On the morning after the confession, Chu Wanning woke up very early. But after seeing that Mo Ran was still sleeping on the simple mattress right next to the bed, he didn’t get up.

     He couldn’t see clearly through the curtain, and after resisting the feeling for a moment, he still reached out his hand, wanting to pull it open. But before his hand could touch the curtain, he paused and only lifted one finger, barely opening the curtain a little bit with his fingertip. As long as it was so little, it didn’t feel like peeking.

     Clear sunlight poured in from the window, and a bright red light with a hint of gold cut into long and narrow light pillars, shining on Mo Ran’s handsome face.

     It had been a long time since Chu Wanning had seen his sleeping face. He looked quietly, gazing at it for a very long time.

     It was so long that he couldn’t help but think of the year Xue Zhengyong had brought Mo Ran back to Sisheng Peak. He was a somewhat shy fifteen year old; when happy, he could burst out with a brilliant enthusiasm, clinging to him and saying that no matter what, he wanted to take him as his Shizun.

     He couldn’t be chased away even if he tried.

     When they first met in front of Heaven-Piercing Tower, Chu Wanning insisted that he wouldn’t accept him as a disciple because he thought the statement, “He looks the gentlest, I like him to most,” was simply ridiculous and unbelievable. For this, he ignored Mo Weiyu’s request for fourteen days.

     It was said that in order to find a way to become his disciple, Mo Weiyu had asked Madam Wang, Shi Mingjing, and even Xue Meng. In the end, no one knew who gave him the bad idea of standing outside of the Red Lotus Pavilion and waiting for Chu Wanning.

     When Chu Wanning went out in the morning, he would greet him and ask him to be his Shizun. And when Chu Wanning returned in the evening, he would continue to greet him and ask him to be his Shizun.

     Regardless of wind or rain, even a dripping stream of water could eventually weaken stone.

     Chu Wanning’s reaction to this act was only a light puff of air before he turned a blind eye and left.

     He didn’t like to be pursued so fiercely. He was a man of few emotions, only willing to deal with emotions that were equally mild.

     He didn’t know if it was because of the environment he grew up in, but the young teen was very good at observing people’s expressions. Probably because he could feel Chu Wanning’s coldness, he only pestered him with his request for two days, then didn’t ask Chu Wanning to be his disciple anymore.

     But as usual, he still came to the Red Lotus Pavilion every day to clean up the fallen leaves in front of the courtyard. When he saw Chu Wanning come out, he stood with the broom and scratched his head, then said with a smile, “Yuheng Elder.”

     In the first rays of the morning, they didn’t mention getting up early, and in the evening, they didn’t greet each other either.

     It was just the simple phrase, “Yuheng Elder,” and a smile.

     Chu Wanning didn’t look at him as he walked away, but he didn’t mind. He only continued to sweep the fallen leaves.

     Ten days passed peacefully like this.

     One morning, the lotus flowers in the Red Lotus Pavilion bloomed overnight with a wonderful fragrance. Perhaps this put Chu Wanning in a very good mood.

     He pushed the door open and saw the boy Mo Ran with his head lowered, making his way up the winding steps on the mountain path as he swept the leaves. There was a single leaf stuck in the crevice of a rock, making it especially difficult to clean, so he bent over to pick it up.

     The moment he raised his head, he saw Chu Wanning standing in front of the mountain gate. He was stunned for a moment before he broke into a wide smile. His sleeves had been rolled up halfway, revealing part of his arm as he raised the dried leaf he hadn’t yet had time to throw away, and waved at Chu Wanning.

     “Yuheng Elder.” His voice was clear, carrying the sweetness of fresh blossoms. It wasn’t loud, but it seemed to echo in the mountain range for a long time.

     Above them, a white cloud drifted away, and sunlight broke through, passing through the leaves of the forest. Chu Wanning stood in place for a while, his eyes turning amber under the dazzling morning light.

     He squinted his eyes, and for a moment, he felt that the fallen leaf in the boy’s hand was no longer as lifeless, becoming as dazzling and brilliant as the person who was smiling brightly, overflowing with colorful light.

