Mo Ran blinked, then smiled. “Where’d this come from? You’re too short to reach the stove—how are you gonna cook? Besides, I’m your shixiong, now that you’ve called me that. The least I can do is feed you.”
Chu Wanning carried a stool over and climbed onto it, then stared at him stubbornly without saying a word.
Mo Ran blinked mutely. “Why are you glaring at me?”
“I can reach the stove just fine.”
Mo Ran eyed him silently.
“The Yuheng Elder may not know what you like to eat, but I’m not heartless like him,” Chu Wanning said expressionlessly. “Go take a break, I’ll cook.”
And so Chu Wanning busied himself with dinner preparations, refusing to let Mo Ran help even a little. He had an aura of menace and there was a concentrated ferocity in his eyes as he lifted the kitchen knife high into the air and brought it stiffly down on the poor chicken. Mo Ran almost couldn’t bear to look.
Mo Ran tried to help, but even his little shidi’s temper was exactly like his shizun’s, and Chu Wanning hated getting interrupted when he was concentrating. In the end, Mo Ran could only scratch his head and wander off to go flop on the bed.
Having finally put the chicken in the pot, Chu Wanning covered it with a clay lid and was about to turn to say something when he heard a quiet voice from the cave entrance.
“A-Ran, Xia-shidi, are you there?”
As soon as Mo Ran heard this voice, he leapt off the bed as if he had been struck by lightning and dashed to the entrance. Through a gap between the brambles, the first person he saw was someone from the feathered tribe. She stood there coldly, but when Mo Ran looked around, he found Shi Mei behind her, dressed in his usual white and his face full of worry. Mo Ran was ecstatic. “Shi Mei! What…what are you doing here?”
“I have something important to tell you,” Shi Mei said. “The sect leader received the report and immediately rushed to Peach Blossom Springs. He’s negotiating with the feathered tribe as we speak. How have you been? Are they treating you okay?”
“I’m great. Eating well, drinking well, and lively as always.” Mo Ran paused. “What about Shizun? Where is he?”
“I hear he’s still in seclusion and didn’t come.”
“Oh…” Something flickered past Mo Ran’s eyes, then he sighed. “It’s fine if he didn’t come…” he mumbled to himself. “It’s fine.”
“But the Xuanji Elder came to vouch for Xia-shidi,” Shi Mei said. “Is Xia-shidi already asleep?”
“No, he’s making soup. Shidi, come over here!”
Chu Wanning put down the little bamboo fan he was using to fan the flames and walked to the entrance. He looked at the two people outside, expression not the least bit surprised, and said flatly, “What is it?”
Shi Mei didn’t get a chance to speak before the feathered tribe representative hmphed. “What else could it be?” she shot back. “People from Sisheng Peak came. Your master says he’ll vouch for you and is meeting with our Great Immortal Lord right now.”
“My master?”
“The Xuanji Elder.”
“Oh.” Chu Wanning paused, face totally expressionless. “Good.”
The corner of the feathered tribe representative’s mouth twitched. “You two can come out. Everyone is gathered at the Dewsip Pavilion waiting to hear your explanations.”
Chu Wanning turned to look at the chicken soup on the stove. “I’ll pass. The soup isn’t done cooking yet, and I have to keep an eye on it. Mo Ran, you can speak for me.”
These words made the feathered tribe representative think the child was immature and unreasonable. She smiled coldly, wanting to scare him. “You’ll miss your chance to defend yourself if you don’t go. And if you are deemed to be the murderer, there goes your head.”
However, Chu Wanning wasn’t the least bit concerned. He wore an indifferent face as he sent her a cold glance and turned to leave.
Shi Mei was about to call after him, but Mo Ran shook his head with a smile. “Let him be. I’ll go.”
“But the Xuanji Elder came all this way. It would be rude not to greet him…”
Before Mo Ran could say anything, Chu Wanning’s voice came from afar. “Mo-shixiong, please send Shizun my regards.”
Shi Mei was struck speechless. He’d spoken so quietly but the boy had still heard him. Feeling a little awkward, he cleared his throat and waited for the feathered tribe representative to open the brambles covering the cave entrance, then grabbed Mo Ran to leave.
Unexpectedly, Chu Wanning turned around and called out, “Shixiong.”
Mo Ran smiled. “Did Shidi change his mind? You want to come along after all?”
Chu Wanning’s little hand waved in his sleeve. “Of course not. I just wanted to remind you to come back soon, or the soup will go cold.”
Mo Ran blinked, then laughed helplessly. “All right. Wait for me.”
“Mn.” Chu Wanning said nothing else as he watched Mo Ran walk away and disappear behind a corner. Then he turned back around to attend to the soup.
The Dewsip Pavilion wasn’t far from the prison cave. On the way there, Shi Mei said offhandedly, “A-Ran, you seem to have grown even closer with Xia-shidi these days.”
Mo Ran smiled. “Yeah, we went through a lot together. What, is Shi Mei jealous of a little kid?”
There was a beat of silence before Shi Mei said, “Nonsense.”
“Ha ha ha, no need to worry. My favorite person is and will always be Shi Mei.”
“Enough nonsense… I just feel like Xia-shidi is a little odd.”
“Odd? Oh…” Mo Ran thought for a bit, then nodded, “I guess he is pretty odd.”
“You think so too?”
“Yep.” Mo Ran grinned. “He’s such a little thing but he talks like an adult, and his power is no laughing matter either. Oh, and I haven’t had a chance to tell you guys yet, but the stuff that happened in the illusion was even more bizarre. I think he might be a distant relative of our shizun, you know.”
Shi Mei’s eyes shifted slightly. “Why do you say that?”
“We saw someone in the illusion, the son of the Lin’an governor from two hundred years ago. His surname was also Chu, and he looked like Shizun, and his son also looked—”
Right when Mo Ran was getting to the important part, a sudden bout of loud cursing burst out in front of them. He looked up just in time to see Xue Meng striding over, face dark as a thundercloud, still cursing without stop. “Bastard! Beast! Shameless mutt!”