Mo Ran walks back and forth, waiting in another room. His uncle and cousin sitting down drinking tea. They've been in there for at least two hours. What could they possibly be talking about back there? He's hoping to get a moment alone with Wanning.

Why is it so hard to apologize?

And it's not for the lack of trying. He's trying but things and people keep getting in the way. And now he might have to wait until Wanning finishes with this mission to get another chance to talk. Who knows how long it will take for that to finish. This town is so far away. It will take at least a week and a few days to get there. With so much land to cover Wanning is going to be busy.

"Why are you so anxious?" Xue Meng asks, having watched his cousin going back and forth for a few minutes now.

"I wanted to discuss something with Wanning but with him taking the job I might not get to." Mo Ran answers not stopping in his repetitive steps.

"Just wait, there's no rush. Even I want to talk with shizun, so does Shi Mei." Mengmeng says with a roll of his eyes. Mo Ran didn't need to see him to know he did.

"You wouldn't understand." Mo Ran shakes his head.

"Well not from you." Mengmeng says back with ruffled feathers.

"Ran-er sit down, for a moment, you're creating a dent in the floor." Zhengyong says, jumping in before they start arguing, with a playful glint in his eyes. Mo Ran lets out a small huff but follows his uncles words. He sits across his cousin. His uncle kindly pouring him a cup of tea. Mo Ran takes a drink from his cup, letting the aroma fill his nose. His shoulders relaxing, the tension leaving his body.

Soon the three are sitting in silence, drinking tea as they wait. A slight breeze passing by them. Bringing with it the scent of fresh leaves and open air. Mo Ran even forgetting what he was so tense about. Almost.

The door opens and all three snap their heads to look. The first one out is madam Wang. She walk towards them with a small smile on her face. Then is Wanning, closing the door behind him. Expression neutral but Mo Ran is getting better at understanding shizun few expressions. Something happen but he's not letting his emotions show, whatever they are.

"She's going to rest more." Madam Wang tells them as she sits next to uncle.

"So? What happened? What'd you talk about?" Xue Meng asks looking between his parents and teacher. Wanning sits across from uncle, in between Mo Ran and Xue Meng. His face turn away, like this Mo Ran can see the tips of those cute ears pinkish. So he's embarrassed. Mo Ran is now more curious than before.

"Tomorrow morning Qing Su and Yuheng will depart back to town. There are still some details that need to be talked about." Wang says.

"Like?"

"Yuheng needs a back story." Madam Wang says. "To keep people from being scared Yuheng should have a fake reason to be there. We suggested pretending to be there for marriage."

"I do not think that's convincing." Wanning says. Mo Ran sits straighter, looking at Wanning. What on earth does he think is not convincing enough? That he's not married? Because if he saw someone as beautiful as Wanning he'd believe they are taken.

"Is shizun going alone?" Xue Meng ask looking at Wanning.

"Mm." Wanning nods. Mo Ran looks at Wanning. No back up? But it hasn't been long since he came out of seclusion.

"Why not go as a special customer?" Xue Zhengyong says. Mo Ran spots Wanning tilt his head a tiny bit to think.

"That can work?" Wanning nods.

"Ah, did she tell you more about the back road? Why did she say the woman were taken from there?" Mo Ran asks.

"She heard that the woman who went missing were going to a small town at the end of one of the roads. After a certain point the road forks. One leads back to the main road while the other..." Wanning face gets pink, head ducking away. Aunt Wang lets out a small chuckle.

"The town on the other side is... more like a red light district. It's well known to the woman on account that most young woman growing into adulthood go there to learn about their bodies and how to be a bride. It's tradition. The woman who went missing went down the road in preparation to become brides and were never seen again." Madam Wang continues.

"It's why me being a bride was suggested." Wanning adds.

"There's still time to think of something. Maybe not there to get married but there as a customer who happens to be getting married?" Zhengyong suggests.

"Are you sure shizun doesn't need help?" Xue Meng asks.

"I'll be fine." Wanning answers with a twitch to his beautifully shaped eyebrows. Both Mo Ran Xue Meng know their teacher is strong and powerful but he died. He has died. He's not as immortal as his nickname suggests. Not as untouchable as they thought he was. The feeling hasn't gone away now that he's out of seclusion.

"If that's why was she so secretive about it?" Mo Ran wonders. Madam Wang gives a look to Mo Ran, as if he should know.

"She a woman, it's un-lady like to talk about those things in front of others. It's apart of her culture so she was unsure about our reaction to it."

"Ah." Mo Ran voices, nodding his head. He didn't think about that.

"Speaking of, I think I should teach Yuheng some mannerism that I learned growing up." Madam Wang says. Wanning blinks.

"Excuse me?" He asks, not realizing he would need to learn anything.

"We don't know how long this form will last and until then I'm sure there will be plenty of missions and requests that you will be sent on for this same reason. We do not have many competent female cultivators. At the moment you are the only one." Madam Wang states. And what she says makes sense, Wanning doesn't know how long he'll look like this. Doesn't know when it'll fade. If it will. The least he can do is learn to act the part, then he can be helpful and repay what they had done for him. He was useless for five years. He should repay that.

"Okay." Wanning answers. Madam Wang smiles.

"Then let's start. When getting up, your head should be level, back straight, hands together on your lap. Once on your knees shift the weight to your feet and lift yourself." She explains as she rises. Wanning watching intensely to absorb what she's doing.

Once on her feet she looks at Wanning to try himself next. He does but accidentally knocks his knees against the table. He makes a squeak sound. Falling to his hands as his face flushes. After a while he sits again to try a second time. Face scrunch in a frown, glaring at the others who just give a grin, trying to make him feel better. It's a surprise Wanning messed up but he doesn't need to know that. Not liking that he got it wrong, Wanning is more determined now, staring at his knees. Mo Ran found the face adorable.

Wanning tries again with more success.