Chapter 5: This Venerable One Isn’t a Thief

Loyalty hall was brightly lit. Shi Mei had taken his leave of them a while back, and so it was just Mo Ran and Xue Meng. Mo Ran followed Xue Meng into the hall, and upon seeing the scene within, his confusion immediately cleared.

So it was Rong Jiu, that pansy. He'd actually had the nerve to come to Sisheng Peak to complain about the money Mo Ran had stolen from him.

Rong Jiu was currently sobbing into the embrace of a big, burly man, the picture of a weeping beauty. At Mo Ran and Xue Meng's entrance, his sobs grew three pitches higher, as if he might foam at the mouth and swoon if it not for the man's arms around him.

A dainty lady sat on the hall's dais behind a bead curtain, clearly at a complete loss. Mo Ran didn't spare the repulsive pair so much as a glance as he instead greeted her. "Aunt, I'm back."

This woman was the lady of Sisheng Peak, Madam Wang. Unlike those heroines who were every bit a match for their male counterparts, she was a meek homemaker who didn't dabble in matters outside the sect. She had absolutely no idea how to deal with this without her husband around. "A-Ran," she said timidly, "you've finally returned."

Mo Ran only smiled at her, acting as if the complainant duo weren't even there. "It's so late, yet you're still up, Aunt. Did you need me for something?"

"Mn. You see, this Rong-gongzi says that you… That you took his money?" Madam Wang had a rather thin face and was thus too embarrassed to say that Mo Ran had gone whoring. Instead, she chose to address the minor offense.

Mo Ran's eyes curved as he smiled. "Really? It's not like I'm short on money; why would I need to take theirs? Besides, I don't recognize either of these people. Do I know you guys?"

The burly man sneered. "Yours truly is surnamed Chang, and I'm the eldest son of my family. As a businessman, minor formalities matter little to me; you may call me Chang Da."

"Ah, so it's Da Chang-gongzi,"6 Mo Ran said as he smiled, having purposefully flipped his name around. "It's an honor to finally meet you. Please excuse my rudeness. And this other gentleman is…"

Big Intestine-gongzi scoffed. "Hah, Mo-gongzi sure is fond of acting the fool. This may be our first meeting, but in the last month, you've spent half your nights in Jiu-er's bed. And you claim not to recognize him—have you gone blind?"

Mo Ran was entirely unperturbed, and he continued to smile as he glanced at Rong Jiu. "What's this? Are you trying to slander me? I'm a decent, honorable person. Of course I've never slept with some San-er or Jiu-er."

Rong Jiu's face was red with anger, but he continued to nestle against Chang Da's chest, sobbing. "M-Mo-gongzi, I know my status is low and unseemly… If you hadn't exploited me so cruelly, I wouldn't have come calling. But to be treated in such a way, I… I…"

"I really truly do not know you," Mo Ran said in a tone as if he were the one who'd been wronged. "I can't even tell if you're male or female—how could we have met before?"

"You patronized my business just last night! How could you be so cold? Chang-gongzi, Chang-gongzi, you have to get justice on my behalf." Rong Jiu burrowed even deeper into Chang Da's arms as his crying ratcheted up a notch.

Off to the side, Xue Meng's entire face was ashen, his frown twitching as he listened to this absurdity. If not for the self-restraint of his upbringing as a young master, he would've kicked this repulsive pair off the mountain long ago.

Big Intestine-gongzi stroked Rong Jiu's hair and soothed him with some murmured words before raising his head. "Madam Wang, Sisheng Peak is a virtuous, upright sect, but this Mo-gongzi is vulgar and despicable!" he declared threateningly. "Jiu-er works hard for his money, all to buy his own freedom as soon as possible. But this cretin! As if mistreating Jiu-er wasn't enough, he even stole Jiu-er's hard-earned savings! The Chang family are not cultivators, but we are wealthy, and we've been traders for generations. If your sect doesn't satisfactorily account for itself today, you'll find yourselves facing no end of trouble in Sichuan!"

Madam Wang was flustered. "Ah… Chang-gongzi, please calm down. I—I…"

Mo Ran sneered to himself. The Chang family were salt merchants and ludicrously loaded. Who would believe that the eldest son of that family couldn't afford to buy Rong Jiu's freedom? That he would let his "Jiu-er" earn his way himself? This smelled fishy, to say the least.

Outwardly, however, his smile remained fixed. "Ah, so Big Intestine-bro is the son of Yizhou's affluent merchant family. You're impressive and commanding, as expected. How admirable. How very admirable!"

Big Intestine-gongzi looked quite smug. "Hmph, so you do know your place after all. Why don't you make this easy on yourself and fess up, then? Where are Jiu-er's things? Hurry up and return them."

"I'm curious, though," Mo Ran said, still smiling. "Your Jiu-er has so many guests every day. Even if he did lose something, why am I being blamed?"

