Dumb Husky and His White Cat Shizun (2ha)29.43%

Chapter 103: Shizun, I'm Coming to Find You

So it was… like that…

His disciple…

Mo Ran never would have thought that this exalted monk who was practically indifferentiable between human and ghost was actually Chu Wanning's teacher, and for a moment, he was unable to speak.

It was Shi Mei who reacted first, bowing down immediately in a formal rite of respect and saying in a deferential tone, "I was unaware that the great master was thus related to our late master. This humble one offers Huaizui-shizu[9] his sincere greetings." But Master Huaizui replies, "There's no need to call me shizu, for Chu Wanning was expelled from the sect by this humble monk long ago." "Ah!" Shi Mei's eyes widened slightly in surprise. "I see…" He was prudent by nature, so although he was curious, he understood from the faint wistfulness in Master Huaizui's expression that he didn't wish to talk about it, and so didn't ask.

But Mo Ran's thoughts were elsewhere; he pressed urgently, feeling like his very heart was being broiled alive, "Great master, you said that you came here for Shizun, so do you… do you have some means of bringing Shizun back?!" "A-Ran…" "Do you know how to bring him back! Tell me the truth! Do you… do you know how…" The rapid pumping of his heart together with the exhaustion from days of overworking made him feel lightheaded, and as his vision swam, the rest of the sentence caught in his throat, impossible to force out, but the rims of his eyes grew red.

Master Huaizui let out a sigh, "Mo-shizhu, pray take care. But yes, that is indeed why this old monk is here." Mo Ran's face, originally pale as paper, flushed with color upon hearing these words. He stared fixedly at Master Huaizui, his bloodless lips quivering for a moment before managing to speak, "D… do you… really…" "This old monk did not come to disturb this late at night only to prank the two shizhu." Mo Ran still wanted to say something; his throat moved, but only a choked sob came out.

A long moment passed in silence before Master Huaizui said, "The Rebirth Technique alters fate in defiance of Heaven's will, and is no simple matter. This old monk truly owes Chu-zongshi overmuch, or he would not have resorted to such measures. Visiting Sisheng Peak was a decision made after many days of consideration." "Altering fate in defiance of Heaven's will…?" Mo Ran murmured, turning the words over between his lips, then muttered miserably, "Altering fate in defiance of Heaven's will… if even a sinner like myself was given the opportunity to alter my fate in defiance of Heaven's will, then surely such a good person as he should be given the same?" Half-crazed as he was in the moment, he had actually let slip his own "altering of fate in defiance of Heaven's will". Luckily he was mumbling indistinctly, and no one caught the implication between his words that he was also reborn.

Shi Mei said, "Shizu, since it alters fate in defiance of Heaven's will, and the Rebirth Technique itself is a forbidden technique, I imagine it must be extremely difficult to carry out, and… won't necessarily succeed… right?" "Correct," Huaizui answered. "This technique involves not only the wielder and the deceased, it also requires a third person to go and find the totality of the deceased's soul. The journey to rebirth is full of hardships, and the slightest mistake could lead to eternal damnation and complete shattering of the soul." Shi Mei: "..." "For that reason, this old monk need not disturb anyone else, and came only to ask of Chu-zongshi's three disciples if you would be willing to tread fire and flood and go through untold dangers for him. If you are not, then even if this old monk opens the gate of rebirth, Chu Wanning still would not be able to return." Even before Huaizui's explanation, Mo Ran had already guessed most of it.

The reason the three forbidden techniques were forbidden was because,

unlike ordinary techniques, they required certain sacrifices and involved certain dangers.

In the last lifetime, he had been willing to give his life for Shi Mei; in this lifetime, he'd already decided that in order to repay his debt to Chu Wanning, he also would not hesitate.

Mo Ran wasn't heartless. It was just that, in the last lifetime, he was never willing to divide his heart and give Chu Wanning even the tiniest piece of it.

Under the candlelight, he looked directly at Master Huaizui as he said, "The great master need not ask Xue Meng. Shizun died because of me. There's no need to involve anyone else in this matter; I, Mo Ran, am willing to take on any and all dangers of this technique alone." "A-Ran…" Shi Mei muttered, then turned to ask Huaizui, "Shizu's words were already sobering; what will the actual trial be like?"

