Chapter 90: This Venerable One's Idiom Explanation is Just Fine

It was already noon by the time Chu Wanning finally woke up.

The tapir fragrance dew was certainly very effective, and he managed to get a full night's rest, undisturbed by dreams. Yawning, he sat up slowly.

"Mo Ran?" That disciple of his loved to sleep in far more than he did, so it was a surprise when he couldn't find him still on his floor bed. Chu Wanning blinked,

then tried calling for him again.

No reply.

He stood and smoothed down his robes, putting up the wispy strands of his long hair while walking over to the sectioned-off front room. Steam rose from behind the screen divider that was elegantly painted with the image of wild birds soaring through clouds woven between mountain peaks, as if there was someone bathing behind it.

"...Mo Ran." Standing on this side of the divider, Chu Wanning tried again.

Still no reply.

Growing suspicious, Chu Wanning knocked on the wooden frame of the divider. After several attempts with no response still, he finally walked around to the other side of the divider with furrowed brows.

This part of the room was specifically for washing and bathing, and there was a large bath barrel made of camphor wood right in the middle. Chu Wanning glanced hastily over it—it was filled with hot, steamy water and floating with bathing herbs set out by the inn earlier, but there was no one to be seen.

But, looking around again, Mo Ran's clothes were folded neatly over the wooden frame.

He couldn't possibly have bathed and then ran out naked right?

Chu Wanning's temples throbbed as he shoved the terrifying through aside,

lips pressed tightly together and face slightly ashen.

He turned and was just about to leave when a 'glug glug' sound came from behind him.

Chu Wanning looked back to see bubbles rising to the water surface from under all the herbs and petals floating in the barrel.

——There's someone inside?

No sooner had the thought crossed his mind than a naked young man sprung up from the barrel with a splash like a dragon soaring out from the water.

Chu Wanning was so startled that he subconsciously backed up two steps.

It seemed he was holding his breath underwater earlier and so didn't hear Chu Wanning calling for him from the outside. Standing up from the water when he couldn't hold it any longer, the upper half of his body was fully exposed while he shook the water from his hair like a dog drying itself. All of it splashed right on Chu Wanning's robes.

"Mo Ran!" "Ah!" He froze in the middle of shaking his head, eyes opening wide and round, clearly not having expected him to be there when he came out of the water. He gasped, "Shizun!" "You..." His eyes swept across the young man's well-proportioned figure, with shoulders that have already become quite broad, the lines of his body firm and defined, supple and youthfully taut. Droplets of water followed the contours of his toned chest, gathering into little rivulets that trickled slowly down, sparkling and dazzling under the sunlight.

He looked just like a beautiful merman, half out of the water, eyes watery and glistening, a couple of petals in his wet hair that clung to his body.

Mo Ran wiped the water off his face and moved toward Chu Wanning's direction with a grin, shoulder blades flexing like a leopard as he folded his arms over the edge of the bath barrel and tilted his head up to beam brightly at him.

Chu Wanning found himself a little dizzy and his face a little warm, asking on instinct: "What are you doing?" "Taking a bath." "In the morning?" "Hehe." His conscience was a bit guilty—he was actually rinsing off with cold water trying to put out the fire in his loins; it worked well enough, but then, since he had already stripped anyway, he felt like he might as well take a bath too. The soak put him in a good mood, so he dived down to practice holding his breath.

He certainly hadn't expected Chu Wanning to wander in like this.

"What's that goofy smile for?" Chu Wanning knit his brows, trying to cover up the heat steaming his brains with the cool tone of his voice, "Why didn't you wake me up if you were up early? Messing around over here by yourself like this, throwing your clothes all over the place, where are your man——" "Shizun. You…got some water here." There was a splash as he lifted his hand to wipe Chu Wanning's cheek.

"——ners."   Mo Ran laughed; he forgot that his hand was wet too and would only get even more water on Chu Wanning's cheek.

Chu Wanning stood frozen in place, the air around him going down several degrees in temperature. His face was strained and his lips were pressed together, only his eyelashes quivering occasionally.

It was like he was trying to train a hunting dog only to get nuzzled by the crafty pup instead.

"...Get out and get dressed. We have to head back to the sect." In the end, Chu Wanning threw these words out with a cold expression and left with a swoosh of his sleeves.

But, where Mo Ran couldn't see, the tips of his ears were red.

Just like how, where he couldn't see, a pair of dewy, complicated eyes, still tinged with yearning, stared helplessly after him as he left, all the way until he disappeared behind a corner.

