Lu Zhanxing was like a trapped beast in a cage. His emotions were far too agitated, and it took Gu Mang a very long time to explain the entire matter to him clearly.
As a bystander, it was difficult for Mo Xi to describe the expression on Lu Zhanxing’s face after hearing the truth.
In fact, from the moment Gu Mang began explaining the “Linglong White Piece,” the emotions on Lu Zhanxing’s face had been constantly changing.
From shock to bewilderment.
From bewilderment to wild joy.
From wild joy to fury.
From fury to sorrow.
In between, he broke down in shock countless times.
When everything had finally been explained, Lu Zhanxing suddenly collapsed weakly onto the cold stone bed. He stared wide-eyed at the low ceiling of the Yin Prison, dazed and unresponsive.
Only after a long time did he murmur as though in a dream:
“I… didn’t betray you…”
Gu Mang’s gaze was soft and moist with tears. His voice was hoarse as he quietly said:
“You never did.”
“I didn’t betray you… I didn’t betray you… Haha… Hahahaha!”
The veins at Lu Zhanxing’s temples bulged. His emotions had swelled to such an extreme that his cheeks flushed crimson.
He suddenly began laughing.
But as he laughed, he began to cry.
Perhaps he felt embarrassed. He raised his hand to cover his eyes, yet clear tears still slipped from beneath his arm and disappeared into his hair at the temples.
He sobbed brokenly:
“I didn’t betray you…”
Gu Mang sat down on the edge of his narrow stone bed and turned to look at Lu Zhanxing.
Of course, he could not see Lu Zhanxing’s eyes. The man was still covering them with his sturdy arm.
Gu Mang was silent for a moment.
Then, suddenly, he asked in a soft voice:
“Zhanxing, can you see them often too?”
It was a question that seemed to come from nowhere.
But Lu Zhanxing understood.
Mo Xi understood too.
Can you see them often too?
Can you see those seventy thousand people cross the River of the Underworld and come to your side?
Those brothers who once fought alongside you, who drank strong liquor with you before countless battles, who stood beside you as you swore your vows before the army—
They come to your side.
You are surrounded by seventy thousand dead.
Day and night, they whisper to you.
Gradually, you can no longer see the mortal world before your eyes.
Without realizing it, you begin living together with the dead.
You become a living gravestone, with the names of the departed engraved upon your heart.
Can you see them often too…?
Lu Zhanxing’s dry lips moved.
For the first time, he could not make a proper sound.
Only the second time did he finally say:
“Always.”
“…”
“I have always been able to see them.”
After a long silence, Gu Mang said:
“Me too.”
The candle flame in the Yin Prison silently shed a string of wax tears.
Gu Mang said:
“Zhanxing, after that one battle at Fengming Mountain, the two of us became living corpses. Do you resent me?”
Lu Zhanxing slowly lowered his arm, revealing half of one wet, dark eye.
“What?”
“It was me who tricked you… tricked all of you into following me down this road. I promised you a future with nothing to back it up. You followed me, and you barely had a few days of good times before becoming a convicted minister and a reckless brute.”
Gu Mang lowered his head and looked at his hands.
“I’ve been thinking about it all this time. What kind of person am I, really?”
His long, thick lashes trembled lightly, casting a soft shadow across the bridge of his nose.
Gu Mang said quietly:
“I know Chonghua has countless opinions about me. Praise, condemnation, slander, excessive glorification…”
“I never cared about them before, because I believed I had always been doing the right thing. I, Gu Mang, had never wronged my own conscience.”
“But after the battle at Fengming Mountain, I could no longer give my conscience an answer.”
“I kept saying that I wanted to change the way Chonghua, and even the entire Nine Provinces, viewed slaves. I kept telling everyone who followed me that I would take them home and give them a future far better than the one they had.”
“But it turns out that all it takes is one defeat, and I’m beaten back into my original form like a ridiculous clown.”
“As the commander of an entire army, I couldn’t even obtain the most basic fairness for my brothers.”
It was as though those dismissive voices from the past were echoing beside his ears again:
His achievements are so great that they threaten the sovereign! The higher that lowly slave climbs, the harder he’ll fall!
He’s going to be the next Hua Po’an!
No, how could he possibly be mentioned in the same breath as Hua Po’an? At least Hua Po’an had the ability to establish a kingdom. At least he could secure titles and rewards for his brothers and obtain benefits for them.
Gu Mang is nothing more than a dog rolling around in a muddy pit. He has the heart of a thief but not the ability to accomplish anything!
He’s a liar!
He tricked a bunch of fools into following him to their deaths. What can those who follow him possibly obtain? A dream?
What an impressive beast from the altar of gods, hahahaha…
Mocking laughter circled like a vulture overhead.
Gu Mang slowly closed his eyes.
When he opened them again, he looked at his callused hands and said:
“Now I finally understand.”
“Turns out I’m nothing more than a gravedigger.”
“I’ve spent half my life accomplishing nothing, only to bury every one of my brothers in the ground.”
“…”
Lu Zhanxing said nothing.
He turned his head toward Gu Mang.
