Chapter 32: This Venerable One Will Baby You a Bit, Will That Do

>>blood + injury care

Behind the myriad of lotus leaves, Mo Ran stood appalled and unmoving as if he'd been struck by lightning. Something inside of him shattered, and it showed in the cracked expression on his face.

Shock, indignation, jealousy, and irritation exploded like fireworks in his head. He moved his lips, but no words came out. He didn't even know what he was raging over. Only one thought ran through his mind—— How dare anyone else touch that which has been claimed by this venerable one?!

Chu Wanning, you two-faced, cheating whore! You dare...you dare to...

He forgot that the Chu Wanning of this era had no intimate relations with him at all. In that moment, all sense left his mind.

It had been ten years—a lifetime, from birth to death—after all.

He could set it aside and maintain control when he was lucid.

But under these circumstances, with his head in disarray, he subconsciously felt that Chu Wanning was his. Only now did he realize just how clearly he remembered even the taste of Chu Wanning's lips, to say nothing of the passion and desire as they entwined, the ecstasy that ate at his very being...

After he'd been reborn, he did everything he could to not think about those things.

But now, seeing Chu Wanning's naked back, that familiar figure with broad shoulders and long legs, taut muscles, and a slender but strong waist submerged in the clear water…

All the memories and emotions he tried so hard to suppress rushed back without warning.

Even Mo Ran's scalp went numb.

…...His body, too, reacted to these things.

It was the kind of involuntary reaction so fierce he could do nothing to stop it, and his lower body burned as he watched.

By the time he realized what he was doing, he was already raising his voice angrily and shouting, "Chu Wanning!"

Chu Wanning actually had the gall to ignore him.

It was hard to see the two people supporting his shoulders because of the mist settled on top of the lotus pond, so he couldn't make out their appearances.

But they stood extremely close to him, the distance between them barely distinguishable.

Mo Ran hollered and barged right into the pond, wading through the water towards Chu Wanning——and as he grew closer, he realized—— Those, those two "people" were actually golems made of metal and cedarwood!

Even worse, it seemed like they had been using the lotus pond to transfer energy to Chu Wanning, and Mo Ran had broken the spiritual bounding field when he recklessly rushed into the water...

He wasn't sure what kind of array Chu Wanning was using, but he was in an unconscious daze and leaning against the golems as light continuously poured through their palms into the wound on his shoulder. Looking back on the situation, he was clearly in the middle of healing himself.

When Mo Ran rushed through the boundary, the light dispersed. To his horror, the array actually started to reverse.

As soon as the light scattered, Chu Wanning's wound began to quickly eat away at itself. He frowned, letting out a noise of discomfort, and coughed up a mouthful of blood. Then, all the scars on his body began to tear open again. The blood that poured out drenched the pool red in an instant.

Mo Ran was dumbfounded.

This was Chu Wanning's "Flower Spirit Sacrifice Technique"!

He realized that he might have...made a grave error...

Chu Wanning's spiritual energy was of both the metal and wood elementals[8]. Metal element spiritual energy, including "Tianwen", was used for offense, while wood element spiritual energy was used for healing.

The Flower Spirit Sacrifice Technique was one such; Chu Wanning could manipulate the spiritual essence of flora to mend wounds. However, if anyone else was to enter the array during this process, the flora spirits would immediately scatter, and not only would there be no healing effect, it would conversely worsen the injury. In the worst case, the flora spirits could even devour Chu Wanning's spiritual core.

Fortunately, Mo Ran had a passing familiarity with the Flower Spirit Sacrifice Technique from the last lifetime, and he acted immediately to cut off the flow of energy. Having lost the support of the golems holding him up, Chu Wanning tipped forward. Mo Ran caught him and held him steady.

Shizun's unconscious face was pale, lips blue, body as cold as ice.

Without thinking about much else, Mo Ran lifted him out of the pool. Half carrying and half dragging, he took Chu Wanning back to his room and placed him on his bed.

"Shizun? Shizun!" He called several times, but Chu Wanning didn't move so much as an eyelash. He looked no different from the dead, save for the shallow rise and fall of his chest.

Seeing Chu Wanning like this reminded Mo Ran of the past.

Inexplicably, he felt his throat close up and his heart start to panic.

In his past life, two people died in his arms.

Shi Mei. Chu Wanning.

One was the love of his life whom he thought about day and night. The other was his mortal enemy whom he had entwined with for a lifetime.

When Shi Mei died, Mo Weiyu disappeared from the world.

And when Chu Wanning died…...?

Mo Ran didn't know. All he knew was the feeling of the person in his arms slowly growing colder and colder on that day. He didn't cry, nor did he laugh; joy and sorrow both grew out of reach.

When Chu Wanning died, Mo Weiyu no longer knew what the world even was anymore.

By the candle light, he saw Chu Wanning's bare torso.

Usually, Yuheng of the Night Sky wore clothing that showed as little skin as possible. He wore high collars and wrapped his belt sash around three times, a picture of dignity and propriety.

Because of this, no one even saw what kind of injury those two hundred strikes had left on his body...

