boggling out of their sockets, as
if struck by lightning——

I-isn’t this Chu Wanning???

Not just Mo Ran, even Chu Wanning himself was dumbfounded.

Straining to see from their place at the end of the line, this governor
Chu-gongzi had a lean face, with sword brows and phoenix eyes, but a
gentle curve to the line of his nose, and he even wore all white, just like
himself!

Chu Wanning: “......”

Mo Ran: “......”

After a long while of being frozen stiff, Mo Ran said shakily: “Shidi ah.”

“Mn.”

“Don’t you feel like…… this Chu-gongzi looks just like a certain
somebody?”

Chu Wanning, drily: “Just like Yuheng Elder.”

Mo Ran smacked his leg: “Right?! What’s with that? Who is this?
What’s his relationship to Shizun?”

“......Why are you asking me, how would I know.”

“I thought you paid attention in class?” Mo Ran was frantic.

“This is obviously not the content of any class.” Chu Wanning was irked.

Then they fell silent again, scooting forward slowly with the line, both of
them staring unblinkingly at the gongzi.

Upon closer inspection, Chu-gongzi didn’t look exactly like Chu

Wanning. This gongzi’s features were more mild and scholarly, his eyes
weren’t quite as long and narrow, his pupils were softer, and his gaze
was much gentler than Chu Wanning’s.

Mo Ran stared and stared, then suddenly let out an “eh?” and turned to
look down at his little shidi.

“Let me look at you.”

“What do you want……” Chu Wanning, ruffled, turned his face away.

But Mo Ran only grew more persistent at that, reaching out to grab his
face and forcefully turn him back around. He stared for a while before
finally coming to a realization and muttering: “Aiyah.”

Chu Wanning forced himself to remain calm: “Wh-what is it?”

Mo Ran narrowed his eyes: “No wonder those people outside the city
were muttering amongst themselves when they saw you. I just noticed,
but you look kinda like Shizun too.”

“………………”

Chu Wanning hurriedly wrenched himself out of Mo Ran’s grip, the tips
of his ears turning red: “Nonsense.”

“But how come those guards noticed immediately, but it didn’t even
occur to me for so long?”

Chu Wanning: “…………”

In the midst of puzzlement, the voice of a young child called out: “Papa.”

Mo Ran looked to the direction that the voice came from only to see its
source waddling unsteadily in a little jog from the stone steps of the
residence.
It was a small child, three or four years old, a bamboo pinwheel in hand
as he bounced toward Chu-gongzi. He was dressed simply, with a jade
pendant hanging around his neck, along with a lock of entrusted
name[4] for good fortune and a protection amulet of red silk, and looked
every bit like the little shidi, just smaller.

“......” Now Mo Ran truly knew the reason those riders were gossiping.

He couldn’t help muttering: “Shidi ah, you and Shizun are both from
Lin’an, and Shizun even has the Chu name. Do you think this Chu
family from two hundred years ago might have been your ancestors,
and that you two might be distant relatives……? Seems pretty likely to
me.”

Chu Wanning said nothing, staring at the father and son.

He never knew his own origins, and didn’t remember much of his
childhood either.

Could this Chu-gongzi really be his ancestor……

He was still pondering when Mo Ran reached the front of the line.

Chu-gongzi was just about to hand Mo Ran a talisman when he looked

up to see an unfamiliar face. He paused minutely before smiling gently:
“Is it your first time here?”

His voice was mellow and refined, a world apart from Chu Wanning’s
ice-cold severity.

“Uh…… uh y-yeah.”

To be suddenly spoken to in such an open and friendly manner by

someone who looked just like Shizun got Mo Ran feeling some kind of
way, and he had to scramble for his bearings.

The governor gongzi smiled: “My name is Chu Xun, may I ask your
name?”

“M-my name is Mo, M-Mo Ran.”

“Where does Mo-gongzi hail from?”

“R-really far, fr-from uh, Shu.” Chu Xun-gongzi was gentle and amiable,
but Mo Ran just couldn’t shake the feeling that he could see right
through him.
Chu Xun agreed with a smile: “That is indeed quite far.” He paused,
gaze shifting downwards to Chu Wanning, surprise showing on his
refined features.

“And this is……”

“My name is Xia Sini.” Chu Wanning supplied.

Mo Ran pulled him closer and pat him on the head, forcing a smile:
“This is my little brother.”

Doesn’t look like me, but looks just like you.

Maybe because there was an imminent battle and more pressing

matters, and Chu Xun didn’t have time to dwell on it, or maybe because
he was merely part of an illusion and couldn’t react much to something
that didn’t belong in the illusion to start with. Whatever the case may be,
he stared at Chu Wanning for a while with scrunched brows, then
simply handed them each a talisman.

“You are our guests from afar, especially in these difficult times, so
please accept these talismans. And if you have no other plans, then
please stay for a couple of days.”

Mo Ran said: “I heard about it already, that gongzi intends to bring the
people in the city to PuTuo? And what’re the talismans for?”

“These are spirit-quenching talismans.” Chu Xun explained, “They can

conceal the aura of the living when worn on the body.”

Mo Ran understood at once: “Ah, I get it. If the aura of the living is
sealed, then the ghosts won’t be able to tell the living from the dead,
that way even if we walk right past any ghosts, they’ll just be too
confused to do anything.”

Chu Xun smiled: “Precisely.”

Seeing that he was quite busy, Mo Ran didn’t want to take up more of
his time with questions, so he thanked Chu Xun-gongzi and pulled his
little shidi along to the side.

The two of them found a spot by the wall to sit down. Mo Ran turned
toward Chu Wanning to see his little shidi spacing out at that talisman,
and asked: “What are you thinking about?”
“I was thinking that this is a solid plan.” Chu Wanning said quietly, still
deep in thought, “So then, just what happened, that they couldn’t make
it out in the end.”

“Is it not in the books?”

Chu Wanning said: “This two hundred year old disaster is covered in the
most detail in 《The Lin’an Records》 , and even that book only has a few
lines of text about it.”

Mo Ran asked: “And what does it say?”

“Lin’an was besieged, the situation therein unknown. By the time the
resistance army broke through, corpses strewed the roads, and the vast
majority of houses were empty. Of the approximately one hundred
people of the governor’s residence and the seven hundred and forty
common people, none survived.”

“......” Mo Ran said, “Nothing about how they died?”

“Nothing. Lin’an City was completely surrounded, and hardly anyone

survived. The feathered tribe saved a few lucky survivors later on, but
they rarely involved themselves in mortal matters, so they saw things
differently from how we would. As far as they were concerned, the truth
of what happened wasn’t all that important, and even if they knew, they
still wouldn’t talk about it unless there was some particular need to.”

Chu Wanning paused before continuing: “But, since they’re setting off in
two days anyway, we’ll find out what happened soon enough. In the
meantime, we might as well walk around and see if we can find some
clues.”

The two of them tucked their spirit-quenching talismans away for

safekeeping, and were just getting up to leave when there was a
sudden burst of footsteps, followed by a tug on Chu Wanning’s sleeve.

“Little gege.”

Chu Wanning turned around. It was the little gongzi who looked just like
him; he said in a small, childish voice: “Little gege, Papa said you two
don’t have anywhere to stay, so if you don’t mind, you can stay with us
tonight.”

“Um……”

Chu Wanning and Mo Ran looked at each other.

Mo Ran asked: “Is that really okay? Your Papa is already so busy.”

“It’s okay.” The little guy grinned guilelessly, “There are lots of people
with nowhere to go staying with us already, we’re all living together.
Papa keeps the ghosts away at night, so we don’t have to be scared.”

He spoke with little pauses, not yet used to linking so many words
together, but the open sincerity was heartwarming.

Mo Ran said: “Okay, we’ll be imposing on you tonight then. Thank you,
little didi.”

“Hehe, no worries, no worries.”

Watching him bounce away, Mo Ran tugged on Chu Wanning’s hand:

“Hey, really, I gotta say something.”

“I know what you want to say, so shut it.”

“Hahaha, you read my mind again?” Mo Ran ruffled his hair, grinning,
“Once we get back to the Peak, I really gotta go ask Shizun about this.
The two of you, one looks like the dad, one looks like the son, there’s no
way you guys aren’t related to Governor Chu.”

Chu Wanning: “......And so what, even if we do turn out to be related?”

“Eh?”

Chu Wanning looked mildly toward the father and son beneath the tree,
then said without any expression: “It’s all in the past anyway. They’re all
dead already.”

Then he turned and walked away.

Mo Ran stood rooted in place for a while before running after him,
muttering: “Oi, aren’t you a little too young to be so despondent? Even if
they’re dead, they’re still your ancestors. If I was you, I’d definitely put
up a shrine for them, with a statue, nine feet tall, all gold, decked out in
jewelry, and burn incense for them every year. I’m counting on my
ancestors for protection, you know…… hey, hey hey, what’re you
walking so fast for!”

While walking around the city, they noticed that every family was
gathering straw and making fake straw men..
Upon asking about it, they were told that it was something Chu-Xun
gongzi had asked for: everyone in the city, the young and the elderly
alike, had to have a matching straw man in which to put a talisman with
a drop of the person’s blood, to substitute as a “fake puppet.”

It was the same idea as tossing meat-stuffed mantous into the river as
offerings to a river deity that demanded human heads.

Some ghosts and deities were simply and fundamentally not that smart;
any little trick could fool them, like that ghost mistress from before, with
nothing but mud rattling around between the ears.

It seemed that Chu Xun had arranged for at least two layers of
precautions for the citizens. The first was the spirit-quenching talismans,
so that they won’t be discovered by the ghosts while running away.

And the second was the straw puppets, which act as decoys to buy
some time for their escape, so that the ghosts won’t immediately notice
everyone in the city suddenly gone and fly into a rage.

But this only made the haze in their hearts even heavier.

Just how did such a carefully crafted plan end up falling through?

They returned to the governor’s residence filled with misgivings. It was

already dark by then, and many families had brought bedding to stay
the night inside the Shangqing barrier rather than returning to their
homes.

The governor kept his gates open at night, with only some guards
patrolling the premises.

By the time the two of them arrived, all the rooms of the residence were
already filled, with at least three or four families huddled in each. There
were people crowded everywhere, with hardly any room left to even
stand.

In the end, they could only find a corridor to rest in. There was no
bedding, of course, so Mo Ran padded the ground with some straw he
had asked the guards for, picked Chu Wanning up, and put him on the
makeshift pallet.

“You’ll have to make do with this tonight.”

Chu Wanning said: “Looks comfortable enough.”

“Really?” Mo Ran laughed, “I thought so too.”

He flopped down next to Chu Wanning and stretched, then folded his
arms behind his head and stared up at the wooden beams of the ceiling
above.