After studying him for a while, he asked:
“His Majesty isn’t going to overturn my conviction, is he?”
Before Gu Mang could answer, he continued:
“I suppose I already know.”
“The old aristocratic clans, the Black Demonic Art…”
“Our new sovereign is still too inexperienced. Whoever were in my position, they wouldn’t be able to save me.”
Gu Mang lowered his head.
“…Zhanxing, I’m sorry.”
“Other than telling you the truth, I haven’t been able to do anything.”
Lu Zhanxing stared blankly at the ceiling again for a while.
The tears at the corners of his eyes had already dried.
After a long time, he said:
“It’s fine.”
“I don’t blame him.”
“And I don’t blame you.”
Once the shackles of being a “convicted minister” had been removed, Lu Zhanxing seemed to relax completely.
Although facing a death sentence would naturally bring complicated emotions, Lu Zhanxing did not have that many unpleasant feelings at this moment.
“I’m simply unlucky. I happened to become the person who was struck by the Linglong chess piece.”
Lu Zhanxing picked up the two wooden dice Gu Mang had brought him and slowly rubbed them between his fingers.
“Do you remember when we were children and played dice? I always lost to you, so I had no choice but to give you all my pastries.”
“My luck has never been good. That has nothing to do with anyone.”
As he spoke, he casually rolled the dice.
The two wooden dice tumbled and rolled across the ground.
In the end, both landed on one.
Lu Zhanxing said:
“See? I told you I was right.”
Gu Mang suddenly lowered his head.
His shoulders trembled slightly.
After a while, he said:
“I heard a long time ago that Chonghua has a gambling-house ghost known as the ‘Sorrow of Ghosts.’ That person always likes to appear wearing a bronze mask. Whenever he gambles, he wins. He has never lost at the gambling table.”
“…”
“That person was you, wasn’t he?”
Lu Zhanxing remained silent.
He stiffened slightly.
“Whatever number you want to roll, that’s the number you roll. You weren’t unlucky.”
Gu Mang’s voice was hoarse.
“You were always letting me win.”
“You wanted to give me the pastries.”
Lu Zhanxing looked at Gu Mang before him.
After a while, he softly sighed.
Of course he wanted to protect this little fellow.
It was practically something destined from the moment they first met—
Back then, Lu Zhanxing had only recently been bought and brought into Wangshu Residence.
He had seen the four-year-old Gu Mang being bullied by Murong Lian, forced to paint his entire face with grease paint, place a bowl filled with water on his head, and stand perfectly still in a horse stance.
Young Master Murong Lian had laughed arrogantly and recklessly as he told him:
“Stand for a full hour. If even a drop of water spills from the bowl, then none of the slaves in the entire residence will get food today.”
Lu Zhanxing’s stomach growled.
He thought bitterly to himself that he had truly suffered eight lifetimes’ worth of bad luck.
Such a tiny child—how could he possibly endure standing still for that long?
Looks like he was going to go hungry on his very first day in the residence.
But what he could never have imagined was that when food was handed out that evening, the head cook still gave each of them two large, fluffy white steamed buns.
Only then did Lu Zhanxing hear what had happened.
That tiny child had actually summoned every ounce of strength he possessed and stood completely motionless for an entire hour.
The result had infuriated Murong Lian.
In the end, the other slaves were not punished alongside him, but Gu Mang’s dinner was still inexplicably withheld.
Lu Zhanxing heard this.
He ate one steamed bun, tucked the other into his clothes, and went to look for that little companion of his.
He searched throughout the enormous Wangshu Residence.
Only after turning the entire place upside down did he finally find Gu Mang in the back garden, crouching beside the grass—
“Hey.”
He patted Gu Mang on the shoulder.
The little boy turned around.
It was a small face covered in garish grease paint. His mouth moved silently, and specks of dirt clung to his lips.
Lu Zhanxing could not make out his features.
All he could see were those pitch-black eyes, brilliant like stars scattered across the night sky.
Lu Zhanxing stared in shock.
“Y-you’re eating dirt…?”
Gu Mang was terribly aggrieved.
The four-year-old’s crisp little voice carried a sob.
“Big Brother, I’m hungry.”
Looking into those helpless eyes, like those of a young animal, Lu Zhanxing’s heart melted instantly.
He hurriedly pulled out the steamed bun he had tucked away and whispered:
“It’s for you. Don’t cry.”
“Aw… Big Brother’s got you covered. You poor little thing.”
At this moment, Lu Zhanxing looked at the Gu Mang standing before him.
After stripping away his armor and glory, Gu Mang was still just like that little child from back then, silently lowering his head to eat dirt.
Still just as helpless.
Still possessing nothing.
They had struggled for nearly half their lives.
In the end, they had actually gained nothing.
A trace of helplessness and gentleness gradually appeared on Lu Zhanxing’s battered, dirty face.
He raised his hand.
His filthy fingers touched Gu Mang’s face, his fingertip gently wiping away the moisture at the corner of Gu Mang’s eye.
“Mang’er, don’t cry.”
