Chapter 69: This Venerable One Will Learn From You, Yea~

Was it a coincidence? Or…

Presently, his shizun's chest wasn't something that he could see whenever he wanted, and he could only rely on his memory to recall that scar. That faint,

crescent moon shade, it should've been purely the slashing wound from a blade,

not like Chu Xun, whose mark was made by that of five fingers piercing with force, and left behind savage, bloody holes.

It wasn't the same after all.

Mo Ran let out a quiet sigh of relief as he thought this. While Chu Xun and Chu Wanning were completely different people in personality, there were much too many areas of their persons that were alike; from appearance to "As a cultivator, the life of all is our priority, and the self at the bottom", to that long scar on the chest. With so many coincidences piled together, it really made one suspicious.

Yet for some reason, perhaps it was because Chu Xun was overly gentle,

completely different than Chu Wanning's cruel ruthlessness, or perhaps because Chu Xun was someone married with a son, so if Chu Wanning was Chu Xun's reincarnation, or if he was Chu Wanning himself, Mo Ran felt he might not be able to take it, and he'd break down.

Thank goodness it wasn't like that.

There was no need to expand on what kind of disaster would face the City of Ling An without Chu Xun's protection.

Of course the Ghost King wouldn't keep true to his words, and once night entered, the rain was bloody the winds astringent, and the world was flipped upside down. The moat was dyed with the colour of blood, and after the living had lost their senses, their howling and roaring blasted throughout the night.

There were wandering zombies all over the interior of the city, picking and devouring fresh, tender entrails, chomping down on brains.

Mo Ran took Chu Wanning hiding in a broken down little house, the master of which had long since died, and the furnishings and utilities were covered with a layer of heavy dust.

Mo Ran shut the door tightly, securely sealing it all around, leaving only a small window from the kitchen to they could see the situation outside.

And on the outside, there'd come sharp wails and screams from time to time,

and the ominous sounds of swallowing and chewing.

Mo Ran picked Chu Wanning up and sat him on a small pile of firewood in the corner, and patted his head, "According to Lady Eighteen, once we defeat the Ghost King we can leave. So you stay here and be good, don't run off anywhere." Hearing this, Chu Wanning looked up abruptly, "You're going out?" "Not now. I'll go out once the Ghost King shows himself." "But it's really dangerous outside. The illusion has already become reality,

how can you fight back on your own powers alone?" "Well I can't bring a kid with me to go fight, can I?" Chu Wanning shook his head, "I'm coming with you." "Hahaha, shidi is so cute, but you're still young. If you go out with me you'll drag me down. Wait til you're bigger, and when we run into these things again I won't hold you back from your spotlight. But this time, you have to listen to shixiong." "I won't drag you down." "That's what they all say." Mo Ran said, "Just be good, and don't fuss, okay?" "..." Seeing that Chu Wanning finally stopped talking, Mo Ran quietly let out a sigh of relief. He turned his gaze through the ribbed wooden window to peer outside, his expression growing serious.

Just why did the illusion that was meant for training suddenly become real?

Little shidi was right; someone wanted to harm him. There were countless in his previous life who wanted him dead, but in this life, he hadn't yet offended any powerful character. Thinking back and forth, the only one who might want his life was that fake Gouchen from Jincheng Lake.

But what's the real identity of that fake Gouchen? To be able to run the Zhenlong Chess Formation with such familiarity, how come he never showed his talents in the previous lifetime?

Could it be, that he wasn't the only one reborn in this world…

This thought gave him chills, and his eyes even became sharper and more aggressive.

After rebirth, he only wanted to bury the past, but if there was another who was reborn, then things might become quite difficult.

His brows were knitted deeper and deeper, but suddenly he heard Chu Wanning speak up again, "...Mo Ran, I…" "What is it?" Chu Wanning gritted his teeth silently, and after he considered the pros and cons, he steeled his heart and thought he might as well just tell the truth straight.