     He calmly walked down the stone steps.

     Mo Ran was already used to his indifference, so he didn’t mind. As usual, he stood to the side and waited for Chu Wanning to pass by.

     That day, Chu Wanning walked past him as usual, step by step. Then, he suddenly turned slightly and glanced back at the boy. His voice was clear as spring water, as calm as a lake.

     “Thank you,” he said.

     Mo Ran was stunned for a moment before his eyes lit up. He hurriedly waved his hand and said, “No, no, this is what a disciple should do.”

     Chu Wanning said, “...I don’t intend to take you in as my disciple.” But his tone and expression were no longer as resolute as before.

     After he finished speaking, he turned back around and continued walking down the stone steps. But after a while, probably because he felt bad, he looked back at Mo Ran.

     He saw that the boy didn’t feel the slightest bit of heartache. Instead, he actually held onto the broom and jumped excitedly in place a few times. His young face was filled with joy, exuding endless light and enthusiasm.

     So the boy didn’t even care about his last sentence. He only heard a “thank you,” and he was so happy?

     A few more days passed like this, and one day it rained.

     The rain wasn’t too heavy. Chu Wanning had always been too careless to take out an umbrella, or open a barrier. He thought it would only take him an incense of time to get to the Platform of Sin and Virtue, so it wouldn’t matter if he got a little wet. Besides, even if he did get wet, he could use a simple spell to dry off. 

     He pushed the door open.

     Mo Ran was still there.

     However, he wasn’t sweeping the floor. The broom had been set aside, and he was holding an oil-paper umbrella, squatting on the ground with his back to Chu Wanning. He was completely focused on fiddling with something, his shoulders trembling slightly.

     He was so short, and when he squatted he looked even smaller, so paired with the big dark umbrella, he looked quite funny, like a mushroom emerging from a spring rain.

     Chu Wanning held back a faint smile and walked up behind him. He coughed lightly and asked, “What are you doing?”

     “Ah!” The boy was shocked, and turned around to look at him.

     His first sentence was, “Yuheng Elder.”

     Before Chu Wanning could respond, Mo Ran’s eyes widened and he spoke a second time, “Why don’t you have an umbrella?”

     Without waiting for a reply, he stood up on his tiptoes, trying his best to raise the umbrella high in his hand as he spoke a third time, “This is for you.”

     But he was still too short, and he was standing one step lower than Chu Wanning. He tried very hard, but the umbrella barely covered the top of Chu Wanning’s head. When the wind blew, he wasn’t steady enough, and couldn’t hold the umbrella properly. The umbrella tilted, and a stream of water fell on Chu Wanning’s collar and flowed down his neck.

     “I’m sorry! I’m sorry!” Mo Ran said in a hurry.

     Chu Wanning: “...”

     When Mo Ran said the first sentence, he wanted to say, “Mm.”

     When Mo Ran said the second sentence, he wanted to say, “No need.”

     When Mo Ran said the third sentence, he wanted to say, “Keep it for yourself.”

     But after Mo Ran said the fourth sentence, apologizing again and again, he was a bit speechless. He lowered his eyes, and it was hard to tell whether his expression was indifferent, or gloomy. In the end, he sighed and took the umbrella from Mo Ran’s hand, holding it over both of their heads.

     He lifted his eyes to Mo Ran, and after thinking for a moment, circled back to his original question.

     “What are you doing?”

     “Saving the earthworms.”

     Chu Wanning thought he misheard. He frowned and asked, “What?”

     Mo Ran smiled, his dimples deep and adorable. He scratched his head shyly and stammered, “Saving… saving the earthworms.”

     Chu Wanning lowered his eyes, and his gaze fell on Mo Ran’s dangling hand. He held a tree branch in his palm, which was dripping with water. He must have picked it up from the ground.

     Looking further up the stone steps, there was indeed a pathetic earthworm lying in a pool of water, wriggling slowly.

