—Nanping Valley—

     It was late at night, and fresh snow was falling outside the hut.

     In the past few days, Mo Ran’s injuries had become worse and worse. Even though Chu Wanning used the Flower Soul Sacrifice Technique to heal him, it had little effect.

     In the afternoon, he vaguely woke up once, but his consciousness was still not clear. He squinted his eyes, and when he saw Chu Wanning, he just cried. He said he was sorry and begged him not to leave, his words stumbling over until he finally burst into tears.

     He had been dreaming, shuffling back and forth through those turbulent years.

     In one moment, he thought he had just been picked up by Xue Zhengyong, and in the next, he thought he was in those five years when he’d lost Chu Wanning.

     The only things he couldn’t dream of were the memories that had been taken away by the Eight Sufferings Everlasting Hatred Flower. He couldn’t dream of all of his sacrifices, all of his protection, and all of his innocence.

     “Mo Ran…” After bringing a bowl of freshly cooked porridge, Chu Wanning came to his bedside.

     The porridge was barely edible, a technique from his previous life.

     He sat down by the bed, raised his hand, and touched Mo Ran’s forehead.

     It was very hot.

     He called to him, but couldn’t wake him up. Chu Wanning waited until the porridge went from warm to cold and then became even colder. He felt that he could no longer let it continue like this, so he warmed it again under the water.

     He didn’t know when Mo Ran would wake up, but if he did, he would be able to eat something right away.

     “It’s made with chicken soup, your favorite,” Chu Wanning whispered to him. The spiritual techniques used to maintain Mo Ran’s heartbeat were never interrupted, but Mo Ran couldn’t wake up.

     If he couldn’t wake up, it meant that once his spiritual power was cut off, he might never be able to open his eyes again.

     There was no way to save him.

     But he couldn’t accept it. How could he be willing to accept it?

     Mo Ran was still alive. He still had a breath, even if it was very weak. These days, sun and moon, morning and evening, Chu Wanning stayed by his side. Seeing that his chest was still rising and falling, he felt that there was still hope. Everything could still be turned around.

     There was still time.

     Chu Wanning still remembered Mo Ran waking up one night in a daze. At that time, there was no light in the room. Mo Ran stared blankly at the candlestick, his dry lips moving slightly.

     He was very encouraged at the time and hurriedly held Mo Ran’s hand and asked him, “What do you want to say?”

     “...Light…”

     “What?”

     “...The light… I want the light…” Mo Ran looked at the candlestick that he was destined to be unable to light, tears streaming down his cheeks. “I want the light to be lit…”

     In that instant, time overlapped.

     It was as though he had returned to the past, when he had just become his disciple. Mo Ran had fallen ill, and the skinny young boy curled up on the bed, in a daze.

     When Chu Wanning went to visit him, he was crying for his mother.

     Not knowing how to comfort him, Chu Wanning sat beside the boy’s bed, then hesitantly raised his hand and touched the boy’s forehead.

     The thin child cried and said, “Dark… it’s all dark… Mother… I want to go home…”

     Finally, it was Chu Wanning who lit the candlestick. The bright light lit up the four walls and illuminated Chu Wanning’s face. As if feeling the warmth of the light, the feverish child opened his pair of watery black eyes.

     “Shizun…”

     Chu Wanning reacted, adjusting the blanket for him. His voice was low and gentle. “Mo Ran, the light is lit… don’t be afraid.”

     After so many years, the solitary lamp lit up again, filling the hut with a warm yellow light and dispelling the endless darkness and cold.

     Chu Wanning stroked his hair and called out in a hoarse voice, “Mo Ran, the light is lit.”

     He wanted to continue saying, Don’t be afraid.

     But his throat was choked, and he could no longer say it.

     Chu Wanning tried his best to hold back his tears, but he still pressed his forehead against Mo Ran and cried brokenly. “...The light is lit, please wake up, okay?”

     “Please pay attention to me, okay…?”

     The lamp shed candle tears into a pool of dreams. The lamp kept burning, from bright and clear, until the oil ran out and the lamp was dry.

