Gu Mang was brought in under the butler’s escort.
He was still dressed in plain white robes, with an iron restraint locked around his neck. Barefoot, he stood alone in the shadows, his face devoid of expression.
He was different from the Gu Mang Mo Xi had seen the last time. Back then, Gu Mang had seemed perfectly calm. If he were to be compared to an animal, he had appeared to be resting within his own territory, without the slightest trace of unease. Now, although he remained outwardly calm, his muscles were taut. His sharp gaze, concealed behind long eyelashes, swept across everyone’s faces in turn, full of wariness.
He looked as though he desperately wanted to get his hands on a knife or some other weapon.
Their eyes met unexpectedly, and something stirred in Mo Xi’s heart. He knew his own position was awkward now. If Gu Mang suddenly brought up their previous encounter at Luomei Villa, it would not have much of an impact on him, but it would hardly be a good thing either.
And yet, while reason told him one thing, a hidden corner of his heart was secretly clamoring for Gu Mang to show even the slightest hint of treating him differently from everyone else.
Unfortunately, Gu Mang disappointed him.
Gu Mang showed no special reaction whatsoever. Apparently, he regarded Mo Xi as just another one of the strange and unusual guests. He did not even linger on Mo Xi’s face. He simply looked at him openly, without reservation, then turned away as casually as if they had no connection at all.
“…”
With a dark expression, Mo Xi picked up the exquisite jade cup from the small table and lowered his eyes, silently turning it over in his hands.
“Hmm. The once-renowned ferocious beast of the Divine Altar.” Murong Lian spoke with a smile that never reached his eyes. “Gu Mang, why are you so nervous? You’ve served in my residence since you were a child. What is there to be afraid of?”
“Come here.” As he spoke, he beckoned to Gu Mang. “Come over.”
Gu Mang took two steps forward, his gaze falling on the incense burner before Murong Lian. Then, seemingly overwhelmed by the fragrance of Dreams Adrift wafting from it, he froze for a moment before abruptly turning and running.
Murong Lian had not expected him to bolt so suddenly. It took him a moment to react before he barked, “Catch him!”
Gu Mang’s spiritual core had already been destroyed, but his movements remained ferociously swift. His long legs swept out, kicking three or four people to the ground. Then he planted one hand on the floor and sprang into the air like a leopard, evading a servant who tried to seize his arm. He landed lightly on the ground, glanced back at them, and continued running.
“A starving camel is still bigger than a horse. Even the crippled Marshal Gu is more capable than this rabble.” Murong Lian glanced at Mo Xi. “He truly lives up to his reputation as your former closest friend, doesn’t he, Lord Xihe?”
Mo Xi folded his arms and leaned silently against the side of his chair. He paid Murong Lian no attention, watching instead as Gu Mang darted back and forth through the hall, evading his pursuers. Gu Mang’s martial skills were simply too formidable. It took the servants of Wangshu Manor considerable effort to subdue him, and by the time they finally managed it, every one of them was drenched in sweat and gasping for breath.
“My lord, he’s secured.”
Murong Lian smiled coldly. “Fools. Look at yourselves, sweating like this! Anyone who didn’t know better would think you were the ones whose spiritual cores had been destroyed, not him.”
The servants immediately lowered their heads even further, their throats bobbing nervously as they swallowed. Fortunately, Murong Lian did not continue berating them. He merely swept back his wide sleeve and said, “Bring him here.”
Gu Mang was dragged back to the center of the hall. Since he still refused to cooperate, the servants had no choice but to use a binding spell to immobilize him completely before hauling him in front of the seats.
“Kneel!”
Gu Mang refused. One of the men brutally kicked the back of his knee, sending him sprawling to the floor.
Black Immortal-Binding Cords cinched tightly around his mouth and nose, neck, abdomen, and knees. His gaze was wild and furious, and his already loose robes had fallen open, exposing a large expanse of pale chest.
Murong Lian rose from the imperial consort’s couch, still holding the silver spoon he had been using to stir the incense powder. He bent down and studied Gu Mang closely.
“Chonghua belongs to the Murong dynasty, from its very foundations to its farthest reaches…” He smiled. “General, where do you think you’re going?”
