AU Extra Story: A Boy’s Dream (4)
According to Elder Qianling, there was a small town three days’ journey by carriage from the imperial capital called Liansheng Town. Chonghua had tens of thousands of villages and towns. Liansheng Town was neither located on an important transportation route, nor known for any specialty products, nor home to any prominent officials or heroes. It was an utterly ordinary little town.
Yet three or four years ago, its name suddenly began circulating among married women, and every year quite a number of women traveled there specifically because of its reputation.
“Why is that?”
Elder Qianling deliberately wanted the two disciples to get acquainted, so he said, “Gu Mang, why don’t you explain it to Young Master Mo?”
“Sure.” Gu Mang turned around and smiled at Mo Xi. “Junior Brother Mo, what do you think women care about most?”
“I don’t know.”
Gu Mang patiently guided him along. “Think about it. The girls you’ve met, or perhaps your childhood sweetheart—what sorts of things do they usually care about?”
Mo Xi had no childhood sweetheart, but he still thought about it for a moment before answering, “Their faces.”
“Exactly. You’re right. Girls always want to be pretty. But besides wanting to look beautiful themselves, what else do women like?”
“I don’t know.”
“It’s very simple. They like satisfactory husbands and adorable children.” Gu Mang smiled. “Of course, plenty of people don’t think that way, but customs are what they are. Most girls in Chonghua can’t escape the convention.”
“According to what Elder Qianling just said, Liansheng Town was originally completely unknown, yet suddenly became famous among married women three or four years ago. If a place suddenly manages to attract a particular group of people, nine times out of ten, it must be able to satisfy some particular desire of theirs. They aren’t unmarried girls, but women who already have husbands, so what kind of desire would that be?” Gu Mang continued without even giving Mo Xi a chance to answer. “Well, most likely, they’re praying for children.”
He turned back toward Elder Qianling. “Elder, am I right?”
Elder Qianling refilled his teacup, took a leisurely sip, and said, “You memorized your book quite well. You practically recited, word for word, everything I told you last night.”
Gu Mang had been caught pretending to be clever, yet he showed not the slightest embarrassment. He remained perfectly composed as he said to Mo Xi, “See? Elder praised me for explaining it well.”
“…………”
Elder Qianling sighed helplessly. “Enough fooling around. I’ll explain the rest.”
His gaze swept over Gu Mang and Mo Xi in turn.
“What Gu Mang said is indeed correct. Liansheng Town became famous because of its reputation for helping couples conceive. According to legend, about four years ago, the Town God Temple in the town suddenly manifested its divine power. It appeared in the dreams of the town’s matchmaker and told her that any married couple who sincerely went there to worship would soon be blessed with a child. The news spread from one person to ten, then from ten to a hundred. Before long, every family desperately hoping for descendants had heard about it. Even the people of the imperial capital were no exception.”
“So something has happened at this temple?”
“Correct.” Elder Qianling said, “A month ago, the eldest daughter of one of the imperial capital’s major merchant families, the Bai family, went there with her husband to pray for a child. But they suddenly disappeared without a trace, and there has been no word from them since. So the entrance trial I have assigned you is to go to Liansheng Town and investigate the whereabouts of the couple. Understood?”
“Understood,” Mo Xi said.
“Then go as soon as possible,” Elder Qianling said. “The academy has already roughly divined the spiritual currents around Liansheng Town. There are no signs of anything particularly dangerous, and the two of you should be more than capable of dealing with whatever you encounter. Don’t worry.”
As he spoke, he glanced at Gu Mang.
“Gu Mang, take good care of your junior brother.”
Gu Mang immediately turned to Mo Xi. “Junior Brother, you must take good care of me. I’m lazy, greedy, and especially useless.”
It was obviously just a joke, but Mo Xi had absolutely no sense of humor and actually took him seriously. He nodded, then turned that handsome, hard, cold face away.
Judging from his slightly gloomy expression, he seemed to have taken Gu Mang’s words at face value. More than that, he apparently couldn’t understand why the elder would assign him a senior sister who was lazy, greedy, and especially useless.
“Uh…” Gu Mang’s joke had hit a wall of ice, leaving him somewhat awkward. He scratched his head.
Elder Qianling fitted a bracer onto Mo Xi’s wrist.
“This is a Lingxi Guard. It can sense the various judgments you make along the journey. You absolutely must not remove it without permission. When you return, give it back to me. I’ll then go to Jincheng Pool and use a secret art to pray for the divine weapon best suited to you.”
After Mo Xi agreed, Elder Qianling gave him a few more instructions before finally saying, “There’s one more thing I require of you this time.”
When he said this, he stared intently at Mo Xi’s face, clearly rather worried about his reaction. Gu Mang, meanwhile, looked as though he had known about it all along, casually glancing around with nothing better to do.
