Chapter 128: Shizun, You Can’t Just Wear Whatever Clothes You Feel Like

Chu Wanning's heart raced, and he was so mad his face flushed.

He could see, from the corner of his eye, that the man was still standing

frozen in the same spot. Despite not looking directly at him, Chu Wanning

could feel the man's stare, open and brazen, like a sword raised from the

crucible—still hissing with an overwhelming heat that vaporized the curtain

of water and pierced right through to him. Though he couldn't say why, he

felt absolutely scandalized. With an increasingly sour expression, he bit

down on his lip and retreated even farther into the waterfall.

But it turned out this guy was a moron. As Chu Wanning scrambled

backward to hide, the man took a step forward like a puppet on a string.

Chu Wanning was furious. There were always a couple of perverts at

Sisheng Peak; there had even once been a woman who, instead of going to

sleep in her bed like a normal person, had crawled onto the roof at the Red

Lotus Pavilion to peep at him bathing. Just thinking about it made his scalp

go numb, and gooseflesh rose along the arm that had been grabbed by that

guy.

Fortunately, after he'd retreated into the waterfall as deep as he could

go—inadvertently swallowing more than a few gulps of the water in the

process—the man finally decided to leave him be, returning to the

streaming water to continue rinsing himself, though he looked back several

times.

Chu Wanning tamped down his anger the best he could; he was in no

mood to soak in the baths anymore; his only thought was to finish up and

get out of there as soon as possible. He reached for the towel draped over

his shoulder, only to realize that the towel, together with the soap-bean bar

and fragrance bar wrapped inside, had fallen into the water during his great

tumble earlier.

They'd probably dissolved away by now. Should he get out to fetch a

new one? But he was naked, and getting out would involve walking past

that guy.

Chu Wanning's face had gone from red to blue. He pressed his thin

lips together, mortified. He was not going. Like an idiot, he remained

standing with his arms crossed over his chest and his back to the rock,

letting the water wash over him in the deepest part of the waterfall.

Chu Wanning stood there, silent, unmoving. So did that other man.

On the other side of the streaming water, that guy spoke up to ask

hesitantly, "Would you like a soap-bean bar?"

He received no reply.

"And fragrance bars?"

Again, no reply.

"Surely you're not going to just wash like that?"

Staying right where he was, Chu Wanning closed his eyes and replied

coldly, "Toss them over, then."

But the man didn't toss the bars over—perhaps he thought it would be

rude to do so with a stranger. After a short delay, Chu Wanning watched a

peach leaf enchanted with spiritual power drift slowly toward him under the

waterfall, bearing a soap-bean bar and two fragrance bars.

Chu Wanning picked up the items but paused upon taking a closer

look. The soap-bean bar was as it always was, since everyone used

basically the same thing. But the stranger had picked out a plum-blossomscented fragrance bar and a haitang-scented one, Chu Wanning's favorites.

He couldn't help but glance at the tall figure in the distance through

the sparkling, translucent curtain of water.

"Those two scents okay?" the man asked.

"Fine," Chu Wanning replied.

The man said no more, and the two continued their baths in silence

within their separate, distant corners, each occupied with his own thoughts.

Chu Wanning began to feel a little more at ease as he washed. Cautiously,

he stepped back out from the depths of the waterfall; the stream where he

was standing was actually a bit too strong for comfort.

But the man looked over again the instant he emerged. It would've

been one thing if he just looked, but there was something weird in his stare.

Chu Wanning got the distinct impression that the man wanted to say

something but was stopping himself, and that he was wavering between

coming closer or staying back. His skin prickled all over.

Chu Wanning washed for a bit until he finally couldn't take it

anymore and decided to leave first. But he had left his clothes at the

entrance, and he'd have to go back that way to get dressed. Chu Wanning

could do nothing but brace himself as he walked toward the man with his

face sullen and teeth gritted.

As he waded past the man, not too close but also not too far, that guy

unexpectedly also started to move, pulling up his long hair and shaking the

water from his bangs to follow Chu Wanning out of the bath.

A vein in Chu Wanning's temple throbbed. He started moving faster,

but that man was astoundingly shameless—he started moving faster as well.

The vein in Chu Wanning's temple throbbed harder. The tips of his

fingers had already begun to glow with the golden light of Tianwen, but he

held back from summoning his weapon—not because he was concerned

about injuring someone, but solely because he felt that he should get

dressed before beating anyone up. He started wading even faster.

This time, the man stopped instead of continuing to tail him. Chu

Wanning sighed in relief, but had only let out half a breath before he heard

the man say from behind him, "There are…soap bubbles in your hair."

Chu Wanning froze.

"Aren't you gonna rinse it off?"

Chu Wanning burned with anger. The man approached slowly, not

stopping until he was very close—right behind, where his voice could be

clearly heard. If Chu Wanning hadn't been so furious, he would've noticed

that the voice was familiar, despite its change in timbre. Unfortunately, he

was at present engulfed by the flames of rage.

