Chapter 2: This venerable one is alive

"I was already as lifeless as stagnant water, my thoughts turned to ash. But unexpectedly, amidst the bitter cold of the ninth lunar month, the spring light shines through. Could it be that heaven shows favoritism to the grass in secluded valleys, fearing the worldly hardships and frosts?"

A melodious and clear voice of a Yue opera singer echoed in the ears, with words as delicate as pearls. However, they struck Mo Ran's brain like a hammer, causing his temples to throb.

"Why the noise! Who is this mourning ghost? Someone, take this wretched servant and beat her down the mountain with a stick!"

After angrily shouting these words, Mo Ran suddenly realized something was wrong.

...Didn't he already die?

Hatred and coldness, pain and loneliness, pierced his chest with aching intensity. Mo Ran abruptly opened his eyes.

The various sensations before his death dissipated like wind-blown snow. He realized he was lying in bed, not the bed at the pinnacle of life and death, but a bed with carved dragons and painted phoenixes. The wood emitted a heavy scent of makeup. The worn-out quilt was pink and purple, embroidered with patterns of mandarin ducks playing in water, a pillow and blanket that only courtesans would sleep on.

"..."

Mo Ran stiffened for a moment.

He knew where he was.

This was a brothel near the pinnacle of life and death.

The so-called brothel, known as "Wazi" in local dialect, referred to a place where guests and courtesans could meet and part ways harmoniously. Mo Ran had spent quite some time indulging in this debauchery, sleeping in this brothel for more than ten days every half-month. However, this brothel had closed down when he was in his twenties and had been converted into a tavern. How did he end up here, in a brothel that had long ceased to exist, after his death?

Could it be that he had committed too many evil deeds during his lifetime, harming countless young men and women, leading to his punishment by the King of Hell to be reincarnated as a servant in a brothel?

As Mo Ran pondered and let his thoughts run wild, he unintentionally turned his body.

Suddenly, he met the face of a sleeping person.

"..."

What's going on!!! Why is there someone lying beside him?

And it's a completely naked man!

This man had a youthful face, delicate features, and appeared adorable like white jade, making it difficult to determine their gender.

Mo Ran's face remained expressionless, but his heart surged with waves. He stared at that sleeping young face for a long time, then suddenly remembered.

Wasn't this the young attendant he doted on so much when he was young? It seems his name was Rong San or maybe Rong Jiu.

Whether it was San or Jiu, it didn't matter. What mattered was that this young attendant had contracted a venereal disease and died many years ago. His bones should have long since decayed. However, at this moment, he was alive and nestled beside Mo Ran's bed, his exposed shoulders and neck visible under the brocade quilt, with faint traces of passion.

Mo Ran's face tensed up, and he lifted the blanket, his gaze shifting downward.

"..."

This person, let's call him Rong Jiu for now, Rong Jiu is covered in numerous whip marks. Even his creamy white jade-like smooth thighs are marked with several red rope imprints.

Mo Ran, touching his chin, couldn't help but admire and sigh, "What an interesting taste."

Look at this exquisite rope art, the skilled technique, the familiar scene.

Could it be that he did this himself?!!

He is a cultivator and has some knowledge of reincarnation. At this moment, he couldn't help but start to doubt if he had somehow returned to life.

To further confirm his thoughts, Mo Ran found a bronze mirror. The mirror was heavily worn, but within the dim halo, he could still vaguely see his own appearance.

Mo Ran died at the age of thirty-two, already in his prime. However, the face of the man in the mirror appeared somewhat youthful, with a proud and arrogant air in his handsome eyebrows, exuding the unique vigor of a young man. He looked no older than fifteen or sixteen.

There was no one else in the room. So, Mo Ran, the tyrant of the cultivation world, the ruthless bully of Shu Province, the emperor of the human realm, the supreme lord of life and death, Treading Immortal Lord Mo Ran, after a long silence, honestly expressed his inner feelings.

"Fuck..."

This exclamation startled the drowsy Rong Jiu from his sleep.

The beautiful person lazily sat up, the thin brocade covering his body slipping down his shoulders, revealing a large area of dazzling fair skin. He gathered his soft long hair, raising a pair of sleepy peach blossom eyes, with a hint of lingering redness at the corners, and yawned.

"Hmm... Mo Gongzi, you woke up early today."

Mo Ran didn't utter a word. Time had rolled back more than ten years. He did indeed have a fondness for Rong Jiu, this delicate beauty who blurred the lines between male and female. But now, as the thirty-two-year-old Treading Immortal Lord, he couldn't help but suspect that he must have been out of his mind at the time to find such a man attractive.

