39 This Venerable One’s New Weapon

Inside the hollow of the tree was a narrow passage. They made their way along a flight of steps made of smooth stone, the slippery sensation traveling from the bottom of their feet all the way to the inside of their heart, through the passage and into the bright light at its end.

The Exalted Gouchen's "kind of small and a little messy" holy weapon arsenal was nothing like the size it appeared to be from the outside. The ancient tree was already enormous, but its inside was even more expansive, as if it encompassed the heavens above and swallowed the earth below. Towering shelves packed with tens of thousands of weapons proudly on display lined the inside. They couldn't even see the ceiling when they looked up. The rows upon rows of racks filled with magnificent weapons struck a vision of boundless grandeur and immense splendor.

And in the center of the arsenal was a smelting pool with waves of blistering heat coming off of the red-hot molten metal, with several unfinished weapons soaking inside. Each and every weapon made by Gouchen the Exalted far surpassed the likes of Zidian Qingshuang; rather than being marred by the intense, searing heat, the blades and tips of these weapons glistened all the more, radiant and resplendent.

Even more wondrous were the various weapon parts soaring through the air on their own under the effect of the spell array in the ancient tree.

The tiny decorative pieces and ornamental jewels danced overhead like so many little fairies, with occasional collisions that sent sparks flying and filled the air with delightful tinkles.

Gouchen looked back with a smile: "It's a little cramped in here, huh."

Shi Mei: "..."

Hm.

Xue Meng: "..."

Cramped? Then what's spacious to you?

Mo Ran: "..."

Am I allowed to say motherfucker?

Chu Wanning: "..."

Gouchen the Exalted told Xue Meng and Shi Mei to look around and pick a weapon, and that they're welcome to take whichever one strikes their fancy. As for Mo Ran, Gouchen the Exalted was especially interested in him, so he had him try several different weapons, but wasn't quite satisfied with any of them.

"Fengming Jiaowei." Not the least bit discouraged, Gouchen handed over the fourteenth weapon, "Try this one."

Mo Ran: "Um... I don't know how to play."

"No matter, just give it a strum."

The guqin was smooth and glossy in the front, scorched black in the back. Mo Ran plucked at it a couple times as instructed, but the strings began to vibrate unexpectedly, resonating with a shrill tone.

Gouchen immediately tossed Fengming aside; a spell carried the guqin back to its stand, and exchanged it for a jade pipa.

Mo Ran: "...Let's skip this one." Playing the pipa was really too womanly for him, leave it for those femmy boys at Kunlun Taxue Palace.

But Gouchen insisted: "Try it."

"...Fine." Mo Ran could only give in and take the proffered pipa, but his grievance was a little too strong, and the string snapped under his hand after only a couple of plucks.

"..."

Gouchen stared at that broken string, and after a while, said: "Do you know what that string is made of?"

Mo Ran: "...You're not gonna make me pay for it are you?"

"Wushan Goddess's white hair." Gouchen muttered, "Spiritual essence of the earth element, impervious to sword and fire alike. But you…...you..."

Mo Ran turned his head to look backwards in alarm: "Shizun! I don't have the money to pay for it!"

Chu Wanning: "..."

Gouchen the Exalted twirled the string between his fingers, muttering to himself: "The earth element is naturally weak to the wood element; that you are able to destroy an earth elemental spiritual essence, could it be that the weapon suitable for you is a wood elemental one?"

"Wha?"

"But it shouldn't be..." Gouchen shot a glance at Chu Wanning for some reason. Chu Wanning noticed his glance and asked: "What shouldn't be?"

Rather than answering, Gouchen the Exalted lifted his hand and waved to call forth a ceramic ocarina. He blew into it, and as the sound began to gradually fade, the space above was suddenly split open by a blood-red summoning array.

"Ji Baihua, come out."

Mo Ran's head snapped upwards; Xue Meng and Shi Mei, hearing the commotion, also came over. They watched as the air swirled about Gouchen's fingertips with power, turning the intricate array above, and then a fox spirit with fluffy, luxurious tails appeared from the array, accompanied by splendid lights and a shower of glittering silver.

The fox spirit circled the air and floated leisurely down to land in front of Mo Ran.

The fox spirit was quite pretty; up close, it could be seen that he was male, with a dot of red between his eyebrows and a pair of peach blossom eyes that were slightly lifted, as if somewhat angry yet reservedly polite. He was draped in ornate, finely embroidered garments and held a golden brocade box in his hands. He glanced at Gouchen and smiled: "Exalted God."

Gouchen said: "You should already know what I called you for?"

"This humble one knows."

Gouchen asked: "And what do you think?"

Ji Baihua smiled: "Not bad, it's worth a try."

The two went back and forth, paying no mind at all to the other four present.

Mo Ran couldn't resist asking: "What exactly are you talking about?"

"Hm? Is this young man getting impatient already?" Fox spirit Ji Baihua said with a smile, "Speaking of, it's really quite interesting, but before I appeared just now, I felt your spiritual energy and thought for sure that you would be a white-haired old man, I'm surprised you're actually a handsome young thing."

