SHIZUN, ARE YOU JEALOUS?

Nangong Liu already prepared lodgings for every guest. Those who came from the same sects were given courtyards that housed several comfortable bedrooms at their disposal.

It was already late at night when Mo Ran arrived at the courtyard with an attendant of the Rufeng Sect. He expected his uncle and shizun to be asleep or at least preparing for bed. His uncle was already snoring in his bedroom, but Chu Wanning was wide awake. He sat on a rattan chair on the verandah. Some would say that he was admiring the moon above his head. Some others would say the opposite, because the grandmaster exuded an icy aura that gave both Mo Ran and the attendant goosebumps.

"This lowly servant will leave now," the attendant quickly said with the deepest bow he could perform. "Both Grandmasters, please rest well."

"Shizun?" Mo Ran was a grown man with memories of two lives. He thought that he had seen Chu Wanning angry often enough to not recoil in fear, but it looked like he was mistaken.

The only saving grace here was that he was no longer a defenseless boy who feared Tianwen.

Chu Wanning raised his phoenix eyes and glared at Mo Ran.

"Mo Ran, Grandmaster Hua came by after dinner to distribute the plan to execute the Five-Element-Qi-Restoration-Technique."

It was not after Chu Wanning mentioned it that Mo Ran saw the rolled parchment on the table, right next to his shizun.

"Oh? Let me take a look..."

Before Mo Ran even touched the parchment, Chu Wanning rose to his feet and took the parchment into his hands.

"The treatment will take place in the Frost Jade Forest. All cultivators are split according to their elements and cultivation level into groups. There are altogether eighteen groups of cultivators that need to take their places in the magical array that Hua Binan set in the forest. Your uncle is in the third group, and I am in the seventh group."

"I see."

Mo Ran waited to hear Chu Wanning tell him in which group he was, but Chu Wanning had nothing else to say.

Nervously, Mo Ran thus asked, "Shizun, what group am I in?"

"None," Chu Wanning said mercilessly. "I have spoken to Grandmaster Hua and apologized for your absence tomorrow."

Mo Ran's heart dropped to the ground when he heard Chu Wanning's words.

"But, Shizun, why?" Mo Ran asked with a shaky voice. "Why did you do that?"

Chu Wanning's gaze was so sharp that it threatened to lynch Mo Ran into a lump of minced meat. The shizun thought that the disciple was too pretentious, while the disciple was unaware of his shizun's perception of him.

"Why? Should you not know best?" Chu Wanning sneered. "You asked to come because you want to help save the cultivation realm in the event that someone decides to use the treatment as an excuse to commit atrocities. I was the fool who was naive enough to trust you."

"... But Shizun, it is truly my... WHOA!"

Mo Ran jumped to the side at the right time. Tianwen shot forward and whipped at the spot where he stood a second ago.

"How many more times do you want to lie to me?"

Chu Wanning glowered at his unruly disciple. His grip around Tianwen tightened as he slowly inched toward Mo Ran.

"Go back to Sisheng Peak and await your punishment or be humiliated in front of the entire cultivation realm as I chase you back to Sisheng Peak," he threatened.

"Shizun, at least tell me what I did wrong!" Mo Ran shouted.

Tianwen flew at him again, this time it hit an ancient vase and shattered it into pieces. The poor cherry blossom branch inside fell to the ground unceremoniously.

Chu Wanning sneered.

"Do you really need me to tell you what you are?"

"You dare to call yourself a grandmaster, what with your philandering ways and unrepentant behavior!" Chu Wanning kicked off the ground and launched at Mo Ran like an angry immortal. If Mo Ran was not interested in self-preservation, he might just stand there and admire Chu Wanning's billowing robe before the latter beat his three souls and seven spirits out of his body.

"Wanning!" Mo Ran shouted.

Chu Wanning scowled when Mo Ran finally summoned his willow vine. So he decided to fight back. Good, very good. In that case, Chu Wanning was not going to hold back. He gave Mo Ran a chance to save his face, but this foolish disciple did not know to appreciate his shizun's kindness. Just see how Chu Wanning planned to deal with him!

