Chapter 71: This Venerable One's Been Framed

Face ashen, Mo Ran was in utter disbelief as he summoned the weapon that he had just put away a moment ago. Jiangui answered his call, appearing in his hand in a blaze of firey light.

Comparing the two, the weapon that killed Eighteen was practically identical to Jiangui, almost like a piece of it, save for the fact that it had no hilt——could it be that there was a second Jiangui in this world?!

But before he could think on it, urgent footsteps approached at a rapid speed. Chu Wanning was more level-headed than Mo Ran; he quickly assessed the situation and a chill flickered through his eyes: "Mo Ran, put Jiangui away!" "Wha——?" Too late.

A group of people had already arrived at the entrance to the cave. There were people from the feathered tribe, cultivators from the various sects, even Xue Meng, Ye Wangxi, and Shi Mei were there... it was as if someone had noticed that something strange was happening here and called just about everyone over in a hurry.

And so, when everyone arrived one after the other, the sight that greeted them was that of Eighteen, brutally murdered, the willow vine cutting into her neck; and behind her, Mo Ran and a small child, battered from clearly having just fought a fierce battle, Mo Ran covered in blood and holding Jiangui in hand,

the willow vine coursing with a menacing, firey light…...

No one made a sound.

Until someone suddenly yelled: "M-murderer!" The crowd began to clamor; panic, anger, and whispered words surging into a river, the drone of voices shaking the very bones. "She's dead" "Murderer" "How vicious" "Must be insane" "Lunatic" fragments of words were repeated over and over, the frenzied mob looking no different from the walking corpses in the illusion just now, and for a moment, Mo Ran almost thought that the illusion was not yet over, that the nightmare still continued.

Almost as if the blood spilt in Lin'an two hundred years ago still covered the ground.

"No..." He took a step backward, throat dry, "It wasn't me..." He felt a tug on his clothes, and his step paused.

Amidst the madness, he looked down and saw Chu Wanning's clear eyes.

He murmured helplessly: "It wasn't me..." Chu Wanning nodded and tried to shield him behind himself. But he was only a small child right now, what could he do?

As he fretted, he felt Mo Ran step forward.

More and more people joined in on the shouting: "Lock him up! The kid too!

Grab them! Murderers!" "We can't let them get away, they're too dangerous! Hurry and grab them!" Mo Ran pulled Chu Wanning behind himself, blocking him from sight, then took a moment to breathe and collect himself.

"I didn't kill Miss Eighteen. Please let me explain."   The faces in the crowd looked blurry, overlapping with a memory from the past life that he couldn't bear to remember. He strained to see Xue Meng amongst the shadows in the crowd, his face filled with disbelief, and then he saw Shi Mei, eyes wide and face pale, his head shaking repeatedly.

Mo Ran closed his eyes and spoke in a low voice: "I didn't kill her, but I don't plan to run away either. At least hear me out before you lock me up?"

But even so, no one wanted to listen to him. Anger and anxiety spread through the crowd; a high-pitched female voice yelled: "Y-you got caught redhanded, what even is there to say!" "That's right!" "Just toss them in lockup first! If it turns out they didn't do it, we can just let them out then!" "Lock them up! Lock them up!" Xue Meng snapped out of his shocked state. He stepped out from the crowd and stood in front of those angry, twisted faces with his back to Mo Ran, and raised his voice: "Everyone please calm down, I have something to say." "Who the hell are you!" "Why would we listen to you!" "Wait, isn't that the little phoenix?" "Little phoenix? You mean the darling of the heavens? That Xue Meng?" "That's him..." Xue Meng's expression was terrible, nearly colorless. He took a deep breath and said, slowly: "Everyone, please listen. Both of them are disciples of Sisheng Peak, and I can vouch that they absolutely wouldn't do something like murder an innocent person. So please calm down and let them explain first." "..." A moment of silence, then someone yelled: "And why should we believe you? So what if they're Sisheng Peak disciples, that doesn't mean you know their true nature!" "Exactly! There's no knowing what someone's really like, even if you're from the same sect!' Xue Meng's expression grew even darker, lips pressed in a thin line as his hands clenched into fists.

Behind him, Mo Ran stood with Chu Wanning in tow. Truth be told, he was surprised when Xue Meng came out in their defense. He hadn't exactly been close with this cousin of his in the past life, or rather, they could hardly even stand one another. And later, when he became the emperor of the human realm and burned, killed, and plundered as he liked, the two of them had naturally ended up on opposite sides of the battle.

So he never expected that Xue Meng would stand with his back to him,

facing the horde and all of their pointed fingers.

