Yes. This was the place.
As Mo Xi drew closer, the silver pointer on the ring grew brighter and brighter.
He stopped outside a small servants’ room, steadying his slightly hurried breathing. Raising his pale, slender fingers, he watched as the pointer returned to the pattern of a coiled Tengshe serpent.
Gu Mang was inside.
Gu Mang had been drugged. At this moment, the strongest desire in his heart could only be lust. And this room…
Mo Xi’s Adam’s apple bobbed.
This room was the place where he and Gu Mang had met in secret the most.
Back then, Murong Lian had shamelessly stolen all of Gu Mang’s military achievements after the First Great War. The ruler had rewarded Murong Lian lavishly, while Gu Mang remained nothing more than an insignificant slave in Wangshu Manor.
After returning from the battlefield, the manor was deep and heavily guarded, impossible to enter freely.
So Mo Xi endured. He restrained himself.
One month.
Two months.
At last, he could no longer bear it. Since Gu Mang apparently could not come to him, Young Master Mo had no choice but to lower himself, keeping a straight face as he paid a formal visit to Wangshu Manor.
Originally, he had only intended to use military business with Murong Lian as an excuse to see Gu Mang once.
But the steward informed him that Murong Lian was cultivating behind closed doors in the practice grounds and would not emerge for another hour. If Young Master Mo did not mind, he could stroll through the rear gardens while servants accompanied him.
Mo Xi calmly replied that Gu Mang would do, since they were old acquaintances.
It was hardly an unreasonable request. Gu Mang happened to be free, so the steward sent someone to fetch him.
When Gu Mang entered the hall and suddenly saw Mo Xi, surprise flashed across his face.
Young Master Mo and Young Master Murong were sworn enemies. Mo Xi’s presence in Wangshu Manor was even more shocking than if the ruler himself had paid a visit.
The steward instructed him, “The young master won’t be free for another hour. Show Young Master Mo around the estate.”
Gu Mang answered, “…All right…”
Mo Xi glanced at him before quietly looking away.
Wangshu Manor consisted of seven courtyards. The first five bustled with activity, while the last two were mostly gardens for cultivating spiritual herbs and exotic plants, seldom visited by servants.
Mo Xi walked ahead.
Gu Mang followed behind, introducing the scenery and layout of the estate as they went.
The two of them behaved with such careful distance and courtesy that none of the guards or servants they passed noticed anything unusual between them.
But only Mo Xi knew how agitated he truly was.
He desperately wanted to speak with Gu Mang alone.
He wanted to look into his eyes.
He wanted to take this man—who still belonged to Murong Lian—and claim every part of him.
Yet he had to endure.
“To the left is the music room. The young master sometimes plays the qin there in his spare time. Inside is a five-stringed paulownia qin inherited from the old prince…”
The deeper they walked into the estate, the fewer people surrounded them.
The quieter it became, the hotter his heart burned.
His blood itself seemed to be on fire.
Finally, they entered a medicinal garden where no one else was around.
Gu Mang said, “There are seven hundred sixty-five varieties of medicinal herbs here. Among them—”
He never finished.
The young master walking ahead suddenly stopped.
Gu Mang failed to notice in time and walked straight into his broad back.
Mo Xi turned and silently looked at him.
“…What?”
“You…” Mo Xi’s face remained expressionless.
He wanted him.
He missed him desperately.
Yet standing before Gu Mang, seeing the other man acting as though nothing was wrong, he suddenly felt ridiculously pathetic. Unable to lower his pride, he stiffly asked,
“Don’t you have anything you want to say to me?”
Gu Mang pondered for a moment before rubbing his nose with a grin.
“Young Master, long time no see?”
“…”
“Hey, don’t glare at me. You know I’ve been busy.”
“I have to wipe tables.”
“I have to chop firewood.”
“I have to pick worms off the cauliflower.”
“Those are all very important.”
Mo Xi’s expression darkened further and further.
Gu Mang had never truly confirmed that they were lovers.
Even while serving in the army, he had always said the same thing with that shameless grin—
Sleeping together wasn’t a big deal.
Young people shouldn’t take sex too seriously.
Those words nearly broke the younger man’s heart.
Yet the old rogue continued cheerfully listing all the “important” things he had to do at Wangshu Manor—as though a broken table belonging to Murong Lian were more important than the eldest son of the Mo family.
Mo Xi was so furious he wanted to hurl a fireball straight through Murong Lian’s precious desk and see what Gu Mang would polish afterward.
Gu Mang continued enthusiastically explaining how demanding Young Master Murong was about furniture, how the purple sandalwood tabletop had to shine like a mirror…
Halfway through his explanation, the world suddenly spun.
By the time he realized what had happened, Mo Xi had already pinned him against the wall.
“You…”
Whatever he intended to say never came out.
The taller man’s body pressed over him.
His cool face tilted down.
One hand gripped Gu Mang’s waist.
The other braced itself against the wall beside his face.
Without another word, his lips sealed Gu Mang’s.
Mo Xi kissed fiercely.