Had they continued their fight inside the courtyard, they might end up destroying the beautiful residence.

The two grandmasters thus headed to the water garden at the backside of the courtyard. The water garden was basically a large body of water with a few rocks that were strategically placed inside the water to guide the flow of water. Each of the rocks was more valuable than any building in Sisheng Peak. Even the water was not an ordinary one. It hailed from the largest waterfall in Mount Kunlun. According to the legend, water from that waterfall could cure any internal disease and promote qi circulation.

Chu Wanning did not know whether the legend was true or not, but he did believe that Mo Ran deserved to be cleansed.

After exchanging a few moves with Mo Ran, who focused mainly on defending himself rather than attacking Chu Wanning, Chu Wanning ruthlessly pushed Mo Ran into the water.

He did not at all expect his disciple to reach out at the last second and pull him into the water with him!

Two bodies fell into the water with a huge splash. Thankfully, the water was shallow. Still, it was in the middle of the night. The water was so cold that it stabbed into their bones and froze their blood within an instant.

Mo Ran yanked at his willow vine, pulling Tianwen with it. He then held his shizun to his chest and saved the poor kitten from drowning.

Chu Wanning pushed at Mo Ran angrily, causing the latter to fall back into the water.

"Shizun, I still don't understand," Mo Ran insisted. "Just what did I do wrong?"

Chu Wanning's grievances were written all over his face. He did not want to face Mo Ran when he spoke, so he turned his back toward Mo Ran.

"If you want to woo Song Qiutong, go ahead. But must you do it when you are here to represent Sisheng Peak? Do you not care the very least for your uncle's face?"

Not to mention that this Song Qiutong was the evil empress who liked to torture Chu Wanning to curry favor with Taxian-Jun.

And Mo Ran...

Mo Ran was a liar.

In the end, he did not love Chu Wanning at all.

One look at Song Qiutong was enough to erase his so-called love and replace it with a burning desire for the Butterfly Boned Beauty Feast.

Chu Wanning scoffed to himself.

He was the stupid one.

How dared he compare himself with someone like Song Qiutong?

His appearance was as sharp as a blade's, unlike the gentle beauties who knew how to flutter their eyelashes and smile sweetly to attract men.

"Go home," Chu Wanning said. "You have disappointed me greatly. To save your face and spare Sect Leader's feelings, I will tell him tomorrow that you have to go back for some urgent matters."

"..."

After he said what he needed to say, Chu Wanning turned around and extended his hand to Mo Ran.

"My willow vine," he demanded.

Right now, both the golden and red willow vines were deeply entangled with each other. It was very messy.

Mo Ran wordlessly handed over the tangled willow vines to his shizun.

Chu Wanning heaved a sigh. As he carefully unwound his Tianwen from Mo Ran's willow vine, his eyes were unwittingly drawn to the silver handle.

There was one burning question that remained unanswered since a long time ago.

What did Mo Ran name his willow vine?

Initially, Chu Wanning wanted Mo Ran to tell him straight away, but Mo Ran never did. Chu Wanning was a prideful cultivator, a lofty elder above the clouds, and an esteemed shizun. If someone did not want to tell him something, he did not push for it.

But now, the answer was so close.

Chu Wanning swallowed his curiosity. He tried to look away from the red willow vine's silver handle, but it was too great a temptation.

Eventually, he took a look.

Two characters were engraved beautifully on the handle of Mo Ran's willow vine.

Wan. Ning.

"..."

The Wan from Chu Wanning.

The Ning from Chu Wanning.

What a coincidence.

"..."

It had to be a coincidence, right?

Why would Mo Ran name his weapon after...

"Wanning."

Chu Wanning sucked in a deep breath when Mo Ran suddenly appeared in front of him. Holding onto Chu Wanning's wrists, the disciple's haunting purplish eyes pierced him with a deep stare.

"I have never loved Song Qiutong, and I never will. I only approached her to get some information."