The world around them was blanketed in falling evening snow, and sunset was fast approaching.
Everything was just as Gu Mang had described at the beginning of the first chapter: “Toward evening, a fine, hazy snow began to fall along Chonghua’s border. A layer of immaculate white gradually accumulated on the ground. Wheels rolled over it, pedestrians walked across it, leaving behind several lines of tracks of varying depths…”
The clang of the cracked gong continued.
It turned out to be a pockmarked man selling baked flatbreads in the marketplace, shouting at the top of his lungs. Wisps of white breath billowed from his mouth as he called out, “Come one, come all! Freshly baked flatbreads!”
As he spoke, he struck the cracked gong hanging beside his oven twice more with a little mallet, then continued hawking his wares. “Nothing in this world is thicker and more substantial than the flatbreads I bake—except Gu Mang’s skin! Come buy some, come buy some!”
The passersby secretly chuckled when they heard him.
The Wealthy Overseas Returnee explained to Mo Xi, “This man is called Wang Ermazi. According to the original text, he’s been running this flatbread stall for more than ten years. In the early days, Wang Ermazi had a different sales pitch. Back then, his nasal, croaking voice would shout, ‘Come take a look, come take a look! The flatbreads Marshal Gu loves most! Eat one, and you’ll be as invincible and rise through the ranks just like Marshal Gu!’”
“He’s changed it now?”
“Of course. Back then, Gu Mang was still a commander-in-chief. Now he’s a traitor.”
Amid the wind and snow, a line of cavalry with an impressive military bearing slowly approached. At the head rode a young man of about seventeen or eighteen. He wore a brocade cap and sable-trimmed fur coat, and his handsome little face was nestled deep in the thick fur collar. There was a cowlick at his temple, and a few fluffy strands of hair stuck up rebelliously, giving him a rather cocky air.
“Who’s that?”
“His name is Yue Chenqing. He’s a deputy general in the garrison army. The Northern Frontier Army arrived at the border a few days ago to station its troops, and today happens to be his turn to patrol.”
Mo Xi’s naked-eye vision was an exceptional 5.3. His sharp gaze swept over Yue Chenqing’s face, and he immediately decided that the young man looked like a streetwise hoodlum. He took an instant dislike to him.
The Wealthy Overseas Returnee said, “He’s a supporting character. He doesn’t have a particularly strong presence, but he is your deputy commander.”
“…I have a deputy commander?”
“Of course. You’ve got the whole package: a deputy commander, an admirer, and subordinates.”
It seemed Gu Mang’s attitude toward the second male lead really had changed since twenty years ago. In The Legend of the Immortal Sword: The Rich Overseas Returnee, Mo Xi had nothing at all except for his height of one meter thirty. Twenty years later, in Forbidden/Book, he’d even been provided with a full supporting cast.
The Wealthy Overseas Returnee added, “But don’t expect him to help you accomplish anything. Yue Chenqing’s role as your deputy commander is to cause trouble for you.”
“…”
That much was already obvious. Yue Chenqing was clearly mischievous by nature. His patrol soon turned into a shopping trip.
The border markets in the northern passes sold mostly things like animal pelts, medicinal herbs, spirit stones, and slaves. They weren’t particularly entertaining, but with the bitter cold and dreary conditions in the army, browsing the stalls was a decent way to kill time.
“I want that seven-tailed spirit cat.”
“Go buy me that tail feather from the guhuo bird, too.”
“That tumbleweed over there looks like good quality. It would be excellent for refining medicine. Get me ten baskets.”
As he went along, he kept ordering the attendants behind him to purchase all sorts of merchandise from the market. His dereliction of duty was blatant. Although the attendants looked uneasy, they couldn’t very well say much with their deputy commander standing right there.
As he continued browsing, Yue Chenqing began to feel hungry. He looked around for something to eat when he suddenly heard Wang Ermazi shouting from a distance. The man’s harsh, gong-like voice carried through the snowstorm.
“Freshly baked flatbreads! Flatbreads as thick-skinned as Gu Mang! Come take a look as you pass by!”
Yue Chenqing rode his horse forward, intending to reprimand the vendor. But a powerful aroma of toasted bread hit his nose. His scolding was just about to leave his mouth when he swallowed it back down along with the drool that had nearly escaped.
Wang Ermazi, the flatbread seller, looked up. “Buying a flatbread, sir?”
“…Then give me one.”
