The Husky and His White Cat Shizun

Chapter 241: The Truth of Dragon Blood Mountain

The scroll lit up once more, depicting a rainy morning. Huaizui sat in his meditation chamber, his fingers tracing the star and moon bodhi beads as he murmured Buddhist scriptures. Suddenly, a glow appeared at the entrance. Without turning, he struck the wooden fish and sighed, "You're awake?"

Mo Ran turned to see Chu Wanning standing outside, his slender figure seemingly melting into the thin daylight.

"Why did you save me, Shifu?"

"Vihara of No Sorrow cannot bear the sight of blood."

"..."

"You've already proven your sincerity. I understand your intentions. Go down the mountain on your own. From now on, don't come back."

Chu Wanning didn't retrieve any luggage. He gazed at that familiar silhouette amidst the incense and Buddhist chants, speaking after a moment, "Shifu."

Shifu.

What should he say next? A final farewell? Gratitude for the great kindness?

The bandage on his chest was still soaked with blood, though the knife had been removed, his heart ached relentlessly.

Fifteen years of trust had ended with Huaiwei's words, "I want your spirit core." And that would have been acceptable, for fifteen years, he had believed Huaiwei to be the embodiment of compassion and righteousness, caring for even the smallest blades of grass and ants. He had always thought that the world was as peaceful and stable as Lin'an City and the Upper cultivation realm.

But it was all a lie, a deception spun by Huaiwei.

This pain was a million times more excruciating than the shattering of his spirit core.

Chu Wanning closed his eyes. Finally, he said, "Farewell... Master."

He left behind his tenderness, trust, and innocence within the solemn monastery, all gifts once bestowed upon him by Huaiwei. They were taken away along with his shattered spirit core, the gushing blood, and the stolen affection.

He turned and walked away.

"I knew he would hate me," Huaiwei said softly, "even if I followed him down the mountain to walk the path of righteousness, the hurt in his heart would never fade." He continued, "I let him go, forever leaving an image of an unjust and selfish master in his memory. Since he no longer recognized me, I had no right to claim the title of his teacher anymore."

"At that time, not long after his birthday, he had turned fifteen. Our fifteen-year bond, through the seasons, joys, sorrows, and everything in between, came to an end from that day forward."

Huaiwei swept the steps of the courtyard as the leaves turned from vibrant green to brittle yellow, eventually withering away until not a trace of life remained on the branches. Another winter's snow fell, marking the passing of another year.

The monk, swathed in his thick robes, stood beneath the eaves, squinting at the snow-covered ground.

His face was still youthful, but his gaze held the weariness of an old man. Like all those approaching their twilight years, he enjoyed being lost in thought. After sitting quietly for just a while, he would inadvertently slip into a light doze.

"I'm already very old, two hundred years old. The events of my youth have started to fade from my mind, but the memories of the time I spent with Wanning have become clearer and clearer. Sometimes, I wonder if this is how parents feel about their children... But what kind of elder am I? I'm just a cowardly butcher."

Huaizui said, "The yin energy within me is growing weaker and weaker. It's unlikely that I'll ever atone in this lifetime. I don't want to go anywhere anymore. I'll stay secluded in Wubai Temple every day, only venturing out during the blooming of the peach blossoms to pick the most beautiful one and send it to the Realm of Ghosts as I usually do, entrusting it to Chu Xun."

"I've never been a man with a broad perspective, so there's only so much I can do. Any more, and I'd mess it up; faced with choices, I wouldn't know right from wrong. I planned on spending the rest of my days like this. Until one day— someone appeared in my courtyard."

It was late at night when the door was hastily knocked upon.

Huaizui rose to answer, and froze in surprise.

"...It's you?!"

Mo Ran, following behind, immediately recognized the person's face.

It was Chu Wanning.

Chu Wanning appeared extremely anxious, his complexion pale. The strangest thing was that despite the depths of winter, he was only wearing a thin summer shirt.

Mo Ran's first thought was that he must have given away his coat to another freezing homeless person. But then he realized it wasn't so. Chu Wanning was dressed neatly, and with permission from Huai Zui, he entered the bedroom like a trapped beast backed into a corner. Without any hesitation, he handed Huai Zui a charm-infused incense burner.

