There was no one around them, so Mo Ran pulled him to the alleyway behind Mengpo Hall. The alley was extremely narrow, and once he was inside, there wasn’t much room left for Mo Ran to stand.

     Chu Wanning stared at him with the peach in hand.

     Perhaps it was the continuous restraint that finally made this hot-blooded man a little restless. His chest heaved slightly as he stared at Chu Wanning with bright black eyes. Suddenly, he reached out and held him in his arms.

     “My peach—”

     It was too late. The juicy fruit was knocked away, rolling to a corner and no longer moving.

     “Shizun.” The man’s hot breath lingered by his ear, so tormented, so desperate, but his tone was still clear, the heat floating with a sense of patience. His voice burned with desire, but he still didn’t move any further. He just embraced him, hugging him in his arms silently.

     “I feel so uncomfortable.”

     Chu Wanning’s eyes suddenly widened. “Why? What’s wrong?” he asked worriedly.

     Mo Ran was stunned at first, then he laughed. He grabbed Chu Wanning’s hand, which was trying to check his temperature, and kissed it.

     Chu Wanning frowned and said anxiously, “You have to go see Tanlang Elder if you’re sick.”

     “That winter pickle is useless,” Mo Ran said helplessly. “It’s only good for the cabbage to look.”

     Chu Wanning finally reacted and snapped from the embarrassment, “Who are you calling a cabbage?”

     Mo Ran laughed, “I was wrong.”

     He paused, then stared at Chu Wanning with watery black eyes, “But Shizun, I missed you.”

     Chu Wanning was held in his embrace, and being looked at by such a pair of eyes, he had nowhere left to vent his rage of being called a cabbage. Instead, his ears turned red, and only after a long while did he say, “...We were just eating at the same table.”

     “That doesn’t count.”

     “...”

     “Shizun, I just want to stay with you a little longer. Every time you finish eating, you leave by yourself. You walk into the crowd and I can’t even touch you…”

     There was a weak grievance in the man’s voice.

     “Stay with me, don’t go back.”

     Chu Wanning’s cheeks grew hotter and hotter at his words. Moreover, Mo Ran’s breath was so fierce, so hot, as he was hugged tightly. In the end, he couldn’t say a single word.

     “Shizun, let me hold you for a little longer…” Mo Ran murmured.

     It wasn’t easy for them to be alone at Sisheng Peak. This was especially so during a time like this. The number of visits from various sects had increased significantly over the past few days and Chu Wanning was often dragged by Xue Zhengyong for advice, so they had even less time together.

     It was easy for them to sit close to each other during meals, but they always had to worry about the bustling crowd around them, fearing that if they weren’t careful, the slightest slip could cause the sharp-eyed disciples to notice that something was different.

     So, ever since they confessed, they’d hardly had a chance to hold hands. After being restrained for so long, it was no wonder that Mo Ran couldn’t bear it any longer.

     As the evening wore on, more and more people came out of Mengpo Hall. A group of giggling girls walked past the alley and accidentally bumped into Xuanji Elder’s firelight mouse.

     The little mouse with a burning spiritual fire at the tip of its tail squeaked and scurried around, causing everyone to laugh. Chu Wanning felt uneasy with such a hustle, so he pushed Mo Ran slightly.

     “Go out.”

     “Just a little longer…”

     “More people will come soon. Go out.”

     In the end, Chu Wanning was someone who was used to being pure and proper. Mo Ran sighed, and as he wished, released him from the embrace. Chu Wanning immediately walked out of the dark narrow alley, then looked back at him.

     “What are you still doing there?”

     Mo Ran coughed, looking a little awkward, “Shizun should go ahead first. I’ll stay here for a while.”

     Chu Wanning was puzzled. He was just about to say something when he noticed that Mo Ran’s handsome, tanned face seemed to be a little red. His bright black eyes were also flickering somewhat, like stars in the clear night sky.

     He suddenly understood what was happening, and his gaze moved down unconsciously. When he saw a certain spot, his ears buzzed, as if he had been stung by a scorpion. His face and ears flushed red, and he stammered, “You… You’re just…” Without finishing his words, he suddenly flicked his sleeves angrily, and left from the embarrassment; there seemed to be smoke rising from his head.

     This hiding and sneaking around continued for more than ten days. But even though the tamed wolf was gentle, the blood in his veins was surging more and more fiercely, as if a storm was about to come.

     Every day during morning practice and evening meditation, he stared at Yuheng Elder on the high platform. The desire in his eyes could no longer be suppressed, and it was becoming more and more obvious by the day.

     When you were in love with someone, even if you used all your effort to hide it, it couldn’t be done.

     Sometimes, Xue Meng would be frightened when he saw Mo Ran’s eyes. He looked at Mo Ran, then at Chu Wanning. But the darling of the heavens was a simple-minded person, so he didn’t think about anything improper.

     The more he looked, the more confused he became. He didn’t know what kind of emotions were flashing in Mo Ran’s eyes.

     Xue Meng subconsciously felt uncomfortable, but he couldn’t pinpoint what it was.

