The man’s features were wild and handsome. His black eyes were wide open, his face illuminated by the lantern.

     Xue Meng.

     Chu Wanning was speechless for a moment, not knowing how much Xue Meng had seen, or heard.

     Mo Ran broke the silence first, “I had some matters to discuss with Shizun.”

     Xue Meng narrowed his eyes slightly. When he walked over, he vaguely heard low panting in the woods. He thought it was a pair of unseemly disciples who didn’t know what was good for them, having a secret rendezvous at the back of the mountain.

     Logically speaking, Xue Meng didn’t have the right to care about this kind of thing. Besides Wubei Temple and Shangqing Pavilion, none of ten major sects prohibited love and dual cultivation. Although there was a so-called “abstinence from lust” rule at Sisheng Peak, it only meant “don’t go to a brothel,” and “don’t go against human decency.”

     But who was Xue Meng?

     He was Chu Wanning’s disciple, the head disciple.

     For so many years, he had always treated Chu Wanning’s words and actions as his own standards. Since Chu Wanning didn’t like to see others secretly meeting with each other for shameless activities, Xue Meng followed suit, despising the unknown couple for being in love and practicing dual cultivation.

     The back of the mountain was an important place where the boundary of the ghost realm was easy to break. How could they be so lovey-dovey in this place? Xue Meng was immediately displeased, and picked up a lantern to go find trouble.

     He never expected that the flickering light of the lantern would illuminate these two faces.

     Xue Meng was stupefied. He didn’t even greet Chu Wanning properly, instead just blurting out, “Why are you here?”

     The boundary wasn’t broken, so it didn’t need to be repaired. There were no fragrant herbs or rare flowers, and no scenery to speak of. It was a remote area, so it was impossible to wander here.

     If you told Xue Meng, “There are two people in the dark and quiet. They do not take the open road, nor do they sit in the back garden, where the birds sing and the flowers are beautiful. Instead, they insist on going to an extremely secluded place to talk. Gongzi, what do you think they’re doing?”

     Xue Meng would definitely sneer and say, “What else can you think of a place like that? Words of love.”

     If you asked him again, “These two are both men. They have known each other for a long time, and are both unmarried. Their appearances and statuses are similar, what kind of relationship does gongzi think they have?”

     Xue Meng would definitely roll his eyes and say, “What else could it be? Homosexual fetishes and cutsleeve behavior, it’s disgusting.”

     If you then told him, “Haha, what gongzi said is incorrect. In fact, these two are a pair of master and disciple. Gongzi, please don’t be presumptuous.”

     Xue Meng probably wouldn’t even wait for you to finish before slapping the table in anger and shouting, “Unbelievable! What kind of scandal is this?! Who is it?! I will expel them from the mountain gate immediately and drive them out of Sisheng Peak!”

     But if at this point, he was told that this pair of master and disciple were called Mo Weiyu and Chu Wanning, then Xue Meng would definitely, definitely, definitely be stunned to the core. All kinds of strange colors would flash across his face like a bright lantern, until he finally sat down, supporting his forehead, and said slowly, “Then, what I said earlier doesn’t count. You… ask the question again from the beginning. There must be a second explanation.”

     That was it.

     Xue Meng would definitely not, and really could not, associate Chu Wanning to any kind of chaotic, unruly, or reckless behavior, so he immediately felt that he had heard wrong.

     However, he still felt that his mind was in a mess, and he muttered to himself, “What’s there to say here?”

     Chu Wanning was about to explain, but under the cover of his wide sleeves, Mo Ran gave his hand a gentle squeeze, signaling him not to speak.

     If this person were to lie, even a three year old child wouldn’t be deceived, so it was better to do it himself.

     And so, Mo Ran said, “Before evening, I saw an osmanthus rice cake here.”

     Chu Wanning: “......”

     Xue Meng was dumbfounded, “What?”

     “An osmanthus rice cake that has cultivated into a spirit,” Mo Ran said with a straight face. “It’s only about ten inches tall, with a lotus leaf on its head, and a tail with a blue lamp burning at its tip.”

