Chapter 58

It was a rare opportunity for them to come out of the sealed stone chamber, so on the first night, the two did not choose to practice all night long.

After all, the spirit cannot always be tense and not relaxed, otherwise it is not good for the mentality. The test paper must also abide by the basic law.

Chu Jinglan practiced swordplay in the yard for a while. The sword light was sharp, but under his control it did not harm any plants in the yard. This was very different from the flying leaves and shattering bamboos in the Chu family's bamboo forest sword field.

The spiritual sword was finally filled with spiritual energy, the sword's meaning was harmonious and its aura was shining.

Chu Jinglan inherited the sword manual of Moon Lord, but he did not just use his swordsmanship. Chu Jinglan had his own understanding of swordsmanship. Some people can only learn one sword in their entire life, but he never memorizes by rote. A long time ago, Chu Jinglan used many of his own moves.

Some of his moves were already very powerful, but due to the difference in cultivation, they were not recorded in history. However, with time, when he reaches a higher level, Chu Jinglan's swordsmanship will surely be known to everyone along with him.

Xiao Mo sat under the eaves and played the flute.

Xiao Mo can play quite a few music scores now. Apart from other things, the system is very good at collecting these materials. However, Xiao Mo still likes to play Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and the half-finished piece by Chu Jinglan the most. It may be because these two songs accompanied him from Ghosts and Wolves Howling to The Sound of Springs, and he has a deeper affection for them.

After Xiao Mo finished half of the poem, he thought for a while, took out the paper and pen from the room, picked up the pen, and wrote something on the paper.

Chu Jinglan didn't know when he stopped practicing sword. He put away his sword and walked over, asking casually, "What are you writing?"

Xiao Mo turned the paper over to him and said, "This piece of music is not yet finished. I want to write a few lines to try it out."

Xiao Mo hummed the tune twice and said in embarrassment: "But something is wrong. The feeling I wanted was not expressed."

Being able to play the flute doesn't mean you can write good music. Xiao Mo wrote only a few tunes on the paper and stopped. Chu Jinglan took a look, took the pen, added a few tunes on it, and put together a complete sentence: "How about this?"

Xiao Mo hummed the modified tune and his eyes lit up: "Yes! That's the flavor, but it seems to be missing something——"

The tune written by Xiao Mo was very similar to his previous flute practice. It was a single tune and could not be considered a complete sentence. Only after it was tinged with color did it become connected.

The two of them sat in the corridor. Chu Jinglan held a pen and pondered over the position pointed out by Xiao Mo. He wrote a few tunes and chose them with Xiao Mo. After a while, the two of them finally figured out a smooth tune.

Xiao Mo raised his flute, and the melodious sound slid out, flying high into the sky from the small eaves. Xiao Mo was very satisfied: "It feels right at last. You are really good at writing music."

Chu Jinglan said: "You gave a very good tone. We can think about it together and complete this song."

Xiao Mo raised the paper with both hands and admired it from different angles from bottom to top: "Okay, then take your time to think about it. There's no need to rush."

Qiuqiu was released after they came back, and was squatting on a tree beside the wall. After Xiao Mo finished playing the flute, it chirped twice in support: It sounds nice!

The flock of birds that were startled and flew away in the middle of the night by Xiao Mo's flute were not so lucky. It's true that they are birds of a feather but have different destinies.

It was late at night, and the two had no plans to practice anymore. They went back to the house and lay down to rest. In fact, they hadn't slept for quite a while, and they had replaced sleep with practice and meditation. After a long time, at least for human practice, it was time to adjust with sleep.

There was a bed, but with two pillows and two quilts, and we covered ourselves with a quilt and just chatted.

It's not like they had never slept in the same bed before, but during the year in the stone chamber, they had practiced separately on their own stone beds. Now lying side by side, it felt like a long time since they last met, a feeling that was both familiar and strange.

No matter how hard the inner demon covered the quilt, it was still cold. The corners of Chu Jinglan's quilt were not pressed down tightly. Xiao Mo moved the quilt, and the movement caused a gap between the two quilts. He felt a little bit of Chu Jinglan's warm breath coming over.

But it was soon interrupted by the falling quilt.

Chu Jinglan had been lying quietly for a long time. When Xiao Mo moved to the bed, he turned over so that he could lie down and see Chu Jinglan's profile.

At the age of nineteen, the youthfulness on Chu Jinglan's face was almost gone. His features became sharper, with a clear jawline and a high nose bridge, looking like they were carved on jade, making him extraordinarily handsome.

There was a mirror in the room, and Xiao Mo saw his original face in the mirror during the day.

He originally thought that after becoming a demon, his appearance would remain the same as it was at the age of seventeen, but from the mirror, he could still see slight changes in his face.

Xiao Mo couldn't describe the specific feeling, but overall his appearance had grown a bit.

