The Husky and His White Cat Shizun

Chapter 244: Snake Shedding at Dragon Blood Mountain

Solitary Moon Night.

The cultivators who had escaped from Dragon Mountain were all treated by Medicine Sect disciples, having the piercing insects removed and their wounds bandaged. However, the air was thick with despondency, a pervasive sense of gloom hanging heavily in the atmosphere.

Xue Meng sat on the beach of Linling Island, his Dragon City curved blade resting across his lap as he gazed blankly at the ebb and flow of the tide, up and down.

Footsteps suddenly echoed from behind him, and he spun around, his eyes wide with eager anticipation. But when he saw who it was, his hope vanished, and he turned his gaze back to the vast ocean.

Mei Hanxue sat down beside him.

"Your father received a message and had to return to the Peak of Life and Death urgently. He left in a hurry, so he asked me to come and tell you."

Silence.

"It seems neither you nor your father are in high spirits."

"Just go away if you know that."

Mei Hanxue didn't roll away but tossed him a leather flask instead. "Want some wine?"

Xue Meng turned with rage, his expression resembling that of a porcupine with bristles raised. "Drink my head off? I'm not that degenerate!"

Mei Hanxue smiled gently, his golden tresses swaying softly in the sea breeze, lending a tender touch to his appearance. His eyes were like pale jade, resembling two pools of tranquil green water adorned with fallen blossoms.

"How can drinking be considered degenerate?" Mei Hanxue raised his hand to smooth his disheveled hair by his temple, revealing a delicate silver bell tied around his wrist. "I've heard that the Peak of Life and Death forbids indulgence, but surely getting drunk is allowed."

"..."

"I once heard that Lord Chu adored White Pear Blossom wine. As his disciple, how come you haven't learned even half his capacity for alcohol?"

Xue Meng glared at him fiercely, opening his mouth as if to curse, but ultimately saying nothing. He grabbed the flask, untied it, and took a large gulp.

"What a bold move. This is Treading Snow Palace's fiery liquor – its taste is most—"

"Spit!" The bold Young Master Xue spat out most of the drink, his face turning green. "Cough! Cough! Cough! Cough! Cough!"

"..." Mei Hanxue pursed his lips, seemingly surprised. "Can't you hold your liquor?"

Xue Meng's pride was wounded, and he pushed away Mei Hanxue's hand that was trying to retrieve the wineskin. He then tilted his head back for another swig, this time even more recklessly. After swallowing, he immediately turned his head and vomited it all out.

Mei Hanxue, surprisingly, found himself at a loss. "I didn't know you... Forget it, stop drinking."

"Get lost!"

"Hand me the flask."

"Scram!" Frustrated, Xue Meng lashed out at whoever provoked him. He glared fiercely at Mei Hanxue. "You tell me to drink, I drink. You tell me to stop, I stop. What about my dignity? Do I have no shame?"

As he spoke, he slapped his own cheeks forcefully, already showing signs of intoxication.

It was rumored on the Peak of Life and Death: Master Chu could drink a thousand cups without getting drunk, but Young Master Xue would collapse after just one.

Mei Hanxue wasn't from the Peak of Life and Death, so he naturally didn't know this saying. Even if he did, he wouldn't have dared to force such strong alcohol on Xue Meng.

After Xue Meng finished vomiting, he clutched the wineskin and drank again. This time, he took four or five gulps before gasping for air. His complexion immediately turned even worse.

Mei Hanxue promptly snatched back the wineskin and frowned. "Stop drinking. Go rest. You've been alone, facing the sea breeze for a long time."

But Xue Meng insisted, "I'm waiting for someone to come back."

"..."

"I... I..." Staring straight at him with a glazed look, Xue Meng cried out after a while, "You don't understand, you really don't. I'm waiting for my brother, I'm waiting for my master, I'm waiting for Shi Mo... Do you know? Four people, it's not right without one of us, we're not the same anymore with one missing..."

Mei Hanxue knew how to comfort women.

It was simply about pulling them close and whispering heartfelt words, promising eternal love under the moonlight, addressing the issue directly and effectively.

But he had never comforted a man before.

Xue Meng didn't need comforting either. He had just held it in for too long, and with the alcohol kicking in, his emotions finally spilled over. He only wanted to vent.

"I'm the only one left now, the only one out of the four of us – it hurts inside. Damn it, do you understand?!"

Mei Hanxue sighed and said, "I do."

"You're a liar, you couldn't possibly understand." Sobbing, Xue Meng suddenly buried his head and wailed. He hugged Longcheng Blade tightly, as if it were his last piece of driftwood or reed.