"You!" Big Intestine-gongzi gritted his teeth, sneering. "Fine, fine, fine. I just knew you would try to wriggle out of this! Madam Wang, as you've just seen, Mo-gongzi refused to be reasonable and come clean. I'm not going to waste my breath on him anymore. You're the one in charge—you decide!"

Madam Wang knew little of such affairs, and her words stumbled over each other in her nervousness. "I… A-Ran… Meng-er…"

Unwilling to let his mother be put on the spot, Xue Meng stepped forward. "Chang-gongzi, Sisheng Peak has strict disciplinary rules. If your accusations turn out to be true—if Mo Ran indeed violated our rules against greed and promiscuity—we will naturally mete out severe punishment. However, it's your word against his. Have you any evidence?"

Big Intestine-gongzi smirked. "I just knew your sect would pull this. That's why we rushed to get here before Mo Ran arrived in order to confront Madam Wang." He cleared his throat. "All of you, listen well: Jiu-er lost two units of pearls, ten gold ingots, a pair of gold plum-blossom bracelets, a pair of jade hairpins, and a jade butterfly pendant. Search Mo Ran for these items and the truth of my accusations will be made clear."

"What right do you have to search my body?" Mo Ran objected.

"Hmph, sounds like a guilty conscience to me." Big Intestine-gongzi lifted his chin pompously. "Madam Wang, what are Sisheng Peak's punishments for the crimes of theft and lechery?"

"Um…my husband has always been the one in charge of sect matters," Madam Wang answered quietly. "I genuinely…do not know…"

"Dubious, how dubious. I think Madam Wang is purposefully playing dumb to shield her nephew. Heh, who would've thought that Sisheng Peak was actually such a corrupt, filthy place—"

"That's quite enough out of you. My aunt already told you she's not used to making these kinds of decisions. Are you quite done bullying a woman?" Mo Ran cut in, finally fed up with this blathering. Even the carefree grin that usually graced his face had somewhat faded. He shot a sidelong glare at the nauseating couple. "Fine, search me, then. But what happens if you find nothing and all this turns out to be slander against my sect?"

"Then I will promptly apologize to Mo-gongzi."

"Sure," Mo Ran agreed easily enough. "Just one thing. If you're wrong, then as an apology, you have to crawl off Sisheng Peak on your hands and knees."

Mo Ran's confidence made a seed of doubt take root within Big Intestine-gongzi's heart. He'd grown up holding cultivators in high regard, though he himself unfortunately had no talent for cultivation. A few days ago, on learning that his old paramour Rong Jiu had somehow earned Mo Ran's favor, he'd made a bargain with him. Rong Jiu would find an opening to steal Mo Ran's cultivation progress, and in exchange, Big Intestine-gongzi would buy his freedom. Not only that, he'd promised to take Rong Jiu into his household and to take care of him for life.

Big Intestine-gongzi longed for cultivation, and Rong Jiu coveted riches. The pair of scoundrels were well-matched in their collusion.

In Mo Ran's previous life, he had fallen for their scheme. He'd gotten even with them in the end, but not before suffering quite a bit. This time around, their ploy had entirely failed to bear fruit, for Mo Ran had done a sudden about-face—and for no apparent reason either. Mere days ago, he'd still been in a drunken stupor, nestled tenderly in Rong Jiu's arms and going "Jiu-er this" and "Jiu-er that." But this morning, he'd brutally fucked Rong Jiu twice, unexpectedly taken all his belongings and valuables, and run off.

Big Intestine-gongzi was naturally furious and had dragged Rong Jiu to Sisheng Peak to complain. This salt merchant gongzi was a shrewd businessman; he figured that if he busted Mo Ran, then he could force Madam Wang to disperse Mo Ran's cultivation. He'd come prepared with a cultivation-absorbing jade pendant to gather some easy pickings, which he would later on assimilate into his own spiritual reservoir.

But as he looked at Mo Ran now, Big Intestine-gongzi hesitated. Mo Ran was a crafty fellow. What if he'd already sold the stolen goods and was just waiting to pull one over on him? Then again, things had come to this point, and it would be a waste to give up at this point. Maybe Mo Ran was just bluffing…

While he stewed in these thoughts, Mo Ran had gone ahead and started stripping. He took off his outer robe, casually tossed it aside, and gestured in invitation, smiling. "Go ahead and search me. Take your time."

After all that racket, in the end, they found nothing but some spare change.

Big Intestine-gongzi's expression entirely transformed. "Impossible! You're definitely pulling some kind of trick!"

Mo Ran narrowed his dark, purple-tinged eyes and stroked his chin. "You've turned my robe inside-out ten times, and you've touched me all over a ton as well. There's nothing left to do short of getting me totally naked, and you're still not giving up?"

