Chapter 1 (Novel)

**This Venerable One Dies** is the first chapter of *The Husky and His White Cat Shizun.*

## Summary

Mo Ran had always been described as a dog. It didn’t matter if the dog related metaphor referred to his low birth status or his powerful lower half that was like a male dog’s, it could be said that these nicknames suited him perfectly. But it was only after he became the emperor of the cultivation world that these monikers disappeared in a flash.

Mo Ran had once been gifted a puppy, with three slashes of flame on its forehead from a small sect in a faraway land. The puppy slowly grew up from being the size of a small melon to a big dog till it died one day and before Mo Ran knew it, thirty two years of his life had passed. Everything had lost its luster and he felt as if it was time he went to hell.

Mo Ran, courtesy name Weiyu, was the first emperor of the cultivation world. Reaching this position had not been easy and had taken not simply just outstanding spiritual powers but also skin as thick as meteorite. Mo Ran was a scoundrel who had done what others dared not to do. He had married the most beautiful woman in the world and given himself the title of ‘Taxian-jun’ after he became emperor and slaughtered everyone who refused to kneel before him. He had even completely annihilated the Rufeng Sect of the Ten Great Sects and even the honored master who had taught him, was unable to escape his claws and was taken prisoner in the palace when he was defeated in his final battle against Mo Ran.

Mo Ran wasn’t very well read and had come up with ridiculous titles for his reigning years like that of Jiba and Wangba . These names were embarrassing and awkward to say. The common people silently cursed Mo Ran and anticipated what next ridiculous title he would come up with. However, Mo Ran no longer cared enough to draw up the fourth title.

After ten years of enduring this tyrannical rule, an army of millions was gathered and began charging towards Mo Weiyu. It was only after many months of battles, the rebel army finally reached the foot of Sisheng Peak where Mo Ran’s palace was located. There was a glimmer of hope that Mo Ran’s tyranny would finally end; however, the cultivators had lost their courage and feared that the emperor would drop down from the sky and rip them apart. Right then, a handsome and flashy young man stepped forward and called them cowards for giving up right when they had reached the foot of the mountain.

This young man was Xue Meng, the darling of the heavens. The cultivators taunted him saying that he should go up by himself if he was so brave and that if they go up without a plan they all would get killed. Hearing this, Xue Meng explodes, saying that Mo Ran had imprisoned his shizun up in the palace for the past ten years and with him being so close, how could they make him wait. Xue Meng then breaks into sobs and continues that his shizun had put his life on the line to save them only to get such treatment in return. In the end, he was the only one who dared climb the mountain.

Along the way, Xue Meng passes by three graves. The first grave was for the Empress Song and was overrun by long weeds. The second grave was for the Consort Chu and was recently sealed. Both graves had tombstones with strange titles. The third grave was unmarked and unburied with an open coffin inside and was lined with all of Mo Ran’s favorite foods and alcohol. Xue Meng, filled with disbelief, rushes into Wushuan Palace where he sees Mo Ran leaning on the throne.

Mo Ran had swallowed poison two hours prior, but the effect was slow and painful as his cultivation was high. Xue Meng, not knowing what to say, ends up only demanding Mo Ran to release their shizun. With his hatred for Chu Wanning, Mo Ran asks Xue Meng if he really believed that their shizun would still be alive after all these years.

Xue Meng breaks down into tears, not wanting to believe that Mo Ran could have done something like this. Mo Ran recounts all the terrible ways Chu Wanning treated him in and Xue Meng tries to reason that despite Chu Wanning’s harsh words and temper, he was still Mo Ran's shizun and was actually very kind to him. Mo Ran however continues by saying that his only love was killed by Chu Wanning.

He then tells Xue Meng that since Chu Wanning and he were once master and disciple, he had kept Chu Wanning’s body preserved using his spiritual powers in the Red Lotus Pavilion and that since he will die soon, Xue Meng should go see him. Xue Meng rushes to go see his shizun and Mo Ran transports himself to the Heaven-Piercing Tower and lays in his coffin, waiting to die.

## Characters

*In order of appearance:*

* Mo Ran
* Song Qiutong (mentioned)
* Chu Wanning (mentioned)
* Xue Meng

## Locations

* Sisheng Peak
* Wushan Palace
* Red Lotus Pavilion
* Heaven-Piercing Tower