The grand wedding ceremony of Rufeng Sect’s young master was fast approaching, but there was suddenly a rumor circulating among the guests of the various sects.

     “Zhang-gongzi, I recently learned of a secret regarding Rufeng Sect. It sounded absurd at first, but after thinking about it carefully, it’s most likely true. Do you want to hear it?”

     “What a coincidence, I also heard a secret that concerns Rufeng Sect. It’s also shocking. Perhaps it is the same thing you wanted to share?”

     The other quirked his brows meaningfully and replied, “Does Zhang-gongzi’s secret concern a particular couple?”

     “Indeed.”

     The two exchanged a look, and one of them said in a low voice, “Listen to mine first. I heard that Ye Wangxi of Rufeng Sect and—”

     When the other person listened to this point, he couldn’t hold back anymore. He didn’t care about his demeanor of a young master at all, as he burst out laughing. He slapped his thigh, his eyes beaming with gossip as he exclaimed excitedly, “Yes, yes, yes! Hahaha, I’m dying of laughter. That’s the secret! Ye Wangxi and Song Qiutong of Rufeng Sect are having an affair!”

     “It really is true that good news stays indoors, but bad news travels a thousand miles. I didn’t realize that someone like Zhang-gongzi, who doesn’t enjoy listening to meaningless gossip, would know about this. But when talking about this matter, we really have to lower our voices. We’re in Linyi; there are people from Rufeng Sect everywhere. I’m afraid even the walls have ears.”

     It was hard to say whether the walls really did have ears, but three men would become a tiger, and rumors could become truths with enough talk. This news was gradually swelling like cotton wool soaked in water; even though no one had actually witnessed the affair with their own eyes, the contents of the rumor were nonetheless growing more detailed and scandalous the more it spread…

     In the end, even the non-cultivating commoners in the small villages outside of Linyi had heard, and the fields circulated with the talk.

     “Goudan-ge, lemme tell you a secret. Don’t tell anyone, okay?”

     “What secret? Why are you so cautious? Tell me, you know how well I keep my mouth shut, it won’t ever get out.”

     “Then, listen carefully. There’s an earth-shattering scandal at Rufeng Sect. That Song Qiutong, you know her right? The woman who’s about to marry Nangong Si, she’s such a tramp. Goudan-ge, did you know? She’s been seeing Ye Wangxi behind her fiancé’s back!”

     “How is that possible?!”

     “Well why not? Didn’t you know that back when Song Qiutong was being auctioned off at Xuanyuan Pavilion, it was Ye Wangxi who grew lecherous at her beauty and thought to buy her for dual cultivation purposes?”

     The other was quite shocked, his mouth hanging wide open until he finally stammered out, “My, my heavens… such a thing…”

     This villager Li Goudan’s worldview was completely turned upside down, and at night in bed when he was cuddling his wife and chatting, he marveled, “Chunhua, you’re still the best after all.”

     The villager Zhao Chunhua blinked, “What’s wrong? Saying that so suddenly?”

     “See, even though you’re a little ugly and a little short, you’re hardworking and can bear many children. Not like some women, cheating on their husbands and going against the values of womanhood.”

     Zhao Chunhua was a little irritated, “How am I ugly? Just because my face is a little sallow?” Then she got curious, “Who’s wife is being promiscuous? How come I didn’t know?”

     “It’s not anyone from the village, it’s those bunch of lord cultivators who fly around on swords all day.”

     Zhao Chunhua was astonished, “Who is it?”

     “The one who’s about to have a grand wedding,” Li Goudan said.

     Zhao Chunhua didn’t think about Nangong Si right away, and only stared blankly for a good while before it abruptly dawned on her. She shot up from the bed, “My heavens, what?! There’s actually such a thing? You’re not just talking nonsense, are you?”

     “Why would I talk nonsense?” Li Goudan puffed out his chest to make his wife believe him. He said with great conviction, “A friend of mine saw with his own eyes. Ye Wangxi and Song Qiutong of Rufeng Sect are having an affair! Those two have already slept together behind Nangong Si’s back!”

