Chapter 144: Shizun, I Like You

Mo Ran caught a piece of paper from the massive bowl and unfolded it, laying it out flat.

When he saw the content of the paper, he first let out a breath of relief, then quickly became a little nervous.

"What is it?" The village chief asked.

Mo Ran thus showed him the paper. The village chief took a look and said,

"Haha, thank goodness Mo-xianjun didn't come with any peer shijie's or shimei's,

otherwise you'd be offending people." Chu Wanning was already very curious what question Mo Ran picked up, but when he heard the village chief, he was now even more so. He kept staring at that slip of paper, looking as if he was going to burn a hole through it.

Mo Ran chuckled, "But village chief, you see what's written on here? It should be against the rules, right? Everyone else's is only a question, but this is technically asking me three questions." "Xianjun's hand is quick and precise and managed to pick this one, what can we do." The village chief said, "If xianjun isn't happy with it, then toss it out and grab for a new one." But grabbing a new one would probably end up being another "Do women with long legs look better or women with thin waists look better" or other such content, so Mo Ran chuckled, "Forget it, let's stick to this one." He said as it handed the paper back to the village chief, "The lot I picked is to name the three people I like the most in my life." Chu Wanning: "..." Right at this time, Ling-er came back with the rims of her eyes red, but she didn't try to squeeze up front, afraid the others would notice she had just cried,

so she sat by the outermost row by the bonfire, which was why Mo Ran didn't see her.

In fact, right after Mo Ran told what his question was, he didn't look at anyone. He felt that for such a personal question, it'd be awkward if he looked at anyone, and he wouldn't be able to speak, so he simply stared at the bonfire.

The bonfire gleamed in his black eyes, his handsome face flickering with the light and shadow from the reflection, and he gazed at that ball of flames, lost in thought for a long time before he said:

"Let's talk about my mom first, then." "My mom passed fairly early on, I actually don't quite remember how she looked like anymore. I only remember that when she was around, I could always manage to eat and sleep soundly." Mo Ran said, "So if I have to name three people, then she will be one of them." The village chief nods, "The profound love of a mother, very good, that counts as one, xianjun." "Then the second one is my shige. He's very kind to me, and while we share no blood bond, he treats me better than a blood brother." This was an answer Chu Wanning had expected already, so whether it be on his face or in his heart, there was no great turbulence. Mo Ran liked Shi Mingjing, this was something that was more than obvious, he had already heard him say so with his own ears back at Jincheng Lake, so he didn't feel too surprised.

He only gazed at that man who shone under the fire of the night; he possessed a firm and powerful, chiseled figure, incredibly handsome, and there was a hard-headedness in his bones. A great deal of a person's spirit could be reflected in their eyes, and Mo Ran's eyes were black and bright, incredibly vivacious, like a lamplight that would never go out until the oil was depleted.

Someone with eyes like these were destined to be extremely stubborn.

Chu Wanning was crazy for this kind of stubbornness. Alas, this stubbornness didn't belong to him.

Mo Ran had talked on about how good Shi Mingjing was, but Chu Wanning heard none of it. He felt the night breeze was a bit chilly, so he poured himself a cup of hot tea, holding it in his hands, sipping at it slowly.

The tea warmed his throat all the way down, ending in his stomach, and enveloped his blood and flesh, heating them up, so much so that even his heart was melted.

He silently poured himself another cup and was about to drink once more when suddenly, he heard Mo Ran had finished talking about Shi Mingjing,

paused for a moment, then said this:

"There's another one. The third person I name is my shizun." "COUGH!!" It was as if Chu Wanning was burnt, and he chokes out a bit of his tea, coughing nonstop, his face deeply flushed. He was so focused on wiping away the tea stains that he never once looked up to look at Mo Ran.

Someone who was used to being insignificant when it came to feelings,

when you pulled him up from the ground, he would only be scared and anxious over the dirt he was covered in, wanting to dodge back into the darkness once more, curl up and hide.

But Mo Ran obviously had no plans on giving him the chance to escape.

Chu Wanning was too closed-off of a person; if you let him have his way, he would always only show you the view of his back, the view of the back of his head. He appeared fiery, he appeared fierce, his eyes were as sharp as the sword, subtly filled with the intent to attack with roaring thunder, but Mo Ran knew that all of that was nothing but an exquisitely crafted mask made of human skin.

He had seen the gentleness of Chu Wanning's human soul, so pitiful and so helpless amidst the steaming mist of Mengpo Hall.

He never wanted to let Chu Wanning abuse himself like that anymore.

Chu Wanning should never wear that savage and terrifying mask again, and if this guy with the pride disease wasn't willing to take it off, well, he'd help give him a hand.

Only a little bit of the tea was spilled, it was long since cleaned, but Chu Wanning was still repeatedly trying to wipe away that invisible mark.