As soon as he finished speaking, he suddenly raised his hand and slapped Gu Mang across the face.
Smack!
The blow landed with the full force of his strength, leaving five red marks on Gu Mang’s cheek almost instantly.
Gu Mang’s head snapped to one side. He made no sound, but Mo Xi’s eyelashes twitched ever so slightly.
“I spent two years teaching you proper conduct, and you still haven’t learned a thing.”
Murong Lian straightened with a sweet smile. He sniffed the lingering fragrance on the tip of his spoon, then turned to Mo Xi.
“Marshal Mo, what do you think? Why don’t you give him a slap too, just for fun?”
As he spoke, he waved his hand, signaling the servants to drag Gu Mang over to Mo Xi.
“Back then, he stabbed Marshal Mo in the chest. It’s high time he made up for that long-overdue apology and atoned for his sins.” Murong Lian spoke slowly. “Now you’re the butcher, and he’s the meat on the chopping block. You can torment him however you like. Please, go ahead.”
Gu Mang could understand only a limited number of complicated sentences. He would not understand what it meant to be the butcher and the meat on the chopping block. But the word torment struck him like the sound of a beaten dog hearing a stick being moved. His whole body shuddered, and his eyes flew wide open.
He lay face-down on the floor, his field of vision limited. He could not see Mo Xi standing behind and to one side of him. When the two servants beside him began dragging him along, he desperately tried to turn his head. But the cords restraining it tightened even further, and the iron chain wedged between his teeth dug almost into his flesh, leaving him struggling for breath.
“Ugh…”
A low whimper escaped him instinctively. He rolled his eyes desperately, trying to see who was going to torment him.
For a moment, almost every gaze in the hall converged on Mo Xi and Gu Mang.
Yue Chenqing covered his eyes, peering through the gaps between his fingers. “Marshal Mo, whatever grudges you two have against each other, please don’t kill anyone in front of me! I’m still a child, you know.”
Mo Xi said nothing. His dark, cold eyes looked down at Gu Mang, and amid the wavering lamplight, their gazes finally met.
In that instant, an inexplicable shiver rose through Mo Xi. He did not understand why, but seeing Gu Mang’s disheveled clothes and the chains binding him, he found a strange, excited gooseflesh rising across his back.
Was it the thrill of finally having his prey beneath his feet, watching it stretch out its neck in surrender? Was it anger at Gu Mang for refusing to learn his lesson? Or was it some other emotion entirely?
He did not know, nor was he particularly eager to find out.
His eyes were filled with the sight of Gu Mang, at once vicious and pitiful. Suppressing the faint tremor in his low voice, Mo Xi paused, then turned his face away.
“Take him away.”
“Oh? What does Lord Xihe mean by that?”
Mo Xi kept his face turned aside, his expression stiff and dry. “I have no interest in him.”
Murong Lian smiled. “So that’s how it is. I thought I’d somehow touched a sore spot and upset Lord Xihe.”
As he spoke, he added a little more of the substance to his water pipe, narrowed his eyes, and took a deep drag. Then he shot Mo Xi a sidelong glance, his gaze languid and suggestive.
“But Lord Xihe truly amazes me. After so many years on the battlefield, you’re still as aloof and self-righteous as you were back then. Neither men nor women, neither enemies nor beauties, can catch your eye.”
He bared his teeth in a smile, but there was nothing warm about it.
“Could it be that Princess Mengze became the Holy Maiden, and you feel so guilty about it that you’ve decided to spend the rest of your life alone?”
Mo Xi’s expression darkened.
“Lord Wangshu. Have you forgotten what I told you back then?”
Murong Lian continued smoking his water pipe, his soft, jade-like fingers resting against the black stem as he exhaled clouds of smoke.
“Hmm? What did you say? You haven’t said much to me over the years, but I am a pillar of the state. Naturally, I can’t be expected to remember every trivial remark…”
As he spoke, he exhaled another breath of hazy smoke, revealing a faint, elusive smile through the blue-gray mist. He gently blew the smoke away and said slowly,
“Look. It’s gone in an instant.”
Seeing the tension between the two men mounting, Yue Chenqing scratched his head and could not resist edging closer, hoping to get a word in.