Xiao Mo was born handsome. If he was originally as beautiful as the moon on the willows in spring, it was also the new moon that had just jumped onto the branches, shining brightly and pleasingly. But now, he is more like an autumn moon in the water, so beautiful in the rippling waves. One can pick up the falling water droplets with one's fingertips, but cannot touch the moon that haunts one's dreams.

The moon is in the water, and the autumn waves are rising.

Xiao Mo didn't know what he looked like in the eyes of others.

Thinking of this, Xiao Mo couldn't help but ask Chu Jinglan: "What do I look like in your eyes now?"

Chu Jinglan, who had been resting with his eyes closed, suddenly opened them. Upon hearing these words, he tilted his head and met Xiao Mo's gaze.

The two of them were lying on the bed, not too far nor too close, but with their cheeks touching the soft pillow, it was an extremely relaxing atmosphere. At this distance, the distance between their hearts would inexplicably be shortened.

...so close.

Chu Jinglan slowly turned his neck and moved his gaze back to the ceiling of the bed.

"At first glance, he looks about three-quarters like me."

Xiao Mo: "Why are there only three points left?"

"Maybe it's because of our auras. Our auras are becoming more and more different." Chu Jinglan said in a steady voice, "And your eyes are becoming less and less similar to mine."

It's not about the outline, but the eyes.

There was frost and snow in Chu Jinglan's eyes, and there was red dust in Xiao Mo's eyes. The light that came out was so different that no one would think they were the same person.

Xiao Mo: "It's better if we don't look alike. I am me and you are you."

Chu Jinglan: “Yeah.”

Xiao Mo got the answer and thought that tonight's chat could be over, so he just faced Chu Jinglan and closed his eyes. After a while, Xiao Mo should have fallen asleep, and Chu Jinglan turned his eyes to the side again, gently stopping on Xiao Mo's face.

When Xiao Mo smiled, he was as bright and gorgeous as the red lotus between his eyebrows. In Chu Jinglan's eyes, the blooming face was Xiao Mo, and he didn't think about his own face.

Indeed, not like better.

Chu Jinglan's gaze stayed there for a moment, then he slowly turned around, facing Xiao Mo, and closed his eyes and fell asleep.

*

The next day, when the morning light just shone through the window, the two opened their eyes almost at the same time and saw each other so close.

Xiao Mo regained consciousness a little bit, his voice was hazy as if he had not yet fully woken up: "... Good morning."

Chu Jinglan's eyes flickered in the morning light: "Good morning."

In the past, when I read descriptions of the morning in poems, I thought they were just pretentious and there was nothing to write about. But now, when I close my eyes in the morning light, all the scenes come alive because of another person, and I know that what they said is true.

Poetry and painting are not enough to express ideas.

Chu Jinglan felt that Xiao Mo's position in his mind had changed, but it was a strange and new position, and it was floating in his mind and had not completely landed, so that he himself could not tell where Xiao Mo's position was.

But it's unusual anyway.

But he is clearly a demon in his heart.

...Even if he is clearly a demon in his heart.

Xiao Mo stood up, changed his clothes with one click, and handed Chu Jinglan's clothes to him: "By the way, let's go out and buy you some clothes today. Although there are robes in the Moon Lord's storage container, the robes can be worn outside, so we still need to prepare a few more clothes."

Xiao Mo: "I'll help you choose."

Chu Jinglan took the clothes from Xiao Mo's hand: "Okay."

When it comes to clothing aesthetics, Xiao Mo has never made a mistake.

They walked around Lin'an City and bought some clothes, and at the same time they learned more about the Yuntai Competition.

The top ten in each realm can choose one of the five major sects in the upper realm and join them for practice.

Xiao Mo: This is clearly a recruitment scam.

Moreover, judging from the previous winning lists, the majority are basically the disciples of the five major forces in the middle realm, with occasional independent cultivators. For the disciples who were originally under the five major forces, this is a fight for their own guaranteed admission to graduate school. It is like a huge army trying to cross a single-plank bridge, and you can imagine how fierce the competition is.

But now there is a problem. According to the rules, because it is a reward for the disciples, after the disciples choose a sect, the sect cannot return it on the spot, and the top ten demons can also choose the sect to practice.

Even if they can be returned in the future, the demons can still stay in the human sect for a period of time.

Given the current tense relationship between human cultivators and demons, even if the demons are not spies, they will be treated as spies.

No human cultivator would be willing to choose a sect of the demon race. If they did, they would have to go to the Demon Realm and be torn to pieces by the now mad Demon Lord.

But this is not what Xiao Mo and his friends need to worry about now. Xiao Mo asked Chu Jinglan: "Should we choose Yingyue Sect?"

Yingyue Sect is famous for its sword training and is indeed the best place to go. Chu Jinglan wants to avenge his blood feud, but the early Yuanying stage is not enough. He needs a better environment and resources to practice. The most ideal state is to return to the lower world after the distraction.