He was used to spinning a cocoon around himself, so he didn't look up.

Gradually, he sensed it was very quiet all around, so quiet it was a little peculiar, and there was even a child giggling, their voice seeming to be suppressed very low, but still anyone could hear it.

"Mum, Chu-xianjun is so silly." The mom quickly covered the little mindless mouth of her child, "Shh——" But Chu Wanning still heard.

Silly…

No, Yuheng of the Night Sky had no ties with the word "silly" whatsoever, he was unbridled and sharp, fierce and cold, he was——

"Shizun, if you wipe any harder, you'll put a hole through the table." Black clothed boots had walked over to his tableside, coming quite close, so close it could almost be considered an affront before they stopped. Chu Wanning saw a stretch of a black shadow come bearing down, suppressing him like the mountains, so heavily he couldn't breathe, so heavily he felt a little humiliated,

and there was also anger from the shame too.

Suddenly, he was furious. Vexed by his own sudden feebleness.

Thus he slaps down the napkin and shot his head up full of provocation, and his pair of phoenix eyes brimming with rage glared at Mo Ran, his person tense and stiff, ready to attack.

But it was almost at the same second that Mo Ran said, full of respect and full of gentleness:

"Shizun, pay attention to me." Those words were like a spell that came to life along with Chu Wanning's reaction, but only Chu Wanning himself knew that he didn't look up because Mo Ran had said "pay attention to me" at all, it was just a coincidence.

But what use was it?

Besides him, whether it be Mo Ran or the crowd watching the show, they all thought Chu Wanning had promptly acknowledged his disciple because of this plea.

Promptly.

There was nothing more humiliating than that word, he felt like his dignity was utterly lost.

Chu Wanning's face was like ice, but his eyes were burning with fiery sparks.

But what they met were only Mo Ran's gentle and warm gaze that, like endless spring water, effortlessly enfolded his rage and his sharp teeth.

Mo Ran said, "Shizun, my third answer is you." Chu Wanning had nowhere to vent his indignant fury, so he turned expressionless, "...mn." He appeared so unperturbed, so indifferent.

Extremely calm and magnanimous, as expected of the Chu-zongshi who had grown apathetic to the enchantments of the mortal realm. Chu Wanning secretly cheered for himself mentally.

But Mo Ran was watching him with amusement.

Mo-zongshi thought, could this Chu-zongshi be a little dummy?

Chu Wanning was completely unaware that he was slapped on with the label of little dummy in his disciple's mind; since he was nervous, he became more and more cold and haughty.

"So? What are you trying to do, coming over here?" He demanded.

This question hit the mark by a fluke though, and the smile on Mo Ran's face stiffened for a moment.

Mo Ran wanted to do everything.

But he couldn't do anything.

So what if he liked Chu Wanning? He discovered it too late, and this person was already too far out of reach. Besides, he had already spent two lifetimes chasing after Shi Mei's footsteps, so to suddenly tell him, you've loved the wrong person, and to have him turn around, in truth his own heart wasn't able to accept it so easily either.

If he could understand his own heart right at the beginning of his rebirth, then perhaps none of this would be too late.

And now, this "discovery" was actually no more than adding on to his misery.

The torment he lashed onto Chu Wanning's body in the previous life was too much, he was used to seeing bedroom plays as a way to bring about the most cruel of tortures against this proud and unyielding man.

So, in Mo Ran's mind, Chu Wanning had in fact always been the image of a divine being, unsullied by the mortal world, and would never give rise to love and lust.

To ruin Chu Wanning, he had thousands of ways for improper intimacy.

But, to be good to Chu Wanning.

He couldn't think of much.

And he'd turned really stupid all of a sudden. He only knew to maintain distance with shizun, and worship shizun at the altar while he himself prostrated below.

This "like" had in fact included a scalding and secret love.

But Mo Ran could not let Chu Wanning notice. He could only restrain himself while he used the "affection between master and disciple" to disguise this feeling of adoration, then very respectfully present it before Chu Wanning.

Thus, Mo Ran responded, "I just wanted to let shizun know, that's all." "..." Chu Wanning watched him quietly.

Mo Ran added, "It's just, I couldn't help but want everyone to know…" "Know what?" Mo Ran suddenly laughed, his black eyes incredibly bright, so bright it was scorching, and could cover up the turbulent undercurrent of desire below.

"Know how lucky I am." He said with a happy grin, "That I've gotten the world's bestest, bestest, bestest shizun." He used three "bestest"s, it was extremely clumsy, but he worked extremely hard to express himself.

Rather the style of Mo Ran's rustic simplicity.

Chu Wanning gazed at him with an unfathomable look, and only his lashes quivered for a moment.

Mo Ran inhaled deeply; he didn't know where the courage was coming from,

but he felt if he missed this chance, then he might not be able to express himself so daringly and without scruples again for the rest of his life.

