DEPARTING FOR LINYI

After bidding farewell to Madam Wang, the reluctant Xue Meng, Shi Mei, and the other elders, Xue Zhengyong departed to Linyi with Chu Wanning and Mo Ran.

Once they arrived at the base of the mountain, a problem presented itself.

Usually, the travel from Sisheng Peak to Linyi took more than ten days. Due to the urgency of the situation, Xue Zhengyong opted for a faster travel method, which was typically done by traveling with swords.

All of them brought their swords. Even Mo Ran who broke the Mingjing saber had a replacement, albeit low-quality sword to travel with. And yet, Chu Wanning was averse to the idea.

"I can use my paper dragon. You two go ahead," he said.

Xue Zhengyong was speechless.

A paper dragon was still a paper dragon. It could not go for miles even with Chu Wanning's strong spiritual energy.

"Uncle, please go ahead of us," Mo Ran told Xue Zhengyong before the latter tried to persuade his shizun. "I will take Shizun on my sword."

"Why don't we go together, then?" Xue Zhengyong asked with a frown.

His nephew leaned closer to him and said, "Uncle, my shizun has thin facial skin. He surely doesn't want to look bad in front of you. Let me handle him. You should go ahead and announce our arrival at Rufeng Sect. Otherwise, it will not look very good for Sisheng Peak."

Xue Zhengyong nodded in assent.

Mo Ran had truly grown up, he thought. He even knew how to preserve good relationships between sects now. His Meng'er should learn a lot from this cousin.

"Alright," Xue Zhengyong patted his nephew on the shoulder. "I will leave it up to you."

"I will do my best, Uncle," Mo Ran replied in a low voice.

"Yuheng, I will go ahead. You two just catch up as fast as you can, alright?"

"Sure."

As soon as Xue Zhengyong was out of sight, Chu Wanning turned to look at Mo Ran, his expression cold and aloof.

"You go on ahead, I will catch up slowly with my paper dragon."

He took out the Ascending Dragon Talisman from inside the folds of his chest, preparing to summon the paper dragon, but Mo Ran stopped him. A gentle smile spread on the young man's body, his warm hand felt so hot around Chu Wanning's wrist. The latter inadvertently flicked his hand away for fear of getting burned.

Disappointment was seen in Mo Ran's eyes for a split second before he masked it with a smile.

"Shizun, the talisman is no good," Mo Ran openly said. "It will take too long for you to reach Linyi."

Chu Wanning disagreed.

"If you don't believe me, you go on ahead. I will meet you up there," he haughtily answered.

"..."

Mo Ran cleared his throat.

"Shizun, do you not like riding on swords?"

"No," Chu Wanning said. "I prefer other methods of transportation."

"Then, why not ride with me?" his disciple offered.

"..."

If it had been Xue Meng who made the offer, Chu Wanning would say yes without hesitation. But this was Mo Ran. Chu Wanning had a thousand reasons to say no and no reason to say yes. Naturally, he declined.

Unfortunately, this disciple did not give up easily.

"Shizun, this concerns the life or death of Nangong Si," he pointed out. "I remember that Shizun used to be part of the Rufeng Sect for a while. Were you not acquainted with Nangong Si?"

Chu Wanning went silent.

It was not Nangong Si whom he was well-acquainted and indebted to, but the young man's late mother, Madam Rong. Oh, the poor Madam. When Chu Wanning thought of Madam Rong, he unwittingly remembered the grotesque manner of her death, and also the man who was responsible for the crime.

Nangong Liu.

The Rufeng Sect Leader.

The Madam loved his son so.

Chu Wanning closed his eyes and sighed.

It was not the time to be prideful. For Madam Rong's and Nangong Si's sake, he had to swallow his pride and arrive at Linyi as fast as possible.

"Fine," he said. "Then, I will ride with you."

Mo Ran tried his best to hide his excitement, but his purplish eyes literally lit up with joy. He took out his sword and let it hover a step's height over the ground. He then chanted a spell to enlarge the blade and stepped onto the blade.

