The Husky and His White Cat Shizun

Chapter 99: Master's Third Weapon

That night, Mo Ran fell asleep leaning against a peach blossom tree.

There were many places on the Summit of Life and Death that bore the traces of Chu Wanning's life. If he wanted to mourn, the Red Lotus Water Pavilion would be the perfect spot. However, only by leaning on this flowering tree did his heart ache less, allowing him to sense just a hint of mortal life.

Once, he believed that taking Chu Wanning as his master was the greatest misfortune that befell him. From the beginning, he thought that bowing in respect had been a mistake.

But now he realized that the unfortunate one was not Mo Weiyu but Chu Wanning, who stood amidst the blooming flowers, lost in his own thoughts.

"Immortal Lord, Immortal Lord, please acknowledge me."

He vaguely recalled his first words to his master. They might have been slightly different, but it had been too long, and the memory had blurred.

Yet, he could still vividly remember the look of confusion and mild surprise on Chu Wanning's face when he lifted his eyelashes.

His eyes and brows seemed gentle.

Now, lying beneath the flower tree, Mo Ran thought that if time could turn back to the day he chose his master, he should never have persisted in pestering Chu Wanning to take him as an apprentice.

For that fleeting glance, the price to pay was an endless entanglement and Chu Wanning's very life.

Two lifetimes now.

Both had been ruined by his own hands.

Two lifetimes...

His throat convulsed as he choked back tears, closing his eyes. Amidst the excruciating pain that felt like a thousand ants devouring his heart, he eventually fell into a shallow sleep.

Then, the memories he had dared not touch since his rebirth broke free from their shackles in his dreams, wielding knives that dug deep into his heart.

Back then, he had already reached the pinnacle of human power, while Chu Wanning had long been stripped of his spiritual core and confined within the palace, devoid of freedom.

However, after several assassination attempts, the last one even involving Xue Meng and Mei Hanxue working together, Mo Ran, despite his formidable powers, narrowly escaped death but suffered severe injuries. He spent over a month recuperating within the palace before regaining his strength.

Sichuan was known for its rain, and during that period, it drizzled incessantly day and night.

Mo Ran donned a heavy brocade robe, his slender fingers clasping the fabric. Standing beneath the arcade, he gazed at the gloomy sky, his expression a mix of pleasure and madness. Though he remained silent, everyone could sense the distorted humanity within him. His strikingly handsome face belied the darkness and brutality that often shone in his eyes, devoid of any tenderness.

The longer he sat in his elevated position, the more evident this gloominess became.

Footsteps sounded from behind him, but he didn't turn back, only saying, "You're here?"

"Are you planning to annihilate the Treading Snow Palace of Kunlun?" Chu Wanning's voice echoed through the grand hall.

Mo Ran replied, "So what if I am?"

"You've forgotten your promise to me, haven't you? You said you wouldn't harm Xue Meng's life again."

With a calm tone, Mo Ran said, "Master came all this way but didn't ask about my injuries or if it's cold standing here in the wind. You're only concerned with whom I should kill and whom I shouldn't?"

"Mo Weiyu, I'm here to tell you not to do anything that will make you regret it later."

"Haha, regret? The one who should be regretting is you, Master. When I slaughtered the Confucian Wind Sect, you fought me to the death, shattering your spirit core. Now, as I plan to decimate the Treading Snow Palace, you're no different from an ordinary human, no longer capable of even challenging me. Don't you regret interfering back then?"

After finishing his words, Mo Ran turned his face slightly and looked back, a cruel smile tugging at the corners of his lips. A gleam flickered in his eyes as he said, "Chu Wanning, you're now a cripple. What can you possibly use to stop me now?"

Perhaps because he truly had nothing left, Chu Wanning was silent for a long time.

A thunderous boom echoed, followed by a downpour of rain that leaked through the roof and rafters.

Chu Wanning finally closed his eyes, then reopened them to softly say, "Don't go."

His black robes billowed as Mo Ran turned around.

Behind him was a leaden sky and a miserable storm; he gazed at Chu Wanning in the temple and asked, "Why shouldn't I go? I gave Xue Meng a chance. That year, you willingly submitted beneath me for his sake. I upheld my promise, took you as my own, and spared his life—now he wants to kill me. Tell me, what right do I have not to go?"

"..."

"Can't speak?" Mo Ran sneered. "Scold me, insult me, Chu Wanning. Aren't you capable? I know Xue Meng is your pride and joy, your most accomplished disciple. You think he's innocent, but to me, he's just a piece of dirt under his shoe."

"Enough." Chu Wanning's face was pale, his brows knitted tightly as if he was suppressing something with great effort.

"Not enough! How could it be enough?" Seeing this, Mo Ran's malicious delight intensified. His rage, ecstasy, hatred, and jealousy were like flames fanned by oil, torturing his soul.

His eyes shone with a sharp glint as he paced back and forth. "There won't be a second chance, Chu Wanning. Not for him. I'll kill him, skin him, and trample on his flesh. I'll use his skull as a cup for wine! I'll rip out his organs and grind his flesh into soup! You can't stop me! —Chu Wanning, you can't stop me!"

His eyes reddened from the emotion, and he grew more and more agitated, bordering on madness.

Suddenly, a hand grabbed the collar of his robe and slapped him across the face.

"Are you done going mad!"

Chu Wanning was so close that he could see the other man's eyelashes quivering, and tears shimmering in his eyes.