“Shidi, take a look, those bird people aren’t half bad at weaving illusions
huh. Even with the memories of a survivor as foundation, it’s still really
something for it to be so detailed that you can even see the texture of
the wood on the ceiling.”

Chu Wanning said: “The feathered tribe are half-immortal, after all.
Even if they’re not all-powerful, they’re still capable of some things that
are beyond the abilities of mortals.”

“I guess so.” Mo Ran blinked, then rolled to face Chu Wanning,

propping his head up, “I can’t sleep.”

“......” Chu Wanning glanced at him, “What do you want, a bedtime

story?”

He was being sarcastic, but Mo Ran’s face was thick as the city walls,
laughing: “Yes please! I want the one about DongYong and the seven
fairies.”

Chu Wanning hadn’t expected him to take it seriously, and was taken
aback for a moment before turning away in a huff: “You wish. How old
are you already, aren’t you embarrassed.”

Mo Ran grinned: “It’s only human to want the things we can’t have,
nothing to do with age. I never had anyone to tell me bedtime stories
when I was small, and I was always thinking about how nice it would be
to have someone like that. But that person never showed up, and then I
grew up and stopped thinking about it. But, deep inside, I still want it.”

Chu Wanning: “......”

“You didn’t have anyone to tell you bedtime stories either, did you?”

“Mm.”

“Haha, so you don’t actually know how the story of DongYong and the
seven fairies goes, right?”

Chu Wanning: “…………What’s the point to those silly stories, anyway.”

“Just admit you don’t know it, don’t just write it off as a silly story. Else
you’re gonna grow up into a boring person like my Shizun, and
everyone will avoid you.”

Chu Wanning, angrily: “Who cares if everyone avoids me. I’m going to
sleep.”

And with that, he lay down and closed his eyes.

Mo Ran rolled around with laughter until he rolled over next to Chu
Wanning. Staring at his little shidi with his eyes closed, eyelashes long
and dark, looking quite adorable, he couldn’t help reaching out to pinch
his cheek.

“Are you really asleep?”

“I’m really asleep.”

“Haha.” Mo Ran laughed, “Then you keep sleeping, and I’ll tell you a
bedtime story.”

“You know bedtime stories?”

“Yup, just like how you can sleeptalk.”

Chu Wanning stopped talking.

Mo Ran lay next to him on the straw bed, their heads mere inches
away. He cackled for a bit, but seeing that his shidi was pointedly
ignoring him, he stopped being quite so boisterous after a while to look
up at the ceiling instead, eyes still curved with mirth. The smell of the
straw wafted over now and again, accompanied by the quiet sounds of
night.

“The story I’m about to tell you, I made it up myself. I envied those who
had bedtime stories when I was young, but there was nothing for it, so
every day I would tell myself stories while lying in bed. I’ll tell you my
favorite one, it’s called ‘Ox Eats Grass’.”

Mini Theater 【Bedtime Story】

Weiyu starts bedtime stories like this: A long long time ago, there was a
child…

Chu Wanning starts stories like this: The path that takes you to
destination could be not the common path. What story? I don’t know
how to. Recite sutra.

Xue Meng: No, no... pftt! Ok! Fine! I’ll listen.

Xue Meng starts bedtime stories like this: Let me tell you, I am an
excellent student. I’ve received a countless number of first places since
my childhood. Today I’ll tell you how I won the 14th annual youth blade
technique championship haha~

Shi Mei starts stories like this: … En… I’m not very good at telling
stories, if it’s bad, please don’t mind it.

Ye Wangxi starts stories like this: You want to hear a story? Sure, let
me go find a book, you can lie down first, tuck yourself into the blanket,
don’t catch a cold.

Mei Hanxue starts stories like this: Story? Okay, Eldest Shi-Xiong can
tell you a kissy kissy story between two male tigers, or one male and
one female. Which version do you want?

Having spoken to this point, Mo Ran smiled again before he continued,

“A long long time ago, there was a small child.”

Chu Wanning’s eyes were closed, “Wasn’t it an ox grazing? How come

it’s a kid?”

“Let me finish.” Mo Ran smiled hummingly, “Once upon a time there

was a small child, very poor. He didn’t have a dad or a mom, and was a
child labourer in the household of a landlord. He had to wash dishes,
wash clothes, wipe the floors, and had to take the ox grazing too. The
landlord’s household gave him three pancakes to eat everyday, and the
child was very happy that he could fill his stomach.”

“One day, he took the ox out to graze as always. On the road, they
bumped into a mad dog and it bit the leg of the ox. Because of this, the
landlord unsurprisingly gave him a round of beatings. After the beatings,
the landlord made him go kill that mad dog to vent, otherwise he
wouldn’t let the child have his pancakes.”

“The child was very scared, and could only follow orders and brought
that mad dog back after he beat it to death. However, when he came
home, the landlord discovered that turns out, the dog that bit the leg of
their cattle was actually the beloved canine of the county master.”

Chu Wanning opened his eyes, “Then what can they do?”
“What else can they do? That dog was the County Master’s most
favourite’s favourite, so the dog was used to having its way, using the
might and power behind its back. Who knew it would get beaten to
death so out of the blue just like that, and if the County Master should
find out, he wouldn’t let it go so easily. So, the more the landlord
thought about it, the angrier he became, so in the end, he still never
gave the small child his pancakes. He even threatened, if the County
Master came looking for trouble, he would give the child out.”

“...What is this mess, so unreasonable.” Chu Wanning said, “I’m not

listening to this anymore.”

“There are a lot of things that aren’t reasonable in the first place.” Mo
Ran laughed, “It’s a matter of who has the most money, whose fist is
tougher, and whose position is higher. The next day, the County Master
indeed came knocking. The child was given away. But, since he really
was too young, the County Master didn’t have the face to lock him up,
so he was flogged heavily for ten times before he was let go.”

“And that child ran away after he was let go, right?” Chu Wanning
asked.

“Haha, he didn’t run away.” Mo Ran replied, “The kid still went back to
the landlord’s household, recovered from his injuries, and went back to
grazing the ox for them. Still getting three pancakes a day to eat.”

“Isn’t he angry?”

“As long as his stomach is filled he won’t be angry.” Mo Ran said, “A

round of beatings is a round of beatings, after it’s over, it’s over. And
things were peaceful for over a decade. Later, the oxherd boy grew up.
He followed after those who were the same age as well as the
landlord’s son. One day, several esteemed guests came to the
landlord’s house, and the landlord’s son saw one of the guests had
brought a particularly beautiful agate snuff bottle. He loved it so he stole
it.”

“That snuff bottle was an heirloom, extremely precious. The guest was
quite panicked and looked all over the house for his possession. The
landlord’s son saw he couldn’t hide anymore, so he stuffed the snuff
bottle into that oxherd boy’s hands and told him: if he dared tell the
truth, then he will never receive any meals again, and will die from
starvation.”

“...” Having listened to this point, Chu Wanning was utterly speechless.
He thought inwardly, while Mo Ran had wandered the streets since he
was young, having been orphaned, but at the very least he had grown
up at an entertainment house, his mother a managing head, so even
though it wasn’t the happiest of days, it wasn’t miserable either, so why
were all the stories he made up so gloomy and sad?

Mo Ran continued on, quite enjoying himself, “The snuff bottle was
soon found. For the sake of meals, that oxherd boy could only force
himself to take the blame, and naturally, what followed was another
round of vicious beatings. This time, they beat him so hard he couldn’t
get out of bed for three days. The landlord’s son got away with this this
time, so he secretly snuck a steamed bun stuffed with marinated pork to
the oxherd boy. That kid wolfed down the food, and stopped resenting
this boy who harmed him. Since he’s never tasted such delicacies
before, as he held the bun, he kept saying to the landlord’s son: thank
you, thank you.”

“I’m not listening anymore.” This time, Chu Wanning really was
aggravated, “How can he stop his resentment? A steamed bun and all
is forgiven? And thanking him too! What’s there to thank?!”

“No, you’re not listening carefully.” Mo Ran innocently blinked his eyes.

“How am I not listening carefully?”

Mo Ran straightened his face, “That was a steamed bun stuffed with
marinated pork, I tell you.”

Chu Wanning: “...”

“Haha, look at your face, you don’t understand, do you? Usually, that
child could only get his hands on a scrap or two of fatty meat during
New Year’s Eve. He had originally thought he was going to die never
knowing what marinated pork was gonna taste like, so of course he’d
thank the other party.”

Seeing his little shidi was stumped speechless by his words, Mo Ran
smiled exceedingly brilliantly, and continued, “Either way, this incident
passed just like that. He still collected his three pancakes, and passed
day by day. One day…”

Now Chu Wanning had had an idea of the pattern of Mo Ran’s tales.
The moment “One day” appeared, there was never anything good.

Sure enough, Mo Ran said, “One day, the landlord’s son committed
another crime.”
“This time, he behaved indecently towards a neighbouring girl at the
mill, and coincidentally, the unlucky oxherd boy bumped into the scene.”

“...And that child is going to take the blame again?” Chu Wanning
asked.

“Aiyah.” Mo Ran laughed, “That’s right. Congrats, congrats, you know

how to tell stories now too.”

“...I’m going to sleep.”

“Don’t, I’m almost done the story.” Mo Ran said, “This is my first time tell
someone a story, so grant me some face, will you?”

Chu Wanning: “...”

“This time, the oxherd boy must take the blame. Because, that girl
couldn’t take the shame and committed suided by way of bashing her
head into the wall. But the oxherd boy wasn’t dumb. A life for a life,
there was no way he was going to give up his life for the landlord’s
son’s sake.” Mo Ran said, “He wouldn’t agree to it, so the landlord’s son
locked him and the dead girl inside the mill, and ran off to report it to the
authorities.”

“This oxherd boy has got a history; when he was young he randomly
beat the County Master’s dog to death, then later he stole a guest’s
snuff bottle, and this time, he sexually harassed a common girl.
Naturally, his crimes could not be absolved. No one was willing to listen
to him explain himself. He was caught red-handed with all the evidence,
so he was arrested.”

Chu Wanning widened his eyes, “...And then?”

“And then, he stayed in jail for a few months. When autumn came, he
was sentenced to the death penalty, to be sent to the execution platform
outside the city. As he followed along the execution troop winding
around the fields, he suddenly saw someone was butchering an ox not
far in the distance. He could tell with just a glance; that ox was the one
he had taken to graze since he was young, but now that it was old, it
didn’t have the energy to plow the fields anymore. But that ox had to
graze grass. If it only ate but didn’t do any labour, why would the
landlord want to keep it? It helped them plow a lifetime’s worth of fields,
but in the end, they were going to butcher it, eat its meat.”