Mo Ran: "......"

Gouchen spoke: "Ji Baihua, serious matters first."

"Alright, I was just having a bit of fun." Ji Baihua squinted, fluffy tails swishing, "What was the serious matter again? Aiya——don't glare at me Xiao-Gou, about this thing, it's really such a long story——"

Mo Ran said smilingly: "Then could you please make the long story short?"

Ji Baihua responded smilingly : "Yep yep, if you want the short version instead, it's actually super short." Evoking spiritual energy, he floated the brocade box in his hands over to Mo Ran.

"Here, take it."

…...That was indeed super short.

Mo Ran took the brocade box, weighing it in his hands and turning it around to examine.

The box was golden and resplendent, shrouded in a luminous light, but gave no hints as to what manner of holy weapon was inside. What's more, the box had no seam or crack, and the only decoration was a pair of koi fish on its top, one black and one white, each holding the tail of the other in its mouth to form the yin-yang symbol.

"How does it open?"

Ji Baihua: "Teehee, the opening method will have to be between the two of us, no one else must know."

Xue Meng asked: "Are you trying to say that we should excuse ourselves?"

Ji Baihua replied with a smile: "That won't be necessary, I'll just borrow this young man for a minute." He waved a hand, and Mo Ran's sight suddenly darkened as he found the two of them alone in a small secret chamber.

"Don't be nervous, I just teleported us. That box holding the weapon is a magic artifact of my exclusive and secret design, that's why I couldn't tell you how to open it in front of everyone else, don't mind."

Mo Ran smiled: "It's fine. But just what weapon is it, to warrant being held in this box?"

"That I cannot tell you." Ji Baihua said, "Holy weapons have their own temperaments, this one in particular doesn't like to easily let its form be known. If you offend it, it will refuse to recognize you as its master even if you do manage to open the box."

"..." Mo Ran was speechless for a moment, and could only force a smile, "What weapon? Such a strange temper. Fine, fine, tell me then, how do I open the box?"

Seeing that he didn't force the issue, Ji Baihua quite approved of Mo Ran. He put his hands together with a laugh: "Since you're so straightforward, I won't beat around the bush either. This box is called Ever-Yearning. As you saw, it's completely seamless. Two conditions must be met in order to open it."

Mo Ran: "And the conditions are?"

Ji Baihua: "Us fox spirits believe in fated love. And so, first, there is only one person in this world who can open Ever-Yearning. This person is extremely important in your life; you must love this person dearly, and this person must also love you in return, and be wholly devoted to you."

Mo Ran smiled: "I see. It's a strange condition for sure, but doesn't seem difficult." He was confident in his feelings toward Shi Mei.

But the corners of Ji Baihua's lips curved faintly upwards at his words: "How could it not be difficult? Since time immemorial, the heart of another has ever been most unknowable, what you think to be true might not necessarily be so. I've lingered in this world for a long time, and seen far too many people who lost sight of their hearts, who knew not their own most beloved person. These thousands of years, pitifully few had ever managed to open Ever-Yearning."

Mo Ran, surprised: "Why is that? Even if you get the wrong person, just try another, even if you have to try every person you know, you can definitely find this so-called most important person in your life eventually, right?"

Ji Baihua said: "That's where the second condition comes in. Aside from you, only one other person can touch Ever-Yearning. In other words, you only have one chance. If you choose the wrong person, then it will remain forever closed, and no one will ever be able to acquire the item within."

Mo Ran laughed: "No wonder you separated everyone else. It'd certainly be hard to handle if the others heard this as well. How awkward would it be if they knew that whoever I offer the box to is the one I like." He paused, playing with the brocade box in his hands, before continuing: "Anyway, this thing sure is interesting. So it's basically a lock with a one-use keyhole, and the wrong key will disable it for good."

"Of course you only get one chance to open it, what did you expect?" Ji Baihua glared at him, "You mortals are so preoccupied with self-indulgence in your mere few decades of life, just how much fated love is squandered without even knowing? Love is not unlike this Ever-Yearning; you cannot so easily take back a wrong choice."

"Haha, worry not, O Great Immortal Fox. Others might choose wrong, but I've got this in the bag." Mo Ran bowed to him and said with a smile, "I won't squander this yearning."

Ji Baihua shot him a look, voice soft and graceful as he spoke: "Don't be so sure about that, young man. As I see it, you don't actually seem to know your fated person at all."

Mo Ran paused, smile frozen on his face: "What do you mean by that?"

But the handsome immortal, this self-proclaimed "believer of fated love", was unwilling to say any more, only sighing softly: "To yearn unwittingly breaks the willow branch[28]. Sigh..."

Mo Ran wasn't a learned man, and didn't understand this sour-tasting scholarly bullshit, but he couldn't shake the feeling that the fox spirit was subtly trying to remind him of something. Unfortunately, he was too dumb to understand just what that something might be, however hard he tried.

