Six years ago, on the banks of the Fu River.
Night.
Mo Xi stood on the desolate riverbank, breathing heavily.
Jiang Fuli’s spell had only just dissipated, and his vision was still terribly dizzy. He gripped the Reversal Stone Jiang Fuli had given him tightly in his hand, his palm damp with sweat.
He closed his eyes for a moment, then lifted his face into the cool breeze.
This was the section of the Fu River closest to the royal capital.
From here, one could see the city of Chonghua, its imposing and orderly silhouette lying dormant in the distant night, its magnificent outline flickering faintly in the darkness.
At this moment, the flames of war that would come six years later had yet to arrive.
Mo Xi knew that right now, Junshang should be instructing Murong Lian to secretly travel to the Fu River and completely destroy Gu Mang’s memories.
Murong Chuyi was still alive too.
Perhaps he was in the weapons workshop right now, fiddling with his blueprints.
And himself…
At that time, he had been in the northern borderlands, consumed by hatred toward Gu Mang for his betrayal.
He had even been unwilling to return and see him one more time.
A dull pain spread through his heart.
But he did not have much time for self-reproach.
At most, he had one shichen.
Within this single shichen, he had to destroy the blood demon beast’s power soul container.
Only then could he possibly change their future.
Finding the Imperial Guards responsible for escorting Gu Mang back to the city was not difficult.
Mo Xi knew the marching and encampment methods of Chonghua’s soldiers like the back of his hand.
The seemingly impregnable defenses were, to him, like a place with no one guarding it.
Before long, he found the central tent where Gu Mang was being held.
Mo Xi cast a spell to isolate the tent from the outside world.
Then he walked toward the barrier and looked at Gu Mang through the prison-like beams of light.
With just one glance, his eyes were already red.
Six years ago, Senior Brother Gu was like an injured wolfhound, his entire body covered in bloodstains, curled up inside the prison barrier.
He wore prisoner’s clothes, his hair disheveled at the temples, and lay asleep on a filthy felt mat with his eyes closed.
Perhaps he had not been sleeping deeply.
Or perhaps, in some mysterious way, he had sensed Mo Xi’s presence.
Mo Xi entered the tent so quietly that no one outside noticed.
Yet Gu Mang was startled awake.
He abruptly opened his eyes and immediately sat up alertly.
Moonlight poured down through the open roof of the felt tent.
He sat within that pure beam of moonlight.
And when he clearly saw the face of the person who had come, his eyes widened in astonishment.
“Mo Xi…?”
It was only two softly spoken words.
Yet they fell into Mo Xi’s heart like a massive stone.
The pain was so intense that he could hardly breathe.
“…How could it be you…?”
Mo Xi swept away the beams of the barrier and walked through the prison formed by the spell, stepping into that shaft of moonlight.
He lowered his eyes and looked at the captive kneeling on the felt mat.
He wanted so badly to speak on behalf of the Mo Xi who had failed to return six years ago.
He wanted to tell Gu Mang:
I’m sorry. I was wrong. I missed you.
He even wanted to take Gu Mang away right then and let him go.
Then Gu Mang would not have to endure the humiliation of the two years at Luomei Villa, nor the three years of suffering while being burdened by infamy.
He wanted to kneel down and embrace Senior Brother Gu in the moonlight.
He wanted to tell him:
Enough.
You’ve already done too much.
I was the one who was wrong.
Back then, I resented you. I hated you. I didn’t return from the northern border.
I was the last person you could trust.
But I…
Back then, I did nothing.
I missed everything.
But he could not say any of it.
He had only one shichen.
One chance.
One chance to defy fate and change their destiny.
Mo Xi closed his eyes.
His throat moved as he swallowed all the bitterness filling his heart.
He knew what he had to do to obtain the soul container immediately and successfully.
—He had to take Murong Lian’s place and do what Murong Lian was supposed to do tonight.
Only then could he obtain the box containing the blood demon beast’s power.
So he suppressed the tremor in his voice as hard as he could, forcing all the turmoil in his heart into the deepest corners of his eyes.
He steadied himself and said to Gu Mang,
“It was Junshang… who sent me.”
The light in Gu Mang’s blue eyes flickered and dimmed slightly.
It was as though his heart had been split open by a blade soaked in salt, leaving nothing but raw, bloody flesh.
Mo Xi continued speaking, his voice hoarse.
He said the words that Murong Lian should have said:
“…Gu Mang, you are a traitor who betrayed the country.”
Gu Mang stared up at him with his clear blue eyes, looking at the person who had once been closest to him.
He did not say a word.
“Junshang told me that you once wrote to him, saying that you had used the power of your soul to seal the blood demon beast’s power and forged it into a soul container, hoping to offer it to Junshang in exchange for your life.
“…I have come to retrieve that thing.”
Every word was so difficult for him to say that it felt as though he were crushing his own soul.
After saying this, Mo Xi could no longer force out another word.
He silently lowered his eyes.
He could not bring himself to look at Gu Mang’s expression.
His voice was so hoarse that it was almost unrecognizable.
“Give me the soul container. I’ll return and report back.”
The prison tent was terrifyingly quiet.
He could even hear the howling wind outside and the footsteps of soldiers moving back and forth.
After a long while, Gu Mang did not hand over the soul container.
