THE SHIZUN'S DISCIPLE HAD HIS SUSPICION

The latest piece of grim news that Xue Zhengyong had to share during the late-night meeting stunned all the elders.

First of all, no one expected that Nangong Si, the Young Master Nangong from the number one cultivation sect in the upper realm, would be riddled with such a misfortune. At his young age, he just had to contract such a serious, life-threatening condition.

The elders generally had a good impression of the lad. During the Heavenly Barrier incident at Butterfly Town, the brave young man led the disciples from Rufeng Sect to fight the ghost and demons.

At that time he was but the same age as Mo Ran and Xue Meng!

"Pitiful. Young Master Nangong is too pitiful," Xuanji Elder remarked.

"What exactly does Sect Leader Nangong plan to do?" Jielu Elder asked.

Xue Zhengyong heaved a sigh.

"After much coercion and payment, the Gu'yue'ye Sect finally agrees to divulge their Five-Element-Qi-Restoration Technique. By using the spiritual energy from five elements, it is possible to repress Nangong Si's tyrannical core and save his life."

Gods knew how much Nangong Liu paid Jiang Xi. It was important to mention that the two sect leaders did not have a good relationship with each other. As soon as Nangong Liu took the seat as the Rufeng Sect Leader, Jiang Xi stopped attending the Sect Leader Meetings altogether.

On the other side, a few elders saw Jiang Xi as a righteous man who strived to save everyone whenever possible, including Nangong Si.

Other elders saw Jiang Xi as a true businessman who never passed up opportunities to make more money.

Then again, both Rufeng Sect and Gu'yue'ye Sect are rich and powerful sects. They could afford this little exchange of money.

"That is a powerful technique, but it is not going to fix his problem permanently," Tanlang Elder said in response while stroking his chin. Being quite adept in the medical field himself, he was quite sure about that.

"The Gu'yue'ye Sect had perfected the dual cultivation method to advance cultivation and healing. If Jiang Xi were sincere, he could sell Nangong Liu a copy of the manual."

"Tanlang Elder is not wrong," Xue Zhengyong praised the elder. "It did cross Nangong Liu's mind and he did ask Jiang Xi for the manual. Jiang Xi was willing to sell him a copy for ten times the price that he paid for the Five-Element-Qi-Restoration Technique. Alas, Nangong Si stubbornly refused to engage in dual cultivation to save his life. Anyone who performs the dual cultivation with him will have to suffer together with him for him to heal."

A hum of understanding went through the crowd.

"Well, at least the lad is an honorable young man."

"Indeed. Rufeng Sect has such an amazing heir. Nangong Liu must be proud."

"Not really. Nangong Liu greatly admonished his son for being stupid," Xue Zhengyong told the elders, bursting their pink bubbles about the esteemed Sect Leader Nangong.

"..."

"..."

Apparently, Nangong Liu was not as honorable as his son. Suddenly, Nangong Si's imminent death became even more pitiful. Not only for Rufeng Sect but for the whole cultivation realm!

"Ahem," Xuanji Elder cleared his throat. "In that case, do all of us need to go?"

"No, not everyone. I am thinking of taking Yuheng, Mo Ran, and Xue Meng with me. We will go and contribute our part, and then go back to Sisheng Peak. What do you say, Yuheng?"

All pairs of eyes shifted in Chu Wanning's direction, who did not answer at all.

The man in a pure white robe sat silently with his head slightly bowed and his eyes cast down. He seemed to be deeply immersed in his thoughts that he did not hear Xue Zhengyong's address at all. Chu Wanning had after all served as a guest teacher at Rufeng Sect when he first entered the cultivation world. He knew Nangong Si as a child. His impending death must have numbed Chu Wanning.

Truly, even an ice statue such as Yuheng Elder was bound to feel sad at some point in his life...

Although Xue Zhengyong would love to give Chu Wanning some time to grieve, they all had to go to Rufeng Sect within days. He needed Chu Wanning to commit to the trip.

"Yu-Yuheng?"

Snapping back from his daze, Chu Wanning lifted the pair of beautiful phoenix eyes and stared right at his sect leader.

"... Yes?"

"..."

"..."

"..."

"... Ahem, what do you think about going together to Linyi? You, I, Mo Ran, and Xue Meng?"

Chu Wanning's face darkened as soon as Xue Zhengyong popped the question. A dangerous aura emanated from him, giving everyone in the room an inexplicable chill down their spines.

Maybe they were wrong, they thought. Chu Wanning had bad blood with Rufeng Sect. Maybe he was ruthless enough to refuse to go. Well, no one could force him. An ice statue was an ice statue after all.

"There is no need for Mo Ran and Xue Meng to go," Chu Wanning snapped. "Sect Leader, you and I can leave the next morning."

"Oh. Well, no need to be hasty. The Cold-Sacred Hand, Grandmaster Hua, needed a few days of preparation. We shall receive some news in two or three days."