Because even if he would be suppressed into a Yuanying by the laws of the lower realm, he would still be at the peak of Yuanying, the strongest realm in the lower realm, and could fight against several Yuanying elders of the Chu family.

However, the Yuntai Competition has not started yet, and Xiao Mo has already helped Chu Jinglan to challenge the sect. Although Chu Jinglan is determined to win the competition, he also feels that Xiao Mo is more confident than him.

"If nothing unexpected happens, choose Yingyue Sect." Chu Jinglan said, "Then you will--"

Xiao Mo: "I will follow you as your attendant."

Chu Jinglan paused and looked up at him: "You are not a servant."

"Of course not," Xiao Mo smiled, "but if I want to follow you into the Yingyue Sect, this identity is the most suitable, and it will also prevent others from making a fuss. After all, I can't participate in the competition, and they can't accept me as a disciple."

Not suitable to be a disciple.

For a sect with many sword practitioners, it is their homework to spar with each other. Xiao Mo can't just dodge and not fight back. If he fights back, he might accidentally shock the other person with the force, and the force would backfire on him, which would be asking for trouble.

Xiao Mo doesn't like pain, so there is no need to do that.

"Anyway, for both of us, our identities are just a cover-up. Once you get in, just be nice to me and let them know that you regard me as your 'servant' as an important friend."

"Be nice to me after you enter the door" is a bit strange, but it is indeed appropriate to use it here. Chu Jinglan accepted the proposal. He looked into Xiao Mo's eyes and said, "I will let them know."

There was a sense of respect in his tone that only he understood.

Xiao Mo smiled and said, "Okay."

"So we have a new relationship," Xiao Mo blinked, "What should I call you this time?"

Chu Jinglan suddenly had a bad feeling.

Xiao Mo jokingly asked, "Young Master, Master, or Master?"

Chu Jinglan was shocked: "..."

Chu Jinglan suspected that Xiao Mo was seeking revenge for those times when he was called "brother" a long, long time ago.

Yan Chun and the other three children called "Master" in a very formal manner. Xiao Mo's smiling tone did not show any respect at all. It was all just a joke. He just wanted to make the Master feel unstable. Master Chu could not afford it.

"…Just call me by my name."

Xiao Mo said seriously: "That's so disrespectful."

Today, Chu Jinglan was not choked by Mo Yan Mo Yu. He raised his eyes and replied in a calm tone: "Isn't it a good opportunity to let outsiders know that I value you and don't treat you as a servant?"

Xiao Mo was stunned for a moment, then he hissed softly and muttered, "Your eloquence has improved. Is this my illusion?"

Chu Jinglan said: "Thank you."

The purpose is to learn the foreigners' advanced technology in order to defeat them.

So the next day, the three children ran back to the house, and the clear voices called "Master" and "Senior Brother" one by one, which was much more pleasing to the ears.

At least the six senses are pure.

A year passed and the three children had changed much more than them. They were in the period of growing up, and each of them had grown taller and their faces had grown a little bigger. If they hadn't seen them for three to five years, they would probably not be able to recognize them.

Xiao Mo patted each of them on the head in their expectant eyes, and felt the real passing of time: "You have grown up."

The house suddenly became lively, and the three children had endless things to say, but they all tacitly agreed to only report good news and not their worries, and did not tell anyone about some of the bad things they had encountered in the academy.

The three of them were talented and favored by the teachers, so naturally the disciples would be jealous of them, not to mention that they were still three helpless independent cultivators.

The most outstanding one is Chu Xia, who has a very high talent in medicine. However, no one wants to offend a doctor who may be very outstanding in the future, so even if someone gossips about her, it is behind her back. Chu Xia is the most comfortable one in the academy.

But Yan Chun and Mo Zhi are different. One is favored by the dean and seems to have a gentle personality and is easy to control; the other is favored by Mr. Yi, but has a too flamboyant personality and makes people feel uncomfortable.

Mo Zhi had a big fight with someone before, and even Yan Chun got involved. The cause was a disciple who had a conflict with Mo Zhi, who got angry and cursed him for being fatherless and motherless and unloved.

Mo Zhi jumped up on the spot and started fighting with others.

It’s not a big deal to say that he has no parents, that’s a fact, but how can you say that no one wants him?

In the early summer of Yanchun, he also had his master and Senior Brother Xiao. With these people around him, he was no longer a little beggar who was unwanted by anyone.

It actually took some effort to calm down the storm, including Yan Chun's courage, who asked the dean's opinion while his hands were shaking under his sleeves. Only then did he get the guarantee from the elder that he would not retaliate, and the matter was finally settled.

They don't intend to talk about these unhappy things on happy days.

Xiao Mo and Chu Jinglan heard what they said, and Xiao Mo nodded: "Is there anything else important you need to tell us?"