"Mo Ran, you—"

Mo Ran had a sudden realization. "Ah, I get it! Big Intestine-gongzi, could it be that you've been lusting after my good looks and put on this whole show just to take advantage of me and cop a feel?"

Big Intestine-gongzi was so enraged that he was nearly about to pass out; his whole face was red with anger, and while he pointed at Mo Ran, he was unable to manage a single word.

Xue Meng, watching from the side, had long since hit the limit of his patience. He might have disapproved of Mo Ran, but Mo Ran was a member of Sisheng Peak, and outsiders had no right to degrade him.

Xue Meng strode forward with not a trace of politeness, raised his hand, and unhesitatingly broke Big Intestine-gongzi's finger. "We've humored you for half the night," he admonished him. "But it turns out you were just making trouble out of nothing!"

Big Intestine-gongzi howled in pain and cradled his finger. "A-all of you! You're in on it together! No wonder nothing was on Mo Ran—you must've hidden it all! You strip too! Let me search you!"

Xue Meng flew into a humiliation-driven rage. Someone had actually dared to order him to strip! "Shameless! You really think those dog paws of yours are fit to touch even the corner of my hem? Get the hell out!"

Now that the young master had spoken, the attendants in Loyalty Hall, also long since fed-up with this façade, surged forth to clear out this pair of ordinary folk. They had no means by which to resist and were soundly kicked off the mountain.

Big Intestine-gongzi's furious screeching echoed in the distance. "Mo Ran, just you wait! I'm not done with you yet!"

Mo Ran stood outside Loyalty Hall and gazed at the night sky, his eyes curved in a smile as he sighed. "Wow, I'm so scared."

Xue Meng shot him a cold glare. "What're you so scared of?"

"They're salt merchants," Mo Ran said with genuine worry. "I'm afraid that in the future, I won't get to have any more salt, of course."

Xue Meng was silent for a moment. "You really didn't screw that prostitute?"

"Nope."

"And you really didn't steal from him?"

"Nope."

Xue Meng hmphed. "I don't believe you."

Mo Ran raised a hand, laughing. "Let the heavens strike me down with lightning if I'm lying."

Xue Meng abruptly lifted his hand and grabbed Mo Ran's arm in a vice grip.

Mo Ran stared at him. "What are you doing?"

Xue Meng hmphed again and rapidly chanted an incantation. Scattered sounds were heard as a handful of beads, each about the size of a soybean, slipped out of Mo Ran's sleeve and fell to the ground. Xue Meng gathered spiritual energy in his hand and waved toward the beads, which glowed and grew in size until they turned into a pile of jewels and valuables. Plum-blossom bracelets and jade earrings lay golden and sparkling on the ground.

"We're fellow disciples of the same sect," said Mo Ran, after a pause. "Don't make things difficult."

Xue Meng glowered. "Mo Weiyu, have you no shame?"

"Heh heh."

"No one's laughing with you!" Xue Meng roared.

Mo Ran sighed. "It's not like I can cry on command."

Xue Meng's face was dark. "Is this how you use Sisheng Peak's concealing technique?"

"Mm-hmm. Practical application of knowledge and all that, y'know."

"That salt merchant was an annoying mutt, so I didn't call you out in front of him, but he did get something right," Xue Meng angrily continued. "To violate the rules against theft and lechery like you have is to ask for punishment, no matter which sect you're from!"

Mo Ran grinned, undaunted. "And what are you gonna do about it? Wait for Uncle to come back to tattle on me?"

He wasn't even worried. His uncle spoiled him to no end. At most he would scold Mo Ran a little; he'd never have the heart to beat him.

Xue Meng turned around, brushing his wind-blown hair aside, his eyes glinting with scorn in the dark of night. "Dad? No, he's at Kunlun and won't be back for a month or two."

Mo Ran's smile froze as an ominous feeling washed over him. He had suddenly remembered a certain person.

But—if he were here, then he would've been the one to receive Chang-gongzi at Loyalty Hall, not the oblivious Madam Wang. That person…couldn't be around…right?

The flickering emotion in Mo Ran's eyes intensified Xue Meng's air of disdain. "My father does spoil you too much. But isn't there a certain someone here at Sisheng Peak who doesn't coddle you?"

Mo Ran slowly backed away a few steps, a forced smile on his face. "My esteemed cousin, it's so late already. Let's not disturb our elder's peace and quiet. I was wrong, and there won't be a next time—how about that? Please go get some rest, heh heh. You look so tired."

And then he made a run for it.

You've got to be kidding me! This Xue Meng guy is far too ruthless!

At present, Mo Ran wasn't Taxian-jun, ruler of the mortal realm, so how could he risk falling into the hands of the individual in question? If that guy found out that he had stolen things and gone whoring, he'd probably break both of Mo Ran's legs! If he didn't run now, he wouldn't get another chance!