“You don’t let me eat.” Gu Mang said each word with force. “I. Am. Hungry!”
Flames surged up. Gu Mang brought his hand down with a spell—Murong Lian’s pupils suddenly shrank!
In the time it takes a spark to fly, a sand-earth barrier abruptly rose from the ground. The shockwave it generated violently knocked Murong Lian backward and blocked the layers of fire that Gu Mang had struck out.
“Cough, cough, cough!” Murong Lian coughed as he scrambled up in a miserable state. He fiercely wiped the dust from his face and immediately turned his head, seeing Mo Xi standing not far away, controlling the protective barrier.
“…You did that on purpose?” Murong Lian brushed off the dirt on his body, his voice dark and eerie.
Mo Xi said, “Go back. You are not his opponent.”
Murong Lian’s thin lips moved as if he was about to speak, but a disturbing cracking sound suddenly rang out. The heavy protective wall shattered in an instant!
Amid flying dirt and sand, a pitch-black dagger wrapped in black qi broke through, tearing through the final layer of semi-transparent barrier and shooting straight toward Murong Lian!
That dagger was—
Mo Xi’s heart turned cold.
This… this was the Liao Kingdom demonic weapon that Gu Mang had once summoned on the naval battlefield at Dongting Lake, the same blade that had stabbed into his chest!
But demonic weapons, like divine weapons, required Gu Mang’s incantation to summon. In theory, after Gu Mang lost his memory, he should no longer have the ability to call forth this vicious blade—let alone after his spiritual core had been shattered. Yet now, why…?!
Before he could finish the thought, the dagger had already broken through his defense and slashed forward like lightning.
Mo Xi knew Gu Mang’s methods well. He suddenly turned and shouted at Murong Lian, “Dodge left!”
Murong Lian froze for a moment. The dagger was originally aimed toward the left—normally one should dodge right. Why was Mo Xi telling him to go left?
That brief hesitation made escape impossible. The dagger suddenly twisted like a cunning snake at the last moment, shifting sharply to the right!
Just as it was about to strike Murong Lian, Mo Xi moved in a blur and shoved him aside.
The blade pierced into Mo Xi’s abdomen and ribs. Blood splattered.
Everyone changed color.
“Lord Xihe!”
“Lord Xihe, are you alright?!”
Mo Xi could not hear anything anymore.
He gasped, grabbed the dagger’s hilt, and with one violent motion pulled it out. Blood immediately poured down onto the ground.
He lifted his dark eyes and looked forward. Through the wind and sand, Gu Mang still stood amid surging spiritual currents, and it felt as though the battlefield wind from years ago had blown back into his ears.
Back then, Gu Mang had said to him—
“When serving as an officer or soldier, once you are born human, you cannot be too sentimental.”
“We were brothers once. This is the last thing I can teach you.”
Mo Xi suddenly wanted to laugh. By the end, that laugh turned into something filled with deep hatred.
So what if he had been nearly killed by Gu Mang once before? Compared to that, this wound meant nothing.
Mo Xi clenched his jaw, stood upright, and gathered a violent crimson surge of power in his palm as he walked step by step toward Gu Mang.
Gu Mang clearly sensed the killing intent. His surrounding spiritual flow exploded again. But Mo Xi only waved his hand and shattered the light array, breaking it into fragments.
The surrounding cultivators were stunned.
“This… this is too terrifying…”
“The Mo family bloodline really is strong…”
Someone murmured, “But if Lord Xihe is this strong, how did Gu Mang stab him through the heart back then?”
At that remark, Murong Lian narrowed his eyes slightly, watching the confrontation with interest.
Gu Mang tried to form another attack, but before his spell could complete, Mo Xi shouted, “Rì Rán! Summon!”
A crimson snake whip whistled through the air in response.
Mo Xi’s expression twisted with rage.
“Gu Mang! Do you really think I will never fight you in this lifetime?!”
With that shout, Rì Rán tore through the wind and snow like lightning, whipping down at Gu Mang. Gu Mang failed to dodge in time—his shoulder was struck, blood exploding outward.
He looked at the wound, and for a moment his chaotic mind seemed to clear slightly. He shook his head and instinctively stepped back.
“Don’t move!”
Gu Mang: “…”
“You still have nowhere to go,” a hoarse voice said. The snake whip bound him tightly.
Mo Xi released the hand covering his own wound. It was already soaked in blood. Then he suddenly grabbed Gu Mang by the throat.
“Gu Mang, you’re not actually stupid!”
“You can still summon that demonic weapon! You remember the incantations, you still use the same fighting style—you remember everything!”
Gu Mang was being choked so tightly he could not speak. His pale face gradually flushed red as his fingers trembled weakly.
“Speak! What exactly are you planning by returning to Chonghua?!”
“…”
Gu Mang raised a trembling arm and covered Mo Xi’s hand. Their eyes met—black eyes burning with fury, blue eyes damp with difficulty breathing.
“I…”
“Speak!”
Everyone around them was terrified into silence.
At that moment, rapid hoofbeats approached.
“Lord Xihe! Show mercy!”
A female court officer arrived on horseback, dismounted swiftly, and knelt in the snow.
“Lord Xihe, please show mercy!”
She bowed to both Mo Xi and Murong Lian.
“His Majesty has already been informed. I have been ordered to capture Gu Mang and bring him to the Chonghua Palace for immediate re-examination by the best imperial physicians.”
She glanced at Mo Xi’s hand on Gu Mang’s throat.
“This matter is of grave importance. He must not be executed on the spot!”
Mo Xi did not look at her. He only stared at Gu Mang.
After a long silence, Murong Lian asked, “Where are you taking him?”
“To the palace. His Majesty has summoned the most skilled physicians for a second diagnosis.”
She added quickly, “No unauthorized killing is permitted!”
Mo Xi’s hand finally loosened.
Gu Mang collapsed into the snow.
Mo Xi turned away, standing with his back to everyone in the falling snow.
The officer finally sighed in relief.
But then Mo Xi spoke again, voice low and cold:
“Wait.”
“…Lord Xihe?”
“I will go too.”
“…The examination hall cannot have too many high-level cultivators present.”
“Fine,” Mo Xi said. “I’ll wait outside.”
His tone left no room for argument.
Meanwhile, in a brothel in the northern city—
A blood-covered man walked in.
And Chonghua, under the same snow, remained deceptively calm.