At Sisheng Peak, there were three pure and innocent men.

     Xue Meng.

     Tanlang Elder.

     Chu Wanning.

     Xue Meng had already been thrown out by the perverted gourd. Tanlang Elder was not a virgin. He had once been married in his early years, but the woman’s body was weak, and she passed away not long after the marriage. It was said that Tanlang Elder studied medicine because he didn’t want to see anyone else die of illness.

     Only Chu Wanning was left.

     “Yuheng Elder will surely be able to handle it.”

     “Yeah, if the young master can’t do it, we can only rely on the young master’s Shizun.”

     Mo Ran was furious as he listened from the side, but he could do nothing. At a loss, he said to Xue Zhengyong, “Why don’t I try it?”

     Xue Zhengyong looked up and down, then said rather awkwardly, “Ran-er, ah… the first requirement for subduing a lust gourd is to be a virgin.”

     Mo Ran: “...”

     On the other side, the wine gourd was completely disoriented from trying to compete with Chu Wanning. Finally, it fell to the ground with a thud. After the last of its smoke dispersed, it turned into a small jade gourd lying quietly on the ground.

     Xue Zhengyong stepped forward and put the wine gourd in his qiankun pouch, saying happily, “Haha, as expected of Yuheng. Come on, lust gourd, lust gourd.”

     Chu Wanning’s expression remained the same, but his eyelashes fluttered softly. He was unwilling to look Xue Zhengyong in the eye, “No.”

     Xue Zhengyong was stunned. Not only him, but even the surrounding disciples and elders were dumbfounded.

     “Wh-why?” Xue Zhengyong asked.

     “...I drank too much. I’m tired.”

     Xue Zhengyong wasn’t a fool. Chu Wanning wasn’t lying when he said he couldn’t get drunk even after a thousand cups.

     He stared at the cold man in white until Chu Wanning became impatient and turned away with a flick of his sleeves.

     Xue Zhengyong suddenly understood. He was stunned for a moment, then blurted out, “Yuheng, don’t tell me you’re—”

     Chu Wanning’s ears suddenly flushed red. He turned around angrily, his phoenix eyes flashing like lightning, “What nonsense are you spouting?!”

     Before Xue Zhengyong could even say “not a virgin,” he felt like could no longer bear to continue. He thought to himself, How is this possible? How is this Chu Wanning???

     Yuheng Elder, Beidou Immortal, who would believe that he had some sort of one-night stand?

     Xue Zhengyong slapped his thigh anxiously and said, “Just give it a try. Otherwise, if this gourd keeps wandering around here, although it won’t hurt anyone, it’ll be troublesome to death. Its skin is so tough that even if you spend three to five years, you probably still won’t be able to cut off a single layer of it.”

     “...” Chu Wanning’s gaze swept over the crowd. All of the disciples were looking at him eagerly. Only Mo Ran felt guilty in his heart. He was somewhat embarrassed, but still couldn’t hide his burning gaze as he stared at Chu Wanning.

     Chu Wanning cursed inwardly. But now he was stuck in a dilemma; if he were to leave now, it would only cause more gossip in the future. He thought for a moment and said, “Then, I’ll give it a try.”

     In the blink of an eye, the lust ground swallowed Chu Wanning into its stomach, then began to spin in place. The disciples of Sisheng Peak didn’t have any doubts; they were all confident that Chu Wanning would definitely be able to subdue the lust gourd with no issue.

     Only Mo Ran knew the truth.

     The purest immortal in this world had already, on that rainy night not too long ago in a dark inn of Wuchang Town, been lying on a bed with lips and teeth touching his skin.

     He had dirtied it with his own hands.

     —

     Chu Wanning opened his eyes.

     There was a whole other world inside the gourd—a curtain of dreams.

     Just as the legends said, the room was lit up by bright red candles, revealing a wedding veil hung low in the air. As he moved forward, he saw a large red bed decorated with red plum branches. The plush mattress was covered with a thick quilt, sprinkled with red jujube and surrounded by translucent-red curtains.

     There was an old woman who looked like a transformation of the gourd standing at the doorway. She had a wide grin on her face, with long greenish-blue hair. Even her teeth were an emerald green.

     Chu Wanning knew in his heart that there was no way he could subdue the lust gourd, so he didn’t want to waste any time talking nonsense. He walked up to the old woman and said, “Granny, you can just send me out, there’s no need for me to lift the veil.”

     The old woman only said with a pleased expression, “Hmm, hmm, hmm.”

     “...”

     He didn’t expect that this woman wouldn’t understand the human language. She couldn’t understand Chu Wanning at all.

