SHIZUN, I DID NOT SKIP THE WORK!

When Chu Wanning got out of his tiny house the next morning, the house on the opposite side was empty. Mo Ran woke up early in the morning and worked for a few hours in the field, but then he said he had something else to do so he excused himself to go out of the village.

"Is that so."

Chu Wanning furrowed his brows.

Did something happen? They were helping out at Yuliang Village. What urgent matter prompted Mo Ran to leave all of a sudden?

Chu Wanning continued working for the both of them. Although he was now a lot more proficient in wielding the scythe, it did not mean that it was not tiring. It was tiring to repeat the same movement over and over again. Cutting, piling. Cutting, piling. Cutting, piling. After working for three hours straight, Chu Wanning still had not seen Mo Ran's shadow.

The more he waited, the more furious he became.

That insolent disciple Mo Ran actually dared to skip on his duties and let his shizun work on the field alone!

Chu Wanning gritted his teeth. Wait until that shameless man came back. Chu Wanning was going to teach him a lesson he would not forget.

Mo Ran finally showed up shortly before lunch.

"Immortal Mo!" the villagers shouted. "Immortal Mo is finally back!"

Chu Wanning turned his head to look at Mo Ran, who looked as dashing as a rich young master on a horse. Behind this rich young master was a pretty young woman who had her arms around Mo Ran's waist. Chu Wanning could literally hear his patience bar snap into two.

Good.

Very good.

Mo Ran had truly grown up.

He was now practicing debauchery out in the open, not even bothering to save his shizun some face!

Chu Wanning made a beeline toward Mo Ran who was helping Ling'er to climb off the horse.

"Ah... Mo-Gege, I am so scared..."

Chu Wanning was about to vomit some blood. The young woman was all laughter and smiles when she rode behind Mo Ran and she was suddenly afraid of horses now? This was all Mo Ran's fault! Mo Ran's incessant flirting and seduction had ruined the young woman's mentality and reduced her to nothing but a slave of her carnal desire!

"MO RAN!"

Mo Ran flinched.

He turned around and saw Chu Wanning with the sharp scythe in his hand. For some reason, he looked a lot like a wife who was about to cut her husband into pieces.

"S-Shizun."

"Do you still have enough shame to call me your shizun???"

Mo Ran lowered his head and said nothing.

In his stead, Ling'er stepped forward and spoke for him.

"Lord Immortal, please don't be angry at Mo-Gege. Mo-Gege received some news from his sect so he had to go back to do something. On his way back, he took care to buy some food for all villagers. I just happen to meet him at Butterfly Town."

His sect?

Mo Ran's sect was also Chu Wanning's sect! What was so important that happened at Sisheng Peak? If there was really something, Xue Zhengyong would contact him first and not Mo Ran!

What was this foolish young woman talking about?

Chu Wanning's glare intensified. Was this all Mo-zongshi was capable of? Spinning some lies to win young women's sympathies? Let's see if he had enough face to repeat the same lies in front of Chu Wanning then.

Chu Wanning narrowed his eyes at Mo Ran.

"Is that true?"

Mo Ran slowly lifted his gaze. He looked extra pitiful, like a disciple who was being bullied by his shizun. All around them, the villagers started to murmur again.

"Aish. So pitiful, Immortal Mo..."

"Immortal Mo is getting scolded again."

"Lord Immortal is really strict..."

"But I think that Immortal Mo did not do anything wrong... the shizun is being unreasonable."

Chu Wanning clenched his jaw.

He could not care less about what others thought about him. He was used to being misunderstood anyway. Mo Ran was clearly the guilty one here. Wasn't he?

Mo Ran softly said, "This disciple is wrong. Shizun, please punish me."

Ling'er widened her eyes in shock.

"No! Mo-Gege, what are you talking about??? You did nothing wrong!"

Chu Wanning inhaled and exhaled a few times. He stared at Mo Ran, who hung his head, seemingly resigned to whatever punishment Chu Wanning had in store for him. Ling'er on the other side kept yapping about her Mo-Gege being innocent and that Chu Wanning should not punish him because it would be unfair.

Heh.

To think that a young woman would one day lecture the Beidou Immortal about not punishing his own disciple. If Ling'er were a disciple of Sisheng Peak, she would know about Chu Wanning's infamous temper, enough to shut up when the latter was furious.

Chu Wanning's grip around the scythe tightened but then loosened again as he turned around and made his way back to the field.

Mo Ran quickly looked up. "Shi..."