“Coming right up!”
Wang Ermazi deftly used a pair of tongs to pull a golden-brown flatbread from the oven. He placed it in a paper bag and handed it to the customer before him.
“Here you go. Careful, it’s hot. These flatbreads are best eaten while they’re still warm!”
Yue Chenqing took the piping-hot flatbread and bit into it. A crisp crunch rang out, clearly reaching the ears of Mo Xi and the Wealthy Overseas Returnee.
Although the Wealthy Overseas Returnee didn’t have ears.
“You can bring Gu Mang here to eat these later,” the Wealthy Overseas Returnee helpfully suggested.
Mo Xi replied coldly, “Isn’t he a rebel general? Why would I invite him to eat flatbreads?”
The Wealthy Overseas Returnee was taken aback. “You haven’t read the novel?”
“I’ve only read the outline.”
“Then you’ll understand later. I can’t explain it clearly to you right now,” the Wealthy Overseas Returnee said. “Just remember that these are one of Gu Mang’s favorite foods in the story. They can help raise his affection toward you.”
“…I need to raise his affection toward me?” Mo Xi was practically laughing from anger. His thin lips twisted into a mocking sneer. “What for? To persuade him not to betray his country?”
His words dripped with sarcasm, but he couldn’t deceive himself. The place where a bullet had once nearly pierced his chest suddenly gave a sharp, painful throb.
It wasn’t as though he had never tried to persuade Gu Mang. In the real world, he had urged him to turn back, to surrender, to stop sinking further and further into corruption, to stop walking down that road of no return.
But when had Gu Mang ever listened to even a single word he said?
The Wealthy Overseas Returnee swayed innocently from side to side. “I don’t know. Maybe it really will work. Oh, right! I just remembered. There’s something I need to give you.”
As it spoke, a battered book suddenly emerged from the black mist.
Mo Xi took one look and realized that it was the mathematics workbook Gu Mang had once habitually used to write stories.
“Touch it.”
The moment Mo Xi touched it, the battered notebook suddenly emitted a white radiance. Then it transformed into countless tiny, glowing specks that flowed into the palm of his hand.
“…It’s disappeared,” Mo Xi announced in the same stern tone he might have used to declare, “You are guilty.”
“This is Gu Mang’s internal setting notebook. It should be somewhat useful to you. Try recalling ‘Wang Ermazi’s flatbreads.’”
Mo Xi frowned but did as he was told.
Almost the instant he thought of Wang Ermazi’s flatbreads, Gu Mang’s familiar voice rang in his ears. It was just as he remembered it, all cheeky and carefree.
“Wang Ermazi’s flatbreads: a snack found along the remote northern border of Chonghua. The golden, crispy flatbreads ooze a little hot oil, while the flavors of wheat bran, minced meat, and crushed Sichuan peppercorns bloom in layers across the tongue. In an instant, their toasted aroma fills the air and makes your mouth water. Although they’re merely a humble commoner’s snack, they’re still beloved by the characters in the story.”
Sure enough, Yue Chenqing had taken two bites of his flatbread and was now smacking his lips.
“Wow, your flatbreads really taste great!”
“Of course! My Ermazi flatbreads are the best in the world!” Wang Ermazi boasted proudly. “Even back when Gu Mang was at the height of his glory, after returning to the city from a battle, he’d always come running to my stall and eat five or six of them!”
After boasting, he couldn’t resist adding angrily, “But if I’d known that bastard Gu would eventually become a traitorous lapdog, I should’ve mixed some poison into the flatbreads I sold him back then and gotten rid of that menace to the people once and for all!”
Yue Chenqing chewed his flatbread and grunted, “Don’t go around saying things like that so carelessly in the future. And you’d better change that sales pitch of yours, too.”
Wang Ermazi widened his eyes. “Why, sir?”
“Just do as the military officer tells you. What, do you think I’d lead you into trouble?” Yue Chenqing took another huge bite of his meat flatbread. “We’re about to go to war with the Liao Kingdom, and our army will probably be stationed here for three to five years. If you keep shouting Gu Mang’s name all day long…”
He gave two malicious chuckles.
“Heh, heh. You’d better be careful not to hit a certain important person where it hurts.”
“Huh?”
Yue Chenqing couldn’t be bothered to explain further. He polished off the rest of his flatbread in three quick bites, then waved his hand.
“This man’s got good skills. The flatbreads are delicious. Give him a reward.”
