Murong Lian gritted his teeth and said, “Do you remember when I punished Gu Mang and locked him up in confinement for a month?”
“I remember. But what does that have to do with anything?”
“When a person is weak in qi and physically exhausted, approaching the Clear Spring Pool gives them a chance of being possessed by an evil spirit,” Murong Lian said. “Gu Mang was hungry, so he squatted by the pool and even reached out with his hand to catch those fish.”
“Eh? How would Big Brother Murong know about something like that?”
“…” Murong Lian coughed lightly. “There is no matter in the Falling Plum Courtyard that I don’t know about.”
He continued, “Gu Mang’s act of catching fish attracted the attention of the sword spirit of Li Qingqian that was suppressed inside the pool. So Li Qingqian temporarily attached himself to Gu Mang’s body…”
Yue Chenqing exclaimed, “Then Li Qingqian triggered the evil energy inside Gu Mang’s heart and made him go berserk?”
“No.” Murong Lian said. “At that time, he didn’t have that ability yet. He was also extremely weak and couldn’t possess Gu Mang for long. The body he could occupy permanently had to be one that was at its weakest, barely hanging onto life. Gu Mang was only hungry.”
He paused, narrowing his eyes.
“So Li Qingqian used that only bit of time to do one thing.”
“What thing?”
Murong Lian said, “He seriously injured someone.”
“Ah, that cook!”
“Exactly.”
Murong Lian’s voice turned sinister.
“Li Qingqian controlled Gu Mang and used a sword formation to injure that Liao Kingdom cook. The wound was severe but not fatal. That way, he gained a vessel he could possess for a long time. Then he waited for the right opportunity, stirred up the evil energy inside Gu Mang’s heart, and caused him to go berserk and shatter the barrier. Meanwhile, he used the cook’s body and escaped in the chaos.”
Yue Chenqing said, “If he understood Gu Mang so well and could even trigger Gu Mang’s evil energy, then he must be from the Liao Kingdom!”
“Li Qingqian himself was not from the Liao Kingdom. However, he has now become a sword spirit for reasons unknown. So judging from that, he really was most likely the weapon of a Liao Kingdom cultivator.”
Murong Lian paused before adding, “And it should have belonged to a high-ranking cultivator.”
After saying that, he lowered his head and used his tobacco pipe to casually push aside the miniature weapons.
“Take a look. Can you determine which one is his true form?”
This was not difficult. It was considered basic knowledge for a successor of the Yue family. Yue Chenqing only closed his eyes and sensed for a short while before suddenly opening them.
He reached out and picked up one of the tiny swords.
“It’s this one!”
“Good.”
Murong Lian took the bean-sized sword and placed it in his palm. He silently recited a spell.
A brilliant flash appeared in his palm. The tiny sword instantly transformed into a thin, translucent sword with a beast-faced Taotie pattern carved into it, flowing with a jade-green radiance like water.
Two small seal-script characters were engraved on the sword:
“Red Peony.”
“Eh? It’s clearly a green-colored sword. Why would it be named Red Peony?” Yue Chenqing asked in confusion. “Besides, those two characters were obviously a mark formed by the sword spirit after someone sacrificed themselves to the sword. If Li Qingqian sacrificed himself to become a sword spirit, why isn’t it called the Qingqian Sword? Why not the Broken Water Sword? Why is it called the Red Peony Sword?”
Murong Lian said, “Don’t worry about why. First, completely destroy this sword.”
“Destroy… destroy the sword?”
Yue Chenqing was shocked. He hurriedly shook his head.
“No, that’s impossible! Disintegrating an enchanted weapon with a spirit attached is a high-level Yue family technique. I’m not skilled enough to use it!”
Murong Lian cursed inwardly and asked, “Then go back to the Yue residence and find someone who can destroy the sword. How long will it take?”
“There’s no one!”
Yue Chenqing said, “This technique is too dangerous. My father rarely teaches it to anyone. And he isn’t in the Imperial City right now…”
“What about your uncle?”
“He doesn’t know it!”