“Please give your instructions, Elder,” Mo Xi said.
“To get to the bottom of what’s strange about that Town God Temple, I hope you won’t alert the enemy. So on this journey, before you draw out the spiritual entity hiding behind the temple, you must not recklessly use magic. You’ll have to disguise yourselves as an ordinary newlywed couple who have gone there to pray for a child.”
As soon as those words were spoken, Mo Xi’s eyes flickered. He lowered his gaze and pressed his lips together, but did not immediately respond.
Elder Qianling had already heard about his proud and self-important temperament. Seeing him fall silent, he thought that although this boy was mature beyond his years, he was ultimately too stubborn. He was just wondering how to persuade him when Gu Mang suddenly laughed.
“Forget it. I don’t mind. The mission comes first. It’s just a bit unfair to Junior Brother Mo. Someone with skin as fair as ice and bones as pure as snow probably values his reputation even more than an unmarried maiden values hers. If he pretends to be married to me, wouldn’t that mean I’m sullying his chastity?”
Mo Xi’s gaze turned cold as he shot him a sideways glance.
“What nonsense are you talking about?”
“I’m not talking nonsense. I’m clearly considering Junior Brother Mo’s reputation. The two of us are only pretending in front of outsiders, but ultimately, I’ll still be taking advantage of you. So shouldn’t I take responsibility for you?”
“…Who wants you to take responsibility!”
Gu Mang grinned. “You don’t want me to take responsibility? How could that possibly work? Judging from how aggrieved and anxious you look, I’m afraid you take even pretending very seriously. If I don’t take responsibility for Junior Brother Mo’s chastity, wouldn’t that make me some kind of flower thief, a lecher, a shameless rogue who has dishonored a beautiful lady…”
The more Gu Mang spoke, the more outrageous he became. Anger flickered in Mo Xi’s eyes. If Elder Qianling had not been standing right there, he probably would have already fallen out with Gu Mang.
But Gu Mang kept chattering away, practically portraying Mo Xi as a neglected wife locked away in the inner chambers. Mo Xi couldn’t bear to listen any longer. His face began to turn slightly green with anger.
“Have you no respect!”
The words burst out with such fury that he unconsciously reverted to the manner in which he habitually reprimanded people as a young master.
Gu Mang froze for a moment.
His bright black eyes gazed at Mo Xi, blinking innocently twice.
“……”
Mo Xi knew he had gone too far. He turned his head away, bit his lip, and said through clenched teeth, cold and resentful, “…I haven’t refused yet, so there’s no need for Senior Sister to worry about me.”
After a moment, his eyes turned back, filled with a sharp, icy light.
“I agree.”
He immediately took the assignment letter from Elder Qianling, gave a farewell bow, and turned to walk out of the hall.
He had no idea that behind him, Gu Mang was already laughing so hard he could barely stand.
And so the two of them set off for Liansheng Town to investigate.
Since ordinary people without spiritual power generally held very low social status and could neither afford carriages nor dress in fine clothes, the two of them wore only ordinary clothing and traveled south on foot.
The trees along the road swayed gently in the shade, and the sunlight was brilliant. Gu Mang dug two candies out of his little bundle. He unwrapped one for himself and held the other out to Mo Xi.
“Junior Brother, want one? This is really good.”
“Thanks. I don’t need it.”
His words were perfectly polite, but his tone was cold and distant, clearly showing that he had no desire to become any more entangled with this senior sister of his.
Who would have expected Gu Mang not to get angry at all?
Instead, he grinned.
“Good husband, that’s more like it. If we have candy, you should give it all to your wife.”
Mo Xi endured it for a while before finally failing to restrain himself.
“You’re a woman. Don’t you feel ashamed behaving so frivolously and casually?”
Gu Mang had originally been unwilling to disguise himself as a woman, but he hadn’t expected Young Master Mo to be so entertaining to tease. The longer he stayed in disguise, the more fun he found it.
So he put on an exaggeratedly serious expression.
“Huh? Why should I be ashamed? We’re walking down the road openly and honorably. You haven’t kissed or hugged me in public, so what do I have to be embarrassed about?”
Mo Xi abruptly stopped walking, his face darkening with anger. It looked as though he wanted to say something, but in the end he restrained himself and continued forward with a gloomy expression.
He didn’t admire the scenery, didn’t stop to rest, and certainly didn’t want to talk to Gu Mang.
So completely absorbed in marching forward was he that by noon, the two had already crossed five small hills and arrived in front of a melon field.
Gu Mang idly swung a willow branch he had snapped off along the way, trailing far behind Mo Xi. Finally, he couldn’t help calling out.
“Junior Brother Mo! Junior Brother, Junior Brother! I’m saying, can’t you stop for a while?”
