AU Extra Story: “A Boy’s Dream” (Part Two)
“Young Master, we’ve arrived. You can get out now.”
Mo Xi lifted the bamboo curtain and stepped out of the carriage.
It was the height of the sweltering season. Under the blazing sunlight, the cultivation academy looked especially magnificent, with soaring beams stretching into the distance and ornamental roof ridges swallowing the rooftops. The entire complex was imposing and grand.
“The academy is solemnly regulated. No one may enter without wearing their jade pendant. This old servant can only escort Young Master this far.” The Mo Residence steward stood beside the academy’s barrier gate. “Does Young Master have anything else you would like this old servant to convey to Lord Shirong or Madam Mo?”
“Nothing.”
The old steward sighed, looking as though he wanted to say something but could not bring himself to.
“Young Master…”
“Uncle Zhang, you don’t need to say anything else.” Mo Xi picked up his modest luggage. “Go back.”
With that, he strode through the barrier himself and entered the cultivation academy grounds without looking back.
The academy was divided into six major areas: the training grounds, cultivation grounds, lodging quarters, hunting fields, rear mountain, and rear lake. Entering through the main gate, Mo Xi first arrived at the training grounds.
It was noon, and most of the disciples were eating in the dining hall in the lodging quarters. But there were always people with nothing better to do. Under the scorching sun, two young cultivators were already fighting so fiercely that it looked as though they were trying to beat each other into heaven. And naturally, both of them had foul mouths. They couldn’t fight without insulting each other, and their insults were particularly childish.
One was dressed like a wealthy young master and was shouting, “Fuck your mother! You seduced my Lanmei! Have you no shame?!”
The other was tall and lean, with a wild-looking face. Perhaps he thought it was too hot, or perhaps he simply wanted to look cool, because he had taken off his shirt entirely, exposing a strong, powerful physique. A bat-patterned tattoo covered his shoulder. Looking thoroughly impatient, he wrinkled his high, straight nose and sneered, “What the hell is this ‘green sister’ or ‘blue sister’ crap? I don’t run a dye shop!”
“You still dare to deny it? You were fooling around with my Lanmei!”
“Oh, give me a break. Even fucking you wouldn’t be enough to fill the gaps between my teeth.”
With that, they launched into an even more violent fight.
One wielded a whip-staff, while the other used a light sword. Their combat strength appeared fairly evenly matched, but the quality of the whip-staff was vastly superior to that of the sword. After exchanging several blows, the tall young man’s sword gave a crisp crack. It could withstand no more and instantly dissolved into scattered streams of spiritual energy, dispersing into the wind.
He stared blankly for a moment before cursing.
“Damn…”
“Do you surrender?!” the wealthy young master snarled viciously, striking him across the face with the staff. “Are you going to keep fooling around with the woman I picked out for myself?!”
The young man clutched the bleeding wound along his abdomen and ribs and sneered. “What am I supposed to surrender for? When have I ever fooled around with anyone? Your girl was the one who kept looking over here. What, was I supposed to gouge her eyes out so she couldn’t look at me?”
“You still dare to be insolent! If you don’t kneel and call me Grandpa three times today, believe me, I’ll carve up that pretty face of yours!”
The young man viciously wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth. Every word was defiant and savage as he gritted his teeth.
“Grandpa your fucking mother! Go ahead and carve it!”
“You really think I don’t dare?!” the wealthy young master roared in fury. “With a cheap life like yours, even if I kill you today, I wouldn’t have to pay for it!”
As he spoke, he suddenly raised the whip-staff and swung it straight toward the young man’s head.
It was genuinely a killing blow.
The cultivation academy did not prohibit sparring, but private fights were strictly forbidden. Yet a prohibition was still only a prohibition. At the end of the day, Chonghua’s rigid hierarchy of status and birth would not truly change.
Just as the young master had said, if a cultivator of noble birth genuinely wanted to do something to a fellow disciple from a poor background, he would not have to pay much of a price for it.
But at that very moment, a streak of icy blue light suddenly descended from the sky!
In an instant, grass and trees whipped violently across the training grounds. The frigid blue radiance lunged toward the whip-staff like a coiling dragon surging from the sea. Under the fierce blast of wind and piercing howl, the whip-staff instantly lost all momentum. It hung suspended in midair for a brief moment before clattering onto the ground.
