As long as there were nations, there would be darkness.
And the Bureau of Spiritual Arts of any nation was always one of the dirtiest, bloodiest, and most forbidden places in that country. Whether it was the Liao Kingdom or Chonghua, it was the same.
Zhou He sat in a rosewood armchair covered with a silver fox-fur cushion, his long legs crossed, his cheek propped against one hand as he watched the scene before him.
The black magic trial was extremely cruel, but it was also very fast.
From the moment he gave the order, only the time it took to burn a stick of incense had passed, yet the trial had already gone through two rounds. Gu Mang was bound and suspended by chains. Because of the requirements of the spell, Zhou He had not given him any anesthetic or sedative herbs. In other words, Gu Mang could feel every stab of every blade and every bite of every gu insect.
Gauze had been stuffed across his mouth, cushioning his soft tongue, and was already soaked through with blood. A junior cultivator beside him removed the piece and pinched Gu Mang’s unconscious face before replacing it with a fresh one. Gu Mang showed no reaction whatsoever. His slender neck hung limply, and his face was paler than ice, even his lips having completely lost their color.
Zhou He asked, “How is his spiritual energy?”
“Very weak.”
“And his heart meridians?”
“Extremely chaotic.”
“……”
There were three major measures during the trial: spiritual energy, heart meridians, and mental strength. If one did not have the attitude of “it doesn’t matter if this test subject dies,” then these were three crucial things that had to be monitored at all times.
Zhou He frowned slightly. Looking at Gu Mang’s deathly pale face, his fingernails unconsciously dug into the armrest of the chair.
Aside from His Majesty’s instructions concerning the black magic trial, he also had… that person’s request to fulfill…
But judging from the current situation, Gu Mang probably would not be able to hold on much longer. No one could continue being tormented when both their spiritual energy and heart meridians were already on the verge of their limits.
He would collapse.
Zhou He furrowed his brows. He bit his lower lip and closed his eyes, secretly anxious. Slowly, the fingers gripping the armchair relaxed. With some frustration, he let out a breath and asked almost as though he had given up,
“How is his mental strength?”
The cultivator responsible for monitoring Gu Mang’s condition raised his fingertips and placed them against Gu Mang’s forehead, which had long since been soaked through with cold sweat. The moment he checked, his eyes suddenly widened. Almost unable to believe it, he checked again.
“……”
Zhou He impatiently said, “Well?”
“R-Reporting to Elder.” The junior disciple turned his head and stammered, “Gu… ahem, the t-test subject’s mental strength is still extremely powerful. There are no signs of his consciousness collapsing!”
Zhou He’s expression changed!
How was that possible?
He had been in charge of the Bureau of Spiritual Arts for so long. Forget surviving until the second round of the trial—even someone whose will had not collapsed by the middle of the first round was already a rare sight. And even then, that person would have to be exceptionally sturdy, the sort who could endure being ground down and abused without breaking.
Yet Gu Mang’s physical condition was clearly poor. The spiritual re-tempering he had undergone in the Liao Kingdom had left countless old injuries on his body. Three years at Luomei Villa had further reduced him to a thin and frail state. Now, both his heart meridians and spiritual energy had already reached their limits.
How could he still…
Zhou He abruptly stood up and strode toward Gu Mang. He activated his magic and raised his hand to examine that ice-cold forehead.
The moment he touched it, his heart was even more shocked!
……
There was absolutely no sign of weakening in Gu Mang’s will.
If he ignored this body covered in mottled blood, Zhou He simply would not dare believe that this was the mental strength of someone who had already been tortured into unconsciousness by the black magic trial.
It was as though it were a kind of determination carved into his very bones.
Too stubborn.
And too powerful.
What exactly was he holding on for?
“Elder, what should we do next? The test subject’s body can’t hold on anymore, but judging from his mental strength, perhaps he can still…”
Zhou He interrupted the disciple’s question. He stared at Gu Mang’s face, and a powerful sense of unease suddenly arose in his heart.
Because of their personal friendship, aside from carrying out His Majesty’s black magic trial, he had also secretly accepted another request from a close friend—
He needed to disrupt Gu Mang’s memories.
Although he did not know what there was in Gu Mang’s memories that was worth disrupting. The man was already amnesiac to begin with, and his brain was not exactly very sharp. But since “that person” had spoken, he would certainly do his friend the favor and follow through.
He had originally thought that after the trial was completed, it would be more convenient to carry this out while Gu Mang’s consciousness was at the point of complete collapse.
But now, it seemed that things would probably not proceed as smoothly as he had expected.
Zhou He pondered for a moment before saying, “You all withdraw first.”
“Yes!”
After everyone on both sides withdrew, Zhou He stepped forward and raised the Falcon, polishing it inch by inch with his knuckles.
The dagger came closer. Its cold blade pressed against Gu Mang’s equally cold cheek.
Shenwu could clearly sense the powerful soul housed within this man’s body. The bloodthirsty “Falcon,” having tasted so much blood, could not help trembling excitedly in Zhou He’s palm.
Zhou He bent down. His lips rested beside Gu Mang’s ear as he murmured to the unconscious man,
“Marshal Gu, I’ve personally overseen a thousand trials and crushed countless iron-boned tough men into puddles of mud—but you alone are an exception. To speak honestly, I, Zhou He, truly admire you.”
The light of the Falcon flickered, slowly becoming dazzling and blinding.
Zhou He said, “It’s just a pity that I’ve accepted someone’s request. I must disrupt your mind.”
“……”
“I’m sorry.”
With a twist of his hand, the Falcon transformed in his palm into several transparent chains. Those chains were only as thick as willow branches, writhing between his fingers like little snakes as they hovered beside Gu Mang’s head.