     “When the rain stops, the earthworms that came out of the soil will be dried up.” Mo Ran was a little embarrassed, “So, I wanted to put them all back in the grass.”

     “Using a tree branch?” Chu Wanning asked lightly.

     “...Yes.”

     Seeing the other’s cold and aloof expression, Mo Ran was afraid of being looked down on by Yuheng Elder, so he hurriedly said, “I… I’m not afraid of using my hands, it’s just that when I was young, my mother told me that I can’t catch earthworms with my hands because they’ll rot your skin away…”

     Chu Wanning shook his head, “That’s not what I meant.”

     He raised his hand slightly, his fingertip pointing in the air, and a thin and soft golden willow vine emerged from the cracks of the stone steps. It wrapped around the earthworm lying in the pool of water and carried it back to the nearby grass.

     Mo Ran’s eyes widened in amazement, “What is this?”

     “Tianwen.”

     “What is Tianwen?”

     Chu Wanning glanced at him and said, “It’s my weapon.”

     Mo Ran was even more surprised, “Elder’s weapon… is… is…”

     “So small?” Chu Wanning finished for him.

     Mo Ran: “Hehe.”

     Chu Wanning flicked his sleeves, his expression indifferent, “Of course there are times when it can be fierce.”

     “Can I see it?”

     “It’s best if you never see it.”

     At the time, Mo Ran didn’t understand the meaning of Chu Wanning’s words. He turned around to look at the vines poking out from the cracks of the stone steps, wrapping up the muddled earthworms and carrying them back to the moist soil, as an envious expression crossed his face.

     Chu Wanning suddenly asked, “Do you want to learn?”

     Mo Ran was stunned for a moment. Then, his eyes widened in surprise. He was so shocked that he didn’t know what to say. In the end, he could only nod his head, his handsome little face flushed red.

     “Tomorrow, after you finish your morning practice, go to the bamboo forest behind the Platform of Sin and Virtue. I will wait for you there.”

     After he finished speaking, his pure white silk shoes stepped on the wet stone steps, and he walked down the mountain holding the umbrella.

     Mo Ran stared blankly at his flowing figure for a long time before he suddenly understood the meaning of Chu Wanning’s words. In an instant, his face flushed even redder, his eyes shining brightly.

     He no longer cared about the wet ground. He immediately knelt down and kowtowed, his young voice filled with enthusiasm and joy, “Yes, Shizun!”

     This time, Chu Wanning didn’t acknowledge him, nor stop him; he only stood in place for a moment, then continued walking, raindrops falling on the umbrella, drop by drop.

     It was only when his figure disappeared that Mo Ran stood up from the ground, and it was only at this moment that he realized that a golden, translucent barrier had opened above his head, the haitang patterns blocking the wind and rain for him.

     Chu Wanning remembered that Xue Zhengyong was relieved and surprised when he heard about his decision. He had asked, “Yuheng, why are you so willing to take him in all of a sudden?”

     At that time, Chu Wanning had been sitting on the high seat at the Platform of Sin and Virtue, holding the oil-paper umbrella Mo Ran had given him. His slender knuckles brushed against the umbrella handle, and he finally said lightly, “So he can save the earthworms.”

     “Ah?” Xue Zhengyong exclaimed, his leopard eyes wide open like a cat’s. “Save what?”

     Chu Wanning didn’t say anything else. He only lowered his lashes to look at the umbrella’s bamboo frame, a hint of a smile gradually appearing in his eyes.

     In the blink of an eye, so much time had passed.

     The young man he took in as his disciple was originally a pure and honest boy, but later on, he went astray. Fortunately, in the end, he grew up to be a proper and dignified cultivator that didn’t disappoint him.

     Chu Wanning’s slender white fingertip poked out of the curtain, and he peeked through the tiny crack to look at Mo Ran’s sleeping face.

     That young boy from the past was now a handsome and tall grown man. His features were even more defined than before, and between his brows, there was a steady aura of maturity.

     However, just like before, when Mo Ran slept, his brows were slightly furrowed. It had been like this since he was young. His two rows of eyelashes drooped very low, as if they were weighed down by heavy thoughts and could no longer be lifted.