Huaizui spoke, "Although Mo-shizhu is willing to undertake the risks himself,

for the first step of this technique, the more people there are that are willing to take on the risks, the more likely it is to succeed. So let's wait for Xue-shizhu to get here first, and then this old monk will explain it to all of you. This old monk already asked someone to go call him upon first arriving here." He paused, then smiled toward Shi Mei.

"On another note, please remember not to refer to this old monk as shizu. As mentioned earlier, this old monk no longer holds the position of being Chuzongshi's shizun." Now that Mo Ran was finally somewhat calmer, he asked, "Why did the great master… expel our Shizun from the sect?" Shi Mei, speechlessly: "A-Ran…" "No matter, it's not some unspeakable thing," Huaizui sighed. "When he was young, this humble monk once received the care of a benefactor. But the benefactor was ill-fated and lost his life protecting others during a calamity. It has been a hundred years hence, yet the thought of it still makes this humble monk uneasy. Thus the most important rule of our sect has always been that all disciples must focus solely on cultivation, and, until and unless they reach enlightenment, are forbidden from setting foot in the outside world and getting involved in the matters thereof, so as to not endanger their own lives." Mo Ran thought about it for a while, then said, "Shizun couldn't do it." "That's right," Huaizui forced a smile. "That little disciple of mine had the same temperament as my benefactor. He grew up in the temple, with little in the way of experience but an abundance of skill and talent. By all rights, he should have been able to cultivate into ascension without incident. But the year he came of age, he went down the mountain to collect ores, and just so happened to run into fleeing refugees…" Shi Mei sighed, "That being the case, Shizun definitely wouldn't just stand there and watch." Huaizui nodded. "Not only did he not just stand there and watch, after he found a place for the refugees, he left the mountain without permission to go look into how things were at the lower cultivation realm." "..." Sisheng Peak had only just been established back then, and the situation in the lower cultivation realm was far more chaotic than it is now. It went without saying what Chu Wanning saw.

"And when he returned, he told me that he wanted to put his cultivation training on hold so that he can go out into the world to help the injured and save lives." Shi Mei asked, "Did you agree?" "No." "..." "He was only fifteen then, with a pure, simple nature and a hot temper; it would've been far too easy for him to get deceived by someone. How could I possibly let him go out on his own? Besides, his cultivation was high, but his constitution was poor, and there are all kinds of dangers and dangerous characters out in the world. As his master, this humble monk truly could not help but worry."

Mo Ran said, "But he didn't listen to you in the end." "No, he didn't. We had a big fight over it. He said how can Shizun just sit there all day with his eyes closed trying to ascend while the common people suffer right in front of his eyes." "Ah!" Shi Mei exclaimed in surprise.

Such words toward Huaizui would have been extremely harsh coming from anyone else, but for it to come from Chu Wanning, his own disciple at the time,

was shockingly improper.

Huaizui's expression was even, but there was a hint of melancholy there.

"This humble monk's control over his emotions was yet lacking back then, and,

in a fit of anger, said to his disciple, you can't even save yourself, how can you save others?" "And what did Shizun say?" Shi Mei asked.

"If you don't know how to save others, how will you save yourself?" The entire hall fell silent at these words.

Because these words came not from Huaizui, but were whispered by Mo Ran. Suddenly hearing him say the same thing that Chu Wanning had said back then, Master Huaizui's eyes glinted in the light as he gazed silently at the young man before him, and a long moment passed before he let out a deep sigh.

"Is that how he'd been teaching you? He… aye, he really… hadn't changed at all, still that same unwavering conviction in his path." Huaizui's thoughts were a mess; Mo Ran wasn't any calmer.

He had always scoffed at that line of Chu Wanning's, thinking it to be fake righteousness and empty words. But saying it just now, he instead felt anguish like his heart was being engulfed by flames.

Several moments passed before Huaizui's hollow voice sounded once again inside Loyalty Hall.

"It shames me to say this, but I lost my temper that day and told him that if he insists on being stubborn and takes one step out of the temple gates, then we would be master and disciple no more, all ties severed," he paused, as if choked up by that piece of the past, wanting to talk about it in detail yet also not wanting to. After several moments of hesitation, he shook his head.

"As I'm sure you've guessed, Chu Wanning chose to cut ties and leave in the end. It's been many years since then. He and I want different things; so though we both live in this mortal world, our paths have never crossed since." Shi Mei said, "That's not Shi...that's not the great master's fault." Huaizui replied, "Right and wrong, truth and falsehood, these are not things so easily grasped. But Chu Wanning was once my disciple, and this humble monk could find no rest since hearing of his death in that bloody battle. Thus I thought to come here and do what I can, try our luck, see if we can bring back Chu-zongshi——" Clang.