“Falcon.” Zhou He gave the low command. “Ruin the Soul!”
The final words drifted from his thin lips.
The Falcon was like a hunter that had waited for a long time and had finally received its master’s command. It let out a sharp shriek.
Immediately afterward, those slender chains shot out, all of them drilling into Gu Mang’s skull!
“Ah—!!”
In an instant, blood gushed like a fountain…
Gu Mang was jolted awake by that explosive pain. He abruptly raised his head, and a muffled whimper came from between his gauze-bound mouth and tongue…
He was already completely exhausted and could no longer cry out very loudly. Tears simply rolled down his blood-stained, mottled cheeks in streams. His pair of deep-blue eyes were wide open, his pupils contracting violently.
His entire body hung suspended in midair, struggling so hard that the iron chains binding him clattered loudly.
The thin chains formed from Shenwu moved madly through his skull, like a wanton invader, shrieking as they shattered all of his memories.
Those memories he had finally remembered.
Those he had finally recovered.
Those he had finally possessed…
That precious clarity of mind.
Gu Mang’s deep-blue eyes were wide open.
Amid the earth-splitting, heaven-collapsing agony, the brothers’ cheers at the frontier beyond the Pass were erased.
His Majesty’s promise amid the wind and rain at the Golden Terrace was erased.
Lu Zhanxing’s sorrowful yet heroic laughter in the cold chamber of the Yin Prison was erased.
Deep within his memories, Mo Xi’s gentle gaze as he looked at him, the love and sincerity he had spoken of countless times…
Were…
Erased…
Every time the Falcon tore apart a fragment of memory, Gu Mang desperately tried to gather it back together.
He resisted.
He trembled in despair.
His consciousness had already been washed away once before.
And now, he was going to go through it all again at Zhou He’s hands.
Suddenly, an intense sense of unwillingness rose within him—
Why did they have to treat him this way…?
Why did they have to force him to this point?
Why?!!
For that better Jiuzhou, he had sacrificed his flesh and blood, his elder brother, his conscience, his lover, and his good name.
He had nothing left.
He had even forgotten who he was. He had even believed that he truly had betrayed his country and nation, that he truly had stopped at nothing to achieve his goals.
Because of that, he had once knelt in agony before Mo Xi, knelt before Murong Lian, and knelt before the heroic tombstones on Battle Soul Mountain, bowing his head one by one as he thought about how he could start over.
Later, Heaven had shown him mercy.
By a twist of fate, the Temporal Mirror had restored the memories he had possessed before betraying his country.
Although those memories were so painful, at least—
At least he could know that he was a spy.
An undercover agent.
A vanguard blade that Chonghua had plunged deep into the heart of the Liao Kingdom.
He was not a traitor…
Gu Mang’s tears rolled down in strings.
There was so little that he had.
He only wanted to remember what he was!
Why did they still have to take it away?
His mouth was blocked, and he could not say a single word. But those blue eyes looked toward Zhou He almost pleadingly.
This was the first time since the trial began that Gu Mang had looked at him with such an expression.
It was like a young beast driven into a dead end, pitifully gazing at the hunter standing before it.
His resistance caused the Falcon’s chains to stab even more violently.
Gu Mang suddenly let out a heart-rending howl. The veins in his neck bulged, and his fingernails dug deeply into his palms.
His mouth was blocked by the gauze, yet he still whimpered, letting out a muffled cry of grief that seemed to reach neither heaven nor earth.
“Don’t…”
Please, don’t anymore…
Don’t take away my consciousness.
Don’t take away my memories.
I only just possessed them for such a short while…
I haven’t even had time to go see the Northern Frontier Army, to see what those young men who once marched alongside me have become now.
I haven’t even had time to walk through the streets and alleys of Chonghua, to see whether my homeland has become better than it was before.
I haven’t even had time to go to the old locust tree beside the Soul-Calling Abyss, where Big Brother’s head was buried, to offer a jug of wine and burn a stick of incense in his memory.
I haven’t even had time to arrange a proper way out for my silly princess…
I don’t want to forget.
I don’t want to!!!—
His desperate resistance actually caused the Shenwu in Zhou He’s hand to let out a humming tremor. The Falcon, as though unable to pounce upon its prey, burst forth with a desperate and furious radiance.
“Bang!”
The fine spiritual-energy chains inside Gu Mang’s skull actually all withdrew, once again transforming into the bloodstained shape of a dagger.
Zhou He was greatly startled. He actually took a step backward, staring at the failed Shenwu before raising his head to stare at Gu Mang.
Gradually, his face turned as pale as earth.
How could this be…?
Why exactly was this man…
Before he could finish thinking, Gu Mang had already bent forward.
Blood flowed steadily from the wound at the side of his forehead, but that was nothing compared to the rest. It was as though the blood from his heart and organs had been completely drained in that instant just now.
He hunched over, continuously spasming and trembling.
Great mouthfuls of blood surged from his mouth and nose, choking him.
The gauze bound between his lips and tongue had already been completely dyed through with blood.
And at that very moment, Zhou He heard a commotion coming from outside the Asura Chamber.
It seemed that the disciples of the Bureau of Spiritual Arts guarding outside had gotten into an argument with someone.
But Zhou He was momentarily bewildered and could not react in time.
Until the stone door suddenly opened with a tremendous crash—
Zhou He saw a man standing outside the Asura Chamber who was almost as disheveled as Gu Mang.
All the disciples had surrounded him, blocking his way, yet they did not dare to actually lay a hand on him. They merely clustered timidly around him.
Zhou He simply could not believe his eyes.
He murmured,
“Lord Xihe…”