"Did you have a nightmare or sleep poorly last night?" Rong Jiu asked.

I died, and you tell me if that counts as a nightmare.

Rong Jiu, seeing him remain silent and in a bad mood, got up from the bed and approached the carved wooden window. From behind, he embraced Mo Ran.

"Mo Gongzi, pay attention to me. Why are you so absent-minded, ignoring me?"

Mo Ran turned green when Rong Jiu embraced him like that. He wanted nothing more than to immediately tear this little devil off his back and slap his fragile face with seventeen or eighteen resounding slaps. But he held himself back.

He was still a bit dizzy and hadn't fully grasped the situation.

After all, if he had really been reborn, then yesterday he was still playing around with Rong Jiu, and now he woke up with his face bruised and swollen from a beating. Such behavior would be no different from suffering from a mental illness. It was inappropriate, very inappropriate.

Mo Ran composed himself and casually asked, "What is the date today?"

Rong Jiu was momentarily startled, then smiled and said, "It's the fourth day of May."

"The Year of Bing Shen?"

"That was last year. This year is the Year of Ding You. Mo Gongzi, you really have a poor memory. The more you go back, the more forgetful you become."

The Year of Ding You...

Mo Ran's mind surged with thoughts, rapidly spinning.

The Year of Ding You, he was fifteen years old. He had just been recognized by the lord of life and death as a long-lost nephew, transforming from a despised lackey to a soaring phoenix.

So, was he really reborn?

Or was it just a grand dream in the void after death...

Rong Jiu laughed, "Mo Gongzi, I think you've fainted from hunger. You can't even remember the date. Sit for a moment; I'll go to the kitchen and bring you something to eat. How about some oil-twist pastries?"

Mo Ran had just been reborn and didn't know how to handle everything yet, but following his previous path should be the right approach. So, he recalled his previous charming demeanor, suppressed his disgust, and playfully pinched Rong Jiu's leg.

"That sounds great. Bring some porridge and come back to feed me."

Rong Jiu put on his clothes and left. Before long, he returned with a wooden tray, carrying a bowl of pumpkin porridge, two oil-twist pastries, and a plate of side dishes.

Mo Ran was feeling a little hungry. He was about to grab a pastry to eat, but Rong Jiu suddenly moved his hand aside and said flirtatiously, "Let me feed you, Gongzi."

"..."

"Rong Jiu picked up a piece of cake and sat on Mo Ran's leg. He was wearing a thin outer robe, with nothing underneath, exposing his smooth and tender thighs, which pressed against Mo Ran's skin. Rong Jiu teasingly rubbed against him a few times, clearly implying seduction.

Mo Ran stared at Rong Jiu's face for a while.

Rong Jiu thought Mo Ran was being lustful again and scolded, 'Why do you always look at me like that? The food is getting cold.'

Mo Ran remained silent for a moment, recalling the things Rong Jiu did behind his back in their past lives. A sweet smile slowly appeared at the corner of his mouth, filled with intimacy.

Disgusting things were something he, as a demonic cultivator, had done numerous times. As long as he was willing, there was nothing too disgusting for him to do. At this moment, it was just a play, a childish trick that couldn't faze him.

Mo Ran comfortably leaned back in his chair and smiled, saying, "Come and sit."

Rong Jiu blushed, saying with disdain, "Aren't I already sitting?"

"You know where I'm asking you to sit."

Rong Jiu's face turned red, and he spat out, "You're so impatient, can't you wait until we finish eating... ah!"

Before he could finish his sentence, Mo Ran forcefully pulled him up, adjusting his position and pressing him down again. Rong Jiu's hand trembled, and he accidentally knocked over the bowl of porridge. In the midst of his gasps, he couldn't help but whisper, "Lord Mo, the bowl…"

"Don't worry about it."

"Then, why don't you eat something first... um... ah…"

"I am eating, aren't I?" Mo Ran held Rong Jiu's waist, and a gleam of light shimmered in his pitch-black eyes, reflecting the beautiful face of Rong Jiu tilting his neck.

In their past life, he was particularly willing to kiss those rosy lips during their intimate moments. After all, this young man was beautiful, clever, and especially skilled in saying things that made his heart flutter. It would be fake to say that he had never been moved. However, knowing what Rong Jiu had done behind his back, Mo Ran found his mouth repulsive and lost any interest in kissing it.

The thirty-two-year-old Mo Ran was different from the fifteen-year-old Mo Ran in many ways.

