Chu Wanning froze in front of the mirror, staring at his reflection in disbelief. His overlarge robe dragged behind him, and the majority of his layers of clothes already slid down his shoulders with the tiniest movements. Chu Wanning pulled his lapels up and wrap his clothes tighter around him, his heart pounding fast and hard.
-What happened?
-Why did I become small?
He outstretched a trembling hand and tried to summon Tianwen. Chu Wanning breathed out in relief when he saw the familiar golden light emerge from the center of his palm. And then, a tiny golden vine appeared in his hand.
"…"
Tianwen was sensible enough to adapt to its master's size. If not because his spiritual powers remained intact, Chu Wanning would have vomited blood out of anger.
Inside his bedroom, Chu Wanning walked in circles for a while, panicking.
-What to do?
-What to do???
As if his luck was not rotten enough, someone came to disturb his peace. Again.
"Shizun, are you awake?"
A familiar voice was heard outside of the bedroom, followed by three knocking sounds at the door. Chu Wanning's instinct told him to run and hide, so that was what he did. He was in such a hurry that he stepped on his overlarge robe and tripped. Chu Wanning's small body was freed from his pesky robes and rolled forward like a ball, crashing against the wall. Only his inner garments still stuck to him, so he ran out while wrapping his inner garments tight around his little body.
"Shizun?"
Mo Ran entered as soon as he heard the crashing noise coming out of Chu Wanning's bedroom. What he saw quickly infuriated him. The quilt was thrown off the bed completely. And Chu Wanning, wherever he was, why would he throw off his clothes on the ground again after Mo Ran cleaned his bedroom with a lot of effort???
Muttering curses under his breath, Mo Ran went to put the quilt back on the bed and pick up the scattered clothes on the ground.
But where was his Shizun?
Where was Chu Wanning?
Did he feel better after resting overnight?
Mo Ran remembered that Chu Wanning was especially weak against the cold. He could not be exposed to cold air for a long time, or he would easily fall sick. Back when he was still his Concubine Chu, Mo Ran often failed to pay attention to Chu Wanning's health. The man who originally had a weak disposition became weaker and weaker in his hands. So weak that during the nights when Taxian-Jun was taking care of the feverish Concubine Chu, he often thought that Chu Wanning would die from cold eventually. That he would stop trying so hard to suck in another lungful of air, and just give up.
But he did not.
He persevered.
In the end, he died on his own terms.
Mo Ran sighed.
He hated Chu Wanning for what he did in his previous life, but he could not deny the fact that Chu Wanning's death unraveled his life completely. Without the person whom he loved and the person whom he hated, life had lost its meaning.
"Shizun?" Mo Ran called again.
No answer.
Mo Ran frowned.
Could it be that Chu Wanning was taking a bath? Mo Ran was tempted to take a look. Chu Wanning, bathing in the Red Lotus Pond. Mo Ran could already see the broad shoulders and the soft protruding spine at his back. When he gazed downward, he would see the slender waist. How many times had Taxian-Jun attacked Chu Wanning when he was taking his bath? The waist was quickly covered in red-purple bruises when Taxian-Jun grabbed it and proceeded to separate the two round mounds of flesh.
Chu Wanning resisted a lot at first. After a lot of slaps and beatings, he finally stopped fighting back. Trembling from humiliation, he let his sinful disciple pull his legs apart and mercilessly bury himself deep inside Chu Wanning. When Chu Wanning arched his back and shouted with a hoarse voice, it was not from pleasure but pain. Mo Ran did not care. He liked hearing Chu Wanning call in bed. Pain or pleasure, he had the right to inflict it on Chu Wanning. Chu Wanning was his. His Concubine Chu…
Mo Ran had already taken three steps in the Red Lotus Pond's direction before he stopped in his track.
-Am I crazy?
-Did I just think about taking a peek at Chu Wanning when he's taking a bath?
-Forget that he's sick. That man is brutal.
-The last shijie who had the guts to take a look at him had been lashed mercilessly.
-And that was a woman!
If Mo Ran followed in her footsteps, who knew what Chu Wanning would do to him? By the time Chu Wanning was done with him, Mo Ran might beg to be whipped with Tianwen instead!
Mo Ran shuddered.
"Shizun," he called again. "I will go now. I will come back in a bit to help you clean your room, okay?"
Tiny Chu Wanning who was hiding outside could barely stop himself from telling Mo Ran to scram. If Mo Ran had seen him in his current state, Chu Wanning did not want to live anymore. It was more embarrassing than death.
The second most embarrassing thing turned out to be being seen by anyone else but Mo Ran.
Chu Wanning sent over his messenger haitang to Xue ZhengYong with the plea to please come to Red Lotus Pavilion as soon as possible.
Xue ZhengYong had snickered when he first received the haitang. So the high and mighty Yuheng Elder finally deigned to take down his powerful barrier to let mortals into his residence? If they had not been friends for such a long time, Xue ZhengYong would definitely give him a scolding or two.
Or a laughter.
Yes, definitely a laughter.
Xue ZhengYong had laughed so hard that his whole face turned red and he had to support himself on a chair to not fall down on the ground. The longer he laughed, the stronger the murderous aura around Chu Wanning became. The child looked as if he was ready to commit a series of murders.
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHA YUHENG, HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!"
Chu Wanning's face was as black as the pot bottom.
"Does Sect Leader want to laugh more? Why don't I wait until Sect Leader is done laughing before he can help me?"
Xue ZhengYong shut up immediately. Clearing his throat, he thus asked in a voice full of concern, "Yuheng, what happened?"
Little Yuheng gnashed his teeth. He told Xue ZhengYong what happened and watched furiously as Xue ZhengYong's lips kept tugging up before he cleared his throat to prevent himself from laughing out loud.
"Then, Yuheng, why don't I bring you something to wear first?"
Chu Wanning pulled the inner garments even tighter around his body and glared at Xue ZhengYong. The latter interpreted it as a yes and went to fetch some clothes for the younger Sisheng Peak disciples.
After wearing the dark-blue uniform with silver trimmed sleeves – the Sisheng Peak disciples' uniform – Chu Wanning looked even less like his usual self. He stared in awe at his reflection in the mirror, completely speechless.
"Should I tailor you a new set of white clothes?" Xue ZhengYong asked, trying to be helpful.
His kind question was answered with glares.
"What do you mean? Do you think I will stay like this forever??" Chu Wanning asked with an icy tone.
When Chu Wanning spoke like that, people who heard him would shrink back in fear from his murderous aura. But when a child that did not even reach an adult's waist said that, it sounded helpless and cute. Xue ZhengYong ended up rubbing little Chu Wanning's head and comforting him.
"No, of course not. Be good."
"…"
Xue ZhengYong was quickly kicked out of the Red Lotus Pavilion. Chu Wanning decided to withdraw completely from the outside world and went into seclusion for a few days, in hope that the effect was temporary.