The vermillion-painted doors were forcefully flung open.

Xue Meng stood on the outside, when he'd arrived nobody knew, but he had clearly already heard the most important parts. He was only told that Master Huaizui was here, but had no idea what the old monk came here for, so he wandered over in no hurry, sipping dejectedly at his bowl of herbal medicine as he walked.

Now, after hearing what Huaizui had said, the bowl had been shattered into pieces on the floor, and the hot medicinal brew had splashed all over him.

But the son of the phoenix didn't seem to feel the burn at all as he cried,

"Bring back? Bring back? Shizun can——can come back?!" He stumbled into the room in a run and grabbed Huaizui unceremoniously.

"Bald donkey, what did you just say? Is this some kind of joke?" Shi Mei said hurriedly, "Young master, this is…" "No… that was unbecoming of me," although he didn't know that the person before him was Chu Wanning's master, Xue Meng remembered that he was here to save Shizun's life and hurriedly let go. "Great master, as long as you can bring Shizun back, if there's ever anything you need in the future, Xue Meng will definitely go through hell and high water, risk life and limb for you. Just please…

please say it's no jest." Huaizui said, "Xue-shizhu, there's no need for that. This humble monk came calling this late at night specifically for your Shizun." He turned to look out the window at the night sky, "It's almost time. Since the three young shizhu are all here, please allow this humble monk to explain to you the details and challenges of the Rebirth Technique." Shi Mei said, "Please do, great master." But Xue Meng pressed urgently, "What even is there to say! Save him first!

Hurry and save him first!" Huaizui replied, "Xue-shizhu is understandably anxious, but please know that any mistake could cost not only the shizhu's life, but could also scatter Chu Wanning's soul. If that were to happen, he won't even be able to enter the Wheel of Reincarnation[10] anymore. Would you chance that?" "I…" Xue Meng's face flushed red immediately and his hands closed tightly around his sleeves, only loosening after a long while. "Alright, I'll listen to the great master's explanation…" Huaizui took out three plain white silk lanterns from his storage pouch. The white silk of the lanterns were intricately woven with thin threads of gold, and complex spell patterns were embroidered into their centers in thirteen colors of silk threads, circling and interlacing like a spider web meant to capture departing souls.

"These are Soul-Calling Lanterns," Master Huaizui distributed the three lanterns to the three of them. "Take these, and listen very carefully to what this humble monk is about to say next." Mo Ran took the lantern and held it carefully in his hands.

"Each person has three ethereal souls and seven corporeal spirits[11]. The three ethereal souls are the Earth Soul, the Cognizance Soul, and the Human Soul. After death, the three souls leave the body and each go their own way. All of this you already know, but I hazard a guess that you don't know where exactly each soul goes after death." Shi Mei spoke, "May the great master please enlighten us." "The Earth Soul and the Human Soul proceed to the Underworld, while the Cognizance Soul remains within the body. It is said that the soul returns on the seventh day, but in actuality, it is only the Human Soul that returns to the world of the living to meet with the Cognizance Soul. The Human Soul generally returns due to some unfulfilled wish; once its wish is realized, it will merge with the Cognizance Soul within the body, and the merged soul will go to the Underworld to reunite into a complete soul and await reincarnation. Many have attempted Rebirth without full knowledge of its intricacies, only to end up calling back only an incomplete portion of the soul, which naturally dissipates in short order." After Shi Mei's death in the past life, Mo Ran had also tried to call back his soul. But, just as Huaizui said, under the pale white moonlight, there was no more than a very faint shadow of that person, which turned instantly into glitters of light.