     Later, when the sky brightened, and the sky turned white, Mo Ran still didn’t open his eyes. The days when he could use the lamp to awaken the sleeping boy had passed.

     He could never go back again.

     Another three nights passed.

     During these days, Chu Wanning stayed by his bedside every day, taking care of him, accompanying him, giving him spiritual power, and also telling him the things he had forgotten.

     At dusk that day, the evening snow had stopped. The red setting sun shone outside the window, spreading across the dyed earth. A squirrel jumped across the snow-covered branches, causing the white pearls to rustle and fall down in a sparkling dance.

     The man lying on the bed was bathed in gentle twilight. The sunset added color to his pale and haggard face. Under his thin eyelids, his pupils turned slightly—then, just as dusk was about to end, he slowly opened his eyes.

     After several days of severe illness and coma, Mo Ran finally woke up.

     He opened his eyes, his gaze still blank and empty, until he saw Chu Wanning sleeping tiredly by his bedside.

     Mo Ran murmured hoarsely, “Shizun…”

     He lay in the depths of the blanket and slowly regained consciousness. Slowly, he vaguely recalled the words Chu Wanning had repeatedly said to him when he was between waking and sleeping.

     A cup of wine during the Mid-Autumn Festival, a haitang handkerchief… and that year at the Red Lotus Pavilion, when he sacrificed himself to take the Eight Sufferings Everlasting Hatred Flower for him.

     Was it a dream?

     Was it because he was so desperate for redemption that he dreamt Chu Wanning had told him these stories? Was it because he wished to go back that he dreamt Chu Wanning was willing to forgive him?

     He turned his face to the side and reached out his hand to touch the sleeping man beside the bed. But before his fingertips could touch him, he withdrew his hand.

     He was afraid that if he touched him, the dream would shatter.

     He was still at Tianyin Pavilion, kneeling in front of the punishment platform, with spectators below him shouting loudly. He knelt alone in front of thousands of people. In his eyes, those people all became blurry faces one after another. They became the souls of those who had died by his hands one after another, screaming and laughing bitterly as they demanded his life.

     No one wanted him. No one saved him.

     It was his shamelessness, his ambition, his madness, and his illusion that Chu Wanning would come. It was he who, amidst the pain of having his heart ripped out, imagined this illusion of the last flame in the world.

     It was fake.

     No one had ever cut the chains, no one had ever embraced him, no one had ever come with the wind, and no one had ever brought him home.

     His eyelashes trembled, and he stared at Chu Wanning’s sleeping face with tears in his eyes, not daring to blink until his eyes became hazy and tears finally fell.

     Chu Wanning’s reflection shattered into thousands of specks of light, and he hurriedly went to look at his sweet dream again.

     The dream was still there.

     Mo Ran lay on the bed, exhausted. His eyelashes were wet, and his throat was choked as tears continued flowing from the corners of his eyes… His heart hurt, and blood kept seeping out. He was afraid of waking Chu Wanning, who had finally just fallen into a light sleep, so he bit his lip and cried silently.

     He was awake, but he knew his own body clearly. He knew that this was only a temporary lucidity, the final radiance of the setting sun.

     It was the heavens' last mercy on him.

     He, Mo Weiyu, had been worried and mad for half his life. His hands were full of blood, and he couldn’t escape the infamy. It wasn’t until the end that he was unjustly convicted. Therefore, he felt very lost and even a little uneasy.

     He didn’t know if it was luck or misfortune.

     Unfortunately, both of his lifetimes were absurd.

     Fortunately, he could finally have peace for the rest of his life.

     But how long did he have for the rest of his life? One day? Two days?

     Those were the good days he would pay for with his life.

     —It was a peaceful time he had never had before.

     Later, when he heard signs of Chu Wanning waking up, he hurriedly wiped away his tears. He didn’t want his Shizun to see him cry.

     Mo Ran turned his head and looked at the person beside the bed. His eyelashes trembled slightly as the person at his bedside opened his phoenix eyes. He looked and saw himself in his eyes.

