Chapter 74:
This Venerable One’s Fault
MO RAN was dumbstruck.
A long while passed before he snapped out of it, his entire face bright red as he waved his hands frantically. “No, that, uh, I dunno, this isn’t mine, where did my handkerchief go? I, I-I, oh god, how am I gonna get out of this one…”
Mo Ran stared at that square of silken cloth with a haitang flower sewn on a corner, but he couldn’t for the life of him remember why he even had it. He racked his brain in a panic, then suddenly smacked his head. “Ah!”
“What is it…?”
“I remembered!” Mo Ran let out a sigh of relief and took the handkerchief from Shi Mei’s hands with a smile. “Sorry, this isn’t mine, so I can’t give it to you.”
Shi Mei fell silent. I didn’t even say I wanted it to begin with.
“It’s not Shizun’s either—it’s not like everything with a haitang on it belongs to Shizun.” Mo Ran folded the handkerchief neatly and tucked it back into his robes, beyond relieved that he hadn’t accidentally taken his shizun’s possession. “It’s Xia-shidi’s.”
Shi Mei looked thoughtful. “Xia-shidi’s?”
“Mm-hmm. We’ve been living together these last few days, so maybe I grabbed the wrong one from the drying rack this morning or something. Ha ha, how embarrassing.”
Shi Mei was silent for a moment, then he smiled gently and said, “Mm, it’s no big deal.” He stood. “It’s getting late. We should go pick up Xia-shidi.”
They left the house and headed for the cave.
They didn’t get far before Shi Mei started slowing down. It wasn’t too obvious at first, but then he stumbled on a rock and would have fallen if Mo Ran hadn’t reacted quickly and caught him in time.
Mo Ran was shocked by Shi Mei’s pallid complexion. “What’s wrong?”
“It’s nothing.” Shi Mei took a deep breath. “I didn’t eat much for lunch. Just feeling a little faint. Nothing a bit of rest won’t fix.”
The more he tried to gloss over it, the more Mo Ran worried. Now that he thought about it, Shi Mei wasn’t great at qinggong, and everything here at Peach Blossom Springs, from food to clothes, cost feathers to purchase. Mo Ran had always made sure to give Shi Mei some feathers, but he had been locked up for a few days now, and Xue Meng was too thoughtless to take care of anyone…
The more Mo Ran thought, the more concerned he grew. “You used to skip lunch all the time back at the sect, too, but I’ve never seen you in such a state,” he pressed. “Am I to believe this is the result of only missing one meal? Tell me the truth: When was the last time you ate?”
“I…”
Mo Ran’s expression grew even darker at Shi Mei’s reluctance to answer. He grabbed Shi Mei and started walking in the opposite direction.
“A-Ran, wh-where are we going?” Shi Mei fretted.
“Where the food is!” Mo Ran said sharply, but when he turned around there was only worry in his eyes. “Why didn’t you take care of yourself while I was gone? You’re always, always thinking about everyone else and putting others first! What about yourself? Have you ever thought about yourself?”
“A-Ran…”
Mo Ran dragged Shi Mei all the way to a tavern. Normally, Shi Mei belonged to the Healing Division and shouldn’t have been in the Attack Division region without a token. However, anxiety had run high ever since the incident with Eighteen, so the feathered tribe had lifted that restriction to ease things.
“What do you want? Order whatever.”
“Anything’s fine.” Shi Mei seemed a bit guilty. “Sorry, I wanted to come help, but I ended up getting in the way instead…”
“No need for things like ‘sorry’ between us.” Mo Ran flicked his forehead and gentled his tone. “Go ahead and order. I’ll pay for it, and then you can take your time eating.”
Shi Mei looked at him. “What about you?”
“I have to go pick up Xia-shidi. There’s a guard at the cave, but I’m still worried, what with the killer still being out there.”
When Shi Mei realized that Mo Ran wanted to leave, his eyes seemed to darken for an instant. “Just two buns, then,” he said quickly. “I’ll go with you and eat on the way.”
Mo Ran was going to try to talk him out of it when the bird-like chitter of feminine voices came from outside. Some dozen young female cultivators, all primped up, entered the building while giggling.
“Hey, shopkeep, I have a question,” the lady at the head of the group said with a smile. “Did Da-shixiong…reserve the banquet room at this tavern tonight?”
“Indeed, indeed.” The shopkeep was all smiles. It hadn’t taken long for the feathered tribe to figure out that Da-shixiong liked wine and song, so every single night, they held a banquet at one tavern or another. Wherever this “Da-shixiong” went, a group of giggling ladies was sure to flock.
Sure enough, the ladies were thrilled and immediately hurried to reserve their tables. Now and again, their words drifted over to Mo Ran’s ears. It was all, “Xiao-Fang, how does the painting on my eyebrows look? Do you think Da-shixiong will like it?” “It’s lovely. What do you think about my eyeliner? Is it too flashy? Will it make him think I’m flighty?” and stuff like, “You’re so pretty, Da-shixiong will like you for sure! Yesterday I saw him look at you quite a few times.” “Aiya, stop teasing me—if only! Da-shixiong’s type is definitely someone like Jiejie, refined and so well-read.”
Mo Ran had no words. Even in such troubled times, these ladies could flutter about like this over some guy. The corner of his mouth twitched, and he turned to Shi Mei. “Buns it is, then. Let’s grab and go—I’ll worry if I leave you here alone in this cave of carnivorous beasts.”
Shi Mei shook his head at Mo Ran’s expression, his laughter light.
The tastiest thing on the menu at this tavern was their large, drool-worthy meatbuns. Mo Ran bought ten at once and gave them all to Shi Mei. When Mo Ran glanced at Shi Mei nibbling happily on the buns as they walked, he was finally able to relax a little.
No one expected the bun to do Shi Mei in.
His stomach was already weak to start with, so suddenly eating an oily bun after having had nothing in him for so long left him hurting in no time.
Now Mo Ran really couldn’t leave to go pick up Xia-shidi. He carried a pale and sweaty Shi Mei back to the Campsis Pavilion in a frantic rush and laid him down on the bed he had tidied, then dashed out to ask for a physician.
After giving him some medicine and warm water, Mo Ran sat by the bed filled with self-reproach as he looked at Shi Mei’s pallid face. “Does it still hurt? Here, I’ll rub your tummy.”
Shi Mei’s voice was quiet and weak. “No need…it’s okay…”