“…Your fourth uncle then?!”
Yue Chenqing looked wronged.
“You know what he’s like. He never pays attention to me. Even if he were in the Imperial City, I wouldn’t know where he went…”
Murong Lian snapped, “Enough nonsense. You’ve been refusing and making excuses this whole time, and after all that, aren’t you the only useless one left? Then you do it!”
When one needed knowledge, one regretted not having studied enough. The current situation was urgent. Li Qingqian’s identity as a sword spirit had already been exposed, and whether he would let them leave was uncertain. Even if they escaped, if they could not destroy the Red Peony Sword immediately, their escape would be meaningless.
Yue Chenqing could only force a bitter smile.
“…Fine. I’ll try. But if I fail, can you…”
Murong Lian replied coldly, “Don’t worry. If you fail, I’ll definitely pull out all your intestines.”
Yue Chenqing: “…”
Just as Yue Chenqing said, destroying an ordinary weapon was not difficult. One could simply find a strong man capable of breaking rocks with his chest and have him bend it with enough force.
The difficult part was destroying a weapon that had a spirit attached to it.
Yue Chenqing bit his finger, letting his blood drip. He placed the Red Peony Sword on the ground and began drawing talismans around it.
The formation was extremely complicated. He did not remember it clearly, so he had to correct it several times.
This made Murong Lian increasingly impatient.
“Are you done yet?”
“Don’t rush me. The more you rush me, the more mistakes I’ll make.”
“Hurry up. I need to go back and smoke!”
“…”
The craving from A Dream Within Floating Life was rising. Murong Lian’s expression became increasingly unpleasant. His eye sockets grew slightly warm, and his pale face took on an unhealthy flush.
He lowered his head and glanced at his tobacco pipe. Seeing the zombie filth and blood that had not been completely wiped away, he felt even more disgusted. He closed his eyes and leaned against the side.
“Done! Done! I’ve finished drawing it! This time it’s definitely correct!”
Yue Chenqing shouted excitedly. He quickly sat cross-legged and closed his eyes, forming hand seals before the blood formation.
Murong Lian endured the churning nausea in his chest and narrowed his eyes as he watched the young man begin chanting the spell with a serious expression.
As the scriptures left Yue Chenqing’s mouth, the formation on the ground emitted a gentle white light. Wisps of immortal aura seemed to wrap around the Red Peony Sword.
“Your blood enters the furnace, your bones forge the sword body.”
The light gradually grew brighter.
The Red Peony Sword began to hum within the formation, trembling slightly.
“In the box lies three feet of water, once it belonged to the person within my dreams.”
Inside the cave, Li Qingqian clearly sensed the strange occurrence.
He suddenly turned around, his sword-like brows furrowing in anger.
“That Yue family brat! He’s ruining my plans!!”
He tried to fly toward them, but Mo Xi blocked him with his sword.
Li Qingqian became even more furious.
“Move aside!”
The Broken Water Sword technique in his hand had already become a blur of countless afterimages, yet he still could not break free.
Only the clanging sounds of metal rang out. Sparks scattered everywhere in the dark cave.
In desperation, Li Qingqian suddenly raised his head and let out a long roar.
A massive cloud of black miasma burst from his chest.
The black energy condensed into a shrieking spirit talisman within his palm and shot rapidly toward Gu Mang.
That spirit talisman was the highest-grade Summoning Demon Talisman of the Liao Kingdom.
Across the entire Liao Kingdom, fewer than ten people knew how to use it.
The talisman dispersed in midair, transforming into hundreds of arrows wrapped in demonic energy.
They shot toward Gu Mang like a storm.
Just as they were about to pierce through the barrier, Mo Xi flashed forward and stood before Gu Mang.
The Ratean Sword stood upright in his hand, its edge gleaming brightly.
Mo Xi shouted fiercely:
“Lotus Serpent Formation, open!”
In an instant, the Ratean Sword in his hand split into thousands of red sword shadows, blooming like a thousand-petaled lotus.