"Come, Shizun," he said, extending his hand toward Chu Wanning.

The hand was smacked away by the shizun, who grabbed Mo Ran's shoulder and pulled himself up to the blade. Mo Ran almost toppled over because he was unprepared. Luckily, he managed to stay standing on the sword.

Chu Wanning stood behind his disciple.

Mo Ran moved to turn around to look at his shizun, who pushed at his shoulder hard and forced him to look ahead.

"Go," he said sternly.

Chu Wanning was determined to maintain his dignity even if he had to hitch a ride from his disciple.

"... Alright, Shizun. Hold on tight."

The blade lifted to the sky, higher and higher. The higher they went, the more restless the hand on Mo Ran's shoulder became. Chu Wanning's anxiety bled through as he clawed into his disciple's shoulder.

"Shizun, are you feeling well?" Mo Ran asked out of concern.

"Is there a reason not to?" came Chu Wanning's answer, snappy as ever. "Why are you so slow? Go faster."

Chu Wanning sounded like an angry slave driver. He did not want Mo Ran to feel sorry or pity for him. The quicker they arrived, the better.

"... Yes, Shizun."

They had only traveled for two hours when Chu Wanning finally gave up and spoke with a broken voice, "Stop."

Mo Ran turned around to look at Chu Wanning, whose face had turned green from motion sickness.

"Shizun!"

Mo Ran pulled at Chu Wanning's waist and let the shizun lean against his broad, manly chest. Pressed against Mo Ran's warm body, Chu Wanning felt even worse. He wanted to push Mo Ran away, but he did not want to fall from the sword.

Beidou Immortal was not worried about dying. He was more worried about not dying and becoming the ridicule of the entire cultivation realm.

In the end, the thin-faced Yuheng Elder had no other choice but to endure.

Until he could not anymore.

"I need to rest a little," he implored.

Mo Ran shook his head.

"We can't. We need to reach the nearest city first so that Shizun can rest properly."

"I am tired," Chu Wanning complained, his tone was full of grievances. "I can't continue."

"Lean against my shoulder and close your eyes," Mo Ran whispered. "Shizun doesn't need to do anything. I will handle everything from here."

"..."

Mo Ran's words were brimming with affection, but they failed to reach Chu Wanning's heart.

In his entire life, Chu Wanning was not used to being coddled.

Therefore, he did not feel comfortable when he had to rely on his disciple. Besides, the relationship between them was too impure. Although both of them had returned to the past and Mo Ran had turned over a new leaf, it was not easy for Chu Wanning to accept him.

No, that was not it.

There was one thing that he had yet to tell Mo Ran. He did not tell Mo Ran that he put a shred of his soul into Mo Ran's heart to mess with the Hatred Flower. That was the reason why Mo Ran kept telling Chu Wanning that he liked him, that he loved him.

Nothing could be farther from the truth.

Mo Ran, Mo Weiyu, and Taxian-Jun never liked Chu Wanning. He never would.

Chu Wanning refused to fall into a quagmire of desire and love, just to wake up on a cold night and realize that it was all but a dream.

When the Hatred Flower became dormant, Mo Ran would realize that his so-called "like" and "love" for his shizun was nothing but a cruel deception.

"Don't touch me," Chu Wanning said, pushing at Mo Ran's chest. Although he felt insecure while standing on a flying sword at such a height, he still chose to walk away from Mo Ran.

He could not afford to fall for Mo Ran.

He did not want his heart to be broken another time.

Hurt was written all over Mo Ran's face. He knew that he went too far a few times in this life, but he did not know better. Two lives, and he had never been so desperate for someone to like him, to love him.

When he was the Emperor of the Cultivation World, he had everyone kneeling before him. They showered him with gifts and attention, begging him for help and support.

But here was Chu Wanning, who again and again refused to bend his steel back in front of Mo Ran.

This time, Mo Ran did not want Chu Wanning to lie beneath the sole of his foot anymore. He wanted him to be his wife, his companion. He dreamed about living the rest of his life in quietude, with his shizun by his side.