"Don't!" Ling'er shouted, putting her arms around Mo Ran's waist. "Gege, your shizun is not punishing you. You should not go and enrage him further."

Mo Ran took Ling'er's arms away from his body. He then marched toward Chu Wanning, who was slashing at the rice stalks to vent his anger.

"Shizun..."

"..."

"Shizun, I am sorry."

"..."

"Shizun, there was really something in Sisheng Peak that I had to attend to."

Chu Wanning scoffed.

"Really. Mo-zongshi is so capable. Naturally, Sisheng Peak cannot afford to have you gone for more than two days."

"..."

"Time for lunch...!!!" A woman shouted from the side of the fields.

"Finally!"

"I am famished!"

One by one, the villagers stepped out of the muddy fields and went to get some lunch. Only Mo Ran and Chu Wanning stayed behind. The disciple stood straight as a scarecrow while the shizun hacked away at the rice stalks.

"Shizun... are you not hungry?"

"..."

"Shizun..."

"..."

Chu Wanning was determined to ignore Mo Ran. He was starving, but he would never give in to Mo Ran and just follow him out of the field for lunch, pretending as if nothing happened.

Growwwwllllll...

"..."

"..."

-This damned stomach. Why does it not cooperate???

Grooooooooooowlllllllllllllllllllllllllll...

"..."

"..."

Angry with himself, Chu Wanning stomped off past Mo Ran and climbed out of the ridges. Mo Ran dutifully followed without saying even a single word. Unfortunately, once they arrived, it was already too late. The food was gone.

"Aiyah!" The Village Chief's wife was mortified. "I am so sorry! I did not notice that Immortal Mo and Lord Immortal have yet to take lunch! I gave everything away to those who came back for seconds!"

Chu Wanning's face was as black as the pot bottom.

"Never mind," he said.

Chu Wanning walked off to rest at one of the huts in the middle of the fields. The Village Chief's wife felt really bad for him and Mo Ran.

"Immortal Mo, I am so sorry... can you two wait for a little bit? I can go cook something real fast..."

Mo Ran shook his head with a smile. "Auntie, don't worry. I brought some food from Butterfly Town for Shizun."

Mo Ran went back to his horse to grab bags of goods that he bought on his way back. Thankfully, he remembered to buy some food for his shizun.

Chu Wanning was very tired. He leaned against a post, his eyes closed and his brows furrowed.

"Shizun..."

Chu Wanning did not react. Only the deepened crease between his brows served as proof that he did hear Mo Ran.

"Shizun, please don't be mad..."

"Hmph."

"This disciple can explain. There was something that I..."

Chu Wanning held a hand up.

"I don't care. You can go and do whatever you want."

"..."

"..."

"Then, is Shizun no longer angry at me?"

Hmph. Was Mo Ran stupid? Was it not clear that Chu Wanning was angry at him? He was only throwing sarcastic remarks at Mo Ran and the stupid disciple thought that he was forgiven that easily?

"Shizun..."

"..."

"Shizunnnn..."

"WHAT!"

Chu Wanning opened his eyes in rage as he turned to face Mo Ran. Unexpectedly, Mo Ran shoved something into his mouth and even held his fingers against Chu Wanning's lips.

-Poison???

-Is Mo Ran trying to kill him with poison???

-But why is this poison so... so...

-Sweet...

"Mmmh..."

Mo Ran was watching the minute change on Chu Wanning's face. When Chu Wanning's expression softened and he sucked on the milk candy that Mo Ran fed him, Mo Ran finally took his hand off Chu Wanning's lips.

The candy was so sweet.

So tender.

It melted in Chu Wanning's mouth little by little, placating the angry shizun effectively.

Chu Wanning could not help but scowl at Mo Ran. It was an underhanded tactic, using candy to placate him. Outrageous!

Mo Ran started to rummage in his bags for something else. Once he found it, he presented a bag of pastries in front of Chu Wanning. Among the pastries was Chu Wanning's favorite Osmanthus cake.

"Shizun, I brought you some pastries. Sorry, I bought some raw ingredients to cook too but it will take a long time to get it done. Why don't you eat the pastries first?"

Chu Wanning said nothing. If Mo Ran thought that food was enough to get on his good side, the disciple was sorely mistaken. Chu Wanning would not let himself be bribed with anything!

He only accepted the milk candy because it was sneakily shoved into his mouth and he did not want to waste such a delicious candy.

"Shizun, Ye Wangxi and Elder Xu have left Sisheng Peak. Nangong Si came to take them away."