On the day when Chu Wanning finished his seclusion, an uninvited guest came to the Peak of Life and Death.
"Knock, knock, knock."
Early in the morning, someone knocked on the door of the Red Lotus Pavilion anxiously.
Mo Ran was helping Chu Wanning change his clothes. He had just finished his cultivation and was in a daze after ten days of meditation. When he heard the knocking, he said coldly, "Come in."
Mo Ran laughed, "Pfft."
"… What are you laughing at?"
"Master has set up a barrier at the door. Apart from me and Xue Meng, who else can come in?"
Only then did Chu Wanning remember and lift her hand to undo the barrier. A disciple rushed in to deliver a message. He reeked of alcohol and looked like a headless fly. "Elder Yu Heng, bad news. There's a big demon at the door of the Core Heart Palace!"
The two looked at each other and rushed to the Core Heart Palace.
From afar, Mo Ran saw a huge gourd running around the square. A group of elders and disciples were watching it, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.
Mo Ran said, "… A big demon?"
The fat gourd said, "Gulu Gulu Gulu Bo."
Seeing Chu Wanning and Mo Ran, Xue Zhengyong's eyes lit up. He slapped his thigh and said, "Ah! Yu Heng! You woke up at the right time! We're saved, we're saved. Come quickly! "
Chu Wanning was still a little confused. However, he was born with a cold face. Even if he was confused, his face still looked unfathomable. "Hmm?"
"Another monster that escaped from the Golden Drum Pagoda." Xue Zhengyong's face was bitter. He was angry and amused at the same time. "It's the wine-colored gourd!"
Chu Wanning looked up at the huge gourd that was running around. It was as tall as two people and emitted the luster of mother-of-pearl. The mouth of the gourd was emitting pink smoke and wine. It was indeed the legendary wine-colored gourd demon.
Chu Wanning said, "This demon won't hurt people."
"But it can make people drink!"
The wine-colored gourd was chasing a group of young disciples all over the place. As soon as it caught up with one of them, it would immediately split open its mouth and start to spray wine into that person's mouth. While it was spraying, it also made an unknown "gulu gulu bo" sound.
Chu Wanning, "…"
"I heard that it only accepts people who can drink better than it." Xue Zhengyong said, "Yu Heng, look …"
Chu Wanning rubbed her temples as she felt a headache coming on. She rushed down the stage and summoned Heaven's Inquisition, placing it in front of the wine gourd.
"Don't run away," he said. "I'll drink with you."
The fat gourd was overjoyed. It swayed back and forth, and the crack immediately opened. With a puff, a mouthful of wine sprayed towards Chu Wanning's handsome face like an arrow. Unexpectedly, Chu Wanning dodged, calmly avoiding the mouthful of wine. Everyone only saw a flash of golden light, and the fat gourd was tightly restrained by Heaven's Inquisition.
"Another way to drink it. Do you have a cup?"
.. "Gulu Bo!" The fat gourd spat out a small gourd ladle. It was filled with wine. "Bo!"
Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, Chu Wanning sat on the ground and began to drink with the wine gourd.
"Gulu Bobo Bo!"
"Not bad. Give me another."
"Bo!"
"Do you have Pear Blossom White?"
"Bo Bo Bo!"
Xue Zhengyong said in shock, "Yu Heng, you seem to understand what it's saying?"
"Yes." Chu Wanning said, "I can understand a little of what this kind of demon is saying."
The wine-colored gourd said, "Bo Bo Bo!"
Mo Ran smiled and said, "Shizun, what is it saying this time?"
Chu Wanning said, "It's talking to me. It said that it hasn't been in the sun for a long time."
The wine-colored gourd seemed very happy. It didn't know why, but it seemed to understand Chu Wanning's words. It intimately went over and poured him another ladle of wine.
"Is it Pear Blossom White this time?"
"Bo!"
"I don't like red wine."
"Bo …" The wine-colored gourd poured the wine away and replaced it with another.
Everyone was stunned, and they were all speechless.
They watched the man and the demon drink from morning to noon. The man was not drunk, but the demon was happy. Everyone was dumbfounded. More and more people gathered at the entrance of Dan Xin Palace.
Xue Meng and Shi Mei also came.
Mo Ran saw Shi Mei and remembered the misunderstanding. He felt guilty and wanted to apologize to him. Unexpectedly, Shi Mei saw him and turned to leave.
Xue Meng saw the trick and nudged Mo Ran with his elbow. "He seems to be angry that you misunderstood him last time."