"You…" The man seemed to still have something more to say.

But Chu Wanning had reached the limits of his forbearance. He

whipped around, golden light flashing to life in his palm as he lashed out

with an audible whoosh, a dangerous glint in his eyes. Chu Wanning was so

enraged that he was tempted to kill this guy and be done with it. "What the

hell is wrong with you?!"

Tianwen ripped through the hazy steam, snapping directly toward the

other man's chest. For an instant, the golden glow lit his face. Chu Wanning

saw a pair of eyes—clear, gentle, sheepish eyes that seemed to hold flowing

rivers of stars, like so many glimmering fireflies on the wind, yet were also

tranquil as still, deep waters, veiling bygone things beneath.

Mo Ran?!

He tried to pull back, but it was too late; the willow vine hissed as it

struck Mo Ran's firm, glistening chest. Mo Ran only let out a stifled grunt

and ducked his head a little. When he looked back up, his eyes held not the

slightest trace of anger or resentment, but were a little wet, as if washed by

the first rains of Lin'an.

Chu Wanning recalled Tianwen and stood frozen in place. A long

interval passed before he managed a hoarse, "Why didn't you dodge?"

Mo Ran replied, "Sh-Shizun…"

Chu Wanning was stunned. He had imagined so many times how the

two of them might meet again, but never did he think it would be at

Melodic Springs, in the hot spring pool. "What're you doing here? When

did you get back?!"

"I just did," Mo Ran replied softly. "I was too dirty and unpresentable

from rushing to get here, so I came to take a bath before going to see

Shizun. I didn't expect…"

For a moment, Chu Wanning was speechless. Neither of them had

expected something like this to happen. They had both wished for their

reunion to be proper and dignified. Mo Ran had probably, at the very least,

wanted to appear before Chu Wanning clean and well-dressed.

But in the end? Not only was their meeting not proper, it was straightup laughable.

Not only was it not dignified, it was absolutely ridiculous.

Not only were they not well-dressed, they were both completely

naked.

They were clean though. So clean they didn't have a single stitch on.

"Shizun, it's really… It's really you…"

Mo Ran, for his part, didn't care much for these things. For five years,

Chu Wanning had slept, and he had been awake; what had only spanned the

length of a dream for Chu Wanning had been more than a thousand

torturous days for him. His frame of mind was far more complicated than

Chu Wanning's. Forcing down his surging emotions, the rims of his eyes a

little red, he said, "It's been so long that I, just now…I didn't dare believe

my eyes. I thought I might've had the wrong person, I thought…"

Head ringing, Chu Wanning was at a loss for words. It was a long

moment before he said, "Why didn't you just ask me if you weren't sure?

Instead of silently creeping after me like that."

"I did want to ask," Mo Ran said softly, "but it's been five years…and

then to suddenly…see Shizun right in front of me, I thought… I thought I

was dreaming…"

As I approach home my nervousness grows, I dare not ask even those

passing by.

Those lines likely described what he felt when he first saw that

familiar silhouette. He'd dreamt such dreams too many times in the past

five years; he was afraid it was more of the same madness, and that he

would wake with tear stains on his pillow to find that the reunion he'd seen

was just another joyous delusion.

Chu Wanning maintained a calm exterior, but his insides were a

roiling mess. It was hard work, really, to speak so stiffly and dryly while his

heart felt so soft and gooey. "What kind of dream could be this absurd?"

Mo Ran stilled for a beat at Chu Wanning's response, as if he'd

remembered something. He pressed his lips together, and a light flickered in

his eyes. He hadn't planned to bring this up the moment they met again, but

he realized after some hesitation that if he didn't say it now, while Chu

Wanning hadn't yet had a chance to rebuild his walls, he probably wouldn't

get another chance.

So he said, after a pause, "…Does Shizun not remember?"

"Remember what?"

Mo Ran's eyes were deep and dark. "What you said to me before—

that the most wonderful dreams are rarely ever true."

"That was because…" Chu Wanning caught himself mid-sentence,

suddenly recognizing the words he had spoken to Mo Ran at Jincheng Lake

as he rescued him from the blood hourglass. Back then, he'd uttered this

melancholic sentiment in the depths of his own misery. He was a little

surprised Mo Ran remembered it so clearly after all these years.

But—how did Mo Ran know it had actually been him at Jincheng

Lake? Had Shi Mei told him?

Chu Wanning lifted his eyes to peek at him and found himself

meeting Mo Ran's steady gaze. Only then did he realize that Mo Ran hadn't

actually known the truth and had only said it to gauge his reaction.

"So it really was Shizun, then," Mo Ran said softly.

Chu Wanning kept his mouth shut.