Instead, he said,
“Junior Brother Mo… I… I never thought the person who would come would be you.”
“……”
“I thought you wouldn’t want to see me again.
“I thought you would stay in the northern border and refuse to come back.
“I never thought you…”
Gu Mang did not finish.
But those words were like needle points stabbing into Mo Xi’s heart.
He had to use every ounce of his strength just to keep himself from collapsing right then.
Gu Mang sighed.
“…Forget it.
“Whatever Junshang says, I don’t want to argue anymore.
“He’s right.
“I really am a treacherous minister and a traitor.”
“……”
“But, Junior Brother Mo.”
He suddenly smiled softly.
“If Senior Brother asks you, for the sake of the more than ten years we’ve shared, to help me one last time…
“Would you be willing?”
Mo Xi clearly already knew what Gu Mang needed him to do.
Yet even so, he had no choice but to endure the violent pain in his heart.
After a moment of silence, he asked,
“What do you need me to help you with?”
“I can’t tell you too much,” Gu Mang said softly.
“Some secrets are safest when they remain inside one person’s heart.
“If a second person knows too much, that person will also be dragged into tremendous danger.
“…Mo Xi, you have Junshang’s favor and are close to his heart.
“Even though I’ve done many things to wrong you in the past, I still want to remind you of something—
“You need to leave yourself a way out.
“Junshang is not as trustworthy as he appears to you.”
After a pause, he saw that Mo Xi did not argue.
So he lowered his head, silently recited an incantation, and cast the spell.
Finally, the box that would later be sealed away by Murong Chen and hidden deep within the Golden Terrace appeared in Gu Mang’s palm.
“This is the soul container Junshang wants you to retrieve.”
Mo Xi knew that, according to what Murong Lian had once told him, Gu Mang should next ask him to take the soul container to Junshang.
But there would also be a key used to open the box.
Gu Mang would tell him to keep it safe and destroy it when the opportunity arose.
Mo Xi waited for Gu Mang to speak.
As long as Gu Mang said those words, as long as he agreed, Mo Xi could end this nightmare.
He could go outside, find somewhere, and completely destroy the box.
Then everything would have an entirely new ending.
He waited.
And Gu Mang did indeed speak.
But what he said was—
“I want to ask you to do something tonight, right now.
“Pull out a fragment of my soul and forge it into the key that will seal this soul container.”
Mo Xi abruptly looked up.
He stared at him in disbelief.
“What?!”
Gu Mang stared at his face and repeated,
“I want to ask you to personally pull out a fragment of my soul and forge it into the key that will seal this soul container.”
Mo Xi suddenly took a step backward.
Wh-What was happening?
How could this be?
Gu Mang…
What was Gu Mang talking about?!
Under the bright moonlight, Gu Mang suddenly smiled faintly.
He rose from the ground.
His pale ankles were shackled.
His neck and wrists were all bound in restraints.
His ink-black hair hung down around him as he quietly looked at Mo Xi with eyes like a tranquil lake and sea.
“Mo Xi.”
He sighed softly.
“I think I already know where you came from.”
“……”
“When you first came in, I thought you were the Mo Xi who had returned from the northern border.
“But I couldn’t be certain…”
“Until just now, when you revealed that look of surprise.
“That was when I knew…
“You probably aren’t the Mo Xi who rushed here from the northern border.
“You’re Marshal Mo returning from the future, aren’t you?”
It was as though a monstrous wave had suddenly crashed down.
Mo Xi’s eyes widened.
“You… How could you…”
The chains clinked and rattled.
The thin, pale prisoner walked toward Mo Xi.
He lifted his head and studied Mo Xi’s face.
“Do you know something?
“When you look at me, there is no hatred in your eyes.
“There is only sorrow.”
“……”
“So after I chose to sacrifice myself, you are the Junior Brother who came back by another means from the future, aren’t you?”
Something struck the deepest, most tender part of Mo Xi’s heart.
He abruptly turned his head away.
His head could turn.
But his tears could no longer be stopped.
They flowed silently down his face as he stared blankly ahead.
“How could you…”
He could not get the rest of the words out.
They became nothing more than choked sobs.
“Fool, don’t cry anymore.
“It’s my fault.
“I knew this day would come.”
Gu Mang raised his hand, still wearing the handcuff, and gently cupped Mo Xi’s face.
“Mo Xi, in the end, I was the one who failed you.
“In this lifetime, I wanted to bring you into my life.
“But I already knew when I would choose to die.
“I knew when my soul would shatter…
“I couldn’t watch you and me…”
Mo Xi suddenly turned his head back.
His gaze was blazing, yet his eyes were wet with tears.
“Why did you know?!
“You clearly… you clearly…”
You clearly were only a person from the past!
I came back specifically to change this ending.
“Because when I empathized and merged souls with the blood demon beast…”
Gu Mang pointed toward his own blue eyes.
“I was seriously ill for seven days and remained unconscious.
“This demon beast possessed the ability to foresee its own death.
“After I merged with it, I had actually already seen my own future sacrifice.
“I also had a prophetic dream.
“In the dream, it was exactly what is happening today—
“You returned here from the future, carrying the Reversal Stone, believing that you could change everything.”
“But I know that, in truth, you can’t change anything.”