Without even turning his head, Mo Xi said, “Stand farther away.”
“…Oh…”
Murong Lian giggled after taking too many drags. “Lord Xihe, do you really think young Master Yue could get addicted from inhaling such a tiny amount of smoke? Rest assured. That’s absolutely impossible.”
“See that it stays that way.” Mo Xi’s gaze was like a hook-bladed sword in the dead of winter, piercing through the swirling smoke to fix on Murong Lian’s face.
The noble families had long been fighting among themselves for power, and Murong Lian had never been able to stand the Mo family. Since childhood, he had constantly found ways to make Mo Xi’s life difficult, deliberately provoking him and prying into his movements.
This sort of roundabout probing into Mo Xi’s private affairs was hardly a first.
“As for what I said back then, let me remind you, since you don’t remember.”
“Not a single part of my body has anything to do with you, Lord Wangshu,” Mo Xi said coldly. “My private affairs are none of your business, and you need not trouble yourself investigating them.”
Murong Lian did not respond at once. His eyes narrowed as thin streams of smoke slipped between his lips.
After the two had glared at each other for some time, Murong Lian turned away with a mocking laugh and reclined on the consort’s couch again.
“Such a proper gentleman. How dreadfully dull.”
With that, he waved to the other guests.
“Come, come! Everyone, enjoy yourselves. If you want to have some fun, don’t stand on ceremony.”
“When the banquet ends today, if any of you still have a girl in your arms who isn’t exhausted or drunk, I’ll take it as proof that you’re impotent and weak. From now on, Luomei Villa won’t be able to accommodate you!”
A servant approached, looking uncertain. “My lord, then… should we take Gu Mang back, or leave him here?”
“Leave him here, of course. Why bother taking him back?” Murong Lian replied with an amiable smile. “Although Lord Xihe has absolutely no interest in him, does that mean the rest of you can’t have some fun?”
He glanced at Mo Xi.
“Lord Xihe, you really don’t want him, do you?”
“If you truly don’t want him, then I’ll let the brothers enjoy themselves to their hearts’ content.”
“…”
Seeing Mo Xi remain silent, his face dark and unresponsive, Murong Lian smiled. A sinister gleam flickered in his eyes like the scales of a snake.
“Very well.”
He nodded and pointed at Gu Mang.
“This man is too ugly. Lord Xihe doesn’t care for him, so he’s unwanted. Drag him away and let the young masters entertain themselves with him.”
The others were naturally delighted. They might have felt some qualms about publicly humiliating an ordinary songstress, but when it came to abusing Gu Mang, everyone applauded and cheered.
After all, Gu Mang was a traitor to Chonghua.
The drunken cultivators immediately surrounded him, mocking him and eagerly devising all sorts of cruel ways to humiliate him.
Someone noticed that he looked hungry and tossed a piece of soy-braised pork bone onto the floor in front of him.
“If you want it, eat it.”
Gu Mang naturally saw nothing wrong with picking up meat from the floor. He really did pick up the bone, bringing it cautiously to the tip of his nose to sniff. Finding nothing unusual, he opened his mouth and took a tiny bite, chewing slowly as he watched the young masters before him with wary concentration.
Mo Xi caught sight of the scene from the corner of his eye, and a suffocating feeling settled in his chest. He could only turn his face even farther away. But although he could turn his head, he could not escape the sharp, piercing voices that stabbed into his ears.
“Hahahaha! Marshal Gu, they call you a ferocious beast, and now you really are picking bones off the floor!”
The young masters burst into raucous laughter.
“Hey, weren’t you always such a clean freak? Now you’ll eat something that’s fallen on the ground?”
Contempt filled the room so thickly that it seemed capable of lifting the roof tiles. Gu Mang paid none of it any attention. He simply chewed quietly on the precious pork bone until he had picked it completely clean.
He licked his lips and raised his head again. His gaze swept over the sneering, vicious faces before settling on the dishes on the table. There, soy-braised pork bones were piled into a little tower, cut into neat, substantial pieces with an even balance of fat and lean meat. Each piece was coated in rich, glossy sauce, gleaming reddish-brown with fragrant spices.