As though he wanted to pour every ounce of his longing into the man in his arms.
As though he wanted to devour Gu Mang whole, leaving not even bone behind.
Every movement carried overwhelming possessiveness and control.
His breathing came fast.
His lips burned.
The passionate man kissing him seemed like an entirely different person from the aloof Young Master Mo the world knew.
“…Have you gone crazy? This is Wangshu Manor…”
Finally regaining his senses amid the kiss, Gu Mang forced himself free.
“They’ll see us!”
Gu Mang pushed too hard.
Mo Xi had never intended to resist.
With a muffled grunt, his arm was actually dislocated.
“…Damn.”
Gu Mang hadn’t expected him not to defend himself.
Embarrassed, he swallowed before sighing.
“Fine, fine. You’re crazy. I surrender. My fault, okay?”
“I’ll fix it.”
He reached out to reset Mo Xi’s shoulder.
To his surprise, the proud young master stepped aside and refused to let him touch it.
Instead, he only glared.
“…Brother, I practically beg you. Let me fix it.”
“If the young master comes out later and sees his guest injured, what am I supposed to tell him?”
“I can’t exactly say I did it.”
Mo Xi remained silent.
His face still appeared icy as ever.
But beneath those calm eyes surged dangerous emotions barely held in check.
After a long silence, he repeated stiffly,
“You really don’t have anything you want to say to me?”
“…I do.”
“Then say it.”
“Have you been cursed with a repetition spell?”
Seeing Mo Xi’s face darken, Gu Mang hurriedly laughed.
“Hey, hey! My bad! My bad!”
Mo Xi snapped,
“Don’t touch me!”
“I can reset it myself!”
“You can’t!”
“Your healing spells are terrible!”
Mo Xi’s face darkened even more.
Yet Gu Mang blocked him.
Grinning as though he’d successfully played a prank, he suddenly leaned forward and kissed Mo Xi lightly on the cheek.
“…”
“No reaction from my princess?”
“Then maybe one more kiss.”
He paid for his mischief with several more kisses.
Only then did Young Master Mo reluctantly allow him to reset the joint.
Crack.
The shoulder slipped back into place.
It hardly hurt.
Yet Mo Xi’s eyes had already reddened.
“Hm? You…”
Gu Mang leaned closer for a better look.
Only to receive Mo Xi’s palm directly against his face, pushing him away.
Mo Xi turned his head so Gu Mang couldn’t see clearly.
After another long silence, he quietly said,
“I haven’t seen you for two months.”
“No.”
“Twelve days short of that.”
Mo Xi instantly shot him a murderous glare.
Gu Mang crossed his arms, leaning comfortably against the wall with a lazy smile.
His chin lifted slightly.
“Find somewhere no one can see us,” Mo Xi finally said.
The truth was, he wasn’t the only one who had been unable to endure the separation.
Mo Xi hid his feelings behind cold pride.
Gu Mang buried his beneath shameless teasing and careless jokes.
But whenever they finally held one another, both young men burned with the same longing.
Eventually, Gu Mang led him to a tiny, inconspicuous room.
The invitation could not have been clearer.
Almost the instant they stepped inside, Gu Mang was shoved hard against the door.
In the dim room without windows, only heavy breathing and the sounds of desperate kisses echoed.
Keeping his eyes open as kisses trailed down his neck, Gu Mang gasped,
“Don’t kiss so high…”
“…the young master…”
“…he’ll see…”
Mentioning Murong Lian at a moment like this was clearly unwise.
Mo Xi paused.
As though barely restraining something terrifying inside himself.
After a brief silence, Gu Mang was suddenly spun around with rough force…
Those memories flooded back in overwhelming clarity.
At the time, neither of them had possessed promises for the future.
No certainty.
No guarantees.
Yet somehow it had felt as though they could remain tangled together forever.
They had nothing except each other.
So all their love, possessiveness, and longing became those desperate stolen moments.
One was the untouchable, immaculate young master.
The other was a slave considered beneath everyone else.
The most scandalous secret imaginable.
Yet hidden inside it was the tender, awkward love of youth.
It had been the brightest years of their lives.
Now, within the illusion, Gu Mang had been brought back here once more.
The Dream Within illusion had awakened the deepest desire hidden in his heart.
What would Mo Xi see when he opened that door?
Grinding his teeth, he stared at the familiar entrance.
Under these circumstances, if he responded too deeply to Gu Mang, Gu Mang’s emotions would strengthen, feeding even more power to the illusion and dragging him further into it.
But if he gave no response at all…
The mysterious figure had already drugged Gu Mang.
Mo Xi could easily guess the nature of that drug.
Without relief—or an antidote—Gu Mang would be tormented into madness.
…Until the ruler’s reinforcements arrived, he could only stall for time.
He had to keep Gu Mang conscious.
After a long silence, Mo Xi finally raised his hand and pushed the door open—
The instant it opened, someone inside lunged forward and slammed him against the door.
A pair of helpless yet feverishly restless blue eyes met his in the darkness.
Before either of them could speak, trembling lips captured his.