Mo Ran raised a hand. His chest had been slashed open, and blood

seeped from the wound. He smiled wryly. "Over these last few years, I've

done a lot of thinking about the past. I wanted to understand just how much

Shizun had done for me. I thought back on a lot of things, including the

illusion at Jincheng Lake. Shi Mei never calls me by my full name."

He paused before continuing. "The more I thought, the more those

memories tormented me. There were a lot of things I wanted to ask Shizun

about once you woke."

Chu Wanning watched him silently.

"But the thing I wanted to ask about the most was… Shizun, the one

who saved me at the bottom of the lake back then—it was you, wasn't it?"

Mo Ran stepped closer as he spoke. Chu Wanning wanted to back

away. He'd suddenly realized just how tall Mo Ran had become, like a

mountain, with powerful strength latent in every inch of his body. He'd

suddenly realized just how bright Mo Ran's eyes were, like the very sun had

fallen into those twin pools, all the colors of dawn splashed across those

gleaming waters.

Chu Wanning found himself flustered for no reason whatsoever. He

said, "It wasn't me."

Mo Ran didn't buy it at all.

Grasping desperately at straws, Chu Wanning scrambled to change

the subject, but he was so startled, so nervous and so discomfited, that he

completely forgot about the question he'd already asked, and which Mo Ran

had already answered. Looking at the bleeding gash he'd inflicted, he asked

once more, "Why didn't you dodge when I struck you earlier?"

Mo Ran fell still for a second, then dropped his thick curtain of lashes

with a smile, answering once more: "You said that dreams that were too

good to be true probably weren't." He paused, before continuing at a

murmur: "I wanted to see if it would hurt. If it hurts, then it's not a dream."

He walked over and stood right in front of Chu Wanning. Maybe it

was because of how sudden their reunion had been, but in his heart, the joy

and fondness and tenderness and heartbreak overtook all. Mo Ran thought

of nothing else, no flights of fancy. He even forgot that he was supposed to

maintain a proper distance from Chu Wanning. He'd had every intention of

keeping that arm's length of propriety between a disciple and his master.

But he didn't. Whenever his emotions ran deep, he'd always think of

the person before him as Wanning rather than Shizun.

Mo Ran's eyes grew still more red and teary. He lifted an arm with a

grin—"I think some water got in my eyes just now"—and scrubbed at his

face.

Chu Wanning stared up at him in a daze. All this time he'd been

anticipating Mo Ran's return, so he was a little more clearheaded than his

disciple right now, but that portion of clarity also afforded him the presence

of mind to notice their current condition—talking face-to-face while buck

naked. And not only that; Mo Ran was so close that, were he to come just a

bit closer, he'd be able to wrap his arms around Chu Wanning the way he

had back in the underworld.

Chu Wanning didn't want to continue looking up at Mo Ran's unfairly

handsome face. But when he dropped his gaze a few inches, the sight that

greeted him was one of broad shoulders and a firm chest, the blood from

Tianwen's lash spreading slowly, and droplets of water shivering minutely

with every breath Mo Ran drew. Chu Wanning couldn't tell which was

hotter, that sculpted chest or the water of the hot springs. All he knew was

that he was surrounded by Mo Ran's scent, and that it was going to steal

away his soul.

"Shizun, I…"

He what? Before Mo Ran could say any more, Chu Wanning turned

on his heel and took off running. Mo Ran was flabbergasted—he was

literally running. He'd never before seen Chu Wanning fleeing like this,

running away like whatever was behind him was gonna eat him alive and

chew up his soul.

"…I've really missed you so much." Mo Ran finished limply. He

stood where he was, pursing his lips. What had he run away for… He felt a

little wronged.

When he got out of the pool and spied Chu Wanning, whose face

alternated between hues of red and blue as he scrambled frantically to get

dressed, he felt even more wronged. "Shizun," he mumbled.

Chu Wanning ignored him.

"Shizun…"

Chu Wanning continued to ignore him while wrapping the belt sash

around his waist.

"Shizunnnn…"

"What?!" Dressed at long last, Chu Wanning finally let out a breath.

He felt his dignity and composure return to his body now that it was

covered. His sword-straight brows slanted in anger, and his stern phoenix

eyes glared fiercely at the traitorous disciple who dared exceed him in

height. "What's so important that you can't wait till we're outside to say it?!

Talking to me naked like that, have you no shame?!"

A little chagrined, Mo Ran raised a fist to his lips and cleared his

throat. "…It's not like I want to be naked."

"Then why aren't you getting dressed!"

Mo Ran paused, fixing his gaze on a peach tree near the side of the

pool as he began. "So, it's like this…" He took a deep breath, then finally

steeled himself to say: "Shizun, those are my clothes you're wearing."

A faint blush spread across Mo Ran's cheeks as he stared intently at a

branch of peach blossoms swaying in the gentle breeze.