"Alright."

Chu Wanning closed his eyes and exhaled. Leaving Sisheng Peak for a few days would be good. It would give Mo Ran time to cool down, and also Chu Wanning time to sort out the messy thoughts in his head. He had to find a way to steer Mo Ran in the right direction. Maybe introducing a proper partner to him would make him realize that his feelings for Chu Wanning were nothing but a sick obsession.

They were a pair of shizun and disciple!

When Xue Zhengyong shared the news with Mo Ran and Xue Meng the next morning in Chu Wanning's presence, the two young men were naturally not happy at all to be excluded.

Xue Meng clutched at his shizun's sleeves and begged, "Shizun, I can help! Don't leave me behind! I have worked so hard to advance my cultivation! I can prove it to you!"

Mo Ran did not bother begging Chu Wanning. He just pinned his shizun with a cold stare. The reason was very simple.

Jiang Xi.

Jiang Xi was also going to be there to perform the technique.

That meant that Chu Wanning was going to spend time with Jiang Xi again.

Mo Ran's fingers curled up in fists as soon as he recalled the obnoxious sect leader who dared to get close to his shizun.

No.

He had to go.

He had to go at all costs.

Otherwise, how could he protect Chu Wanning from Jiang Xi's filthy hands? Not to mention that Chu Wanning said he was considering him as a dual cultivation partner.

"Uncle, please let me go," Mo Ran cupped his hands to Xue Zhengyong. "Nangong Si and I fought side-by-side during the Heavenly Rift. I respect him a lot as a peer. I would like to contribute, even though my cultivation is average."

That was a huge understatement, because Mo Ran had after all reached the zongshi level. If his cultivation was considered to be average, then they might as well tell more than half of the cultivation sect leaders to not come.

"Uhm... yes, Ran-er has a noble heart. Of course, you must come. Yuheng, why not let Ran-er come with us?"

"No," Chu Wanning said decisively. "Just like Mo Ran said, his cultivation is average. There is no need for him to come and burden Rufeng Sect with one more person to feed."

"..."

"..."

Chu Wanning spoke as if Rufeng Sect was not the number one richest sect in all cultivation realms. What was another mouth to feed?

"Shizun, I wish to help," Mo Ran spoke to Chu Wanning this time. "Please let me come."

"If I say that you cannot go, then you cannot go. Are you going against my wishes?" Chu Wanning scowled at his impudent disciple.

Clenching his jaw, Mo Ran had to lower his head and followed his shizun's instruction.

"... This disciple doesn't dare."

As a result, both Mo Ran and Xue Meng were excluded from the upcoming trip to Linyi.

The two young men did not dare to defy Chu Wanning openly, so they obediently retreated from Loyalty Hall. Once they were out of earshot, though, Xue Meng started to throw a tantrum.

"I am a full-fledged cultivator!" he shouted angrily. "Just watch, Nangong Si is not going to make it without me!"

Mo Ran did not know whether to laugh or cry. Was this not the same Xue Meng who told everyone repeatedly how he managed to kick Nangong Si down from his wolf during the Spiritual Mountain Competition? Clearly, his goal here was not to save the other young man but to show off.

Typical of the peacock.

Xue Meng stomped off, and Mo Ran heaved a sigh.

He needed to talk to Chu Wanning.

The five years had been relatively uneventful. Too uneventful. Maybe the peaceful period was about to end soon.

In that case, both of them had to be prepared for what was to come.

Chu Wanning still had a few things to discuss with Xue Zhengyong. Once he came out of the Loyalty Hall, he saw Mo Ran leaning against a tree.

His facial expression darkened within an instant.

"Shizun."

Having been assaulted by Mo Ran the previous night, Chu Wanning was no different from a bristling cat who tried to intimidate his enemy by appearing larger.

"What do you want?" he hissed at his disciple with unconcealed displeasure.

Mo Ran sighed. He regretted his actions deeply. He wanted to get close to his shizun, but he ended up chasing the man further away instead.

Why did he force kisses upon his shizun? He should have stuck with his promise to treat his shizun with love and respect.

Love and respect.

Love and respect.

But he was a young man with hot blood running in his veins. How could he be patient when the object of his desire looked so alluring, so enticing to his senses?

He would love to take his shizun into his arms, rolled him up in his tongue, and swallow him whole.

So that he could be Mo Ran's and no one else's.

Mo Ran took a deep breath.

"Shizun, I... I am sorry for what I did yesterday night. I couldn't control myself."

"If you are really sorry, then stay the hell away from me!"

Chu Wanning flicked his sleeves angrily and marched to the Red Lotus Pavilion. Mo Ran knew that once his shizun went back, he would never freely go out to meet Mo Ran again, so Mo Ran had to shamelessly stop him from leaving.

The younger man used his qinggong to fly ahead of Chu Wanning and stop him in his tracks.

"Shizun, wait."

