The Husky and His White Cat Shizun - Chap 101
Mo Ran didn’t say anything. After a long time, he smiled brightly.
“What a good ‘only one master lives in a pavilion’. What a good story. ”
He slowly stepped on the cold stone with his bare toes. The veins on the backs of his feet could be seen as he stopped in front of Qiutong.
Then Mo Ran raised one foot and used the tip of his foot to lift Qiutong’s chin, making her look up at him.
“You’ve been holding these words in your heart for a long time, haven’t you?”
He looked at her panic-stricken face and smiled. “Empress Song, there are many things in the past that I haven’t asked you properly. Since you’ve told me these heartfelt words today, why don’t we be honest to the end? Come, I’ll talk to you.”
“Let’s start with the recent events. On the day I went to Treading in Snow Palace, I clearly locked Chu Wanning in his bedroom. Tell me, why did he appear in Kunlun Mountain? Who was the one who unsealed him and told him to come find me? ”
Song Qiutong’s body suddenly trembled. “I don’t know!”
She was too anxious to explain and even forgot to say ‘concubine’. Instead, she used ‘I’.
Mo Ran smiled. He said, “Alright, you don’t know this, then I’ll ask you the next one. That year, I conferred you the title of Empress and made you decide life and death. Later on, I had to go to Yin Mountain. When I left, Chu Wanning was locked up in the water prison to reflect on himself because he was disobedient … ”
When he mentioned this matter, Song Qiutong’s face couldn’t help but turn pale. Her lips couldn’t help but tremble.
“You used the excuse of investigating the prison to visit him. But he looked down on you … ”
“Yes, yes.” Song Qiutong hurriedly said, “But Your Majesty … Mo Ran, I told you this before. Grandmaster Chu told me to get out of the prison and insulted me. Not only did he scold me, he also scolded Your Majesty. At that time, I was so angry … I …”
“This seat knows.” Mo Ran smiled slightly. “You were angry at that time, but Chu Wanning was a person who committed a serious crime. Without this seat’s permission, you couldn’t punish him. So you punished him lightly and ordered the servants to pull out ten of his fingernails. Then, you nailed thorns to each of his fingertips. ”
Song Qiutong’s eyes were filled with fear… “Your Majesty, when you came back, you praised me for doing a good job!”
Mo Ran smiled. “Oh … really?”
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
. Mo Ran sighed softly. He smiled and said, “Qiutong, it’s been too long. What this seat said back then, and what I didn’t say, I’ve already forgotten.”
“…” The woman had clearly guessed Mo Ran’s thoughts from just now, but when she heard these words, her body still trembled violently.
“This seat has been dreaming these days. I dreamed that day, when this seat came back from Yin Mountain and entered the water prison, I saw his hands festering and covered in blood …” Mo Ran said slowly. In the end, his voice suddenly tightened and his eyes shone with cold light. “This seat, is not happy.”
Song Qiutong said helplessly, “Your Majesty, Your Majesty … no, Mo Ran … listen to me … calm down and listen to me …”
“This seat is not happy.”
Mo Ran seemed to not hear anything. Expressionlessly, he lowered his head and looked coldly at the woman who was curled up in a ball on the ground.
“Can you please coax me?”
His frosty expression, paired with this kind of arrogant pleading, even though Song Qiutong had accompanied him for so many years, she couldn’t help but feel goosebumps all over her body. Even her scalp felt numb. She smelled the scent of a storm. She raised her dark brown eyes and looked up at him. She crawled over and leaned against Mo Ran’s ankle.
“Okay, whatever Mo Ran says is good. What does Mo Ran want me to do to make him happy? I’ll definitely be good … good … ”
Mo Ran leaned over and pinched her chin, lifting her face.
He smiled. It was very cute and innocent.
Just like the first time he saw her at Confucian Wind Sect, he sweetly revealed two deep dimples and pulled on her sleeve. “Little Shimei, what’s your name? … Aiya, don’t be afraid, I won’t hurt you. Just talk to me, okay? ”
She shuddered.
After so many years, he practically used the same expression, the same tone, but the words were different.
He sweetly and gently said, “Qiutong, this lord knows that you’re sincere. In order to make this lord happy, you’re willing to do anything …”
His fingertips stroked her soft lips.
Her entire face was very similar to Shi Mingjing’s.
Mo Ran’s eyelashes trembled. He calmly looked at those two flower-like lips. Finally, he said, “Then wait for this lord on the road to the Yellow Springs.”
“！”
He asked gently, “Is that all right?”
Song Qiutong’s tears overflowed. It wasn’t because of sadness, but because of fear. She already knew that Mo Ran would definitely not have a good ending when he brought up the matter of her torment of Chu Wanning. But at most, she could only think of being beaten with a rod. She used up all her courage, but she didn’t think that Mo Ran would actually …
He actually would! He actually had the heart!
