The Husky and His White Cat Shizun

Chapter 219: "Dragon Mountain" Never Parting

Mo Ran didn't respond, or perhaps he couldn't. He stepped forward and embraced Chu Wanning without preamble.

"...What's wrong with you?"

In his arms were cool clothes and a warm body.

"Why are you crying?"

He didn't know if it was a dream or reality. He no longer cared. In the Red Lotus Water Pavilion, there was no cold, lifeless body of Chu Wanning. His Shifu was still alive, still worrying about the flexibility of the Night Traveler's joints and contemplating whether to use tung oil or clear varnish.

That seemed to be enough.

For a moment, he indulged in this illusion, not wanting to wake up.

Together with Chu Wanning, they finished the robotic figure. By then, night had fallen, so he took Chu Wanning back to their room, just as in their past life, entwining their necks and whispering sweet nothings into each other's ears.

In his dreams, Chu Wanning was not quite so compliant. He had his own brand of ferocity and attachment, his own inability to let go.

Even at the peak of passion between their sheets, he would often bite his lower lip, tears glistening in his phoenix eyes without a sound, only heavy breathing that couldn't be contained.

The candle flames flickered, casting a warm glow on the face of the man beneath him. Mo Ran gazed at Chu Wanning with near-obsession, studying his features, his eyes, and the reflection of the candlelight within them.

The candle's dancing shadows resembled petals falling into a deep pool.

As Mo Ran moved, those imagined petals swayed in the water, rippling out in concentric circles. Eventually, a tear trickled down from the corner of Chu Wanning's eye, only to be kissed away by Mo Ran.

He knew exactly who Chu Wanning was. Without the use of aphrodisiacs, it was difficult for him to reach climax during their lovemaking – a remarkable level of self-control that was also regrettable.

But so what?

Tears couldn't be held back, nor could rapid breaths. It didn't matter if he didn't cry out; watching Chu Wanning weep under him, his cheeks flushed, his eyes losing focus, his muscular chest heaving as he panted, was just as satisfying.

After a night of intense passion, they finally fell asleep in each other's arms around the hour of the Tiger.

Mo Ran held the person in his embrace tightly. Both were drenched in sweat, their hot bodies pressed against one another, even their hair sticking to their cheeks.

He kissed Chu Wanning's earlobe and neck tenderly, holding him even closer in his embrace.

"That's all I need, Shifu. Now that you're by my side, everything is as it should be."

He fell asleep.

Opening his eyes, he was startled to find Chu Wanning no longer beside him in bed.

"Shifu?!"

He jolted upright.

Then he saw Chu Wanning standing by the half-open window, dawn breaking outside with a gentle drizzle tapping against the glass.

Mo Ran exhaled in relief and reached out to him. "Shifu, come here..."

But Chu Wanning didn't move. He was fully dressed, his white garments as pure as snow, gazing quietly at the man in the bed. Mo Ran stared back, suddenly seized by an intense unease.

Chu Wanning said to him, "Mo Ran, it's time for me to go."

"Leave?" He was stunned. The bed was still warm, with strands of hair on the pillow and a faint, lingering scent of intimacy. Yet, Chu Wanning stood before him as if separated by a lake and an ocean, so distant. Mo Ran panicked. "Where are you going? This is the Red Lotus Water Pavilion, your home. We're already here. Where else do you need to go?"

Chu Wanning shook his head. He turned his face to look out the window at the gradually whitening sky. "There's no time left. Dawn is almost here."

"Wanning!!"

In the blink of an eye, the room was empty.

He hastily threw on clothes, ignoring his shoes and socks as he staggered out the door.

The night's wind had dispersed, and countless snowflakes drifted down. Most of the vibrant peach blossoms from the previous night had fallen, their remains covering the steps and furniture. On the stone table sat a completed Night Roamer figurine, with a metal glove and file discarded beside it, as if Chu Wanning had just left and could return at any moment.

"Wanning? Wanning!"

He ran frantically through the Red Lotus Water Pavilion, searching, but he kept circling around the lotus pond. Subconsciously, he didn't dare approach it; he didn't dare...

But in the end, he wandered there, disoriented and lost.

He walked barefoot on the cold bluestone path, feeling the chill seeping through his soles.

He stopped at a considerable distance from the lotus pond. From his pale toes all the way up, one could see a face devoid of any color.

With a dazed expression, he widened his eyes and gazed into the distance. He saw the man lying in the lotus pond, just as he had seen almost every day during the last two years of his previous life before his death.

Reclining amidst the lotus flowers, his body hadn't decayed, his clothes were clean and tidy—what difference was there from when he was alive?

...What difference was there indeed?!

He stepped forward, one by one.

Closer.

Even closer.

Just a little more, and he would be by the pond, able to see every single lash on his closed eyes, the slightly furrowed sword-like brows that seemed to remain eternally knitted, and the unfurled phoenix eyes that would never open again.

Yet, he hesitantly knelt down.

Kneeling on the stone floor, he curled up, trembling and quivering for a moment. Suddenly, he remembered the immortal medicine that Old Liu had entrusted to him, a potion capable of reviving the dead. Overwhelmed with joy, his fingers contorted and trembled as he frantically searched through his Qiankun Pouch, pulling out each item one by one.

"Immortal medicine... Immortal medicine... I need that elixir that can bring the dead back to life... Where is the immortal medicine?! Where is it?!!!"

Having searched through everything, he upended the entire Qiankun pouch, leaving no seam or stitch unexplored as his fingers meticulously combed through every inch.

But there wasn't.

The immortal herb is missing, it's not inside.

Or perhaps the collision with Elder Liu and obtaining the immortal medicine were all just part of a dream?

No, it was all a dream, one after another...