Even as he told such a cruel thing, Mo Ran wasn’t sad, and smiled, “But
that oxherd boy had grown up riding on the back of that ox, had told it
many of his secrets, fed it hay, hugged its neck and cried when he was
wronged, and took it for his only family in this world.”

“So, he knelt down and begged the executioner to let him go bid
farewell to that ox. Of course the executioner didn’t believe there’d be
any feelings between man and beasts, so he thought the boy was only
trying to play tricks and didn’t allow it.”

“...And then?”

“And then? And then that oxherd boy was hung to death. The ox was
butchered. Hot blood flowed all over the ground, and those who
gathered to watch the show dispersed. That night, the landlord’s
household ate beef, but the beef was old and kept getting stuck
between their teeth. They had a bit, didn’t like it, and dumped
everything.”

Chu Wanning: “...”

Mo Ran flipped over, smiled happily at him, “There, it’s done. How was
it?”

“Get out.” Chu Wanning said.

“Hey, the first time I made this up for myself I cried. Your heart is so
cold, not even a drop of tear.”

“It’s you who told it so badly…”

Mo Ran haha-ed twice, put his arm over his little shidi’s shoulder, and
caressed his hair, “Well that can’t be helped. Your shixiong is only so
talented. Alright, the story’s done. Let’s sleep.”

Chu Wanning didn’t acknowledge him, but after a long time, he

suddenly asked, “Mo Ran.”

“Call me shixiong.”

“Why is the story called Ox Eats Grass?”

“Because like people, an ox has gotta eat. For the sake of eating, a lot
of work has to be done. If one day you can’t work anymore, then no one
cares if you’re alive or dead.”

Chu Wanning stopped talking again.

The whisperings in the yard were the small voices of those seeking
refuge, and once in a while, there’d be an ominous cry or two from
ghosts and demons coming from outside the barrier.

“Mo Ran.”

“Aiyah, so cheeky. Call me shixiong.”

Chu Wanning ignored him, and only asked, “Does that child really
exist?”

“No.” Mo Ran was quiet for a moment, then suddenly smiled, his
dimples deep and good looking. He rolled the little guy into his arms and
said warmly, “Of course it’s made up to play with you. Be good. Sleep.”

Yet unexpectedly, it hadn’t been long before there was suddenly

commotion in the yard.

Someone was shouting angrily, “ASKING FOR THE GONGZI ALL

OVER! THE GONGZI IS BUSY, WHO HAS THE TIME TO MIND YOUR
BUSINESS? CLEAN THAT CORPSE OUT! DON’T YOU KNOW THE
ONES WITH BLUE SPOTS WILL RISE?!! ARE YOU TRYING TO KILL
US ALL??”

This voice was like thunder in the middle of a dark night, and the
moment “rising corpse” was mentioned, everyone blew up. All of a
sudden, everyone who was asleep sat up, and looked to where the
commotion was.

Mo Ran blocked in front of his little shidi and threw a glance, frowning
as he spoke in a low voice, “Hm? It’s that person from noon earlier?”

The one who was kneeling and being scolded was indeed that youth
named XiaoMan from noon earlier that day. He was still wearing the
tight suit from during the day, but his spirit and aura were completely
different.

It was as if his entire person was emptied out, only hugging tightly onto
the dead body of his foster father. That corpse’s nails had grown
significantly, the very sign of a corpse rising. When the others saw, they
all backed away. The Governor’s administrator was scolding him
sharply.

“Your dad was my colleague, I feel bad about him being killed too. But
so what? You were the one who cried hunger last night so he went out
to find food for you. You were the one who caused your dad to die, so
are you going to cause us all to die now?”

XiaoMan was kneeling on the ground, his hair completely disheveled,

his eyes red, “N-no, I’m not… dad, daddy. Please I beg you, let me see
the gongzi, the gongzi has a way for dad’s corpse not to rise, I want to
bury dad properly, please I beg you all not to… don’t dismember him…
Sob…”

By the time he uttered the word “dismember” he was already sobbing

really hard. He buried his face in his palms, wiping messily, his lips
trembling, “Please I beg you all… let me wait until the gongzi is back…”

“It’s going to be midnight soon, the gongzi is out, so how can he

possibly care for your business? You know that normal corpses can still
be purified, but your dad’s bluing spots and nails have already changed,
so how can he possibly hold out until the gongzi is back?”

“No… He can, Uncle Liu… I’m begging you, I’ll do anything for you, I-I’ll
think of a way to repay you after, please I beg you, don’t touch my
daddy… beg, I… I beg you…”

Seeing him beg like this, that middle aged administrator let out a long
sigh, the rims of his eyes also turning red, but still he replied, “Sigh, do
you know, you’re asking for all of our lives here — GUARDS!”

“NO! DON’T!!”

But it was already too late. No one would go help him. Anyone knew
that if this corpse was kept, then when midnight comes it would for sure
turn into a ferocious spirit.

The corpse of XiaoMan’s foster father was forcibly dragged away, to be

dismembered outside. XiaoMan was held back by several people on his
left and right, and his bitter tears flowed viciously, sullying his entire
face, and beast-like howls escaped his lips. But in the end, he was still
half pulled, half dragged away into the distance.

Once this storm had past, the yard returned to its peaceful quiet after
some muttered whispers.

Chu Wanning however, did not fall back asleep. He hung his head
pensively.

Mo Ran side-gazed at his little shidi, “What are you thinking about?”

“This person lost his close family bitterly and did such a foolish thing.
That his foster father’s body was overtaken, of course he’d blame the
others. I have an uncertain guess. I’m wondering, could LinAn City’s
botched migration be because of him.”

Mo Ran replied without missing a beat, “I thought about this too.”

Chu Wanning shook his head, “But it’s too early to tell, we can’t make
any conclusive claims. Let’s keep a close eye on him first.”

Day two. Nothing unusual had happened.

Chu Xun sent guards to tally the number of straw men in the city, make
sure that it matches the number of people, while the people busied
themselves packing what few possessions they had. Just one more
night, and then they will leave first thing in the morning to take refuge at
PuTuo according to Chu Xun’s plan.

Mo Ran sat by the gate of the governor’s residence, watching the

people come and go. He sighed: “Chu Xun’s plan is watertight; without
someone leaking the info, the average ghost wouldn’t have the brains to
figure out that it’s all decoy puppets left in the city. Someone must have
told, then. Shidi, what do you think?”

No response.

“Eh? Shidi?”

Mo Ran turned around. Without him noticing, his little shidi had
wandered off to watch a cavalry of riders getting ready, and in his place
was Chu-gongzi’s son, sitting with his cheeks in hand.

“Da-gege……”

Mo Ran almost jumped at his sudden appearance: “What is it?”

The little guy pointed at an old paulownia tree to the side with a kite
dangling from a high branch, articulating with some difficulty: “Mama
gave it to me, it got stuck, can’t reach. Da-gege help me?”

“No prob no prob.” Mo Ran leapt nimbly to the top of the tree using light
footwork, retrieved the butterfly-shaped kite, and landed steadily back
on the ground, smiling as he gave it back, “Here you go, don’t lose it
again, okay?”

The little guy nodded.

Mo Ran watched him wandering around all alone for a bit, thinking
about how Chu Xun probably doesn’t have the time to look after his son,
so he asked: “Where’s your mom? It’s a bit messy here, I’ll take you to
your mom.”

“Mama? Mama is at the mountains in the back.”

Mo Ran, mystified: “What’s she doing in the mountains?”

“Sleeping.” The little guy looked at him guilelessly and answered in a

soft voice, “Mama’s always sleeping there. Papa takes me to see her
when the flowers bloom in the spring.”

“Ah.” Mo Ran uttered quietly, at a loss for words.

But the little guy didn’t mind; he was still too young to understand what
death meant. He played happily with the kite in his hands for a bit, then
looked up at Mo Ran and shuffled over, saying in a whisper: “Gege,
thank you, I’ll give you…… I have something to give you.”

He dug around in his pocket as he spoke, and finally dug out a small,
half-piece of pastry wrapped in reed leaf.

No one in the city had enough to eat these days, it was a mystery how
the little guy managed to save a piece of pastry. He broke it in half, and
handed the smaller piece to Mo Ran.

“Da-gege, for you…… shh, don’t tell anyone else, I don’t have any
more.”

Mo Ran was just about to accept it when the little guy suddenly
changed his mind and took the smaller piece back, offering him the
bigger half instead.

“It’s really yummy, there’s sweet bean paste inside.”

The small act made Mo Ran’s heart feel all warm and fuzzy; he was
used to being treated poorly, but didn’t quite know how to respond to
kindness. He reached out and took the sweet with a mumbled thanks.
The little guy seemed quite pleased, grinning brightly, the curve of his
dark eyelashes filled with warmth and kindness.

Mo Ran couldn’t bear to eat the flower cake, so he wrapped it up using

a leaf from the paulownia tree and tucked it into his robes. He was
going to talk some more with the little guy, but he was a little kid with a
little kid’s attention span after all, and had already bounced away into
the distance.

Chu Wanning came back around then, only to see Mo Ran standing
there staring off into space. He raised an eyebrow: “What’s up?”

Mo Ran watched the little guy disappear into the distance, sighing: “I
was just thinking, all these people…… how come they all had to die?”

Night descended. Dark clouds covered the skies, with occasional bolts
of lightning ripping through the heavens, and as the night grew deeper,
a terrible gale howled amidst a torrential downpour.

Rain and its attendant Yin energy enhanced the powers of ghosts and
other fiends; Chu Xun gathered all the survivors of Lin’an near the
residence, and bid them stay inside the Shangqing barrier at all times.

Due to the rain, many of the areas that could usually make do as a
resting place no longer served.

Mo Ran was keeping an eye on Xiao Man, but then more and more
people crowded inside to take shelter from the rain, and Xiao Man
ducked out of view.

Mo Ran muttered: “Damn.”

Chu Wanning was small, and immediately said: “I’ll go after him.”

Saying that, he dove into the crowd and disappeared in no time.

He returned after a while with an irate expression: “He got away.”

“Outside the barrier?”

“Mn.”

Mo Ran fell silent, looking at the downpour outside and the people
bustling to and fro.

All of it was only an illusion of things that had already come to pass two
hundred years ago.

But he suddenly felt so wretched; the people around him had such hope
on their faces, believing that Chu Xun will take them away from this
ghost-infested hell to go to PuTuo just as soon as dawn breaks. In the
pouring rain, guards dressed in white and red were putting their
everything into making the final preparations so that they will be ready
to move at daybreak.

None of them knew how little time they had left.

The night grew later still, and the noise died down as people dozed off,
leaning against each other.

But Chu Wanning and Mo Ran were wide awake. Their task was to wait
for the Ghost King to appear and to kill him. Since Xiao Man had
already left the barrier, the turning point must be tonight.