“…”
A faint smile curled at the corner of Lu Zhanxing’s mouth.
“Big Brother’s got you covered, you poor little thing.”
Gu Mang suddenly closed his eyes.
Pain filled his expression, and his throat moved bitterly.
Lu Zhanxing said:
“This is the last time.”
“Big Brother will protect you properly.”
“From now on, whether you advance or retreat, whether you continue forward or lay down your armor and return home, it will all be up to you.”
“Mang’er, I’m glad you told me the truth.”
“Even though it looks like nothing can be changed anymore, at least now I know that I didn’t betray my seventy thousand comrades.”
“I didn’t betray you.”
“The stone in my heart has finally fallen.”
“Keep walking forward.”
“Whatever choice you make, your Brother Lu will be happy for you.”
As he spoke, he pulled Gu Mang toward him.
Gu Mang had been biting his lower lip and desperately trying to hold himself together, but he was already sobbing uncontrollably.
Lu Zhanxing pressed his forehead against Gu Mang’s and firmly patted him on the shoulder.
“Who told you that you’re my brother?”
“Even though the two of us have never formally sworn brotherhood.”
Gu Mang fiercely wiped away the tears on his face and raised his bright black eyes.
“Then let’s do it.”
“…”
Before Lu Zhanxing could react, Gu Mang put his mask back on and walked out of the cell.
Not long afterward, he returned carrying two jars of pear-blossom wine from the prison.
Holding back his tears, Gu Mang solemnly said:
“Lu Zhanxing, after we part today, the only time you and I will meet again will be when you are executed in autumn.”
“I, Gu Mang, was born without a home, without a father, without anyone to rely on. Because of that, I have never dared to act recklessly, never dared to indulge myself, never dared to cross the line. Before others, I have always been restrained, and true affection has been rare.”
“Only… only before Brother Lu have I been able to understand what it feels like to have a family, to have an elder brother.”
As he spoke, Lu Zhanxing’s eyes reddened as well.
The scenes of the two of them caring for and supporting each other from childhood to adulthood flashed vividly through their minds.
Gu Mang said:
“For these past twenty-odd years, thank you, Big Brother, for taking care of me.”
Lu Zhanxing suddenly tilted his head back.
He had originally thought that since he would be executed in a few months, he did not want to form any deeper ties with anyone.
But hearing Gu Mang’s words—every sentence sincere, every word seemingly soaked in blood and tears—his heart surged.
His blood burned hotly.
He held back the tears welling in his eyes and accepted the pear-blossom wine from Gu Mang.
“I, Lu, have lived this life as insignificant as a duckweed.”
“I never imagined that I could truly have a legitimate brother and family in this world.”
“Even less did I imagine that, now that my name is covered in infamy and my life is nearing its end, I would still be blessed by Heaven and have the chance to become sworn brothers with you.”
“I never cared about these formalities. I never believed in them, and I never thought much of them.”
“But today…”
“Today, I, Lu Zhanxing, truly feel utterly satisfied!”
“Fine!”
“Then let’s become brothers!”
“Even if we are slaves.”
“Even if death is already approaching.”
“Even if the road ahead is vast, distant, and impossible to see.”
“Let us at least have this one moment of happiness today!”
“The two of us need not be born in the same year, month, and day.”
“We may not be fortunate enough to die in the same year, month, and day.”
“But let us only ask that we remember one another for our entire lives, and that even in the Yellow Springs, we never forget!”
The two of them immediately raised their heads and drank deeply.
They bowed to one another as sworn brothers.
Then they clasped hands and laughed loudly.
Yet their laughter carried tears, and tears filled their eyes.
Gu Mang said:
“Big Brother.”
Lu Zhanxing laughed heartily.
“From now on, neither of us is alone anymore.”
“Even when I walk into the underworld, I’ll know that I have a real brother.”
Amid that sorrowful yet heroic laughter, that despairing yet dazzling laughter, the scene inside the Yin Prison began to blur.
It grew farther and farther away.
The figures of the two brothers gradually became indistinct.
Lu Zhanxing…
Gu Mang…
Brothers.
So Gu Mang had once gone to the Yin Prison to see Lu Zhanxing.
The two had already become sworn brothers.
They had already become family.
That was why all of Lu Zhanxing’s reactions in the Time Mirror had been false.
Lu Zhanxing had never abandoned Gu Mang’s dreams.
He had never abandoned the seventy thousand comrades out of callousness.
His true feelings…
His true feelings had clearly been—
“Big Brother will protect you. From now on, whether you advance or retreat, whether you continue forward or lay down your armor and return home, it will all be up to you.”
“Keep walking forward. Whatever choice you make, your Brother Lu will be happy for you.”
“Who told you that you’re my brother?”
So the autumn execution—the fall of the blade that separated life and death, yin and yang—had taken away more than Gu Mang’s last remaining comrade.
When that executioner’s blade fell, what it took away was also Gu Mang’s only family.
The brother he had only just sworn himself to.
The brother he had only just gained.
The brother he had barely had time to call by that name a few times—
The only one he had in this world.
His Big Brother.