Gu Mang stared at them silently for a while. Then he murmured, “This is meat.”
It was the first time since entering the room that he had spoken in a perfectly ordinary voice. The effect was like watching a cat that had been silent all along suddenly meow. Everyone grew excited.
“That’s right. It’s meat.”
“He doesn’t recognize anything else, but he knows meat. This ferocious beast of the Divine Altar, hah!”
One of the young masters sitting at the table asked, “Do you want some?”
“Yes.”
To everyone’s surprise, the young master actually picked up a piece with his jade chopsticks and held it out to him. Gu Mang accepted it, and just as he was about to eat, the young master suddenly burst out laughing.
“You traitorous dog who betrayed your country and your sovereign thinks you deserve to eat meat? Keep dreaming!”
As he spoke, a flicker of spiritual power moved at his fingertips. The piece of braised pork in Gu Mang’s hands instantly vanished into a wisp of blue smoke.
Gu Mang seemed startled. He stared blankly at his hands for a while, then turned them over and examined them from every angle. Finally, he lowered his head and searched the floor for a while. Only after confirming what had happened did he tilt his head in bewilderment.
“…It’s gone.”
The guests in the private hall eagerly competed to find new ways to make fun of him.
“Want something to eat? That’s easy!”
Someone mixed vinegar, wine, sauce, and rendered fat together in a drinking vessel and handed it to him.
“Here, have a taste. Nectar of the immortals! Hahahaha!”
Gu Mang eyed it with suspicion, but he really did accept the vessel. He sniffed it, found the smell somewhat strange, and cautiously took a sip.
After a brief silence, he spat it straight into the man’s face.
“…”
Some people laughed so hard they slapped their thighs. Others excitedly thought up new ways to humiliate him. The man who had been spat on was furious with embarrassment. He wiped his face with a handkerchief, then grabbed Gu Mang by the front of his robe and viciously slapped him.
“I give you something to drink, and you dare be picky? Who the hell do you think you are?”
After being struck, Gu Mang immediately tried to retaliate. But when the Kingdom of Liao had destroyed his mind, it had also stripped away his formidable spiritual power. He was no match for the cultivator. Within moments, the chains had tightened around his neck, making his face turn red as he struggled to breathe, unable to utter a word. Yet he continued glaring fiercely at his attacker.
His eyes truly resembled those of a wolf.
“Teach him a lesson! Beat him!”
“That’s right! Beat him!”
Who could possibly not hate Gu Mang? And with Mo Xi and Murong Lian both present today, the young masters were all eager to curry favor with the two lords. Their spells came down without the slightest mercy, offensive incantations raining over Gu Mang like a downpour.
As long as they did not kill him, they would hurt him as badly as they could.
Gu Mang was soon surrounded and beaten so relentlessly that he could barely catch his breath. He did not understand why these people hated him so much. He wanted to speak, but his mouth was full of blood.
A few of the men were still not satisfied. They picked up the unfinished drinking vessel from earlier and actually spat into it several times. Then they forced Gu Mang’s chin up and shouted at him.
“Open your mouth! Swallow it!”
“Drink it! You’re not leaving this room until you finish every drop!”
These aristocratic scions had surrounded him and were humiliating him in a frenzy, each trying harder than the last to curry favor with Lord Xihe by tormenting him. Suddenly, a dull thud sounded from the farthest corner of the room.
Everyone turned at once.
Mo Xi, who had been silently playing with his drinking cup, had abruptly risen to his feet and flung the jade cup onto the table. His expression was terribly grim.
“L-Lord Xihe, what…?”
The movement of Mo Xi’s clenched jaw was clearly visible on his pale face. He was undeniably handsome, but the sight was chilling. Tall and imposing, he looked down at the crowd, fury churning beneath his gaze, mingled with agitation and restraint. His blade-sharp eyes were about to fall on Gu Mang, but for some reason, they quickly shifted away again.
“Lord Xihe…?”
Murong Lian glanced over as well. “Oh? Lord Xihe, why are you suddenly getting angry when everything was perfectly fine just a moment ago?”
