“Heart-Calming Grass?”
Inside the physician’s residence, Jiang Fuli set down the book in his hands, raised her almond-shaped eyes, and looked Gu Mang up and down. He was still carrying his fish basket, his entire body **, and Jiang Fuli asked, “Who are you getting it for? Mo Xi or Murong Lian?”
“It’s for Murong…” Before he could finish saying “Chuyi,” Gu Mang remembered the request Murong Chuyi had made before losing consciousness. A gentleman’s word was his bond. Since he had nodded, he had to keep his promise. Thus, he changed his answer.
“I’m not telling you.”
Jiang Fuli narrowed her eyes slightly. “Do you know what that is?”
“I know. It treats illnesses.”
“It can treat illnesses, but it can also harm people.” Jiang Fuli said, “Heart-Calming Grass is a half-demonic, half-mortal flower species. Although it has numbing and pain-relieving effects, its toxicity should not be underestimated. My storeroom is practically piled high with this flower, so it isn’t anything valuable. I don’t mind giving you some, but…”
Gu Mang raised his hand. “I promise I won’t use it to poison anyone.”
Jiang Fuli gave a cold laugh. “Poison? I’m in Chonghua right now. If you dare pull any tricks under my nose, I’ll respect you as a real man.”
Gu Mang asked curiously, “Then what do you mean by ‘but’?”
“But regarding the fact that you asked me for Heart-Calming Grass, I will inform your lord, Xihe Jun.”
Gu Mang thought it over. Murong Chuyi was unconscious at this moment, and saving his life was the priority. Once he brought him back to consciousness, he could explain this matter to Murong Chuyi afterward.
Thus, he readily agreed. He followed Jiang Fuli to the storeroom to retrieve the medicinal herb. After Jiang Fuli decocted it, he immediately carried the medicine pot back to the depths of Peach Blossom Lake and found Murong Chuyi still lying there.
Murong Chuyi looked extremely weak. There was not the slightest trace of color in his handsome, refined face, and his skin felt ice-cold to the touch. Gu Mang half-carried him upright, opened the mouth of the pot, and slowly poured the medicinal liquid into Murong Chuyi’s mouth.
The process was extremely difficult. Although Murong Chuyi was unconscious, he would cough from time to time. Half the medicine went down his throat, while the other half was choked out. He even furrowed his brows and murmured something indistinctly.
Gu Mang heard him calling for his elder sister one moment, then murmuring Yue Chenqing’s name the next. His expression remained pained throughout.
Although Gu Mang did not have a particularly deep relationship with him, he was soft-hearted by nature. Thus, he gently stroked Murong Chuyi’s head and coaxed him.
“Elder sister…”
Gu Mang said, “Elder sister is here. Be good, be good.”
Murong Chuyi said, “Chenqing…”
Gu Mang replied, “Yes, yes, yes. I’m that little white bird. Fourth Uncle, be good. Come on, there’s just a little more medicine. Drink it all.”
Toward the end, Murong Chuyi’s pale lips trembled. He seemed trapped in some kind of nightmare. He suddenly grabbed Gu Mang’s sleeve, while his eyeballs restlessly shifted beneath his closed eyelids. His long eyelashes trembled incessantly like the wings of a black butterfly.
“No… Don’t…”
“What?”
“You…” Murong Chuyi’s entire hand was convulsing, the tendons standing out on the back of his slender, elegant hand. “You beast… How could you… You…”
Gu Mang froze, then somewhat aggrievedly touched his own nose. “I’m obviously helping you. Why are you still so fierce and cursing at me?”
But Murong Chuyi remained trapped in his nightmare. The knuckles of his tightly clenched hand grew increasingly pale. Suddenly, he let out a low, hoarse groan, as though he had suffered pain and humiliation in his dream. The corners of his closed eyes reddened slightly.
“Wretched… beast…”
Gu Mang looked at him for a while and sighed. “Who are you cursing? Your elder sister or the little white bird?”
Murong Chuyi naturally did not answer him. Gu Mang stayed with him for a little longer, and gradually, his delirious murmuring quieted down. After approximately the time it took to burn one incense stick, Murong Chuyi finally stopped speaking.
The medicinal effects of the Heart-Calming Grass began to take effect. His expression slowly settled, and his tightly furrowed brows finally relaxed bit by bit.
