Chapter 79: This Venerable One’s Shizun Is an Actor

If Mo Ran hadn't known Chu Wanning like the back of his own hand,

he feared he might have been taken in by his serious demeanor and believed

that nonsense.

Xia Sini was Chu Wanning's son? Yeah right, like he was dumb enough

to fall for that!

However, it wasn't like he could brush off his shizun. So in the days

that followed, he simply played along, putting on a show with things like,

"Oh heavens," "So that's how it is," "I can't believe Shizun is actually a

playboy," and other such.

Mo Ran had to admit that it was an interesting time, even though he had

no idea what Chu Wanning was up to. Thus Mo Ran made a sport of it,

poking playfully at Chu Wanning every so often.

One time, as they stopped at a teahouse for a snack, Mo Ran called

out, cheek in hand, eyes bright and round. "Shizun, Shizun."

Chu Wanning swallowed his tea before lifting his lashes to look evenly

at him. "Mn?"

"Why won't you acknowledge Xia-shidi as your child?"

"It's not that I won't acknowledge him, it just isn't the right time," Chu

Wanning replied.

"Then when will it be the right time?"

"That will depend on him."

Chu Wanning had such an air of profundity that Mo Ran's ribs hurt

from holding in his laughter, even as he forced himself to put on his best

pitying face. "Poor Xia-shidi."

Another time, as they were traveling side by side on horseback, Mo

Ran reached up and snapped a willow branch while passing by. He was

fresh out of distractions and bored out of his mind, so he fussed at Chu

Wanning again.

"Shizun, Shizun."

"What is it?"

"Can I ask you something?" Mo Ran was all smiles. "About

Shiniang…what kind of person is she? Is she pretty?"

Chu Wanning choked, then hastily cleared his throat to cover for

himself. "She's all right."

"Eh? Just 'all right'?" Mo Ran said, shocked. "I was so sure that

someone who could catch Shizun's eye had to be devastatingly beautiful."

Chu Wanning did not bother to reply.

Mo Ran steered his black horse closer to Chu Wanning's white one

and asked slyly, "Is Shizun still keeping in touch with Shiniang?"

"How would I do that?" Chu Wanning threw him a chilly look and said

darkly, "Your shiniang is dead."

They'd barely started, and he was already offing his own wife? Mo

Ran almost choked on his own spit. "D-dead? How did she die?"

"Birth complications," Chu Wanning said expressionlessly.

That so? Pf t ha ha ha ha ha. If the situation had been any different,

Mo Ran probably would've fallen off his horse from laughing too hard.

Of course Mo Ran couldn't let such an amusing subject go. The next

day, he washed a pouchful of fresh, plump cherries before setting off to

entice Chu Wanning into talking some more on the way.

"Shizun, can I know who Shiniang was? What was her name?"

Chu Wanning picked a cherry and ate it with no discernible reaction.

"She's already passed," he said indifferently. "What's the use in knowing her

name?"

Mo Ran didn't miss a beat. "The sect leader has always taught us to be

filial. Even if Shiniang is no longer with us, I, as a disciple, should still

remember her name and go pay my respects every winter solstice and

Qingming."

Chu Wanning kept eating his cherries. "No need," he replied evenly.

"Your shiniang was not the worldly sort, and she also disliked the smell of

incense."

Mo Ran pursed his lips, rolling his eyes. It's obvious that you

couldn't make up a backstory for Shiniang on the fly. Can't believe you'd

say she never cared for these things with such a serious face.

Outwardly, he kept smiling. "If Shiniang was so refined, she must have

been a cultivator too."

Chu Wanning paused, then picked another cherry between snow-white

fingertips and ate it at his leisure before answering, "Correct."

Mo Ran blinked curiously. "Which sect was she from?"

Chu Wanning estimated Xia Sini's age and quickly calculated in his

head that he would've still been at Linyi at the time, so he said evenly:

"Rufeng Sect."

"Oh…" Mo Ran's eyebrows went up slightly. He had to give Chu

Wanning props for that. Rufeng Sect had always favored male disciples.

Although their female disciples received the same education, they were

never given the same opportunities to stand out and make a name for

themselves. In fact, they never even left their names when they went on

missions, so even though the female cultivators of Rufeng Sect were no less

accomplished, the rest of the world only knew them as "the female

cultivators of Rufeng Sect." No one knew their individual names. Thus Chu

Wanning could make up whatever he felt like and there would be absolutely

no way to verify.

Mo Ran wasn't one to surrender. He perked back up and persisted.

"Then when did Shizun and Shiniang meet? How did you two meet?"

"Er…" Chu Wanning hesitated, not quite up to the task of inventing all

that on the spot. When his gaze fell on Mo Ran's bright, sparkly eyes, he

suddenly realized that he didn't have to answer this question. He pressed his

lips together and, with a sweep of his sleeve, said sharply, "What are you

doing, prying into this master's personal matters?"

With that, he urged his horse on, white robes disappearing into the

distance and leaving Mo Ran in the dust.

Chu Wanning and Mo Ran roamed for a couple weeks, visiting the

markets at numerous smaller sects and checking every stall that sold weapons

and spiritual stones, but they found absolutely nothing of note.

One particular day, after Chu Wanning finished exchanging notes with

Xue Zhengyong via haitang message, he and Mo Ran set off from the inn and

headed toward the market at Guyueye to continue their investigation.

Guyueye was the foremost medicinal sect of the world, as well as the

sect from which Xue Meng's mother, Madam Wang, hailed.