The swindler didn't know how to persuade him, so he said again, "Alright then, I don't understand."

"You heartless bastard, why don't you understand? !" There was no reasoning with a drunkard. Xue Meng lifted his face fiercely and glared at him, tears glistening in his eyes but malice radiating from him. "What don't you understand? Isn't it very clear?"

He extended his finger. "Four!!"

Removing one, then another. When the third finger was removed, he collapsed once more as if that third finger was his tear duct. Xue Meng said, "There's only one left, only me left. Do you understand now?"

Mei Hanxue: "…"

He didn't want to be a swindler or a heartless bastard, so he couldn't answer whether he understood or not. Thus, he simply chose to remain silent.

Xue Meng glared at him for a while before turning away. "Ugh—!!!"

Mei Gongzi was the most charming, and usually, others would be smitten by his face. This was the first time someone had stared at him for a moment and actually thrown up.

Mei Hanxue had a slight headache. "What's wrong with you? When we were young, you vomited when I fed you fish mint. Now, as an adult, you vomit after drinking Kunlun wine. You're even harder to please than a maiden."

Looking at the person who was bent over, vomiting until they couldn't catch their breath, his light green eyes were filled with helplessness. "Alright, you've finished scolding and vomiting. Go rest now. Neither your brother, your master, nor your friends would like to see you like this."

He said, rising to help Xue Meng.

Xue Meng, having vomited, seemed weak, his steps unsteady. He no longer attempted to shake off the arm supporting him.

Mei Hanxue led him along the lengthy coastline, entering Solitary Moon Night's backdoor, preparing to escort him inside for rest.

But before they reached the entrance of the flower hall, Mei Hanxue sensed a thick, oppressive intent to kill permeating the air.

Abruptly, he halted Xue Meng. The two swiftly concealed themselves behind a corridor, catching Xue Meng off guard. He let out an "uh," but Mei Hanxue promptly covered his mouth.

"Be quiet."

"Hand... take it off... I... want to vomit..." It was barely audible grunting.

Mei Hanxue replied, "Swallow it down."

Xue Meng: "..."

To prevent the drunkard from causing trouble, Mei Hanxue touched Xue Meng's lips with his finger, casting a silencing spell. Then, he turned his face and, with his eyes darting, peered into the flower hall.

The scene before him left him utterly stunned.

—Mo Ran? !

Most of the sect leaders and elders had already returned to their respective sects, for Dragon Mountain's upheaval demanded they reinforce their territory's barriers.

But Solitary Moon Night still had numerous injured cultivators, who now gathered in the flower hall, staring at the man standing in its center with fearful expressions.

"Tsk tsk." Mo Ran wore a floor-length cloak of black and gold, his eyes narrowed as he surveyed the surroundings. "Look at all these familiar faces. I never thought, after so many years, I'd see you all standing here, full of vitality."

Someone mustered the courage to shout at him, "M-Mo Weiyu! What the hell are you doing all of a sudden?! Are you possessed?!"

"Mad?" Mo Ran's thin lips curled into a mocking smile. "To speak to This Seat like that, it is you who are mad."

With those words, a streak of black light flashed, and the man stood frozen on the spot as blood spewed from his chest, splattering upward toward the ceiling.

"Someone's been killed!"

"What did you do, Mo Ran?!"

Amidst the chaos, someone wailed desperately, "Quick, go find Headmaster Jiang! Quick, go find Headmaster Jiang!"

"Oh?" Mo Ran lifted his eyelids slowly. "Headmaster Jiang, you mean Jiang Xi?"

"..."

"He's quite skilled. Among the people I've killed, he'd definitely rank in the top ten."

"What on earth are you babbling about?!"

Mei Hanxue also sensed something was off. This wasn't the Grandmaster Mo he knew. This man was filled with resentment, exuding a sinister aura all over.

Yet, no matter how he looked at it, this person was identical to Mo Ran, even their voice was the same. How could anyone replicate another person's appearance and voice so perfectly in such a short time?

An elder from Solitary Moon Night in the flower hall spoke, "Grandmaster Mo, I'm afraid you've been cursed by the Dark Dragon of Dragon Mountain. Please sit down first, let this old man take your pulse..."

His words were cut short.

"What do you mean?" Mo Ran narrowed his eyes. "Old fogey, are you beating around the bush to call me sick?"

Elder: "..."

"Well, if you're so eager to heal people, I'll help you out. There'd be no doctors left with an absence of sickness in the world, and that's a principle I understand," he said, as his shadow swooped, causing screams to echo through the hall as blood splattered everywhere.

