Chapter 129: Shizun, Do You Like What You See?

For a split second, chaos ensued in Chu Wanning's head like the churning of the seas, the lashing of torrential rains, the booming of thunder, the flashing of lightning, the darkening of clouds.

To take it off or to keep it on.

A most pivotal question.

Keeping it on seemed inappropriate, now that he knew he had put on the wrong clothes, and it wasn't like he could just pretend he hadn't heard what Mo Ran had said just now.

Taking it off…?

He couldn't possibly handle the embarrassment of it, to take off the clothes he'd finally put on, piece by piece, with Mo Ran right there.

A few moments passed in an awkward silence.

Mo Ran spoke up, "But I've washed those clothes very thoroughly, they're very clean, so if Shizun doesn't mind, then…please feel free to wear them." Chu Wanning: "Mn."   Mo Ran let out a breath of relief. He'd always been a bit slow, and hadn't even realized when he'd spoken earlier that saying that when Chu Wanning was already mostly dressed would be nothing short of forcing Shizun to strip in front of him.

He was singed by just the tiny spark of that mental image.

Mo Ran's face burned even redder, but luckily he'd been out and about these last couple of years, and was no longer as tender-skinned as he used to be, so it wasn't too noticeable on his tanned skin the color of wheat. But his heartbeats felt too loud by half, and his conscience was terribly guilty and terribly afraid that Chu Wanning would hear it, so he hurriedly lowered his head to go pick up Chu Wanning's robes and clothe himself.

They looked at each other after both getting dressed, only to fall into a different kind of awkward silence.

It didn't fit.

Chu Wanning's robes were clearly too small for Mo Ran, not even folding over in the front, leaving it wide open to reveal a large expanse of firm, honeycolored chest. And too short, too; the way half his legs weren't even covered like he was flat broke was a sorry look, to be sure.

Chu Wanning's situation was no better, either; Mo Ran's robes draped over him, covering him to the toe and pooling on the ground, dragging behind him like a wisp of white mist. It looked fine and proper and all, but it also meant that he was now so much shorter than Mo Ran.

Chu Wanning was a bit affronted.

Expression sullen, he said, "Leaving." As in, "I'm leaving." But Mo Ran misunderstood and thought he was inviting him to go together,

so he nodded and took the initiative to pick up his shizun's wooden washbin and change of clothes, and earnestly followed behind him.

Chu Wanning: "..." The two of them got to the entrance of the baths and lifted the curtains. It was cooler outside, away from the hot springs, and Chu Wanning shivered at the autumn chill despite himself. Noticing, Mo Ran asked, "Are you cold?" "No." But how could Mo Ran not know by now that it was just prideful words? So he said with a smile, "I'm a little cold," and lifted a hand, gesturing in the air. With a flourish of his hand, a scarlet glow sprang from his palm to form a cold-warding barrier around the two of them. The barrier was beautiful, its radiance shimmering and flowing, with a scattering of flower motifs at the top.

Chu Wanning glanced up at it, expression unreadable. "Not bad, you've improved." "I'm still nowhere near Shizun's level."   "You're not far off. My own cold-warding barriers are probably no better than this." Chu Wanning gazed at the barrier for a while, and then, noticing the faint flowers, commented, "The peach blossoms are a nice touch."

"They're haitang blossoms."

Chu Wanning's heart tremored, sending ripples reflecting through the depths of his eyes.

Mo Ran continued, "Five petals."   "..." Chu Wanning couldn't help the puff of laughter that escaped as he instinctively tried to hide the quivering in his eyes with feigned nonchalance. He said with a slightly mocking tone, "Copying me now, are we?" But to his surprise, Mo Ran only looked at him with a pair of open, guileless eyes before nodding in response. "It's a poor imitation, I'm afraid." Chu Wanning was left rather speechless.

They walked side by side in silence for a while, then Chu Wanning picked up his pace, not wanting to be right next to him like this. Behind him, Mo Ran suddenly asked, "Shizun, are you…mad that I didn't make it back in time for the banquet?" "No." "Really?" "Why would I bother lying?" "Then why are you walking so fast?" Of course Chu Wanning wasn't going to say "Because you're too tall." He was silent for a moment, before he looked up at the sky and bluffed, "Because it looks like it's going to rain soon."   As if he'd jinxed it, drops of rain really did start falling from the overcast sky not long after, pitter-pattering into a curtain.