Every sword afterimage that fell to the ground transformed into a serpent-like creature covered in flowing scales of light.
They surged into the air and tore apart every demonic arrow released by Li Qingqian.
But unexpectedly—
At that exact moment, Li Qingqian himself suddenly appeared behind Gu Mang.
Gathering all the sword qi in his body, he violently struck the protective barrier and split open a crack.
Mo Xi immediately turned around and swung a kick sideways.
Li Qingqian was struck directly in the chest, coughing out filthy blood.
Yet, at the final moment, he still forced himself to slap the Summoning Demon Talisman he held into Gu Mang’s chest.
The summoned person suddenly opened his eyes.
Those clear blue eyes awakened.
The evil energy inside his body suddenly surged.
Mo Xi’s expression changed.
“Gu Mang…”
“Your blood enters the furnace, your bones forge the sword body. In the box lies three feet of water, once it belonged to the person within my dreams…”
On the other side, Yue Chenqing’s spell continued like a curse, surrounding Li Qingqian.
Li Qingqian gasped heavily. His face became increasingly pale, but he still covered his chest and staggered to his feet.
Then he threw his head back and laughed.
“Hahaha! No matter how powerful your methods are to suppress him…”
Li Qingqian coughed violently.
“You still cannot resist the Liao Kingdom’s Summoning Demon Spell controlling him!”
He swallowed the blood in his mouth, his eyes turning crimson.
“Gu Mang! Come out!!”
Bang!
A loud explosion sounded.
The veins on Gu Mang’s arms bulged as the binding immortal ropes around him snapped one after another.
Immediately afterward, a mass of black energy erupted from the center of his forehead.
The suppression talismans Mo Xi and Yue Chenqing had placed on him burned into ashes.
Gu Mang raised his pale blue wolf-like eyes.
He lifted his hand and violently tore apart the final restraint around his waist—the thickest one of all.
Then he walked step by step toward Li Qingqian.
And knelt before him.
“Awaiting your command.”
Li Qingqian gritted his teeth and pointed at Mo Xi.
“Kill him.”
“Yes.”
The Summoning Demon Talisman consumed an extremely terrifying amount of the caster’s strength. Therefore, before this, when Li Qingqian controlled Gu Mang, he had only used ordinary methods of awakening evil energy.
But now, at this critical moment, no matter how great the price was, Li Qingqian could only place his final gamble on Gu Mang.
As expected, Gu Mang’s entire body was now covered in surging evil energy.
The blue light in his eyes was almost blindingly pale.
Behind him, a wolf-head flame totem more than ten people tall suddenly rose into the air.
The Bamboo Warrior shouted:
“Ah-da—!”
Gu Mang merely lifted his hand.
He did not even move a finger.
The Bamboo Warrior that attempted to attack him was instantly blasted away, flying several zhang before crashing heavily into the stone wall.
Gu Mang’s blue eyes reflected Mo Xi’s dark figure.
He paused for a moment.
Then, expressionlessly, he repeated the command:
“Kill you.”
He suddenly charged toward him.
Taking advantage of the moment when Mo Xi was entangled with Gu Mang, Li Qingqian turned and hurried toward the stone forest.
Because of his rage and anxiety, his face became horribly twisted.
From the look of it, he intended to snap Yue Chenqing’s neck and spill blood everywhere.
Murong Lian naturally noticed the movement.
Although he was not Li Qingqian’s match, Li Qingqian had already exhausted most of his strength and was nothing more than a spent arrow.
So fighting him was not impossible.
Murong Lian said to Yue Chenqing:
“Hurry. I’ll hold him back.”
After saying this, he flashed out from behind the stone forest.
A Water Ghost Talisman struck forward.
It transformed into countless water ghosts that crawled out from the ground and rushed toward Li Qingqian, tearing at him.
“Your soul buried within cold iron, I desire to become a ghostly lamp.”
Yue Chenqing’s incantation was nearing its end.
Large amounts of black water began flowing out from within the body of the Red Peony Sword, scattering around the blood formation.
