LING'ER'S AMBITION

After they were done with the rice cake, Chu Wanning excused himself to go back to the little courtyard that he shared with Mo Ran. He said that he needed to cool off. Just like Mo Ran thought, Chu Wanning was hot from the burning sun.

As a caring disciple, Mo Ran was concerned. He wanted to follow Chu Wanning, but Chu Wanning said no. Chu Wanning told Mo Ran to help the villagers store the rice cake instead. He was going to come back soon anyway. There was no need for Mo Ran to come with him. In fact, having Mo Ran around would only add fuel to the fire. Of course, this was not something that Chu Wanning told Mo Ran openly.

"Alright, Shizun," Mo Ran said reluctantly.

After all the work was done, the Village Chief called everyone together to help out with the grand dinner preparation. Mo Ran also wanted to help in the kitchen, but the Village Chief led him to the dinner venue and sat him down at a table instead.

"Immortal Mo, you have helped a lot. We cannot thank you and Lord Immortal enough. For tonight, let us treat you to some delicacies. You two will be our honored guests for tonight."

"My shizun can be the honored guest," Mo Ran quickly said. "I don't mind helping."

He rose to his feet, but the Village Chief pushed him down again.

"Immortal Mo, ah. Please don't move from this table. You are going to disappoint everyone. We all really just want to express our gratitude."

After that, he too left to work in the kitchen. Mo Ran was left alone to sit at one of the tables, waiting for dishes to be served to him like a king.

It was not as if Mo Ran was a glutton for hard work. He too was exhausted after days of manual labor, but he needed to do something in order to distract himself from thinking about Chu Wanning. These few days in Yuliang Village had been a hell ride for Mo Ran. His shizun's long, slender legs were nothing less than a pair of murderous weapons, ready to take Mo Ran's life at any time. And then his beautiful feet with the high arch. Mo Ran wanted to shower his shizun's feet and legs with kisses. He wanted to leave his marks on them and tell everyone that his shizun belonged to him.

Alas, his shizun was not his. Not yet at least.

Mo Ran was extremely restless.

He wanted to confess his feelings to Chu Wanning, but he did not know how his shizun would react. Would he be disgusted by Mo Ran's untoward feelings toward him? Would he think that Mo Ran wanted to desecrate the virtuous shizun-disciple relationship that they salvaged with a lot of effort? And what about Jiang Xi? What was the relationship between Chu Wanning and Jiang Xi? What about the cursed ring???

Mo Ran was about to go crazy. He buried his face in both hands and heaved a deep sigh. In his heart, he prayed fervently to all gods in heaven to please show him a way out of this miserable situation.

The one that appeared before him was not the solution to his problem but Ling'er.

"Mo-Gege."

Mo Ran looked up and came face-to-face with Ling'er. The young woman had just taken a bath and changed into a set of peach-colored dress. A sweet scent emanated from her. Something that smelled like ripe fruits, For the first time in years, Mo Ran realized that Ling'er was no longer the little girl that he met years ago.

Ling'er had grown up. She was now a young woman, an astounding beauty. Her slender frame supported a pair of ripe breasts that threatened to burst out of the seams.

The young woman's lips curled up in a shy smile when Mo Ran looked her up and down. She knew that she was an extraordinary beauty with an irresistible body. With this kind of body, which sane man would refuse her?

Coquettishly, Ling'er put down a tray of food on the table. She had worked hard to cook all the delicacies in the kitchen to please her Mo-Gege. All of the dishes were Mo Ran's favorite dishes. A bowl of wonton soup with a generous layer of chili sauce on top. Fried strips of pork that were sauteed together with tomatoes and chili peppers. And last but not least, fresh fish fillets that were grilled over an open fire and then cooked together with fresh vegetables, garlic, and a lot of chili paste.

These three dishes could make every man's mouth water within an instant.

Ling'er expected Mo Ran to shower her with praises about her culinary skills and eat the food that she had prepared. And then, she would confess her feelings and Mo Ran would tell her that he felt the same way. And then she could finally leave the dreary village and start a new life at Sisheng Peak.

Ling'er's plan was perfect.