Unfortunately, that was not what Chu Wanning wanted.

He would rather risk falling into a depth than be close to Mo Ran. Mo Ran swallowed his sadness and extended a hand in Chu Wanning's direction.

"Shizun, please," he begged, sounding like the youth that Chu Wanning met under the Haitang tree many years ago.

Even his hand was trembling from nervosity.

"Xianjun, please look at me," the youth had once begged. "Please pay attention to me."

Mo Ran exhaled out of relief when Chu Wanning took his hand.

"Shizun, only a little more. Let's go a little more, and then we will take some rest," he coaxed.

"Mn."

They were quiet for the rest of the trip.

True to his words, Mo Ran stopped at the nearest city to rest. They traveled a few more times during the day, and then rested at inns during the night. Three days later, they finally caught up with Xue Zhengyong, who was staying in Dai City and was waiting for them.

Dai City used to be a bustling city at the bottom of Dawning Peak. After Dawning Peak was destroyed, the city gradually became lonely. A lot of inns could not keep up with the lack of customers and had to shut down.

In the end, only a few remained in business.

When news about Young Master Nangong's sickness spread, the innkeepers all felt sorry for the Rufeng Sect's heir. After all, Dai City was part of the Rufeng Sect. When they heard that a bunch of cultivators were coming to heal the Young Master though, their eyes quickly lit up with joy. Business! Finally, some guests!

Now that only a few inns were left, all the rooms were booked by cultivators from all over the upper and lower cultivation realms.

Because all the other sects were located in the upper cultivation realm, they were naturally closer to Linyi than Sisheng Peak. By the time Xue Zhengyong arrived, almost all rooms were booked by the big sects.

After much pushing and pulling, Xue Zhengyong was only able to book one of the smallest rooms in an inn. Inside, there was only a bed for a single person.

"Everything else is booked," he explained helplessly to Chu Wanning and Mo Ran. "Even the sheds are booked by lesser cultivation sects. There is no other room available."

One room could hold two people at most. There were three of them, so one had to go and sleep outside.

Chu Wanning peered at Mo Ran. He kicked Mo Ran hard the last time they sparred. Mo Ran said nothing about it, but Chu Wanning caught him rubbing the spot a few times. This also did not escape Xue Zhengyong's observant eyes.

"Ran-er, are you hurt?"

"No," Mo Ran quickly said, taking his hands away from his chest.

Chu Wanning used two fingers to press at the spot, and Mo Ran pulled a grimace from pain.

"He is," Chu Wanning confirmed. "We sparred a few days ago, and I kicked him hard on the chest."

"..."

Xue Zhengyong had to swallow hard when he heard what Chu Wanning just said.

The grandmaster refused to explain further.

In order to make amend for his brutality, Chu Wanning thus decided to let Mo Ran share the room with Xue Zhengyong.

"But Yuheng, where do you want to go? What about you and Mo Ran sharing this room? I can go sleep anywhere."

Chu Wanning furrowed his brows in disapproval.

"Sect Leader, you are the leader of Sisheng Peak. What does it look like if you sleep outside on a tree? You will become the ridicule of the entire realm!"

"I can't let you sleep outside either," Xue Zhengyong insisted.

Heck, Chu Wanning was a renowned grandmaster, one of the strongest cultivators out there. Even after Chu Wanning entered Sisheng Peak, the man still received countless invitations to join other sects. Xue Zhengyong valued Chu Wanning a lot. Naturally, he did not want to treat this esteemed elder poorly!

"No worries," Chu Wanning insisted. "Sect Leader and Mo Ran, please rest for the night."

Although Mo Ran would rather die than have Chu Wanning share a room with Xue Zhengyong, he believed that his uncle would not do anything untoward. He was about to call Chu Wanning back when a door slid open and a voice rang out from inside.

"I have an extra bed in my room. Chu-zongshi, why don't you stay with me?"

Mo Ran's face went as dark as the dark clouds that hung over Dai City that evening.

It was Jiang Xi, who sported an annoying smirk across his handsome face.