Mo Xi stared at the sachet for a long while. Rage surged in his chest as he slowly forced out a few words:
“Who gave that to you?”
“…”
As if sensing the fury in his eyes, Gu Mang tucked the sachet back into his clothes, pressing it against his chest, over his heart. Then he answered with two completely irrelevant words:
“It’s mine.”
His?
Ridiculous. He had fallen to this point—there wasn’t even a single shell coin in his jar—and yet he could afford a brocade pouch like this?
Mo Xi almost laughed from anger.
“Where did you get the money?”
“Traded.”
“With who?”
But Gu Mang only repeated himself.
“I traded for it.”
Mo Xi suddenly snapped.
“What did you trade? What do you even have? You—”
Then he froze.
Gu Mang was in a brothel. What kind of people could he possibly meet? What could he use as bargaining chips to trade for this sachet?
The answer was obvious.
And he had been stupid enough to keep pressing.
It felt like sandpaper scraping against his heart—painful and raw. Mo Xi shut his eyes, trying to calm the storm in his chest, but even his usually composed face couldn’t hide the clenched-jaw fury.
At last, he gave up.
His eyes flew open, voice low and dangerously hoarse.
“What do you even want this thing for?”
Gu Mang seemed not to know either.
He simply clutched the sachet tightly, silently staring at Mo Xi without saying a word.
“For looks?”
“You like it?”
“You had some reason for doing something this absurd.”
Maybe he truly couldn’t stand being interrogated like a criminal by Xi-He Jun anymore, because Gu Mang finally spoke, slowly:
“Someone gave it to me…”
“You just said you traded for it. Even now you’re still lying to me?”
“There was someone…”
For a brief moment, it looked like Gu Mang wanted to continue. But something stopped him. He bit his lower lip and chose silence instead.
That silence shattered the last thread of Mo Xi’s restraint.
His gaze sharpened like knives splitting open a shell.
“Finish what you were saying.”
He stared at Gu Mang’s face.
Perhaps he was too furious. Or maybe the room was too dim.
Mo Xi failed to notice the unusual change in Gu Mang’s eyes.
“Why stop talking? Is there actually something in this world you can’t say?” Mo Xi’s throat bobbed as every word came grinding through clenched teeth. “Say it. I’ve heard every kind of absurdity already. You—”
Gu Mang suddenly said, flatly:
“There’s someone who treats me well.”
It hit like a club to the head.
Now it was Mo Xi who couldn’t speak.
His throat went bone-dry.
Someone treated him well?
What a joke… who would treat a traitor well?
Then another thought came.
Right. Back then, Gu Mang needed him, so he flirted and sweet-talked his way into Mo Xi’s life.
Now life in Luo Mei Bie Yuan was miserable. Luring in another benefactor with lies and charm was hardly surprising.
It was just… just…
Mo Xi’s vision darkened with rage.
He thought for a long while, but his mind refused to move beyond that.
“Good… very good…” Mo Xi paused. The fury was so intense his eyes had turned red. After a long moment, he finally rasped, “Gu Mang. Gu Mang… You truly never cease to amaze me.”
Gu Mang said nothing.
He leaned against the wall, watching Mo Xi’s face.
Mo Xi lifted his head, as if trying to force something back into his eyes. He held that posture for a moment, then suddenly pressed a hand to his forehead and laughed bitterly.
“I really don’t know what I’ve been clinging to all these years. I don’t know why I even came here tonight to see you…”
The more he thought, the sadder and angrier he became. By the end, his voice trembled faintly.
Suddenly his fist slammed against the wall beside Gu Mang, skin splitting over his knuckles, blood blooming in jagged streaks.
The candlelight flickered wildly between them.
Mo Xi pinned Gu Mang against the wall, his face carrying the kind of hatred that looked ready to tear someone apart.
Through gritted teeth, he said:
“General Gu.”
“…”
“You truly are blessed.”
“Even rotted to this point, there’s still always someone willing to treat you well.”
“I—”
“GU MANG!”
Suddenly Qin Momo’s voice exploded from somewhere outside.
“Young Master Zhou is here! Hurry and change into clean clothes and keep the young master entertained!”
That shout snapped Mo Xi back to reality instantly.
He regained his senses at once.
His chest still rose and fell violently, but the madness in his eyes was forced back.
Mo Xi lowered his head slightly, heavy breaths brushing Gu Mang’s ear. He shut his eyes.
When he opened them again, the beast clawing at the cage was gone.
Only a faint trace of moisture remained in his dark eyes, shining in the dimness like a star in the night.
“Young Master Zhou?”
“…”
“Was he the one who gave you the sachet?”
Gu Mang, seemingly incapable of understanding the hatred tearing through Mo Xi’s chest, simply watched him with unnatural calm and shook his head.
Young Master Zhou…
Young Master Zhou…
Mo Xi repeated the name in his head and suddenly remembered.
It was that youngest son of the Zhou family.
He knew of him.
One of the cruelest young degenerates in the capital.
Not particularly talented, but endlessly inventive when it came to sadistic amusements.
He looked at Gu Mang.
Gu Mang’s expression didn’t change, but unconsciously, his fingers rubbed at a scar on his arm.
After a moment of silence, Mo Xi gave a near self-mocking laugh.