It would have worked on any other man except for Mo Ran. Her Mo-Gege's mind was somewhere else. To be exact, it was still lingering in Chu Wanning's room, stuck at the time when he sucked some blood from Chu Wanning's foot.

"I am sorry," Mo Ran said with a heavy sigh. "I don't have an appetite."

That was not entirely correct. He did have an appetite, but he was unable to eat the tofu that he wanted to eat.

Ling'er's face crumpled like waste paper.

"Mo-Gege, I have worked so hard to prepare these dishes for you," she sobbed pitifully. "For me, please just eat some. I want to know what you think about them."

Against his wish, Mo Ran lifted the pair of chopsticks on the tray and stared at the hot, red, flaming dishes one by one. If it were the Mo Ran of the past, he would devour them one by one without hesitation. The current Mo Ran could only think about how much his shizun disliked spicy dishes. The pair of chopsticks were put down again on the tray. The man shook his head full of regret.

"I am sorry, I don't eat spicy dishes anymore."

Ling'er's heart plummeted to the ground.

"But why??? Gege, you used to eat a lot of spicy dishes!"

"My shizun cannot eat spicy dishes, so I don't want to eat spicy dishes anymore."

Ling'er almost lost her mind. Shizun, shizun, shizun! Was that all that Mo Ran could talk about? That man was practically obsessed!

"Lord Immortal is so ruthless," Ling'er said, unable to contain herself. "Just because he cannot eat spicy dishes, he had to ruin it for his disciples as well. He is really a despicable, hateful..."

Ling'er had not even finished the train of insults that she had in her mind when Mo Ran slammed hard on the table. Thankfully, the table did not split into two, but the force was enough to send the tray along with the dishes falling to the ground. The red oil even splashed against Ling'er's pretty dress and embroidered shoes, ruining her outfit.

That was not even the scariest thing. When Ling'er raised her head to look at Mo Ran, she almost fainted from shock. Mo Ran's face was a mask of fury. He glared at Ling'er as if he was about to rip her into pieces. Ling'er unwittingly shook from fear. She had never experienced this kind of Mo-Gege. Her Mo-Gege had always been kind, loving, and gentle...

"Don't you ever dare talk about my shizun that way again," Mo Ran warned her, his eyes blazing with unconcealed hatred. "My shizun is the nicest, the best, the most wonderful person in my life!"

Ling'er's tears came streaming down her cheeks. Her lips were trembling from fear, but the young woman still dared to talk back, "Mo-Gege, you are too naive. You don't even know who is really kind to you."

Naive?

Mo Ran threw his head back and laughed.

Him, naive?

He was, alright. And because he was naive, he had gone down a bloody path and killed everyone who dared to stand in his way. Who knew? Maybe he too had killed Ling'er in his past life.

It was Chu Wanning who ultimately saved him from hell. His shizun was the god who saved him from his wretched life, the guiding light that illuminated his way back to the path of righteousness.

"You know nothing," Mo Ran hissed. "Don't talk about me as if you know me that well."

Ling'er started to sob pitifully, but Mo Ran did not feel the slightest bit of pity for her. Ling'er's words today reminded Mo Ran of a recent event, and it did not make Mo Ran any happier.

"Ling'er, when you said that you accidentally broke the ceramic vase and some of the shards went into my shizun's shoes... was it really an accident?"

Ling'er's eyes widened in terror.

"It was! It really was!" she quickly answered. Mo Ran was being very unreasonable at the moment. If Ling'er had admitted that it was done deliberately, Mo Ran might just snap her neck off then and there.

The bad news was that Mo Ran did not believe Ling'er at all. In his eyes, Ling'er was no different from Song Qiutong who always tried to find an opportunity to torture Chu Wanning behind his back. Mo Ran knew that he was being a hypocrite. He wanted to punish Song Qiutong and Ling'er for laying their hands on his shizun while he himself did worse things to Chu Wanning.

But what else could he do for his shizun?

He had done everything he could to make up for his awful behavior. The only thing left to do was to make sure that no one else would go and hurt his shizun again. That included Ling'er.

"You lie," Mo Ran said. He kicked the table aside and approached Ling'er.