Mo Ran felt warmth flood his heart: "Xue Meng, you... believe me?"   "Ungh! Yeah right, you damn mutt!" Xue Meng's face turned slightly toward him as he huffed, "Look at this mess you got into! Aren't you the older one, why do I gotta clean up after you!" "..."   But after he got done cursing out Mo Ran, he whipped back around and started yelling at those people in an even more fierce tone: "What? How would I not know them? One of them is my shidi, and the other is my cousin! Who knows them better, me, or the lot of you?" "Xue Meng..." "Would it kill you guys to listen to a bit of explanation? With all these people here, it's not like they're gonna grow wings and fly off if you just give them a couple of minutes!" At this time, Shi Mei also stepped out, but his mannerisms were far too soft to be imposing, and there was fright in his voice as he said: "Everyone, I can also vouch for them, they definitely wouldn't have hurt Miss Eighteen, so please hear them out, thank you..." Even Ye Wangxi stepped forward. Although he didn't vouch for them, he was much calmer than the rest of the agitated crowd.

He said: "Even if it's a temporary detainment, they should still at least get the chance to explain and defend themselves. Otherwise, we might be letting the real killer off the hook. What if that person is amongst us as we speak, what then?" At his words, the people in the crowd immediately started looking at one another with alarm in their eyes.

"...Fine! We'll hear you out first!" "But we're still going to lock you up! Can't be too cautious, after all!" "Guilty until proven innocent!" Mo Ran let out a breath and folded his hands against his forehead[1], and then, after a moment, actually smiled.

"I never would have thought that, surrounded on all sides, there would still be people willing to believe in me. Okay, okay, even if I get locked up, just for you three, I won't be mad about it."   He simply and briefly went over what had happened, from the manifestation of the illusion and the events that had transpired within, to finding Eighteen murdered upon exiting the illusion.

Unfortunately, once a Domain of Fiends scenario has been overcome, a brand new illusion is created for the next person to enter, so there was no way to check if Mo Ran was telling the truth or not. But it did seem like a stretch for him to have come up with such an elaborate story in such little time if he was making it up.

So by the time he finished, more than half the people in the crowd already seemed to be wavering.

A higher up of the feathered tribe spoke quietly to her subordinate, then said:

"Mo Ran, Xia Sini, although the two of you have presented explanations, you have no evidence. For the safety of the Peach Blossom Springs, we will have to detain you until the matter has been resolved." Mo Ran smiled helplessly: "Alright alright, I figured as much anyway. I won't complain too much as long as you feed me." "That's a matter of course." She paused before continuing: "Henceforth,

everyone please be on your guard to prevent any further accidents. All who did not arrive here in time will be questioned one by one to eliminate any suspicions.

Furthermore, I will be informing the leaders of each sect, especially Sisheng Peak, which is most heavily involved. If possible, I would like to invite your Shizun here for a chat."

"Shizun?!" Mo Ran's expression changed immediately.

Chu Wanning stood quietly without a word.

"I don't want Shizun to come! Will my uncle do?" "Issues involving the disciple shall be reported to the master. This has always been the rule in the cultivation world, is it different at Sisheng Peak?" "No, but..." Mo Ran scratched his head in frustration, letting out one sigh after another,

but didn't know what to say.

Issues involving the disciple shall be reported to the master, of course that made sense.

But even just thinking about Chu Wanning's indifferent face and those crisp,

cold eyes, and Mo Ran was already certain that if he were to come, he'd definitely just give him a dressing-down first and foremost regardless of right or wrong. He'd rather not see him at all.

But no matter what he said, there was nothing he could do.

Both he and his little shidi got locked up.

The lockup at the Peach Blossom Springs was a cave, not very big but also not too small, its entrance covered by ancient brambles that only listened to the commands of the feathered tribe. The inside never saw the light of day, but thankfully there was a firepit with enchanted flames that burned continuously.

The furnishings inside were simple: a wide, plain bed of stone padded with golden-red cushions made of woven feathers, a stone table and four stone stools, one copper mirror, and a couple sets of bowls and cups.

Mo Ran and Chu Wanning were imprisoned here together.

Although judgement had yet to be passed, the one in charge of them seemed to be have been close with Eighteen. Eighteen lost her life for no reasons at all, so the feathered tribe guard took it out on them by making their lives more difficult.

On the first night, the guard still knew to deliver some food; it wasn't great or much, but there was enough to eat. However, by the second day, there were only some raw meat, vegetables, rice, flour, and salt tossed casually into the cave along with something about not having the time to take care of their meals and to sort it out themselves.

"Fine, we'll sort it out ourselves then. It's just cooking, what's so hard about that?" Mo Ran muttered huffily from where he was crouched on the ground, picking out the useable ingredients.

"What does shidi want to eat?" "...Whatever."   "Sigh, there's no dish more difficult to cook than the one called 'Whatever'.