Mo Ran muttered, "I see…" Huaizui continued, "Chu Wanning's Cognizance Soul yet remains in his body, you need not be concerned about it. The important thing is to find his Human Soul and his Earth Soul." Xue Meng asked hastily, "Find how?" Huaizui answered, "Using the Soul-Calling Lantern. This lantern can only be lit using spiritual energy, so you must sustain it with a stream of your spiritual energy and walk through Sisheng Peak with it. If Chu Wanning does not refuse the three shizhu, then the light of the Soul-Calling Lantern will be able to illuminate his Human Soul." Mo Ran's heart dropped at these words. "Then what if Shizun doesn't want to see us?" "That's the first difficulty, and the reason why the chance of success is greater the more people there are willing to look for him. It must be said that, if he has no lingering attachments to this world and has already decided to leave," Huaizui said, "then the Soul-Calling Lantern will be unable to illuminate him. So as you can see, for the Rebirth Technique to work, everything—time, place, and people—must align just so. If the deceased has no lingering attachments to any of the people who go to search for him, and is unwilling to return to the world of the living, then no one can compel him to come back." "..." Mo Ran's hands tightened subconsciously around the lantern.

Xue Meng said without pause, "Shizun cared for us the most, how could he be unwilling to come back? Great master, what do we do after finding Shizun's Human Soul with the lanterns?" "Once you find the Human Soul, you must then go to a certain place." "Where?" Xue Meng asked.

"The Underworld," Huaizui answered.

All three of them were shocked, not having anticipated actually having to go to the Underworld.

Shi Mei ah'd softly, then lowered those beautiful eyes slightly and asked in a quiet voice, "Um… how would a living person go into Hell?" "I have my ways, shizhu need not concern himself with that." Huaizui shot him a measured gaze and continued, "But of the three of you,

no matter who finds Chu Wanning's Human Soul first, you must wholeheartedly wish for him to return to the living world, and be unreservedly willing to go to the Heavens above and the Underworld below for his sake. If you lack the strength of conviction, then Chu Wanning's soul will scatter halfway and be impossible to gather ever again."

Shi Mei: "Um…" Xue Meng spoke, "The depth of the affection and regard I hold for Shizun are beyond measure. Even if I have to go to the Infinite Hells to find him, I'd have no complaints." "...Shizun died because of me," Mo Ran lifted his eyes and also affirmed, "I owe him far too much, and also have no complaints." Huaizui said, "Good. Then listen well: once one of you finds Chu Wanning's Human Soul, he won't be perceivable to the others anymore. And, as for the one to find him, you must make sure to keep the Soul-Calling Lantern lit all the way until daybreak, and keep his soul within its light." Xue Meng said, "Doesn't sound difficult." "It's difficult," Huaizui said. "Once the three souls split, each will generally be missing something. It could be hearing, cognition, or memories… simply put, if you're unlucky, the Shizun you meet might not be so willing to listen to you, and you might have to think of ways to coax hm." Xue Meng: "..." Mo Ran's felt his heart clench with unease. "...Coax him? But what if...what if we say something wrong? He was already hard enough to guess when alive,

now that he's a ghost…" He was genuinely worried about it, but there had been so much friction between him and Xue Meng for so long that Xue Meng thought he was deriding Chu Wanning, and so turned to glare angrily at him as he snapped, "What's so hard about coaxing someone, just remember to not let Shizun out of the lantern's range." Shi Mei asked, "What happens after daybreak?" "After daybreak, Chu Wanning's Human Soul will drift into the Soul-Calling Lantern. This humble monk will be waiting by the bridge with a bamboo raft prepared at that time. This place is located at the entrance to the Ghost Realm,

and the waters beneath Naihe Bridge flow directly into the Yellow Springs[12].

The raft will ferry the one who finds the soul fragment into the Ghost Realm." Xue Meng: "Going to the Ghost Realm on a bamboo raft?" Shi Mei asked, "Only one person can go? The others can't help?" "They cannot. So whoever finds Chu Wanning's Human Soul will have to go alone into the Ghost Realm to look for his Earth Soul as well. If that person were to give up halfway or have second thoughts, then Chu Wanning's Human Soul will be devoured by the Soul-Calling Lantern, never again to reincarnate." Xue Meng started and almost immediately whipped his head around to Mo Ran to say, "You sit this one out, I don't trust you!" Mo Ran kept his silence, shouldering his doubts without argument.

Shi Mei tried to ease the situation, saying, "Young master, A-Ran isn't the type to just back out like that, so…" "So what if he's not?!" Xue Meng snapped. "He's already gotten Shizun killed once, why should I believe he won't do it a second time? He's a god damn scourge!"