A myriad of thoughts choked Huai Zui, but all he could manage to ask was, "What... is wrong with you?"

"I can't sustain my magical power for long, so I don't have time to explain in detail," Chu Wanning said hastily. "This incense burner is crucial. I truly don't know who else to entrust it to. There are too many unknowns in this world. I have no idea what 'he' will become next or who might be spared. The only one I trust to protect this secret is you."

"... What are you talking about? Are you ill?"

Huai Zui didn't react, but Mo Ran standing beside him felt a jolt in his mind, his vision going black! He suddenly realized something was off about "Chu Wanning."

Earring hole!

This Chu Wanning had a piercing in his left ear, adorned with a tiny, crimson earring that resembled vermillion ink.

It was just an insignificant detail, yet it struck Mo Ran like a bolt of lightning, leaving him speechless.

This wasn't Chu Wanning... or rather, this wasn't the Chu Wanning of this world!

He... He hailed from his past life, from the era of the Immortal Trampler, otherwise there was no way he could possess this mark. Mo Ran clearly remembered that this earring was crafted using his own spiritual blood, imbued with a love curse that made Chu Wanning more responsive to his touch and advances.

Absolutely not wrong!

He could vividly recall the lecherous intent he had back then when he created this piercing, licking fiercely at Chu Wanning's left ear while overpowering him, feeling the man tremble beneath him as he punctured his earlobe with the needle during their intimate act.

Chu Wanning groaned, his brows knitted as he clutched at the bedding, unable to shake off the man atop him.

"Painful?"

He licked the fine trail of blood oozing from the tip of Chu Wanning's ear, a glint flickering in his eyes.

"Pain or stimulation?"

The earring pierced through the tender flesh, akin to a different kind of conquest over this person. Anything piercing into flesh would always hurt, regardless of what it was or where it went.

Seeing Chu Wanning quiver and whimper in pain, Mo Ran grew even more agitated, his fingers caressing Chu Wanning's chin as he turned his face for a fiery and wet kiss, panting as he asked,

"Why are you trembling just for an earring?"

He asked knowingly, applying force with his hand to roughly push the needle through Chu Wanning's earlobe without any regard for tenderness, brutal and savage.

"You see, it's pierced you," he murmured, stroking the new earring on Chu Wanning's lobe. "It's gone in."

"..."

"It's now within your flesh. From this moment on, you belong to me."

—Chu Wanning from his past life had come to this present mortal world.

This realization sent a chill down Mo Ran's spine, causing his scalp to tingle and his vision to blur. He felt as if he couldn't catch his breath. Staring blankly at the scene before him, he wondered, What on earth is going on?

He struggled to focus and listen to the conversation between Chu Wanning and Huaizui, but the shock was too overwhelming. He couldn't regain his composure immediately. He could only vaguely grasp what Chu Wanning was saying to Huaizui, with fragments of phrases like "Door of Time and Life," "Destructive Forbidden Spell," and "inevitable" occasionally drifting into his ears.

He saw Huaizui suddenly collapse onto the chair, his face pale and his pupils constricted.

"How can you prove that what you're saying is true?"

"...I cannot provide proof." In the end, Mo Ran heard Chu Wanning say, "All I can do is ask Master to trust me."

"...This is preposterous. You claim to have come from another world through the Gate of Life and Death, where there was a being called... called..."

"Heaven-Stepping Lord."

"There was a Heaven-Stepping Lord who wreaked havoc and nearly overturned the entire cultivation realm. You discovered his secret, so you went to great lengths to open the Gate of Life and Death to enter this world? To rewrite everything?"

"It's not about rewriting, but prevention. If things continue like this, they'll eventually master the incantation of the Gate of Life and Death. When that happens, it won't just be our world that ends." Chu Wanning paused, his eyes reflecting the flickering candlelight. "No one will escape."

"Hogwash," Huaizui muttered. "How could... This is simply... nonsense..."