Mo Ran turned to glance at Chu Wanning: “Why don’t you get some
rest, I’ll wake you if anything happens.”

Chu Wanning: “I’m not sleepy.”

Mo Ran stroked his hair: “Then eat something? We haven’t eaten since
coming here.”

“I’m……” Looking at the pastry Mo Ran took out, the words ‘not hungry’
got replaced by a gulp.

Mo Ran handed it over: “Here you go.”

Chu Wanning accepted the sweet and broke it in half, giving the bigger
half back to Mo Ran and keeping the smaller portion for himself. Mo
Ran stared blankly at him, face unreadable.

Chu Wanning took a bite, uttered a questioning ‘hm?’ then asked: “Is
this from the Peach Blossom Springs? The flavor is a bit different from
the ones before.”

“How so?”

“It tastes of osmanthus flowers.”

Mo Ran forced a smile: “Oh? Chu Xun’s son gave it to me, it’s probably
Lin’an flavored.”

“It is indeed Lin’an flavored.” Chu Wanning was opening his mouth to
take another bite when he froze abruptly as if suddenly having realized
something, and all the color drained from his face.

“That’s not right!”

Chu Wanning shot to his feet, eyes wide and expression ghastly.
Mo Ran hadn’t the slightest what the problem was: “What’s not right?”

Chu Wanning didn’t answer, instead walking into the courtyard and
looking around in the pouring rain before picking up a sharp rock and
cutting firmly into his own arm; blood gushed out instantly.

Mo Ran grabbed him in a hurry: “Are you crazy?”

Mo Ran stared at the blood trickling down his arm for a while before his
head snapped up, eyes intense: “Have you still not caught on?” He said
harshly, “Someone’s trying to maim us!”

Blood ran down his arm non-stop, crimson diluted by the rain.

Chu Wanning’s face was pale in the deluge, his dark brows knitted
tightly together, drenched through and through in the ceaseless
downpour.

Thunder rumbled and lightning split the skies, harsh light turning night
into day for an instant.

The sudden clap of thunder jolted Mo Ran into realization. He

subconsciously took a step back.

He knew what wasn’t right.

Nothing in an illusion was real, however realist it might seem.

It should be impossible for a pastry to have any taste, for a weapon to

actually cause an injury. In short——it should be impossible for anything
within the illusion to affect them.

“Someone actualized the illusion.” Chu Wanning said quietly.

Actualizing an illusion, also known as “illusion manifestation”, was no

easy task. The ones most skilled in this technique were those of the
Guyue'ye Sect, whose motto was “Medicine for the people, divine
physician for the heart”, the latter half referring to the fact that some
among them specialize in the art of actualizing illusions—many people
are unable to accept the passing of a loved one; through illusion
manifestation, the dead can yet accompany the living.

However, such manifested illusions were extremely difficult, so

generally speaking, only short, individual scenes could be created, such
as sharing a drink or taking a nap together, just one thing at most.
But with the extensive and continuous nature of this illusion constructed
by the feathered tribe, alongside the large variety of happenings, even
Guyue'ye’s own sect leader might not be able to manifest it all.

Mo Ran immediately thought of someone——could it be that fake

Gouchen from Jincheng lake?

But before he could think on it further, a strange sound burst forth from
the skies above.

The dozing people jolted awake like startled birds, looking around with
wide eyes before finally looking up.

It was deathly silent for a moment, then screams erupted like the
explosion of water droplets in boiling oil.

Everyone tried to flee every which way, only to discover there was
nowhere to go, and screams came from all directions. There was a
fracture in the sky, and an enormous, blood-red ghost eye was staring
unnervingly from right above.

The eye was so close it was practically up against the barrier.

A harsh, garbled voice thundered: “Chu Xun, how very bold of you, a
mere mortal daring to deceive this Venerable One.”

Mo Ran muttered: “Ghost King……”

There were nine kings in the ghost realm, some far stronger than
others. The one before them now had yet to show himself, so there was
no way to tell which one he was. That eyeball alone loomed in the sky,
dripping with blood as it stared at the building below: “Such arrogance,
absurd! Pathetic mortal——you want to save them? I might not have
wiped out the city before, but since you wish to go against me——I’ll kill
every single one of you! None shall be spared!”

With a shrill shriek, a blinding red light burst forth from the ghost eye,
aimed directly at the barrier!

Red clashed against gold and for an instant all the other colors of the
world ceased to be. The force of the impact sent debris flying into the
howling gales and relentless rain, the branches of the trees in the
courtyard snapping one after another. The people inside the barrier
were hysterical, wailing as they huddled together.
The Shangqing barrier withstood the first hit, but another flash of red
followed immediately after, striking the same spot. The barrier held out,
but a crack appeared.

“How arrogant——insufferable!!!”

The red light struck again and again, impacts thundering and sparks
flying. Seeing the barrier on the edge of collapse, Chu Wanning’s blood
ran cold——now that the illusion has been actualized, an attack in here
would be no different from one in the real world. If that attack were to
land, both Mo Ran and himself might die here!

Golden light gathered at his fingertips.

This would surely blow his cover, but the situation being what it was,
there was no other choice. He was just about to summon Tianwen and
get it over with when a resplendent bolt of light flew across the sky like
an arrow, headed directly for the epicenter of the cracks in the barrier!

The crowd turned to see Chu Xun standing on a tall roof.

He cradled a phoenix harp, fingertips dancing across its strings and

sending bolts of light sweeping forth to gather at the barrier, each sound
sharp and powerful as the rupturing of metal, instantly reinforcing the
Shangqing barrier that was on the verge of failing.

“Gongzi is here!”

“Gongzi!”

The people below exclaimed one after another, some even crying with
joy. Chu Xun held his own against the eye of the Ghost King, the two
already having exchanged a hundred moves in an instant, the Ghost
King completely unable to encroach on the barrier.

The cold voice rang even more menacingly across the sky.

“Chu Xun, with your skills, you could have easily escaped by yourself.
Why do you insist on meddling in unrelated matters and making an
enemy of the ghost realm!”

“Your majesty wishes harm upon my citizens, how could anything be

less unrelated to me?”

“Ridiculous! We ghosts feed on the souls of the living, there is no

difference between us eating souls and you eating meat! You will
understand soon enough, once you’re dead!”

Chu Xun didn’t miss a beat, the notes of the harp never pausing: “Then
we will just have to see if your majesty can take this head on my
shoulders.”

As he spoke, the chords beneath his fingers rose to a crescendo until a

brilliant light pierced through the heavens right into that bloody eye in
the sky!

“AH——!!!!!!”

The terrifying scream shook the very ground they stood on.

Fetid blood sprayed out from where the eye had been burned by Chu
Xun’s spell, the downpour of blood mixing with the shrill shrieks. In his
anger, the Ghost King unleashed a blade of light many times stronger
than those before, striking out amidst the rain of blood. Chu Xun moved
to block, but this attack was unlike the others, and the force of the
impact forced him back several steps, the notes of his harp stuttering.

“Gongzi——!”

“Crack! There’s a crack! The barrier is going to break!”

“Mama——Mama——”

The crowd panicked; those with families huddled together crying, those
without cowered in corners trembling.

Chu Xun grit his teeth, fire in his eyes, refusing to give up so easily. Just
as he was locked in stalemate with the Ghost King, lights flared to life
on either side of him. He glanced to the side to see Mo Ran and Chu
Wanning standing with him, scarlet and golden light flowing steadily into
his own, once again sealing the barrier.

A terrifying roar came from above.

The ghost eye disappeared.

The three of them descended to the ground. The sky rained rotten blood
for a while longer before finally returning to clear water.

Chu Xun, face pale, bowed to Mo Ran and Chu Wanning: “Many thanks
for your help.”
“Don’t mention it.” Mo Ran waved his hands, “Go get some rest, you
look terrible.”

Chu Xun nodded, he had indeed burned through too much of his
reserves, so Mo Ran supported him to the corridor. The people that
were in disarray only a moment ago, seeing that Chu-gongzi had
repaired the barrier and saved them, all gathered in gratitude, offering
him water and draping clothing over his shoulders.

Someone said: “Chu-gongzi, you’re all drenched, please go warm

yourself by the fire.”

Chu Xun thanked them one by one, but was really too exhausted to
move, and so could only turn down that person’s invitation. Undaunted,
the people carried branches over and made a bonfire next to him
instead.

Things gradually quieted down, save for the crackling of the fire.
Suddenly, someone asked: “Gongzi, we took so many precautions, but
the Ghost King still somehow saw through it all…… ai, what should we
do?”

“Yeah, yeah……”

“How did they know we were going to leave? Gongzi said these ghosts
can’t tell the puppets apart from real people, so how did this
happen…… could it be……” The person’s voice died down and he
snuck a glance toward Chu Xun, clearly wanting to say that maybe Chu
Xun was wrong, maybe he messed something up somewhere.

The white-attired guards saw that glance, and one of them immediately
rebuked with furrowed brows: “What are you trying to say! It’s obviously
because someone couldn’t keep their trap shut and leaked the plan to
the Ghost King!”

The person mumbled: “Who would tattle to the ghosts though? It’s not
like there’s anything to be gained from that……” And then, seeing all the
angry glares directed his way, he stopped talking, disgruntled.

A while passed in silence before someone else asked:

“Gongzi, that damn ghost definitely won’t just leave it at that, what
should we do?”

Chu Xun, exhausted, didn’t open his eyes, but his voice was gentle still:
“We just have to hold out until dawn and then be on our way, there’s
nothing they can do in the daylight.”

“But we have so many people, the elderly, the young, and some injured
too, can we make it to PuTuo Mountain in one day?”

Chu Xun, softly: “Don’t worry about that. Get some rest. Just focus on
the journey tomorrow, I’ll take care of the rest.”

Chu-gongzi had always protected them; since he said so, everyone

listened and did as told. A little kid came over holding a piece of sesame
candy and offered it to Chu Xun. Chu Xun opened his eyes slightly and
pat his head with a smile, and was just about to say something when a
guard ran over in a panic, shouting: “Gongzi! Gongzi, it’s terrible!”

“What happened?”

“The little gongzi, little gongzi——Xiao Man——outside the

ChengHuang Temple——” The guard was in too much shock to even
speak a complete sentence; he stammered some more, then abruptly
fell to his knees and started crying miserably.

Chu Xun shot to his feet, what little color remaining on his face draining
completely as he rushed into the rain.

>>gore, cannibalism, emotionaldistress.gif

ChengHuang Temple stood at the very edge of the extent of Chu Xun’s
powers; the barrier reached to the stairs of the temple, but no further.

Inside the temple, candles flickered weakly.

