Chapter 72: This Venerable One Stews Soup

At night, the two of them lay on the wide stone bed. Trying to pass

the time while locked up was a task in and of itself. They had already trained

and eaten, and now there was nothing else to do.

Chu Wanning, calm and tranquil by nature, wasn't all that bothered, but

Mo Ran paced this way and that in the constricted confines of the cave, and

time only seemed to crawl even slower.

"Ahh, I'm so bored. So bored! What to do? What to do?"

"Sleep," Chu Wanning said, his eyes closed.

"But it's still so early." Mo Ran glanced at the hourglass and shook his

head. "Way too early."

Chu Wanning ignored him.

Mo Ran rolled about on the bed, then scooted over and tugged at his

cheeks. "Shidi."

Chu Wanning continued to ignore him.

"Shidiiii…"

Chu Wanning steadfastly continued to ignore him.

"Shidi!"

Chu Wanning's eyes flew open angrily. "What do you want?!"

Mo Ran took Chu Wanning's hands in his own and shamelessly swung

their joined limbs back and forth. "Play with me."

"Am I the shidi here, or are you?" Chu Wanning wrenched his hands

back, beyond irate. "Who's gonna fool around with you?!"

Mo Ran smiled sweetly, truly and completely shameless. "You, of

course. Who else is there?"

Chu Wanning had no response.

Mo Ran took off the narrow red cord holding his hair up, tied the ends

together, and wove it into a distinct pattern around his fingers.

Despite his protests, Chu Wanning sat up after all. "What is this?" he

asked grumpily. "How do you play?"

"It's called cat's cradle. Mostly girls play it, not so much boys. But I

grew up in a house full of girls, so I ended up learning it too."

Chu Wanning eyed him.

"It's pretty fun, actually. See, hook your finger around this string

here… No, not that finger, use your pinky—yeah, like that. Then take your

thumb and forefinger and hook around these two strings here…" Mo Ran

instructed him slowly and patiently.

The candle flame crackled, casting its warm light on them, one big and

one small, their heads lowered in concentration as they passed that loop of

red string made from a hair tie back and forth, their expressions slowly

softening.

Chu Wanning held segments of string taut between his fingers as he

followed Mo Ran's instructions to weave a new pattern. Then he

accidentally missed a loop. When the red string exchanged hands, rather than

transforming into the new pattern, it returned to its original shape: a simple

circle.

Chu Wanning stared at it blankly, hands held in midair and face full of

incomprehension. "Why did it fall apart?" he muttered. "What happened…"

"Ha ha, you probably missed a loop again."

"Again."

"No more, no more." Mo Ran laughed. "Doing the same thing over and

over gets boring, let's do something else."

"No." Now it was Chu Wanning's turn to be displeased. "One more

time."

Mo Ran gaped speechlessly at him.

They spent three days in the cave. Their fourth night found Mo Ran

busy preparing to cook something delicious for Chu Wanning, as usual. He

had figured out a few things during these last few days together, like that his

little shidi truly was from the same place as his shizun—they even had the

same exact tastes in food.

Tonight's delivery from the feathered tribe guard was a hen and a

couple of mushrooms. Mo Ran planned to make chicken soup with

mushrooms, then add some of his handmade noodles. Altogether, it wouldn't

taste too bad.

"Are we having chicken soup tonight?"

"Mm-hmm." Mo Ran glanced sideways at Chu Wanning. The kid was a

genius when it came to martial arts, yet he just couldn't grasp cat's cradle.

He was also stubborn to a fault, and every chance he got, he played with a

hair cord trying to figure it out. Mo Ran couldn't help smiling at his mulish

expression.

"Feel free to play with it while I cook," Mo Ran said with a smile.

"But I'm afraid the soup's gonna finish stewing before you work it out."

Chu Wanning let out a cold hmph and paused. "Is there any ginger

left?"

"Let me see… Yep, there's plenty. They gave us a bunch yesterday."

Chu Wanning made a satisfied sound. "Put some in, it gets rid of the

raw meat smell."

Mo Ran stroked his chin. "Oh…and lemme guess, add some

wolfberries too?"

