Chapter 116: Shizun Meets Rong jiu

The moment Chu Wanning saw light gathering in the Ghost King's hand, he immediately shoved Mo Ran and said, "Run!" There was no need to tell him twice. Mo Ran grabbed Chu Wanning's elbow and they fled towards the palace doors, leaping and bounding through the air.

As they ran, Mo Ran cursed, "Master Huaizui's spell is too careless, how could he have left me with a shadow, letting people see through me!" For some reason, even though he was hearing his own disciple curse his own master, Chu Wanning barely showed any reaction and only threw Mo Ran a glance. He looked like he wanted to say something, but in the end nothing left his lips.

"Trying to escape?" The Fourth Ghost King snorted. "As if I'd let you off that easy." They were both experts at qinggong, and seeing the palace doors about to completely close, they stepped onto the wall, leaping off. But at that same moment, the Fourth Ghost King summoned lightning into his palm. With a swing of his hand, thunder roared in the skies and lightning crashed down upon the palace doors. In a split second, the palace walls that were only ten meters high before shot up into the sky, extending so high they looked like they were about to connect to the heavens.

And the palace doors were also rapidly shutting, locking them in from all around.

Mo Ran cursed under his breath, and dragged Chu Wanning along with him as they turned and ran in another direction. If they couldn't exit through the palace doors then they'd leave it for now; the priority was to avoid getting captured by the Fourth Ghost King.

But this just so happened to be the right move. Every king of the Ghost Realm had their own expertise as well as their own shortcomings; while the Fourth Ghost King was powerful in spells, after thousands of years of debauched indulgence, his physical condition really couldn't be compared to the others.

Never mind running a mile, just fifty steps and he'd be gasping for breath.

The Fourth Ghost King had lazed about for thousands of years, holding fast to the principle of lying down if he didn't need to sit, and sitting down if he didn't need to stand. After so long, he'd long lazed himself to the point that his qinggong was trash.

His outrage grew as he watched Chu Wanning and Mo Ran run further and further away. However, because he'd often gone to the other kings' domains in hell to gather up beauties, his relationship with the other eight kings was considerably not great. So even when something like this happened, he was reluctant to inform the other kings in order to work together to capture them.

"So what if you can run fast! This king may be full-bellied, but there's still no escaping my grasp!" The Fourth Ghost King rubbed at his belly, angry and aggrieved. He turned, and saw the eight staunch men who had been holding him up on their shoulders standing there, unmoving, and became even more displeased. "What are you all standing around for? This king's legs are precious,

not meant to give chase, but why aren't any of you giving chase?"   "..." This Fourth Ghost King was said to have been a handsome man when he was skinny, but because he'd been deprived of mortal pleasures for too long,

once he cultivated a flesh body he overindulged in food and drink. He ate while sitting, ate while walking, ate while crouching. Even at hell's busiest times, when he had to rush out appeals and didn't even have enough time to write, he still needed attendants at either side, not to flatten papers or grind ink, but to slice fresh fruit and feed him pastries.

Just like that, a perfectly fine and peerless beauty forcibly stuffed himself into a fatty. Although his foundation was excellent and no matter how much he ate his size wouldn't go overboard, his appearance had still changed. After that, the Fourth Ghost King had ordered for all the mirrors of the away palace to be thrown out, and he hated hearing the words "fat" or "obese". Rumour had it that there had once been a pretty attending mistress who had been singing him songs, but the first three lines of the lyrics had been "half-crescent moon, halfcrescent moon, half-crescent[10]…" Before the last 'moon' had even left her lips, the Fourth Ghost King had booted her out with a kick to the chest, yelling, "Fat fat fat! I allowed two fats, but it's not enough, you were still going for a third! Don't think by breaking the word down, this king won't understand you're beating around the bush and disparaging me, the audacity!" Which was why even though these ghost men were staunch and hardy, they didn't dare go after Chu Wanning and Mo Ran. Each of them bowed their heads low, letting the Fourth Ghost King complain and vent. In the end one, more clever than the others, spoke up. "My king is so agile, how can we possibly catch up to people my king can't chase down?" Only then did the Fourth Ghost King huff out a breath and let the chase go altogether. He turned to his subordinates, saying, "Mn, that's true… Good that you all are self-aware. Very well, leave it be. Go pass on this king's command:

All the doors of the away palace are to be shut, the palace walls be covered in sealing spells. Not a single fly shall be let out of this place." He tsk-ed then finally spat out the grape seed sitting in his mouth, muttering threateningly, "I'd sure like to see where the two of them can run off to." Mo Ran and Chu Wanning were both agile, plus the interior of the palace was full of twists and turns, so it didn't take long before they'd ditched the ghost wards chasing after them. The two hid in a narrow, dark little alley. Chu Wanning was a ghost, so no matter how long they ran, he wouldn't get tired. Mo Ran however, was of mortal flesh, and he leaned against the wall, panting.

Chu Wanning glanced out, and said somberly, "He's completely sealed the palace." Mo Ran, still catching his breath, waved his hand. "It's fine, Shizun. Come into the Soul-Calling Lantern, this way we can both return directly to the mortal realm, he won't be able to stop us for sure."   Chu Wanning gave a small nod, but for some reason, there was still worry colouring his brows.

Mo Ran didn't notice. He took out the Soul-Calling Lantern and silently recited the spell. However, the golden light only flickered a few times before it completely extinguished. Chu Wanning's Earth Soul still stood before him,

perfectly fine, entirely unmoved.

"What's going on?" Mo Ran was shocked. "Why isn't it working?" The glumness between Chu Wanning's brows were even more evident now,

and he sighed. "Just as I thought. The deliverance spell doesn't work here. We'll probably have to leave the palace before we can use the spell to return to the mortal realm." "..." Hearing this, Mo Ran bit his lip, a stubborn look in his eyes. It took a moment before he said, voice hoarse, "I'll get you out of here no matter what." Chu Wanning gave him a look before replying, "We'll need to hurry. The palace is massive, and it won't be easy for the ghost pawns to find you, but there's no food or water here. I'll be fine but you won't last for long." Mo Ran smiled, "Hunger I can endure, I grew up with it so I'm used to it." After recovering for a while, waiting till their surroundings had quieted down,

the two eventually came out of the alleyway. The watery, cool moonlight fell upon their figures, one with a shadow, one without, as they walked side by side down the long, empty bluestone street.

"Shizun." Mo Ran called out.

"..." "I offended you, earlier at the gate. Sorry." Chu Wanning seemed caught off guard for a moment, then he cast his eyes down, long lashes lowering over his gaze. "It's fine." "Because of the circumstances, my words were… also offensive. I'm sorry about that too." Chu Wanning, "..." "It was also incredibly improper of me to say that you're already married, I'm sorry again." Chu Wanning suddenly stopped in his tracks and replied, voice frosty, "How long are you going to keep saying I'm sorry for? Don't you know how to say anything else?" "Something else?" Mo Ran's heart started to race. He thought very hard for a moment, then very carefully tried changing his vocabulary, "Then… I apologize?"

"..."

Chu Wanning shook out his sleeves and left.

This pitiful Mo Ran had absolutely no idea what he'd said to make him unhappy. He was worried he'd further irritated his shizun, but also afraid that if he said more, he would get even more annoyed. So he scratched his head where he stood, and followed after obediently.

"Shizun." "Mn?" Walking halfway, Mo Ran asked in spite of himself, "Have you ever… been through any karmic events?" Chu Wanning stopped and turned to face him. "What do you mean?" "I found another Earth Soul of yours in the Underworld, which means you have one extra piece of soul more than everyone else…Earlier, I met Chu Xun at Tailwind Hall and asked him about it. He said that the extra piece of soul shouldn't have been something that you originally possessed." Mo Ran continued hesitantly, "But, including the body in the mortal realm, I have definitely seen four of Shizun, so I was thinking… if Shizun's formed any bonds of fate in the past…" Chu Wanning was silent for a while. There was a light in the depths of his eyes, like he'd thought of something, but then he closed his eyes and said, "I don't think I have." He paused for a moment, then, hesitant and a little confused, asked, "I really have four souls?" "Mhm." "..." Chu Wanning didn't know why that would be either. He thought it over for a while, contemplating, then sighed. "This isn't something I can answer, and it doesn't affect anything, so let's just let it go." The two continued to carefully follow along remote little paths while inspecting the spiritual strength of the spell the Fourth Ghost King had used to seal off the entire away palace.