A dozen ghosts that had cultivated corporeal forms lined either side,
and in between them, tied up with her back to them, was a woman in
red, her head tilted back as she gazed up at the statue on the altar.

And next to her with his eyes downcast stood Xiao Man, holding firmly
onto a young child.

Chu Xun cried out: “Lan-er!”

The child was none other than Chu Xun’s son, Chu Lan. Mo Ran’s heart
lurched at the sight of the little guy in trouble; he could still taste the
pastry on his tongue. He made to go over, but was blocked by Chu
Wanning.

“Don’t go.”
“Why not!”

Chu Wanning glanced at him, then said, quietly: “They’ve all died
already, two hundred years ago. The illusion has been actualized, I
don’t want you to get hurt.”

“......” It was the truth—no matter what he did now, the dead have
already gone, there was no way to change any of it.

The little guy wailed from outside the barrier, nearly unintelligible:
“Papa! Papa help me! Papa please help Lan-er!”

Chu Xun’s lips trembled. He yelled toward Xiao Man: “What are you
doing? I’ve never done you wrong, let him go!”

Xiao Man ignored him, head still lowered as if he had heard none of it.
But the hands clutching Chu Lan betrayed his inner hesitation—there
was a mole between the thumb and forefinger of his left hand, and his
hands trembled without stop, the veins on the backs of them standing
out starkly.

By now, everyone else taking refuge at the governor’s residence had

arrived as well, all of them aghast and furious at the sight within the
temple, murmuring:

“That’s the gongzi’s son……”

“How could this happen……”

Xiao Man cut the ropes binding the red-robed woman in one motion.
She seemed to come back to her senses and turned slowly around—
she was beautiful, pure as a lotus flower, her neck long and elegant, but
her face was paper-pale and her lips were tinted red like blood, and the
smile she directed toward Chu Xun was more terrifying than it was
lovely.

The low light of the candles lit up her face. The moment they saw, Chu
Xun and those behind him old enough to know all froze.

There was sadness in her smile. Softly, she said: “Husband.”

Mo Ran: “!!!!”

Chu Wanning: “......”

The woman was none other than Chu Xun’s deceased wife!

Madam Chu looked to her side and immediately reached over to take
her son back from Xiao Man. Xiao Man was unwilling, but Madam Chu
was a ghost now, much stronger than he was now that she had been
freed from the bindings, and easily pulled the child out of his grasp. But
she had died of illness before her child was even a month old, so the
little guy had never seen his mother and only kept crying for his father to
save him.

“Be a good boy and don’t cry anymore, mama will take you to your
papa.”

Madam Chu picked the child up in her delicate arms and slowly walked
out of the temple, down the rain-soaked stone steps, to the edge of the
Shangqing barrier. She stood facing Chu Xun, joy mixed with sorrow.

“My husband, it’s been a long time. Have…...have you been well?”

Chu Xun couldn’t speak. The tips of his fingers shook uncontrollably at
his sides as those phoenix eyes stared at the woman behind the barrier,
rims slowly turning red.

Madam Chu continued softly: “Lan-er has gotten so big already, and
you’ve grown steadier too, a little different from what I remember…… let
me take a good look at you.”

She reached out, her hand pressed against the barrier—she couldn’t
cross, not with her body being that of a ghost, could only gaze quietly
across the flowing colors of the barrier at the person on the other side.

Chu Xun closed his eyes, wetness clinging to his lashes.

He pressed his hand to hers, separated by the barrier, then opened his
eyes. The two of them gazed at each other, across life and death, as
the day before.

Chu Xun choked back a sob: “Wife……”

The family had been separated by life and death for many years, but the
amount of time they got to spend together could be counted on one
hand.

“The haitang tree I planted in the courtyard that year, did it take root?”

Chu Xun smiled with watery eyes: “It’s already grown tall and beautiful.”
Madam Chu, smiling gently: “I’m glad.”

Chu Xun tried his best to keep smiling as well: “Lan-er loves that
haitang tree, he’s always playing under it in the springs. He likes
haitang flowers, just like you, every…...every year, during QingMing[5]
……” Unable to keep up the act any longer, he pressed his forehead
against the barrier, tears falling without cease, voice breaking, “Every
year, during QingMing, he would always pick the prettiest flower to put
before your grave. Wan’er, Wan’er, did you see? Every…...every year,
did you see?”

He was wracked with sobs by the end, every word bleeding misery, until
his composure finally fell apart altogether.

Madam Chu’s eyes also grew red; she was a ghost and had no tears to
shed, but her miserable expression was no less unsettling to the
onlookers.

For a moment all were silent, everyone wordlessly watching the scene
before them, and someone was weeping quietly.

But just then, a cold voice rang out from above.

“Of course she knows. But not for long.”

Mo Ran’s face changed immediately: “It’s the Ghost King!”

Chu Wanning’s expression was dark as well: “This coward won’t even
show himself, shameless!”

The Ghost King’s laugh sounded like nails against metal, making their
blood run cold.

“Lin Wan’er is one of us ghosts now. I didn’t want to hurt her, but since
you’re so set on opposing me and even ruined one of my eyes, I’ll just
have to dig out your heart, inflict a worse pain on you!”

At his words, the ghosts in the temple began chanting incantations.

“The heart is no more, let the past be erased——”

Madam Chu’s eyes shot wide open and her voice shook: “Husband,
Lan-er, take Lan-er!!!!”

“The heart is no more, let relations be severed——”

“Lan-er! Quickly! Go to your papa!!”

Madam Chu tried to push her child across the barrier, but the thin layer
of light kept him out as if he was a ghost.

Xiao Man looked down at them from where he stood by the railing of the
temple; his face, originally charming, twisted with a mixture of sorrow
and glee.

“It’s useless. I put a ghost mark on him as instructed by the Ghost King.
He’s just like a ghost now, the barrier won’t let him in.”

Behind them, the incantation rose like a tide: “The heart is no more, let
reason be shattered——”

“Husband!!” Madam Chu was already panicked beyond measure,

clutching her child to herself and banging against the barrier, “Husband,
take the barrier down, take it down, let Lan-er in, you have to protect
him, you have to protect him——I——I’m almost…...I……”

“The heart is no more, let compassion be smothered——”

“HUSBAND——!!!!!!”

Madam Chu fell to her knees, her eyes wide as her whole body shook
uncontrollably, curse marks in the color of blood climbing slowly up her
face, “Our child——Lan-er…...you promised me, you promised me
you’d take care of him…...take it down…… please, I’m begging you……
take it down…… husband!!!!”

Chu Xun felt as if his insides were being ripped apart. Several times his
hand lifted to dispel the barrier, only to fall back down in the end.

Outside the barrier, Chu Lan was bawling loudly, looking up at him with
a tear-stained face, his little hands reaching for him: “Papa
doesn’t…...want Lan-er anymore……? Lan-er wants Papa…… Papa
hold me……”

Madam Chu held him tightly in her arms, kissing his cheek. The pair of
mother and son, one kneeling, one crying, both begging Chu Xun to
take down the Shangqing barrier and let the child in.

Suddenly, someone in the crowd yelled: “Gongzi, you can’t! You can’t
drop the barrier, that would doom all the hundreds of people left in
Lin’an——that’s the ghosts’ ploy! Gongzi! You can’t drop the barrier!”
“That’s right, the barrier must be kept up!” The desire to live made the
common people kneel one after another and grovel toward Chu Xun,
pleading, “Gongzi, please, you can’t take down the barrier, or everyone
will die!”

“Madam, please……” One of them got down and bowed toward Madam
Chu, “Madam, please have mercy, please be benevolent, we will be
grateful to you forever, please don’t make gongzi take down the barrier,
you were always so compassionate, please, we’re begging you……”

In an instant, other than the guards and a handful of the common

people, everyone else was on their knees begging and crying, their
voices drowning out those of Madam Chu and her son on the outside of
the barrier.

Chu Xun felt like he was standing on the point of a needle and being
stabbed by a thousand thousand sharp knives, each blade growing
barbs inside his flesh and tearing through his organs.

Before him were his wife and son, behind him were the lives of
hundreds.

Tormented so, he felt as if he had already died, as if he had been

swallowed by blazes and burnt to ashes.

But the chanting continued on, even more piercing than before.

“The heart is no more, let emotion be expunged——”

“The heart is no more, let desire be dissipated——”

More and more curse marks climbed up Madam Chu’s fair neck, nearly
covering her entire face, and beginning to bleed into her eyes.

She could hardly even speak anymore, only staring at her husband in
despair as she strained to utter:

“If you…… I…… will…… hate you…… take…… take Lan-er…… I

hate…… I……”

The curse marks oozed into her pupils. Her entire body shuddered, as if
in agony, and she squeezed her eyes shut.

“I——HATE!!!!!!”
A wretched scream tore through the air, but the end of it turned into a
beast-like cry!

Madam Chu’s eyes flew open. Her gentle, almond-shaped eyes were
stained the color of blood, and the whites of her eyes were all gone, for
there were now four pupils in each eye.

“Wan’er!!!”

Chu Xun cried out with boundless sorrow, forgetting for a moment that
the Shangqing barrier required its caster to remain inside, wanting only
to be with his wife. But just as he was about to step out of the barrier, an
arrow pierced through the sky and firmly into his shoulder, and the arm
he was raising dropped back down to his side.

It was a young man of the guard, still posed with bow in hand.

He said to Chu Xun, self-righteously: “Gongzi! Wake up! You’ve always

taught us that the righteous put the people before the self, were those
just pretty words? Will you toss away the lives of hundreds to save one
person just as soon as it concerned yourself?!”

An old woman next to the young man said shakily: “P-put that bow
down, how could you hurt the gongzi? Everything, everything is gongzi’s
choice, gongzi has already done his utmost, how, how could you……
how could you be so ungrateful!!”

As they argued, cries of fear suddenly broke out in front.

Madam Chu had completely turned. She had held her child with such
love only a moment ago, but she was no different from a beast now,
howling toward the sky with saliva dripping from her mouth, her teeth
growing longer by the second.

And in her arms, Chu Lan’s voice had gone hoarse from crying, but in
between sobs he still called out: “Mama……”

What answered him were Madam Chu’s blood-red claws, piercing

straight through his throat!!!!!

All sound disappeared from the world.

Droplets of blood drifted through the air like so many blossoms.

Just like that year, when Madam Chu had stood by the window holding
her newborn child, watching the petals of newly bloomed haitang
flowers dancing in the courtyard.

She had cradled the child gently in her arms, singing softly: “Red
haitang, yellow haitang, floating gently in the wind. Children in a land far
away, missing their mom and dad.”

Red haitang…… yellow haitang……

The hand that had caressed Chu Lan so tenderly that year tore into his
skull, his limbs, his flesh.

Floating gently in the wind.