When Mo Ran swept back his black robe and calmly returned to the center of the grand hall, standing on the dark red Du Ruowen carpet, the room was now filled with amputees, cripples, and some even more tragically, their organs exposed, dead on the spot.

Mo Ran looked at the elder who had collapsed on the ground and asked, "How about it? Are you happy with all these patients I've delivered for you to treat?"

"Mo... Mo Weiyu..."

"All the best with your grand opening. Congratulations on your prosperity," Mo Ran smiled, then walked out among the writhing or lifeless corpses. "Oh, right."

At the entrance of the hall, he turned his head to address the group. "I almost forgot to mention, you've been freeloaders in the Upper Realm for centuries. Remember to inform your sect leader — sooner or later, I will flatten every single sect in the Upper Realm."

A particularly stubborn voice rasped, "Mo Ran, you're a coward! You only dare to come to this healing hall for severely injured cultivators because you're afraid of encountering the other sect leaders!"

"Afraid of them?" Mo Ran narrowed his eyes. "Even if you all join forces once again, with your armies pressing down on me, as long as I don't wish to die, who among you could possibly harm me?"

"Mo Ran, have you lost your mind?! Are you working with Hua Binan?! W-What exactly are you planning?!"

Mo Ran's dimples dug deep as his eyes shimmered with an enigmatic glow. After a moment, he replied leisurely, "…What does this seat want? You ask."

A strange radiance seemed to flicker across his handsome face before he closed his eyes.

"The things this seat desires, even I myself am unsure. In any case, no one in this world can give it, and no one can make this seat happy anymore." He spoke casually, "Having been a mere shell of a person for so many years, I have long lost all desires and needs. But if you insist on asking—"

Suddenly, he smiled.

Lifting his eyelids, his black eyes seemed to gleam with a crimson sheen.

"To witness your deaths."

The entire hall was stunned. Mo Ran swept his gaze over the pale faces and couldn't help but laugh under his lashes. "I haven't seen such an amusing sight in a while. It's quite lively."

"Mo Ran... You're really crazy..."

"You've said that twice now." Suddenly, his smile twisted, and a loud bang echoed! In the blink of an eye, Mo Ran had darted behind the person like lightning, slapping down hard with one hand, splattering brains everywhere!

"Ahh—"

Amidst the screams, Mo Ran lifted his blood-splattered, handsome face, revealing a pair of eerily feral eyes that swept across the scattering crowd like a predator.

"I'd be disappointing you if I didn't go mad for a bit," he said to the man whose skull he had just crushed. The victim's blood flowed down his head and face, but Mo Ran didn't spare him a glance, as if he had just finished an ordinary meal. He calmly and coldly looked around at everyone else.

"Enough killing fools for today." A smile slowly curved on his lips as he casually nudged the corpse aside with his foot. "It gets dull when you finish them all at once. I'll be lonely with too many deaths. I'll let you live a few more days."

Pausing, he continued, "When I get the itch again, I'll crush another skull for fun."

In the midst of the bloodstains, he strolled out of the hall leisurely. At the door, he glanced aside and said, "Until then, remember to keep your heads intact."

With a loud laugh, he wrapped himself in his cloak and darted up the eaves, his figure quickly disappearing behind the ornate arches.

Three days later.

In the stone chamber of Dragon Blood Mountain, both Mo Ran and Chu Wanning were still unconscious due to the spell's effects. Suddenly, the incense burner began to rattle, expelling black smoke and blood. A shrill, piercing scream echoed from within, reverberating throughout the cave.

Mo Ran jolted awake, his eyes snapping open.

The pain in his chest had vanished, and there were no injuries to be seen. The mysterious veil of smoke that had connected him with Chu Wanning was now gone as well.

"Master!"

He immediately sat up, only to suddenly notice that a third person had entered the cave without his knowledge.

This person stood with their back to him by the stone table, closely examining the smoldering incense burner that emitted a burnt odor. Their figure was tall and elegant, exuding an indescribable charm. They lifted the lid of the censer, revealing a slender, white hand that plucked out a thousand-petaled exotic flower from within, holding it gently in their palm.

"It's completely destroyed," the person whispered softly. Then, with a slight exertion of force between their fingers, the black flower crumbled into dust.

A shimmering white glow immediately rose from the ashes. The person, with their hands behind their back, gazed at the white light with a sense of relief. "Hmm, fortunately, when I refined this flower, I fused a fragment of my own soul within it. Without that piece of my soul guiding me, it would have been incredibly difficult to locate this cave amidst the vast expanse of the world."