     Chu Wanning had no other choice but to sigh. He braced himself and walked stiffly to the bed.

     On the bed, sat a man with dark robes embroidered with a dragon pattern. His pants were crimson, embroidered with phoenix feathers. His feet were bare, but the veil was down, making it difficult to see his face.

     The old woman walked over unhurriedly. With a bang, a green jade ruyi scepter appeared. She handed it over to Chu Wanning and gestured for him to proceed.

     Although Chu Wanning couldn’t accept Mo Ran’s appearance in a bridal dress, and was mildly affronted by the sight of it, he remembered that he himself had played the role of the bride in the ghost wedding in Butterfly Town. He felt that back then, Mo Ran had undoubtedly thought Chu Wanning was making a fool of himself…

     “...”

     That’s right. Even though he was displeased, it would be a waste not to look.

     Chu Wanning stood there for a moment, his face ashen. Then, he took a deep breath and walked forward.

     The old woman urged, “Hmm, hmm.”

     “Understood. Don’t worry.”

     The ruyi rose and the red silk fell.

     Chu Wanning’s eyes widened slightly, “You are…”

     Between the phoenix curtains, a man wearing a nine-tasseled beaded crown lifted his eyes. Light and shadow flowed across his pale, handsome face, his dark eyes full of ridicule. He raised his chin slightly and smiled towards Chu Wanning.

     Chu Wanning was stunned.

     This was Mo Ran, yes, but his face was sickly-pale, his eyes were wan, and he had a very strange expression on his face.

     “Hmm, it seems that in Wanning’s heart, he still can’t forget This Venerable One.”

     Seeing Chu Wanning in a daze, the man reached out his hand and grabbed Chu Wanning’s wrist. His fingertips were cold as he stared into Chu Wanning’s eyes, ruthless and fierce as a vulture.

     Mo Ran smiled, but it wasn’t a warm smile. Instead, it was a wide, toothy grin.

     “This Venerable One is very pleased.”

     What kind of nonsense is this?!

     Chu Wanning was both angry and amused, thinking that this gourd must have gone stupid from being locked in Jingu Tower. The people it transformed into were all so strange and inexplicable.

     “Let go.”

     Mo Ran did not let go.

     Chu Wanning then turned around to the old green-haired woman, “Make him let go.”

     Before the words were out of his mouth, the “bride” Mo Ran rose abruptly. Chu Wanning only had enough time to see the crown on his head sway before a broad hand tightened around his waist and his world spun. By the time he came back to his senses, he was already pushed down on the golden-red bed.

     Mo Ran leaned over and pressed down on him, wanting to tilt his face upwards.

     “It seems you really enjoy what I give you.” The man’s hot breath was hot on the side of Chu Wanning’s neck, “So much so that you can’t forget me.”

     Chu Wanning frowned and tried to avoid the topic, cursing the absurdity of the lust gourd’s words. Mo Ran had always been gentle and courteous to him; how could he possibly speak to him like this?

     He was embarrassed and amused at the same time. Annoyed and helpless, he kept hiding like this for a while until the pillows became a mess.

     Suddenly, in a flash, Chu Wanning narrowed his eyes and looked at the golden-red bedding. He suddenly thought of something.

     A dream.

     He froze for a moment.

     Then, his face suddenly turned red.

     This… this was just like a dream he had.

     In the dreams, Mo Ran was always like this. He said harsh and provocative words, and his actions were rough and inconsiderate.

     So this wasn’t just a random illusion born from a perverted gourd, but his own shameful imagination in the depths of his heart? The thought was so shameful and humiliating that Chu Wanning blushed with embarrassment—even the tips of his ears were hot.

     “Baobei…“

     Suddenly, a wave of heat came over Chu Wanning. As his mind drifted away, Mo Ran kissed his earlobe, greedily and wickedly sliding his tongue against his ear.

     “Ah…”

     Chu Wanning was caught off-guard. He was so shocked by this sudden feeling that he moaned, his voice raspy and wet.

     Once the sound was out, it was even more humiliating.

     For some reason, the scene was too real. It was as if he had kissed and entwined with Mo Ran like this before, a long time ago.

     Chu Wanning was pinned down on the bed, as Mo Ran kept kissing his neck, cheeks, and ears, with rough and urgent movements.

     He was so anxious and angry that the corners of his eyes reddened. He wanted to struggle, but he couldn’t break free until this “Mo Ran’s” lips were about to land on his own.

     Bam!

     Suddenly, “Mo Ran” seemed to have sensed something. He was stunned for a moment, as he stared at Chu Wanning in disbelief.

