Chapter 191: Master, I and Xue Meng

The most important person in the world to Mo Ran, apart from Chu Wanning, is Shi Mei.

Once Mo Ran thought he was in love with Shi Mei, but later he realised he wasn't, but he never changed his mind about treating him well and cherishing him.

Even though Shi Mei gradually became a stranger to her, this tall, charming man with his eyebrows looked like a different person. Although the bowl of dumplings was only brought by Shi Mei on behalf of Chu Wanning at first, Shi Mingjing is still the same Shi Mingjing, no matter what.

It was the companion who smiled at him and reached out to him in the midst of the darkness and the scrawl.

It is the brother who is there for him when he is despondent and resigned and who is willing to give him comfort.

Although Shi Mei was also an orphan, and no longer had any family in the world, Xue Meng was proud and arrogant, and although she was close to Shi Mei, Shi Mei never called him by his first name for so many years, but referred to him respectfully as young master.

The only person who could really call Shi Mei a friend was himself.

He ended up breaking his heart himself.

Xue Meng is hiding in the bamboo grove, and after half a day of looking around with her arms in her hands, she sees Mo Ran standing motionless, playing with her silver comb, as if she is preoccupied.

After waiting for half an hour and not seeing anything, Xue Meng started to feel like an idiot.

The more he stood, the more embarrassed he became, and the more he fought, the more baffled he felt, and at the end of the day, Xue Meng turned to leave, but really, he and Mo Ran had made almost the same mistake.

A moment of relaxation and failure to control the sound of footsteps.

Mo Ran stood up and said in a deep voice through the curtain, "Who?"

""

In the moonlight, Xue Meng reluctantly and uncomfortably paces out, eyes averted, coughing softly.

Mo Ran froze, "What are you doing here?"

"Do you only allow the officials to set fire to the state and not the people to light a lamp?" Xue Meng dared not look into Mo Ran's eyes, his gaze drifting, he said it with conviction but blushed, "I just wanted to come and see my master too."

Mo Ran's face froze as his mind wandered to the possibility that Xue Meng was following him, but he quickly adjusted his demeanour and regained his composure before Xue Meng even realised.

"Now that you're here, sit down for a while."

Xue Meng didn't push back and followed him into the bamboo pavilion.

Mo Ran asked him, "Would you like tea, or wine?"

"Tea." Xue Meng said, "Drinking makes you drunk."

Mo Ran had a small red clay stove on the table, the flames lit up in the night, illuminating his features, and he boiled the eight treasures of tea on the stove while the two brothers sat, one on a bench in a bamboo pavilion, the other leaning against a pillar, waiting for the water to boil and the tea to cook.

Xue Meng asked him, "Why are you so early when Shi Mei should have been on duty for another half night?"

"I had nothing to do so I came over." Mo Ran laughed, "Didn't you too"

When Xue Meng thinks about it, it seems to be true.

Mo Ran should be just like himself, only concerned about his master. After all, Mo Ran has gradually transformed after the battle of the Heavenly Rift, and now years have passed and he is a very different person from the young boy who was so concerned about every penny, and the disciple whom Chu Wanning saved with his life has finally grown into a decent man.

Dropping her eyelashes, Xue Meng ponders for a moment and then smiles abruptly.

Mo Ran asks, "What"

"No, I remembered the last time I was in retreat." Xue Meng said, "At that time, you were still not convinced of your master, for ten days, you just came to see him once, then you said that you were not capable enough, afraid that you could not serve him, and ran away to father's place to sort out the collection of books. I was still sulking at you in my heart at that time, not thinking that after seven years, you would turn out like this."

Mo Ran was quiet for a moment and then said, "People change."

Xue Meng asked, "If I were to give you another chance to go back seven years, would you still run away"

"What do you say?"

Xue Meng then really thought hard about it, and then said, "I'm afraid I'll want to stay with my master for ten days and ten nights."

Mo Ran smiled with lowered eyes.