 He half-knelt abruptly, wanting to be at the same level as the sitting Chu Wanning, but unfortunately his build was too big, and even while kneeling, he was still looking down at shizun.

But he couldn't care about that now. He could only feel how fast his heart was racing, and how rapid his blood was flowing.

"Shizun." "..." Chu Wanning suddenly felt danger.

The eyes of this man were too burning, and it forced him to lean back.

But in the end the sharp arrow still pierced through his heart.

"I like you." He had nowhere to run, the deer galloping in the woods was shot by the hunter in the leg, and so it dejectedly fell. Chu Wanning stared at him blankly, there was a huge boom in his head, and he could no longer hear anything or see anything…

Like——how reticent, how ambiguous of a word.

It wasn't as straightforward and naked as "love", burning people the moment it's said, but it had so, so many ways for interpretation, and had given countless pining lovers the chance to confess whilst pretending to be calm, venting the overflowing love in their hearts.

Mo Ran thought to himself: I like you, but I won't alarm you or force you. You think the like I speak of is only the affection between master and disciple, and that might be a disappointment for me, but to you, it couldn't be better.

On the other hand, Chu Wanning thought to himself: You say you like me,

but it's only out of pity; because I taught you and saved you. This isn't the like I wanted, but I had already done all that I can to exchange for this current favourable impression; I have no more energy nor bargaining chips to exchange for more of your love. That I can earn the validation as a shizun from you, a word of affection, it's enough. I won't ask for more.

Neither of them spoke any more to each other, and the crowd watching the show only praised it as the deep affections between the master and the disciple.

Only Ling-er who was in the corner vaguely felt something was not right. She studied Mo Ran's handsome face, and upon that face was a desire too deeply suppressed, and a fervor that made her feel weird.

But she was honest and pure after all, someone who had grown up in a small village had not even heard of homosexuality, and all she felt was strangeness, but how was it strange, she couldn't say.

There would always be some people in this world who, when they weren't in love, they could be heartless, fearless, domineering, and unafraid even if the King of Heaven was to come.

But once they did fall in love, it was raging fires and cooking oil, their hearts burning their eyes red, yearning constantly for the love and desire in their hearts to be discovered by the other, wanting to plunge into the sea of desire together,

never to part.

However, if the other really was going to discover it? They'd steep in fear and trepidation, alarmed and anxious, scared the other wouldn't like them, scared of being rejected, scared of this, scared of that, and nevermind the King of Heaven!

This time, if it was a mere cicada calling on the tree, something completely unrelated, they'd still think nervously: oh god, the cicada on the tree is calling,

does that mean they don't like me?

The most obscure of love often was all the guessing and hiding, the permeating foul odour of distress that could be smelled from two miles away.

In the previous life, Mo Weiyu was Ta-xianjun. In this life, he was Mozongshi.

Notoriously egregious, brilliant for his generation.

He had been the most evil of devils, and had now become the most compassionate of persons. But this foul stench covering his body was still something he couldn't escape from in the end.

What about Chu Wanning?

That guy would forever be the fish in the net; any sign of disturbance in the ways of love could make his head throb, putting him in a dilemma.

And he just had to be dead determined in saving face too, sneering as he says: such rotten business, what's there to talk about.

Truly, screwing himself over.

Mini Theatre: Secret Crush Smells Really Foul Mo Ran Before he's fallen: Who're you? Whomst? Sorry, I'm busy. What? You're hungry? Then go get something yourself in the streets.

After starting to crush: Just as appeared in the text——Oh god, the cicadas on the trees are crying, dear lord, does that mean he likes me too?

Chu Wanning Before he's fallen: You can come to me if you need help. There's no reason?

Then why are you here? Are you that bored?

After starting to crush: ...You can come to me even if you've got no reason.

Xue Meng Before he's fallen: Go away, ugly.

After starting to crush: Ahem… Now that I look closely, you're actually not that ugly, though compared to me you're still just a bit lacking, but still acceptable…

Shi Mei Before he's fallen: Are you not feeling well? Are you alright? Come, have a seat, let me take your pulse.

After starting to crush: I'm not feeling well, can you stay with me for a bit? No need to call the doctor, just pour a cup of hot water and sit with me, okay?

Ye Wangxi Before falling: All must adhere to the orders of the Rufeng Sect, the only exception being the orders that go against justice.

After starting to crush: All will go as you wish. Orders that go against justice… You won't go against justice, I trust you.

Mei Hanxue Before he's fallen: M'lady, I will give you a sachet, a bracelet, a pair of earrings, a dangling hairpin, so will you give yourself to me?

After starting to crush: Same as the above.

Nangong Si Before he's fallen: Go away, you're in the way of me feeding my dog.

After starting to crush: Come over here, ride my dog with me.

Naobaijin: ???ARF ARF ARF!! (Master, what happened to the weight limit of 70kg??)