Even though Mo Ran had seen the wounds on Chu Wanning's back with his own eyes on the day of the punishment, all he knew was that his flesh had suffered severe damage. Seeing Chu Wanning on his feet and walking around like normal in the days afterwards, he thought it couldn't have been that bad after all.

Now he realized that Chu Wanning's wounds were far worse than he had imagined.

The five wounds left by the ghost mistress were torn open, and in the worst parts he could see all the way through to the bone.

Chu Wanning probably never asked anyone to help him change his bandages, and tried to do everything by himself. The salve wasn't evenly applied, and the places he couldn't reach were already infected and festering.

Not to mention all the blue-purple bruises from the rod strikes. They spread out across his entire back, leaving no part of his mottled skin unbroken. On top of them, the torn scars from the spiritual rebound earlier washed his back in blood. It flowed ceaselessly, drenching the sheets under him in red.

If Mo Ran hadn't seen it with his own eyes, he would never have believed that the man who had insisted on wiping down pillars near the bridge and creating a huge barrier to shield disciples from the rain was this—this same man in front of him whose wounds were so severe and terrible he belonged in an infirmary, under intensive care.

If not for the fact that Chu Wanning was unconscious, Mo Ran would have really liked to grab his collar and shake him, demanding—— Chu Wanning, what the hell is wrong with you and your stupid pride?

What's anyone going to do if you show a little weakness for once in your life? Why are you so fucking stubborn? You're a grown man, and you won't even take care of yourself? Treat yourself a little better??

Why didn't you ask anyone to help you dress your wounds?!

How come you'd rather make golems to use your stupid healing system than to just open your mouth and call for help?!

Chu Wanning, are you a fucking moron?!

As he cursed him in his head, he worked quickly to staunch the bleeding.

Then he drew a pail of warm water and wiped the blood from Chu Wanning's back...

Sterilizing a knife in the flame, he set about cutting off the flesh that had completely decayed.

At the first cut, Chu Wanning groaned in pain, body jerking. Mo Ran held him down and muttered heatedly, "The hell do you have to groan about! Gonna curse me out? If you utter another sound I'll stab this knife right through your chest. You won't feel a goddamn thing once you're dead! Problem solved!" It was only now that Mo Ran could let his real, vehement nature show though, yelling at him like he did in the past.

But there were too many wounds that had festered, the skin gone white and dead. Chu Wanning breathed heavily as he hacked away at it little by little.

Even unconscious, this person stifled his voice and refused to cry out in pain, but he broke out into a cold sweat, drenching the body that had just been wiped clean.

After what felt like hours, Mo Ran finally finished applying medicine and bandaging the wounds.

He helped Chu Wanning into some robes, then found a thick quilt and laid it over his feverish Shizun, and only then did he sigh in relief. Remembering Madam Wang's medicine that was still sealed in a paper bag, he got up and brewed a bowl of medicine, carrying it back to Chu Wanning's bedside.

"Come on, time for your medicine." With one hand, he lifted the sleeping person up into his arms and leaned him against his shoulder. He used the other to bring the bowl of medicine to his lips, lightly blowing the steam off and taking a sip to test it first.

Mo Ran grimaced and made a face. "Ugh, so bitter." Still, he let it cool off and fed it to Chu Wanning.

But he only got half a spoonful in before Chu Wanning couldn't handle it and coughed it all out, getting most of it on Mo Ran's clothes.

"..." He knew that Chu Wanning didn't like bitter things, so much so that it could be said he hated bitter things.

But Yuheng Elder was stubborn as a mule; if he was awake, he would definitely endure it and drain the whole bowl in one gulp without complaint. At most, he'd discreetly sneak a piece of candy afterwards.

Unfortunately, Chu Wanning was currently unconscious.

There was nothing to be done about it; it's not like he could lose his temper at an unconscious person. He just had to suck it up and patiently feed him small mouthfuls, even using a towel to wipe the corners of his mouth at times.

Something like this wasn't difficult for Mo Ran. After all, in his past life, there was a period of time when he'd fed medicine to Chu Wanning like this every day.

Back then, Chu Wanning had even tried to resist him, so he would slap him across the face before seizing him by the jaw and pressing their lips together roughly, tongue pushing past to ravish his mouth, the coppery scent of blood…...

In an effort to stop thinking about that as quickly as possible, the last few spoonfuls that Mo Ran fed him were a little rushed, and most of it ended up being coughed out again. Then he laid him back down in the bed, and tucked him in none-too-gently.

"I'm doing this out of the generosity of my heart. Don't you dare kick this quilt off in the night, you're already feverish and you'll catch a cold..." Halfway through his speech, his temper suddenly flared up and he kicked the leg of the bed.

"Whatever, why should I care if you catch a cold or not! I hope you do. I hope it's terrible and you die from it." He turned around and stalked off.

He got to the door, but had a feeling he still couldn't put to rest, so he turned back and squinted into the room. After figuring out what was bothering him, he went over and blew the candle out. Then he left again.

This time, he got all the way to the lotus pond. Seeing the flowers that had grown and bloomed after absorbing Chu Wanning's life blood, the irritation in his heart only worsened.