All along the way, he had tried telling Mo Xi jokes and chatting about life, only to receive no response. He had assumed Mo Xi wouldn’t bother with him this time either.
But to his surprise, Mo Xi stopped and turned his head slightly.
“What?”
“I can’t walk anymore.”
“……”
Gu Mang had absolutely no shame. He grinned.
“How about you consider carrying me?”
Mo Xi glared at him fiercely, not even bothering to answer.
“So fierce, so fierce.” Gu Mang laughed. “Fine, don’t carry me. Let’s rest together and cool off.”
“If you want to rest, rest by yourself. I’m going ahead to take a look.”
“……You really are something. Aren’t you tired?”
Mo Xi shook his head. Without another word, he disappeared into the depths of the tree-shaded path.
Gu Mang watched his aloof back and sighed. He had no choice but to sit down beneath a tree by himself. Then, rather regretfully, he raised a hand and touched his face, muttering to himself,
“Sigh. Last time, Zhanxing accidentally took some Shape-Shifting Powder. I joked with him that after he turned into a girl, his appearance was so disastrous that anyone who saw him would only want to devote himself to serving the country instead of getting married and building a family. Now that I think about it, after my transformation, I’m probably even uglier than he was.”
He couldn’t help looking worried.
“What am I going to do? I even made a bet with Zhanxing that I’d definitely have Junior Brother Mo completely won over within a few days. We bet three boxes of pastries from Yingyue Tower. Sigh… Looks like I’m not going to get to eat them.”
Then he thought,
“This Junior Brother Mo really does have incredible stamina. We’ve been walking for so long without using the slightest bit of spiritual power, and his pace hasn’t slowed down at all. The talents of these pure-blooded nobles really are terrifying.”
After idly letting his thoughts wander in every direction for a while, the figure of a young man appeared in his unfocused field of vision.
It turned out Mo Xi had come back, carrying a bamboo basket.
Under the blazing summer sun, he walked from the brilliant sunlight into the shade of the trees and set the basket down in front of Gu Mang.
“What’s this?”
Curious, Gu Mang leaned over and lifted the flat bamboo-woven lid. He glanced inside and saw a bowl of stewed tofu with Chinese cabbage and straw mushrooms, a bowl of radish soup, two bowls of white rice, and two pairs of bamboo chopsticks.
The dishes were simple and rustic, but steam was still rising from them, clearly showing that they had only just been cooked.
Gu Mang couldn’t help exclaiming, “Wow.”
“Immortal Grandfather, where did you conjure up an entire basket of food?”
“Bought it. There’s a house up ahead.”
Gu Mang was astonished.
So he had gone to buy food just now?
This person might be arrogant and terribly dull, but apparently he wasn’t completely cold-hearted and unfeeling.
He immediately picked up a bowl and chopsticks, smiling.
“Thanks.”
Mo Xi ignored him. He lowered his eyes, arranged the food, then sat cross-legged on the ground and began eating on his own.
Gu Mang also picked up a bowl, eating while studying the junior disciple sitting opposite him.
Junior Brother Mo continued to ignore him. His long eyelashes remained lowered, his chopsticks steadily carrying pieces of tofu to his mouth.
Gu Mang wanted to strike up another conversation with him, but he had already teased Mo Xi into anger earlier, so he didn’t know how to begin. In the end, he could only cough a few times first.
“Ahem—”
“……”
“Ahem, ahem.”
“……”
“Ahem, ahem, ahem.”
Mo Xi finally raised his eyes.
Gu Mang was delighted and was just about to put on a warm smile and chat with this beautiful junior brother when he saw the latter furrow his swordlike brows and ask coldly,
“Is your throat bothering you?”
Gu Mang choked.
“I—”
“Do you need medicine?”
Mo Xi actually set down his bowl and chopsticks and looked ready to take medicine from his Qiankun pouch.
Gu Mang felt a thousand horses stampeding through his heart.
Holy crap. Young man, you don’t just have medicine. There’s something wrong with you!
He hurriedly stopped him.
“No need. I just choked a little, that’s all. Eat, haha. Junior Brother, eat.”
Mo Xi didn’t insist. He glanced at him, withdrew the slender fingers that had already reached his Qiankun pouch, and lowered his head to ladle himself some soup.
“For me?”
Seeing the bowl of soup Mo Xi handed him, Gu Mang accepted it with a little surprise, becoming even more astonished.
“…Thanks.”
Mo Xi had grown accustomed to being waited on hand and foot. In his daily life, people were constantly addressing him as Young Master this and Young Master that, and he probably heard thanks and apologies a hundred times a day. Naturally, Gu Mang’s thanks elicited no reaction from him whatsoever.
Still, the smallest details revealed a person’s heart.