“Who?! Which fucking busybody is sticking his nose in?!”
The wealthy young master cursed loudly.
“Are you looking to die?!”
The surroundings were completely silent.
No one answered.
Just as the young master’s gaze landed on Mo Xi in the distance and he began to suspect him, someone suddenly swung upside down from the apple tree behind him.
The young man was chewing on an apple with a crisp crunch, crunch, grinning as he hung from the tree and watched them.
The sloth-like young cultivator had his hair tied into a ponytail with a hair clasp. He wore a deep sapphire-blue fitted light armor trimmed with silver, its surface gleaming as the sunlight flowed over it. His long legs were wrapped in dark leather combat boots, and a silver belt securing a Qiankun case shimmered brilliantly as he swayed gently back and forth.
The wealthy young master took a frightened step backward, then flushed crimson.
“You—you were hiding in the tree the whole time?!”
“No. I was already in the tree before you two started arguing.”
“It’s the middle of the day! Why aren’t you eating in the dining hall? What the hell are you doing up there?!”
The young cultivator raised the apple in his hand and smiled.
“I’m eating, aren’t I? This tree was watered with immortal nectar. Not only does it bear fruit all year round, the apples are especially sweet. Want one? I’ve still got some.”
As he spoke, he actually pulled another bright red apple from his Qiankun case, rubbed it against his robe, and, still hanging upside down, tried to hand it to the wealthy young master.
The wealthy young master snapped, “I wouldn’t eat some poor man’s trash like that! Who the hell are you?! Why are you sticking your nose into our business?! Are you looking to die?!”
The young man sighed, lazily loosened his legs, and flipped down from the tree.
“Me? My name is Gu Mang.”
He straightened up, and only then could one see that he had a beautifully proportioned figure. His eyes were long and graceful at the outer corners, gorgeous and seemingly both rich and wild at once. His lips were also beautifully shaped, carrying an almost irresistibly soft charm.
Someone with such a face ought to be fond of smiling, and when he smiled, he was indeed extremely likable.
Because he had spent so long hanging upside down, his cheeks were still flushed, and even his lips looked unusually vivid.
He turned his face and glanced at the injured cultivator behind him. Then he looked back at the furious young master with a smile.
“But I’m not here looking to die. I’m here looking for my buddy.”
The muscular young man beside him—the very buddy Gu Mang had been looking for—rolled his eyes.
“…You’re obviously stealing fruit.”
Gu Mang had an impressively thick skin. Even after being exposed by his companion, he showed no embarrassment. Instead, he blinked and tried to recruit the wealthy young master into the conspiracy.
“Brother, are you really sure you don’t want an apple? It’ll cool you down and dispel heat. They’re really sweet.”
The wealthy young master still did not take the apple.
After hearing Gu Mang’s name, however, his expression subtly changed, and his gaze became wary. Apparently, he knew who Gu Mang was.
Still, unwilling to lose face, he gave two strange little laughs.
“Heh heh. Who would have thought? So it’s the academy’s leading disciple, Senior Brother Gu Mang from the Murong family. I’ve heard so much about you.”
Gu Mang was polite enough to return the greeting with a smile.
“Likewise. Brother, the academy expressly prohibits private fighting. You don’t have to eat the apple, but could you perhaps stop fighting too? Look, you’ve already made my buddy bleed.”
“He’s simply inferior. A lowborn bastard who can’t beat me. If he’s bleeding, that’s his own damn fault!”
The muscular young man shouted, “You—!”
Gu Mang raised a hand to stop him, still wearing that careless smile.
“That’s right, that’s right. Since you’re so powerful, please be magnanimous. I’ll apologize on behalf of my junior brother. I’m sorry.”
He gave a slight bow, then grabbed the young man and hauled him upright, turning around and striding away.
“If there’s nothing else, Brother, we’ll stop disturbing your post-meal stroll. See you around.”
“Stop!”
“…”
The wealthy young master ground his back teeth.
“Senior Brother Gu, you think that’s enough? Your apology is a little too insincere, don’t you think?”
Gu Mang turned back, apparently quite interested. He blinked several times.
