SHIZUN, I LIKE YOU!

The first thing that filled Chu Wanning's brain when he opened his eyes the next morning was immense rage.

His beautiful phoenix eyes swept the room with a gaze as sharp as his Huaisha, looking for a certain man who dared to humiliate him.

Said man was of course not around.

Coward.

Mo Weiyu, you are a coward!!!

Chu Wanning dragged his body to a sitting position with much effort. There was a stinging pain at his rear side, thanks to Mo Ran who thrust his thick finger into Chu Wanning's body mercilessly.

The pain was nothing compared to what Chu Wanning felt next. As soon as he remembered what he did the previous night, he was overcome with horror. His memories were like glass fragments that were scattered all around the room, but he remembered one thing for sure.

Chu-zongshi, also known as Yuheng Elder and Beidou Immortal, was the one who kissed Mo Ran first and seduced his disciple into bed.

How shameless!

How immoral!

Unable to suppress his anger, Chu Wanning summoned Tianwen. The golden vine soared into the ceiling before it flew across the room, knocking all the remaining Pear Blossom White jars off the table.

The white ceramic jars crashed against the floor one by one, smashed into smithereens.

Chu Wanning dug his fingers into the bedsheet.

Unforgivable.

What kind of shizun was he?

How could he lay a finger on Mo Ran?

He had single-handedly ruined Mo Ran's relationship with Ye Wangxi!

Chu Wanning supported himself on the bedpost and stood up with much effort. Despite his immoral behavior the previous night, Mo Ran was kind enough to clean him up and clothe him properly.

He could not take it.

It was too humiliating to face Mo Ran in this life.

Even though Chu Wanning wanted to punish himself, he did not know how. He did not know what to do to make it up to Mo Ran.

Chu Wanning stood in a daze for some time, his eyes were trained on the broken ceramic shards.

He should clean it all up.

This was not Red Lotus Pavilion after all. This was not Sisheng Peak.

As an esteemed elder, he should mind his manners.

Groaning from pain, Chu Wanning approached the carnage on the floor. Once he was close enough, he smelled the strong scent of aphrodisiac from the wine.

He already suspected that much but still, it was not an excuse. What were all the years of cultivation for if he was not able to restrain himself?

He was not the cripple from the past after all, not the Chu Fei who was unable to defend himself from Taxian-Jun's assault.

Hurried footsteps from outside told Chu Wanning that Mo Ran was coming. Panic rose within the shizun's heart, but he had nowhere to hide.

Suddenly, he wished that Mo Ran the coward would remain a coward. Chu Wanning took everything back. Mo Ran should stay as far away as possible. Chu Wanning did not want to see Mo Ran, ever again!

Mo Ran must have expected his shizun to still be asleep because he went inside without knocking.

When he opened the door and saw Chu Wanning standing before a bunch of broken jars, blood drained from his face.

The golden light of Tianwen was menacingly reflected in his eyes.

"Shi..."

"Don't call me that!" Chu Wanning snapped.

"Mo Weiyu, you... I..."

Mo Ran's heart hurt so much. Chu Wanning might as well claw into his chest and squeeze his heart with bare hands. The pain would be the same or maybe even less.

Dropping to her knees, Mo Ran bowed his head before Chu Wanning.

"Shizun, I am sorry."

"What are you sorry for???" Chu Wanning snapped.

"For... For everything," Mo Ran stuttered.

Chu Wanning clenched his hands into fists. Mo Ran should apologize. That was the least he could do, but why was Chu Wanning not happy about his apology at all? He even felt a certain amount of indignation.

Or was it guilt?

His inadequacy as a cultivator was what led to this shameful incident.

"Shizun...? Please say something. Please punish me as you see fit."

Chu Wanning gritted his teeth.

What should he punish Mo Ran for? If anything, he needed to punish himself!

"Leave," Chu Wanning said with an icy tone. "I do not want to see you anymore."

Mo Ran rose to his feet, but instead of leaving, he threw himself at Chu Wanning with every bit of courage in his body.

Stunned by the sudden embrace, Chu Wanning's mouth fell open in amazement.

"Chu Wanning," Mo Ran whispered into his ear, his hot masculine breath sent a chilling shiver down Chu Wanning's spine. "Please. I beg you, don't throw me away. I didn't mean to do it."

You didn't mean to?

Of course, you didn't.

In this life, you already have someone that you love.

This kind of thing should be done with that person.

Not me.

"It's not your fault," Chu Wanning said finally.