Chu Wanning's eyes brightened. "Do we have some?"

"Pfft. Of course not. I was just thinking that your tastes really are

exactly like Shizun's. He also likes ginger and wolfberries in his soup."

"You remember what he likes to eat?"

"Ha ha, yep-yep, I'm super clever." Mo Ran didn't feel like

explaining. Anyway, it wasn't like he could talk about things like past lives

with his little shidi, so he rolled with it. "I'm the very embodiment of The

Twenty-Four Paragons of Filial Piety,

16

 don't you know? It's too bad that

Shizun doesn't see my heartfelt sincerity."

Mo Ran began cleaning the chicken as he talked absently, and thus he

wholly missed Chu Wanning's expression. He plucked the feathers and

removed the innards with a quick, practiced hand, and was about to boil the

blood out when he heard his little shidi say in a quiet voice, "He isn't

necessarily unaware."

"Huh?"

When Mo Ran looked up, the tips of Chu Wanning's ears reddened. He

turned away and cleared his throat. "I said, the Yuheng Elder isn't

necessarily unaware that you're good to him."

"Oh, that. It doesn't really matter; I'm used to it. Even though I did

wish, once, that he would be like other people's masters and ask after me

sometimes, or that he'd occasionally remember my preferences—like how I

know what he likes to eat. That's all in the past now. When I first entered the

sect, I was fooled by his pretty looks and thought he was a gentle person.

Thinking back on it now is really…" Mo Ran sighed. "My esteemed shizun is

so illustrious and unapproachable, and he's busy on top of that. How could I

possibly dare to hope for his attention? Ha ha, ah ha ha ha."

At first, these words made Chu Wanning a bit cross, but then he thought

about them. Although he was concerned about Mo Ran in their daily life, he

did indeed maintain a veneer of aloofness and distance. He hung his head

wordlessly, and anger turned into consternation. After a while, he hopped off

the bed and walked quietly over to Mo Ran.

"What's up?"

"You're always the one cooking. Today's meal is uncomplicated, so

I'll cook for you instead."

Mo Ran blinked, then smiled. "Where'd this come from? You're too

short to reach the stove—how are you gonna cook? Besides, I'm your

shixiong, now that you've called me that. The least I can do is feed you."

Chu Wanning carried a stool over and climbed onto it, then stared at

him stubbornly without saying a word.

Mo Ran blinked mutely. "Why are you glaring at me?"

"I can reach the stove just fine."

Mo Ran eyed him silently.

"The Yuheng Elder may not know what you like to eat, but I'm not

heartless like him," Chu Wanning said expressionlessly. "Go take a break,

I'll cook."

And so Chu Wanning busied himself with dinner preparations, refusing

to let Mo Ran help even a little. He had an aura of menace and there was a

concentrated ferocity in his eyes as he lifted the kitchen knife high into the air

and brought it stiffly down on the poor chicken. Mo Ran almost couldn't bear

to look.

Mo Ran tried to help, but even his little shidi's temper was exactly

like his shizun's, and Chu Wanning hated getting interrupted when he was

concentrating. In the end, Mo Ran could only scratch his head and wander off

to go flop on the bed.

Having finally put the chicken in the pot, Chu Wanning covered it with

a clay lid and was about to turn to say something when he heard a quiet voice

from the cave entrance.

"A-Ran, Xia-shidi, are you there?"

As soon as Mo Ran heard this voice, he leapt off the bed as if he had

been struck by lightning and dashed to the entrance. Through a gap between

the brambles, the first person he saw was someone from the feathered tribe.

She stood there coldly, but when Mo Ran looked around, he found Shi Mei

behind her, dressed in his usual white and his face full of worry. Mo Ran was

ecstatic. "Shi Mei! What…what are you doing here?"

"I have something important to tell you," Shi Mei said. "The sect

leader received the report and immediately rushed to Peach Blossom

Springs. He's negotiating with the feathered tribe as we speak. How have

you been? Are they treating you okay?"

"I'm great. Eating well, drinking well, and lively as always." Mo Ran

paused. "What about Shizun? Where is he?"