     An affair had always been the fastest news to travel; whether it be the poor or the rich, cultivators or not, everyone loved to use it as a topic of conversation. In the blink of an eye, the guests gathered at Rufeng Sect had all more or less learned of this scandal.

     By the time it reached Chu Wanning’s ears, the content of the story had already become so elaborate that even the year, month, and day of Ye Wangxi and Song Qiutong’s secret rendezvous was described in detail.

     They even went so far as to say Song Qiutong was marrying Nangong Si now because she was already carrying Ye Wangxi’s child and the fickle lover that was Ye Wangxi refused to recognize the mother and child at the cost of his own future.

     “If you don’t believe me, just wait and see who that child looks like after it’s born, Nangong Si or Ye Wangxi!”

     Chu Wanning knew Nangong Si’s character, but he was unfamiliar with Ye Wangxi and Song Qiutong, so he couldn’t be sure whether the rumor was true or not. He felt rage, but for someone with his personality, although he was an expert at differentiating right from wrong, when it came to these matters, he was completely at a loss for what to do.

     One day, Nangong Si came to pay him a visit at the side courtyard, and Chu Wanning gave him a subtle talking to. But Nangong Si didn’t seem to understand the implied meaning at all, and only continued to happily tell his Chu-zongshi all about the fun stories of his pet faewolf, Naobaijin.

     “A few days ago, I was breeding him, and it went fairly smoothly. The female faewolf should be giving birth next month. I wonder how many wolf pups she’ll give birth to in this litter,” Nangong Si said while smiling. “If she gives birth to any pups that look good, I’ll ask my father to send one to Sisheng Peak.”

     When Chu Wanning heard this, he felt this was a good chance and said, “Mm, but I’m afraid the wolf pup’s blood won’t be pure.”

     “Why wouldn’t it be? Naobaijin and that female faewolf are both cultivated from snow wolves. They’re plenty pure.”

     “You’re certain that female faewolf was never bred with another faewolf before?”

     Nangong Si blinked. “That’s impossible, that female faewolf was raised by Bitan Manor, and there’s only one in the entire manor. She couldn’t have bred even if she wanted to, our Naobaijin was all she had!”

     Chu Wanning felt that his hint was already incredibly obvious and very clear. He compared people to wolves to hint at all those rumors, so why couldn’t Nangong Si understand?

     Chu Wanning pondered for a moment, thinking that perhaps he wasn’t precise enough. After deliberating for a while, he added, “While she was the only faewolf at Bitan Manor, she still had to stay at Rufeng Sect for a while when you brought her over to breed with Naobaijin, right? You have so many faewolves, might she have…”

     “No, no, no.” Nangong Si started to laugh brightly, “So that’s what zongshi is worried about? That female faewolf and Naobaijin are kept in the same cage, there’s no chance for any other faewolves.”

     “......”

     Forget it, you idiot!

     Nangong Si didn’t notice Chu Wanning’s gloom in the slightest, as he rose to his feet in invitation, “Zongshi, when you left, the construction of the Xiaoyue Hunting Grounds wasn’t complete yet, and now it’s been expanded twice already. Let me bring you over for a look and take a ride on Naobaijin?”

     “No,” Chu Wanning replied.

     Nangong Si was visibly disappointed, “Why not?”

     “I don’t know how to ride anything but horses,” Chu Wanning replied. “You’re about to be a married man, settle down some. Don’t be raising wolf pups all day, or waste time messing around at the hunting grounds. If you have time, you should go back and accompany Miss Song. Humans and animals are the same, if you don’t spend time with her, you’ll grow distant from one another.”

     “That won’t happen, Song Qiutong treats me perfectly well, and she’s very obedient too.”

     “...”

     “Then, if zongshi feels that I’m neglecting her, I’ll just call her over to join us. I’m always telling her about you, so she must want to meet you as well.”