“What? The person who treats you well doesn’t care?”
“…”
Gu Mang silently tucked away the sachet and said nothing.
After a pause, Mo Xi asked again:
“This Young Master Zhou comes often?”
Gu Mang nodded.
Mo Xi stared at him.
His sharp, handsome features were clouded with unreadable emotion.
After a while, he sneered.
“I thought you’d changed.”
“Now I think you’re exactly the same as before.”
“You always know how to win all kinds of people over.”
The darkness in his eyes deepened, heavy with collapsing memories.
“Take care of yourself.”
After saying that, he straightened from the round table, threw on his cloak, and headed for the door.
“You’re leaving?”
Mo Xi turned half his face.
Coldly, he said:
“I’m leaving. Won’t get in the way of your business.”
“But I—”
Mo Xi stopped.
“What?”
“I took your shell coin…”
Mo Xi paused.
“Consider it repayment for what we once had.”
Gu Mang frowned in confusion.
“What we once had…”
Though Gu Mang’s behavior felt increasingly strange, time was running out.
Once Young Master Zhou came upstairs, leaving would become impossible.
So Mo Xi cast one final glance at him and turned to open the door.
But just then, Gu Mang suddenly said:
“You’re rich. Have money. I want to know who you are.”
Mo Xi’s hand froze on the door.
His back went rigid.
After a moment, he spun around.
“…What?”
“…”
“You’re rich.”
“The sentence after that!”
“…Have money.”
“The one after that!”
Gu Mang looked bewildered by his reaction. Hesitantly, he repeated:
“I want… to know… who you are?”
It felt like torrents roaring in his ears.
Like boulders crashing off cliffs before his eyes.
Mo Xi held his breath and stared at Gu Mang’s face.
His dark brown pupils constricted sharply, trembling with shock.
“Gu Mang.” His insides had turned ice-cold, but his voice remained vicious. “Are you fucking with me?”
Gu Mang blinked in confusion.
“You’re the customer. You paid. Aren’t you the one playing with me?”
Mo Xi’s expression twisted.
Fragments of Gu Mang’s strange behavior flashed through his mind.
A storm exploded in his chest, leaving him stunned.
Then—
The door behind them creaked open.
A lazy male voice drifted in through the crack.
“Gu Mang, your Brother Zhou is here to give you business. Don’t you know to crawl out and kneel to welcome me?”
Mo Xi whipped around.
Too late.
That Zhou brat had already swaggered inside while talking, eyes half-lidded with drunken laziness.
Then his eyelids lifted.
He looked up.
Poor Commander Mo.
A man so upright and proper, yet in less than an hour he’d been forced to deal with this humiliating situation twice.
The first time had been manageable.
This time there was nowhere to retreat, nowhere to hide.
He had been caught red-handed by a junior.
Mo Xi’s mind was still exploding from Gu Mang’s You’re rich. Have money. I want to know who you are.
But there was no time to think.
He cursed inwardly and moved instantly.
He shoved Gu Mang against the wall, his tall body pressing down over him. One hand braced against the wall, perfectly blocking both their faces.
Gu Mang’s eyes widened in his arms.
“You—”
“Quiet.”
Mo Xi lowered his head and tilted up Gu Mang’s chin.
His rough thumb pressed firmly, allowing no resistance.
Then he turned his face and leaned in.
Cool lips neared soft ones.
Hot breaths mingled at point-blank range.
He had long since sworn never to touch this traitor again.
So naturally, he would not actually kiss Gu Mang.
But to avoid arousing suspicion, he stayed impossibly close.
Almost nose to nose.
Lips brushing lips.
That tiny distance between them felt even more unbearable—like autumn reeds grazing skin, sending tingling shocks through every nerve.
When hiding from Qin Momo earlier, Mo Xi had thought tonight’s misfortune had already reached its limit.
He had been naïve.
Pinning Gu Mang in place, Mo Xi said in a low voice:
“Don’t make a sound.”
Gu Mang, trapped beneath him, didn’t overthink it.
Mo Xi’s presence was too overwhelming.
Like a mountain crushing down, suffocating.
Not wanting to suffer more, he instinctively nodded.
“Lean closer.”
Gu Mang moved closer.
From the doorway, they now looked locked in a passionate kiss, tangled in desire, ready to tumble into bed at any moment.
Ordinary people seeing such an intimate scene would gasp and flee.
But hooligans were not ordinary people.
Young Master Zhou froze at first.
Then he backed up two steps and glanced at the plaque hanging outside Gu Mang’s room.
He rubbed his eyes and muttered:
“It’s black. Means no guest inside…”
Once his initial surprise passed, this shameless bastard became even more excited.
He kept walking into the room, grinning.
“Oh dear, how embarrassing. Looks like the magic on the sign outside isn’t working. I really had no idea someone was already inside.”
“…”
“This gentleman here, you’re impressive. Our Great General Gu is the prickliest thorn in all of Luo Mei Bie Yuan. Yet you somehow got him obediently in your arms, letting you kiss him.”
He chuckled.
“With skills like yours, why not teach me too? Help me find some fun?”
Then he grinned wider.
“Pleasure’s better shared than enjoyed alone.”
“Why not have fun together?”