Chapter 2: THIS MASTER'S SECOND LIFE
Chu Wanning was sleeping in a sitting position, his head lay on the table next to a pile of mechanical items. When he woke up, he immediately felt a stabbing headache. Chu Wanning groaned and rubbed his temples. He tried to get up, and accidentally kicked some metallic parts.
"…"
In fact, random metallic items were piling up on the floor, leaving very little space to move around. Chu Wanning spotted his Holy Night Guardian blueprint on the floor and bent down to fetch it.
Hmm? The blueprint was inaccurate. No, not that it was inaccurate. Better to say that it was outdated. He remembered making some changes here at the knuckles… and then adding some extra protection at the shoulder…
Chu Wanning glanced around him in confusion. Had he not completed the Holy Night Guardian? It was already distributed to the common folk especially in lower cultivation regions, long long time ago. Why was he still working on it?
Something was not right…
Chu Wanning was being tormented by waves of headache. He stumbled across the room and let himself fall on the messy bed, curling up in his usual sleeping corner. He should rest a little. He must have worked so hard that things no longer made sense. His eyelids barely fell when memories started floating into his mind.
Jiu'ge.
Mo Ran.
Shallow breaths.
Rusty taste in his mouth.
Cold.
Darkness.
The phoenix eyes snapped open. Chu Wanning sat up in one swift motion, cold sweat ran down his back, his heart throbbing from the sudden adrenaline rush.
That's right. He died. He clearly died in TaXian-Jun's arms, in a failed attempt to kill him. Where was he? Could it be that TaXian-Jun actually managed to bring him back to life? Impossible…
Chu Wanning ran out of his bed chamber, stepping carelessly on the metal parts all the way to the lotus pond. He was in the Red Lotus Pavilion, alright. His heart was beating fast in anxiety as he walked down the familiar stone paths, the familiar lanes and gazed at the old buildings that formed the entire SiSheng Peak. Disciples were bustling about. Upon seeing him, they scurried away in fright. This used to be a common occurrence, but there had been no more disciples in the SiSheng Peak since long time ago. The Sect had, after all, long been dissolved. TaXian-Jun killed the Sect Leader and his wife.
Chu Wanning froze in spot. This was not the SiSheng Peak he knew in the later stage of his life. This was the SiSheng Peak back when the Sect was still intact. But how could that be..?
His feet carried him unconsciously to Loyalty Hall. When he entered, the hall was empty. Chu Wanning's heart sank. Of course, it was too good to be true. He could not possibly have gone back in time. The dead would not return. TaXian-Jun was playing a trick on him.
"Hm? Yuheng Elder?"
Chu Wanning whipped around so fast upon hearing the voice that it startled the lady who just spoke.
Chu Wanning stared at Madam Wang's face.
Was this another trick? Illusion?
Madam Wang carefully spoke, "Yuheng Elder, is something the matter? Why are you looking at me as if I were a ghost?"
Chu Wanning rubbed his hurting temples. Madam Wang hurried forward and helped him to sit on his usual seat.
"Is something the matter? Are you feeling unwell?"
Chu Wanning's voice was hoarse when he asked, "Where is… Sect Leader?"
Madam Wang smiled at him.
"Did Yuheng Elder forget? He left a few days ago to Kunlun. He won't be back anytime soon."
Chu Wanning supported his head with a hand, staring at nothing in particular. He could not quite remember this piece of information that was just disclosed to him. And yet, he felt that he was neither dreaming nor wallowing in an illusion. He was really back in the past. Back when everything was still peaceful, back when Mo Ran was still innocent..
-Mo Ran!
Chu Wanning jumped up from his seat, startling Madam Wang again.
-The Eight-Sufferings-Long-Hatred Flower!
If he really had gone back in time, then he might be just in time.. just in time to prevent the events to unfold the way it did. He had to find Mo Ran.
"Yuheng Elder..?" Madam Wang asked uncertainly when Chu Wanning dashed away.
"Thank you, Madam. Excuse me, I have something to do."
Looking at the whirling dust that was left in his wake, Madam Wang nodded in confusion. What was Yuheng Elder coming to the Loyalty Hall for, again?
Chu Wanning ran all the way to the disciples' residence but he could not find Mo Ran. He walked all over SiSheng Peak but he still could not catch even a shadow of that one disciple of his. Dejectedly, he walked back to Red Lotus Pavilion when someone cried after him.
"Shizun! Shizun!!"
A soft lump crashed against his back and held him tightly in place. Chu Wanning blinked a few times. It had been so long since the child did this, but there was only one person who would do this kind of thing.
"Xue Meng," he said almost in a whisper.
Xue Meng looked up at him, his eyes full of terror.
"Shizun, help! The-the barrier at the back mountain is tearing apart! G-ghosts are coming out to the mortal realm!"
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