Mo Xi’s expression remained dark. Seeing Gu Mang surrounded and abused filled him with unbearable hatred, but that hatred made absolutely no sense to him. If he had been unable to restrain himself and shouted, “Stop!” just now, he would not even have known how to explain himself. Fortunately, he had managed to suppress the impulse without saying a word.
Now he could hold himself back for a moment longer before speaking slowly.
“…Every one of you is an important official in the Military and Political Administration. Yet all you know how to do is resort to such despicable tricks. Getting drunk, seeking pleasure, and wasting your lives away in a public hall—what sort of conduct is that? You behave without restraint and have no sense of propriety!”
“…”
Mo Xi gritted his teeth.
“And you don’t even find yourselves shameful.”
“What sort of thing are you saying, Lord Xihe?” Murong Lian interjected amid the sudden silence.
He had originally been reclining on his side, one leg propped up, but now he sat upright.
“Gu Mang is a traitor, and those present are nobles. What’s wrong with nobles having a little fun with a traitor? How is that improper? How is it despicable?”
He took another sip of Dreams Adrift before continuing.
“Lord Xihe, just because you don’t enjoy a lively atmosphere, does that mean you must stop your subordinates from having fun? Besides, this is Wangshu Manor, and Gu Mang is my property. Everyone here today is my guest. Even if you have rendered great service to the country, you should at least understand the principle that one ought to respect the owner before beating his dog, shouldn’t you?”
Those words did more than insult Gu Mang. They effectively demeaned everyone else in the room as Murong Lian’s dogs as well.
Unfortunately, the men were all too drunk to care. And even if they had been sober, Murong Lian was the current sovereign’s elder brother. They would not have dared oppose the power of the Murong family, even if they had ten times their courage.
But Mo Xi was not intimidated by him.
He stood there, cold and stern, his features as sharply carved as if by knife and axe. Murong Lian’s noble status did not make him flinch in the slightest.
“What happens to Gu Mang is beyond my control. But how I discipline my own subordinates is none of your concern, Lord Wangshu.”
He paused, his voice turning even colder.
“And there is one more thing you would do well to remember. The officials of the Military and Political Administration owe their allegiance not to you, but to the sovereign of Chonghua. I can overlook your comparing these high-ranking officials to your dogs once. If I hear you say such a thing a second time…”
His blade-bright gaze swept across Murong Lian’s face.
“I will see that you are dealt with according to the law.”
“You—!”
Mo Xi’s words had been delivered in a flat, unruffled tone, yet they carried the weight of a thousand jun. They struck Murong Lian like a pair of swords pointed directly at his heart.
The first point was that the most indispensable man in Chonghua’s military was now a member of the Mo family. Murong Lian himself was also an official in the military, and his rank was lower than Mo Xi’s. Chonghua’s military law was absolute. Even nobles could be investigated and prosecuted directly if they truly incurred Mo Xi’s wrath.
The second point was that Murong Lian had overstepped his bounds in both speech and conduct.
That was even more dangerous. Murong Lian’s maternal uncle had once been suspected of treason and executed by being torn apart by five horses. As a result, every member of this branch of the Murong family lived in fear. They did not even dare touch the subject of royal authority.
Murong Lian’s expression changed immediately. It took him quite some time to regain his composure.
“Fine. Fine.” The corners of his mouth twitched as he forced out a cold smile. “Mo Xi, you’ve got some nerve.”
He stared into Mo Xi’s eyes. After a long moment, he suddenly raised his hand. Several streams of light hissed out of his palm, and a blood-red whip appeared at his summons. It sliced through the air with a sharp whoosh, kicking up a haze of dust.
“I misspoke just now.” Holding the soft whip, Murong Lian slowly circled Mo Xi, his eyes shining with jealousy and resentment. “Lord Xihe certainly keeps a tight rein on his subordinates. Today, I’ve truly learned my lesson. In that case…”
He paused, his eyes reflecting the sinister gleam of the whip.
“I shall teach these foolish slaves a little discipline myself!”
As soon as the words left his mouth, the blood-red spiritual whip lashed out like a snake, striking viciously at the servants cowering uneasily in the corner!
Mo Xi was a man of exalted status, but the Northern Frontier army under his command was a commoner force that Gu Mang had once painstakingly trained. Most of its cultivators came from poor and humble backgrounds, and some had even been slaves themselves.