"Listen to me, in fact, I really can help you. I'm…" But when Mo Ran heard "I really can help you", he only thought it was little shidi wanting to argue with him again, so he cut him off, "Alright alright, I already said I won't let you out, so I'm not letting you out. Stop trying to be tough. Listen to me." "No, you listen to me—" Mo Ran was just feeling vexed, so he replied, "I'm not listening, I'm not listening, la-la-la." "..."  Seeing Chu Wanning's dark expression, Mo Ran probably felt his attitude just now wasn't very nice, so he used a finger and poked between his brows and laughed, "You little young'un, what's with all this deep tormented suffering, and disobeying of your seniors' words too. Then, let me tell you. Since you call me shixiong and we both came from the same sect, then when we run into perils like these I must protect you at all cost. Do you understand?" Chu Wanning shut his eyes and answered in a low voice, "...I understand." "Good to see you do. Then why don't you—" "But I'm worried about you." Mo Ran was taken aback, and the finger that hung before Chu Wanning's forehead quivered for a second, and he actually couldn't utter a single word for the moment. He had lived for two lifetimes, but never had he heard anyone say the words "I'm worried about you" to him. Even if Shi Mei treated him with gentleness, he had never expressed his care for him so straightforwardly.

He gazed with amazement at that tiny, small child sitting on top of that pile of firewood before him, and his heart was filled with hundreds of emotions.

After a long while, his eyes gradually grew soft, and the finger he used to poke Chu Wanning lifted, the hand landing on the soft hairs of the other, then he ruffled.

"Don't worry, shixiong promises you. I'll come back alive and well." "Mo Ran, can you just let me finish…" Mo Ran grinned, "Alright, what did you want to say?" "I'm actually—" PANG! The door was crashed open.

A man with disheveled hair screamed as he charged in, covered in blood,

and one of his legs was already ripped into shreds. Behind him was a band of zombies lured in by the stench of blood.

That man tumbled into the room dragging that wretched leg, and grabbed at anything he could get his hands on, hurling the objects to the growling zombies, and he yelled as he threw, "GET THE HELL OUTTA HERE! DON'T COME OVER HERE! GET AWAY! GET THE HELL AWAY!" Mo Ran cursed under his breath and blocked Chu Wanning behind him, a red light flashing from his hand, and Jiangui was summoned to shield. He turned half a face over:

"Shidi, hide yourself, absolutely do not come over!" Then he attacked with the vine in hand, and started to slaughter the mob of corpses that had invaded the house. Although Jiangui and Tianwen were similar,

but Chu Wanning hadn't yet fully passed on his moves to Mo Ran, and the weapon Mo Ran wielded in his previous life was a saber, he wasn't used to supple weapons, so while at the beginning of the slaughtering he wasn't losing,

gradually it became obvious his power didn't match the heart.

Jiangui was swung all over the place, when suddenly, the voice of a child sounded, crisp and cool, "Left side, wrap around the wrist and strike three times,

then jump in the air, swing around the back and sling out." Mo Ran had no time to think, and followed his guidance to fight. The willow vine whipped upon the body of a zombie on the left, and with just one strike the zombie's arm was broken by the holy weapon, exposing bones. Normally, no one was bored enough to whip twice more, but since little shidi told him to, then he might as well give it a try, no harm done. Thus he immediately struck the zombie again twice, then jumping up, he bent at nimbly at the waist, flipped and slung out the vine whip straight behind his back— THRASH!

Quite coincidentally, the next wave of corpses just happened to swarm in,

and Jiangui that had stored three times the strength blew out a stream of blazing fire, blasting towards them. The band of corpses were instantly slashed by the brutal holy weapon, each of those zombies losing their heads, and when those heads had dropped to the ground they were still smoking with black smoke.

Mo Ran was dumbfounded. He gave a shocked glance at the cool little shidi sitting on top of a pile of firewood.

This guy… he's pretty good?

"How do I move next?" Mo Ran was now energetic, and he asked in excitement.

Chu Wanning instructed expressionlessly, "Next… use your left hand and pat at your right sleeve." "Ooh, this action is deep and indiscernible, what move is it?"   Chu Wanning said flatly, "Nothing deep and indiscernible. You were swinging too proudly earlier, and the weapon lit a fire on your sleeve, that's all." Mo Ran "Ah"-ed, and looked down. Sure enough, that was the case, and he hastily patted out the fire Jiangui had started in a mess. This man's face sure was thick; he didn't feel any sense of awkwardness at all, and even looked up with a goofy grin, turning to the other, "My shidi is so amazing. I like." Chu Wanning softly cleared his throat and silently turned his face away,

facing the grey, bare walls, his ears faintly red.