     Outside the window, the sun was setting, and the big dipper stars were rotating.

     He heard Chu Wanning whisper hoarsely, “Mo… Ran?”

     The voice was low and gentle, like the spring buds breaking through the soil, like ice that had just melted, like wine on the little red clay stove warming to the third level, with wisps of steam rising and filling the air, warming people’s hearts. It was the sound of nature that he would never forget for the rest of his life. Mo Ran was silent for a while, then smiled.

     “Shizun, I’m awake.”

     There was no wind or snow in the clear night, and the rest of his life was long.

     On this night, in the deep valley of Nanping Mountain, the softest and most serene time of Mo Ran’s two lifetimes had finally arrived. He woke up and could see the joy and sorrow at the corners of Chu Wanning’s eyes. He woke up, leaned against the bed, and let Chu Wanning tell him about this and that experience and all of the misunderstandings.

     To him, none of it was important.

     He just wanted to hold on a little longer, a little longer.

     “Let me look at your wound again.”

     “Don’t look at it.” Mo Ran smiled and held Chu Wanning’s hand. He pulled it over and kissed it gently. “I’m fine.”

     After a few rejections, Chu Wanning suddenly looked at him as if he suddenly understood something, and the color on his face slowly faded.

     Mo Ran told himself to be calm and said, “It’s really alright.”

     Chu Wanning didn’t answer. After a while, he got up and walked to the furnace. The firewood inside was gradually extinguished. He left with his back to Mo Ran as slowly tended to the fire in the pit.

     The fire was lit and brightened again. The entire room was warm, but Chu Wanning didn’t look back. He used the tongs to tend to the firewood, even when it no longer needed tending anymore.

     “Porridge…”

     Finally, he spoke hoarsely.

     “The porridge is still warm, so you could have some when you wake up.”

     Mo Ran was silent for a moment. He lowered his eyes and smiled. “...I haven’t had porridge cooked by Wanning in a long time. In the previous life, after you left, I never ate it again.”

     “It’s not cooked well,” Chu Wanning said. “I still can’t, probably… that is, it’s barely edible…” His voice trembled at his last words, as if he couldn’t continue.

     Chu Wanning paused for a long time before saying slowly, “I’ll get you a bowl.”

     Mo Ran said, “...Okay.”

     The room was very warm, but as the night grew darker, snow began to fall intermittently outside.

     Mo Ran held the bowl of porridge and ate it carefully. He had a few mouthfuls, then looked at Chu Wanning. He lowered his head to have a few more mouthfuls, then looked at Chu Wanning again.

     Chu Wanning asked, “What’s wrong? Are you hurting anywhere?”

     “No.” Mo Ran said softly, “I just want to… look at you more.”

     “...” Chu Wanning didn’t say anything. He used a silver knife to pick up a grilled fish he had caught from the pond. The fish melted in the mouth, but there were still bones. He picked out the bones and carefully divided the snow-white fish.

     In the past, Mo Ran always took care of him while he ate.

     Now, it was the same reversed.

     He handed the cut fish to Mo Ran and said, “Eat while it’s hot.”

     Mo Ran ate it obediently.

     When this man was leaning on the bed and wrapped in the blanket, he didn’t look so tall. The orange light of the fire shone on his face, which made him look very young.

     It was at this moment that Chu Wanning suddenly recognized that, whether it was Taxian-Jun or Mo-zongshi, they were both ten years younger than him.

     But they had experienced so much suffering.

     Mo Ran finished the porridge, then poked the plumpest piece of fish and wanted to hand it to Chu Wanning, only to be stunned for a moment. “Shizun, what’s wrong?”

     Chu Wanning lowered his head, his eyes slightly red. He calmed himself down and said lightly, “Nothing. I just caught a chill.”

     He was afraid that if he continued to sit there, he would lose control of himself, so he stood up quickly. “I will survey the area. Rest early after you finish eating. Once your injuries have healed, I will bring you back to Sisheng Peak.”