At the same time, Li Qingqian swung his sword and dispersed the fierce swarm of little ghosts.
He moved directly toward Murong Lian.
His sword strike was originally sharp and terrifying.
But at that moment—
The sword suddenly trembled.
A sharp strike from the Ratean Sword hit his wrist.
The sword in his hand fell to the ground with a clang.
No matter how powerful a sword spirit was, if its original body was destroyed, it would immediately vanish.
Li Qingqian naturally understood the importance of this.
Previously, he had strengthened his cultivation by consuming cultivators’ hearts. His repeated returns to Chonghua were all for one purpose:
To find a chance to take back his original body from Murong Lian.
But the defenses around Murong Lian were too advanced.
Li Qingqian could not approach him at all.
Furthermore, the Red Peony Sword had been sealed.
No matter how many people he consumed or how many souls he absorbed, he still could not achieve unity between man and sword, nor unleash his true power.
That was why he used the demon spell to lure Gu Mang out of prison.
His goal was to make Gu Mang serve him and reclaim the Red Peony Sword.
But who would have thought…
After calculating everything, he had never expected that Xi He Jun had placed a tracking mark on Gu Mang.
A mark that allowed him to arrive so quickly…
Li Qingqian’s eyes turned blood-red.
His chest rose and fell violently.
He let out an angry roar:
“I cannot die! No one can stop me! No one has the right to stop me!!!”
He repeated those words three to five times like a madman.
But his spiritual body could no longer endure.
He collapsed onto his knees and supported himself with one hand on the ground.
Damn it.
Why did one of the three people who came here have to be a successor of a weapon-refining family?
This was truly…
Truly…
As he thought about it, Li Qingqian suddenly began laughing wildly.
The laughter was distorted and filled with hatred.
Perhaps whether he had chosen kindness or evil, whether he had held onto the righteous path or fallen into the demonic abyss—
The heavens had never once favored him.
“What ‘one’s fate is determined by oneself, not by heaven’?”
After struggling so desperately, what had he actually achieved?
Ridiculous.
Utterly ridiculous.
A violent resentment rose in his heart.
Looking at the Red Peony Sword in the distance trembling painfully beneath Yue Chenqing’s hand, all the years of struggle, corruption, and bathing in rivers of blood surfaced one after another.
He suddenly felt an overwhelming unwillingness.
He shouted:
“Gu Mang!! Come and take the sword!!”
Outside, Gu Mang, who was fighting Mo Xi, heard the shout that echoed throughout the entire cave.
His blue eyes moved.
He wanted to rush toward Li Qingqian.
But Mo Xi grabbed his shoulder and held him back.
“I take sword.”
Gu Mang suddenly turned his head and said coldly:
“Not you.”
What he meant was that his current mission had changed.
It was now to take the sword, not to kill Mo Xi.
Seeing that Mo Xi still refused to release him, Gu Mang’s gaze became even more fierce.
His voice grew harder.
“I don’t want you.”
Those blue, ghostly eyes—
Combined with the way he bit his lip slightly after speaking because of his impatience—
Were saying words that sounded both ambiguous and stubborn:
“I don’t want you.”
Even though Mo Xi knew Gu Mang had no other meaning behind it, his heart still burned with anger.
He almost did not want to look at that face.
He slapped him and angrily said:
“Do you get to decide whether you want me or not?!”
“Release.”
“You don’t want me, you want to take the sword, right?”
Gu Mang said:
“Yes.”
His firm and serious manner only made Mo Xi even more furious.
Mo Xi snapped:
“Wasn’t your command to kill me? You can only take the sword after killing me!”
“…?”
Gu Mang’s blue eyes froze.
It seemed…
That was true?
A person controlled by the Summoning Demon Spell would obey commands, but they had little ability to distinguish or reason.
Therefore, the few people in the Liao Kingdom who were skilled in this technique always knew exactly how to phrase their commands.
Normally, they would clearly define the beginning and end of an order.
But Li Qingqian had only secretly learned the technique.
He did not understand the correct way to control someone.
