【Afterword Preview — AU Extra Story: A Boy’s Dream (Part One)】
In the main story, Gu Mang suffered greatly at the academy. Back then, he once violated the academy’s rules because he had helped a village ward off evil spirits and dispel a plague miasma, and Murong Lian harshly reprimanded him for it.
But what if, when they were young, Murong Lian had never humiliated Gu Mang so severely?
What if Mo Xi had entered the academy a few years later, and his first trial had been accompanied by Gu Mang?
What would that journey to exorcise demons have looked like?
A completely different beginning.
A still-forgiving Murong Lian.
A Gu Mang who had never been pushed down into the mud and dust.
A youthful dream about their days at the academy…
.
Chonghua, late spring.
At this time of year, the locust blossoms in the Mo Residence had already reached their peak. Delicate white petals and pale-yellow stamens adorned the entire tree with solemn beauty, filling the air with a sweet, heavy fragrance.
The young Mo Xi stood by the window.
He was not yet as tall as he would become later, but he was already exceptionally slender and handsome. He had a pair of sharp phoenix eyes, dark irises, pale, thin lips, and an unusually straight nose.
Compared with other young noblemen his age, there was already very little childishness left between his brows.
Hearing a soft knock at the door, Mo Xi turned his face and said,
“Come in.”
“Young Master, you’ll be leaving for the cultivation academy tomorrow. Madam has prepared plenty of changes of clothes for you, as well as the books, star charts, talisman paper, and other things you’ll need at the academy…”
“Put them on the table.”
“Yes.”
The servant did as instructed, then added, “Madam also asked whether you’ll be free tonight. She’d like to take you to Qixia Pavilion for a family dinner with Lord Shirong.”
Mo Xi said, “I still have many things to organize. There’s no need to include me.”
“But…”
“If you have nothing else to say, leave.”
The servant awkwardly withdrew.
Mo Xi waved his hand.
In an instant, the luggage his mother had packed for him on the table was engulfed in raging flames.
The furious fire burned brightly, illuminating the young man’s beautiful, icy face.
Before long, nothing remained on the table but a pile of ashes…
The Lord Shirong mentioned by the servant was Mo Xi’s uncle, his father’s younger brother, Mo Xianting.
The Mo family’s bloodline was sparse. Mo Xi’s father had no biological brothers. Mo Xianting was an adopted son whom his parents had taken in, and his status could never compare to that of Mo Xi’s father.
When Mo Xi was seven, his father died in battle.
Afterward, Mo Xianting frequently came to the main family residence to help, doing things for his deceased elder brother’s widow.
Mo Xi had originally been grateful to this uncle.
But one day, he studied until very late. On his way back from the study, he saw that his mother’s door was slightly ajar, with a faint candlelight shining through.
He walked over, intending to greet his mother.
But just as his hand touched the door, he heard strange sounds coming from inside.
At that age, Mo Xi did not understand what they meant.
Otherwise, he would never have chosen to look inside—not even once.
But he did.
Reflected in his constricted pupils were two familiar figures, intimately entangled.
One was his mother, her black hair spilling over one shoulder.
The other was his late father’s sworn younger brother—the man Mo Xi called Uncle.
Both of them were completely lost in what they were doing.
For a moment, Mo Xi’s mind buzzed and his ears rang.
This man…
How dare he humiliate his mother like this?
How dare he commit such a depraved, immoral act?!
A violent wave of nausea churned in Mo Xi’s chest.
He wanted to rush inside and kill the beast.
He wanted to turn around and leave immediately.
Yet his blood ran cold, and his hands and feet felt nailed to the ground.
He could do nothing.
Perhaps his hatred was too obvious.
Because just as his mind seemed to collapse, Mo Xianting suddenly raised his head from inside the room.
The young boy’s eyes met the man’s.
Their gazes collided.
After a moment, an abnormal hatred appeared on Mo Xianting’s face.
He felt no shame.
He was not afraid in the slightest.