Ling'er turned as pale as a sheet of paper. She shook like a leaf.

What was Mo-Gege trying to do? What was happening? It was just a little cut! Why was Mo-Gege so angry?

"Nooo," she whimpered. "Mo-Gege, it was really an accident. I didn't mean it, I..."

Drowned in bloodlust, Mo Ran was unable to hear Ling'er's cries. In fact, he did not care. He needed to protect his shizun...

"Mo Ran, what are you doing?"

A cold voice was heard from behind him. In the next moment, his shoulder was seized by a strong grip. Mo Ran did not have to turn around to know who it was. Chu Wanning's voice was as clear as water, dousing the burning fire in his heart in an instant.

"Shizun..."

Seeing Chu Wanning was like seeing a deity. Ling'er quickly whimpered at the Lord Immortal who she badmouthed just a moment ago.

"Lord Immortal, please help me! Mo-Gege, he... he was so scary!"

Chu Wanning narrowed his eyes at Ling'er, her soiled robe, and the wasted food on the ground.

"Please leave, Miss Ling'er," he said with an authoritative tone.

Ling'er did not need to be told twice. She quickly escaped from the place and ran toward safety.

Chu Wanning tapped at Mo Ran's shoulder and forced his reluctant disciple to face him.

"Mo Ran, what's wrong? Why are you so agitated?"

Mo Ran rubbed at his face. He unwittingly broke in a cold sweat when he realized what he had almost done. If Chu Wanning was not there to stop him, he might have done something unspeakable.

"I don't know," Mo Ran answered helplessly. "I was just so mad. So mad... I..."

Chu Wanning furrowed his brows. What's with the sudden burst of anger? Up until a moment ago, Mo Ran was practically bleeding from killing aura.

Was it the flower? Was it acting up again?

Chu Wanning swallowed hard. Did he have to use the ring on Mo Ran in the end?

There might be no other way. Hua Binan knew what he was doing... Jiang Xi knew what he was doing...

Chu Wanning took Mo Ran's hand, startling him.

"Come with me," Chu Wanning said, tugging at Mo Ran's hand

In a daze, Mo Ran let Chu Wanning drag him back to the courtyard. To his own bedroom, to be exact.

The two of them were surprised to find five jars of Pear Blossom White standing on the table.

"Did you go and buy wine?" Chu Wanning asked.

"No," Mo Ran answered. "I wanted to, but the shop owner was sick. I did mention to the Village Head that I wanted to buy some. I guess he is the one who put them here."

"Oh."

Either way, wine was not good for Mo Ran in his current state. His mood was unstable. Wine would only feed more into his aggression.

"Mo Ran, come here."

Mo Ran approached Chu Wanning, who asked him to sit on the bed. Chu Wanning himself pulled a chair and sat in front of Mo Ran. And then, he cupped Mo Ran's face and pressed their foreheads together.

It was only a small gesture. A minimal skin-to-skin contact, but the dark clouds in Mo Ran's mind cleared up within an instant. It was as if he just attained enlightenment. At the same time, the desire in his heart started to burn more and more.

He wanted Chu Wanning so badly.

He wanted to grab Chu Wanning by his narrow and sexy waist, push him into the bed, and rip the clothes off his body...

Meanwhile, Ling'er was sitting alone on one of the patios in the middle of the rice fields. She hugged both legs to her chest and cried pitifully. A young man found her and tapped her on the shoulders. Startled, Ling'er screamed out of fright. Her fear morphed into anger when she saw who it was.

"Can you not scare me like that??" she scolded the young man harshly. He quickly put up both hands in surrender.

"Hey, I didn't mean to. I just want to say that I already put the wine bottles in Immortal Mo's bedroom."

Ling'er could not care less about that. Mo-Gege was too scary. Ling'er did not dare to pull any tricks anymore.

"Forget it!" she shouted. "I don't want them anymore!"

Ling'er then jumped off the patio and stormed away.

The young man pursed his lips. "Women," he muttered under his breath. "It is fine if you don't want them anymore, but I can't get them back from Immortal Mo. Hey, Ling'er, you still have to pay for them! Hey!"