Mo Ran was worried. "What should we do?"
"Go have a chat with him. If you guys are like this, I'll be stuck in the middle," Xue Meng said. "Go, it's none of your business here anyway."
Mo Ran glanced at Chu Wanning, who was drinking with the wine-colored gourd. He felt that there would be no problem for a while, so he said to Xue Meng, "I'll go find him first. You stay here and look after Master. If anything happens, tell me immediately."
It didn't take long to catch up with Shi Mei. Mo Ran stopped him in front of the sword dance field. "Shi Mei!"
"…"
"Shi Mei!"
Shi Mei stopped and turned around. He looked at him quietly. "Mo Ran, what's the matter?"
"No …" Mo Ran waved his hand and frowned. "I'm here to tell you that what happened last time was really my fault."
"What do you mean?"
Mo Ran was stunned. His eyes widened slightly. "What?"
Shi Mei's expression was still light and gentle. He brushed his hair back as the wind blew. "Was it when you misunderstood what I was going to do to Master at the Red Lotus Pavilion? Or was it when you didn't sit at the same table as me when we were eating in Jade Cold Village? Or was it even earlier? When Master woke up, I went to bring you wine, but you didn't say more than a few words to me. Which one? "
Mo Ran didn't expect him to mention something that happened so long ago. He was at a loss for a moment. After a long time, he said, "You … you were angry with me that early?"
Shi Mei shook his head. "Not angry, but I still care."
"…"
"Mo Ran, ever since Master was reborn, you've been deliberately distancing yourself from me."
Mo Ran was speechless. He was indeed deliberately distancing himself from Shi Mei. The two of them used to be so close that Chu Wanning could see it clearly.
But he always felt that something was missing. When they were young, the window paper between them hadn't been broken. Later on, Mo Ran understood his feelings, so he didn't know how to deal with his relationship with Shi Mei.
He had thought of telling Shi Mei clearly, but he didn't think it was appropriate.
He had never confessed to Shi Mei, so he didn't know what kind of feelings Shi Mei had for him. If he rashly ran over and said that he wanted to cut off their relationship, it would be too sudden and too presumptuous.
So in the end, he thought that it would slowly fade away.
Shi Mei quietly gazed at him. After a while, he said, "When you first came to the Peak of Life and Death, I told you that I have no parents and not many friends. From now on, we are family."
"… Yes."
"Then why did you change?"
Mo Ran was very sad. He suddenly felt a little confused. He didn't know why he distanced himself from Shi Mei like this.
Since returning from the World of Spirits and Souls, had he ever said more than a hundred words to Shi Mei?
The two of them used to be inseparable, but now they were gradually drifting apart. Mo Ran couldn't help but hesitate. Did he go too far?
He said, "I'm sorry."
"… There's nothing to be sorry about." Shi Mei turned his gaze away. "Forget it. That's all."
"Don't be angry. If you're angry, I … don't feel good. You've always been very good to me. "
Shi Mei finally smiled faintly. "I'm very good to you, but what about compared to Shizun?"
Mo Ran said, "It's not the same."
Shi Mei looked at the distant Qing Dai and said, "I remember you told me before that I was good to you because I gave you a lot of warmth. What about Shizun? "
Mo Ran said, "He gave me my life."
Shi Mei didn't answer for a long time. In the end, he sighed. "It's the same."
Mo Ran saw him like this and felt even more uncomfortable. He said, "There's nothing to compare. Everyone is different. You-"
Shi Mei didn't wait for him to finish. He turned his face to the side. Against the wind, he raised his hand and patted Mo Ran's chest. "Okay, you don't have to say anymore. I know what you mean. In fact, I'm not that calculative. But I'm really sad that you misunderstood me like this before. "
"Yes …"
"Let's move on. Don't think about it anymore."
Mo Ran's black eyes were warm. After a while, he nodded and said gratefully, "Okay."
Shi Mei's slender figure leaned against the jade railing of the sword dance field. He looked down at the trees below. After a while …
"Let's go back."
"What did you want to say that year?"
They opened their mouths almost at the same time. Mo Ran was startled. "Which year?"
Shi Mei said, "The year when the Heavenly Split."
Only then did Mo Ran recall the unspoken confession he had made when Cai Die had shattered the heavens. He froze for a moment.
Shi Mei said, "You didn't finish telling me that year. I don't know what you wanted to say. Can I ask you now?"