Instead, he became even more brazen, causing the woman who had no idea what was happening to let out repeated cries of distress.
He stared directly into Mo Xi’s eyes and slowly bared his teeth in a sinister smile.
It was as though, across the boundary between life and death, he was crazily provoking his sworn elder brother in the underworld.
Mo Xi did not know how he eventually left.
His mind was numb.
His hands and feet were icy cold.
But he had always been a precocious child.
So after returning, he neither cried nor made a fuss.
Even when disgust caused him to fall seriously ill and remain bedridden for several months, he never said a word about what he had seen.
But emotions were like floodwaters.
If they were merely dammed up, eventually they would cause something to break.
The physical illness in Mo Xi’s body gradually healed.
The distortion in his heart, however, only grew worse.
His already-cold personality became increasingly extreme.
He became taciturn, obsessive, and violent.
He developed severe mysophobia.
He trusted no one.
He made no friends.
He seemed completely incompatible with everyone around him.
Once, during a family banquet, a young nobleman tried to joke around with him and showed him an illustrated book of erotic scenes.
Without a word, Mo Xi gathered fire in his palm and burned the entire book to ashes.
“What are you doing?!”
The fair-faced young nobleman jumped to his feet in fury.
“How dare you burn my book?!”
Mo Xi raised his eyes coldly.
“Why wouldn’t I dare?”
“You—you know who I am?! You’re outrageous!”
“I don’t care who you are.”
Mo Xi’s voice was cold.
“If you ever show me something like that again, I’ll burn your hand instead.”
He wasn’t pretending to be a prude.
He genuinely hated brothels, erotic songs and poems, and anything associated with sexual indulgence from the bottom of his heart.
It was probably an affliction he would never be able to cure for the rest of his life.
Given his circumstances, Mo Xi had wanted to leave that household, with all its hidden currents and secret schemes, and go to the cultivation academy to train.
But his uncle refused to let him have an easy time.
Mo Xianting constantly came up with excuses to tell the ruler why Mo Xi could not leave the residence.
“Xi’er is a filial child. He says he wants to observe mourning for his father for three years.”
“Xi’er’s health is weak. I’m afraid he won’t last long if he goes to the cultivation academy. I hope His Majesty will permit him another year to recuperate.”
And so on.
Whatever excuse would delay things, he used it.
At the time, Mo Xi was still a very young boy.
Mo Xianting had once been his father’s right-hand man, and he was also Lord Shirong, a title officially bestowed by the imperial court.
Mo Xi knew that even if he brought a complaint before the ruler, the ruler would not believe the words of a child over Mo Xianting.
Mo Xianting might even seize upon the opportunity and turn the situation against him.
So during the New Year’s Eve banquet, when the old ruler asked him with concern,
“Xi’er, your uncle says you’ve been ill every few days, rarely leave the residence, and haven’t been able to attend the academy yet. Have you had someone properly take care of your health? If the physicians your family hired aren’t helping, you can go to Shennong Terrace yourself and choose someone. You’re Qingchi’s only son. If you develop some chronic illness, after I’m gone, I would have no face to stand before the loyal subjects of the past.”
Mo Xianting was watching from nearby.
Seeing that things were not going well, he hurriedly smiled and tried to take over the conversation.
Unexpectedly, Mo Xi lowered his lashes.
“Thank you for your concern, Your Majesty. I’m already much better.”
Then he glanced at Mo Xianting.
His lips barely moved as he said,
“With Uncle taking such good care of me, how could I possibly be unwell?”
Mo Xianting froze.
The carefully prepared lies he had been about to deliver suddenly became completely useless.
For a moment, he could not figure out what Mo Xi was thinking.
But those eyes were calm and composed.
The light within them flowed slowly like molten gold, brilliant yet ruthless.
Mo Xianting suddenly felt a chill down his back and broke out in a cold sweat.
Yet on the surface, he continued pretending to be affectionate and kind.
“Heh heh, we’re family, after all. Xi’er, what are you talking about…”
After returning home, Mo Xianting thought about it again and again.