Shi Mei said quietly, "The great master is still here, how could you say that." "And why shouldn't I say it? Am I wrong? How many times did Shizun get hurt because of him! Any time he's around, there's always trouble." The rims of Xue Meng's eyes grew red and his lips quivered as he spoke. Trembling all over,

he suddenly lost it and reached out to wrest the Soul-Calling Lantern from Mo Ran's hands. "Give me the lantern, don't bring Shizun any more misfortune." "..." "Give it to me!" Xue Meng swore at him. Mo Ran said nothing in retort. For the first time in his life, he felt that Xue Meng was right.

Be it before the ghost mistress of ceremonies or at the bottom of Jincheng Lake, which of Chu Wanning's injuries wasn't due to him? How many scars did Chu Wanning carry because of him?

A scourge.

Heh…

Yes, that's right.

But even so, even knowing that he had treated Shizun poorly, even knowing that he wasn't worthy to go beg Shizun to return from the Underworld, he still didn't want to let go of the Soul-Calling Lantern in his hands. And so he held on tightly and stubbornly to that pale white lantern as Xue Meng cursed him out and tore at him, standing still with his head lowered even as bloody scratches appeared on the backs of his hands.

In the end, Xue Meng, breathing harshly, finally loosened his grip on him and said with reddened eyes, "Mo Weiyu, just how long do you intend to hurt him for…" Mo Ran didn't look at him. He kept his head down and stared at that empty lantern, silent.

He was silent for so long that everyone else thought he wasn't going to respond, when he suddenly said, quietly, "I want to bring him home." His voice was so quiet.

Pushed down low by the weight of shame and guilt.

So quiet that Xue Meng didn't quite catch it at first, and there was a beat before he abruptly realized what it was that Mo Ran had said. He sneered out a "hah".

"You want to bring him home?" "..." Mo Ran closed his eyes.

Xue Meng spit at him, every syllable torn to pieces between his teeth, "Have you no shame?" "Young master——" "Let go of me. Let go!" Xue Meng ripped his sleeve out from Shi Mei's grasp,

sorrow and resentment flashing in his eyes as he glared unrelentingly at Mo Ran. His voice was raw as he said, "What right do you have." Mo Ran's hands seemed to flinch slightly, and his eyelashes dropped even lower.

For an instant, he felt some kind of strange delirium, as if Chu Wanning was still alive, as if, in the next moment, he would say, "Xue Meng, behave." So it turns out that he had always been protecting him.

It was him who took it all for granted.

Mo Ran didn't know what to say as he held onto that lantern like he was grasping desperately at the last straw.

Head still lowered, he repeated, "I want to bring him home." "Is that all you know how to say!! You——" "That's enough, Xue-shizhu." Master Huaizui finally couldn't bear to watch anymore. He sighed and said,

"Since Mo-shizhu is of a mind to go, just let him. If something really does go wrong, we can readjust then, but as of right now, everything is yet uncertain,

there is no need for Xue-shizhu to be so aggressive." Xue Meng's expression was dark; he still wanted to say something, but in the end restrained himself in consideration for Huaizui.

But then his restraint slipped and he growled out.

"If anything happens to Shizun, I'll kill you as sacrifice for him." Huaizui sighed, "Please settle your grievances some other day. There isn't much time left, the important thing right now is to find the Human Soul." Mo Ran said, "Great master, please begin." "The Soul-Calling Lanterns have already been enchanted," seeing Mo Ran immediately make to light up the lantern with spiritual energy, Huaizui lifted a hand to stop him. "Shizhu, one moment." Xue Meng pressed urgently, "Is there still something else?" "This humble monk wants to reiterate that, if someone does find Chu Wanning's Human Soul, that person will not be able to back out from going to the Underworld. This humble monk will cast a protection spell on that person, but it will still be extremely dangerous for a living person to go into the land of the dead. One careless move, and you might not be able to return alive," Master Huaizui directed a solemn gaze at each of them in turn.

"The dangers of which I speak are no idle threat. Finding Chu Wanning's Earth Soul in the Underworld might not be too difficult, but the difficult part is having to go into Hell alone and face the unknown. If you're lucky, you'll find the Earth Soul in short order, but if you're unlucky and run into any mishaps, then…" "We'll die?" Shi Mei asked.

"Death would be the least of it. I'm afraid that if that were to happen, then both Chu Wanning and the shizhu will be annihilated from the cycle of reincarnation." Huaizui continued, "That's why, if there's any doubt at all in your heart, it'd be best to return me the lantern. No one in this world has to go so far as to die for someone else, there's no shame in valuing your own life. If you're unsure, it's not too late to turn back." "I'm sure," Xue Meng was the most zealous and hot-blooded to boot, and he exclaimed immediately. "Whoever backs out is a rotten egg," he said as he glared viciously at Mo Ran.