Mo Xi had once been friends with Gu Mang, and later he had shared life and death with these soldiers. He understood all too well how difficult their lives had been. That was why, despite his own noble standing, he had never visited brothels to buy women, abducted anyone for his pleasure, or bullied those of lower status.
Murong Lian understood this perfectly well too.
So when Mo Xi angered him, he could not take his frustration out on Mo Xi himself. Instead, he resorted to the most shameless cruelty, lashing the defenseless slaves over and over until blood flew and their cries of pain filled the room.
Murong Lian burst into laughter. His pale, delicate face twisted horribly with disgust and the effects of his addiction. As he laughed and whipped them, he directed his words at Mo Xi with pointed malice.
“Lowly slaves will always be lowly slaves. They’re born with filthy blood in their veins. What chance do they have of ever rising above their station?”
“…”
Yue Chenqing clicked his tongue softly from the sidelines.
“Dreams Adrift really is terrifying. I’m going to tell my friends they must never smoke it. This is all because someone said something he didn’t like, and Lord Wangshu has gone completely mad. Is there even a medicine that could sober him up? I’ll go get some!”
Murong Lian was still not satisfied after whipping the servants. His peripheral vision caught sight of Gu Mang standing nearby, and he suddenly remembered a scene from many years ago, when the circumstances had been much the same.
Mo Xi had come to plead on Gu Mang’s behalf in the pouring rain after Gu Mang had done something wrong. At the time, Murong Lian had threatened Mo Xi into deliberately losing to him in the year-end martial instructor competition. But he had never expected that in the final round, he would instead be defeated by Gu Mang, who had also made it to the finals.
Gu Mang had been his personal attendant then, a fellow student at the academy. But when all was said and done, Gu Mang was still a slave belonging to the Murong family.
How could Murong Lian possibly swallow the humiliation of being defeated in the final by a mere household slave?
His hatred deepened involuntarily.
Even back then, he had suspected that Gu Mang harbored a desire to betray his master. Gu Mang had gone all out against him only because he wanted to stand up for Mo Xi! He had deliberately humiliated him!
A traitor! Gu Mang had been a traitor from the very beginning!
At that thought, the direction of Murong Lian’s spiritual whip suddenly changed. It shot straight toward the dazed Gu Mang!
Before Gu Mang could react, the whip had coiled around his waist. With a sudden tug, Murong Lian effortlessly dragged him over.
Murong Lian seized Gu Mang’s chin and forced him to turn around to face Mo Xi. His long, narrow phoenix eyes were filled with icy malice.
“Gu Mang, look at the person standing in front of you. Do you still recognize him?”
Gu Mang blinked in confusion. His expression remained calm, though a hint of animalistic wariness lingered beneath the surface.
“It doesn’t matter if you’ve forgotten. I’ll tell you something. Back then, even though you never said it aloud, I could see right through you. You called me your master, but deep down, you wanted nothing more than to betray the Murong family. You would have been more than happy to crawl on all fours and become this esteemed young master Mo’s dog.”
Mo Xi’s expression darkened.
“Murong Lian, have you gone mad?!”
“How have I gone mad? Lord Xihe and I have reunited after so many years, and I haven’t even prepared a proper gift. How about this? Let me test his feelings one more time. If he still wants to follow you, I’ll grant his wish and give him up to you. How does that sound?”
Murong Lian hooked an arm around Gu Mang’s shoulders and leaned against him, laughing so hard that he bent forward.
“I’ve already thought of the perfect way to test him. Let me tell you…”
Mo Xi could already guess what he intended. His fury was nearly uncontrollable.
“Murong Lian!”
But Murong Lian had been made giddy by Dreams Adrift. He raised a finger to his lips, then shook it gently.
“Shh. Don’t be angry. Hear me out. It’s really nothing complicated.”
He lowered his head and spoke to Gu Mang in a syrupy voice.
“Marshal Gu, I’m going to give you two choices. Listen carefully.”
“I can’t stand the sight of your face. I really want to slash it to pieces. But if you can help me take this man…”
He pointed at Mo Xi, his voice heavy with drunkenness.