"I hear he's still in seclusion and didn't come."

"Oh…" Something flickered past Mo Ran's eyes, then he sighed. "It's

fine if he didn't come…" he mumbled to himself. "It's fine."

"But the Xuanji Elder came to vouch for Xia-shidi," Shi Mei said. "Is

Xia-shidi already asleep?"

"No, he's making soup. Shidi, come over here!"

Chu Wanning put down the little bamboo fan he was using to fan the

flames and walked to the entrance. He looked at the two people outside,

expression not the least bit surprised, and said flatly, "What is it?"

Shi Mei didn't get a chance to speak before the feathered tribe

representative hmphed. "What else could it be?" she shot back. "People from

Sisheng Peak came. Your master says he'll vouch for you and is meeting with

our Great Immortal Lord right now."

"My master?"

"The Xuanji Elder."

"Oh." Chu Wanning paused, face totally expressionless. "Good."

The corner of the feathered tribe representative's mouth twitched.

"You two can come out. Everyone is gathered at the Dewsip Pavilion waiting

to hear your explanations."

Chu Wanning turned to look at the chicken soup on the stove. "I'll pass.

The soup isn't done cooking yet, and I have to keep an eye on it. Mo Ran, you

can speak for me."

These words made the feathered tribe representative think the child

was immature and unreasonable. She smiled coldly, wanting to scare him.

"You'll miss your chance to defend yourself if you don't go. And if you are

deemed to be the murderer, there goes your head."

However, Chu Wanning wasn't the least bit concerned. He wore an

indifferent face as he sent her a cold glance and turned to leave.

Shi Mei was about to call after him, but Mo Ran shook his head with a

smile. "Let him be. I'll go."

"But the Xuanji Elder came all this way. It would be rude not to greet

him…"

Before Mo Ran could say anything, Chu Wanning's voice came from

afar. "Mo-shixiong, please send Shizun my regards."

Shi Mei was struck speechless. He'd spoken so quietly but the boy had

still heard him. Feeling a little awkward, he cleared his throat and waited for

the feathered tribe representative to open the brambles covering the cave

entrance, then grabbed Mo Ran to leave.

Unexpectedly, Chu Wanning turned around and called out, "Shixiong."

Mo Ran smiled. "Did Shidi change his mind? You want to come along

after all?"

Chu Wanning's little hand waved in his sleeve. "Of course not. I just

wanted to remind you to come back soon, or the soup will go cold."

Mo Ran blinked, then laughed helplessly. "All right. Wait for me."

"Mn." Chu Wanning said nothing else as he watched Mo Ran walk

away and disappear behind a corner. Then he turned back around to attend to

the soup.

The Dewsip Pavilion wasn't far from the prison cave. On the way

there, Shi Mei said offhandedly, "A-Ran, you seem to have grown even

closer with Xia-shidi these days."

Mo Ran smiled. "Yeah, we went through a lot together. What, is Shi

Mei jealous of a little kid?"

There was a beat of silence before Shi Mei said, "Nonsense."

"Ha ha ha, no need to worry. My favorite person is and will always be

Shi Mei."

"Enough nonsense… I just feel like Xia-shidi is a little odd."

"Odd? Oh…" Mo Ran thought for a bit, then nodded, "I guess he is

pretty odd."

"You think so too?"

"Yep." Mo Ran grinned. "He's such a little thing but he talks like an

adult, and his power is no laughing matter either. Oh, and I haven't had a

chance to tell you guys yet, but the stuff that happened in the illusion was

even more bizarre. I think he might be a distant relative of our shizun, you

know."

Shi Mei's eyes shifted slightly. "Why do you say that?"

"We saw someone in the illusion, the son of the Lin'an governor from

two hundred years ago. His surname was also Chu, and he looked like

Shizun, and his son also looked—"

Right when Mo Ran was getting to the important part, a sudden bout of

loud cursing burst out in front of them. He looked up just in time to see Xue

Meng striding over, face dark as a thundercloud, still cursing without stop.

"Bastard! Beast! Shameless mutt!"