The rain came down in a deluge, blood pooling and flowing along the
ground. The mother devoured her child’s entrails.

Children in a land far away.

The eaves of ChengHuang Temple towered solemnly above them.

The year Chu Lan was born, she had knelt before ChengHuang Temple
and clasped her delicate, warm hands together in prayer. The chime of
a clock had sent all the birds nearby scattering, and in the haze of the
fragrant candles, she bowed down low to pray for her child’s health and
happiness, that he might live a long life free from worries…...

Missing their mom and dad.

Chu Lan’s heart was dug out from his mangled body. Madam Chu sunk
her teeth into it, insatiable, blood dripping from the corners of her
mouth.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!!” Chu Xun broke down, clutching his

head where he had fallen to his knees, bashing his head repeatedly
against the ground. He wept, wretched and miserable, kneeling in the
rain in the blood in front of his wife and son in front of all the people of
Lin’an, he knelt before the image of god, he knelt in the mud underfoot.

He knelt in the depths of sin, he knelt in the heights of virtue.

He knelt in untold gratitude, he knelt in utmost hatred.

He hunched over in the dust, his very soul torn apart and extinguished.

Disintegrated into dust.

A long while passed before someone finally spoke up in a trembling
voice.

“Gongzi……”

“Gongzi, condolences……”

“Gongzi’s benevolence will not be forgotten……”

“Chu-gongzi is righteous, truly a kind person! Truly a kind person……”

Someone had pulled their own child close and covered his eyes so that
he wouldn’t see the bloody scene, only just now letting go to say to Chu
Xun: “Gongzi, you saved all of our lives. The madam and the little
gongzi, they’ll…… they’ll surely ascend to paradise……”

Someone else spit out: “Take your child and get lost! Why didn’t you
and your child go to paradise instead?!”

That person backed away timidly.

But all of it sounded so far away. Chu Xun felt like he had already died.
The voices sounded as if they came from across an ocean, from across
a life.

In the torrential downpour, the man was covered in mud, that thin layer
of transparent light separating him from his wife and son, the dead on
one side, the dying on the other. Looking at the scene before him, Mo
Ran thought suddenly of his past life, when he had wantonly
slaughtered the innocent, and wondered if he had created more than
one Chu Xun, more than one Chu Lan, more than one Madam Chu……

He looked down at his hands.

For a split second, his hands looked as if they were covered in blood.

But then he blinked, and it was only the ice-cold rain gathering in his
palms and flowing down his hands.

He trembled.

But in the next moment, a warm hand took his.

He snapped out of it like waking from a nightmare to find his little shidi
looking at him with concern. He looked so much like Chu Lan.
Mo Ran slowly knelt down to be eye level with him, like a sinner
begging forgiveness from the souls of the dead, looking at him with
eyes watery with rain and tears both.

Chu Wanning said nothing, only reached up and pat him on the head.

“It’s already happened.” Chu Wanning said softly, “It’s all in the past
already.”

“You’re right.” A while passed before Mo Ran wrangled out a sad smile.
Lowering his lashes, he muttered, “It’s all in the past already.”

But even if it was all in the past already, it was all still things he had
done. He hadn’t killed Chu Lan, but how many people just like Chu Lan
had died because of him?

The more he thought about it, the more scared he was, the more it hurt.

Why had he been so cruel…… why had he been so willfull…...

>>more gore toward the end

Chu Lan was dead, but the illusion continued.

Dawn was still hours away, the long nightmare not yet over. The
survivors returned to the residence, preparing to leave for PuTuo
Mountain as soon as the morning light breaks.

It was hard to believe that someone could still carry on after suffering
that kind of pain. If truth be told, it really did seem like all that remained
of Chu Xun was a walking husk, his soul long since gone.

Mo Ran walked around the city and heard many people fretting—after
all, Chu Xun had suffered so much that, leaving aside the possibility that
he might be holding a grudge, even if he was still willing to lead
everyone away from here, their chances were significantly diminished
with him in such a state.

But not everyone thought only of themselves; it wasn’t many, but at

least there were a few people who were genuinely sad for Chu Xun.

They stewed in anxiety as they waited for the sky to brighten.

But what arrived before the rising sun was that cold, now-familiar voice,
rupturing the heavy night sky and reverberating above the barrier.
This time the Ghost King addressed not Chu Xun, but everyone else in
the city.

“The sun will rise soon. This Venerable One knows the lot of you plan to
leave once it’s daytime. But have you really thought it through? PuTuo
is a long way from here, there’s no way for you to make it there in only
one day. Once night falls, all of you will have to depend on Chu Xun for
protection. But do you think Chu Xun will protect you?”

“Mommy——”

A child started crying from fear at the terrifying voice, burrowing into his
mother’s arms. Everyone was looking up at the sky.

Only Chu Xun, standing in front of the residence and leaning against the
haitang tree, had his eyes closed as if hearing nothing.

“His wife and son are dead because of the lot of you. Do you really think
Chu Xun would actually protect you? He probably has something else in
mind to avenge his family, something to make you lot wish you were
dead. It’s only human nature, after all…… this Venerable One was once
human too, you know. Sure there are kind people, but they’re only doing
it for their reputation. Humans are vile by nature, any so-called good
person is just trying to get something out of it. But let’s be honest, once
forced into a corner, they’re not gonna care about whether other people
live or die.”

The Ghost King’s eerie voice echoed from above them.

“This Venerable One has already said it before, but I wasn’t going to
take all of your lives. In fact, the living can serve us ghosts. If you don’t
believe me, just look at him——”

As he spoke, a black cloud billowed toward the barrier with Xiao Man
standing on top. And, next to him, a kindly man of about forty or fifty.

Someone called out in surprise: “That’s Xiao Man’s father!”

“It’s Xiao Man’s father! Didn’t he die?”

“Even his body was dismembered, everyone saw. How could this be?!”

The Ghost King continued: “As one of the nine kings of the underworld,
even if this Venerable One does not exert control over life and death
like Emperor YanLuo does, something like restoring the appearance of
the dead is but a simple matter. If you serve me, I will grant you the
lasting company of your deceased loved ones. But if you oppose me,
you will end up like your Chu-gongzi, watching your wife kill your child
with your own eyes, powerless to do anything about it.”

All were silent within the barrier.

“Will you really trust him? Trust that he won’t take revenge for his wife
and child?”

“Do you really think he will take you from here all the way to PuTuo?”

Someone glanced toward Chu Xun, eyes already flickering with malice.

Chu Xun finally looked up from where he stood under the flowering tree
to level them with a quiet gaze. He really didn’t know what to even say
at this point; a long while passed before he finally said: “It is already
what it is, what would be the point in maiming you now.”

“HAHAHAHAHAHAHA——” The Ghost King’s ghastly laugh echoed

from above the barrier, “Very good, very good, he says he won’t harm
you. If you believe him, then go ahead and go with him. But if you
believe me——”

His voice thundered with increasing intensity, as if it might pierce

through their eardrums straight into their hearts.

“If you believe me, you will be rewarded. I can bring back your families.
All you have to do is hand over Chu Xun, you just have to——hand him
over to me! My grudge is against him, not any of you. Hand him over,
and you won’t have to abandon your homes. Hand him over, and you
can reunite with your family. Just hand him over, and it will all be over.”

The Ghost King’s voice grew faint.

“I will be waiting at ChengHuang Temple, until the sun rises.”

The voice faded away.

An odd sort of rackus emerged from the deathly silence as all eyes in
the crowd looked over at Chu Xun. Chu Xun looked back at them with a
calm, even expression.

Someone started muttering helplessly: “What should we do……”

“What should we do, husband, I’m so afraid……”

“Mommy I’m scared, I don’t wanna get eaten!”

Someone else said in a low voice: “The Ghost King isn’t wrong……
these supposedly kind people all just have ulterior motives, we’ve seen
plenty of their kind before. Chu…… Chu-gongzi may not have done
anything yet, but just look at him, half-dead the way he is, who’s to say
he won’t do something crazy in the future!”

Another person, hearing his words, whispered in agreement: “You’re

right. For all we know, he’s nursing that grudge and just waiting to get
all of us killed! Treachery at the eleventh hour is hardly unheard of……”

Suddenly a rough-looking man stood out from the crowd and yelled:
“Grab him! We can live if we hand him over!’

Everyone went silent. A few moments passed before a young woman

stepped out and blocked in front of the man, her voice soft but
determined: “How could you be so ungrateful? Have you no dignity as a
man?”

“Piss off!” The man kicked the woman to the ground and spit on her
face, “You’re just a stupid whore that sleeps with men, no family to
speak of, the hell you running your trap for? I have to take care of both
young and old, I ain’t gonna let my own family go through shit! Chu-
gongzi, you’re just gonna have to understand!”

And with that, he made to go capture Chu Xun.

But he hadn’t even taken one step before his leg was firmly grabbed.
He looked down and roared furiously: “Still getting in the way, you dumb
whore? Go die by yourself if you want, how dare you try to drag
everyone else down with you!”

The woman was no less enraged: “I may be a prostitute, but at least I

can tell right from wrong. If even cats and dogs know to repay
kindnesses, how could we humans not?!”

“Shut the fuck up!”

The man aimed his boots at her head until her entire face was mottled
with bruises. By then, the rest of the crowd had also come closer and
formed a circle around Chu Xun. A few among them tried to stop them
like the woman from the brothel had, but it was a futile effort, like a
single leaf caught in a raging current, swallowed in no time at all.

“Gongzi——Gongzi, hurry and get out of here!”

An old woman yelled shakily toward Chu Xun: “Chu-gongzi, go! Just go!
Don’t stay for the sake of these animals! Go!”

There was also the tender voice of a young child: “Stop fighting,
mommy, daddy, don’t hurt the gongzi, don’t hurt him——”

A maelstrom of commotion, disorder and chaos.

Chu Xun stood alone in the rain. He felt as if he was looking at a horde
of ghosts that had crawled out from the very depths of hell. For a
moment, he did want to leave.

But then his gaze landed on those people, those living, breathing, crying
people. He saw the young child, bawling as he tried to stop his parents.
He saw the young woman who was the first to stand up for him, whose
face was now bruised and swollen. He looked at the old woman shaking
in the rain, and the other dozen or so people standing with their backs
to him, trying their best to stop the others.

The foot that was about to leave paused.

They’ve done nothing wrong. If he takes down the barrier, these people
will die too.

So it turns out that the most disgusting thing in this world weren’t ghosts
and demons, but those cowardly, worthless beasts wearing human skin
hiding in the crowd, willing to say and to do anything just to ensure their
own survival.

And, after it all, they would say: “I just wanted to live, I’m pitiful and
powerless, I’ve done nothing wrong.”

He had thought that the people he protected were all helpless, good
people. But he was wrong.