As if understanding the person's words, the white light circled around them slowly. However, its radiance gradually faded until it vanished entirely.

Mo Ran croaked, "You are…?"

Hearing the sound, the person set down the incense burner and sighed. "You're awake?"

"Who are you?"

The man replied nonchalantly, "Who else could I be?"

His voice sounded eerily familiar, but Mo Ran had just awakened, and his consciousness was still muddled, as if he had just emerged from a deep, thousand-year-long dream. It took him a moment to recognize the voice.

Who else could this person be?

From what he had just said, it seemed related to that mysterious black flower, and refining plant and insect poisons was precisely what Solitary Moon Night was best at... Was it... Hua Binan?

The mention of Hua Binan immediately brought Shi Mo to mind, stirring up a surge of hatred within Mo Ran. Before he could speak, the person turned around.

The stone cave was dimly lit, but with that turn, the room was suddenly illuminated as if bathed in a warm glow. The man was truly breathtakingly beautiful.

His usual loose hair was now pulled back and tied high, adorned with an intricately embroidered headband that sat perfectly on his forehead. His entire demeanor was different—there was not a trace of vulnerability left in him. His captivating eyes shimmered with emotion, clear and bright.

This beauty shocked Mo Ran like a bolt of lightning, two words escaping his lips with a jolt, piercing through the silence like arrows:

"Shi Mo?!!"

It was indeed Shi Mo... It was actually Shi Mo!!!

This peerlessly charming beauty brushed aside a lock of hair from his temple and said coolly, "Aran, are you really that surprised to see me?"

Blood rushed against the membranes of his skull, creating a buzzing noise in his head. Mo Ran couldn't wrap his mind around why Shi Mo would suddenly appear here, or why he looked so unfamiliar.

He was frozen in place, with countless words stuck in his throat. In the end, all he managed to hesitate out was, "Your... your eyes..."

"I'm not injured," Shi Mo smiled as he approached Mo Ran. "I came to see the person I admire. If I were blind or disfigured, who would like me?"

"..."

Mo Ran gradually regained his composure from the playful expression and demeanor of Shi Mo, but for a moment, he found himself unable to speak. His shock was like a dark cloud hanging over his city, leaving his mind blank.

"How... how can it be you... Sacred Hand of Cold Scales?!"

A surge of anger suddenly rose within him.

In this moment, Mo Ran finally understood how Xue Meng had felt in his previous life. There was nothing more painful than being betrayed and schemed against by someone he had lived and worked with every day.

"Sacred Hand of Cold Scales!!!"

"Oh, him," Shi Mo smiled. "There's plenty of time for explanations later."

As he spoke, he stepped forward, inch by inch, until he was pressed against Mo Ran.

Shi Mo chuckled. "After such a tumultuous event, I would much rather have a heart-to-heart with the one I admire first, rather than discussing Cold Scale Sacred Hand."

Mo Ran was both furious and chilled to the bone, his face turning an ashen shade of green. "What is there left to talk about between us?"

The handsome, refined man chuckled softly. "Hmm?" His eyes, soft like smoke and mist, gazed at Mo Ran's face. "Our personalities clash, so indeed, there's nothing to discuss."

As he spoke, the hem of his robe brushed the ground as he passed by Mo Ran, eventually stopping in front of Chu Wanning. Before Mo Ran could react, Shi Mo gently extended his slender hand and caressed Chu Wanning's cheek.

"..." Mo Ran's mind was blank, unable to comprehend the intention behind this action.

Shi Mo, however, gazed intently at Chu Wanning, seemingly oblivious to others, and spoke softly, "Master, did that brute hurt you? How pitiful... Speaking of which, are you going to regain your memories?"

His fingertips, delicate as water bamboo shoots, touched the sleeping man's lower lip. Shi Mo narrowed his eyes, his beauty still captivating, yet now resembling a deadly poison.

"It's good if you regain your memories. There were some tricks you pulled back then that I still can't figure out. When you wake up, we can exchange insights on our tactics."

He paused and smiled, saying, "In your previous life, you were cunning and deceitful, manipulating events to bully your disciple dreadfully. If it had been anyone else treating me like that, I would have suffered a thousand deaths and still not enough. But with you, even though you went against me, I still love and cherish you."

As he spoke, he glanced at Mo Ran before unexpectedly leaning down to kiss Chu Wanning's cheek. Lowering his eyes, he sighed and murmured, "Who can help it? I love you. My wonderful Master."