He felt humiliated that he had actually been frightened by a mere boy.
His hatred toward Mo Xi therefore grew even stronger.
One day, when Madam Mo was away, Mo Xianting was wandering around when he spotted Mo Xi in the garden.
The boy wore a winter robe embroidered with cloud patterns and a soaring serpent.
He was reading beneath the covered walkway.
Though he was still young, his features were remarkably similar to that man who had always suppressed Mo Xianting in every possible way.
Both had the same cold, solemn bearing.
A surge of resentment suddenly rose in Mo Xianting’s heart.
He walked toward Mo Xi.
His shadow fell across the pages of Mo Xi’s book.
“What are you doing?”
Mo Xi’s fingers paused.
But he did not look up.
After a moment, he simply continued reading.
Mo Xianting’s anger burned even hotter.
He mocked,
“Oh, studying by yourself? What can you possibly accomplish through self-study? If you can barely form a spiritual core, you should already be thanking the heavens for showing you mercy.”
“And you still dream of improving?”
He laughed.
“You’re even more ignorant of your own limitations than your dead father. Even more arrogant than Mo Qingchi!”
When he mentioned Mo Qingchi, his expression twisted, as though the name itself had burned his tongue and he wished he could spit it out.
“Now your mother belongs to me, and the Mo family belongs to me too.”
“I can’t kill you, but I can make your life miserable.”
“You’ve seen it yourself. As long as I stand in your way, don’t even think about spreading your wings and flying.”
“If you know what’s good for you, kneel down and beg me.”
“Call me Father three times, and perhaps I’ll be merciful enough to ask His Majesty for permission next year and let you attend the cultivation academy.”
Before he could finish speaking, a sudden flash of fire appeared in Mo Xi’s palm.
A scarlet spiritual whip answered his call and shot forth.
Caught completely off guard, Mo Xianting was struck squarely across the face.
Blood instantly poured down.
“You! You—!”
Mo Xianting was stunned, shocked and furious.
“You little bastard! You actually struck me?! I’m your elder!”
“Mo Xianting.”
Mo Xi slowly raised his face against the sunlight.
Dark currents churned within his brown eyes, while his icy skin and snow-white bones seemed infused with a chilling menace.
“Don’t forget who you are.”
The spiritual whip in his palm cracked.
Flames exploded.
In an instant, it transformed into a soaring serpent more than four men tall.
Mo Xianting stared at the soaring serpent, its forked tongue hissing as it coiled at Mo Xi’s feet.
He stared at those eyes filled with bloody mist and cried out in disbelief,
“The Transforming Serpent Whip?! You can already summon… you can already summon the Transforming Serpent Whip?!”
“Though the Transforming Serpent isn’t a divine weapon, it has recognized the legitimate heir of the Mo family as its master for generations.”
Mo Xi closed his book as he spoke.
His long, elegant fingers slowly stroked the serpent’s forehead.
Then he suddenly raised his eyes, his expression turning vicious.
“If it won’t obey me…”
“Do you really think it’ll obey you?!”
“Impossible… That’s impossible!”
Mo Xianting stammered, his face turning deathly pale.
“You… you’re so young. How could you possibly possess such spiritual power?!”
Mo Xi did not answer.
Dark currents still flowed through his eyes.
He placed his hand back on the book.
The soaring serpent slowly wound its way up the leg of the boy clad in black dragon-hide boots, eventually settling beside him.
Its red tongue flickered like blood, its posture clearly threatening an attack.
Mo Xi raised a hand slightly, stopping it from lunging.
Then he looked at the colorless man before him.
“Not everyone in this world thinks as you do, nor do they hope for what you hope for.”
“Mo Xianting, although you’ve lived several decades longer than I have, there are many things about the Mo family that you’ll never understand in your entire life.”
Mo Xianting swallowed.
He barely managed to suppress his fear.
A vicious light flickered in his eyes, almost obsessive.
“What don’t I understand?”
“Your father is dead. So what if you’re the legitimate heir?!”