He … he …
Crazy.
Crazy … Crazy …
Mo Ran raised his head and laughed lowly. His laughter became more and more wanton, more and more arrogant. He laughed as he kicked open the door of the bedroom and laughed as he strode out of the hall.
He walked in the wind and trampled on thousands of lives. Now it was her turn.
Crazy … Crazy!!
Mo Weiyu had gone crazy!
Song Qiutong fell to her knees on the cold golden bricks and cold stones. The passion of joy in the bedchamber had not yet dissipated, but the flames of hell had already started burning. She opened her mouth, raised her head, and struggled to look at the sunlight shining in from outside the hall.
Dawn had arrived. The sunlight was blood red.
It dyed her eyes red.
She heard Mo Ran shout from afar, as if he was casually ordering what to eat for dinner.
“Someone come, drag the Empress out.”
“Your Majesty — —!” The palace servants outside reacted in panic. “Your Majesty, this …”
“Throw her into the cauldron and fry her alive.”
Song Qiutong suddenly couldn’t hear anything. It was as if her entire body had sunk into the ocean. She couldn’t hear anything.
“Cook her alive, cook her alive for fun, cook her alive, haha … hahahaha …”
He walked further and further away. Only his laughter and shouts were like a vulture, circling the peak of life and death, lingering for a long time.
The morning sun dragged his shadow very long. It was a lonely trace on the ground. He slowly walked, slowly walked.
At first, there seemed to be two youths standing beside him, as well as a tall white clothed man.
Later, those two figures disappeared. Only the white clothed man was left to accompany him.
After that, the white clothed man also disappeared into the golden light of dawn.
The rising sun was pure and holy. It took away the same pure and holy person, leaving him alone in hell, in the sea of blood, in the demons and monsters.
He was left alone. The more he walked, the lonelier he became. The more he walked, the colder he became.
In the end, he suddenly felt like he was already dead. He was already dead …
The more he walked, the crazier he became.
Mo Ran remembered that in the last year before he committed suicide, sometimes when he looked into the bronze mirror, he couldn’t recognize what kind of monster was reflected in it.
He even remembered that on the night before he died, he was sitting in the bamboo pavilion of the Red Lotus Water Pavilion. There was only one old servant beside him.
He asked the old servant lazily, “Eunuch Liu, tell this seat, what kind of person was this seat originally?”
Without waiting for the other person to answer, he looked at the reflection in the pond and said to himself.
“When this seat was young, I don’t think I had this kind of hair braid. This kind of pearl crown, I didn’t even touch it. Am I right?”
Eunuch Liu sighed and replied, “Your Majesty is right. This crown and braid were all given to you by Empress Song after you ascended the throne.”
“Oh, you’re talking about Song Qiutong.” Mo Ran sneered. He raised his head and drank a mouthful of Pear Blossom Bai1. “So I actually listened to her instructions back then?”
Perhaps because he didn’t have much time left, he wasn’t afraid of being in the emperor’s heart. If he didn’t get his way, he would take his head. The old man was telling the truth.
Eunuch Liu lowered his eyes and said, “Yes, when Your Majesty first ascended the throne, Empress Song was extremely favored. For a period of time, Your Majesty did whatever Empress Song said. All of this … Has Your Majesty forgotten?”
“Forgotten?” Mo Ran smiled. “I haven’t forgotten. How could I forget …”
After she married Song Qiutong, she didn’t know who leaked the news, telling her that the reason why His Majesty favored her was because her appearance was similar to the late Shi Mingjing.
She was a clever person. She constantly inquired about Shi Mei’s behavior and behavior. She faintly appeared in their married life, like an old friend returning home.
How could she forget?
Mo Ran smiled sorrowfully. Suddenly, he took off the crown on his hair bun. Without looking, he threw it into the lake. It startled a group of koi fish, making the figure in the lake look even more crooked and ferocious.
In this ferocious scene, he took off his braid and let his ink-black hair down. He leaned to the side of the lake, letting the sparkling water reflect on his face, making it uncertain whether it was bright or clear.
“Alright, I’ve lost the crown and the hair bun. Old Liu, help me think again. What do I need to return to my appearance before I ascended the throne?”
“This …”
“Is it a headband?” Mo Ran looked at the reflection and said, “The most common blue headband of the disciples at the Peak of Life and Death. Is there any left in the palace? ”
“There is. In the first year of Your Majesty’s ascension, when you took off the Peak of Life and Death disciple uniform, you told this old servant to put it away. If Your Majesty wants it, this old servant will help you get it. ”
“Very good. Go. Other than the headband, get the rest as well.”
Eunuch Liu returned with a stack of old clothes in his hands. Mo Ran sat up. His fingertips touched the cotton and linen texture. Suddenly, the past slowly flipped over, falling on a heart full of holes like a withered leaf. In a moment of excitement, he casually picked up a robe, wanting to put it on.