"Hmph, what are you laughing at." Xue Meng changed his posture and rested one leg on the bamboo pavilion bench, his elbows resting idly, his head and neck tilted back slightly, his gaze flowing to the end of his eyes as he looked at his cousin, "Nowadays you and I both have the same feelings for the Master, what I think, you should not be too far off."

Mo Ran drops her eyes, "Hmm."

Xue Meng squinted at the pavilion and looked at the wind chimes, saying, "That's good. When my master died, I resented him for trading his life for yours, but today it seems that you are not entirely without conscience."

Mo Ran didn't know what to say, so she gave another "hmm".

Bells jingle and tinkle in the wind.

After a few moments of silence, Xue Meng couldn't help but turn his head, his gaze burning, his brow furrowed slightly, and suddenly asked him, "Ahem, so what, there's actually something I want to ask you."

"You said."

"Tell me the truth, that day in the back of the hill, you guys"

Mo Ran actually knows that Xue Meng has always wanted to ask this question.

After all those seven turns, it still hadn't escaped him. He waited for him to say more.

But Xue Meng stammered for a long time, his face turning white and red, red and white again, but in the end he could not say the words, and looked at Mo Ran steadily and said, "Are you really looking for cinnamon sugar rice cakes?"

The water boils, and wisps of steam, which coalesce and dissipate in the chilly night air.

Their eyes meet, Xue Meng's eyes are full of anxiety, flashing with heat, while Mo Ran's dark eyes are dark and deep.

"You can have your tea now."

Xue Meng suddenly grabbed his arm and stared at him, "Are you really looking for cinnamon sugar rice cakes"

""

Mo Ran paused for a moment, broke his grip and went to the table to lift the blackened cast iron pot and fill a glass for each of them.

And only then did he lift his eyes and say, "If we're not looking for cinnamon sugar rice cakes, what else could we be doing"

"You."

"The Master does not easily mislead you, and if you do not believe me, you must always believe him."

Xue Meng looked like a small snake caught in the seventh inch, her hand resting on her knee spasmed slightly before she suddenly bowed her head and said, "I don't disbelieve him."

"Tea it is then." Mo Ran sighed, "What are you thinking about all day, it's all nonsense." He looked down and blew on the steaming hot air, his face looked so handsome in the mist of the water, yet somehow blurred, like a mirror, not really visible.

Xue Meng took a few slow sips of the warm, savoury tea, feeling the bubbling heat calming his frenzied heartbeat as he finished the tea, the cup still warm and bubbling.

Xue Meng looked down, suddenly bewildered, as if speaking to Mo Ran or to herself: "I really care about him so much that I think about him so much, the slightest movement and I'm"

"I know." Mo Ran said, "So do I."

Xue Meng turned his face sideways and looked at him.

Mo Ran leaned against the pavilion pillar, his cup of tea not yet finished, he took another sip, and then said, "Just now, because of this, I misunderstood Shi Mei, you are at least better than me, not so impulsive."

Xue Meng was slightly surprised: "No wonder I saw him leave after talking to you, you misunderstood him for something"

"Not a word about it." Mo Ran laughed bitterly, "I can ramble more than you can."

Xue Meng wrinkled her nose, "He's a poor man, people were eating him in the famine, and if he hadn't been saved by his father, he would have been meat in the famine pot. Shi Mei has always treated you well, don't bully him."

Mo Ran said, "Well, I know, it was a moment of excitement earlier, and I won't do it again."

The two men guard Chu Wanning in the pavilion, chatting in a salty manner.

It was a wonderful feeling, Mo Ran looked at Xue Meng's handsome, somewhat naturally arrogant face in the moonlight, the man who in a previous life had cut a hole in his chest and whose every subsequent meeting had been accompanied by tears and blood.

I didn't think they would ever be able to talk in such a peaceful manner, cooking tea and making wine under the moonlit lotus pond.

Yes, boil the wine.

When the tea is finished, Xue Meng has no intention of leaving.

Mo Ran then heats up another jug of wine and drinks a few glasses for company, which is harmless as long as you don't get drunk.