He was filled with aggravation, but still marched, stiffly, out of rhythm, with arm and leg on the same side moving together, back into the bedroom.

Clanking like a rusty, old golem, he dragged his feet in a circle around the entire room until he finally, reluctantly, came to stand at Chu Wanning's bedside.

Moonlight shone in softly from the half-open bamboo window, illuminating Chu Wanning's peaceful face.

His lips were pale, and his eyebrows were slightly drawn together.

Mo Ran considered it for a while, then shut the window for him. They live in a humid place, after all; it isn't good for health to leave the window open while sleeping. After doing this, Mo Ran put his foot down and swore:

If he comes back through that door one more time, he will be a dog!

Just as he reached the doorway, he heard a thump. Chu Wanning actually tossed the entire quilt off of himself.

"..." What's he going to do about this person's habit of throwing off his covers when sleeping??

So that he wouldn't be a dog, the sixteen-year-old Emperor Taxian-Jun endured the situation with much tolerance and left.

He will not go back on his word; he absolutely will not go back through that door again!

So, after a while.

——The brilliant and powerful emperor opened the window and vaulted into the room that way.

He picked up the quilt off the ground and laid it back over Chu Wanning.

Hearing Chu Wanning's pained, labored breathing and seeing his back shuddering where he was curled into the corner of the bed, Mo Ran couldn't muster up any of the anger he usually held toward him.

He could say "serves you right" all he wanted, but his heart still ached for him.

He sat by Chu Wanning's bedside, keeping watch to make sure he doesn't throw the quilt off again.

Late as it was, with the long day Mo Ran had had, the exhaustion finally settled in. His head slowly drooped, and he dozed off.

This sleep wasn't restful in the slightest. Chu Wanning kept tossing and turning, and Mo Ran could hear him groaning under his breath through the haze of slumber.

In his hazy, light sleep, Mo Ran couldn't tell what hour it was, or when he had ended up lying next to Chu Wanning on the bed, hugging the trembling man in his arms. Still half asleep, he held him and gently stroked his back,

murmuring, "Shh… shh… pain pain go away..." In his sleep, Mo Ran felt as if he had returned to the Sisheng Peak in his past life, to the empty, somber Wushan Palace.

After Chu Wanning's death, he never slept holding anyone ever again.

Whether because of the burning resentment or lingering feelings, thinking about those emotions in the endlessly cold days of loneliness afterwards made his heart hurt. Wishful thinking consumed him.

But no matter how hard he wished for it, Chu Wanning wasn't coming back.

He had lost the last flame of his life.

Mo Ran held Chu Wanning the entire night. Between the dreams and the haze of sleep, at times he knew clearly that he had been reborn, yet felt as if he was still in his past life at others.

Suddenly, he was almost afraid to open his eyes. He was afraid that when he woke up in the morning, it would be to a cold, empty pillow and drafty curtains. And, for the rest of his life, he would be utterly alone.

He was certain that he hated Chu Wanning.

But, holding him in his arms, he felt wetness gather at the corners of his eyes.

This was a warmth that the thirty-two year old Taxian-Jun once thought he would never have again.

"Wanning, you'll be okay..." It was in this hazy state, stroking the hair of the man in his arms as if he were the Mo Ran of the past, that such a tender phrase escaped his mouth.

He was so tired that he didn't realize what he had said, or what he'd called the other person. The words slipped out naturally and he didn't think much on them. Mo Ran breathed out, and fell into a deeper slumber.

The next morning, Chu Wanning's eyelashes fluttered as he slowly came to.

Because of his strong cultivation, the high fever he had last night already receded.

Chu Wanning idly opened his eyes, mind still foggy with sleep. But when he tried to get up, he found that there was someone else lying in bed with him.

M-Mo Weiyu???

He was startled to say the least. Chu Wanning paled, but couldn't for the life of him remember what happened the night before. Even worse, his movements woke Mo Ran up too.

The young man yawned, youthful face lightly flushed from sleep. He squinted into the morning light, glanced over at Chu Wanning and said vaguely,

"Ah…...let this Venerable One sleep for a while longer…...Since you're already awake, why don't you go make me egg and meat congee..." "..." What kind of nonsense was this? Sleeptalking?

Mo Ran's mind was still fuzzy. When he saw that Chu Wanning was not getting up to make him breakfast, he didn't press the matter. Instead, he smiled lazily and reached out, pulling Chu Wanning's face closer, and pressed a chaste kiss to his lips.

"If you don't want to get up, that's fine too. This Venerable One just had the most terrible dream. In it…...ah…..nevermind." He sighed, hugging the person who had gone stock still by this point. He rested his chin against the head of the man in his arms, muttering, "Chu Wanning, let me hold you a little while longer."

Author's Notes:

Candy candy candy, the candy that you asked for!

About why Mo Ran calls him [Wanning], it's not a slip of the tongue, he really called Shizun this later in his past life. As for why he would address him with such intimacy, to be continued in… uh, donno how many chapters later!

Runs away.

[8] Elemental here is a bit different from the Western meaning, and refers more to the five types of chi/spiritual energy: fire/mars, water/mercury, wood/jupiter, metal/venus,

and earth/saturn.