"All barriers have a weakness." Chu Wanning said as they came before a watchtower. His fingers brushed over the rough walls, over which blue light flowed intermittently. He closed his eyes, trying to capture the flow of the energy streaming beneath the stones.

However, he didn't have any spiritual power at the moment and trying to sense out the feeling drained him. After a moment, Chu Wanning dropped his hand and shook his head dejectedly.

"My soul isn't whole and my powers are impaired, so I don't know how to break through this for the moment."   "Why doesn't Shizun teach me, and I can try?" Mo Ran suggested.

"It won't do. The art of barriers is complex, it's not something one can learn in a day or two." "Then what are the typical weak points of spiritual barriers?" Mo Ran asked.

"Why don't we try them one by one?"

"…Every barrier has its own weakness, there isn't a one size fits all method to breaking them. If we're going to test them one by one, I really don't know how long that would take." "How would we know if we don't try?" Mo Ran smiled. "Maybe I'll get really lucky?" Chu Wanning opened his mouth, about to reply, when at the periphery of his vision he spotted a moving white shadow. His brows immediately furrowed, and he extended his hand, moving out of habit to summon Tianwen, but nothing happened. His expression darkened unconsciously, and he yelled sharply,

"Who's there?!" That white shadow immediately tried to flee.

As if Mo Ran would let that happen. He darted over and in a ferocious instant, had the ghost captured in his arms. He smothered the ghost's mouth and nose, preventing it from calling out, then twisted its arms behind its back,

pushing it to kneel on the ground. When he focused and saw who it was, he couldn't help but burst out in anger.

"RONG JIU…!" The young man kneeling on the ground was tender and fair, like willow vines drifting in the breeze, but his eyes brimmed with a trace of unwillingness. He twisted his head back, not uttering a single word.

Mo Ran said angrily, "Are you off to snitch again? You really think I won't kill you?!" Chu Wanning walked over. He had never met Rong Jiu before, and after glancing him over, asked Mo Ran, "You know him?" Mo Ran didn't know what to say. He thought to himself about those two crimes of stealing and debauchery he'd committed back then, the ones that Chu Wanning had publicly put him to trial for upon the Platform of Sin and Virtue. At that time, he'd only thought Chu Wanning to be cruel and malicious, and his heart had been steeped in hatred for the man. To have this old history once more thrust in their faces made Mo Ran want to find a hole to crawl into and hide.     Chu Wanning didn't notice anything off however, and only took this person as an acquaintance of Mo Ran's. "Since he's followed you all the way here, then don't leave him behind in this palace. Once we've found a way to get out, let's bring him along with us." As he spoke, he took a careful look over Rong Jiu, "A perfectly decent person. Reincarnation should be top priority." Mo Ran, "..." Upon hearing these words, Rong Jiu, who had initially been panicking a little,

was at first taken aback, but then he suddenly smiled. His eyes softened into a gentle and charming gaze as he glanced over at Mo Ran. "This must be Shizun then?" "What Shizun, who said you could call him Shizun?!" Mo Ran said angrily.

"He's my Shizun!" Rong Jiu still harboured some resentment against him, so he replied languidly, purposely trying to infuriate him, "Oh, I see, my Shizun then."

"YOU——!"

With this back and forth, Chu Wanning finally detected something amiss. He asked, "Mo Ran, are there some hard feelings between the two of you?" "I…" Rong Jiu replied, smiling, "Good Shizun, don't be angry with him. There are no hard feelings between us, just some old relations." The way he'd said it was ambiguous, but his tone was extremely affectionate. Chu Wanning didn't say anything, but his eyes narrowed and his lips slowly thinned. At first glance, his expression was as indifferent as ever, but the gloominess between his brows could not be fully concealed. Rong Jiu had grown up in a whorehouse and was an expert in reading expressions; how could Chu Wanning, with his pure personality and naivete, hide the emotion flickering in his eyes from Rong Jiu?

Rong Jiu was a bit shocked. He'd originally thought Mo Ran a sleazy philanderer, audaciously in love with his own shizun. Yet, unexpectedly, now that he'd met the shizun in question, it didn't seem one-sided.

…How filthy, this Sisheng Peak.

