Then he attacked with vine in hand and started to slaughter the mob of corpses that had invaded the house. Although Jiangui and Tianwen were similar, Chu Wanning hadn’t yet fully passed on his technique to Mo Ran, and in Mo Ran’s past life, the weapon he wielded had been a blade. He thus wasn’t used to supple weapons, so while at the beginning of the slaughter he held his own, it gradually became clear that he didn’t quite have the finesse to match his determination.
Jiangui swung all over the place. Suddenly the voice of a child cut in, crisp and cool, “Left side. Wrap it around your wrist and strike three times, then jump in the air and swing around your back to sling it out.”
Mo Ran had no time to think and just followed the instructions. The willow vine whipped the body of a zombie on the left, and with a single strike, the holy weapon broke the zombie’s arm, exposing its bones. Normally no one would think it necessary to whip it twice more, but since little shidi had told him to do so, Mo Ran figured he might as well give it a try—no harm, no foul. Thus he immediately struck the zombie again twice, then jumped up and bent nimbly at the waist, flipped, and slung out the vine whip straight behind his back—
Slash!
Quite coincidentally, the next wave of corpses happened to swarm in, and Jiangui, which had accumulated three times the power, lashed out a stream of blazing fire that blasted toward them. The band of corpses was instantly lacerated by the brutal holy weapon, and every zombie lost their head. Their skulls dropped to the ground, still letting off black smoke.
Mo Ran was dumbfounded. He sent a shocked glance at the cool little shidi sitting on top of a firewood pile. This kid… He’s pretty good.
“What next?” Mo Ran asked excitedly, newly energized.
“Next, use your left hand and pat at your right sleeve,” Chu Wanning instructed him expressionlessly.
“Ooh, this action is deep and indiscernible. What move is this?”
“Nothing deep and indiscernible about it,” Chu Wanning said flatly. “You were swinging too confidently earlier, and the weapon lit your sleeve on fire, that’s all.”
Mo Ran let out an, “ah,” and looked down. Sure enough, that was the case, and he hastily patted out the fire Jiangui had started in the chaos. This guy’s face sure was thick; he didn’t feel remotely awkward, and he even looked up with a goofy grin. “My shidi is so amazing. I like it.”
Chu Wanning softly cleared his throat and silently turned his face away to stare at the bare gray walls, his ears faintly red.
By now, only six zombies in the house could still move. Chu Wanning didn’t want to look at Mo Ran any longer, so with his head still turned away, he instructed the wall: “Loosen your wrist, swing the vine toward the sky, twirl it six times to gain power, and then slash like the character ‘one.’”15
Mo Ran followed the instructions, but when he twirled the fifth round, he suddenly wondered, “How do you ‘slash like the character one’?”
“Just slash how you normally would with a sword.”
“Ah, I see!” Mo Ran was enlightened and struck down with a blow. The blazing fires shone, and it was as if that soft and supple vine had blazed into an indestructible long blade, slashing through the six corpses in a single swing.
“Whoa!” This time, Mo Ran’s eyes were so wide that they were practically round. “Where did you learn this? How come I feel like you’re almost as familiar and practiced with the vine whip as my shizun? No, maybe you’re even better. He never told me the things you taught me today.”
Chu Wanning said nothing.
Mo Ran’s smile widened. “Good, good, good—this is great! Now I won’t have to deal with his attitude anymore because I’ll learn from you. Won’t that be much better?”
Chu Wanning shot him a glare. “You have a problem with the Yuheng Elder’s attitude? Why don’t you have a problem with my attitude?”
Mo Ran withdrew the vine whip and shut the door anew before pulling a table over to block the entrance. He laughed. “You giving me a hard time is your way of being good to me. The two of us, we’ve technically gone through hardships together now. Shixiong remembers how good you’ve been to him. From now on, I’ll dote on you like my own little brother, and never mind your attitude. Even if you were to get upset and hit me a couple times, I wouldn’t get mad.”
Chu Wanning’s face darkened. “Who wants to be your little brother?”
Then he hopped down from that pile of firewood, unwilling to pay Mo Ran any more attention, and went to check on the injuries of the man who had barged in.
Unexpectedly, Chu Wanning took one look at him and his eyes widened a touch. “It’s him?”
“Who?” Mo Ran looked over curiously too and was also stunned. “That…that Xiaoman fellow?”
The one lying in a pool of blood and groaning in tears was indeed Xiaoman. He had suffered grave injuries, and after looking him over, Chu Wanning shook his head. “Humans and ghosts were never meant to live in harmony. I imagine the ghost king stopped caring for him once he lived out his use. He really…”
“Deserved it,” Mo Ran said.
Chu Wanning gave him a look.
Mo Ran laughed shortly but with a jolt, he felt a little guilty. If he were to start calling people “deserving,” wasn’t he himself the one who “deserved” retribution more than anyone? He changed the subject. “Oh yeah, what was it you wanted to tell me earlier? That you’re actually what?”
Chu Wanning lowered his eyelashes, paused, and said softly, “I’m actually—”
Before he could finish, he felt a breeze behind his back. Chu Wanning startled and whipped around, ready to fight. However, he was in the body of a child, and his strength was far from that of a grown man. When he was seized by the throat, he couldn’t struggle free.
Somehow, Xiaoman had hauled himself up from the pool of his blood in a single breath. Veins protruded from the back of his hands as he held Chu Wanning’s neck in a deadly grip. The other hand twisted and locked Chu Wanning’s arms in place. It was as if a wild flame burned within that filthy, unkempt face; his entire form twisted in his desperation to live, like a wax figure distorted by intense heat. His eyes were bloodshot as he croaked at Mo Ran, “Get me…out of here…”
“Let him go!”
“Get me out of here!” Xiaoman snarled furiously, his eyes practically cracking at the edges in his rage. “Or I’ll kill him! Go!”
“If you want me to save you, then I’ll save you. What are you doing, threatening a child? Let him go first—”
“Keep talking and I’ll kill him! I’ve already committed so many sins—what’s one more?! Are you getting me out of here or not?!”
Chu Wanning couldn’t utter a sound because of the stranglehold, and his delicate little face grew red and strained. Mo Ran panicked at the sight. If he struck now, he could take Xiaoman’s life. But this illusion had become reality. If Xiaoman exploded in fury before Mo Ran could move, his shidi might get terribly hurt.
“Fine, fine, fine, I’ll listen to you,” Mo Ran said. “Don’t get riled up. Just loosen your hand a bit, and I’ll—”
Before he could finish, blood splattered.