     Chu Wanning felt that it was a little amusing. This person was so young, where did all these worries come from?

     Just as he was thinking this, he suddenly saw Mo Ran’s long eyelashes flutter as he slowly opened his eyes.

     “...”

     Chu Wanning’s fingers stiffened. He wanted to pull his hand back and pretend to be asleep. But Mo Ran was a very strange person. He didn’t have the temperament of a young man who lazed around in bed. Instead, he had the mannerisms of an older person. In other words, he woke up very quickly.

     For some inexplicable reason, he seemed to have an extremely sharp intuition about the subtle changes in his sleeping environment. It was as if he was always in constant danger of assassination, moving step by step as if he was walking on thin ice.

     Before Chu Wanning could pull his finger back from the small gap in the curtain, Mo Ran’s gaze had already accurately and unluckily fallen on the tip of his finger.

     Chu Wanning: “...”

     As the dignity and reputation of Yuheng Elder was at stake, Chu Wanning had a brilliant idea. He simply rolled over and stretched his entire hand out of the bed curtain, dropping it lazily over the edge of the bed.

     From the looks of it, he wasn’t secretly lifting the curtain at all. Instead, the sleeping person had turned over, and while stretching out his arms, he had inadvertently poked his hand out of the curtain.

     How could Mo Ran have known that the serious and aloof Chu Wanning would come up with such an idea?

     And so, he was easily fooled.

     He didn’t want to wake Chu Wanning up, so he stood up slowly and quietly. However, he didn’t leave immediately. Instead, he lightly grabbed Chu Wanning’s exposed wrist and carefully placed it back in between the blankets. Only after doing this did Chu Wanning hear the door creak open.

     Mo Ran went out.

     Chu Wanning opened his eyes slightly and looked at the hazy light coming in through the door. He was still in a daze for a long time. Perhaps it was because he had never dreamt that he and Mo Ran could be together, never so much as imagined it, so even after a night had passed, he still felt that all of it was a dream.

     Before all of this, he was under the impression that Mo Ran was secretly in love with Shi Mingjing, and over all these years, he stood behind them alone and saw everything clearly.

     He saw Mo Ran smile brightly at Shi Mingjing, saw Mo Ran cook noodles for Shi Mingjing, saw Mo Ran secretly help Shi Mingjing complete his assignments with a smile, thinking that no one knew.

     In fact, Chu Wanning knew all of this.

     For this, he’d unwillingly had his share of envy, jealousy, hopelessness, and resentment.

     He also thought that he had been relieved.

     But how could he be relieved? Even though he knew it was impossible, he still held on and refused to look back. He braced himself and refused to leave.

     Over the years, Chu Wanning had asked himself whether this kind of futile waiting was worth it, and whether this kind of stubborn waiting was degrading. However, after asking himself countless times, his answer had always come up to nothing.

     He, Chu Wanning, was a heartless person who looked at those infatuated men and women with cold eyes. He couldn’t understand why it was so painful, why he forcefully kept his feelings in his arms and refused to throw them away even when he was full of wounds. He didn’t understand. Only when the fierce longing burned in his heart could he finally understand…

     This was probably the case for most of the deep feelings and affection in this word.

     They could be put down, but they could never be abandoned.

     It was for this reason that Chu Wanning, who didn’t understand Mo Ran’s true feelings for Shi Mei, was somewhat confused and hesitant. He didn’t understand why Mo Ran would shift his gaze away from Shi Mingjing and look at his own slightly disheveled face.

     Was it because of gratitude?

     Because of guilt?

     Did he want to follow the example of the ghost girl from the old ghost story, who repaid the kindness of a flower demon by giving her body to him?

     …Damn it, could it be that he confessed to Shi Mei, and he rejected him?

     Chu Wanning was in a daze, his mind a mess. His thoughts were racing as he thought of several different ancient stories, and all kinds of thoughts came to him. All of a sudden, he got up and ruthlessly kicked the bed Mo Ran had slept on last night.