But he didn't really understand Mo Ran, after all. This cousin of his was nothing like him. Maybe it was because of all the humiliation he had suffered as a child, but Mo Ran's love and hate had been ground down into sharp claws; if someone were to hurt him, he would eviscerate them, but if someone were to treat him well, even just a tiny bit of kindness, he would never forget.

Mo Ran shot Xue Meng a sidelong glance before turning his gaze back to Huaizui, "I'm also sure." Huaizui nodded and said, "Very well. When you get to the Ghost Realm, find his Earth Soul as quickly as possible. Once the Human Soul and the Earth Soul fuse into one inside the Soul-Calling Lantern, it will light up the road back to the living world. After that, this old monk will take care of the rest." It didn't sound too hard the way he said it, but they all knew that every step of the process was unpredictable and full of dangers. Especially the part in the Underworld; if Chu Wanning's Earth Soul cannot be found, or if it's missing cognition or memories and refuses to fuse, then whoever ends up going down to find him might just get stuck down there.

Thus, before the three of them lit up their Soul-Calling Lanterns, Huaizui asked one last time in a slow, solemn voice.

"Once the lanterns are lit, there's no turning back. This is truly no joking matter, so allow this humble monk to ask one final time: are you absolutely certain? Once you start, there can be no room for regrets." The three of them answered as one, "No regrets." "Good… good…" A smile spread slowly across Huaizui's face, half embittered, half gratified. "Chu Wanning, it seems you've been a better shizun than I…" He silently recited the incantation, and the soul lanterns flickered faintly twice before lighting up. A pair of scarlet flames flared up nearly simultaneously within the lanterns in Xue Meng and Mo Ran's hands, tinging the white silk a vibrant red. A moment later, the lantern in Shi Mei's hands also glowed to life with a faint blue light, the color of water elemental spiritual energy.

"Go." Huaizui said.

"Success or failure, return or not, all will be decided tonight. If tonight falls through… then… sigh…" Mo Ran thought of all the ways in which Chu Wanning had treated him well when he was alive and felt a dull throbbing pain in his heart. He couldn't bear to hear the rest of what Huaizui might say, so he said, "The great master need not say more. Even if I have to kneel, crawl, or die, I'll definitely bring Shizun back to the world of the living." As long as he's still willing.

As long as… he's still willing to come back with me.

Three spots of light set out individually from Loyalty Hall, each vanishing into the boundless darkness of night before long.

Author's Notes:

There were a lot of people at the hospital today, I only managed to get home at 6pm, clutches face....

Recently I need to spend one to two hours replying to comments, and it's busy at work, so I really cannot reply to all sometimes, please don't feel that I'm doing a haphazard job, bows.

Additionally, when I'm replying to comments, there are some things I really cannot say, so it's exceptionally hard to reply to those. I just want to nag, even though my standard of writing is limited, I still don't want to write a sweet and stupidly naive kind of novel, so the process will look a little tough, really sorry hahahaha Anyway, some truths in this novel are buried very deeply, and some characters are not wearing only one mask--when everyone's thinking, "Oh, this little tyke is finally showing his true face", it could be that what he's showing, is only his second mask. So I hope that you friends can be patient, and wait for every character to wash off the paint on their faces, revealing each of their true features in the end and restoring every truth~ And since it's the end of the year, if I don't reply to comments sometimes,

then it's really because I'm too busy T T or I've gotten to writing the key turning points later on in the text, and I'm scared of getting my emotions affected by the comments section, so I won't reply in that sort of scenario as well, please understand! Thank you!

The second thing is that a young miss in the comments section yesterday didn't understand why Dog still liked Shi Mei. It's actually very simple.

Firstly, Shizun's death had nothing to do with Shi Mei.

Secondly, Dog only knows that Shizun treats him well, but doesn't know that Shizun loves him.

Thirdly, regardless of how Shi Mei actually is, Dog has not noticed any change in him as of yet.

If you think about it closely, with his personality, and maintaining the three conditions listed above, would he develop suspicions about his feelings towards Shi Mei? The answer is obviously no.