But he seems to have overestimated Xue Meng's drinking capacity.

Of the four apprentices, Chu Wanning is the one who can't lose a thousand drinks, and he's not too bad himself; Shi Mei is a very poor drinker, but Xue Meng is the most incorrigible.

Two small glasses of pearly whites and the man is a little dizzy and speaks with a big tongue.

Fearing trouble, Mo Ran took away all the wine and stopped giving it to him.

Xue Meng's consciousness was confused but not completely lost, she was still clear, her face was red, she smiled and said, "Put it away, I can't drink anymore."

"Hmm." Mo Ran said, "Go back and rest, can you walk on your own? If not I'll send a message for uncle to come over."

"Oh oh, no need for him to come over, no need for him to come over." Xue Meng smiled and waved her hand, "I can walk back on my own, I know the way."

Unsure, Mo Ran held out a finger in front of him, "How many is this?"

"One."

And pointing to Chu Wanning: "Who is this?"

Xue Meng smiled, "Brother God."

"Talk properly."

"Haha, Master La, I recognise it." Xue Meng hugged the pillar and laughed.

Mo Ran frowned and cursed Xue Meng, whose drinking was getting worse every year, but was still unsure, pointing to himself and asking, "What about me, look at me, no kidding, who am I?"

Xue Meng stayed for a while.

It was as if time had overlapped with an old image of Mengpo Court on New Year's Eve, when Xue Meng was so drunk that she recognised Shi Mei's face and said Chu Wanning was her fairy brother, and then looked at Mo Ran and laughed, saying Mo Ran was a dog.

Mo Ran looked at him impassively, ready to sneak up on Xue Meng and beat him up if he said another word about dogs, before calling Xue Zhengyong to come and take the little drunk back.

But Xue Meng looked at him for a few moments, with an odd expression on his face, and finally his lips opened and puckered slightly, as if to pronounce the word 'dog'.

Mo Ran intends to reach out and cover his mouth.

"Brother."

The hand that had not yet been raised froze as Xue Meng looked at him with hazy eyes and slowly, in a whisper, called out, "Brother."

Mo Ran froze for a moment, as if he had been stung by a bee, the sting pervading into a sharp pain, which in turn became numb with the venom. He could not get a word out of his throat, but stared blankly at Xue Meng's face, young, arrogant, and proud of his features.

On this face, Mo Ran is used to seeing hatred, anger, contempt.

But never have I seen the look on his face at this moment.

Xue Meng fondled the Dragoncity sword on his waist, which Mo Ran had sent to him to melt for him, after he had taken the finest spirit stones by cutting down the great demon spirit charm at great risk.

Without it, he might not have won first place at the Lingshan Mountain Conference, and without it, he might have been reduced to an unknown monk with the wounds of Zhongyong.

When he was sober, for one reason or another, for pride and face, he never properly said a word of thanks to Mo Ran, but he actually had a hard time rubbing Dragoncity every day with a mixture of emotions and feelings.

When he woke up and heard that Mo Ran and Chu Wanning were still missing, he cried out in agony, but everyone thought he was just crying for his master. Only Xue Meng himself knew clearly that night when he was lying on his deathbed, clutching his Dragoncity sword, he looked into the darkness and said hoarsely

"Brother, I'm sorry."

Where are you? Are you and your master all right?

Mo Ran couldn't speak or move his feet, he just stood there frozen in place.

Yesterday's events passed by like water in a blur.

He thought of a previous life on the summit of death and life, when Xue Meng had gone up the mountain alone and stood in the bleak Wushan Palace, red-eyed, asking him about Chu Wanning's whereabouts.

Xue Meng said, "Mo Weiyu, look back."

He thought of Xue Meng and Mei Hanxue ambushing and assassinating him after he had become Emperor of Fairy Tramper, and of Mei Hanxue blocking his way in broad daylight, Xue Meng shouting in rage, his face twisted and grim, his scimitar stabbing him in the chest, blood spilling out.