     Both of them knew that the so-called getting better was just the final radiance of the setting sun and that the warmth was running out.

     But they were both talking about tomorrow, about the future. It was as if they were trying to squeeze the next few decades into this one night, to transfer all the stars in their future and spend them on this one snowy night.

     After Chu Wanning left, Mo Ran sat in front of the fire for a while. Then he untied his robes and looked down at the hideous scar on his chest.

     Then he stared blankly for a while, feeling empty.

     It was a snowy night in Nanping Valley.

     The floating snowflakes outside were getting bigger and bigger. Mo Ran didn’t know when his condition would worsen, nor did he know when his life would end. He lay on the side of the bed, looking at the falling snow outside. All he could hear was the whistling of the wind. He suddenly felt like his life was like the turbulent wind at this moment, and everything from yesterday was gone.

     In fact, whether it was the previous life or this life, there were always such smart people scheming and playing games.

     Whether it was Shizun or Shi Mei, one of them wanted to protect him, and the other wanted to harm him. But they both had their own plans. Even if they failed due to a combination of circumstances, they still had long-term objectives.

     Mo Ran was different from them. He was the kind of person who was like stupid dog that didn’t have any complicated thoughts. He didn’t know how to plan step by step or play his chess pieces carefully. He only knew how to guard the ones he loved honestly. Even if he was beaten until his skin was torn and he was lacerated to the bone, he would still stubbornly stand in front of that person and never leave.

     This kind of person was said to be brave.

     But, to put it bluntly, he was stupid.

     This very stupid man was lying by the window, his eyelashes trembling. Suddenly, he saw a familiar figure standing under the plum blossom tree.

     Chu Wanning didn’t go to survey the area. This was just an excuse for him.

     He was standing under the flower tree. He was too far away, and the wind and snow were too strong, so naturally, Mo Ran couldn’t see the expression on his face and could only see his blurry silhouette. He stood alone in the heavy snow that covered the sky and did not move.

     What was he thinking?

     Was he cold?

     He…

     “Shizun.”

     Chu Wanning, who was lost in thought in the snow, turned his head and saw that, in the dark night, amidst the frost and snow, the black-clothed man had appeared behind him, holding the blanket.

     Chu Wanning was startled and immediately said, “Why did you come out like this? What are you doing out here? Quickly go back—”

     Before he could say “go” again, a wave of warmth enveloped him.

     Mo Ran was under the quilt and lifted it up. In the overwhelming darkness and warmth, he also wrapped Chu Wanning in the quilt.

     The two of them stood under the old plum blossom tree, under a thick quilt that hadn’t been used for a long time and had a musty smell no matter how long it was exposed to the sun. No matter how heavy the snow was outside or how strong the wind was, it had nothing to do with them.

     Mo Ran embraced him in this warm darkness. “Don’t think about it. I don’t remember what Shizun spoke about, but…”

     He paused, first kissed Chu Wanning’s forehead, then whispered, “But if got to go back and experience it all over again, I would still do it.”

     “...”

     “Furthermore.” He held the quilt and stroked Chu Wanning’s ice-cold hand. “Shizun doesn’t need to feel sad. In fact, I feel that what Shi Mei said was correct. The Eight Sufferings Everlasting Hatred Flower was only able to make those hidden thoughts in my mind come to fruition.”

     Their fingers interlocked.

     Mo Ran touched his forehead. “I already had a lot of hatred in my heart, but I didn’t vent it when I was young. The massacre of Rufeng Sect… I thought about it. I have also thought about ruling the world. Speaking of which, it’s quite ridiculous. When I was five or six years old, I hid in a broken house and fantasized that one day I would be able to summon the wind and rain and scatter beans to become an army. These were all my own thoughts. No one forced them on me.”

     He caressed Chu Wanning’s face. “So, if the person who was poisoned by the curse was you, perhaps you wouldn’t have become an unforgivable tyrant like me, you wouldn’t be used, and you wouldn’t have been punished by Tianyin Pavilion.” He laughed with a deep voice and rubbed his forehead to comfort him. “You weren’t replaced by me. Don’t think too much. Go back to the room and sleep.”

