116 SHIZUN, MY WANNING

A reasonable Yuheng Elder would ask, "What information?", but Chu Wanning at the moment was a little distracted. First, by the words "Wanning" on Mo Ran's weapon handle, and then second by the statement "I have never loved Song Qiutong, and I never will".

He gaped at Mo Ran and watched the latter's mouth open and close. His disciple said something, but for some reason, he was unable to hear him.

Wanning.

Wan.

Ning.

I have never loved Song Qiutong.

I never will.

After talking for maybe five minutes in a quick tempo, Mo Ran finally realized that his shizun's eyes were empty and his expression blank.

"... Shizun, did you hear me?"

"..."

"Shizun?"

"..."

Because Mo Ran was Mo Ran, naturally both his mind and his eyes started drifting to other places.

His shizun was drenched from head to toe. His robe stuck to his body, accentuating the slender but erotic person underneath.

Mo Ran swallowed hard. If he let his creativity wander freely, he could almost see the contour of Chu Wanning's nipples... 

Unable to control himself, the dog disciple lowered his head to steal a kiss from his shizun.

Thankfully, Chu Wanning had yet to become invalid. He raised his hand in time to slap Mo Ran so hard that he fell back into the water.

Chu Wanning schooled his expression back to normal, suppressing his innermost feelings. 

No, he told himself.

No, Chu Wanning. You already decided to cut off your feelings for Mo Ran. It does not matter whether his feelings for you are real or not. You are the shizun. You lay down the rules, and he must follow you. 

As long as you remain strong and decisive, his affections will return to that of a disciple.

Acting as if he did not just discover something remarkable about Mo Ran's weapon, Chu Wanning cleared his throat awkwardly.

"What was it that you just said?" He asked Mo Ran with a frown between his brows.

Swallowing his bitterness after being slapped ruthlessly, Mo Ran got out of the water and repeated what he said.

"Song Qiutong is a selfish person. She betrayed Rufeng Sect in the past to save herself. I know that she is going to do the same thing this time around."

"..."

"Nangong Liu plans to gift her to the cultivator who wins the hunt. There is no guarantee that she won't land in some old geezer's bed and be eaten after she is no longer good enough for dual cultivation."

"..."

"Therefore, I told her that I was going to take her back with me. Screw the others. Screw Nangong Liu. She naturally fell for the trap and told me a few things that she overheard from Rufeng Sect."

Mo Ran lowered his voice before he continued speaking, "Shizun, there is something fishy about Nangong Si's sickness. Supposedly, he disappeared one day and then his father announced that he contracted a serious illness. He is not the only one whose whereabouts are unknown. Ye Wangxi disappeared at the same time he did."

"Suspicious, indeed. What else?"

"I agreed to free Song Qiutong, and in turn, she agreed to lead me to where Nangong Si and Ye Wangxi are."

Chu Wanning widened his eyes in surprise. For a bird in a golden cage, Miss Song sure knows a lot.

"Since Shizun already dismissed my participation in the treatment tomorrow, why don't I sneak around Rufeng Sect on my own?"

"..."

Interesting how Chu Wanning's impulsiveness ended up fitting into Mo Ran's plan.

"Alright," Chu Wanning agreed. "Your uncle and I will go along with Nangong Liu's plan, and you will go with Song Qiutong to save Nangong Si and Ye Wangxi."

"Yes, Shizun."

"And Mo Ran, be careful," Chu Wanning reminded his disciple. "There is also a possibility that Song Qiutong lied just to be free."

Mo Ran nodded, "This disciple will be careful."

"Good night then, we have a lot of things to do tomorrow."

Chu Wanning turned to leave, but Mo Ran pulled at his wrist.

"Shizun, uhm... My Wanning, please?"

Chu Wanning's cheeks turned red within an instant. He quickly untangled their willow vines, returned the red willow vine to Mo Ran, and fled from the garden.

Left behind, Mo Ran smirked at Chu Wanning's hasty flight.

The smug man pressed a kiss on the two characters that were engraved on his weapon's silver handle.

"Wanning, you are such a liar," he whispered. "You do love me as a man."