Xue Meng said: "Mo Weiyu, no one can save you, there is no room for you in this world"

He thought of a pile of hatred, angry, fiery, dragon snakes dancing.

He thought of the day in his life when Chu Wanning had died and Xue Meng had leapt up and pinned him against the wall with a snarl, his carotid artery bursting, and he growled like a trapped animal: "How can you say he didn't save you? How can you say he didn't save you?"

Suddenly, the mind flashed and it was as if a shimmering light lit up in front of him.

Perhaps Mo Ran had stood stiffly like this for too long, long enough to bring back the earliest, earliest, faintest of memories.

He seemed to see two teenagers, one thin and terribly frightened, cowering and frightened, like abandoned dogs used to being whipped, crouching uneasily in front of the small table in the disciples' room, squatting on a bar stool, their small hands clenched tightly, protecting their knees, not moving a muscle, and that was himself.

There was another young man, with a face like snow and jade, playfully proud and lovely, like a little pheasant with bright, proud and dazzling feathers, who stood, with a beautiful scimitar at his waist, one foot on a chair, looking out at him with dark, round eyes that did not blink.

"My mother asked me to come and see you." Teenager Xue Meng grunted, "I hear you're my cousin... you're shabby."

Mo Ran doesn't say a word and keeps her head down, unaccustomed to having her face scrutinised like this.

Xue Meng asked, "Hey, what's your name ink that ink what tell me, I don't remember."

""

"Why don't you squeak when asked?"

""

"Are you dumb?"

When he didn't hear anything, the young man, Xue Meng, laughed and said, "You're my cousin, but you're so obsequious and skinny that you'll run away when the wind blows, so I don't have such a humiliating brother.

Mo Ran lowered her head, refusing to pay attention to him more and more.

There was such silence that suddenly a flash of bright red broke in before his eyes, and the person who handed it to him was so rough that it almost poked the tip of his nose. Mo Ran was dumbfounded for a moment before he realised that it was a string of candy canes.

"It's for you."

Xue Meng Road.

"I can't eat it anyway."

He had brought a box of dim sum and casually left it on the table in a charity-like manner, but Mo Ran looked on in awe, only to think that he was very generous and generous; no one had ever been willing to give him so much before, not even to beg on their knees.

"I'm here."

"What" Xue Meng frowned, "What I this and I this, what are you going to say"

"This bunch, can I eat it all?"

"Ah."

"Actually just one is enough you can't eat it, I'll"

"What's wrong with you? You're a dog, eating other people's leftovers." Xue Meng's eyes widened in disbelief, "Of course they're all yours, the whole bunch, the whole box, they're all yours."

The lacquered wooden confectionery box is beautifully crafted, with cranes and clouds painted in gold, a style Mo Ran has never seen before.

He dared not reach out, but his dark eyes kept staring at the box, causing Xue Meng to feel a little hairy.

The young man, Xue Meng, didn't even look at him and pushed the whole box of snacks in front of him, saying impatiently, "Eat up, if you don't have enough, I have more there and I can't even finish it, so I'll just share it with you."

This young male had a bad attitude and a bad tone of voice, and his black and white rolled eyes were turned upwards in a nose-in-the-air look of contempt.

But the snack fruit handed to him was sweet and soft.

After two lives of bitterness and blood, the slightest hint of sweetness seems to have returned to the tip of his tongue. Mo Ran looked at Xue Meng's drunken face in the moonlight, and Xue Meng also looked at him with narrowed eyes.

He let go of the pillar he was holding and seemed to be trying to get over to pat Mo Ran's shoulder, but his gait was unsteady and he stumbled and fell into Mo Ran's arms.

"Well brother"

Mo Ran was stunned, then slowly lowered his eyes, gently patted Xue Meng's back, the night breeze blew, his hair covered half of his handsome face, no one knew how Mo Ran really looked, after a long time, Xue Meng, who was too weak to drink, fell asleep in his arms, only then, Mo Ran said hoarsely

" Xue Meng, I'm sorry, I don't deserve to be your brother"