From that day onward, Mo Xi became a little obsessed.
Although Li Wei later tried, when his mood was reasonably good, to gently explain things to him along the lines of, “Gu Mang really isn’t right in the head anymore. He doesn’t understand a lot of words. Communicating with him is like talking to a three-year-old child. Sometimes you have to repeat the same sentence several times,” Mo Xi simply couldn’t let go of that faint glimmer of hope.
In the end, Li Wei had no choice but to suggest, “Why don’t you seek confirmation from the Shennong Terrace, my lord?”
“…”
Princess Mengze was the Holy Maiden at the Shennong Terrace. Naturally, he had no desire to go there.
Li Wei offered another suggestion. “Then why not visit the Imperial Medicine Hall and ask Apothecary Jiang?”
In Mo Xi’s memory, Apothecary Jiang was a cold and sharp-tongued man. Mo Xi had never had a particularly good impression of him. Nevertheless, he eventually could no longer endure the torment of his own thoughts and went to pay him a visit.
Outside the magnificent and extravagantly decorated Medicine King Residence, a young attendant said nervously, “Lord Xihe, our Master Jiang has gone out to gather medicinal herbs.”
“When will he return?”
The young attendant launched into one of those classic exchanges between a seeker and a reclusive scholar, straight out of countless books and television dramas.
“Our master’s return date is uncertain. He may be gone for three to five days, or three to five months.”
“Did he say where he was going?”
“Our master travels far and wide in search of medicinal herbs.”
Mo Xi was utterly speechless. Watching the young attendant nod his head sagely as he delivered his answers, he could only nod in return, mount his horse, and head back to his residence.
That night, perhaps because he had spent so long thinking about these matters without pause, Mo Xi fell asleep and found himself vaguely recalling fragments of the past from inside the book.
Memories involving Gu Mang—things that he had never inherited from Lord Xihe before.
He had a dream.
In the dream, it was the dead of night on the remote frontier beyond the Great Wall.
He seemed to be very young, barely into his twenties. He was not yet the Lord Xihe whose name inspired fear across the four seas, and Gu Mang was still an obscure nobody under Murong Lian’s ownership.
Back then, they were nothing more than ordinary soldiers. The fighting had paused for one night, and the entire army was resting and recuperating.
He seemed to have been injured. A healer in a white robe with flowing sleeves chased him out of the camp and called after him, “Young Master Mo, the wound on your arm—”
But he paid no attention. He had no interest in bothering with such a trivial injury. Instead, he ran straight out of camp, summoned his spiritual steed, and galloped away alone.
The bitter northern wind and driving snow swept against his face. Behind him, the pigeons in the garrison cooed and fluttered, their faint, scattered sounds growing more distant as he rode farther away.
Mo Xi had no idea why his dream-self was in such a hurry. He could only vaguely sense that a blazing fire had gathered in his heart, and he desperately wanted to find Gu Mang, who was on night watch, and tell him something.
“Where’s Gu Mang?”
He arrived at the Northern Army camp and, before even dismounting, asked the sentry healer breathlessly, “I’m looking for someone. Where is he?”
The healer was startled by his frantic arrival.
“Y-Young Master Mo, is there an urgent military report?”
“What urgent report? Do I need an urgent report every time I want to see someone?” Hot white mist poured from Mo Xi’s mouth, and his tone grew increasingly impatient.
“Then, you…”
The healer’s gaze flicked toward Mo Xi’s injured arm. He hesitated and decided not to continue, but Mo Xi understood perfectly well what he meant.
Then why aren’t you resting and recovering from your injury? Why have you come all the way from the Southern Army camp to the Northern Army camp to look for some nameless nobody?
Even Mo Xi himself did not know what his dream-self was trying to do. This part of his memory remained fragmented. All he could feel was his heart pounding wildly and his insides burning with anxiety, as though he were being scorched by flames and choked by smoke. Despite the freezing wind and snow, his palms were faintly damp.
Why had he braved the wind and snow to come all this way?
It was as though he had just realized something—something important, something that had troubled him for a long time. He had to find Gu Mang. If he did not find him immediately, it felt as though the surging blood in his chest would be boiled dry and burned to ashes before the night was over.
The healer gave him a guiding butterfly. Following it, Mo Xi passed through the heavily guarded Northern Army camp. Along the way, he saw healers sitting around fires, soldiers preparing food and warming wine, and, most of all, wounded men being treated by healers for injuries sustained in recent battles.
At last, the spiritual butterfly stopped above a small tent and vanished.
