Chapter 119: Shizun's Four Souls Assembled

Chu Wanning hadn't heard what Rong Jiu was shouting back there, but based on the current situation, he didn't need any explanation to realise that Rong Jiu had been purposely trying to provoke him back at the warehouse, to make him angry so Rong Jiu could catch an opportune moment to escape and snitch.

Chu Wanning was the sort of person who would normally think things through in a rational manner no matter the situation, but when it came to situations involving Mo Ran, all his rationality and calm seemed to have disappeared into thin air. He was somewhat flabbergasted to realise just how easily he'd been hoodwinked by a few words from a sissy like that.

He watched Mo Ran who was running a few paces ahead of him, and asked in spite of himself, "Did you ever… go back to Immortal Peach Pavilion, after?" Having abruptly heard the name he himself had almost forgotten, Mo Ran staggered and yelled, furious, "Rong Jiu, that dirty bastard! Did he say I went back to Immortal Peach Pavilion after?! Why would I! Shizun are you mad at me for this? Because he said I lied to you?" "..." "After the whole thing at the Platform of Sin and Virtue, I never went back to… those kinds of places. I wouldn't lie to Shizun; if Shizun doesn't believe me,

then you can use Jiangui to bind me and interrogate me." "...No need." Chu Wanning dropped his gaze, seeing that Jiangui was still tightly gripped in his hand. Thinking about how he had just injected spiritual powers into the willow vine to whip Mo Ran into a bloody mess without care or reason, that really had been…

Wait, holy weapon?!

Jiangui's flames illuminated his complexion, bright against the darkness of the night. Chu Wanning stared at it for a moment, his mind tossing and turning frantically. He tried reversing the flow of the spiritual powers injected within Jiangui into the heart of his palm, and instantly felt a powerful and abundant power incessantly rushing in.

Suddenly, Chu Wanning knew where he could draw spiritual power from—— While spiritual powers could not flow between the living and the dead, the powers of a holy weapon didn't care whether the wielder was a human, ghost,

god, or demon; as long as the weapon itself accepted, then it'd all be connected!

Mo Ran ran on for a while before he realised that Chu Wanning had stopped.

He immediately turned back, and asked anxiously, "Shizun, what is it?" The lash wound on his face was still bleeding, and with those bright black eyes, he looked all the more pitiful.

Chu Wanning pursed his lips, feeling somewhat chagrined and a little pained.

Although he felt like he really had wronged Mo Ran, his inner pride pointed out that Mo Ran really had entangled himself with the likes of Rong Jiu in the past,

so that lash had not been undeserved.

After a moment of contemplation, Chu Wanning didn't know what tone he should take or what expression to face him with either, so he could only go with the simple route of speaking with no emotions and no expression.

"Mo Ran, stop, and retreat back to the palace walls." "...To do what?" Chu Wanning replied flatly, "I'll show you a trick." "..." Before he could wrap his head around his Shizun's words, Mo Ran saw the red light of Jiangui flowing endlessly into Chu Wanning's remnant soul,

enveloping his spirit with a blanket of flames. Mo Ran's eyes widened as he watched Chu Wanning and Jiangui respond to each other. Suddenly, the flames abruptly vanished. The man garbed in golden and red robes raised the willow vine, hissing with threads of flames, and turned his head to address Mo Ran.

"Mo Ran, give Jiangui an order." Mo Ran could vaguely guess what he planned to do now, though he could hardly believe it. He promptly shouted a command, "Jiangui, heed Shizun's orders as you would mine." The willow vine in Chu Wanning's hand crackled through, then erupted into strings of crystal red sparks as the leaves on the vine glowed brilliantly.

Chu Wanning raised his other hand and brushed the tips of his fingers inch by inch over Jiangui, the willow vine coursing with even brighter radiance in the wake of his touch. The thousands of ghost soldiers were closing in now, and behind them the barrier-sealed palace walls stood sky-high. There was nowhere to run to.

But then, Chu Wanning wasn't planning to run.

A flicker of light caught in his eyes and rippled out, and a tempest suddenly roared into life out of nowhere. Chu Wanning's robes danced in the gale as he held the willow vine up high and whipped it ferociously through the air, Jiangui striking out like a soaring dragon, glowing golden, resplendent, illuminating the whole night sky!

With Mo Ran's command, Jiangui no longer rejected Chu Wanning, and instead channeled its abundant spiritual energy ceaselessly into Chu Wanning's Earth Soul.