Gu Mang half-carried, half-dragged him to a dry area of the stone platform, laid him down flat, and made him as comfortable as possible. Then he sat beside him out of sheer boredom, propping up his chin.
“Sigh, I’ve fed you all the grass. When are you going to open your eyes?”
“……”
After waiting for quite some time, Murong Chuyi still kept his eyes tightly shut, showing no sign of waking.
Gu Mang sighed again, propped his chin up, and studied Murong Chuyi’s features back and forth.
Murong Chuyi really was a rare beauty—refined, elegant, handsome, with an extraordinary aura and flowing spirit. Gu Mang had not read many books and could not describe him precisely. He only felt that although the man’s features were sharply defined and his heroic bearing was striking, there was an almost immortal air between his brows. His bearing truly resembled the Dragon Girl in illustrated storybooks: with one sweep of her wide sleeves, snow would fall upon the mortal realm.
In short, two words:
Good-looking.
Add two more words:
Easy on the eyes.
Thus, Gu Mang patiently propped his chin up and stared at him for another half an hour.
After half an hour, no matter how easy on the eyes he was, Gu Mang could not keep looking anymore. He turned his head and asked Fandou, “Are the two of us really going to keep guarding him like this? I don’t mind… but the princess is still waiting at home for me to cook fish for him.”
Fandou: “Woof woof woof!”
Gu Mang nodded. “You’re right. The Dragon Girl is an outsider, while the princess is family, so we should catch fish first. Anyway, I’ve already fed him the medicine. If he doesn’t wake up, that’s not our fault.”
“Woof woof!”
Thus, Gu Mang continued fishing in the lake.
The three fat-headed grass carp he had caught earlier had all escaped after Murong Chuyi had struck him with that streak of water. His luck afterward was not particularly good either. After wandering around and searching for a long time, he only caught several small fish that were all bones and no meat.
Seeing dusk descend in the west and cooking smoke rising everywhere, Gu Mang could not help feeling rather depressed.
He had not expected that after working so hard for so long, he would end up with nothing. He stood in the middle of the lake, leaning on his net. The setting sun was like rouge and cosmetics washed clean from the heavens, floating thickly over the sparkling surface of the water.
“This doesn’t make sense.” Gu Mang sighed. “Don’t all the books say that good deeds bring good rewards? Why did I kindly save the little Dragon Girl, yet no fat fish came knocking on my door to repay me?”
Just as he was puzzling over this, he suddenly heard a voice behind him, cold and clear like jade striking jade.
“What nonsense are you talking about?”
Gu Mang jumped and, while turning around, retreated two steps. “You’re finally awake? Why do you appear and disappear without a trace?”
The person walking across the water was none other than Murong Chuyi. His expression had already returned to normal, without the slightest trace that he had just been weak and unconscious.
Gu Mang could not help marveling. “This Heart-Calming Grass is pretty effective. It’s only been half a day, and you’re already completely recovered.”
Murong Chuyi gave a light snort and gracefully swept onto the shore. His phoenix eyes swept over Gu Mang. Seeing that Gu Mang was still wearing dripping-wet clothes, he raised his fingertip, and golden light shimmered.
When the light faded, Gu Mang was astonished and delighted to discover that his clothes were dry. He touched them and smiled.
“Thank you. You really are a good person.”
Murong Chuyi did not bother with pleasantries. He simply asked, “You came here to catch fish today?”
“Yes. The princess in my family is sick. He can’t eat anything, so I wanted to catch some fresh, fat fish and make him a dish.” Gu Mang rubbed his nose. “Family members should help each other.”
Murong Chuyi’s sword-like brows furrowed slightly. “Princess? …Princess Mengze?”
Gu Mang hurriedly waved his hands. “Princess Mo Xi.”
“………………”
It seemed that this altar beast who had lost his mind and memories really had not deliberately been making insolent remarks when he called himself the “little Dragon Girl.” After all, even someone as iron-blooded as the God of War Mo Xi had been given the nickname “princess” by him.
Expressionless, Murong Chuyi moved his gaze away from Gu Mang. Standing by the lakeshore with his hands behind his back, he faced the wind and said, “Come ashore.”
Gu Mang climbed onto shore, leaning on his net, still completely confused.
Murong Chuyi asked, “What kind of fish do you want?”