Mo Xi stood outside the tent, his fingers trembling slightly. His blood was growing hotter, his heartbeat faster. Finally, his Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed, and he drew a deep breath before abruptly sweeping aside the tent flap.
“Gu Mang—”
A well-built offensive cultivator turned around. It was Lu Zhanxing, Gu Mang’s friend at the time.
Lu Zhanxing was also one of Murong Lian’s personal attendants. He had grown up with Gu Mang and had a rather unruly personality. At that moment, he was munching on some fruit while reading a sword manual inside the tent. Seeing Mo Xi, he froze.
“Young Master Mo?”
“…”
“What brings you here?”
“Where’s Gu Mang?”
“You’re looking for him?” Lu Zhanxing took another bite of his juicy pear, then suddenly broke into a delighted, snickering grin. “Why is everyone looking for him tonight?”
“…” Mo Xi asked coldly, “Who else is looking for him?”
“Oh, no one in particular. Just a few friends of ours. They wanted him to go out to a nearby village with them for some fun. You don’t know them, Young Master Mo. I was going to go too, but my leg hasn’t fully healed yet, so I couldn’t be bothered…”
Lu Zhanxing rambled on and on, making the restlessness in Mo Xi’s heart even worse. He bit his lower lip slightly and asked, “Where did he go?”
Lu Zhanxing opened his mouth with a grin, ready to answer.
But just as Mo Xi was about to learn the truth, a heavy darkness suddenly descended from all directions, swallowing everything in its path. The dream scattered like the most fragile grains of dust caught in a gust of wind.
Without warning, Mo Xi sank into a deeper, heavier sleep.
There was nothing there. No military tent, no flying snow, no Gu Mang…
Only endless darkness.
Faintly, a voice sounded in his mind. It sounded like the character reference guide—Gu Mang’s voice—but the tone was stern in a way Mo Xi had never heard before.
【You shouldn’t have shown him these memories.】
Then Li Junlei replied:
【But he deserves to know. He is Lord Xihe.】
A long silence followed.
At last, Gu Mang sighed.
【You don’t understand. Lord Xihe was never supposed to be like this. This character setting… was wrong from the very beginning.】
【…】
【Don’t show him any more.】
The darkness deepened. The dream grew heavier, and no further sounds emerged.
Eventually, heaven and earth dissolved into nothingness.
Everything fell silent.
The next morning, Mo Xi awoke to the chirping of birds in the courtyard. He blinked slowly, gradually returning to full consciousness, as though he were swimming ashore after being lost in a shattered illusion of flowers and moonlight reflected on water.
“…Gu Mang…”
Still trapped in the lingering sensations of his dream, he raised a hand. His palm felt warm, and he could even feel a fine sheen of sweat. That burning feeling in his chest remained so vivid that he could recall it clearly, yet the actual contents of the dream were already growing hazy.
“My lord.” Seeing that he was awake, Li Wei hurried over and bowed. “Lord Changfeng sent someone over early this morning with some gifts. They’re temporarily stored in the reception hall. Would you like to accept them?”
“Lord Changfeng?”
Having only just awakened, Mo Xi was still struggling to disentangle the memories of two lifetimes from the remnants of his dream. Even the formidable and brilliant Officer Mo needed a moment to recover.
After a while, he rubbed his brow, frowning slightly as he remembered.
Oh. The female lead’s chatty older brother.
The voice of the character reference guide, Gu Mang, promptly corrected him.
【Incorrect. Neither of the two Miss Qu sisters is the female lead.】
Despite this emphatic clarification, Mo Xi was still in a bad mood from having just woken up. He asked Li Wei impatiently, “There’s no festival or celebration. Why would a royal relative send me gifts?”
“He said one of his family’s official ships has just arrived, carrying some of the finest northern jujubes, along with various precious curios.”
Captain Mo had always been an upright man. After so many years as a police officer, he had never even accepted a cup of water from a neighborhood auntie. So, out of habit, he replied, “Send everything back. Tell him I appreciate the gesture, but I can’t accept the gifts.”
“Yes, my lord.”
After Mo Xi had washed and dressed, he went to the reception hall and took one look at the gifts.
It was absurd. Apart from the jujubes, there were pearls and jade, fine silks and brocades, magical artifacts, spiritual medicines, and all sorts of other valuables, packed into eight large chests.
Captain Mo’s brows furrowed deeply. He called over Li Wei, who was busy organizing everything.
“Has Lord Changfeng committed a crime?”
“Huh?” Li Wei stared at him blankly. “No, he hasn’t.”
“Then what is all this supposed to mean?”