“Oh? Then what do you want?”
“Have him kneel. For the sake of your Murong family’s face, I won’t make him call me Grandpa. Three loud kowtows will do!”
The muscular young man snapped, “Fuck that! Dream on! I, Lu Zhanxing, would rather die than kneel to you!”
The wealthy young master ignored him and instead sneered at Gu Mang.
“Senior Brother Gu, you’ve seen it yourself. Your friend doesn’t know his place. He’s from a filthy background, yet he acts like some noble, aloof beauty. With blood like his, what’s wrong with making him kneel? Hell, even making him lick the soles of my shoes wouldn’t be too much, if you ask me.”
Gu Mang looked directly into his malicious eyes, his smile still lingering.
“You’re putting it crudely, but I suppose there’s some logic to it. Still, Brother, don’t forget—this is the cultivation academy. The academy has its own rules.”
“This is Chonghua.”
The wealthy young master put on the oily, petty expression of a small-time villain.
“Senior Brother Gu, don’t forget that Chonghua has its own rites and hierarchy too.”
Gu Mang fell silent for a moment.
Then he suddenly said, “You make a very good point.”
He actually reached out and pulled Lu Zhanxing over.
Lu Zhanxing was clearly half a head taller than Gu Mang, yet Gu Mang pressed down on him with one hand, and with a little force, caught completely off guard, Lu Zhanxing’s head was pushed halfway down.
“Come on, Zhanxing. Give this young master a bow.”
Gu Mang smiled sweetly at Lu Zhanxing.
Lu Zhanxing’s face was full of outrage, but surprisingly, he said nothing.
Mo Xi watched from a distance.
At first, he found it strange. But then he noticed that a spell was faintly flowing through Gu Mang’s palm.
So that was it.
While pressing down on Lu Zhanxing’s stubborn head, Gu Mang had also cast a silence spell.
Mo Xi was speechless.
Gu Mang lifted his head and said to the wealthy young master, “Brother, he apologized too. Let’s each take a step back. There’s no need for him to kneel. He’s still a disciple of the academy, after all.”
The wealthy young master was accustomed to being spoiled and doing whatever he pleased. Having lost face today, he naturally had no intention of letting Lu Zhanxing off easily.
He gave two mocking laughs.
“Senior Brother Gu, you’re a reasonable man. I said he has to kneel, so he has to kneel. I’ve already given you face and given your young master an opportunity to save face. And now you want me to yield too? Do you really think I’m that easy to brush aside?”
Lu Zhanxing stiffened his neck and broke free of Gu Mang’s hold.
“You’re fucking disgusting!”
“What are you doing?! Who said you could interrupt when we’re talking?!”
The wealthy young master seized the opportunity and raised his hand to slap him.
But before his palm could land, someone suddenly caught his wrist.
Gu Mang held his wrist firmly.
His voice was highly magnetic, yet carried a natural softness. He was still smiling, although the smile had become somewhat perfunctory.
“Young Master Sun, do you really insist on making him kneel?”
“Of course! I’m a nobleman of the Sun clan. What’s wrong with making this lowborn bastard kneel?”
“Fine.”
Gu Mang nodded and released his wrist, lowering his lashes.
Just as everyone assumed he had resigned himself to the matter, Gu Mang suddenly raised his hand and shoved Lu Zhanxing several feet away.
Then he spread his palm.
Brilliant light suddenly flared from his hand again. A fierce wind erupted, and a long, curved saber of deep blue, its surface alive with sparks of starlight, appeared with a flash.
“…What are you doing?!”
At this moment, even that perfunctory smile had finally vanished completely from Gu Mang’s face.
He took two steps forward in his combat boots, closing the distance between himself and the young master.
“Isn’t it obvious?”
With one hand, Gu Mang undid the restraining leather clasp around his bracer and released his hidden-weapon case. He raised his eyes.
“If you’re going to beat a dog, you still have to look at its master. I’m going to beat you up on behalf of my Murong young master.”
Lu Zhanxing, who had taken a whip-staff straight across the chest without flinching, was actually a little worried now.
“Gu Mang, don’t. You’ll get punished.”
Gu Mang glanced at him and rolled his eyes.