“So what if you have extraordinary talent and can summon the Transforming Serpent?!”
Fear and humiliation intertwined until the man’s neck flushed red, the veins throbbing visibly.
“Yes, you’re the Young Master of the Mo family—hehe. But Young Master Mo, can you kill me?”
“Can you go complain to His Majesty?”
“No matter how capable you are, you’re still just a sheltered brat whose father is dead!”
“What can you possibly do?!”
He suddenly threw back his head and laughed.
Spittle flew from his mouth.
“Can’t you still do anything but keep up appearances with me? Can’t you do anything but watch your own mother crawl beneath me like a dog?”
“Can’t you do anything but remain trapped in this Mo Residence, unable to take even one step outside?!”
“Hahaha! Hahahaha!”
His laughter was so vicious, his expression so savage, that it almost seemed his cruelty was not meant to frighten the boy before him.
It was meant to give courage to his own pitiful, humiliated soul.
Mo Xi said nothing.
If he had been confronted with these words immediately after discovering the disgrace between his mother and his adoptive uncle, they truly might have shattered his sanity.
But so much time had passed.
His heart had already been torn apart.
It had bled itself empty and formed a hard scar over the wound.
So he remained completely expressionless.
He still sat leisurely on the long bench beneath the covered walkway, his legs crossed, one elbow resting against the railing.
He looked at Mo Xianting with calmness and severity.
There was even a trace of pity in his gaze.
Those eyes were exactly like his deceased father’s.
Only after Mo Xianting had finished laughing by himself did Mo Xi finally speak coldly.
“Yes. I can’t kill you.”
“Just as you hate me to death, yet can’t kill me either.”
“And yes, you can keep delaying me and prevent me from entering the cultivation academy.”
“But, Mo Xianting—”
He suddenly leaned forward.
The Transforming Serpent on his shoulder hissed.
The man instinctively took a step backward.
Mo Xi narrowed his eyes dangerously.
“Do you really think I care?”
“…”
“Do you think I can’t cultivate without the academy?”
“Do you think that after what you’ve done to my mother, I’ll become so hopeless that I’ll take my own life?”
“Or do you think that because you can restrain me for a while, you can destroy me for the rest of my life?”
With every sentence, Mo Xianting’s face grew grayer.
By the end, his lips were trembling and he could no longer say a word.
Mo Xi straightened.
Sunlight poured down.
Half of his handsome face was immersed in shadow, while the other half was bathed in light.
His thin lips opened and closed.
Two utterly cold words fell from them.
“Dream on.”
And Mo Xi meant exactly what he said.
Mo Xianting was wary of him and filled with resentment.
Although he could not openly do anything to Mo Xi, he never stopped plotting against him in secret.
He delayed him year after year.
But Mo Xi remained as still as calm water.
He never once yielded.
In the end, His Majesty decided that the young master of the Mo family could no longer afford to delay his studies.
So he personally issued an edict ordering Mo Xi to enter the academy and begin his cultivation.
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Some AU settings, giving poor little Mang-mang the possibility of a new beginning.
Honestly, I just think Mang-mang has suffered far too much, so I’m writing this extra dream story for him.
What if Gu Mang’s position hadn’t been suppressed so harshly by Murong Lian when they were young?
What if Mo Xi’s very first trial after entering the academy had been accompanied by Gu Mang?
What would have happened?
This is a side story about their younger days, while also giving me a chance to write more about the cultivation academy, which the main story didn’t have many opportunities to explore, as well as a younger, mischievous, clear-eyed Gu Mang~
P.S. The Transforming Serpent Whip is NOT the Ransui Whip from the main story! Ransui is obtained later!
…Yes, I basically just wanted to give our little Xi-mei a cooler weapon ahead of time in this AU extra. 😂
Another P.S. Unlocking individual chapters of Yuwu and Erha is also ridiculously difficult. The word count can’t be reduced, and there are all kinds of mysterious censorship points. Since the locked chapters can’t be accessed, I’ll just have to leave them like this for now…