For example, at fifteen, he still knew tenderness in love, but at thirty-two, only violence remained.

Afterward, he looked at the almost lifeless Rong Jiu, who had already passed out, with a pair of eyes that exuded a hidden sinister intent, slightly squinting and even carrying a hint of sweet smile. He looked quite handsome when he smiled, with extremely dark and deep pupils. At certain angles, they seemed to be tinged with a layer of arrogant and luxurious dark purple. At this moment, he smiled while holding Rong Jiu's hair, lifting the unconscious person onto the bed, and casually picking up a piece of broken porcelain from the ground, suspending it over Rong Jiu's face.

He had always been one to avenge any wrongs, and it was no different now.

Thinking about how he took care of Rong Jiu's business in his previous life, even wanting to redeem him, and how Rong Jiu conspired against him with others, he couldn't help but squint his eyes with a smile. He pressed the sharp ceramic fragment against Rong Jiu's cheek.

This man was in the flesh trade, and without this face, he would be nothing.

This vulgar man would end up like a stray dog, crawling on the ground, kicked and trampled, cursed and despised. Oh... just the thought of it brought him great pleasure both mentally and physically. Even the disgust he felt from just having had this person was now dissipating.

Mo Ran's smile became even more charming.

With a little force, a trace of crimson blood oozed out.

The semi-conscious person seemed to feel the pain, emitting a hoarse voice and softly whimpering. Tears hung on his eyelashes, making him look pitiful and vulnerable.

Mo Ran's hand suddenly paused.

He remembered an old acquaintance.

"..."

Then, he suddenly realized what he was doing. After a few seconds of hesitation, he slowly put his hand down.

He had become so accustomed to doing evil that he had forgotten he had been reborn.

Now, nothing had happened yet, the major mistakes hadn't been made, and that person... hadn't died yet. Why did he have to cruelly and violently walk the same old path again when he could start over?

He sat down, with one foot resting on the edge of the bed, casually playing with the broken pieces of porcelain in his hand. Suddenly, he noticed the greasy cake still on the table. He picked it up, peeled off the oily paper, and tore into it, taking big bites that filled his mouth with crumbs, his lips glistening with oil.

This cake was a specialty of this place, but it wasn't particularly delicious. Compared to the exquisite delicacies he had tasted later in life, it was like chewing wax. However, after the place closed down, Mo Ran never had this oily spiral cake again. At this moment, the familiar taste of the cake, carrying memories of the past, returned to his taste buds.

With each bite, Mo Ran felt the diminishing sense of unreality from being reborn.

After finishing the whole cake, he slowly snapped out of his initial confusion.

He really had been reborn.

All the evil in his life, all the irreversible things, hadn't happened yet.

He hadn't killed his uncle and aunt, hadn't conquered the seventy-two cities, hadn't betrayed his teachers and annihilated his ancestors, hadn't married... No one had died yet.

He licked his lips, running his tongue over his sharp white teeth, feeling a small trace of joy rapidly expanding in his chest, turning into a raging fervor and excitement. In his previous life, he had been a dominant figure, well-versed in two of the three forbidden arts of the mortal realm. Only the last one, "Rebirth," eluded him, even with his exceptional intelligence.

Yet, unexpectedly, what he had longed for in his previous life became a reality after death.

All the discontent, despair, loneliness, and the taste of bitterness still lingered within him, as the brilliant flames of life and the scene of an approaching army were still vivid in his mind.

At that time, he truly didn't want to live anymore. Everyone said he was an outcast, abandoned by both friends and family. In the end, he felt like a walking corpse, bored and lonely to the core.

But somewhere along the line, something went wrong. A person as unforgivable as him, even after his death, managed to obtain a chance to start over.

Why should he ruin Rong Jiu's face for the sake of a petty grudge?

Rong Jiu was most greedy for money. He could just take advantage of this visit to the brothel and take some silver, a small punishment would suffice. He temporarily didn't want to take a life.

"I'll let you off, Rong Jiu."

Mo Ran said with a smiling expression, exerting force with his fingertips and throwing the porcelain shards out the window.

Then, he emptied Rong Jiu's pockets of all the valuable jewels, collecting them all for himself.

  Only then did he calmly tidy himself up and leisurely leave the brothel.

Uncle, aunt, cousin Xue Meng, and Shimei…

Thinking of that person, Mo Ran's gaze softened in an instant.

Shimei, I've come to find you.

—

Author's note:

This story's couple: Mo Ran x Master

If the white lotus senior brother appears, make sure you're on the right team~~