Still confused but perfectly honest, Gu Mang answered, “Mandarin fish.”
“How many?”
“The more the better.”
“Too many would be wasteful.” Murong Chuyi said, “Five should be enough.”
“?” Gu Mang asked curiously, “What are you going to do? Help me catch fish?”
The word “catch” was somewhat beneath Chonghua’s obsessed immortal, Murong Chuyi. One had to know that this was a master of artifact refinement whose depth of cultivation even Yue Juntian found difficult to discern.
Murong Chuyi merely swept his wide sleeve.
A silver arrow shot through the air. It moved incredibly fast, diving into Peach Blossom Lake and disappearing without a trace. When it shot back out of the water and returned to the shore, the silver arrow had expanded to over ten feet long, with five fresh and plump Peach Blossom mandarin fish skewered upon it.
Gu Mang’s blue, glass-like eyes widened slightly. He looked at the fish, then turned to look at Murong Chuyi.
After a long moment, he expressed his inner reverence with one simple and brutally direct word.
“Fuck…”
It was no wonder that even the foul language Gu Shuai used to love had been forced out of him. This was simply… after all his hard work for half a day, it was not even comparable to Murong Chuyi merely flicking his sleeve and moving a finger?
Murong Chuyi moved his fingertip slightly. The fish all flew into the bamboo basket behind Gu Mang, while the silver spiritual arrow vanished.
Murong Chuyi said, “Anything else you want? Say it all at once.”
Gu Mang shook his head, staring at the handsome man in white standing against the wind beneath the golden afterglow.
He was a straightforward person. Whatever was in his heart, he said aloud.
“No wonder the little white bird worships you so much.”
Murong Chuyi frowned slightly. “White bird?”
“It’s Yue… Yue… Yue something.” Gu Mang held his head in distress. “Sigh, I can’t remember his name again.”
“Yue Chenqing?”
“Yes, yes, yes! That’s him!” Gu Mang clapped his hands and laughed. “No wonder he likes following you around. Big brother, you’re amazing! This swoosh-swoosh-swoosh, catching fish thing—can you teach me too?”
“……”
Murong Chuyi let out a soft sigh. “Hold out your hand.”
Gu Mang did as instructed. Murong Chuyi somehow produced a handful of silver needles and placed them in Gu Mang’s palm.
Gu Mang asked curiously, “What are these?”
“Sound-Tracking Arrows.” Murong Chuyi said, “I’ve given you fifty. These arrows can change size at will and obey commands. Is that enough for you to catch fish?”
Gu Mang was overjoyed and repeatedly thanked him. “Enough, enough! You’re so generous! And you’re a good person too!”
After saying that, he carefully put the silver needles into his Qiankun pouch, then meticulously tucked the Qiankun pouch inside his robe, looking almost like a little dog carefully hiding a precious meat bone.
After hiding them away, he said once again, “Thank you, good person!”
“……”
Murong Chuyi was not accustomed to anyone thinking he was a good person. All along, the people of Chonghua had regarded him as someone cold and heartless, merely an obsessed lunatic who pursued the Dao of artifact refinement with near-fanatical devotion.
His expression therefore became somewhat stiff and unnatural. After remaining silent for a moment, he changed the subject.
“What you saw today must not be mentioned to anyone. Especially Yue Chenqing. Do not tell him.”
Gu Mang nodded, but then said, “Sure, sure. But there’s one person I’m afraid I can’t hide it from.”
“Who?”
“Mo Xi.” Gu Mang said, “Physician Jiang said Heart-Calming Grass can also be used as a poison, so he will definitely tell Mo Xi that I asked him for this herb.”
Murong Chuyi pondered for a moment. “It’s fine. I will explain the matter to Xihe Jun myself first. You don’t need to concern yourself with it anymore. Just remember that you cannot tell a third person.”
“What if Mo Xi asks me first?”
“Tell him the truth.”
“Okay.” Gu Mang agreed, then could not help asking, “Is your body really fine now?”
“It’s nothing. In the past, Peach Blossom Lake was sufficient to suppress it. Today was simply an unexpected incident.”
“Oh… But this problem of yours… don’t the little white bird and the others know?”