He was just about to ask again when Ji Baihua, knowing that his task was complete, smiled faintly and waved a hand to send Mo Ran back out. Then he suddenly froze and became stiff, and, soon after, broke into pieces with a crash; all that remained was a single black chess piece that fell where he once stood.

It was too bad that Mo Ran didn't get to see this. Many things at the bottom of this lake might have turned out differently, had he only seen...

When Mo Ran came to, he was already back at the holy weapon arsenal, with Ever-Yearning in his hands. The other four were waiting for him; Gouchen the Exalted smiled broadly at his return: "That little fox is really too much, so much secretive ado just to open a box. Well then, do you know how to open it now?"

Now that the moment of truth was already upon him, Mo Ran didn't have time to ponder it too deeply anyway. He smiled: "Yeah, it's easy."

He walked up to Shi Mei, very casually: "The lock has such an interesting and clever design, you guys probably couldn't figure it out even given eight, ten years. Wanna try?"

Saying so, he offered the box to Shi Mei, very casually.

The brocade box glittered brilliantly in front of Shi Mei, its golden glow lighting up his gentle, elegant face.

"Shi Mei, why don't you try first." Mo Ran tried to act nonchalant, but his heart had tied itself into a knot and his palms wouldn't stop sweating.

This was gambling on his chance at having a holy weapon, he really ought to be careful about it, but he felt like he was already plenty careful. After all, he had already died once, how could he still not know just who it was he cared for?

It's not like he was dumb.

Shi Mei hesitated a bit, but took the proffered box in the end.

Mo Ran's heart jumped to his throat. He stared intently, but a long while passed, and nothing happened.

Mo Ran: "..."

Shi Mei held the box carefully as he examined it, tracing the yin-yang koi fish with his fingers and wondering: "There's no seam at all, and I couldn't find a keyhole either."

Why is there no reaction?!

Shi Mei touched Ever-Yearning, but why isn't anything happening?

Could it be——Ah! It must be! The gloves!

Mo Ran glanced at those deer hide gloves on Shi Mei's hands with sudden realization. He was just about to ask Shi Mei to take them off and try again when, suddenly and without warning, a hand with slender fingers reached over and calmly took Ever-Yearning.

Mo Ran cried out loudly and miserably, as if he had been struck by lightning: "Shizun——!!"

Chu Wanning nearly jumped and almost dropped the box, but his composed exterior was so practiced that it had already steeped through to his bones, to the point that his inner turbulence didn't show at all on the outside.

Mo Ran howled like the freshly bereaved: "Shizun——!!!"

Xue Meng got goosebumps all over: "What are you wailing about! It's just a box! What's wrong with you? Yelling like somebody stole your wife or something."

"I——I——" Mo Ran was really about to pass out from anger, but couldn't say the reason why. He could only cover his face and howl helplessly: "Oh my god..."

Chu Wanning! Why aren't you wearing gloves?!

Why, when you're so afraid of the cold!

It's all ice and snow out there, we're all wearing gloves, why only you——

Mo Ran paused.

Oh...

They each wore demon-repelling haitang flowers that had to be linked to Chu Wanning's spiritual energy via his palms, so he didn't even buy himself a pair of gloves to start with.

The reason he didn't wear gloves was to protect them.

But Mo Ran never spared him so much as a single thought this entire time; only just now, at this crucial moment of opening Ever-Yearning, did he suddenly notice that Chu Wanning, who was the one most afraid of the cold, had been freezing this whole time.

Mo Ran wanted to cry, but no tears came. He lamented his bad luck, to let the holy weapon slip through his fingers just like this. His chest was unspeakably stuffy when all of a sudden, as Chu Wanning's fingers brushed lightly past the yin-yang koi fish, that pair of koi made from metal came to life and began to weave nimbly around the box.

A beat of silence.

And then, with two crisp clicking sounds, the yin-yang koi fish came together and rose to protrude from the surface, becoming a pair of handles. Chu Wanning turned the handles, and Ever-Yearning split into two to reveal the radiant object inside, glowing golden.

Mo Ran was stunned.

Ji Baihua's words rang in his ears.

"There is only one person in this world who can open Ever-Yearning. This person is extremely important in your life; you must love this person dearly, and this person must also love you in return, and be wholly devoted to you."

...That person was Chu Wanning?

How could it possibly be Chu Wanning!

No way, absolutely no way in hell!! How could he love Chu Wanning, and how could Chu Wanning like him? What a joke!

This must be a mistake. Something's wrong with the box. The box is definitely broken.

He was still hung up on this when Chu Wanning took out the holy weapon inside the Ever-Yearning, and something even more startling happened.

This time, not only Mo Ran, but the other three were shocked as well. Even Chu Wanning's expression changed slightly.

A glistening willow vine illuminated their faces, its transcendent light reflected in their eyes.

Chu Wanning: "..."

Xue Meng: "..."

Shi Mei: "..."

Mo Ran choked on the two words for quite a while before finally spitting them out with much difficulty and even more disbelief.

"...Tianwen???"