It is. It's the lust in my heart, Mo Ran thought.

"It's my failure as a cultivator," Chu Wanning said in distress.

"No, Shizun, it's not you," Mo Ran insisted.

"I should have been able to resist the wine effect. Mo Ran, it's not your fault, but I still want you to leave me alone."

It hurt too much to look at Mo Ran right now. Besides, Chu Wanning's mind was a mess. He needed to go on a closed-door meditation for at least a few days to clear his unnatural thoughts about this disciple.

"Please, no," Mo Ran begged. "Shizun, I don't want to leave you alone."

Five years.

They had been separated for five years in this life.

Mo Ran did not want to be separated again, not even for a second.

"Why not?" Chu Wanning snapped. "Do you not see me as your shizun anymore???"

Because we did "that" last night?

If Mo Ran was not completely overwhelmed by his own emotions, he would have noticed that the tip of Chu Wanning's ears had turned red. Almost as if they had been sucked gently, and rolled between a lover's teeth.

Instead, Mo Ran said the sentence that he had repeated more than ten thousand times in his mind, again and again whenever he thought about Chu Wanning.

"I like you," the disciple sobbed into his shizun's shoulder, looking a lot like a big pitiful dog who sought its owner's love.

"..."

"I like you," Mo Ran repeated, sobbing even harder when he did not hear any reply.

I want to say that I love you, but then you are going to kick me out for sure.

Wanning... I love you so much that it hurts.

Wrapped in Mo Ran's embrace, Chu Wanning turned as solid as a statue carved of rock.

When he heard the first "I like you", he thought that he misheard.

When he heard the second "I like you," he thought that Mo Ran's hatred flower must be acting up.

"Mo Ran, let me go," Chu Wanning pleaded. His eyes were unwittingly searching for the ring that Jiang Xi gave him, but he could not find it.

"No," Mo Ran sobbed further. If anything, Chu Wanning's response sounded like a rejection. Mo Ran's grip around Chu Wanning tightened, causing the latter to snap for air.

Chu Wanning was desperate. He could sense the deterioration of Mo Ran's mood. If this went on, the Hatred Flower was going to swallow Mo Ran's heart completely!

"Mo Ran, think about Ye Wangxi," Chu Wanning reminded his disciple of his lover.

He expected Mo Ran's heart to soften after he heard Ye Wangxi's name. He did not expect Mo Ran to freeze on spot instead. When the younger man spoke again, Chu Wanning sensed that his mood had become even more erratic.

"Why are you mentioning Ye Wangxi?"

Chu Wanning was baffled. Why couldn't he? Everyone was talking about Ye Wangxi and Mo Ran!

Mo Ran loosened his embrace and grabbed Chu Wanning's shoulders hard. There seemed to be a streak of red light flashing in his pair of purplish eyes.

"Shizun, do you... Do you have feelings for Ye Wangxi?"

Chu Wanning's mouth dropped open.

Mo Ran was jealous! He loved Ye Wangxi so much that he could not tolerate any other man speaking about her!

"No!" Chu Wanning shouted in response.

The scary red light disappeared, and Mo Ran slumped against his shoulder again.

"Thank heavens," he whispered.

Chu Wanning patted Mo Ran's shoulders in confusion.

"Calm down, Mo Ran. If you are worried about her, I will personally apologize to her."

After his jealousy subsided, Mo Ran's mind cleared up.

"What?"

"I said, I will apologize to Ye Wangxi."

"... Why?"

Did the Hatred Flower make Mo Ran dumb?

What kind of question was that?

"Shizun, why are you talking about Ye Wangxi?"

Mo Ran's question made no sense at all to Chu Wanning.

"Should I not?" Chu Wanning asked in return.

It was Mo Ran's turn to be perplexed. He told Chu Wanning that he liked him twice! Instead of answering Mo Ran, Chu Wanning started to talk about Ye Wangxi.

Why?

On the other side, Chu Wanning was enraged. Sure enough, Mo Ran did not take Ye Wangxi seriously!

Chu Wanning shoved Mo Ran away in anger.

"If you don't like her, you should not fight Nangong Si for her hand!"

Mo Ran's jaw dropped open.

"Shizun, what are you talking about???"

"I said, if you don't like Ye Wangxi...!"

"I do NOT like Ye Wangxi!" Mo Ran interrupted his shizun impatiently.

He then grabbed Chu Wanning by his shoulders in a rough manner.

"I like YOU!!!"