But the clothes from his youth were already too small. No matter how he fiddled with them, he could not put them back on.
He was suddenly furious.
“Why can’t I put them on! Why can’t I go back!! ”
He was like a trapped beast circling in a cage. His expression was crazy, and his eyes were frightening.
“That’s my robe! Are these my robes?!!!!! Did you take them by mistake?! If they are my clothes, why can’t I put them on!!! Why can’t I put them on —!! ”
This old servant was used to seeing his master’s crazy appearance.
He used to think that Mo Ran was very scary. But today, for no reason, he felt that this man was very pitiful.
He was not looking for clothes. He was clearly looking for himself who could never come back.
“Your Majesty.” The old man sighed faintly. “Let it go. You are no longer the young man of yesterday.”
“…” Mo Ran was originally raging, but when he heard this, he turned around fiercely. He stared at the old man’s face, but he seemed to be choked and could not say anything. Only the corners of his eyes were red. He could not stop gasping for breath. After a long time, he said, “Not …?”
“Not anymore.”
“… Can’t go back?”
“Can’t go back.”
For the first time, the thirty-two-year-old man’s face showed a kind of confusion and helplessness that only children would have. He closed his eyes and his Adam’s apple moved. The old servant standing beside him with his head down thought that when he opened his eyes, he would fiercely bare his molars and fangs and tear everything in front of him to pieces.
But when Mo Ran opened his eyes again, his eyes were a little wet.
Perhaps it was this kind of wetness that extinguished the fire in his heart.
Mo Ran opened his mouth. His voice was hoarse and tired. “Okay … Okay … Can’t go back … Can’t go back …”
He put down his robe tiredly and sat down by the stone table. He buried his face in his palms.
After a long time, he said, “Then put on a headband.”
“… Your Majesty … Why do you have to …”
“It’s time for me to die. When I die, I don’t want to be too lonely.” When Mo Ran said this, he still did not put down his palms. No one could see the expression on his face. “I want to change my clothes. I feel that I have an old friend with me.”
Liu Gong sighed. “That’s fake.”
“Fake is good.”
Mo Ran said.
“Even if it’s fake, it’s better than nothing.”
He tied up his long hair and twisted it again and again. Then he picked up a hairpin with faded edges from the pile of old clothes. He wanted to fasten it on the side of his hair like he did when he was young. But when he looked at the reflection in the water, he stopped.
Was it the left or the right?
It had been too long since he used this hairpin. His memory had become so blurry. Mo Ran closed his eyes. He said, “Old Liu, do you know how I combed my hair back then?”
“In reply to Your Majesty, this old servant only came to the palace to serve in the second year after you ascended the throne. This old servant does not know.”
Mo Ran said, “But I can’t remember. I want someone to tell me.”
“…”
“Tell me, where is there such a person who can tell me?” Mo Ran murmured. “Who can tell me, back then … what I looked like?”
Old Liu sighed. He could not name anyone. Mo Ran knew in his heart that this old man could not give him an answer. He held the black hairpin in confusion. Left, right, and finally left.
“It seems so.” Mo Ran said, “I’ll go ask him.”
He walked to the depths of the waterside pavilion and came to the side of the red lotus pond. Chu Wanning’s corpse lay there. It was no different from sleeping.
Mo Ran sat on the ground. He rested his chin on his hand and said, “Shizun.”
The wind carried the fragrance of the lotus. He looked at the intoxicated man in the pool with his eyes closed. He suddenly felt that there were many things he wanted to say, but he did not know what to say.
He always seemed to have a chest full of feelings for Chu Wanning. But those feelings were too mixed. There were so many joys and sorrows. He could not tell if he hated this person more, or if he had more other feelings. He really did not know how to treat this person.
He had once told himself that keeping Chu Wanning by his side was only to vent his hatred, to satisfy his selfish desires. But after Chu Wanning died, he left behind this corpse that could no longer be entangled with him. He had already set up a grave, but he could not bear to bury it.
In reality, what was the use of leaving this cold corpse that could not move and could not speak?
He probably was not clear about it himself.
He had experienced too much. The little bit of cleanliness in the beginning had been completely drowned out.
When Chu Wanning was alive, the two of them rarely had the chance to spend time together peacefully.
Now that Chu Wanning was dead, there was a cruel gentleness between the living and the dead. Mo Ran often came to visit him, carrying a pot of Pear Blossom White. He only looked and did not speak much.
At this moment, the rebel army surrounded the mountain. He knew that his life was coming to an end, and Chu Wanning’s corpse was the only person who had accompanied him for a long time.
Mo Ran suddenly wanted to have a good chat with this cold corpse. In any case, Chu Wanning was already a corpse. He could not resist or scold him. No matter what he said, he had to listen obediently.
But when he moved his mouth, his throat choked up.
In the end, he only said one sentence.
“Shizun, listen to me.”