Mo Ran smiled.

His smile was every bit as lovely as it had been five years ago, but even more dazzling now for the newfound sincerity in it.

Chu Wanning glared at him. "What's that stupid grin for." "Nothing." Mo Ran's dimples were deep and sweet.

The young man, tall and well-built, returned his gaze with downcast lashes and a docile, obedient demeanor completely free of overbearance.

He was even a little bashful as he said, "I'm just really happy to see Shizun again after so long." "..."   Chu Wanning stared at him, stared at the dimples in his cheek. He had once thought that those twin pools of sweetness would always belong to Shi Mingjing alone, but that turned out not to be the case—all he had to do to be allowed a jar of the sweetness for himself was to give up his life.

Chu Wanning scolded him, "Dummy." Mo Ran let his long, soft eyelashes droop, and grinned big and wide like a dummy.

Getting a little carried away in the moment, Mo Ran accidentally stepped on the hem he'd been so careful not to step on this whole time. With a stern expression, Chu Wanning looked at the ground and then at him, but said nothing.

Mo Ran was very straightforward. "The clothes are a little big on Shizun."

"..." He sure did know exactly what not to say.

Mo Ran walked Chu Wanning all the way back to Red Lotus Pavilion. Truth be told, Chu Wanning found it to be a rather strange experience, since he'd always come and gone alone, and rarely ever had the occasion to share an umbrella with someone else, be it an oilpaper umbrella or a barrier one.

So, halfway there, he stopped walking and said, "I can do it myself, it's just a barrier." Mo Ran was a little taken aback. "Wasn't everything going just fine? So why…" "What kind of master makes their disciple hold the umbrella."   "But Shizun has done so much for me." Mo Ran said after a moment of silence, his voice low and quiet. "These last five years, I spent every single day hoping to be just a little bit better. Because Shizun is so capable and can do everything by himself, I wanted to be able to do just a little more than Shizun, so that I could be of use to Shizun, to repay Shizun. But even after all the training and studying I did, I still feel no closer. I'm afraid that I might never be able to repay Shizun's kindness, so that's why…" He lowered his head, hand subconsciously clenching into a fist at his side.

The rainwater gathered into streaming rivulets on the ground, droplets splashing and rippling out like blooming flowers.

"That's why, from now on, just let me take care of the little things like holding the umbrella." Chu Wanning said nothing, only watching him quietly.

"I want to hold an umbrella over Shizun for as long as I live." "..." Chu Wanning felt a burning in his chest. It was such a heart-warming thing to hear, but he suddenly found himself wanting to cry instead.

He was someone who had gone through so much suffering and braved it all.

He was like a traveller who had walked for far too long, who had finally found shelter and could lie down for a rest.

Even his bones felt like they might fall apart as he collapsed.

This lifetime.

Mo Ran was twenty two this year. The saying went that time passed differently once someone was past twenty. Before twenty, a mere three or five years felt so long it could be called a lifetime.

But once past twenty, time would suddenly feel like a racing current,

everything surging past in a rush with no return.

He said he would pause from the racing current to hold an umbrella over him.

Chu Wanning had so rarely received any kindness that, to have his chest suddenly flooded by tenderness like this, all he felt was pain instead. He stared at Mo Ran, stared at that person standing there with his head lowered, and suddenly said, "Mo Ran, look at me." He lifted his head.

Chu Wanning said, "Say that again."

Mo Ran gazed at him. His face was still a bit unfamiliar-looking to Chu Wanning; it was different from the one in his memories, and different from the one in those absurd dreams he once had.

He was gentle, composed, and steadfast, with the warmth of fire and the firmness of iron as he met Chu Wanning's eyes with neither hesitation nor avoidance.

When Chu Wanning had looked at him for the last time, five years ago, he had still been just a growing boy.

In a blink, he had already grown into this handsome, confident man before him.