Murong Chuyi said indifferently, “They know a little, but not much. In truth, it isn’t anything serious. Yue Chenqing simply keeps digging into the matter, and I don’t want to deal with him, so I asked you to keep it secret.”
There were far too many holes in this explanation, and the reason for keeping it secret was far too flimsy. Only an idiot would believe it.
But Gu Mang was not much different from an idiot, so he believed it. He even sincerely raised his hand and swore to Murong Chuyi that he absolutely would not tell anyone about it.
After bidding farewell to Murong Chuyi and returning to the residence, the sky was already completely dark.
Li Wei stood at the entrance, craning his neck and looking left and right. When he saw Gu Mang return with dusk draped across his shoulders, he was both relieved and angry. He hurried forward and said anxiously, “What happened to you? Did you go fishing or raise fish? Why did you only come back this late?”
Gu Mang took off the basket and held it out for him to see, smiling. “I caught five fat fish. We still have time. Let me use the kitchen.”
Having lived at Xihe Manor for so long, Gu Mang had never handled fish before, but he remembered how to do it. In the scattered fragments of memory he had recovered, he had cooked many dishes made with fish.
Thus, Gu Mang searched through his memories of preparing ingredients and quickly put together several dishes, placing them inside a food box.
When he stepped out of the kitchen, he saw Li Wei waiting outside.
He asked, “Is he still in the study?”
“Yes. He went straight into the study after court and hasn’t eaten anything.”
Gu Mang carried the food box and said, “Then watch me. I’m best at coaxing my junior brother.”
Li Wei was delighted. “Oh…”
After a moment, he felt that there was something wrong with the way Gu Mang had addressed him and that the man had once again gotten rebellious, so he sternly added, “Hmm?”
But Gu Mang had already carried the food box toward the end of the covered corridor.
The lamp flame silently flickered. Oil had pooled inside the bronze lamp, while candlelight illuminated the cold, sharply defined profile of Mo Xi.
Although the fighting in the northern border had now subsided, it was ultimately not a permanent peace. The two-year ceasefire between Liao and Chonghua had been forced upon them. The two great powers had weakened each other through their conflict, and now both had noticed the ambitions stirring among the surrounding nations. If they continued exhausting themselves like this, they would only allow a third party to profit.
Thus, although there was a ceasefire, the two countries were actually still competing against each other. What they were competing over was who would recover first and whose strength would recover more fully.
The Sovereign had been closely monitoring Liao’s movements throughout the year. The memorial on Mo Xi’s desk had been gathered by Chonghua’s secret guards. It concerned numerous demonic creatures and demonic species from Liao, and the information was detailed and rather bloody, causing Mo Xi’s brows to furrow deeply as he read.
He was in the middle of reading the detailed notes on a remnant flower of a demonic species called the “Eight Sorrows Everlasting Hate Flower” when the lamplight suddenly swayed.
Gu Mang pushed open the door and walked straight to his desk.
“Junior Brother Mo, time to eat.”
“……” Mo Xi raised his eyes. “Just put it down. And don’t call me that. How many times have I corrected you? Why can’t you ever remember?”
But Gu Mang ignored him.
There was no point in reasoning too much with this man. Meeting force with force was the best approach. Thus, Gu Mang pretended not to hear him, opened the food box, and took out the dishes one by one.
Mo Xi frowned. “What are you fooling around with?”
Gu Mang said, “I’m not fooling around. You read your book, I’ll eat my food. I’ll leave half for you.”
“……You want to eat with me?”
Gu Mang blinked. “Haven’t we eaten together before?”
“……”
Previously, the two of them had indeed eaten at the same table in the main hall. But one table was one thing; eating dishes from the same food box was another.
Gu Mang imitated the tone from his own memories and said, “Sigh, I can’t help it. There’s nothing good to eat in the kitchen anymore, so I can only freeload off yours. Xihe Jun, please be kind and generous and give me half, okay?”
Seeing Mo Xi look rather speechless, he added fuel to the fire.
“Besides, I made all the dishes today. Aren’t you afraid I put poison in them and want to harm you? So I’ll eat first as a gesture of respect and test the poison for you. That way, you can eat happily and safely.”
Mo Xi stared at him. “What on earth are you talking about?”
But he still let him have his way.
Thus, Gu Mang happily arranged the four dishes and one soup he had prepared with a series of clattering sounds across Mo Xi’s spotless red sandalwood desk.