Let's see here, we have pork belly, napa cabbage... tsk, this bird sure is stingy, it's only the outer layers of the cabbage. There's quite a bit of rice and flour, but not sure how many days this is supposed to last us for." He muttered while counting the ingredients, then looked up at Chu Wanning, "Do you want rice or noodles?" Chu Wanning was resting on the bed, tummy-down. He thought about it,

then said: "Noodles." A pause, then he added: "Soup noodle with spare ribs."   "...Ahaha, where am I gonna get spare ribs from?"

"Then whatever's fine."   Mo Ran sat cross-legged on the ground, one hand on his knee, cheek squished against the other, and thought for a bit before saying: "There's not many ingredients here, how about noodles with minced meat?" "Noodles with minced meat?" "Would you like that?" "Sure. Is it spicy?"   Mo Ran grinned: "There isn't even a shadow of a pepper in what that bird gave us." With dinner decided, Mo Ran set about kneading the dough. Chu Wanning was short and not that strong, so he didn't even bother trying to make a pretense of helping. He watched Mo Ran knead that soft, white ball of dough from where he lay in bed, gaze growing softer.

He suddenly felt that this wasn't bad after all—Mo Ran didn't know who he was, so he could stay by his side just like this, and when Mo Ran cooked, he'd bother to ask what he wanted to eat. It really wasn't bad.

He even felt a little uneasy, as if he had been given too much, as if he had stolen it all from a child named "Xia Sini".

Mo Ran finished cooking the noodles and put the stir-fried mincemeat on top.

They had pitifully few seasonings, so he couldn't really make anything fancy, but the noodles were pulled to a chewy consistency at just the right softness, and he had cut off the fatty part of the pork to fry the meat in. The mince sizzled as it was poured over the noodles; it'll be delicious mixed in.

"Shidi, dinner's..." He looked up to find that Chu Wanning had fallen asleep, still lying tummy-down like before, face turned to the side with his head pillowed on his arms, long eyelashes resting against his cheeks, expression peaceful.

"Ready..." He finished in a mumble, then walked over to the bed and stroked Chu Wanning's smooth, inky hair.

"Looking at you like this, you really do look like Shizun. I wonder what the relationship is between you, Shizun, and the Chu family of Lin'an, and also, just who exactly is after us. Sigh... wonder what Shizun's up to right now, if he knew what had happened here, would he blame me again regardless of all else?"   At that, the color in Mo Ran's eyes darkened a little as he played with a strand of Chu Wanning's hair around his finger, sighing faintly.

"You don't know him, but anytime anything happens, he always gives me hell... he really doesn't like me at all." But Chu Wanning was asleep, and these words scattered weightlessly into the silence of night without an answer, just like the misunderstandings coiled around them for decades and decades across two lifetimes.

Mo Ran waited for the noodles to cool down a bit before waking Chu Wanning up.

"Shidi, dinner's ready."   Chu Wanning covered a yawn and blinked blearily.

"Oh, dinner..."

Mo Ran carried the noodles over. He liked to cook, but hated doing the dishes, so just for the sake of having one less dish to wash, he had put the noodles directly into the pot he fried the mincemeat in.

Chu Wanning was flabbergasted at this unorthodox and uncultured way of eating, his eyes wide as he stared disbelievingly at the big pot of noodles:

"How...are we supposed to eat this?" "Together of course." Mo Ran handed him a pair of chopsticks and was already putting his hands together with a grin, "The race to see who can scoop out more noodles is just about to begin! Who's gonna get to eat more? We're about to find out." "..." Mo Ran laughed gleefully, his eyes curved into little crescents. Chu Wanning stared at him a little: "It's almost like, as long as you have food, you're very..." "Very happy right?" "Mn." "Haha, food is the most important thing, after all!" Mo Ran said, then cheekily scooped up a big clump of noodles for himself,

slurping it all up until his cheeks were puffed out: "It doesn't look great, but it's pretty tasty." "..." Chu Wanning's expression was dark, "Don't slurp while eating." "Hahaha!" Mo Ran laughed, slapping his leg, "How is a little kid like you this much like my Shizun? He also told me to not slurp, but you know what? Once,

when I was eating with him, I purposefully threw a bone in his bowl, and he got so mad! Hahahahaha——" Chu Wanning grit his teeth: "Impudent!" "Yeah yeah yeah! That reaction exactly, how did you know? Even the delivery was just like him! Hey Shidi, seriously, I think you two might be distant relatives, why don't you ask Shizun about it when he gets here? O-oi——wait not the egg the egg's mine——"    

Author's Notes:

Weiyu-er 🐟: Does Shididi want to eat rice or noodles?

Big white kitty: It's gotten cold, why not eat dog meat? (sneer)

[1] A gesture indicating gladness