Chu Wanning's eyes shone with that blinding brilliance, and his voice was deep and steady as he said, "Jiangui, Ten Thousand Coffins!"     "RUMBLE——" In that split second, countless streaks of interlacing gold and red willow vines erupted from the earth, lacerating the magnificent palace hall into chunks of broken shingles and scraps of bricks. One thick and powerful ancient vine fettered those ghost soldiers together and dragged them to the centre of the willow vine, locking them down tight.

Mo Ran watched in shock as all of this happened before his eyes, seeing the holy weapon and the remnant soul work in concert, merging as one.

Seeing Chu Wanning's robes flutter, his jet black hair like smoke and clouds.

In life and in death, his spirit had always been so earth-shatteringly blazing and unstoppable.

Taking advantage of this good opportunity, Chu Wanning resolutely swept to the back, placing his hand on the palace wall. It only took a second with his eyes closed before he immediately discerned the weak point of the barrier.

"Upward nine feet, four inches to the right, use fire to attack!" Mo Ran immediately followed his instructions and jumped up, and before any of the ghosts within the Away Palace had time to react, the blazing fire spell was already forming in his palms as he slammed it down right in the spot Chu Wanning pointed out.

In an instant, the earth rumbled and the mountains shook. The sky-high palace walls rapidly disintegrated, returning to the height they used to be, and the barrier seal all around also abruptly shattered, crumbling into dust.

"GO!" There was no need to say that a second time. Mo Ran hopped onto the top of the wall, then turned around to pull Chu Wanning who was following behind up along with him. The two of them broke out from the Fourth Ghost King's Away Palace, their figures swift as they rapidly disappeared into the boundless night.

In a small and narrow alleyway, Chu Wanning and Mo Ran each leaned against a side of a wall, both of them staring at each other, neither saying a word. In the end it was Mo Ran who couldn't hold back and snickered first. "That old ghost will probably be furious to death...hss!" The moment he drew back the corners of his mouth it pulled the injury on his cheeks.

"...Stop laughing," Chu Wanning said.

And so Mo Ran stopped laughing. In the dim alley, his lashes flickered, his pitch-black and gentle eyes gazing at the other. "Shizun, are you still mad at me?"  If he had said "Shizun, haven't you wronged me?" Chu Wanning might not have appreciated it, but instead he had asked whether he was still mad. Chu Wanning wavered for a moment, then silently danced past this subject. "...Hurry and cast the spell. We just escaped from the Fourth Ghost King's Away Palace,

he might not have the face to tell it to the other ghost kings for the moment, but the longer this drags on it'll be harder to say." The moment Mo Ran heard those words he knew Chu Wanning wasn't leaving anymore, that he wasn't going to disappear. And so the heart that had been strung high all this time was finally able to relax.

Mo Ran couldn't help but start to grin again. "Mn." But the more he smiled the more it hurt, and he unconsciously covered his cheek with his hand.

Chu Wanning: "..." Mo Ran brought out the Soul-Calling Lantern. He held it up with his hands and bowed his head as he recited the spell in his mind. After three repetitions, a blinding brilliance suddenly flashed from the Soul-Calling Lantern, so bright that neither of them could open their eyes.

He could vaguely hear the voice of Master Huaizui chanting, carried over from across the roaring waters of the land of the dead, carried over unceasingly past the quiet and peaceful river of forgetfulness.

"The time to return… the time to return…" That voice was very distant, almost difficult to discern, but after a while the chanting of "the time to return" seemed to have come closer, then the voice of Master Huaizui rang in Mo Ran's ears.

"Why are there two Earth Souls?" There was a trace of concern in Master Huaizui's obscure voice.

Mo Ran closed his eyes and told Huaizui everything that had transpired.

That faint voice was quiet for a moment, "You've met Chu Xun of Tailwind Hall?" "Mn." "..." "Master?" "It's nothing. Since Chu-gongzi said having two Earth Souls is normal, then it should be thus," Huaizui said. "Only, this humble monk has never attempted to call back two Earth Souls from the Ghost Realm at the same time before, so this might take a bit longer. I will trouble Mo-shizhu to wait for a moment." Mo Ran glanced at the Fourth King's Away Palace and asked, "How much longer? We just came out from the Fourth Ghost King's Away Palace, I don't know when they'll catch up to us…" "Not too long. Rest assured, Mo-shizhu." The moment Huaizui dropped these words, his voice faded even more, and after a while, it was overtaken completely by the sound of the "the time to return" chanting.

Chu Wanning couldn't hear Huaizui's voice, so his brows were slightly furrowed. "What's going on?" "Shizun's souls are unique, Master said we'll need to wait for a bit," Mo Ran explained. "It's too close to the Away Palace here, let's go further away." Chu Wanning nodded and the two walked until they came to a turning corner.