The dishes were still steaming hot, releasing a fragrant aroma. Although they were merely home-style stir-fries and not as exquisitely prepared as the chef’s dishes, they smelled wonderful, and their colors were fresh and appetizing.
There was a plate of crystal-clear pork aspic, the meat sliced thin enough to be translucent, with the tender, glutinous skin of the pork knuckle accompanied by Zhenjiang vinegar mixed with minced ginger.
A plate of stir-fried water chestnut lotus root and green lettuce, the tender water chestnuts and emerald-green lettuce crisp, smooth, and delicious, their vegetable juices fresh and succulent.
Another plate of oil-braised spring bamboo shoots, the crisp and tender tips glistening with oil and coated in a rich, thick sauce.
The soup was simple: a bowl of bamboo fungus, straw mushroom, and button mushroom soup, garnished with several fresh green leaves and a few slices of ham to enhance the flavor. It was a nourishing soup suitable for an ailing stomach.
And from the final tier of the food box came a plate of sweet-and-sour mandarin fish.
The fish had been seasoned with finely shredded ginger to remove its fishy smell. After being steamed, hot oil was poured over it, bursting forth with a rich aroma. The edges of the fish skin turned crisp and golden, while the fish fat remained tender and plump. Then a thick, simmered sweet-and-sour sauce was poured over the fish.
With one stroke of the chopsticks, the translucent white flesh trembled delicately like congealed fat beneath the glossy, sweet-and-sour sauce…
“Delicious.” Gu Mang moved his chopsticks enthusiastically, not giving the man reading with his eyes lowered any consideration whatsoever. “The meat from the fish belly is all mine.”
After Gu Mang had noisily eaten for a while, just as he was about to use his chopsticks to strip all the meat from the fish belly—the part with the fewest bones and the most tender flesh—Mo Xi finally could not take it anymore.
He closed the bamboo scroll, reached out, and grabbed Gu Mang’s wrist.
Gu Mang’s cheeks were bulging with food. “What?”
Mo Xi stared at him, unceremoniously took the chopsticks from his hand, picked up his own rice bowl, and transferred that piece of fish into it.
Although Gu Mang was secretly delighted, he put on an expression of outrage.
“Why did you steal mine?!”
Mo Xi returned the chopsticks to him irritably and picked up his own pair.
“What else was I supposed to do? Wait until you finished eating and gnaw on your bones?”
As he said this, he bit down hard on the fish. The stark white of his teeth and the ferocity of the bite, combined with the ambiguous words “gnaw on your bones,” inexplicably sent a shiver through Gu Mang across the table.
Tear your bones apart, swallow your blood…
That possessive posture and those eyes made Gu Mang’s head ache faintly. Some blurry memories of intertwined bodies flashed through his mind, like taut strings beating rapidly against his temples, as though desperately trying to tell him—
Yes.
Once upon a time, it had been this seemingly cold and aloof man who, like a beast with cold white teeth, had claimed every bone and drop of blood of his, tearing him apart and swallowing him whole…
He looked at Mo Xi’s handsome, refined face, from the high bridge of his nose to his pale, thin, sensual lips.
Caught completely off guard, his heartbeat suddenly skipped twice.
This sensation made Gu Mang vaguely feel that something was wrong inside his chest. It was hot and restless, as though a handful of flames had suddenly been rekindled from dead ashes beneath a pile of firewood, or as though a tender new sprout were slowly being uncovered by the gentle April breeze.
He suddenly remembered that memory of the night he had come of age.
Back then, Mo Xi’s lips had once pressed against his. The sensation had been so soft, yet it had made the Gu Mang in that memory tremble all over…
But Mo Xi did not notice Gu Mang’s strange gaze. He remained focused on eating the fish, and a little sauce had stained his pale lower lip. He casually licked it away.
That single movement made Gu Mang’s heart suddenly burn hot.
An inexplicable impulse and primitive desire arose within him. He actually felt like leaning closer and gently touching Mo Xi’s cheek and lips.
He did not even understand what this desire meant. He only instinctively felt that this cluster of flames had risen in his chest, and that only doing so could calm his restlessness.
His Adam’s apple moved.
Like a young beast testing danger, he cautiously probed forward, slowly drawing closer to the completely unsuspecting Mo Xi…