      The bed was very narrow, and Mo Ran held him.

     The moment that should come would always get closer and closer. It was impossible to escape.

     Mo Ran’s consciousness began to blur and scatter again, and the pain in his heart was even worse than before. The final radiance wouldn’t last long. It was the same when his mother died. He knew that he didn’t have much time left.

     He lowered his thick eyelashes, and the fire in the furnace was already somewhat dim. The dim yellow light shone on his young, handsome face, making him look especially gentle.

     This stupid man probably saw the pain in Chu Wanning’s eyes, so he endured his own discomfort and joked, “Do I look good?”

     Chu Wanning was stunned for a moment. “What?”

     “Scars,” Mo Ran said. “A man should have a few scars to look good.”

     Chu Wanning was silent for a while, then raised his hand and slapped him lightly. But it really seemed more like a caress.

     After a while, he seemed unable to bear it any longer. He buried himself in Mo Ran’s warm chest and didn’t make a sound, but his shoulders were trembling slightly.

     He knew it very well.

     Chu Wanning knew.

     Mo Ran was stunned for a moment, then hugged him, kissing his forehead and hair.

     “So ugly.” After surviving the calamity, he was more affectionate than usual. He sighed softly. “Did I make Wanning cry from ugliness?”

     It would have been better if he had called him Shizun.

     With “Wanning,” two lifetimes intertwined.

     Chu Wanning hugged this man’s burning and spirited body in the depths of the blanket. He had always hated and felt ashamed when expressing any of the intense emotions in his heart, but at this moment, he felt that his apprehension and shame were so laughable and absurd.

     So, in the intertwined embrace of limbs, on this narrow bed tightly wrapped in a quilt, in this hut with empty walls, in this long night of wind and snow…

     Chu Wanning said softly, “How can you be ugly? It doesn’t matter if you have scars or not, they all look good.”

     Mo Ran was shocked.

     He had never heard Chu Wanning express himself so directly before.

     Not even on the day of their confession on the sword.

     There was only the last glow from the fire in the room, which was very quiet and gentle.

     The tranquility and gentleness that had come late.

     “In the previous life and in this life, I have always loved you and was willing to be with you. In the future, I am also willing.”

     Mo Ran listened to him say one sentence after another in his arms. He couldn’t see Chu Wanning’s face clearly, but he could imagine what he looked like at this moment.

     His eyes were probably red, and even the tips of his ears should be red.

     “Once I found out you were cursed, I couldn’t show it, and I could only hate you… Now, I can finally make it up to you.” Chu Wanning’s cheeks were burning, and the corners of his eyes were wet. “I love you. I’m willing to marry you. I’m willing to split my soul for you. I’m willing to submit to you.”

     Hearing that he was willing to submit to him, Mo Ran’s heart felt like it was being burned by a raging fire, and his entire body trembled.

     He was both moved and saddened, feeling both pain and love.

     He was trembling. “Shizun…”

     Chu Wanning raised his hand to stop him. “Let me finish.”

     But after waiting for a long time, Chu Wanning was someone who didn’t know how to speak words of love after all. He thought about many things, but everything was neither suitable nor enough.

     For a moment, Chu Wanning really wanted to say, “I’m sorry for causing you to suffer so much and carry such a burden.”

     He wanted to say, “In the previous life, until I left, I still couldn't tell you the truth. I wronged you.”

     He wanted to say, “That year at the Red Lotus Pavilion, thank you for being willing to protect me.”

     He didn’t even want his dignity anymore at this moment. He wanted to cry to Mo Ran, wanted to hug his warm body and say, “I beg you not to leave. I beg you, don’t leave.”

     But his throat was choked up, and his heart was aching.

     In the end, Chu Wanning lowered his head and kissed the scar on Mo Ran’s heart. His eyelashes fluttered, and he spoke in a low voice.