“Oh, please. When you were getting yourself into trouble, why didn’t you think about your buddy?”
With that, he suddenly leveled the saber horizontally.
Then he turned toward the wealthy young master, wearing an utterly roguish expression.
“Come on, brother. Let your big brother Gu Mang teach you a thing or two—eat more apples to cool your temper, put down the butcher’s knife, and attain Buddhahood on the spot.”
Lu Zhanxing: “…”
Wind swept the tufts of grass across the field.
A major battle seemed ready to erupt at any moment.
But just then, a forbidden-spell talisman exploded in the air with a bang, and the stern voice of the academy’s guardian elder rang out from within the spell.
“Gu Mang, Lu Zhanxing, Sun Lin! The three of you have no rules whatsoever! What are you doing in the training grounds?! Put those weapons away this instant!”
Gu Mang froze.
He withdrew the spiritual energy that was about to burst from his weapon case and looked up at the voice-transmitting spell. Then he suddenly laughed and cursed.
“Ah, this old man. He never notices anything early or late. Why’d he have to notice right now?”
The elder’s furious voice continued.
“Stop the private fight immediately and return to your respective halls to reflect on your behavior!”
The wealthy young master, Sun Lin, had never been able to beat Gu Mang in the first place. He had provoked him earlier because he had assumed Gu Mang wouldn’t dare offend a royal noble.
Who could have guessed that Gu Mang wouldn’t give a damn about that?
Relying on his own master, Murong Lian, to back him up, he had actually been prepared to fight.
Sun Lin was already panicking, not knowing what to do. Now that a convenient way out had appeared, he could not have been happier.
He hurriedly pointed at Gu Mang.
“You got lucky today! Next time you won’t be so fortunate! Don’t you dare fall into my hands again!”
With that, he hurriedly fled, almost as though he were running for his life.
Lu Zhanxing: “…”
Gu Mang watched Sun Lin’s back disappear rapidly toward the edge of the training grounds.
Then he reached over and smacked Lu Zhanxing on the head.
This time, he was genuinely smiling.
His smile was indeed dazzlingly beautiful, his brows and eyes full of vitality, like a night-blooming flower unfolding.
But what he said was rather gossipy.
“Hey, I heard you stole Young Master Sun’s sweetheart, so that’s why he came looking for trouble with you?”
“That’s not what happened at all.”
Lu Zhanxing folded his arms and snorted.
“That woman was the one who came after me. With this many girls interested in me, why would I go after someone else’s girl?”
Gu Mang affectionately hooked an arm around his head and ground his teeth with a laugh.
“Look at you, so capable. But listen to me, you son of a bitch. Next time you run into one of these unreasonable royal nobles, walk around them. If you get into another confrontation with them, there’s no guarantee your head won’t part ways with your body forever.”
“And you’re lecturing me?! Weren’t you the one who couldn’t stand him just now and wanted to fight him yourself?!”
Gu Mang sighed sincerely.
“I’m fine. I’m so good-looking. Who could bear to hit me?”
“…You really have no shame…”
There was nothing more to watch now, so Mo Xi left.
As he passed by, he happened to hear that last sentence and couldn’t help glancing at them.
Deep down, he agreed.
Yes.
He really had no shame.
The shameless Senior Brother Gu heard footsteps and instinctively turned his head.
At that exact moment, his gaze met Mo Xi’s.
Neither of them had deliberately looked at the other. It had merely been a casual glance.
Yet when they saw each other’s faces, they couldn’t help letting their gazes linger for another brief moment.
Gu Mang’s thoughts were simple:
Huh? How strange. How come I’ve never seen this junior brother before?
Mo Xi’s thoughts were even simpler:
What are you looking at?
Lu Zhanxing also found Mo Xi unfamiliar.
He was a straightforward sort of person. Whatever he thought, he was prepared to ask directly, so he greeted Mo Xi.
“Junior Brother, you…”
But before he could finish, Gu Mang suddenly covered his mouth.
Gu Mang smiled and nodded at Mo Xi, then dragged Lu Zhanxing away.
“Come on, come on. Let’s go back and copy our books.”
Lu Zhanxing mumbled through Gu Mang’s hand, “I just wanted to ask who he is. He was watching from the side just now…”
“Foolish child, he’s even more troublesome than Young Master Sun.”