"What else?" Chu Wanning snapped. "I warn you, Mo Weiyu! Don't think that you can get away with everything just by apologizing. Your apologies are worth nothing!"

"I want to talk about Nangong Si," Mo Ran said in a hurry, lest Chu Wanning explode from anger.

"... What about Nangong Si?"

"In fact, I want to talk about many other things that only the two of us know about. Please, Shizun, can we not talk where people cannot hear us?"

"..."

Mo Ran was shamelessly asking to be invited into the Red Lotus Pavilion again.

If he thought that he could fool Chu Wanning, he was sorely mistaken.

"No."

Chu Wanning shoved Mo Ran aside rudely, but the latter grabbed his wrist and pulled him close instead.

"Shizun, I want to talk about Nangong Si's death in his previous life," Mo Ran said in a low voice. "Please, I won't do anything."

"..."

"..."

In the end, Chu Wanning let Mo Ran into the Red Lotus Pavilion. Chu Wanning reinforced the barrier around his dwelling to ensure that no one could get in to listen in on their conversation.

Additionally, he even erected a barrier around himself so that Mo Ran could not come close and pounce at him again.

"..."

Mo Ran stared at Chu Wanning through the smaller, golden resplendent barrier. Maybe he deserved this treatment. In Chu Wanning's eyes, Mo Ran was probably an incorrigible lecher.

"What do you want to say? Speak up."

Mo Ran cleared his throat.

"In the previous life, I knew that Young Master Nangong died of an illness at a young age. Shizun, you were fairly close to him. Do you remember further details?"

Chu Wanning furrowed his brows.

It had been quite some time between this life and the previous life. Besides, in both lives, Chu Wanning had not kept in touch with Nangong Si since he left Rufeng Sect.

He had to think for a while, but then he remembered.

"There was not much information regarding his illness. I didn't get to attend his funeral either."

Chu Wanning shot Mo Ran a poisonous look. "At that time, you have already blackened and declared yourself as the First Emperor of the Cultivation Realm. The whole world was pretty busy with surviving your incessant onslaught. There was no time to mourn a single death when people died every day."

"... Yes. So how come the Rufeng Sect comes up with the idea to collect cultivators to heal Nangong Si this time around?"

"I would say that this course of action would have happened naturally if you had not laid waste to the rest of the cultivation realm."

"This technique requires the spiritual energy of five elements," Mo Ran emphasized.

Five elements.

Chu Wanning inadvertently recalled the Heavenly Rift at Butterfly Town. At that time, the entire town was slaughtered. The residents' hearts were gouged out and placed in five different jars according to their elements. The resentment energy from the five jars and Luo Xianxian's demonized soul were then used to crack the ancient barrier.

Mo Ran was referring to exactly the same incident.

"Shizun, do you remember? The five colorful columns of different elements that shot up to the sky and tore the barrier apart? Then and now, the five elements are going to come to play again."

Chu Wanning narrowed his eyes at his disciple. "Do you think that the culprit back then is going to try something again this time?"

Mo Ran nodded.

"Shizun, the Heavenly Rift in this lifetime did not happen by accident. Neither did the destruction of Jincheng Lake nor the elimination of the feathered tribe at Peach Blossoms Spring. Someone plans something, and he has yet to achieve his goals."

Chu Wanning's heart lurched to the bottom of his stomach.

Of course. How could he forget all about it?

The fake Gouchen. The white chess piece who talked to him at the Peach Blossoms Spring.

"During the five years that I was gone... did something happen?"

Mo Ran shook his head.

"No, Shizun. Nothing at all."

But it did not make sense. Why did nothing happen? Chu Wanning was an obstacle for the perpetrator to achieve his goals. If anything, shouldn't he try to wreak havoc during the five years?

Or did he maybe not find the right opportunity to do that?

"There was another rift at the Butterfly Town," Chu Wanning recalled all of a sudden. "You mended it."

"Yes, but this one happened without human intervention."

"Are you sure?"

"I am very sure. The rift started out small and slowly broadened. It all happened naturally."

Chu Wanning rubbed at his temples. Could it be? Mo Ran's theory sounded far-fetched, but it also made sense. Who in the cultivation realm did not know about Nangong Si's sickness by now? Who did not know that Nangong Liu was trying to gather powerful cultivators of all five elements to help prolong his son's life?

It was practically an open invitation for the evildoer to come and do what he failed to do years ago.

"That's why, Shizun, please allow me to come," Mo Ran said helplessly. "This involves me as well. I am also someone who reincarnated from the past."

Before Chu Wanning could say yes or no, some people shouted outside of the Red Lotus Pavilion and hammered against the door frantically.

"YUHENG ELDER! PLEASE HELP! THE ANCIENT BARRIER AT THE BACK MOUNTAIN HAS BEEN BREACHED!!! YOUNG MASTER XUE AND SHI MEI SHIXIONG CAN NOT HOLD ON FOR MUCH LONGER!!!"