At this time, there were only six zombies left in the house that could still move. Chu Wanning didn't want to look at Mo Ran any longer, so with his head still turned away, he instructed to the wall, "Loosen your wrist, swing the vine towards the sky, twirl it six times to gain power, then slash down like the word 'one'"

Mo Ran followed the instructions, but when he twirled to the fifth round, he suddenly wondered, "How do you slash like the word 'one'[6]?" "...Just slash how you normally would with a sword." "Ah, I see!" Mo Ran was enlightened and struck down with one blow. The blazing fires shone, and it was as if that soft and supple vine had suddenly blazed into an indestructible long saber, slashing the six corpses in one swing!

"WAH—" This time, Mo Ran's eyes were so wide they were practically round.

"Where did you learn this? How come I feel the way you use the vine whip is almost as familiar and practiced as my shizun? No, maybe you're even stronger than him. He had never told me about what you taught me today." "..." Mo Ran's smile widened, "Good good good, this is great! Now I don't ever have to take shizun's grim face anymore. I'll just learn from you, ain't that more freeing?" Chu Wanning shot him a glare, "You scorn Yuheng Elder's grim face? Why don't you scorn my ire?" Mo Ran withdrew the vine whip and blocked the door shut anew, then he pulled over a table to block the entrance, and laughed, "You giving me a hard time is you being good to me. Us two here, we've technically gotten through hardships together now. Shixiong remembers all the good you've treated shixiong with. From now on I'll dote on you like my own little brother. Nevermind your grim face, even if you beat me up a couple times because you're unhappy I won't get mad." Chu Wanning's face darkened, "Who wants to be your little brother." Then he hopped down that pile of firewood, unwilling to mind Mo Ran anymore, and instead when to check on the injuries of that man who had charged in.

Unexpectedly, when he looked, Chu Wanning widened his eyes a little, "...It's him?!" "Who is it?" Mo Ran looked over curiously too and was also stunned, "That… that Xiao Man?" The one lying in a pool of blood and groaning in tears was indeed Xiao Man.

He had suffered grave injuries, and after Chu Wanning had checked him over,

he shook his head, "Humans and ghosts were never meant to live in harmony. I imagine the Ghost King stopped caring for him once he was done being useful.

He really…" "Deserved it." Mo Ran said.

Chu Wanning gave him a look. Mo Ran haha-ed but suddenly felt a little guilty. If he must say the man deserved the karma of his sins, then wasn't he himself the one who deserved karma the most?

Mo Ran changed the subject and asked, "Oh yea, what was it you wanted to tell me earlier? That you're actually what?" Chu Wanning lowered his eyelashes, paused, and said softly, "I'm actually—" Before he could finish, he suddenly felt a breeze behind his back. Chu Wanning jolted viciously, whipped around to fight, but he was in the body of a child after all, his strength far from that of a grown man, and he couldn't struggle free as the other firmly choked his throat!

Somehow, Xiao Man had managed to struggle up from that pool of blood in one breath!

One of his vein popped hands gripped Chu Wanning's neck in a deadly hold,

the other twisted and locked Chu Wanning's arms. It was as if a wild flame was burning on that filthy, unkempt face, and the desire to survive had twisted his entire form, changing shapes continuously in the baking heat like a wax figure.

His eyes were bloodshot, and he croaked towards Mo Ran, "Take me…

away from here…" "YOU LET HIM GO!" "TAKE ME AWAY FROM HERE!" Xiao Man shouted furiously, his eyes practically cracking around the edges from rage, "OTHERWISE I'LL TAKE HIS LIFE! GO!" "If you want me to save you then I'll save you. What are you doing threatening a child? Let him go first—" "IF YOU KEEP TALKING I'LL KILL HIM RIGHT NOW!! I've already committed all the sins, I won't care for one more! ARE WE GOING OR NOT!" Chu Wanning couldn't utter a sound because of the stranglehold, his elegant little face bulging and flustered. Seeing this, Mo Ran was panicking. Although if he struck now he could take Xiao Man's life, but in this illusion turned reality, if Xiao Man really explodes in fury then before he could move to strike, the other might already hurt shidi severely.

"Fine fine fine, I'll listen to you." Mo Ran said, "Don't get riled up, just loosen your hand a bit, I'll immediately…" Before he finished, blood splattered.

Author's Notes:

Mo Ran: Little Shidi is so good to me! Little Shidi is not only smart but also cute *^o^* Nothing like Shizun at all!

Chu Wanning: Heh, blind.

[6] The word one is just one line → 一