This man, who was dropping to one knee in front of him, looking up at him,

and saying, "Shizun, I want to hold an umbrella over you for as long as I live."   Chu Wanning stared at him in a daze, stared at those dark eyebrows and that shapely jawline, stared at those bright eyes and that straight nose.

He had already grown into an impressive pine tree, had grown to his own height, and then overtaken him. One day, this tree that had stood in the wind and rain for so long, this tree that was Chu Wanning, suddenly woke up, blinked, and found that the rain had stopped, the clouds had dispersed, and in the soft light of the sun, there was another tree standing next to him that was even taller and steadier than he was, and when the wind rustled through the leaves, the sunlight filtering through sparkled like gold dust.

This tree said he wanted to stay by his side for a lifetime.

Until they both fell over, branches bare and withered. But until then, every season from now on, he would never be alone again.

As he stared at him, Chu Wanning was struck with the sudden realization that Mo Ran was no longer the bloodied, unconscious disciple he had carried back from Butterfly Town five years ago.

Standing there in the rain, under the haitang blossoms dancing atop the barrier, he looked at Mo Ran for the first time, thoroughly and carefully, looked at this man who was promising him a lifetime.

Chu Wanning's heartbeat abruptly began to race.

He suddenly noticed just how alluring Mo Ran looked now, everything from the arc of his nose to the shape of his lips, from the line of his jaw to the jut of his throat.

What he felt for Mo Ran before was only love, something that could be kept hidden. But after meeting him again today, this man felt like nothing short of a fire to him, a fire that could so easily set him ablaze like he was mere kindling,

sending flames soaring up and scorching the very skies.

He felt the magma that had been lying dormant all this time stirring awake and stretching its limbs in the abyss deep within himself, ready to burst out in a violent eruption at any time.

The magma threatened to burn through the reservations, dignity, and selfcontrol he had always prided himself on…

Threatened to burn it all to ash.

Until there was nothing left.

Author's Notes:

There are perks on Weibo today~ Thank you "Yuan Zi'er" for Shizun and Feeding Fish, the Shizun he first met under the flowering tree is especially gentle, and is probably Dog's first impression of this immortal-gege. The Shizun leaving under an umbrella is also so entrancing, I can stare at this picture for five minutes!!! Dog's bright smile makes my heart melt, really thankuwu so much~ Thank you "Firewood" for 0.5 Dog. I've just come to the flashbacks of right before 0.5 Dog's blackening in my saved drafts today, where he's already at the grey stage, and then I saw this picture and felt that it really had that feeling, like a good teenager heading down the path towards Taxian-Jun! There's still youth lingering on his brow and in his eyes, but there's already some danger and wickedness to his smile, ahahah, so dreamy[19]~ thanks~ Thankieww Mr Chen for drawing "Bugui", Dog's weapon. Bugui is a Mo sabre (Mo Dao), I'll drop some information here, the Mo sabre is a type of Tang dynasty sabre, and actually looks a lot like a sword: long, and narrow. It's not a dagger, aihehe~ It's also not a machete~~ Revamping the character info card   Mo Ran 2.0         Name: Feeding fish Weiyu           Posthumous title: ...I'm not dead!!!

        Occupation: Emperor (reborn)...Oh, that's incorrect, I'm no longer an emperor in this lifetime, I'm an unemployed vagrant (the kind that specialises in doing good deeds)           Appearance in society: (strikethrough) Lei Feng[20] (strikethrough) Mozongshi           Currently likes: To see everyone living well without troubles           Favourite food: Wontons           Hates: The people by his side leaving him           Height: 189cm          Mo Ran 0.5 has something to say: What right does he have to be 3cm taller than me?

Meatbun: Oh, because he went through puberty differently. You spent your days researching the Zhenlong Chess Formation in a dark room, but he ran around under the sun to many places. So while you two are the same person, due to different environments later on in life, you're 3cm shorter. Sorry, Your Majesty,

but you're no longer the tallest person in the novel now. *smiles*

[19] Original term (苏到爆) comes from Mary Sue (玛丽苏), I guess Meatbun's saying that this Mo Ran is so ideal

[20] Lei Feng: A Communist legend whose name is now synonymous with selflessness and modesty in the Mainland Chinese lexicon due to his contributions to the Party.