Even though he was in a dire situation right now, Rong Jiu still couldn't help but sigh, feeling both disgusted and amazed——in the Cultivation Realm, dual cultivation between men wasn't anything unheard of, but it was nonetheless considered unseemly. As the gongzi of Sisheng Peak, if Mo Ran actually got together with his benefacting mentor and word of this got out, sect leader Xue Zhengyong would have nowhere to hide his face.

Rong Jiu blinked his charming and affectionate peach blossom eyes, sizing Chu Wanning up. He was just about to say a few more words, ready to add oil to the flames, but the other man spoke up first.

"You're dead as you can be, what old relations are there to speak of." "Well wasn't xianjun the one who asked me?" Rong Jiu chuckled. "I was just answering honestly." "Who asked you," Chu Wanning said coldly. " I've been directing my questions to him from the start." Of course there wasn't any need to clarify who "him" was. His tone was also laced with sparks; his intent for Rong Jiu to draw clear their relationship could not have been any more obvious. Hearing Chu Wanning siding with him, Mo Ran's heart swelled, warmth blooming in his chest. He wanted to say something,

but before he could get closer to the other man, Chu Wanning had already turned around in anger.

"Deal with this yourself." But Mo Ran himself didn't actually know what to do. If he were to let Rong Jiu go, there was a chance Rong Jiu would turn around and trip them up, rat on them. But keeping Rong Jiu with them would be like carrying around a barrel of gunpowder; if Rong Jiu were to say something he shouldn't, Chu Wanning just might choke to death. As Mo Ran agonized over this, Chu Wanning went to inspect the Fourth Ghost King's barrier once more. Taking advantage of this, Mo Ran yanked Rong Jiu by the collar and gritted out, keeping his voice hushed,

"Just what do you want?" "I'm just irked and upset." Rong Jiu's thick lashes carefully flickered, a small light shimmering within his gaze. "I just can't stand that a villain like you gets a do-over."

But Mo Ran knew just what kind of person Rong Jiu was. He wasn't the kind of person who would do something that would harm both others and himself,

he'd only ever do things that'd harm others and benefit himself. No matter how resentful he was, what mattered most to him was spending his days in comfort.

There was no reason for him to risk death in order to follow them.

His eyes swept over the other man, and landed on Rong Jiu's feet.

There was only one shoe on those delicate and fair feet. The other foot was bare and smeared with mud, obviously the result of having fled in a hurry.

Mo Ran narrowed his eyes. "Tell the truth." Rong Jiu: "Didn't I already tell you? The truth is I can't stand——" "If you plan on lying to blackmail me again, I will immediately blind your eyes,

block your mouth and throw you down a well. You're already a ghost, so you won't die from hunger, nor will you be able to escape. If you're lucky, the patrol will find you in a couple days. If you're unlucky, then prepare yourself to be stuck in that well for eight to ten years." Mo Ran paused, then continued, voice very dark, "Decide for yourself." As expected, Rong Jiu's face changed colours.

A moment later, he said, "I changed my mind. I don't want to stay here, you have to take me out." "What, don't wanna be a ghost husband anymore?" "..." Rong Jiu bit his lip down tight, then angrily raised his head. "I want to live a normal life too, I want another start." He breathed in deeply, then declared,

"I want reincarnation." "Fine. Then let me ask you another thing. Was it you who snitched to the patrol and told them where I was?" "..." "Even if you keep quiet, I have ways to make you confess up." A red light flickered in Mo Ran's hand, and he said, voice low and dark, "Speak." "Yes, I was the one who told, but so what." Rong Jiu held his head high, his eyes shining with resentment. "If I didn't tell them where to look, how would I have escaped?" Mo Ran flung his collar away from him, laughing through his rage. "Well, you certainly know how to hit someone when they're down, I'll give you that." "I'm good at slandering too." Rong Jiu slowly put himself back together,

patting his robes back into place. He threw a look at Chu Wanning, standing not too far away. "Mo-xianjun, you really care about that person, don't you? What do you think he'll do if I tell him, in full detail and without exaggeration, how you used to fawn over me so indulgently?"        

Author's Notes:

Light a sympathetic candle for the Fourth Ghost King, who had everything ruined for him once he got fat lololll

[10] The word for fat is 胖, and half-moon is 月半, resembling the word 胖.