     “Mo Ran, no matter what happened in the past or what will happen in the future, I will always be with you.”

     Shame burned through his blood.

     But the words were so solemn.

     “I will always be Taxian-Jun’s person as well as Mo-zongshi’s person for my entire life.”

     It was too hot.

     Mo Ran only felt the fire of the world light up in his arms again. In front of his eyes, there were bright fireworks, and all of the pain and sorrow went away at this moment.

     “Two lifetimes, they belong to you.”

     “No regrets.”

     Mo Ran closed his eyes full of tears.

     He finally kissed Chu Wanning’s lips and sighed. “...Shizun… thank you.”

     Outside, the snow fell heavier and heavier as the night grew darker and darker.

     They hugged each other and fell asleep. They both thought, So, this is the rest of my life.

     Mo Ran knew that his clothes were soaked with tears, but he didn’t say anything. Since he was a child, he had hoped that he would have lots of joy in the rest of his life. At this time, he should be happy.

     He hugged Chu Wanning and said, “Go to sleep, Wanning. Sleep, I’ll hold you. You’re afraid of the cold, so I’ll keep you warm.”

     “When I get better, we’ll return to Sisheng Peak. I want to ask my uncle and auntie for forgiveness. I want to argue with Xue Meng again… We still have so many things to do…”

     Mo Ran stroked Chu Wanning’s hair and spoke softly.

     His throat was filled with the sweet taste of blood, and his breathing became increasingly labored.

     But he still smiled. His expression was very calm. “Shizun, I’ll hold the umbrella for you for the rest of my life.”

     In his embrace, Chu Wanning choked with sobs.

     “Xia-shidi…” He teased him again—even though he was almost unable to speak, he still teased him. “Shige… will tell you a story… I’ll tell you a story every night from now on… Don’t mind that shige is dumb and only knows how to talk about cattle eating grass…”

     In the end, Mo Ran raised his eyes and looked at the sparkling layer of glistening snow on the window pane.

     The world was covered in a vast expanse of pure white.

     “Wanning.” He hugged him, his heartbeat echoing in his ears as he whispered, “I have always loved you.”

     He slowly closed his eyes. His dimples were shallow, soaking in two pools of pear blossom white.

     His heartbeat slowed down bit by bit, becoming intermittent.

     Suddenly, a branch of the plum tree covered in snow outside the window snapped under the weight of the snow, making a sudden noise. The clumps of snow fell together with the branch, making a cracking sound.

     After this disturbance, Chu Wanning could no longer hear the sound of his heartbeats.

     He waited for a moment, waited for another moment, waited for a while, and then waited for a long time.

     There was no more sound.

     No sound… nothing at all…

     It was a terrifying silence that would cause one to despair for a lifetime.

     In the end.

     It stopped.

     It rested.

     The room was deathly silent—terribly quiet.

     After a long, long time, Chu Wanning didn’t move. Chu Wanning was still lying in Mo Ran’s arms on the bed. He didn’t get up, raise his head, or speak.

     His little disciple, his Mo-shixiong, his Emperor Taxian-Jun wanted him to sleep peacefully.

     He said he would hold an umbrella for him for the rest of his life, tell him stories for the rest of his life, and love him for the rest of his life.

     Mo Ran said it was cold and snowy outside.

     I’ll keep you warm.

     Chu Wanning was curled up in his arms, not moving at all against his chest, where the heat hadn’t yet left.

     They were going to leave for home tomorrow.

     He wanted to rest well with Mo Ran.

     Chu Wanning reached out his hand and wrapped his arms around Mo Ran’s waist.

     In the dark night, he said, “Okay, I’ll listen to you. I’ll sleep… But tomorrow, when I call you, you must remember to wake up.”

     He pressed against his chest, which no longer rose, and his tears soaked and warmed Mo Ran’s clothes.

     “Don’t stay in bed.”

     Good night, Mo Ran.

     The night is long, but I will stay with you. May you have a good dream, a fire, a light…

     And a home.