The three of them exchanged glances quietly and shook their heads in sync.

Xiao Mo sighed.

In front of the three children, he took out a letter.

"This is the letter from Lin'an Academy that was delivered to the mansion yesterday," Xiao Mo looked at them gently, "The dean said that he will be transferred back to the upper world and intends to take you three to the upper world academy, but you refused?"

The three of them were stunned and looked panicked. They didn't expect that the matter would be exposed!

Xiao Mo asked in a gentle voice, "Why?"

Yan Chun pursed her lips and replied in the panicked eyes of Mo Zhi and Chu Xia: "We know we are stupid, practicing in the middle realm is already--"

Chu Jinglan interrupted him calmly: "Tell the truth."

Yan Chun's eyes turned red, and he stammered and couldn't continue. After a while, he lowered his head and said, "We are afraid that if we go to the upper realm, it will be more difficult to meet our master and brothers."

Even though they had a blood contract on them, Chu Jinglan had never used it once. Now they were both in the middle realm and only saw each other once a year. If they went to the upper realm, when could they meet again?

Although the three children were mentally precocious compared to many of their peers, they were only nine or ten years old after all. Their dependence on Xiao Mo and Chu Jinglan came from the bottom of their hearts, so they could not really think too complicatedly and long-term.

Chu Jinglan remained calm: "Going to the upper realm will improve your cultivation and will be more useful to me in the future."

The three children's eyes became even redder.

If the master wants them to go, they will definitely go, but they really don't want to leave...

Xiao Mo tapped Chu Jinglan's elbow with his flute: "Can't you be more friendly?"

Chu Jinglan picked up the teacup on the table and said, "I'm just telling the truth."

Xiao Mo wants to withdraw his evaluation of this person's improved verbal skills.

Before the three children started to cry, Xiao Mo said, "Don't be sad. This is a good opportunity. Go back and thank the dean. Accept it. We will also be going to the upper realm soon, so we won't be separated too far."

The three children immediately held back their tears and were extremely surprised: "Really!?"

"Really? You know about the Yuntai competition," Xiao Mo nodded at Chu Jinglan, "your tough-mouthed but kind-hearted master will participate and will definitely win."

Only he could say that Chu Jinglan was tough on the outside but kind on the inside.

They were all training in the Lin'an Academy, so of course they knew about the Yuntai Competition, and since Senior Brother Xiao said they could win, then they would definitely win. In the eyes of these three children, even though they had met many big shots in the academy, the most powerful ones were still their master and senior brothers!

The three of them finally burst into laughter. Xiao Mo saw that he had coaxed them into submission, and he still had something to say: "By the way, I have to tell you that your master and I are not brothers."

Yanchun and Chuxia blinked, and Mo Zhi was surprised: "No blood relationship? But some of your facial features are really similar!"

Yanchun and Chuxia also nodded: They look even more alike than the two dragon and phoenix twins themselves.

But even if they are not brothers, the closeness in the eyes of the children will not change, so the other thing is the key point: "In the future, when you are outside, you must remember that my name is Mo Lan, and don't call me Brother Xiao."

Although he didn't know why he changed his name, he was sure that the senior brother had his own intentions. Yan Chun asked tentatively: "Then... Senior Brother Mo?"

Xiao Mo: “Yes, that’s what I call it.”

It feels more intimate than "Senior Brother Xiao". It's not a big problem and I can adapt to it.

Xiao Mo: "Also, if you hear me calling him master, don't be surprised. That's us—"

Chu Jinglan interrupted his spell and said, "Don't scream like that."

Xiao Mo said calmly: "If I really encounter such a situation, I will tell them first, just in case."

Mo Zhi looked at Xiao Mo and Chu Jinglan's shocked expressions, one smiling and the other helpless, and then he felt that he understood, with a glimmer of innocence in his eyes: "Are you guys playing games?"

Xiao Mo/Chu Jinglan: "..."

No, no, how is that possible!

The adults’ thoughts are not quite right, but children’s words are not restrained. It is not an unknown problem; it is their problem.

Fortunately, Yan Chun said: "Master and Senior Brother must have arranged this identity for some plan, right?"

As expected of him being the most stable and responsible person among the three, Xiao Mo was relieved: "Yan Chun is right after all."

Mo Zhi was envious: "I will also read more books and do more besides practicing!"

Chu Jinglan: "Not bad, let's copy the book twice today."

Yanchun: "Yes, yes, you can't fall behind in your studies these few days. I will copy them too."

Chu Xia immediately raised her hand: "I want to copy the medical book twice too!"

At such a young age, he already has the thoughts of his master and senior brother Juan Wang. He is a teachable boy.

Mo Zhi, who was the least willing to get involved in the room, wailed instantly: Is it too late to admit my mistake and say that I just spoke too quickly?