Everyone knew that pure-blooded nobles were generally cruel and domineering, and the Mo family was an illustrious military warlord clan. By all logic, Young Master Mo should have been extraordinarily spoiled.
That was why, when Gu Mang had first seen Mo Xi on the training grounds, he had immediately warned Lu Zhanxing, “He’s from the Mo family. Neither of us can afford to provoke him. Let’s go.”
But after spending time with him, Gu Mang began to feel that perhaps Mo Xi wasn’t quite like that after all.
So over the next two days, Gu Mang patiently observed Mo Xi’s every move.
Sure enough, he discovered that the young master of the Mo family really was somewhat different from what they had imagined.
Mo Xi spoke very little. Between his brows and eyes, apart from a natural coolness, there was only occasionally a faint layer of melancholy.
Along the way, whenever Gu Mang spoke to him, Mo Xi would turn his face aside and ignore him, terribly proud. Only occasionally would his eyelashes move suddenly, like thin smoke stirred by a passing breeze.
Yet whenever Gu Mang genuinely needed something, Mo Xi proved completely dependable.
Because of this, Gu Mang gradually developed some affection for the young master.
On the evening of the third day, they were already very close to Liansheng Town.
Walking along a remote path on the outskirts, they saw fireflies dancing among the fields.
Watching those scattered points of glowing light, Gu Mang suddenly said, “Junior Brother Mo, once this trial is over, you’ll officially take a master and begin your cultivation. The academy has seven Grand Elders in total, each presiding over one of the seven Sacred Halls. Have you thought about which one you’ll become a disciple of?”
“Yaotian Hall.”
“You’re that certain?”
“My father came from Yaotian Hall.”
Gu Mang paused, then a smile slowly spread across his lips.
“Right. I almost forgot. You pure-blooded nobles always pass things down from father to son.”
Mo Xi said nothing.
Gu Mang assumed he wouldn’t say anything else, but then he heard Mo Xi ask,
“Which Sacred Hall Elder is your master, Senior Sister?”
This was the first question Mo Xi had asked about him in all these days.
Surprised, Gu Mang smiled.
“Oh, I’m from Yanbie Hall.”
Yanbie Hall was the strangest and most eccentric of the academy’s seven Sacred Halls. The most arrogant nobles, the most sinister and terrifying poison masters, the most ruthless assassins… cultivators of all these kinds almost invariably came from this Sacred Hall.
With Gu Mang being so lazy and carefree, and his speech so utterly unreliable, it was obvious he had to be from Yanbie Hall.
Still, out of courtesy, Mo Xi said, “That’s good.”
Unexpectedly, Gu Mang laughed.
“Even though Junior Brother says it’s good, who knows what you’re really thinking? ‘So he’s from Yanbie Demon Cave. Sigh, I never thought that on my very first assignment, I’d have to join hands with a disciple from the most sinister Yanbie Demon Cave among the seven Sacred Halls. This is truly the worst. I wish I could finish the mission as soon as possible and part ways with this bastard.’”
Mo Xi really did want to part ways with Gu Mang as soon as possible, but it wasn’t as though he found him completely intolerable.
Hearing Gu Mang put it that way, he said, “It’s Yanbie Hall. Where did you get ‘Yanbie Demon Cave’ from?”
The moment Gu Mang saw the stern expression on Mo Xi’s handsome face, his natural authority without anger, he couldn’t help laughing.
It was actually remarkably similar to Elder Shiwei, the academy’s most severe enforcer of rules.
“Hahahahaha, you… You really are something…”
“They say everyone in Yaotian Hall is a lonely, aloof soul who lives high above the world. I’d never had any contact with one before, but after meeting you, I know the saying wasn’t wrong.”
“……”
The two continued walking and talking, and before they knew it, they had arrived outside Liansheng Town.
Amid Gu Mang’s cheerful laughter and conversation, he suddenly spotted a huge stone standing three men tall at the entrance to the town.
Written across it in cinnabar and gold were the words:
“At night, jade dew wets the tender bud;
In a dream, spring comes, and the lotus may be plucked.”
“Ah, looks like we’ve arrived.”
Gu Mang read the poem twice. The corner of his mouth twitched, and he muttered under his breath,
“But this town is really improper. Why would they put such an erotic poem on the welcome stone?”
Mo Xi also read the poem twice, trying to figure out what was wrong with it.
All he could see was a description of the lotus pond at night. He figured Gu Mang was probably teasing him again.
He gave Gu Mang a glance, clearly losing patience, and walked into the town on his own.
Gu Mang rubbed his nose somewhat aggrievedly.
Watching Mo Xi’s retreating back, he was practically on the verge of tears.
“Junior Brother Mo, I’m not lying to you. Read it carefully. It really is an obscene poem…”