What else could it mean? Li Wei thought to himself. Neither of the two young ladies in the Qu family is married. First they invited you to listen to music, and now they’re sending you gifts. What else do you think it means?
However, Steward Li was exceptionally skilled at keeping himself alive. He knew when it was safe to speak and when it was best to pretend to know nothing.
So he replied, “If even Your Lordship doesn’t know, then I certainly know even less.”
Mo Xi swept his gaze over the gifts several more times, still unable to figure out the other party’s intentions. In the end, he decided he could not be bothered with them. He straightened his cuffs and said, “I’m going out. I won’t be back for lunch, so tell the kitchen not to prepare a meal for me.”
“Oh…” Li Wei answered, but could not resist sneaking a glance at Mo Xi.
His lord had been acting strangely lately.
Ever since returning from Wangshu Residence, he had been going out every single day with unfailing regularity, even when there were no court sessions or military affairs to attend to. Sometimes he was gone for half a day, sometimes for an entire day, and sometimes he did not return until late at night.
And he never allowed his attendants to accompany him.
The more Li Wei thought about it, the more it seemed that his lord was secretly meeting some beautiful woman…
The moment this thought crossed his mind, Li Wei nearly broke out in a cold sweat.
No, no, no! How could that be possible?
First there had been Princess Mengze, and now there was Second Miss Qu from the Changfeng Residence. Not to mention all the other noble young ladies, each more alluring and seductive than the last. Every one of them had tried to melt the heart of their aloof, icy god of a lord, yet not a single one had succeeded.
Their Lord Xihe was completely hopeless when it came to romance. He barely even looked at the women who pursued him.
Li Wei secretly mused that if Lord Xihe really were capable of secretly dating a young lady behind everyone’s backs, then she would have to be an extraordinarily formidable beauty—a true femme fatale.
Chonghua, Eastern Market.
Mo Xi sat down at a tea stall on the street corner, his expression dark, and ordered a pot of Yangxian tea.
The tea arrived quickly, accompanied by some dried fruits and candied snacks. Mo Xi sipped it slowly, his long, elegant eyes occasionally shifting toward the opposite side of the street.
Across from him lay the lotus pond in the rear courtyard of Luomei Villa.
And that filthy little “femme fatale” had not appeared for a long time.
In the preceding days, Gu Mang had come here almost every day to stand in a daze. He did nothing at all. He simply stood alone on the covered bridge, silent and solitary, staring at the fish in the lotus pond.
His face had always looked blank and bewildered, like a landscape buried beneath a vast snowfall.
At first, Mo Xi had not understood what was so fascinating about those fish. Then, one day, he noticed Gu Mang trying to reach out and catch one.
Naturally, it was impossible. All Gu Mang accomplished was getting his hand wet.
Afterward, he squatted blankly by the bank, watching the koi swim away with their graceful, swaying tails. His Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed.
Mo Xi suddenly understood.
He’s hungry.
Murong Lian had threatened to withhold Gu Mang’s meals for an entire month. More than ten days had passed since then. And now, this pitiful fellow had actually started thinking about catching fish to eat for himself…
Mo Xi was both exasperated and amused. There was also a faint ache in his chest, though he had no idea what caused it.
Perhaps I just feel sorry for the fish now that this fellow has set his sights on them.
Yet for some reason, Gu Mang had stopped appearing over the past few days. The last time Mo Xi had seen him was five days ago. Since then, Gu Mang had not shown up at the lotus pond even once.
Today was no different.
Mo Xi slowly finished his tea, asked the stall owner to refill the pot, and sat for a long while longer.
Still, Gu Mang did not appear.
He hasn’t come out for five days. Could something have happened inside Luomei Villa?
The thought made Mo Xi increasingly anxious. He finished the last of his Yangxian tea, stood up, and headed across the street.
【What are you doing?】 Li Junlei’s alarm bells immediately went off. 【Warning: Lord Xihe would never brazenly stroll into a brothel. This behavior will…】
“Lord Xihe would be even less likely to climb over the wall every few days,” Mo Xi retorted. “Have you forgotten how close I came to being spotted last time?”
【…】
A real man plays the system. Only an idiot lets the system play him.
Li Junlei was left speechless. After a long struggle, it tried again.
【Nevertheless, Lord Xihe would never visit a brothel. This behavior will result in a 5% deduction from your character fidelity rating.】
Mo Xi stopped walking and suddenly asked, “What time is it now?”
【…The hour of Shen.】
Captain Mo, who was busy playing the system, sneered.
“Has the brothel opened its doors to customers yet?”