Those beasts took off their human skins now, revealing their ugly,
snarling, blood-red faces……

They were so well hidden…...so well hidden.

He didn’t want to cry and bleed for those beasts in human clothing
anymore, but they were so sly, hidden so well amongst the good, kind
people, their faces laughing at him, delighting in his powerlessness.

——You have no choice but to save us; if you drop the barrier, we’ll
take the people you want to save, the people actually grateful to you,
together with us to hell.

You have no choice, however much it sickens you.

You chose to be virtuous, you chose to be a good person.

Since that’s the choice you made, then it’s only your duty to sacrifice
yourself to save everyone else. If you refuse, then you’re a swindler, a
pretender, a fake, worse than animals.

It was as if he could hear those people howling, could hear their shrill
laughter:

You have no choice. You have no choice!

In that frenzied pandemonium, in the tempest of rain and wind, Chu Xun
slowly lifted his head toward the heavens.

Dawn was finally about to break.

The relentless downpour had washed the blood from the stone steps of
the ChengHuang Temple. Chu Xun and those who had tried to protect
him were all tied up, walking toward the temple.

The scene was both sorrowful and laughable; those people had tied
Chu Xun up so tightly, smugly pleased that they had captured such a
powerful person, completely unaware that Chu Xun could easily turn the
ropes to ash with but a single spell.

But he didn’t. Nor did he take down the Shangqing barrier.

Enough blood had been shed in Lin’an already. He didn’t want any
more innocent people to die just for his own revenge.

And so it was that the thin layer of light protected them all, both the
thankless beasts that turned on him and the people who stood sincerely
by his side. They arrived at the temple, but the Ghost King himself did
not appear. Instead, there was a candle giving off a black smoke that
twisted into a dark silhouette.

“Why——have you not dispelled the barrier!” The moment it saw Chu
Xun, that voice flew into a rage, “Dispel the barrier!!!!”

Chu Xun said, calmly: “Over my dead body.”

The black smoke let out a shrill shriek: “Chu Xun, you must be mad!
You…… the lot of you——kill him, else I’ll take all your lives as soon as
night comes!”

Daybreak.

The first light of day lit up the endless night.

The Ghost King, unable to maintain his form in the daylight, fled into the
darkness. The candle giving off the black smoke flickered and went out.

Chu Xun pulled himself together. ChengHuang Temple stood on tall

ground; from here, he could see the morning mist shrouding gently
about the mountains and the rivers, hiding the scars from view, and for
a moment, everything looked like the days of old—it was a beautiful
spring.

”Chu-gongzi, sorry.”

“It’s not that we’re cruel and heartless or anything, it’s just that the
Ghost King holds a grudge against you for ruining his eye…… we have
no other choice……”

“What’re you all still yammering for! Don’t drag it out, we don’t want any
surprises. I’ve got a family back there that wants to live! Who’s more
important, this one guy or all of us? The righteous put the people before
the self, his words, not mine!”

Chu Wanning stood in the distance, looking at that person of unknown

relation to himself, his feelings complicated.

Suddenly, a pair of hands covered his eyes.

Chu Wanning whispered: “What are you doing?”

“Not letting you see.”

“......Why?”

“You’ll be sad.”

Chu Wanning was quiet for a while, his eyelashes trembling against the
underside of Mo Ran’s hands: “I won’t. I’ve already said that it’s all in
the past, already, two hundred years ago.”

Mo Ran sighed softly from behind him: “......You little dummy, then why
are my palms wet?”

He didn’t know how long had passed: one incense stick [30 min], one
shichen [2 hr], or only a split second.

Time blurred in this madness, this chaos.

When Chu Wanning opened his eyes again, the Shangqing barrier had
dissipated. Chu Xun laid in a pool of blood, surrounded by people and
by ghosts, by demons wearing human skin, inhaling the scent of fresh
blood.

Ecstasy and guilt; calamity past, the rest of their lives now laid open.
Agony and sin; the hearts of people, indistinguishable from those of
beasts.

The air smelled like death.

The human realm—or perhaps hell.

It was difficult to tell.

Slowly, the crowd dispersed. There was no fear of ghosts during the
day, so they went to find food, to rest, to wait for the Ghost King to
come back at night and inspect the body in the temple and reward them
the promised reunion with their deceased loved ones.

Slowly, only a dozen or so people remained in the temple, weeping in

grief.

The young woman from the brothel was there, and the white-haired old
woman. The young child, and his parents who had listened. A beggar, a
scholar, a storyteller, a son of a once-wealthy family, a widow holding
her infant son, a teacher, and a farmer.

No one else.

But just as they wept over his body, the man lying dead in a pool of his
own blood slowly opened his eyes.

“Gongzi!”

“Chu-gongzi!”

Mo Ran’s heart tremored. Unable to bear it, he said: “No…… this

is……”
This spell was a lost art in the modern age, he hadn’t expected to see it
being used in this illusion.

“The Lingering Voice Spell. He’s already dead, but he used this spell on
himself before he died.” Chu Wanning paused before continuing, “He
still had unattended matters, things he was worried about.”

Sure enough, Chu Xun’s eyes were blank, pupils dilated, and his voice
was flat when he spoke: “Demons and ghosts are treacherous, you
must not believe their words. Without the Shangqing barrier, they will
overrun the city once night falls and slaughter at will. Please leave this
place and head to PuTuo.”

“Gongzi……”

“I have already died, and will not be able to accompany you. But I have
concentrated my entire lifetime of spiritual power into my spiritual core,
bring it with you, and ghosts will not be able to approach.”

They wept even more sorrowfully.

Mo Ran and Chu Wanning’s blood ran cold.

The spiritual core……

It was a crystalline formation within the heart…...

Chu Xun’s body slowly lifted its hand that had not yet gone stiff, and,
under the control of the spell, grasped the knife buried in his chest and
pulled it out.

And then——

“GONGZI!!!!!!” The people around him cried out with grief, their voices
twisted and hoarse, soaked with tears, “Gongzi, what are you doing
——!!!!”

With his own hands, he ripped open the gash in his chest, dug into his
flesh, grabbed his heart that was no longer beating and slowly, inch by
inch, tore it out.

Blood dripped from the heart, enveloped in a golden-red flame.

It was Chu Xun’s spiritual core, the last burst of light from a candle that
had burned out.
“Take…… it……”

He lifted the burning heart, holding it out in front of him, repeating: “Take
it…… take…… it……”

Droplets of blood fell, only to become so many red haitang blossoms,

burning brilliantly as they drifted downwards.

“The road ahead is long and unpredictable. My life ends here, and I can
do no more. Please…… please take care…… of…… yourselves……”

Watching this scene unfold before his eyes, Mo Ran suddenly broke out
in a cold sweat, feeling like there were thorns digging into his back.

Scar…… this scar!!

He suddenly remembered that, on Chu Wanning’s chest, where the

heart was——

There was a scar there!

Chu Wanning was extremely sensitive there, how could he forget?

Whenever he licked at that light-colored scar as they entwined in bed,
Chu Wanning’s usually impassive face would reveal a hint of the desire
that he kept suppressed. That expression made Mo Ran’s blood boil, so
he always humiliated the person underneath himself in this way.

But back then, he had never cared about Chu Wanning’s past, and so
had never asked how he got that scar, all the way until death.

And now, in this life, he no longer had any right to ask.

Was it a coincidence? Or…

Presently, his shizun’s chest wasn’t something that he could see

whenever he wanted, and he could only rely on his memory to recall
that scar. That faint, crescent moon shade, it should’ve been purely the
slashing wound from a blade, not like Chu Xun, whose mark was made
by that of five fingers piercing with force, and left behind savage, bloody
holes.

It wasn’t the same after all.

Mo Ran let out a quiet sigh of relief as he thought this. While Chu Xun
and Chu Wanning were completely different people in personality, there
were much too many areas of their persons that were alike; from
appearance to “As a cultivator, the life of all is our priority, and the self
at the bottom”, to that long scar on the chest. With so many
coincidences piled together, it really made one suspicious.

Yet for some reason, perhaps it was because Chu Xun was overly
gentle, completely different than Chu Wanning’s cruel ruthlessness, or
perhaps because Chu Xun was someone married with a son, so if Chu
Wanning was Chu Xun’s reincarnation, or if he was Chu Wanning
himself, Mo Ran felt he might not be able to take it, and he’d break
down.

Thank goodness it wasn’t like that.

There was no need to expand on what kind of disaster would face the
City of Ling An without Chu Xun’s protection.

Of course the Ghost King wouldn’t keep true to his words, and once
night entered, the rain was bloody the winds astringent, and the world
was flipped upside down. The moat was dyed with the colour of blood,
and after the living had lost their senses, their howling and roaring
blasted throughout the night.

There were wandering zombies all over the interior of the city, picking
and devouring fresh, tender entrails, chomping down on brains.

Mo Ran took Chu Wanning hiding in a broken down little house, the
master of which had long since died, and the furnishings and utilities
were covered with a layer of heavy dust.

Mo Ran shut the door tightly, securely sealing it all around, leaving only
a small window from the kitchen to they could see the situation outside.

And on the outside, there’d come sharp wails and screams from time to
time, and the ominous sounds of swallowing and chewing.

Mo Ran picked Chu Wanning up and sat him on a small pile of firewood
in the corner, and patted his head, “According to Lady Eighteen, once
we defeat the Ghost King we can leave. So you stay here and be good,
don’t run off anywhere.”

Hearing this, Chu Wanning looked up abruptly, “You’re going out?”

“Not now. I’ll go out once the Ghost King shows himself.”

“But it’s really dangerous outside. The illusion has already become
reality, how can you fight back on your own powers alone?”

“Well I can’t bring a kid with me to go fight, can I?”

Chu Wanning shook his head, “I’m coming with you.”

“Hahaha, shidi is so cute, but you’re still young. If you go out with me
you’ll drag me down. Wait til you’re bigger, and when we run into these
things again I won’t hold you back from your spotlight. But this time, you
have to listen to shixiong.”

“I won’t drag you down.”

“That’s what they all say.” Mo Ran said, “Just be good, and don’t fuss,
okay?”

“......”

Seeing that Chu Wanning finally stopped talking, Mo Ran quietly let out
a sigh of relief. He turned his gaze through the ribbed wooden window
to peer outside, his expression growing serious.

Just why did the illusion that was meant for training suddenly become
real? Little shidi was right; someone wanted to harm him. There were
countless in his previous life who wanted him dead, but in this life, he
hadn’t yet offended any powerful character. Thinking back and forth, the
only one who might want his life was that fake Gouchen from Jincheng
Lake.

But what’s the real identity of that fake Gouchen? To be able to run the
Zhenlong Chess Formation with such familiarity, how come he never
showed his talents in the previous lifetime?