     One day, during morning practice, Xue Meng turned to Mo Ran in a lowered voice when no one was around, “Hey, let me ask you something.”

     “What is it?”

     “Is Shizun sick?”

     Mo Ran was shocked, “Why do you ask that? What’s wrong with Shizun? How would I know?”

     “You don’t know?” Xue Meng touched his chin, “That’s strange. Then why are you always looking at him recently, as if you’re caring?”

     “...” At Xue Meng’s words, Mo Ran understood. He coughed lightly and lowered his eyes, “What are you thinking about? Don’t curse Shizun.”

     “I’m not cursing him.” After a pause, Xue Meng muttered, “Then what do you keep looking at him for?”

     “You’re wrong.”

     “I’m not blind.”

     “You are blind.”

     “If I’m blind, then you’re a dog!”

     The two men in their twenties were arguing like children. Chu Wanning heard the commotion from the high platform and shot them an icy glare. They immediately shut up and lowered their heads to copy and recite the medicinal herb documents in their hands.

     However, their elbows were still pushing against one another, as they continued to compete against each other secretly.

     Mo Ran pretended to struggle for a while, then he suddenly withdrew his strength, and without warning, pulled his arm away.

     Xue Meng exerted too much force and suddenly, losing the resistance from Mo Ran’s side, he fell directly onto Mo Ran with a crash.

     Mo Ran slapped his leg and laughed, “Hahahaha…”

     Xue Meng was furious. He ignored the quiet atmosphere around him and shouted loudly, “How shameless! You tricked me!”

     “Mo Weiyu, Xue Ziming.”

     Seeing that his disciples were causing trouble again, Chu Wanning was a little irritated, raising his phoenix eyes as he said in a low voice, “If you want to quarrel, go outside. Don’t disturb everyone's cultivation here.”

     “Yes, Shizun.” Mo Ran immediately calmed down.

     Xue Meng also reluctantly stopped talking, but he was still a little angry. He felt that his fall just now was a little embarrassing, so after thinking about it for a bit, he cut a small piece of paper and wrote a few big words on it before rolling it up and throwing it at Mo Ran’s table.

     Unexpectedly, the paper ball flew right over Mo Ran’s head, and a delicate hand picked it up from the open pages of his book. Shi Mei unfolded the crumpled paper in confusion and glanced at the words written on it: You’re staring! Are you up to something? Do you want Shizun to beat you?!

     There was also a dog drawn at the bottom of the paper with a heavy black cross over it.

     Shi Mei: “...”

     After morning practice was over, Xue Zhengyong found Chu Wanning and told him that after thorough examination of Linyi, it was confirmed that because of the tribulation fire, no one would be able to live there for about five years. Therefore, the refugees from the upper cultivation world now needed to be resettled in the villages and towns under Sisheng Peak.

     “The ones I brought back have already started getting settled in Wuchang Town, Fenghe Town, and Baishui Village,” Xue Zhengyong said. “And the ones you and Ran-er brought back… Since there are already so many people in Wuchang Town, it’s better to take half of them to Yuliang Village, where there is also a shortage of young people.”

     Chu Wanning agreed, “It is indeed more appropriate to settle them in Yuliang Village.”

     Xue Zhengyong nodded, “Yuliang Village isn’t far, so you two should go quickly; there are a lot of people to settle down. Meng-er is no good with daily necessities like cooking and cleaning, so I’ll have Shi Mei go with you. He can help.”

     “...Alright,” Chu Wanning said.

     For the villagers of Yuliang Village, Chu Wanning and Mo Ran could be considered old acquaintances. The village chief had received the news from Xue Zhengyong two days ago, so he had been waiting at the village gate early in the morning, waiting for the arrival of Sisheng Peak’s cultivators. Ling-er was also there, and after not seeing her for a long time, she became even more beautiful.

     When she spotted Mo Ran with the group, she hurriedly greeted him.

     Mo Ran was a little surprised, but he still smiled, “Miss, you didn’t go to the upper cultivation world?”

     “No, fortunately I didn’t go. If I had gone to Linyi, I’m afraid I would have lost my life.” Ling-er put a hand over her heart with lingering fear, “I’d better stay in the lower cultivation world for now. The village is getting better these days… In the past, we were always the ones dreaming of going to the upper cultivation world, but now the people from the upper cultivation world are coming to us. I don’t want to go anymore, I’m not going.”

     “That’s right.” Someone heard her words and echoed, “Everything turns around eventually. But Xue-zhangmen is here. Maybe in ten or twenty years, people from the upper cultivation world will be rushing to come our way.”

     Shi Mei said gently, “The lower cultivation world has been suffering for a hundred years, but as the saying goes, the river always has another side, so now it’s time to live a good life.”

     As he spoke, he distributed the herbal ointment Madam Wang had asked him to bring to the crowd. Mo Ran also took a jar of it and looked closely. He was surprised to find that there was a snake emblem from Guyue’ye on it.

     “This is… medicine made by Cold Scale Sacred Hand himself?”