If this is handled by writing that Dog switched targets and fell in love with Shizun because of Shizun's death, then his character would crumble completely,

turning into a character who falls in love with anyone who dies. What is Dog feeling? It's regret and guilt, it's delayed respect and protectiveness, he can be feeling anything, except love at this stage.

To put it another way, his love for Shizun is not awakened because of Shizun's death. If it were like this, wouldn't he love whoever died for him? That,

instead, becomes an insult to Shizun.

Dog stubbornly thinks that he likes Shi Mei, before Shi Mei changes in any way, or without any other reference, how can he understand that what he feels towards Shi Mei is not love?

The change brought about by Shizun's death will affect his worldview and his actions from here on out, and will make him see Shizun as the one closest to him, but will not make him think about love. At this moment, he feels that imprisoning Shizun, etc. in the past life was extremely horrific, so he's completely unwilling to associate Shizun with romance and love at this point. To cross boundaries and fantasise about Shizun, or to think about him in a romantic way, the Mo Weiyu at this stage, who doesn't know Shizun's true romantic feelings for him, will only feel that it desecrates Shizun.

Additionally, think about it, Shizun died for him, the truth of their past life is revealed, at this point, what's the greatest shock to this party? It's that he could fucking misunderstand such a good Shizun who treated him with a sincere heart,

the main character's mind should rightfully sink into great chaos to the point of a meltdown, where the only things he can think of with any clarity are "how could I have done something like that" "I'm losing my fucking mind" "Shizun treated me with a sincere heart, how could I misunderstand such a good Shizun, it's my fault" "What kind of depraved things did I do in my past life"

He would not, at this point, imagine "Why did Shizun save me? He must like me, be pining after me, love me, that's why he saved me."--No way, if he were thinking like this, then the path his brain takes is really strange, how selfobsessed must he be.

Under the conditions of Shizun having just passed, his shattered worldview,

and beating himself up in self-reproach, how could he be so fickle-hearted to think of love, to guess if Shizun loved him, to fantasise, "Shifu died for me, it must be because he had a crush on me"? He will only think, "Shifu died for me,

he is the best Shifu, I have let him down."

As for losing interest in Shi Mei, that won't happen too, in this affair Shi Mei has effortlessly stood out of the way of the whirlpool of conflict, no matter how a third person looks at it, Shizun's death in the novel has no direct or indirect link to him. He can be implicated in no way, in other words, no matter how much Mo Ran reflects and regrets, that is between him and Chu Wan Ning, and no third person is involved.

"Because of Shizun's death, Mo Ran suddenly discovered that the one he loves is Shizun, and waves goodbye to Shi Mei"--this.....this is really something == Hahaha, if it were handled this way, the character would be entirely seen through the third person point-of-view, the character no longer himself, but a puppet putting on a show outside of what's going on.

So I know some friends are very angry, but I can't help it either. Respecting readers and comments is important, but respecting the characters is the first thing the person typing the novel should do. QAQ sorry, sorry.

The current Mo Weiyu has all his other perspectives shattered, but the one on love has yet to suffer a blow.

This is my best effort at writing from Mo Weiyu's point of view, and his resulting actions. This explanation might not satisfy everyone, but...what needs to be explained should be explained, picks nose.

Patience! Patience! Patience!

This novel is full of slaps to the face!

How many of you were shipping Huaizui and Shizun yesterday? Got slapped didn't you hahahaha. Huaizui is the pitiful character whose true motivations are easiest to guess and whose true face is hinted at most quickly in the whole novel, and in that row in the main and side characters box, everyone has more than one card hidden up their sleeves, waiting to be played hahahahaha okay I've nagged enough…...thank you for reading Auntie's nagging, silently sneaking away to continue typing chapters to queue.

[9] 师祖 Shizu - grand-master, i.e., master's master

[10] 六道轮回 "the Six Realms of Reincarnation" - It is believed that life is a continuous cycle of rebirth; one must reach enlightenment to be freed from the Wheel of Reincarnation. The wheel has six sections, each representing one of Six Realms--Realm of Gods, Realm of Asuras, Realm of Hungry Ghosts, Realm of Hell, Realm of Animals, and Realm of Humans--which can be interpreted either literally as actual places or metaphorically as situations in life. After death, an individual re-enters the Wheel of Reincarnation to be reborn into one of the Six Realms according to their karma.

Enlightenment and liberation from the wheel is only possible from the Human Realm.