The cute smile vanished off Mo Ran's face to be replaced by frustration.

He smacked the water in annoyance, then scooped some up to scrub forcefully at his face.

What the actual hell.

What was wrong with him today?

All he did was look at him a little while bathing, touched his face briefly.

He had only just managed to suppress his arousal, and now he's hard again…

"Why did it take you so long just to get dressed?" Chu Wanning turned toward him from where he stood by the window, his robes drifting gently in the breeze and fine strands of hair softly caressing his jade-like cheeks as he chided with exasperation in his voice.

Mo Ran coughed and mumbled vaguely: "I was drying my hair with a spell but I'm n-not very good at it, so it took a while. Sorry to keep Shizun waiting." A bit surprised by the uncharacteristic propriety of his words, Chu Wanning shot him another glance before saying: "Go get packed since you're done washing, then we can go rent a boat. I don't feel like riding swords, and I'm tired of horses too, so let's go by water, enjoy some sights on the way." "Okay, sounds good." Mo Ran didn't even dare look at him for too long,

coughing a couple more times as cover.

Chu Wanning frowned: "What's wrong with your throat?"

"...Nothing." He turned hastily to go pack. Then they stopped at a store to pick up some snacks and dry foods for the trip before heading to the docks to rent a vessel.

They went down the Yangtze River, and whenever they came across impassable areas, they would expand the wooden wings of the boat and soar through the sky on a magical draft instead. The travel wasn't fast, but it was peaceful and relaxing.

Eight days later, they arrived at Sisheng Peak, the wooden boat coming down to dock by the mountain gate.

Mo Ran lifted the bamboo curtain for Chu Wanning to step out from the cabin first before following after. It was late at night, and the moon hung bright overhead. Yuheng Elder had already written to Xue Zhengyong before with explicit instructions to not send a reception, so they didn't meet with anyone until they'd already climbed up the stairs to the main gate, where there were four disciples guarding the entrance.

"Yuheng Elder!' "Mo-gongzi!" For some reason, panic flashed across the faces of the disciples at the sight of them. Before they could react, the four of them dropped to their knees on the ground, looking up as they entreated urgently: "Elder, Gongzi, there are people inside right now seeking retribution against you! The Sect Leader sent a messenger bird to tell you two to keep away for now, but looks like that fat bird wasn't fast enough! Please go hide out at Wuchang Town for a bit, definitely don't go inside right now!"   Chu Wanning narrowed his eyes: "What exactly is the matter, to have you all this panicked?"   "It's people from the upper cultivation realm, they're accusing Elder of demonic cultivation, and want to take you to Tianyin Pavilion[1] for an inquiry!" "Tianyin Pavilion?" Mo Ran repeated, alarmed, "Isn't that the prison collectively set up by the ten great sects, especially reserved for only the most heinous of criminals?" "That's the one! Th-they're here about that incident at Butterfly Town!" A female disciple among the four said anxiously, "Does the Elder still remember?

That time when you were caned as punishment!" "That can't have been anything more than misuse of cultivation techniques or embroiling ordinary people, at most. Besides, Shizun has already accepted punishment for it. Why did they suddenly bring up that old affair again, and even going so far as to involve Tianyin Pavilion." Mo Ran frowned, "And what's this about demonic cultivation?"   "We don't know the details either, but we heard that every single person at Butterfly Town died overnight, killed by some half-ghost half-deity thing that seemed to be doing someone's bidding. The ghost-deity is exceedingly powerful,

and the average wandering cultivator definitely wouldn't be able to order her about, so those people from the upper cultivation realm are sus…suspecting Yuheng Elder of having done it!" Chu Wanning: "..." "Pfft." Mo Ran laughed, "And there I was getting worried. That's just a simple misunderstanding, easy enough to explain away, there's no need to hide." He turned to grin at Chu Wanning, "Shizun, can you believe these people? If you expel some small fiend, they'll say you're taking opportunities from the younger ones, and if you purge a major demon, they'll accuse you of practicing demonic cultivation and keeping some ghost-deity to do your bidding. At this rate, we'd best stop doing anything at all, just sit home meditating all day like they do."   But Chu Wanning wasn't laughing. His expression looked terrible, and he was silent for a while before asking: "Every single person at Butterfly Town is dead?" "That's what I heard. Not a single survivor." "..." Chu Wanning closed his eyes.