     Shi Mei replied, “Yes, a few days ago, Sect Leader Jiang sent someone to deliver it.”

     Chu Wanning listened and said, “The gifts sent by Jiang Xi are much more useful than the ones from Huohuang Pavilion. There are many ghosts and evil spirits in Shu, and what we lack most are elixirs and miraculous medicines. Sect Leader Xue will gladly accept gifts like these.”

     “Is that so?” Mo Ran murmured. “The elixirs refined by Cold Scale Sacred Hand… hmm, to exaggerate a little, they can even revive the dead and grow flesh on bones, alas…”

     After getting this far, the second half of his sentence was left unsaid—Alas, Jiang Xi is incredibly rich.

     Back at Xuanyuan Pavilion, Chu Wanning had bought only a few bottles of Tapir Fragrance Dew for two and a half million gold. And now, Jiang Xi waved his hand and a whole carriage-full was delivered.

     Mo Ran silently put the medicine jar back into the pouch and sighed to himself. Rufeng Sect was indeed finished, but the next grand sect to emerge was obviously Guyue’ye. Sisheng Peak was nowhere near that point. It would take another hundred years for the lower cultivation world to rise again.

     After busying themselves for most of the day, the refugees from Linyi finally had their new houses cleaned up and their clothes arranged. The three of them, master and disciples, were ready to leave, but the village chief insisted they stay for dinner.

     Under such kindness, it would be impolite to refuse, so they followed him to the ancestral hall.

     The ancestral hall would always host important red and white events, as well as the New Year’s Eve dinner and lantern festival plays.

     Today, because many former Linyi residents of the upper cultivation world were going to live in Yuliang Village for a long time, the villagers prepared a banquet with more than thirty tables of dishes. They cooked sheep and cattle, steamed rice, and boiled noodles.

     The village chief actually remembered that Chu Wanning didn’t eat spicy food, so he specially arranged a table of light dishes and invited Yuheng Elder and some people from Linyi, who also weren’t used to eating spicy food, to take their seats.

     All of them had been rescued by Mo Ran and Chu Wanning, so they were already familiar with this cold immortal from their time on Feihua Island. But knowing him was one thing, and sitting down with him was another. When it came to eating with him for dinner, everyone was incredibly nervous.

     Since it was impolite, they couldn’t just get up and change seats, so the meal was very awkward. The people at other tables were laughing and drinking, but this table was completely silent. No one said a word, only moving their chopsticks silently.

     Mo Ran was a good cook, so he helped in the kitchen. When the last dish was served, he emerged from the back of the kitchen, his honey-tanned face covered in a fine sweat, his eyes bright, his nose straight, and his face sharp and handsome, standing out among the crowd.

     “The buns are here!” The auntie held a large tray full of plump steamed buns and shouted loudly, “Every table will get twelve buns, six with fresh meat and six with mushrooms! Make sure you eat them while they’re hot!”

     Mo Ran laughed and enthusiastically helped the auntie pass the buns to each table.

     “Thank you, Mo-xianjun!”

     “Thank you, Mo-xianjun!”

     Some children who already knew Mo Ran well even yelled out, “Thank you, Mo Ran-gege!”

     Ling-er’s eyes were fixed on him, unable to look away. Although she knew this person didn’t like her, and would never like her, she still couldn’t help wanting to look at him…

     Well, it’s not like it mattered if she looked.

     “Thank you, Mo-xianjun.” When the buns were brought to her table, she thanked him softly with red lips.

     Mo Ran smiled at her. It was a bright smile that wasn’t evasive or ambiguous. Ling-er, who had been trying to peek at him, was a little embarrassed, and lowered her head shyly.

     There were only two tables left to serve, the one with Chu Wanning and the one with Shi Mei. The two of them had different tastes, so they didn’t sit together.

     Mo Ran served the buns to Chu Wanning’s table first.

     Chu Wanning frowned and said, “Don’t work anymore, the food will get cold.”

     Then, he served the buns to Shi Mei’s table. Shi Mei laughed and said, “A-Ran is really skillful. Thank you.”

     “Haha, I’m just helping the auntie out a bit,” Mo Ran replied, turning around.

     Shi Mei thought he was going to get a bowl, so he made some space on the bench and said, “Sit here. I asked for an extra bowl at this table, you don’t have to get it.”

     Mo Ran was stunned for a moment, then he scratched his head and laughed awkwardly as he explained, “I’m going to sit at Shizun’s table.”

     “...When did you stop eating spicy food?” Shi Mei asked. “Only people who don’t eat spicy food sit there.”

     “I quit,” Mo Ran said.

     Shi Mei was silent for a long time, his eyes dark, but he suddenly smiled and said, “I’ve heard of people quitting drinking and smoking, but I’ve never heard of anyone quitting chili.”

     “It’s not really quitting, it’s just that I haven’t eaten it in so long that I don’t want to eat it anymore.” Mo Ran waved to Shi Mei and ran to the kitchen with a smile, “You can take the bowls. Sit down and eat before the buns get cold.”