Could it be, that he wasn’t the only one reborn in this world…

This thought gave him chills, and his eyes even became sharper and
more aggressive.

After rebirth, he only wanted to bury the past, but if there was another
who was reborn, then things might become quite difficult.

His brows were knitted deeper and deeper, but suddenly he heard Chu
Wanning speak up again, “...Mo Ran, I…”

“What is it?”
Chu Wanning gritted his teeth silently, and after he considered the pros
and cons, he steeled his heart and thought he might as well just tell the
truth straight.

“Listen to me, in fact, I really can help you. I’m…”

But when Mo Ran heard “I really can help you”, he only thought it was
little shidi wanting to argue with him again, so he cut him off, “Alright
alright, I already said I won’t let you out, so I’m not letting you out. Stop
trying to be tough. Listen to me.”

“No, you listen to me—”

Mo Ran was just feeling vexed, so he replied, “I’m not listening, I’m not
listening, la-la-la.”

“......”

Seeing Chu Wanning’s dark expression, Mo Ran probably felt his

attitude just now wasn’t very nice, so he used a finger and poked
between his brows and laughed, “You little young’un, what’s with all this
deep tormented suffering, and disobeying of your seniors’ words too.
Then, let me tell you. Since you call me shixiong and we both came
from the same sect, then when we run into perils like these I must
protect you at all cost. Do you understand?”

Chu Wanning shut his eyes and answered in a low voice, “...I
understand.”

“Good to see you do. Then why don’t you—”

“But I’m worried about you.”

Mo Ran was taken aback, and the finger that hung before Chu
Wanning’s forehead quivered for a second, and he actually couldn’t
utter a single word for the moment. He had lived for two lifetimes, but
never had he heard anyone say the words “I’m worried about you” to
him. Even if Shi Mei treated him with gentleness, he had never
expressed his care for him so straightforwardly.

He gazed with amazement at that tiny, small child sitting on top of that
pile of firewood before him, and his heart was filled with hundreds of
emotions.

After a long while, his eyes gradually grew soft, and the finger he used
to poke Chu Wanning lifted, the hand landing on the soft hairs of the
other, then he ruffled.

“Don’t worry, shixiong promises you. I’ll come back alive and well.”

“Mo Ran, can you just let me finish…”

Mo Ran grinned, “Alright, what did you want to say?”

“I’m actually—”

PANG! The door was crashed open.

A man with disheveled hair screamed as he charged in, covered in

blood, and one of his legs was already ripped into shreds. Behind him
was a band of zombies lured in by the stench of blood.

That man tumbled into the room dragging that wretched leg, and
grabbed at anything he could get his hands on, hurling the objects to
the growling zombies, and he yelled as he threw, “GET THE HELL
OUTTA HERE! DON’T COME OVER HERE! GET AWAY! GET THE
HELL AWAY!”

Mo Ran cursed under his breath and blocked Chu Wanning behind him,
a red light flashing from his hand, and Jiangui was summoned to shield.
He turned half a face over:

“Shidi, hide yourself, absolutely do not come over!”

Then he attacked with the vine in hand, and started to slaughter the
mob of corpses that had invaded the house. Although Jiangui and
Tianwen were similar, but Chu Wanning hadn’t yet fully passed on his
moves to Mo Ran, and the weapon Mo Ran wielded in his previous life
was a saber, he wasn’t used to supple weapons, so while at the
beginning of the slaughtering he wasn’t losing, gradually it became
obvious his power didn’t match the heart.

Jiangui was swung all over the place, when suddenly, the voice of a
child sounded, crisp and cool, “Left side, wrap around the wrist and
strike three times, then jump in the air, swing around the back and sling
out.”

Mo Ran had no time to think, and followed his guidance to fight. The
willow vine whipped upon the body of a zombie on the left, and with just
one strike the zombie’s arm was broken by the holy weapon, exposing
bones. Normally, no one was bored enough to whip twice more, but
since little shidi told him to, then he might as well give it a try, no harm
done. Thus he immediately struck the zombie again twice, then jumping
up, he bent at nimbly at the waist, flipped and slung out the vine whip
straight behind his back—

THRASH!

Quite coincidentally, the next wave of corpses just happened to swarm

in, and Jiangui that had stored three times the strength blew out a
stream of blazing fire, blasting towards them. The band of corpses were
instantly slashed by the brutal holy weapon, each of those zombies
losing their heads, and when those heads had dropped to the ground
they were still smoking with black smoke.

Mo Ran was dumbfounded. He gave a shocked glance at the cool little

shidi sitting on top of a pile of firewood.

This guy… he’s pretty good?

“How do I move next?” Mo Ran was now energetic, and he asked in

excitement.

Chu Wanning instructed expressionlessly, “Next… use your left hand

and pat at your right sleeve.”

“Ooh, this action is deep and indiscernible, what move is it?”

Chu Wanning said flatly, “Nothing deep and indiscernible. You were
swinging too proudly earlier, and the weapon lit a fire on your sleeve,
that’s all.”

Mo Ran “Ah”-ed, and looked down. Sure enough, that was the case,
and he hastily patted out the fire Jiangui had started in a mess. This
man’s face sure was thick; he didn’t feel any sense of awkwardness at
all, and even looked up with a goofy grin, turning to the other, “My shidi
is so amazing. I like.”

Chu Wanning softly cleared his throat and silently turned his face away,
facing the grey, bare walls, his ears faintly red.

At this time, there were only six zombies left in the house that could still
move. Chu Wanning didn’t want to look at Mo Ran any longer, so with
his head still turned away, he instructed to the wall, “Loosen your wrist,
swing the vine towards the sky, twirl it six times to gain power, then
slash down like the word ‘one’”

Mo Ran followed the instructions, but when he twirled to the fifth round,
he suddenly wondered, “How do you slash like the word ‘one’[6]?”

“...Just slash how you normally would with a sword.”

“Ah, I see!” Mo Ran was enlightened and struck down with one blow.
The blazing fires shone, and it was as if that soft and supple vine had
suddenly blazed into an indestructible long saber, slashing the six
corpses in one swing!

“WAH—”

This time, Mo Ran’s eyes were so wide they were practically round.

“Where did you learn this? How come I feel the way you use the vine
whip is almost as familiar and practiced as my shizun? No, maybe
you’re even stronger than him. He had never told me about what you
taught me today.”

“......”

Mo Ran’s smile widened, “Good good good, this is great! Now I don’t
ever have to take shizun’s grim face anymore. I’ll just learn from you,
ain’t that more freeing?”

Chu Wanning shot him a glare, “You scorn Yuheng Elder’s grim face?
Why don’t you scorn my ire?”

Mo Ran withdrew the vine whip and blocked the door shut anew, then
he pulled over a table to block the entrance, and laughed, “You giving
me a hard time is you being good to me. Us two here, we’ve technically
gotten through hardships together now. Shixiong remembers all the
good you’ve treated shixiong with. From now on I’ll dote on you like my
own little brother. Nevermind your grim face, even if you beat me up a
couple times because you’re unhappy I won’t get mad.”

Chu Wanning’s face darkened, “Who wants to be your little brother.”

Then he hopped down that pile of firewood, unwilling to mind Mo Ran

anymore, and instead when to check on the injuries of that man who
had charged in.

Unexpectedly, when he looked, Chu Wanning widened his eyes a little,

“...It’s him?!”

“Who is it?”
Mo Ran looked over curiously too and was also stunned, “That… that
Xiao Man?”

The one lying in a pool of blood and groaning in tears was indeed Xiao
Man. He had suffered grave injuries, and after Chu Wanning had
checked him over, he shook his head, “Humans and ghosts were never
meant to live in harmony. I imagine the Ghost King stopped caring for
him once he was done being useful. He really…”

“Deserved it.” Mo Ran said.

Chu Wanning gave him a look. Mo Ran haha-ed but suddenly felt a little
guilty. If he must say the man deserved the karma of his sins, then
wasn’t he himself the one who deserved karma the most?

Mo Ran changed the subject and asked, “Oh yea, what was it you
wanted to tell me earlier? That you’re actually what?”

Chu Wanning lowered his eyelashes, paused, and said softly, “I’m
actually—”

Before he could finish, he suddenly felt a breeze behind his back. Chu
Wanning jolted viciously, whipped around to fight, but he was in the
body of a child after all, his strength far from that of a grown man, and
he couldn’t struggle free as the other firmly choked his throat!

Somehow, Xiao Man had managed to struggle up from that pool of

blood in one breath!

One of his vein popped hands gripped Chu Wanning’s neck in a deadly
hold, the other twisted and locked Chu Wanning’s arms. It was as if a
wild flame was burning on that filthy, unkempt face, and the desire to
survive had twisted his entire form, changing shapes continuously in the
baking heat like a wax figure.

His eyes were bloodshot, and he croaked towards Mo Ran, “Take me…
away from here…”

“YOU LET HIM GO!”

“TAKE ME AWAY FROM HERE!” Xiao Man shouted furiously, his eyes
practically cracking around the edges from rage, “OTHERWISE I’LL
TAKE HIS LIFE! GO!”

“If you want me to save you then I’ll save you. What are you doing
threatening a child? Let him go first—”
“IF YOU KEEP TALKING I’LL KILL HIM RIGHT NOW!! I’ve already
committed all the sins, I won’t care for one more! ARE WE GOING OR
NOT!”

Chu Wanning couldn’t utter a sound because of the stranglehold, his

elegant little face bulging and flustered. Seeing this, Mo Ran was
panicking. Although if he struck now he could take Xiao Man’s life, but
in this illusion turned reality, if Xiao Man really explodes in fury then
before he could move to strike, the other might already hurt shidi
severely.

“Fine fine fine, I’ll listen to you.” Mo Ran said, “Don’t get riled up, just
loosen your hand a bit, I’ll immediately…”

Before he finished, blood splattered.

Author’s Notes:

Mo Ran: Little Shidi is so good to me! Little Shidi is not only smart but
also cute *^o^* Nothing like Shizun at all!

Chu Wanning: Heh, blind.

[1] To shoot through a martial artist with a steel chain through their
collarbones was said to be the way to rip of them of their abilities and
subdue them.

[2] Regional dialect for jiejie

[3] 仙君 xianjun- a respectful form of address for a cultivator

[4] A lock-shaped jewelry worn around the neck like so. It’s a tradition
where parents take their one month-old child to cultivators or a temple
to be given an “entrusted name” so that the child can receive the
protection of the gods/buddha and won’t die young and will have good
fortunes. The lock represents locking the child to life, by the power of
the gods/buddha.

[5] 清 明 QingMing “Pure Brightness Festival” aka tomb sweeping day,

celebration for the dead in early April

[6] The word one is just one line → 一