By then, the skies were beginning to lighten up, and the old man who had pointed the way before was just preparing to pack up his stall. When he spotted Mo Ran, he "aiyah"-ed, and appeared quite astonished.

"You found him?" Mo Ran didn't expect to bump into him again and was taken aback for a moment, then he replied, "Yes, yes I did, thanks so much, uncle." "What's there to thank? It's little xianjun's own good luck. Ay… your face is scratched?"

"Oh, it's… it's a whipping from the ghost soldiers," Mo Ran said, making up a reason.

"No wonder. I was gonna say, nothing average can harm a ghost. Sigh…

how painful it must be." The old uncle pondered for a moment then put down the drawer he had packed away and cooked two bowls of small wontons, handing them to the two.

"There's only the leftovers that I couldn't sell today, my treat. Eat some before you leave." Mo Ran thanked the old man, then watched him off as he left, languidly carrying his stall load.

Chu Wanning didn't like to eat scallions and chives and the old man's wonton soup had been peppered with scallion. Mo Ran picked out all the scallions in his bowl before exchanging it with Chu Wanning's. "Shizun, why don't you eat this one." "..." Chu Wanning sent him a look but didn't decline, and picked up the spoon to taste the food carefully.

Mo Ran watched him eat, the ice cold soup of the Underworld touching his lightly-coloured lips, neither the wontons nor the soup diminishing, the way actual ghosts ate.

"Is it good?" "It's alright." "Not as good as the wontons you make."  "Cough!" Chu Wanning choked, taken by surprise. He looked up abruptly to stare dumbfoundedly at the grinning man sitting before him, cheeks propped up on his hands. Suddenly, he felt like he was a river mussel whose shell had been forcibly pulled open, left exposed under the sun without a single secret left.

"...What wontons?" Yuheng Elder knitted his brows, his expression stern, attempting to be ignorant to conceal his teacher's dignity that had now been spilled all over the floor.

"There's no need to hide it anymore." But before that dropped dignity could be picked up, it was shattered into pieces by Mo Ran's hand, extending out to caress his hair.

Chu Wanning was both furious and very dismayed over this.

"I know everything now." "..." Mo Ran took the lantern holding the Human Soul out from the qiankun pouch, and placed it beside the stone bench. "Shizun was awkward when alive, and after coming to the underworld, it's still only the Human Soul that's honest." "I made them for you, but it was only…" Mo Ran cocked a brow, and continued gazing at him with a faint smile.

But it was only what?

Only because I felt bad? Because I didn't want you to starve? Because I regretted?

Those were all words he could never say out loud.

Chu Wanning thought his own heart had an unspeakable affliction. He'd always had a pride much stronger than normal people, taking "being good to someone", "loving someone", and "being attached to someone" to be shameful things. Having lived through the storms of years past, he had become used to being alone, had become a stern and solitary tree, reaching up to the sky.

A great tree like this didn't have branches that quivered like flowers, stirring affection in people's hearts, nor did it sway with the wind like strings of vines,

seductive and enticing.

He only stood there in silence and severity, very steady and dependable,

blocking wind and rain for the passersby without a word, allowing those under the tree to hide from the scorching sun.

Perhaps it was because he'd grown too tall, too luxuriant, that people had to intentionally look up before they'd discover——Ah, so this gentle shade had been bestowed by him.

But all those travelers going to and fro, not one of them had looked up, and not one of them had ever noticed him.

After all, people's lines of sight were habitually aimed at places lower than themselves, or at eye level at most. And so Chu Wanning had gradually grown accustomed to this, so accustomed that it had become second nature to him to expect it.

But there was actually no one in the world who was born reliant, or relied upon.

Only, those who always sought the connection of those who were strong would become more and more charming, more and more sweet, limbering their boneless body to curry favour, charm, to use sweet words to win the world.

And the other type of person was someone like Chu Wanning. Ever since he had emerged from the mountain, he'd always been the one depended on.

People like him would only become more and more steadfast, more and more strong, until in the end even the face had become iron, the heart steel. People like him were used to seeing others be vulnerable and incompetent; they had seen all there was to see of charm and sweetness, and so they refused to reveal even a morsel of weakness.

They were people who wielded swords, always standing at the ready in full armour.

They couldn't show any weakness, and knew nothing of tenderness.

After so long, it was as if it'd been forgotten that everyone had once been born with emotions and affections, both strong and soft. That every person had,

as a child, known how to cry and laugh. Known how to stand up after having fallen, while also desiring for a pair of arms to help them up.

