Chapter 84:
This Venerable One Stole a Kiss and You Don’t Even Know
WHEN CHU WANNING WOKE UP, it was to the sight of Mo Ran staring into the middle distance at the table with his cheek propped up in his hand. The reflection of the candle flame flickered in his pitch-black eyes, bright in his vacant gaze.
Chu Wanning thought about getting up, but there was no strength in his limbs, and he had to surrender. The patterned lilac curtains wafted. He turned onto his side, watching Mo Ran without a sound. The silly boy remained lost in thought, ignorant to the fact that his shizun was awake.
Who could blame him? Anyone who found out that their lover already had a son with some other woman would be equally shocked.
Was Xia Sini really Chu Wanning’s child? How could that be…? Chu Wanning was so aloof and particular. What woman could hope to catch his eye?
Besides, if this whole thing was for real, then he must have had a kid in their past life too. But in all the years he had spent with Mo Ran in that life, Chu Wanning couldn’t have been further from what one would expect of a married man, both in his daily conduct and between the sheets.
But how else was he to explain this golden butterfly hair clasp?! Mo Ran banged his head against the table in anguish, about to lose his mind from sheer confusion.
He wasn’t that smart to begin with, and he had never been able to wrap his head around twisty-turny things. The more he thought, the more his head hurt, until he finally grabbed his skull and flopped onto the table with a despairing, “Ngah!” and stayed there, unmoving.
“Mo Ran, what are you doing?” asked an even, soothing voice, pleasant like the chime of scattering jade, though the undertone was slightly hoarse.
Mo Ran instantly bounced up in surprise. “Shizun, you’re awake?”
“Mn.” Chu Wanning coughed lightly before looking up at him. “Is this…Rainbell Isle’s inn?”
“Y-yeah.” Mo Ran stood and moved toward the bed, where he noticed a small tear in Chu Wanning’s lower lip. His face swiftly turned red as he remembered how he had lost control in his lust-induced haze and had very nearly made a serious mistake.
“What is it?” Chu Wanning asked upon noticing his perturbation.
“Nothing, nothing.” Mo Ran waved his hands and hastily changed the subject. “Anyway, Shizun suddenly fainted at Xuanyuan Pavilion, so I carri—ahem, brought you here to rest. Then I got a physician to take a look at you and prescribe some medicine, and then…”
…I heard you sleep talking, was reminded of some past affairs, couldn’t stop myself, and kissed you.
Of course he couldn’t say such things. Mo Ran trailed off, his gaze uncharacteristically frantic, even flustered.
When Chu Wanning heard that he had been examined by a doctor and saw the strange expression on Mo Ran’s face, his heart dropped. Had Mo Ran learned of the poison that turned him into a child? His hands subconsciously tightened on the quilt as he rasped, “What did the physician say?”
“He said Shizun was affected by that holy weapon, and that’s what made you faint.” Mo Ran hesitated. “Shizun, your spiritual core…”
“Don’t worry about it. It’s just a bit weaker than average.”
Mo Ran blinked. He was thinking about the scars that lay over both Chu Xun and Chu Wanning’s hearts and considering the possibility of some kind of connection. However, the way Chu Wanning spoke of it, that didn’t seem to be the case. He couldn’t help asking, “But how? Shizun is so powerful. There’s no way your spiritual core could have always been so frail. When did it happen?”
“A long time ago. I was injured once, many years in the past, and it’s been that way ever since.” Chu Wanning waved his hand indifferently. That wasn’t what concerned him. “Did he say anything else?”
Mo Ran shook his head. “Nope.”
Chu Wanning considered him in the dim haze of the candlelight. “Then why were you banging your head on the table?”
For a long moment, Mo Ran was mute. He tried and failed to hold it in, so he threw caution to the wind and produced the golden butterfly hair clasp from his sleeve. He set it in Chu Wanning’s palm. “I found this.”
Chu Wanning did not reply.
“On you.”
The hair clasp glinted in the light as Chu Wanning’s heart sank lower and lower. So he had been found out after all. He sighed quietly.
A few moments passed in silence, neither of them speaking. Finally, Chu Wanning closed his eyes, and was about to come clean when he heard Mo Ran mumble in a small voice, “Shizun, is Xia-shidi…truly your son?”
Chu Wanning was struck utterly speechless. He opened his eyes, and the blood that had been frozen in his veins began to circulate again. For a while, he didn’t know what to say as he stared silently at Mo Weiyu, who stood by the bed with a complicated expression. Then, slowly, a clear verdict formed in Chu Wanning’s gaze: Moron.
“That’s right.” Chu Wanning lifted a hand and calmly took back the hair clasp before Mo Ran could react. “Didn’t I tell you before? Why are you asking again?”
Mo Ran buried his face in his hands. “I’m just…making sure…”
Yet despite Chu Wanning’s repeated confirmations that Xia Sini was indeed his flesh and blood, Mo Ran didn’t quite buy it. Shoving down his intense feelings of dismay, he decided to grill Xia Sini about it the next time he saw his little shidi. Until those two actually acknowledged their blood ties to one another, he would sooner die than believe it!
After a bit of rest, Chu Wanning recovered some strength in his limbs and moved to sit up in the bed. “My clothes…” He ran his hand over his collars and paused, frowning. “Why are they so disheveled?”
“Ahem.” Mo Ran hurriedly steered the topic away, fearful that Chu Wanning might remember some fragments of his earlier behavior. “Shizun, you must be hungry, right? I heard the food at this inn’s pretty good, especially the wensi tofu. Let’s go down and get a bite. My treat.”
Chu Wanning shot him a cold look. “What, with the money I gave you?”
He still shook out his voluminous sleeves and opened the door to go downstairs.
Rainbell Isle’s cuisine was similar to Yangzhou’s—light and refreshing, with a tendency toward sweetness, and very agreeable to Chu Wanning’s taste.
By now, the auction was over and many of the attendees had already left. Mo Ran and Chu Wanning had also requested a private booth, so there was no longer much need to wear cloaks to conceal their identities. After they took their seats inside, a waiter came and poured them each a cup of biluochun green tea, then handed them a menu before retreating.
“Shizun can look through the menu first.”
“You can order. I’m pretty content with all Jiangnan-style dishes,” Chu Wanning said as he lifted the cup and took a small sip of tea. His brows furrowed as soon as the tea touched his lips, and he paused.
“What is it? Too hot?”
“It’s nothing. Maybe the weather is dry; my lip is a bit cracked.” Chu Wanning touched the corner of his mouth uncertainly. Weird. When had that happened?
Mo Ran lowered his head in guilty silence.
It would be a while before the food was ready, so Chu Wanning took the time to discuss the events at Xuanyuan Pavilion with Mo Ran. They had left early, so they didn’t know who’d won the holy weapon in the end, but that wouldn’t be too hard to ascertain if they asked around.