     Taking advantage of this opportunity, Chu Wanning pushed him away, and with a golden flash, he summoned Tianwen in his hand and immediately slashed down towards the “Mo Ran” in the illusion.

     Upon seeing Tianwen, “Mo Ran” was shocked to the core. He blurted out, “You actually… you actually are…”

     The willow vine fell sharply, sparks flying everywhere.

     “Mo Ran” was in pain, but he did not resist. Instead, his eyes only widened in shock.

     After a few moments, the thin cloud of smoke rose. The old lady disappeared, along with Mo Ran.

     Taking their place in the candlelight, there was an unfamiliar young man with blue hair and pointy ears. He was extremely handsome.

     Chu Wanning’s anger and embarrassment still hadn’t subsided. He got up from the bed and grabbed him by his open collar. His phoenix eyes were fierce with emotion and anger, his voice low and dangerous, like an enraged leopard.

     He gritted his teeth and said, “Evil creature.”

     The young man was the spirit of the Lust Gourd.

     The spirit stared at Chu Wanning, his face pale. He was shocked and frightened, “It’s you…”

     Chu Wanning was angry as he turned and stared at him, “What do you mean?”

     But the gourd spirit was already trembling with fear. He fell to his knees and kowtowed repeatedly, “I didn’t know…”

     He seemed too afraid to even say Chu Wanning’s name, and only continued to kowtow, “Please forgive me, xianjun. Please forgive me.”

     “...”

     In the past, Chu Wanning had subdued and slain many demons and monsters. Tianwen was so famous among evil spirits that some of them wouldn’t even dare to move when they saw him. However, he didn’t expect for the Lust Gourd to be the same.

     Chu Wanning put away Tianwen, rising from the bed with a gloomy expression. He stared at the young man who kept kowtowing, and after a while, he said, “Let me out.”

     “Y-yes! Yes!”

     The Lust Gourd didn’t dare to hesitate. He immediately chanted the incantation.

     With a bang, smoke rose from the gourd. Chu Wanning was blinded by it, and could not open his eyes. When the smoke finally cleared, he was back in the courtyard in front of Loyalty Hall.

     Several people immediately crowded around him.

     “Shizun, are you alright?”

     “Yuheng, you did too well!”

     “Shizun, Shizun, are you hurt?”

     The smoke smelled like the lust gourd, making Chu Wanning feel dizzy. After a while, he noticed that the gourd had disappeared, and that only a small peach-colored gourd lay silently on the ground in front of him.

     Chu Wanning thought about the illusion, still a little ashamed. He only said to Xue Zhengyong, “Take these to Heaven-Piercing Tower.”

     Xue Zhengyong replied, “Okay…” But his gaze was fixed on Chu Wanning, looking back and forth hesitantly.

     Chu Wanning felt like something was wrong with this stare, “What’s wrong?”

     “...Nothing.”

     However, Xue Zhengyong’s expression was definitely not saying “nothing.” Chu Wanning suddenly realized that, other than him, many other people were also sneaking glances at him with curious and amused gazes. Even Mo Ran was looking at him strangely, his face slightly flushed.

     “What’s…”

     This time, Chu Wanning already knew the reason.

     He lowered his head and saw his clothes.

     It turned out that at some point after being taken into the gourd, the clothes he wore had been replaced by a golden robe similar to the one Xue Meng wore. It was the kind of robe someone would wear for a wedding ceremony.

     Chu Wanning: “......”

     The matter of Yuheng Elder subduing the demon soon became the subject of much discussion in Sisheng Peak.

     And the most popular discussion amongst the disciples was, “I wonder who Yuheng Elder married when he was in the gourd.”

     Some people clearly thought their lives were too long as they winked and said, “They must be a heavenly beauty.”

     Someone else even dared to say, “Maybe they’re a heavenly god.”

     One treasured his life very much, and said seriously, “Yuheng Elder probably saw the Lust Gourd’s spirit when he lifted the veil. If he saw something else, the Lust Gourd wouldn’t have been happy, and he wouldn’t have been able to subdue the demon.”

     Everyone disliked this coward who treasured his life and felt that he was boring. They shook their heads and dispersed.

     However, at Sisheng Peak, there was a brave warrior, who was not afraid of death.

     On this day, the weather was gloomy and morning practice was cancelled. Early in the morning, when no one was looking, Mo Ran packed a few snacks and slipped away to the Red Lotus Pavilion to see Chu Wanning.

     After the two of them finished eating, this “heavenly beauty,” and “heavenly god” everyone was talking about, took Chu Wanning’s hand and asked with a smile, “Shizun, did you marry me in the Lust Gourd?”