     “What kind of monster is this? I’ve never seen it illustrated in the handbook,” Xue Meng said.

     Mo Ran laughed, “I’ve never seen it before either, so I was thinking that when Rufeng Sect’s demon-suppressing Jingu Tower was destroyed a little while ago, it must have released some long-extinct demonic beasts. I brought Shizun here to take a look.”

     Hearing this, Xue Meng immediately let out a breath of relief, and his face, which had been tense since earlier, finally became lively again. He walked over with the wind lantern in hand. Looking around, he asked, “Then, did you find the rice cake monster yet?”

     “Nope.”

     Xue Meng glared at him, “I’m not asking you, I’m asking Shizun.”

     Chu Wanning said, “...We couldn’t find it.”

     Mo Ran laughed, “I’m afraid that once it saw Shizun, it was afraid that he would eat it for dessert, so it immediately went into hiding.”

     Chu Wanning was stunned, then angrily scolded, “Mo Weiyu, are you trying to go to Cangshu Library to copy books again?”

     After this commotion, Xue Meng’s initial unease gradually disappeared completely. He sighed in his heart, Damn it, just now there was a moment I actually thought Shizun and that guy Mo Ran had some kind of illicit relationship. How ridiculous…

     …It was really absurd. How could that be possible?

     His Shizun was the coldest holy water in the world. No one could touch him, let alone taint him.

     At this point, Mo Ran asked him, “Well, what about you? What are you doing here?”

     Xue Meng mumbled, “I’m looking for Veggie Bun for my mother.”

     Mo Ran raised his eyebrows, “Is that the new fat cat you just picked up?”

     “Yes.”

     “The one orange in color with the ‘wang’ 王 character on its head? The one that only eats fish, and not meat?”

     “Yes, have you seen it?” Xue Meng sighed, looking helpless, “It’s so fat, but it can run very fast. I went from the front mountain to the back mountain, but there’s no sign of it…”

     He suddenly thought of something, and his eyes widened, “Ah! Do you think it was eaten by the rice cake monster?!”

     “...”

     Mo Ran actually wanted to laugh, but he held it in and only coughed lightly, “Well, the rice cake is so small, and although it’s a monster, it’s useless. If Veggie Bun sees it, the one who should be worried isn’t the orange cat, but the rice cake.”

     Xue Meng touched his chin, thought for a moment about Veggie Bun’s size, and agreed, “Ah… you’re right…”

     Chu Wanning said, “The back mountain is dangerous, so don’t go any further. I’ll help you find it.”

     Xue Meng hurriedly waved his hand, “I don’t want to trouble you, Shizun.”

     “I have nothing to do, so I’ll help you look for a while,” Chu Wanning said. “Then, I’m off to Loyalty Hall for the elder’s assembly. Mo Ran, come with me, it’ll be faster.”

     Mo Ran: “...”

     He really admired Chu Wanning. He probably really thought that Mo Ran’s body was like a fire, burning and extinguishing at will. And now he really asked him to stand up and look for a cat? But his desire really hadn’t subsided yet…

     Seeing that he didn’t move, and had a strange expression on his face, Xue Meng asked, “What’s wrong with you?”

     “It’s nothing,” Mo Ran said. “I’m just feeling sick suddenly. You guys go ahead and look for it, I’ll be there soon.”

     Chu Wanning glanced at him and suddenly realized that Mo Ran’s clothes were styled very differently from his own. Unlike himself, Mo Ran was used to wearing a slim, black and gold tunic, which was very tight and crisp. It was ideal for martial arts, but also had the obvious disadvantage of not having a cloak over it. Without a cloak, once his lower body reacted violently, it would be very obvious.

     “...” Chu Wanning didn’t say anything else. In the darkness, his usually cold and aloof face suddenly reddened, as if the sunset had shone on translucent ice. Extreme cold merged with extreme warmth and dyed his face with a sparkling crystal clear light.

     From that day on, Chu Wanning was unwilling to meet Mo Ran secretly, no matter what.