Maybe he had hoped, once upon a time. Hoped that someone would come to help him up. But he'd waited once, and there had been nothing. A second time, and there had still been nothing. After getting disappointed, time and time again, he'd gradually grown accustomed to it. By the time someone finally did come to help him up, he no longer thought it was necessary, and only felt it something shameful.

It was only a trip and fall.

It wasn't like he'd broken his leg, there's no reason to be melodramatic about it.

And what if he had broken his leg? People like this would only think: Oh, it's only a broken leg, it wasn't like he'd died, there's no reason to be melodramatic about it.

And what if he'd died?

Even as a ghost he'd think, well, since I'm dead anyway, there's no reason to be melodramatic about it.

People like him put so much effort into breaking away from the pitfalls of this kind of melodrama, but unbeknownst to them, they would fall into another type of pitfall, a kind if prideful illness that was incurable.

Mo Ran stared at this incurable person, waiting to see what he would say.

In the end Chu Wanning didn't say anything, only pressing his lips together,

drily putting the spoon down.

He was very unhappy.

Thus, half a moment later, he stood up abruptly and said, "Try casting the spell again, I want to enter the Soul-Calling Lantern." "Huh…?" Mo Ran blinked for a second, then laughed. "Is the Soul-Calling Lantern a conch shell, a place where you can go hide when you get embarrassed?" Chu Wanning's expression was stern and solemn, and he shook out his sleeves as he said, "Embarrassed? Why don't you tell me what reason I have to be embarrassed?" "Of course Shizun is embarrassed because…" "!" Chu Wanning hadn't expected Mo Ran would actually be thick skinned enough to say it, and feeling like he'd been pricked by a needle, he exclaimed angrily, "Shut your mouth." "Because Shizun is good to me." "..." Mo Ran now rose to his feet too. The red clouds of the Ghost Realm drifted past the sky, hiding the dreary crescent moon that was peeking its head out,

splashing the ground with a layer of fresh frost and illuminating Mo Ran's face.

He wasn't laughing anymore; his expression was solemn and sincere.

"Shizun, I know you're good to me. I don't know if you'll still remember the things I say now after your souls have returned, but… no matter what, I still want to tell you. From now on, you're one of the most important people in the world to me. This disciple has done many absurd deeds in the past, and my heart had been filled with grudge and hate even though I clearly had the best shizun in the world. Now when I think back on it, I'm only filled with infinite regret." Chu Wanning watched him.

"Shizun is the best, best shizun, and this disciple is the worst, worst disciple," Mo Ran said.

Chu Wanning had been feeling a little uneasy at first. But as he listened to Mo Ran using his sad and pathetic vocabulary to try and express himself, doing his utmost but still so clumsy.

Chu Wanning tried to resist, but in the end he couldn't hold back a faint smile.

"Oh." He nodded, and repeated, "Shizun is the best, best shizun, and the disciple is the worst, worst disciple. At least you've finally got some selfawareness." Chu Wanning wasn't a greedy person; he gave a lot to others but had always asked for very little for himself. Although he wasn't receiving Mo Ran's love, to become one of the most important people to Mo Ran, to be the best shizun, that wasn't bad either.

He had always been impoverished when it came to feelings anyway, poor,

yet refusing to beg for more.

And here was someone, willing to give him a small piece of hot flatbread to munch on.

He felt very happy, munching on the flatbread in small bites, and that was enough for him.

This dummy Mo Ran on the other hand, when he saw dumbfoundedly that he was able to cause this piece of soul to smile as well, his heart swelled with inexplicable joy. "Shizun, you should smile more. You look prettier with a smile than without." Instead, Chu Wanning ceased to smile.

This prideful disease of his. It made him think "looking pretty" was the praise only wild weeds the likes of Rong Jiu got when they flirted, and he didn't want it.

But Mo Ran with his poor judgment was still trying agonizingly to praise his good shizun, "Shizun, do you know? When you smile… uh… how can I describe it…" He was working hard trying to think of a phrase that could best describe the beauty of the scene he just witnessed.

Something that was related to smiles.

The watchmen's rattle of the underworld clapped thrice again.

Inspiration struck and he blurted, "That's right! It's a smile in the netherworld[14]!" "..." Chu Wanning was genuinely mad now, and he refused to pay Mo Ran any mind, abruptly pulling his own sleeve aside to pick up the Soul-Calling Lantern.

He scolded sternly, "Mo Weiyu, all this blabbering and you still can't cast the spell? If you say one more rubbish word I will go back to that Fourth King's Palace myself, which would be infinitely better than returning to the mortal realm to listen to your nonsense all day!" Mo Ran was dumbfounded.

Smile in the netherworld… Had he used it wrongly?