So although Gu Mang was extremely powerful—
Gu Mang was confused.
His snow-wolf-like eyes stared at Mo Xi.
Back and forth.
As if judging whether Mo Xi was right.
As if deciding whether the person before him was worth biting.
Then he reached a conclusion.
“Fine.”
“First want you.”
“Then want sword.”
—
“Big brother wants you. How could I not want you?”
Once, those black eyes had looked at Mo Xi in the night, smiling lazily, warm and moist with affection.
That strong arm had pulled his junior brother and fellow soldier closer—
His lover.
His young master.
Gu Mang had taken the initiative to approach him.
In the woods beside the battlefield, the two of them had kissed, beginning with tenderness and gradually becoming intense and passionate.
Back then, the words “want you” had brought only a moment of indulgence and happiness.
But now?
What came with these words “want you” was not warmth or affection.
It was a demonic blade leaving its sheath.
Fierce.
Violent.
Ruthless.
The long legs that once had wrapped around Mo Xi’s waist, trembling almost uncontrollably from pleasure, were now lifted sharply and accurately, kicking toward him with murderous force.
Gu Mang’s evil energy had recovered greatly, but his spiritual core was ultimately still broken.
So he was powerful.
But he was not a match for the pure-blooded divine descendant, Mo Xi.
Not to mention—
Gu Mang’s fighting techniques.
Every move.
Every stance.
Mo Xi knew them all too well.
Therefore, when Gu Mang turned sideways and raised his leg to kick him, Mo Xi moved without hesitation.
He reached out and grabbed Gu Mang’s ankle.
His dark eyes narrowed.
At the same time, he caught the flying dagger Gu Mang threw at him.
The spiritual power in his hand surged.
The thin blade instantly shattered into countless fragments.
“Interesting.”
Mo Xi paused for a moment before speaking coldly.
“I also want you.”
Before Gu Mang could react, he suddenly felt the world spin.
His entire body was thrown to the ground by Mo Xi.
The tall man pressed down over him.
Almost in a posture of possession and domination, he pinned Gu Mang firmly beneath him.
One knee pressed against his lower body.
One hand locked both his wrists.
The other hand gripped his chin.
Mo Xi was the person in Chonghua who understood the Liao Kingdom best.
Other than Physician Jiang, he was probably the only person who knew how to break the Summoning Demon Spell.
He restrained the struggling, furious, and desperate Gu Mang.
Then he lowered his head and looked directly into those restless blue eyes.
“…Want you.”
Gu Mang’s face flushed red from being held so tightly.
Yet he still gritted his teeth and forced out his stubborn reply.
It was indeed a “command.”
But this wording…
Was truly too much.
Mo Xi’s heart burned as he looked at Gu Mang beneath him.
The man was struggling fiercely, yet there was helplessness in his expression.
He looked at Mo Xi with both rage and vulnerability.
Like a pile of dry wood suddenly catching fire.
Mo Xi suddenly felt an impulse rise within him.
An impulse to tear him apart.
To use the most intimate and cruelest methods to make him hurt.
To make him regret.
To make him beg for mercy.
At that moment, Mo Xi suddenly began questioning his previous choice of words.
When he had used the simple and forceful phrase:
“I also want you.”
Had he chosen those words because they were easier for Gu Mang to understand?
Or—
Had the desire buried inside his heart for so many years finally found a way to spill out?
That realization made Mo Xi secretly alarmed.
But Gu Mang was already struggling beneath him.
His blue eyes were covered with a layer of instinctive moisture.
His breathing was heavy.
His lips moved slightly, as if he wanted to say something.
Afraid that he would develop even more dangerous thoughts, Mo Xi immediately covered his mouth.
He gritted his teeth and said:
“Stay still. I’m breaking the spell for you.”
Underneath him, Gu Mang struggled furiously.
He growled and snarled, trying even to bite Mo Xi’s fingers.
“It will hurt.”
Mo Xi’s hot breath pressed close.
He stared into Gu Mang’s eyes from such a short distance.
Then he spoke two words:
“Endure it.”