     Coincidentally, during that period of time, they had gotten busy. The various sects felt that as long as Xu Shuanglin lived, they couldn’t sleep peacefully. They turned to Tianyin Pavilion, a public trial organization independent of the ten sects, which specialized in investigating difficult cases. But Xu Shuanglin was too ruthless, and didn’t leave behind any clues.

     Towards the end of the month, Li Wuxin couldn’t wait any longer, and invited all the Sect Leaders and elders to Lingshan Mountain for a meeting.

     Chu Wanning and Xue Zhengyong naturally went as well.

     The last time all the heroes gathered at Lingshan Mountain was when Xue Meng, Nangong Si, and the others fought in the Spiritual Mountain Competition.

     In a blink of an eye, the structure of the cultivation world changed drastically. The seat that originally belonged to Rufeng Sect was now empty, and Huohuang Pavilion was also in a state of collapse. The newly appointed Sect Leader was a stuttering youth who shrank into the crowd and refused to talk. The masters of Wubei Temple were very cautious of their words and actions, and didn’t say a single word to preside over the scandal…

     When Xue Zhengyong recalled the day when the young heroes gathered in harmony for the Spiritual Mountain Competition, he felt as if it had been a lifetime ago, and couldn’t help but sigh.

     After sitting down, Jiang Xi was elected as the new First Sect Leader of the great sects, and would be in charge of the investigation of Nangong Xu.

     This person was completely different from the previous leader, Nangong Liu. Nangong Liu was always smiling. Regardless of high or low status, he was still very polite and didn’t like to offend people.

     What about Jiang Xi?

     When the Sect Leaders announced the results of the vote and asked him to preside, he was already cold and indifferent. Without any trace of politeness, he sat down unceremoniously on the seat of honor previously occupied by Nangong Liu.

     Before Nangong Liu had taken this position, he had first rejected it with all his might. But after declining three times, more or less making a full play of modesty and respect, he finally gave in.

     After sitting in the seat, he even spoke for half an hour, saying that he was indebted to everyone for thinking highly of him, that he was honored to have everyone’s support, and to please forgive him should he make a mistake in the future.

     Jiang Xi had only three words.

     “It’s my duty.”

     He actually said this seat should be his.

     Sect Leader Jiang was truly rich, truly arrogant, truly bad-tempered, and truly thick-skinned.

     Xue Zhengyong suddenly remembered something, and mumbled to Chu Wanning in a low voice, “He didn’t come to the Spiritual Mountain Competition. More than once.”

     Chu Wanning didn’t understand these disputes. He frowned slightly and asked, “What do you mean?”

     “I mean, ever since Nangong Liu became the First Sect Leader and Rufeng Sect was recognized as the number one sect, Jiang Xi never came to any of the Sect Leader meetings…”

     Chu Wanning looked at Jiang Xi for a while and said, “He is a proud and arrogant man. He does not wish to be beneath trash.”

     Xue Zhengyong felt wronged, “I don’t want to be beneath trash either.”

     Chu Wanning smiled faintly, “The Sect Leader is patient. It can’t be considered condescending.”

     As they were talking, one of Guyue’ye’s servants suddenly came over. He stopped by their table, giving a salute, then presented a brocade box.

     Xue Zhengyong turned and asked, “What’s wrong?”

     The servant shook his head and pointed to his ears, then his mouth. It turned out he was a deaf and mute servant, who could neither speak, nor hear.

     Chu Wanning watched him carefully for a while and realized that he was different from the ordinary disciples of Guyue’ye, with a silver snake-shaped collar around his neck.

     “Cold Scale Sacred Hand…?”

     The mute servant noticed that Chu Wanning was looking at his collar. Nodding repeatedly, he bowed and raised the box over his head to present it to Chu Wanning.

     The box also had an exquisite snake-shaped emblem on it.

     Xue Zhengyong looked at it and said, “He should be a direct disciple of Cold Scale Sacred Hand.”

     As he said this, he looked towards where Guyue’ye was seated, and indeed saw the greatest master of the medical sect, Cold Scale Sacred Hand, Hua Binan, silently gazing in their direction with his eyes hidden under a veiled hat.