Chu Wanning kept glancing at the water clock outside Huaizui's door, calculating the time. Anxiety gradually gathered in his gaze. "Even if Master doesn't believe me now, you will eventually understand. Before that, please seal this incense burner within a cave on Dragon Blood Mountain. I've placed the most crucial spell inside; let it slowly dissipate there. Master needn't concern yourself with it. All you need to do is..."

Huaizui lifted his head, looking at Chu Wanning as if he were a madman, a dreamlike expression on his face.

"All you need to do is prevent anyone from approaching the Dragon Blood Mountain cave. Until Master believes my words, find a way to bring the 'me' in this world and a person named Mo Ran to Dragon Blood Mountain—the rest is already taken care of by the spells within the incense burner, so there's no need to worry."

Huaizui's lips moved weakly as if he wanted to say something, but a shrill whistle suddenly echoed outside the window.

The sound was identical to the one that had accompanied Heaven-Stepping Lord's disappearance.

Upon hearing this commotion, Chu Wanning's face grew even paler. He stared almost anxiously into Huai Zui's eyes. "Please, apart from you, no one else in this world can help me. There is no one else I can entrust myself to."

At the mention of entrustment, Huai Zui was taken aback.

His eyes seemed to have suddenly acquired the turbidity and weariness of an aged person.

In the end, he took the incense burner and nodded slightly.

The whistle grew sharper. Chu Wanning glanced back at the night outside the window before addressing Huai Zui. "Master, please guard the Dragon Blood Mountain Cave with all your might. And if... as I said, if the Heaven-Stepping Lord appears, or... if the Great Rift in the Ghost Realm occurs as I predicted, the situation will inevitably change. At that time, Master must believe that what I have said today is absolutely true."

The shrill whistle pierced the eardrums, almost tearing them apart.

Chu Wanning turned and ran into the night, only managing to cast a deep, longing glance at Huai Zui. He had intended to perform the traditional teacher-student salute, but halfway through lifting his hand, he paused, closed his eyes, and made a long bow, bidding farewell.

In that instant, an unexpected surge of courage welled up within Huai Zui, and he abruptly stood up, calling out to Chu Wanning, "You... Do you know what I've done? Didn't the me in that world do the same to you?... You won't believe me anymore!"

But Chu Wanning merely shook his head, his face blurred in the darkness.

"Master..." His figure grew increasingly distant, "I don't have time... Please, find a way..."

"By any means necessary, this matter is too crucial. Please persuade him to heed my words and join me on Dragon Blood Mountain."

And then he was gone.

The night was deep, the stars shimmering through the darkness like water.

Hua Zui chased out of the courtyard but could only see a fleeting shadow, darker than the night itself, vanishing into the distance. Chu Wanning was nowhere to be found, leaving only the incense burner in his hand, brimming with spiritual energy, tightly clenched within his grasp as proof that this was not a dream.

Mo Ran's vision swayed violently, the scenes he had just witnessed crumbling like an avalanche, leaving behind debris and fragments.

"He said any means were acceptable, but what methods could there be?" Hua Zui sighed. "He no longer trusts me, avoiding me at every turn. Moreover, I still held reservations in my heart, unsure if all of this was a cunning scheme."

"It wasn't until the Day of Butterfly Tears, when Wanning passed away, that I resolved to write to him after reviving him."

"That letter was carefully composed, for I dared not reveal the truth outright, uncertain of how powerful the person behind the scenes truly was. I had no other excuse to seek him out. Besides, he possesses immense magical power, and holds the esteemed position of Elder Yu Heng at the Summit of Life and Death. It was impossible for me to force him to leave. Eventually, I thought that his spiritual core had yet to fully mend, which must have caused him great inconvenience. Thus, I invited him to Dragon Blood Mountain under this pretense."

"But I deceived him for fourteen years. So no matter how earnest my words, he ultimately refused to trust me..."

A long, melancholic sigh echoed, tinged with a sense of bewilderment.

"I've been waiting. Just like nearly two decades ago, when I imprisoned him on the mountain and visited him daily, hoping he would change. Later, I went to Dragon Blood Mountain every day, hoping he would return."

"How wonderful it would be if he could give me another chance."

