REVIVING SHIZUN (6)

Chu Wanning was used to waking up to the fragrant smell of haitang flowers drifting in the air. And then there was the sound of water falling from a height into the lotus ponds. When he opened his eyes after a deep slumber, he could see the beautiful mountain towering high in the distance. The serenity of the Red Lotus Pavilion remained the same before and after Taxian-Jun took over Sisheng Peak. It was Chu Wanning's safe space.

When the man opened his eyes again, all of that had disappeared. Darkness prevailed in the Underworld, night and day were distinguished by the alternating presence and absence of the bright moon up in the sky.

Chu Wanning furrowed his brows in annoyance, but then he sighed in his heart. What was he complaining about? Ten thousands of souls wailed inside and outside of Sick Soul Hospital and cried about their unjust deaths. And then there he was, sour because he did not wake up to the scenery of his Red Lotus Pavilion.

A ghost nurse's voice rang out behind the curtain before the curtain was pulled aside.

"Chu Wanning, you have visitors."

Chu Wanning lazily turned his head. It was Chu Xun and his subordinate again. Funny. This time he did not wear a mask and he looked like Mo Ran. Chu Wanning stared at him in a daze for a while before he lost interest and closed his eyes to sleep.

Chu Xun pushed Mo Ran to the front and whispered something to him before leaving. Mo Ran was trembling all over when he slowly approached Chu Wanning's bed.

"S-Shi... Shizun..."

Chu Wanning didn't answer.

Mo Ran called again, a little louder.

"Shizun. Shizun! SHIZUN!!!"

Chu Wanning opened his eyes abruptly. He whipped around and stared at Mo Ran's tear-streaked, pitiful-looking face.

"Shizun... It's you. It's really you..."

Mo Ran extended his arms to hug Chu Wanning, but the latter got so angry that he slapped Mo Ran hard across the cheek. Mo Ran was hit so hard that he saw stars in front of his eyes.

"You idiot! How did you end up dead???" Chu Wanning shouted angrily.

Mo Ran did not answer. He jumped at Chu Wanning and hugged him tightly instead.

"Waahhhhh... Shizun... Shizun, I was wrong. I was wrong. Please punish me!!"

Chu Wanning was about to tell Mo Ran to talk to Yanluo to find out where he should spend eternity in, but then he felt something. Mo Ran was warm, and the heart in his chest was beating rapidly. He was not dead. Chu Wanning's body loosened up in Mo Ran's embrace.

After knowing that Mo Ran was still alive, Chu Wanning's heart grew cold again. He calmly pushed Mo Ran away. A layer of ice covered his eyes when he scrutinized the disciple in front of him.

"If you are not dead, what are you doing here?"

Mo Ran's lips trembled. The Soul-Guiding Lantern was hidden in his qiankun pouch. His hand shook when he brushed against the pouch at his waist. Chu Xun was outside. Mo Ran did not dare to speak too loud.

"That... I... I am here to take Shizun back home."

Chu Wanning narrowed his eyes at Mo Ran.

"No," he said decisively.

Mo Ran's heart shattered in an instant. Big beads of tears formed in his eyes again as he knelt on Chu Wanning's bed and grabbed the latter's hands.

"S-Shizun, don't say that. Why won't you come back? Let us go back, okay?"

Chu Wanning pulled his hands away from Mo Ran's grasp and refused to look at him. Mo Ran clawed into the bedsheet instead.

"Shizun, please? Please say you will come..."

"Is the word 'no' very difficult to understand, Mo Weiyu?" Chu Wanning snapped. "You don't belong here. Go back to the mortal realm now."

"Shizun, don't say that... Please come with me..."

"If you still take me as your Shizun, go back now."

"..."

Mo Ran suddenly recalled Master Huaizui's words.

"The main purpose of this journey is to grant closure for the three Shizhus over Chu Wanning's passing. If Chu Wanning does not want to be revived, he will not come with the Shizhus."

However implausible it sounded, it turned out that Master Huaizui was right. Chu Wanning truly did not wish to be revived. Chu Wanning's every refusal was like a knife into his heart. He reached out to touch Chu Wanning's hand again, but the latter already moved it subtly out of his reach. Mo Ran's hand grabbed into empty air before falling uselessly on the bed.

"Shizun, why?" He asked with a hoarse voice. "Why won't you come back?"

The question sounded so innocent. If it came from another person's mouth. Chu Wanning slowly turned his head to look at Mo Ran, there was a strange light flashing across his eyes.

"It's strange," he said with a voice so low that it sounded like a whisper.

Mo Ran was so afraid to miss Chu Wanning's words that he held his breath in anticipation, but Chu Wanning merely stared at him with a gaze that was sharp enough to cut metal blocks.

"... What is strange, Shizun?"

Chu Wanning's lips curled up in a condescending sneer.

"It is strange to hear Taxian-Jun ask me this question. Or have you forgotten the question that you asked me so many times before?"

If Mo Ran was holding his breath before, he now did not dare to take a breath at all. He stared at Chu Wanning as if he were facing a ghost from his past. A ghost who died in one of Taxian-Jun's destructive conquests, blood and flesh turned into fine paste under Taxian-Jun's metallic boots.

He thought he misheard. He hoped that he misheard. Chu Wanning... No, how did he know...? Where did the words "Taxian-Jun" come from???

Chu Wanning leaned closer toward Mo Ran. His eyes softened and the sneer turned into a gentle smile. When he spoke again, his tone was sweet and tolerant but every syllable was like a needle that pierced into Mo Ran's body.

"I will remind His Majesty. The question was, 'Why did Shi Mei die and you are still alive, Chu Wanning?'"

Looking at Mo Ran's petrified face, Chu Wanning broke into crazed laughter. He never thought that he would one day see it with his own eyes. Mo Ran's expression when his mask of pretense was ripped off his face and revealed the true face underneath. It was priceless.

Mo Ran froze on the spot. He did not know what else to say. He had been hoping to coax Chu Wanning by promising that he would be good to him for the rest of his life, but the Chu Wanning in front of him unexpectedly...

Mo Ran gripped into the bedsheet so hard that it started to rip in his hands.

-No hope.

-There is no hope!

-The Chu Wanning in front of him will never, never go back with him!

Chu Wanning stopped laughing and looked down at Mo Ran. The young man looked so pale that he could pass as one of the sick souls in the hospital.

"Cat got your tongue?"

"..."

"Are you going to say that you didn't mean it?"

"..."

"Or that you regret it?"

"..."

"Save me the pathetic excuses and get out of my sight."

Chu Wanning's mocking smile disappeared and his expression turned impassive as usual. He expected Mo Ran to give up and go back with his tail between his legs, but Mo Ran did not move at all. He only had one word to say.

"No."

Chu Wanning squinted at Mo Ran.

"What did you just say?"

"I am not going to leave."

Right after he said those words, he was thrown outside of the room by Chu Wanning. Mo Ran bumped against Chu Xun outside, almost tackling him to the ground.

"Get lost," Chu Wanning's voice rang out from behind the curtain.

Mo Ran got to his feet and wanted to storm back inside, but Chu Xun grabbed his shoulders and pulled him away. He shook his head at Mo Ran.

"Not now. Let me."

And so, Chu Xun went inside to find Chu Wanning. The latter was sitting on the bed with his back straight and unrelenting, but exhaustion was written all over his face. Chu Xun approached the bed and opened his mouth to say something, but Chu Wanning spoke ahead of him.

"Sir Chu, I changed my mind. I wish to re-enter the reincarnation cycle."