“If you can help me remove one of this man’s arms…”
He leaned toward Gu Mang’s ear and whispered in a low voice loud enough for everyone to hear.
“Then I’ll spare you.”
“His arm or your face. You choose!”
The moment he said this, even the drunken guests nearby sobered up somewhat. They stared at the three men with wide eyes.
“What did Lord Wangshu just say…?”
“He wants Marshal Mo’s arm?”
Yue Chenqing slapped his forehead and muttered, “I should never have come here.” Then he called out, “Lord Wangshu! Brother Murong! You’ve smoked too much Dreams Adrift! Your head’s not working anymore! Is there any medicine that can make you sober? I’ll go get some!”
Murong Lian ignored them all. Hanging off Gu Mang, who had no idea what was happening, he grinned broadly.
“Well, Gu Mang? Are you going to do it or not?”
As he spoke, the spiritual whip in his hand suddenly transformed into a gleaming dagger.
It was exactly the same kind of dagger as the one from all those years ago. It now hovered beside Gu Mang’s cheek.
“Either snatch my dagger and attack him, or let me slash your face. Your mind is broken, isn’t it? I’d really like to see what kind of choice you’ll make.”
Mo Xi’s heart clenched.
Murong Lian was not drunk at all!
It was obvious that with Gu Mang’s current abilities, even if he seized the dagger, he would not be able to hurt Mo Xi in the slightest. He posed absolutely no threat. Murong Lian was doing this only to test whether Gu Mang had truly lost his memories, and to see how much Gu Mang still meant to Mo Xi.
There was no chance that Mo Xi himself would be harmed in this game.
But Gu Mang…
“I’ll count to three.”
The dagger pressed against Gu Mang’s face. It was only an inch away from drawing blood.
Gu Mang remained silent, tilting his head slightly as he stared at Murong Lian’s dagger in confusion.
What would he do?
Truthfully, Mo Xi had harbored some suspicions himself. He had wondered whether Gu Mang’s mental damage might be nothing more than a façade.
If Gu Mang’s mind really had been destroyed, then by the instinct of a beast, he should not hesitate at all. If, as Li Wei had said, his subconscious mind truly believed he was a wolf, then when faced with the choice between self-defense and hurting another, a wolf would undoubtedly choose the latter.
So why had Gu Mang still made no move to attack?
Murong Lian was laughing. Yue Chenqing was shouting. The others were trying to intervene. Smoke swirled through the room, thick with the haze of Dreams Adrift.
Before Mo Xi’s eyes, images of Gu Mang flashed past at dizzying speed: calm, smiling brightly, concerned, cold.
Strange, shimmering fragments of memory drifted by, like the scales of a great fish catching the light. Each glimmer held an image of Gu Mang from the past.
They surfaced like fragments of a dream.
“Hello. My name is Gu Mang. May I sit beside you?”
“Do you want to rot together with me?”
“I really will shoot…”
The memories whirled around him like a vortex. One moment, he saw Gu Mang standing on a ship’s deck, bandages wrapped around him as he raised a gun. The next, he saw Gu Mang dressed in red at the grand wedding banquet described in the book. Gunshots in the sea breeze. Bayonets on the battlefield.
“You’re too sentimental, Officer Mo.”
“Lord Xihe, I never truly considered you my brother.”
The memories surged before him like torrents crashing down a waterfall, one after another, until Murong Lian’s voice suddenly pierced through them and dragged him back to reality.
All that remained was Gu Mang’s face in the present moment—still relatively serene, his brows slightly furrowed.
“Two…”
Gu Mang still did not move.
Why wasn’t he choosing to hurt Mo Xi to save himself?! Wasn’t he supposed to have become entirely wolf-like, unable to remember anything? Besides, Gu Mang had once been so ruthless toward him. He had fired bullets through him and stabbed him with a bayonet. He should have—he should have…
“One!”
“Wait!”
Mo Xi reacted violently. A flash of light shot from his hand, and a spell seal burst from his palm, hurtling toward the dagger Murong Lian had raised!
Too late…
The dagger plunged toward Gu Mang’s cheek.
Blood sprayed with a sharp hiss.
Mo Xi’s eyes flew wide open.