The old monk's voice, aged like a severed kite string, drifted away into the distance: "My days are truly numbered, and I know I cannot wait much longer. So in the end, I created this scroll. In it, I pondered repeatedly, altering it again and again, reluctantly adding memories I once didn't wish to include. But in the end, I'm still a coward. I actually don't want him to see this scroll while I'm still alive... I can't bear to see that look of sorrow in his eyes. That look he had at fourteen, I've seen enough of it."

"So, Wanning..." He let out a gentle sigh, as if a burden had been lifted, "By the time you read this, I... should have passed away."

"As selfish as I am, to avoid seeing your hatred, I dare reveal the whole truth to you only before I depart, to the child named Mo Ran you mentioned. I'm sorry, that year, it was my mistake. You were always a living, breathing person."

Huai Zui paused for a moment before his voice suddenly turned hoarse. He spoke his last words in this world.

"Young Master Chu, can you forgive me?"

His title of "Young Master Chu" hung in the air, addressed either to the future Chu Wanning a hundred years later or the past Chu Xun a hundred years earlier.

As the echoes faded, a sudden breeze stirred, carrying countless fragments of memories like snowflakes, gently brushing against their faces. Two hundred years of guilt and punishment, fourteen years of joy and sorrow, all converged in this moment...

A child laughed, "You say one, I say one, what blooms in the water? Lotus blooms in the water."

The youth protested, "If one does not understand the salvation of others, how can they save themselves? This path to immortality is not worth treading."

Finally, his phoenix eyes closed, "Farewell then... Master."

All these scenes unfolded like a flickering lantern show, overlapping in vivid detail. At the brightest moment, Mo Ran saw Hua Zui's hunched back again, carving the final stroke on the divine wood at the desk.

The evening bell tolled.

"I shall name you... Chu Wanning."

With that, waves of emotion surged, and Mo Ran was tossed about in this torrent of memories before being abruptly expelled from the scroll, landing on the gravel outside Dragon Blood Mountain's cave.

Time passed differently within and without the scroll. Now, in the mortal realm, it was dusk, with a magnificent expanse of crimson skies and a tranquil setting sun. Lying there, Mo Ran felt as if he had returned to that night many years ago, when Hua Zui shed blood on the wood, giving birth to a child named Chu Wanning in the world.

His gaze unfocused as he lay on the ground.

"Master... Wanning..."

He finally understood why someone as resilient as Chu Wanning had broken down in his arms, weeping uncontrollably. He finally knew.

But the cost of that knowledge was too great, like being flayed alive by a thousand blades.

Was it all his fault?

It was the fault of the Immortal Emperor from his past life, Mo Ran thought. Chu Wanning had spent two lifetimes trying to stop him from wreaking havoc upon the world.

Chu Wanning's spirit nucleus had been excavated.

The kind brother who saved his life in front of the Temple of No Sorrow.

Not human... but the spirit of a divine tree...

Each revelation struck like a brick, and just one truth could shatter bones and mangle flesh. How much more so when they were piled together?

For a moment, Mo Ran felt as if he lay on the ground, his bones crushed beyond repair, unable to do anything at all.

Everything was in chaos.

His eyes shifted, seeing Chu Wanning sitting quietly with his eyes closed. Suddenly, regret solidified into bone, affection formed into flesh, and pain became blood. The desire to protect this person roused him from his extreme confusion and emptiness, urging him to struggle out of the quagmire.

He rose slowly and approached Chu Wanning.

Chu Wanning opened his eyes, gazing at him.

Neither of them spoke first.

In the end, Mo Ran bent down to embrace him. "Shifu, whether it's the Divine Tree or a human being, as long as you're still willing to have me..." He held back, yet still his voice trembled with emotion. "I've always been..."

Always what?

Standing by your side?

He was not worthy.

Thus, he eventually said with self-loathing and pain, "I'll always be standing in front of you."

I cannot accompany you, I'm not worthy of you. I'm so despicable and filthy, capable of destroying heaven and earth, but you are pure and untainted.

I can no longer stand by your side, Wanning.

Let me stand before you, shielding you from blood and blades.

Until the very day of my death.