Seeing his strange expression, the female disciple asked uneasily: "Elder?"   "The incident was not my doing, but it may have occurred because I was not sufficiently thorough in the exorcism. If I am indeed to blame, then I would not shirk my responsibility." Chu Wanning opened his eyes slowly, "Mo Ran, let's go in."   Inside Loyalty Hall, twelve lamps of coiling bronze lined the sides, each ten feet in height with nine layers of branches extending from the central stand,

shorter toward the top and longer toward the bottom, for a total of three hundred and fifty six candle lanterns that lit up the main hall of Sisheng Peak so brightly that it practically looked like daytime.

Xue Zhengyong, dressed in full martial attire, stood tall on the high platform of the hall, looking like an iron-cast statue as he stared down the people below with predator-like eyes.

"Li-zhuangzhu, I'll say it one last time. Yuheng Elder is not at the sect right now, and moreover, I can guarantee with my very life that what happened at Butterfly Town was not his doing. So quit throwing around all these baseless…

whatchamacallit…" Next to him, Madam Wang whispered discreetly from behind the cover of her sleeve: "Allegations." "Ahem, quit throwing around all these baseless whatchamacallit allegations!" Xue Zhengyong declared with a grandly imposing sweep of his hand.

Madam Wang: "..."   Not counting the guard disciples of Sisheng Peak, there were some thirtyodd people standing in the hall, dressed in bluish-green robes, carrying horsetail whisks in their arms, and wearing jinxian-style[2] hats on their heads—disciples from the recently established, up-and-coming Bitan Sect of the upper cultivation realm. The man at their head was about fifty-some years old, with a pair of long whiskers that stuck out to the sides and drifted in the airflow like those of a catfish—it was none other than the leader of Bitan Sect himself, Li Wuxin[3].

Li Wuxin twirled his whisker as he sneered: "Xue-zhangmen, I'm only here to reason with you because your sect is yet considered a righteous one. The tragedy at Butterfly Town happened only after your Yuheng Elder and his disciples went to perform exorcism. Other than the three of them, the Chen household had no contact whatsoever with any other cultivators. There is evidence and witness both, you have no choice but to admit fault in this matter."

Xue Meng, standing next to his father, couldn't take it anymore and rebuked:

"And what fucking right do you lot even have to speak? When have you ever taken it upon yourselves to deal with any of the lower cultivation realm's problems? All you ever do is sit on your hands trying to cultivate yourselves to immortality, but as soon as something happens you immediately try to lay the blame on my Shizun, how is that fair!"   "Xue-gongzi." Instead of getting mad, Li Wuxin directed a meaningful gaze at him and smiled, "I've heard of you before, that people call you son of the phoenix. But meeting you in person today and witnessing your, heh, poise and composure, has certainly been a, shall we say, eye-opening experience."   "You——!" Li Wuxin rolled his eyes and turned back to Xue Zhengyong: "Xuezhangmen, we of the upper cultivation realm adhere strictly to the laws, and we intend to get to the bottom of this. If you really will not cooperate and hand over Yuheng, Mo Ran, and company, then I will have no choice but to go entreat the foremost sect in the cultivation world, Rufeng Sect, to come take charge of the investigation!"   Xue Zhengyong's always had a fierce temper. He scoffed at the threat: "Hoh.

I'm well aware that your Bitan Sect is chummy with Rufeng Sect, but even if it was Nangong Liu himself standing before me today, I'd still tell him the same thing——I will not hand them over, this has nothing to do with Yuheng." Xue Meng followed up: "Well then, Li-zhuangzhu, kindly see yourselves out."   "See that? Did everyone see that! See how difficult and unreasonable they are, aiding and abetting!" A man's shaky voice suddenly burst forth from the crowd, "The same thing happened back then, when that Mo guy stole my friend's things, and we came here courteously trying to seek justice, they just brushed us off and kicked us out just like this! Li-zhuangzhu, you saw it right? If Sisheng Peak is allowed to continue acting so outrageously above the law, the lower cultivation realm will be done for!"   He had barely finished talking when a quiet chuckle came from the entrance.

Everyone turned collectively toward the gate—there, in a shadowed area not reached by the light stood a blue-robed young man in light armor, leaning casually against the intricate carvings of the vermillion doorframe as he watched the scene within the hall with a languid expression.

He was extremely handsome, skin supple and firm under the candle light,

practically glowing.