Gu Mang lowered his voice as they walked farther away.
“You didn’t see his crest? He’s from the Mo family. He could crush you to death with one finger…”
Lu Zhanxing actually turned around and looked at Mo Xi again, narrowing his eyes.
But this time, he wisely said nothing.
Gu Mang turned his head back around by force and continued nagging.
“He’s a noble young master. Improper to stare. Don’t cause trouble, don’t cause trouble.”
“You’re talking nonsense. You stared at him yourself for that long just now!”
“Me? I’m fine. Like I said, I’m rather handsome. People can’t bear to hit me…”
Their voices gradually faded across the training grounds until, like their departing figures, they became distant and disappeared.
Mo Xi remained standing there for a while.
Then, expressionless, he walked away in another direction.
As a cultivator newly entering the academy, Mo Xi could not immediately begin cultivation.
There were many things he had to take care of first: paying respects to the gods, registering his identity, receiving the academy’s rules and instructions, and so on.
He had to memorize a full two hundred bundles of jade slips.
New disciples had to memorize the contents of the jade slips and pass the training-rules elder’s examination before they could officially enter the academy.
As a result, over the next few days, Mo Xi met countless people and memorized countless pieces of information.
Before long, he had completely forgotten his brief encounter with Senior Brother Gu.
He had even long since forgotten the name “Gu Mang.”
This could hardly be blamed on him. Who would remember the name of some stranger they happened to hear about in passing?
But if Mo Xi had been given another chance, he definitely would have forced himself to remember those two characters.
And those soft eyes, like flowers and leaves in early spring.
That way, the first time he crossed paths with Gu Mang, he wouldn’t have caused such a huge misunderstanding.
“Young Master Mo truly is the son of a heroic martyr. As expected, you possess extraordinary talent.”
The training-rules elder flipped through Mo Xi’s examination paper, making satisfied clicking sounds.
“Your handwriting is elegant, your answers are outstanding, and in only seven days, you memorized twenty-eight thousand and seventy-four entries from the academy’s history. Truly impressive, truly impressive.”
As he spoke, the old Daoist stroked his gray-white beard.
Spiritual energy gathered in his palm, and he stamped Mo Xi’s examination paper with the characters “Special First Class.”
He smiled.
“You’ve passed. Go back and get a good night’s rest. Tomorrow, before Yin hour, report to the Hall of Elder Qianling. He will explain matters concerning weapons to you.”
As the heir of a prestigious family, Mo Xi naturally knew exactly what “matters concerning weapons” meant.
For any cultivator—whether a medicine cultivator, defensive cultivator, or offensive cultivator—a weapon that suited them perfectly was extremely important.
The swords, knives, staffs, and whips sold in ordinary weapon shops—the forged-iron and cast-bronze varieties—were toys for ordinary people without spiritual aptitude.
Cultivators never used them.
Cultivators wielded weapons formed from spiritual bodies.
For example, the Mo family’s ancestral Transforming Serpent Whip.
Then there was the whip-staff used by Young Master Sun, the twin swords used by Lu Zhanxing, and the slender curved saber used by Gu Mang.
For new disciples who wished to form a pact with a superior divine weapon, they first had to complete a trial.
Although it would be an actual combat trial, it would not be especially difficult.
And to prevent accidents, a senior brother or senior sister would accompany them.
The companion was chosen by drawing lots.
In the room of Elder Qianling, who was responsible for this matter, there was a lacquered box.
The elder would reach in and randomly draw a jade token.
The name of an academy disciple would appear on it.
This time was no exception.
At that very moment, in the Hall of Weaponry.
Elder Qianling, who was in charge of weapons, glanced at the name written on the drawn lot.
After pondering for a moment, he handed it to the young attendant beside him.
“You. Go to the Yanbie Hall.”
He pointed at the token.
“Bring this person to me.”
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I’m completely baffled… I literally just posted it, and they locked my first extra chapter… There wasn’t even anything that needed locking… I just edited the previous chapter a little, so I don’t know if I’ll have time to get it unlocked tonight…
Sob, sob. Everyone, just wait a little longer, okay? This is so miserable. Maybe I should just change careers and start selling locks…