     At those words, Chu Wanning thought that since he didn’t know much about Song Qiutong, and he wasn’t sure how much truth the rumors contained, it wouldn’t be a bad thing to get to know the young couple before Nangong Si got married.

     So, he nodded and rose to his feet, “Very well. Then go find her. I will wait for you at the Xiaoyue Hunting Grounds.”

     After Nangong Si left, he ran into Mo Ran, who was just returning, at the courtyard door, and the two bowed in greeting.

     As Mo Ran entered the courtyard, he spotted Chu Wanning standing beneath the osmanthus tree. In front of him was a small red clay stove, spouting with strings of steam, and upon the stone table were two cups of half finished Eight Treasures tea.

     “Shizun, Nangong Si came to see you?”

     “Mm, he wants me to go to the Xiaoyue Hunting Grounds to take a look at the faewolf he raised,” Chu Wanning said as he turned around to head back inside. “This attire isn’t suitable for riding, I’ll go change.”

     Faewolves were ferocious creatures, and although Mo Ran knew Chu Wanning was capable, he was still too worried to let the man go on his own. So, he said, “I’ll go with Shizun.”

     Chu Wanning stopped in his step and gave him a sidelong glance, “Do you know how to ride wolves?”

     Mo Ran smiled, his black eyes bright, “Why wouldn’t I? My horse riding skills are superb, so nevermind wolves, I’m good at riding anything.”

     Chu Wanning was just about to tease him when he suddenly felt that the words “good at riding anything” sounded like some sort of ambiguous affair. The scenes that had appeared in his dreams flashed before his eyes involuntarily, and his mind wandered to the positions the two of them had taken within the dream, of the sweat gathered at Mo Ran’s firm abdomen, and how Chu Wanning had lain powerlessly on the divan for the other man to do as he pleased, almost as if he had become a plaything under Mo Ran’s body as the man drove on.

     Chu Wanning suddenly flushed bright red.

     He scolded under his breath, “Shameless!”

     He didn’t know if he was scolding Mo Ran or himself, but he turned and slammed the door shut behind him, leaving the half-drawn curtain still swaying, like the drawn out, quivering heart of the one who had fled to hide inside the room.

     The Xiaoyue Hunting Grounds were a vast grassland. Now that the weather was cold, the grass and trees were bleak, and the fields were covered with a thin layer of frost where green met yellow. The winter sun hung in the sky, but because of the dark cover of the clouds, it seemed a bit cold, and the sun’s rays that spilled down were even more casual in their work, perfunctory and lifeless.

     Nonetheless, at the end of the horizon stood the dense private hunting grounds of Rufeng Sect. The pine and cypress trees were luxuriant, with bushes of pine needles glowing with a layer of gold, looking like the fluffy and soft feathers of a baby bird.

     Nangong Si stood by the wooden fence, talking with Song Qiutong, when he suddenly noticed two men approaching, emerging from the thin fog. It was Chu Wanning and Mo Ran. He was slightly taken aback at first before he smiled and said, “Mo-zongshi, have you come along too because you’re worried about leaving your Shizun with me?”

     “That’s not it.” Mo Ran smiled as well, “I came along because I was afraid that if Shizun ran into anything upsetting, he would lash out at Nangong-gongzi if he had no one else to yell at. That would be unfair to Nangong-gongzi, so I’m here specifically as a punching bag.”

     “...” Chu Wanning sent him a narrow glare and said frigidly, “I think you’re here to set things on fire.”

     “Pfft—” Standing behind Nangong Si, Song Qiutong giggled softly when she heard the exchange. Lifting her curtain of eyelashes as soft as baby feathers, she gracefully stepped out from behind her fiancé. She was truly delicate and lovely in bearing, beautiful and blossoming.

     She looked at Mo Ran and Chu Wanning as she smiled gently, “I have long since heard talk of the deep master-disciple bond between Chu-zongshi and Mo-zongshi, and from what I see today, it appears to be true.”