"I say, Chang-gongzi, when exactly have I ever stolen anything from your friend?" His smile was soft and charming, "Pray tell, that Rong San…or was it Rong Jiu? I can't remember. Anyway, that pretty boy, is he your friend, or is he your paramour? Rather deceptive of you, hm? What if you hurt his feelings?" The one with the woeful complaints was none other than that merchant Chang from Yizhou, the very same one who had declared that he wasn't done with Sisheng Peak before.

Chang-gongzi whipped his head around, startled to see Mo Ran at first, but then something flickered in his eyes and he started howling in misery:

"Mo Weiyu, you bastard, Jiu-er and my friendship is of mortar and pestle[4],

perfectly innocent. He's already met with such a tragic death at the hands of your fiendish ilk, yet you——you still dare slander his name!"

"What?" Mo Ran's heart dropped, his eyes widening slightly, "Rong Jiu is dead?"   Chang-gongzi said, angrily and tearfully: "His parents are from Butterfly Town, and he met with misfortune while visiting home some days ago. That was how I found out about you and your Shizun's evil deeds! And why I went to Lizhuangzhu for justice!" But Mo Ran's opinion of Rong Jiu was the opposite of positive, so he only gave a curt wave of the hand after the initial shock had passed: "Friendship of mortar and pestle? So, like, you're the pestle and he's the mortar, pound pound pound? Not sure how that's innocent but okay." "M-Mo Ran!" Chang-gongzi hadn't expected any of that and was quite affronted: "Y-you illiterate reprobate! You, you——" "Cough…" It was a bit much for Madam Wang too.

Only Xue Zhengyong blinked and said nothing. What mortar and pestle, can't be anything good; he felt like his nephew's words made quite a lot of sense actually, nothing wrong with 'em.

From the darkness of night came a sigh like the depths of mountains and the shattering of jade, like the melting of an icy lake, deep and indescribably lovely,

and then a slender, well-proportioned hand...

Delivered an unceremonious slap right to Mo Ran's face.

"Such obscenity. Friendship of mortar and pestle means a friendship that disregards status and means, like that between Gong Shamu and Wu You." Chu Wanning appeared at the door with a dark expression and a cross tone, "What are you doing hanging around the door being an embarrassment, get the hell inside!" "Shizun!" "Shizun!"   Surprised and overjoyed to see him, Xue Meng and Shi Mei came forward to greet him.

But Xue Zhengyong's eyes widened in irritation and exasperation both:

"Yuheng, what are you doing back here all of a sudden?" "How long were you planning to hold out by yourself if I didn't come back?" Chu Wanning strode calmly into Loyalty Hall, his handsome face appearing almost immortal-like in grace and elegance under the candle light. He came to a stop before the golden seat inside the hall and exchanged a nod with Xue Zhengyong before turning with a flourish of his wide sleeves.

"Chu Wanning of Sisheng Peak, humble bearer of the title of Yuheng Elder. It seems you have questions for me; I would not refuse you answers." Li Wuxin was staring in shock, but Chu Wanning, phoenix eyes like smoke, spared him only a glance before continuing in an even tone.

"Kindly do enlighten me."

Author's Notes:

Mini-theatre [ Each character asks to be enlightened ]

Chu Wanning: Heard that everyone thinks that I don't have enough top energy, heh, please enlighten me.

Weiyu 🐟: Heard that everyone thinks that my bedroom skills aren't good,

heh, please enlighten me.

Xue Meng: Heard that everyone thinks that I'm not straight enough, heh,

please enlighten me.

Shi Mei: Heard that everyone thinks that I'm a black-hearted lotus, heh,

please enlighten me.

Ye Wangxi: Heard that everyone thinks that I'm a girl, heh, please enlighten me.

Mei Hanxue: Heard that everyone thinks that I've already made an appearance in the novel, heh, please enlighten me.

Meatbun: That bro surnamed Mei at the end, no one thinks that you've already appeared, heh, if you're not happy with that, come hit me.

[1] 天音 Tianyin-Sound of Heaven

[2] 进贤冠 looks like this

[3] 李无心 Wuxin means heartless

[4] 杵臼之交 an idiom referring to people who are friends regardless of status or means, but the literal reading of the words is friendship of mortar and pestle. The idiom finds its origin in a story: During the Eastern Han dynasty, a scholar named Gong Shamu, in order to raise enough money to attend the Imperial College, donned plain clothes and went to work at the residence of an official named Wu You, pounding rice (using mortar and pestle). Wu You found him to be cultured and eloquent, and so made friends with him and paid for him to continue his education. Gong Shamu went on to become a principled and accomplished official.