Mo Ran was about to answer when he suddenly heard a loud noise coming from the Dan Xin Palace behind him.
His and Shi Mei's expressions changed. Mo Ran said, "It's from Shizun!"
Shi Mei didn't have time to chat. He said, "Let's go back and see."
The two turned around and rushed back to the main palace. When they arrived at the gate of the Dan Xin Palace, they found that there was a second fat gourd in the square.
Mo Ran was shocked. "What is this?!"
Xue Zhengyong covered his face and said, "A wine-colored gourd."
"How many are there?!"
"Two. One is wine-colored and the other is wine-colored. They are twins on the same stem. " Xue Zhengyong's head was about to explode. "The one who competed with Yu Heng in drinking was the younger one. This one is the older one."
Mo Ran's eyebrows twitched. After a while, he reacted. "The wine-colored gourd likes to compete with others. That wine-colored gourd …" He turned around with a pale face and looked at the spinning pink fat gourd.
Xue Zhengyong said awkwardly, "The wine-colored gourd can do anything to tempt others. It only listens to the purest person."
Mo Ran turned his head and said, "Xue Meng!!"
Shi Mei said, "Why isn't Xue Meng here? Where did he go? "
Xue Zhengyong pointed at the wine-colored gourd. "… He's already in the gourd. He said he wanted to share Yu Heng's burden."
Mo Ran let out a sigh of relief. "That's okay. If even Xue Meng isn't purest, then there's no purest person in the world."
Just as he finished speaking, there was a "peng" sound.
Xue Meng was spat out of the wine-colored gourd and landed heavily in the middle of the crowd. The movement was so loud that everyone looked over. Even Chu Wanning who was drinking with the wine-colored gourd turned his head.
Shi Mei said in shock, "What happened?"
Someone else said in shock, "Even Young Master …"
"Cough cough cough." Xue Meng's face was flushed red as she staggered to her feet. Her eyes were filled with anger and embarrassment as she roared at the perverted gourd, "You — you monster, you, you, you, you, you shameless bastard!!"
Mo Ran looked back and forth. Xue Meng had unknowingly changed into a golden red robe. He found it funny and curious. "What is this?"
Xue Zhengyong could only hold his forehead, speechless.
Shi Mei said, "I've heard of this before. The wine-colored gourd isn't actually lustful, but infatuated. It wants to find the purest and most infatuated partner in the world to marry. It is said that the person who is sucked into the wine-colored gourd will be in a new room. "
"… And then?"
"Then, the wine-colored gourd's primordial spirit will turn into the appearance of the bride or groom. But no matter the bride or groom, their faces will be covered and they will have to wait for the other party to uncover it."
Mo Ran said, "Is the wine-colored gourd's true self the one who uncovers it?"
"Of course not. What one sees after uncovering it varies from person to person. If one has a sweetheart, he will see the appearance of the sweetheart. If one doesn't have a sweetheart, but is lustful, it is said that he will see …" Shi Mei coughed slightly and said awkwardly, "A naked man or woman. Only the purest people can see the wine-colored gourd's true self. "
Mo Ran turned his head and looked at Xue Meng in disbelief, "Then what did Xue Meng see?"
He couldn't believe that Xue Meng had a sweetheart, but he also didn't believe that Xue Meng could see any naked woman or man.
However, Xue Meng was thrown out by the wine-colored gourd, and the wine-colored gourd was jumping and rolling around happily. Obviously, the wine-colored gourd was laughing at Xue Meng.
Shi Mei couldn't bear it and tried to smooth things over for Xue Meng, "Maybe the wine-colored gourd misjudged …"
Before he could finish, Xue Meng took out the Dragon City, pointed at the wine-colored gourd and shouted, "You f * cking changed my illusion to confuse me! You even made me wear women's clothes in the illusion!!! You, you dog!! How dare you humiliate me!!! "
"…" Many of the disciples at the Life and Death Summit, including Mo Ran, were silent for a moment. They wanted to hold it in, but they couldn't, and they all laughed out loud.
Xue Ziming is the most narcissistic of all. The peacock spreads its tail and the daffodils are reflected in the reflection. Xue Meng lifts the veil and sees her own face with heavy makeup.
"It makes sense." Mo Ran tried his best to hold back his laughter and nodded. "Xue Meng should be very beautiful as a girl."
Before he finished laughing, he heard Xue Zhengyong shout with a headache, "Yu Heng, after we deal with the wine-colored gourd, why don't you help cure this wine-colored gourd too?"