The sect was built on an island named Rainbell Isle. It wasn't an

actual island, but rather the back of an enormous tortoise that was thousands

upon thousands of years old and bound to the founder of the sect by blood

pact. The tortoise carried the entire sect on its back as it traveled the oceans,

and it nourished the flora of the isle with its unique spiritual energy.

The disciples of Guyueye had always been enigmatic and removed

from the rest of the world. The sect rarely ever interacted with outsiders;

only on the first and fifteenth day of each month would the tortoise dock at

Yangzhou Port so that other sects could board and purchase medicines, while

merchants could peddle their weapons, spiritual stones, and other wares that

weren't usually found on the island itself.

Yet the most famous attraction on Rainbell Isle wasn't Guyueye, but

Xuanyuan Pavilion. The pavilion was a subsidiary trading post of Guyueye,

and it was well-known throughout the cultivation world.

This pavilion opened its doors twice per month to auction off goods

like Guyueye's top-grade medicines and rare treasures from various sellers.

The merchandise often toed the line of permissibility in terms of the

cultivation world's taboos, but no one was so bored as to make an enemy of

Guyueye. After all, most of the medicines circulating in the world originated

at this sect. All things considered, Guyueye was no less powerful than the

leading Rufeng Sect.

"Put your hood up. Too many eyes here," Chu Wanning quietly

reminded Mo Ran while tugging the hood of his own cloak lower. More and

more people were arriving at Rainbell Isle.

Xuanyuan Pavilion's auction house kept lavish private rooms for each

of the great sects as a show of respect. However, since shady deals were

made and stolen goods exchanged hands in this establishment, cultivators

generally kept their identities hidden so as to not attract any undue attention

or fatal misfortune.

Mo Ran and Chu Wanning stepped into Xuanyuan Pavilion. The

interior was split into three floors, and the center of the first floor was

occupied by a platform of white jade. The platform was shaped like a ninepetaled lotus flower, and it was enshrouded by nine layers of impenetrable

defensive barriers. This was where the merchandise would be displayed

during the auction.

Several hundred rows of redwood benches extended in the four

cardinal directions around the white jade platform. These were the standard

seats.

The second floor held private booths, each with a large window made

of golden cedar and a curtain of silver moon silk that allowed those within to

clearly see out of it, but blocked sight from the outside-in. These booths

protected the privacy of the guests, but they were expensive: nine thousand

gold for two hours.

Chu Wanning disliked crowding among others, so he took out the gold

pieces Xue Zhengyong had sent and didn't hesitate.

The servants of Xuanyuan Pavilion who attended the guests had made

death pacts with the master of the pavilion, and thus would never divulge the

personal information of any guest. Even so, Chu Wanning remained wary. He

booked the booth with the best view and had the servant bring two pots of

snowy fragrance tea, eight pieces each of fresh and candied fruit, four

pastries, and four sweets, and then sent the servant away.

Once he was alone with Mo Ran in the room, Chu Wanning finally

lowered his hood as he stood by the window, looking down at the masses of

people below.

"According to the sect leader, Xuanyuan will be auctioning off a

weapon named Guilai."21

"Guilai?" Mo Ran shook his head. "Never heard of it."

"It's a holy weapon."

Mo Ran started. "A holy weapon? But didn't Jincheng Lake—"

"Indeed. Supposedly this Guilai was found in a nameless grave in the

Wanshen Mountains. Its master probably didn't have any heirs to pass it to,

and so he had it buried with him."

"I see…"

A holy weapon took only one master: the one who named it. Upon their

death, it would accept their heirs. Even if someone else were to get their

hands on the weapon, they would be unable to draw out even a tiny fraction

of its true power. As far as Mo Ran was concerned, there wasn't much point

in buying a weapon like that.

"It's true that a holy weapon that doesn't acknowledge its wielder as

its master won't display its true power," Chu Wanning said, having seen

through his thoughts. "Even then, it will be many times stronger than a normal

weapon. These people will definitely go all out."

Mo Ran grasped the situation. "I understand Shizun's meaning now.

Most people go their whole lives without even seeing a holy weapon. Since

this 'Guilai' was found in a nameless grave, and an ages-old one at that,

everyone here will very likely extend their spiritual energy to test it on the

off-chance they happen to be a descendant of its original master. There's no

harm in trying, after all."

"Precisely."

"Holy weapons are rarely even seen, but one without a master just so

happens to pop up for sale right at this juncture?" Mo Ran continued

contemplatively. "No matter how you look at it, this has to be the work of that

fake Gouchen. He's bringing out a high-quality counterfeit to bait everyone

into exposing their spiritual energy so he can see if anyone here has the

spiritual essence he's looking for."

Chu Wanning sat down in a cushioned chair, poured himself a cup of

snowy fragrance tea, and leisurely drank it. Then he looked at the swarm of

people below and said in a quiet voice: "It's exactly as you say. Regardless

of whether the holy weapon is real or whether it's part of the fake Gouchen's

scheme, it can't hurt to check."

At that moment, there was a ruckus down below.

Chu Wanning and Mo Ran peered downward and were both caught off

guard by what they saw.

Xuanyuan Pavilion's golden gates stood wide open, and two rows of

blue-robed young men with their hair done up in jade crowns were striding

with their faces exposed through the crowd of cloaked cultivators, whose

own faces were hidden under hoods. The one in the lead was slender and

handsome, and he didn't bother with any form of concealment even as he

strolled right into the black market.

"Ye Wangxi?" Mo Ran uttered, surprised.