"Mo Ran... wake up, wake up..."

"I'm awake!" The searing pain on his cheek only fueled his madness. He glared at Chu Wanning's face and suddenly erupted in fury, "I'm wide awake! It's you who's sleeping! Are you blind?"

He pushed the other person away and tore open his own clothing, revealing the blood-soaked bandage beneath.

"Are you blind, Chu Wanning!" he roared, jabbing at his own chest. Unsatisfied with this display of anger, he ferociously tore the bandage away, revealing a mangled mass of flesh beneath, shrouded in a haze of blood...

"Who did this? Your precious disciple! Xue Meng! If his Dragon City had been a bit further off, I would have died! Tell me, why should I spare him?"

"In your eyes, only his life is precious, but mine isn't, right? !" Fueled by resentment, Mo Ran abruptly seized Chu Wanning's hand and pressed it against his own bleeding wound. "Didn't you want to stop me? Fine, I'll give you the chance. Rip out my heart! —Chu Wanning, if you have the guts, tear out my damn heart!!"

"..." Chu Wanning's fingertips trembled, so icy, so cold.

Mo Ran gazed at him with furious, savage intensity, the veins in his neck pulsating uncontrollably.

He grated out, "Go on, then. Take it."

Outside, rain poured down in a deluge, pounding against the roof and eaves with an erratic, frenzied rhythm.

Silence reigned, deathly still.

No one made a move.

After what seemed like an eternity, Mo Ran finally released Chu Wanning's hand, his breaths coming out in low, heavy pants as he declared with resolute determination, "I will have Xue Ziming and Mei Hanxue's lives at any cost."

"..."

" Hate me, Shifu," Mo Ran said. "After all, this is how my life is now, and this is how our lives will be. We can't turn back, so let's stumble forward in the dark together. On the path to the Yellow Springs, I'll accompany more old acquaintances."

That day, as Chu Wanning watched his distant black figure fade away, he spoke one final word.

He said, "Mo Ran, if you were to destroy Treading Snow Palace and kill Xue Meng, I would die before you. I have nothing left to bargain with you, but at least I can choose how I die."

Mo Ran paused upon hearing this, then turned half of his handsome face toward him, smiling in the dim rain.

"As long as I'm here, you won't die."

"..."

"I could even drag you back from the Realm of the Dead if you bled to death. No matter how much you disgust me, you'll still have to spend your life with me." After his outburst, Mo Ran's face gradually regained its usual calm and murderous composure. He said, "My dear Shifu, just stay obediently on the Summit of Life and Death. When I bring Xue Meng back, I'll let him see for himself the debauched state of the deity he's been pining for day and night beneath me. We were at least fellow disciples once, so I should let him die with a clear understanding."

However, Mo Ran never expected that Master Chu would remain Master Chu after all.

A month later, Mo Ran fulfilled his boast. Standing proudly atop Kunlun Mountain, before the Heavenly Lake, he had captured Mei Hanxue and Xue Meng, binding them to ice pillars. He then controlled the thousand inhabitants of Treading Snow Palace with a precious chess game, forcing them to slaughter each other before Mei and Xue's eyes.

The snow-capped mountains were instantly dyed a rosy hue, the blood staining the Heavenly Lake and seeping into the mountains.

Mo Ran sat leisurely at the entrance of Treading Snow Palace, eating grapes handed to him by a servant while watching the scene with a smile.

He asked Xue Meng, whose gaze was nearly unfocused, "Mengmeng, isn't it a beautiful sight?"

"{...}" Xue Meng didn't react at all, as if he had lost his hearing.

Satisfied with this response, Mo Ran smiled even more intimately and asked, "Did you enjoy the show your cousin put on for you?"

"... Let Treading Snow Palace go."

Hearing such a faint whisper, Mo Ran blinked and asked, "What did you say?"

"Let Treading Snow Palace go." The once bright gaze of Xue Meng was now dimmed. "Let them go, let Mei Hanxue go... It was me who wanted to kill you that time. Take my life instead, don't harm others."

Mo Ran chuckled. "Are you trying to negotiate with me?"

"No," Xue Meng replied with empty eyes. "I'm begging you."

The heavenly prodigy said, "I'm begging you."

His inner demon was suddenly delighted. A glow appeared in Mo Ran's eyes, indicating his interest. He held Xue Meng's chin, forcing him to look up, about to say something when a cluster of emerald light illuminated the horizon.

"What's going on?"

Before his entourage could respond, they saw a resplendent array stretching for thousands of miles above the towering snowy peaks of Cuiwei, enveloping the entire Kunlun Mountain Range within its embrace.

Above the spell formation, Chu Wanning stood on the cloud, his white robes as pure as snow, fluttering in the wind.

Before him hung an ancient zither of peculiar shape, its entire form cloaked in pitch-black hue. The tail end of the instrument arched upward in a graceful flourish, revealing a profusion of lush foliage. Upon this verdant expanse, dewy Chinese crabapple blossoms wept, their shimmering radiance diffusing into the surroundings.

—– Chu Wanning's third divine weapon, "Nine Songs."

Author's Note:

Despite Dog0.5's irrationality being irredeemably insane, there's an inexplicable fondness for weaving narratives around him, hahaha!

Welcome to join in the revelry of relentlessly berating Dog0.5 from his past life on behalf of the former Master, hahaha!