The Wealthy Overseas Returnee watched the plot unfold smoothly and asked smugly, “See? It works, doesn’t it?”
“…”
If Mo Xi had still thought he was dreaming before, he was finally beginning to feel a belated sense of astonishment.
He was remarkably straight-laced. Most people who transmigrated into a book would probably have shouted and made a fuss, but he didn’t even react very dramatically to the fact that he’d ended up inside one.
Moreover, because of his professional instincts, his next reaction was to frown and begin methodically investigating the capabilities of this setting notebook.
“No matter what I think about, it will answer me?”
“It can only answer questions about things that have already been established in the settings. If the author hasn’t fleshed something out, asking about it won’t help.”
“So as long as Gu Mang has established something, I can receive that information?”
“Uh… not necessarily. If Draw Bird doesn’t want you to know something, or if revealing the setting to you would disrupt the normal plot he established, then you still won’t be able to find out.”
Mo Xi’s brows knitted together even more deeply. He thought for a moment, then tried asking silently, Who was that ‘important person’ Yue Chenqing mentioned just now?
Gu Mang’s voice rang out in his mind, still speaking in that shameless, brazen tone of his.
“The ‘important person’ Yue Chenqing mentioned is naturally their commander-in-chief, Mo Xi. According to the novel’s setting, Gu Mang is Mo Xi’s untouchable reverse scale.”
Mo Xi silently roared in his mind, Gu Mang, what the hell is wrong with you?
The setting notebook gave no answer.
Apparently, it was merely a tool for the author to communicate his settings to whoever took over the story later. It did not come with an additional function for bickering and arguing.
The Wealthy Overseas Returnee floated gently downward, hovering in front of Mo Xi.
“There are two more things I need to hand over to you.”
As it spoke, it spat a second object out of the black mist.
Calling it an object might not have been entirely appropriate. It was a little bird flapping its wings. It had red feathers, a white belly, and a plump, round body. The moment the Wealthy Overseas Returnee released it, it began chirping angrily. The downy feathers on its forehead bobbed up and down.
Mo Xi had never liked noisy things. He gave it a contemptuous glance.
“What use is this chicken?”
The little bird became even more upset. It let out a sharp cheep and lunged at Mo Xi, trying to peck him. Fortunately, the black mist formed by the Wealthy Overseas Returnee quickly trapped it.
“Angry Bird,” the Wealthy Overseas Returnee helpfully introduced it. “Lord Xihe, please hold out your hand.”
Once again, the instant Mo Xi touched the Angry Bird, the bird disappeared. Mo Xi’s ears seemed to fill with hundreds or thousands of overlapping echoes, but every one of them was indistinct and impossible to make out. It took a long time for the echoes to recede like waves and finally vanish.
“…What is this one?”
“Hmm, well… When I first met you, I told you that I was formed from many different things,” the Wealthy Overseas Returnee explained. “The author’s thoughts became the setting notebook I could give you. And the readers’ anger became this Angry Bird.”
“…”
“Actually, the Angry Bird wasn’t originally an Angry Bird at all. It used to be a beautiful little skylark, the kind that would occasionally say things like ‘Keep going, Draw Bird!’ or ‘Showering flowers!’ It would sometimes breathe fire and spit out two or three vicious comments, but overall, it was still pretty cute.
“But later, as you know, Draw Bird started updating weekly, then yearly, and making the characters OOC. In the end, he even changed the story from BL to BG. So the skylark turned into an Angry Bird, and almost everything it said was criticism of him.”
Wonderful. Now Mo Xi had to fill in his buddy’s plot holes and take the abuse on his behalf, too. What kind of nonsense was that?
Mo Xi said coldly, “Put it away.”
“Don’t be like that. The Angry Bird might be able to help you sometimes. It understands the plot much better than you do, including parts you don’t know about. Not all of its suggestions will be useful, but at least they can give you something to consider. Whenever you don’t know how to handle something and Draw Bird’s setting notebook can’t answer your questions, you can try asking it.”
“…”
The Wealthy Overseas Returnee sounded like a pyramid-scheme salesman trying to push a product.
Taking a scholarly approach, Officer Mo decided to ask the Angry Bird the same question he had just asked Gu Mang.
Who was that ‘important person’ Yue Chenqing mentioned just now?
The little red bird shook the feathers on its forehead. Its bright red beak opened and closed.
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