He fell apart, his consciousness fragmented, and he desperately rubbed his cheeks and eyelids, muttering, "No, that's not right... I clearly put them in... the immortal medicine... there was immortal medicine... there was... there was..."

He searched frantically again, kneeling before Chu Wanning's lifeless body in a hysterical search. A terrifying glow flickered in his eyes, but his voice grew increasingly choked and desperate. In the end, he threw himself forward and wept bitterly.

"I put it in, I put it in!!"

With a sweeping motion of his hand, he dispersed the scattered objects before him, sending countless tinkling porcelain vases rolling and shattering. Ignoring the shards that pierced into his knees, he crawled forward through the debris. His heart was set on the person lying in the lotus pond.

Eventually, he lifted Chu Wanning's lifeless body from the water, cradling it tightly against his chest.

—This was something he had always yearned to do in his previous life but never did.

Rain continued to fall softly as he held onto Chu Wanning's corpse. The sky began to brighten, but it mattered not to them. He wept, holding Chu Wanning close, pressing his cheek against his, kissing his nose, eyelashes, and lips.

"Master... Please... Acknowledge me... Please..."

In that moment, his figure overlapped with that of the orphaned child he once was, wailing in despair as he clutched his mother's decaying body on a burial ground, pleading with passersby to bury them together.

Back then, he was only five years old – a child who vowed never to witness his beloved ones decompose before his eyes, turning to dust.

Years flew by, and now, at thirty-two, Heaven-Stepping Lord alternated between maniacal laughter and mourning over his master's corpse.

The body was identical to how it had been in life. He had succeeded; he could make the deceased seem alive. There seemed to be a faint flush beneath the skin, as if the person were merely sleeping peacefully.

This time, he didn't beg anyone to bury him alongside Chu Wanning.

But Heaven-Stepping Lord had buried himself long ago, on the day Chu Wanning died. Ever since, he drowned himself in a sea of forgetfulness within the Red Lotus Water Pavilion, a living mausoleum. From that day forth, he had been buried alive.

"Master, pay attention to me..."

"Mo Ran!"

"Pay... attention to me..."

He vaguely heard someone calling his name, a familiar voice. Darkness surrounded him once more, and like a drowning man clutching at driftwood, he seized the hand reaching out to him, his voice choked with sobs. "Don't leave, I won't do any more wicked deeds, I promise I won't make you angry anymore..."

He clasped the man's fingers, their hands entwined.

He caught a subtle floral scent, the fragrance of a flowering crabapple tree.

"I possess an elixir that can revive the dead, but... I don't know why, I can't find it anymore... I can't find it, but please don't go, I beg you..." He disregarded everything and reached for the warmth of the body, embracing it tightly. "Please, I'd rather..."

"I'd rather the one who died be me."

"Mo Ran! Wake up!"

Yet he couldn't awaken. The pain was deeper than the ocean, drowning him, and he couldn't come to his senses.

His throat constricted as he clung tightly to the one calling for him. Tears welled in his eyes: "I wish it had been me who died, Master..."

"Damn it! What are you doing?! Hey!"

Suddenly, someone rushed over, grabbing hold of him, and chaos ensued. Someone poured a cold stream of water into his mouth.

Mo Ran shuddered with cold; the water was like thousand-year-old black ice, nearly freezing his lungs.

He snapped open his eyes!

"..."

The first thing he saw was Jiang Xi's gloomy face, holding a green jade bottle in hand. Clearly, it was the contents of that bottle that had just been forced down his throat.

"I..."

As soon as he tried to speak, he realized his voice was hoarse, leaving him momentarily speechless.

Then, he looked around and realized that he was back in the Ancestral Temple Heavenly Palace. His clothes were drenched in cold sweat, and everyone around him was staring at him with peculiar expressions, especially Xue Meng, whose face alternated between shades of green and white, looking extremely unwell.

He himself was lying on Chu Wanning's lap, his hands clasped tightly around Chu Wanning's waist. The originally solemn and dignified attire Chu Wanning wore was now disheveled from his actions in the dream, with the hem of his outer robe sliding off his shoulder.

Mo Ran: "…."

Had he... Had he said something he shouldn't have?

Chu Wanning's expression wasn't pleasant either, but he maintained a certain level of composure. He asked, "Why did you run so far ahead by yourself?"

"Master, I... I just... "

"You were hexed," Jiang Xi said, putting away the jade bottle and standing up again. Lowering his gaze, he continued, "Rest for a bit. I fed you with Dream-Breaking Cold Water, so you'll feel very cold. It should pass after a cup of tea."

Mo Ran was still reeling from the layers of terrifying dreams. His eyes remained unfocused, and it took him a long while before he muttered, "Hexed? ...But I was always careful. I didn't... I didn't sense any traces of sorcery..."

Jiang Xi's sharp claws and teeth emerged. "Sorcery? What does that foolish thing count as?"

Everyone present: "...."

"Do you believe the most ruthless, most invisible killer in this world is sorcery?" The Medicine Sect's Sect Leader narrowed his eyes and disdainfully waved his sleeves. "You couldn't be more wrong. In this world, the most potent force is medicine."

"In this Heavenly Palace, a bewitching incense called 'Nineteen Hells Incense' has been burned beforehand. This scent is colorless and odorless but can induce hallucinations, trapping one in their deepest fears," Jiang Xi paused here before looking at Mo Ran. "The greater the fear, the deeper the descent. I've saved a few people before who were plagued by Nineteen Hells Incense. Four to five drops of Dream-Breaking Cold Water were enough to rouse them. But do you know how much you consumed?"

"…How much?"

Jiang Xi seemed displeased as he replied, "Almost an entire vial. Enough to save over a hundred people, just to reclaim your consciousness. …I'm rather curious, Grandmaster Mo. You're young, so why do you harbor such profound fear? What exactly are you afraid of?"