Having an especially pretty smile in the underworld, it, it's not wrong…

Disputing on the road was somewhat ostentatious after all. Mo Ran had no idea what he'd said wrong, but if shizun had told him to shut it then he'll just shut his mouth. Thinking this, Mo Ran scratched his head and dragged Chu Wanning to a corner. At this time, that languid chanting in his mind had gradually grown louder and louder. Mo Ran ventured to ask Huaizui, "Master, are you almost ready?" It was quiet for a moment on the other side, then the knocking sound of a wooden fish came, and Huaizui's voice seemed to be right next to his ears, becoming eminently clear.

"Almost." Huaizui's voice had only just dropped when dots of golden light started to diffuse out of Chu Wanning's second Earth Soul, and the soul that was standing grew fainter and fainter as the golden light scattered until finally it shattered into millions of streaming fireflies, flowing into the soul lamp like the milky way.   Mo Ran could hear the voice of Master Huaizui chanting, carried over from across the roaring waters of the land of the dead, carried over unceasingly past the quiet and peaceful river of forgetfulness.

"The time to return… the time to return…" All sufferings were gradually washed to a faded white in the sighs of that Buddhist chanting, seemingly distant yet close. Mo Ran hugged that Soul-Calling Lantern, feeling his body becoming lighter and lighter, emptier and emptier.

"KO!" One crisp sound of the wooden fish.

It was like a sharp knife, brutally shattering the trance-like recitation.

Mo Ran snapped open his eyes, looking like he was jolted awake!

Everything from the Ghost Realm had vanished, like he had only just woken from a long dream. He found that he was lying on a bamboo raft, moored by the Naihe Bridge of Sisheng Peak, the waters beneath the bamboo strips lapping ceaselessly, splashing about.

The sky was crab shell blue, but dyed with a touch of pale red. The bamboo leaves along the shores of the great river danced in the air, the thousand whispers of their millions of leaves tender in the air.

It seemed that dawn was about to break.

He blinked dazedly.

Suddenly, he discovered the Soul-Calling Lantern that had been in his arms was gone, and this scared him out of his witsand he jolted upright in a rush.

"SHIZUN——!" "Don't yell." A voice, impassive.

Mo Ran panted, looking like someone who had just experienced a nightmare. His face was pale as he turned his head and saw Huaizui kneeling in proper pose on the shore, knocking on the wooden fish placed upon a verdant rock, his eyes open.

"Even if you yell, he won't hear it right now." The Soul-Calling Lantern rested next to the wooden fish, radiating with streaming light, glowing and magnificent. The force of Chu Wanning's soul was indescribably beautiful.

Huaizui picked up the Soul-Calling Lantern and rose to his feet from the boulder, nodding towards Mo Ran. "Young Mo-shizhu, you've done very well." Mo Ran quickly crawled up to stand, hopping onto land from the bamboo raft. He tugged on Huaizui and questioned anxiously, "Master, let's go find Shizun's mortal body in Frostsky Hall? Let's go let's go, I'm scared if we're late the souls will disperse again." Huaizui couldn't hold back a chuckle. "How can the souls disperse so easily?" Then he added, "Don't worry, this humble monk has already sent Xueshizhu to speak with your esteemed sect leader. Chu Wanning's mortal body should now be on its way to the Red Lotus Pavilion. This humble monk will be going into seclusion there to perform the rite to have the souls of your shizun be transferred once again into the body." Mo Ran urged, "Then let's go, quickly!" When he saw Huaizui's faint smile, he hastily added, "Master do take your time, no rush, no rush." But his brows were obviously furrowed, his feet making strides unconsciously, and he almost wanted to reach out to pull on Huaizui's sleeves, looking nothing like there was no rush.

Huaizui shook his head, sighed, then said with a smile, "There's no point in the young shizhu being impatient."

Mo Ran waved his hands, "No rush no rush, steady is best." "Indeed, steadiness is important. When souls leave the body, they cannot immediately return to the flesh, otherwise it'd be going against the laws of heaven, causing the souls to dissipate. Naturally, this humble monk will go slowly." "Right right right, good good good, do it slowly." Mo Ran acquiesced incessantly, but still couldn't hold back, and asked very carefully after some hesitation, "Then how long will it take before shizun comes back to life?" Huaizai was very calm. "Five years." "I see, five years is g… FIVE YEARS??!!" Colour drained completely from Mo Ran's face, and he felt like he was choking.

"Five years at the shortest."

Mo Ran, "..."      

Author's Notes:

When Shizun officially wakes up, the Mo Ran he'll see is 2.0 Mo Ran~~!

Bring it on! Prepare for system upgrade!

[14] The idiom means to die happy with no regrets, but Mo Ran took it literally.