Swish, swish.
Outside Luomei Villa, a low-ranking cultivator was sweeping fallen paulownia leaves off the white jade and bluestone paving.
Suddenly, a pair of black military boots appeared in his field of vision. The cultivator stopped sweeping and looked up with a polite smile, ready to turn the visitor away.
“Good sir, it’s not dark yet. Our villa doesn’t open until the hour of Xu. Perhaps you’d like to come back a little later—”
He had not finished speaking when he finally got a clear look at the visitor’s face. His eyes flew wide, and he was so horrified that he dropped his broom.
The cultivator stared, dumbfounded.
“L-Lord Xihe?!?!”
Mo Xi stood tall in his military uniform, his collar neatly layered and every fold of his clothing impeccably arranged. He looked every inch the proper, upright gentleman.
“I’m here to see someone,” he said.
“??!” The low-ranking cultivator’s jaw nearly hit the ground.
This was Luomei Villa, and Lord Xihe was famously indifferent to worldly pleasures. Was he actually going to visit a brothel of his own accord? Was the sun about to rise in the west?!
Mo Xi’s face was as cold as frost, his eyes as clear and icy as jade. His gaze grew increasingly intimidating.
“What are you staring at? Am I not allowed to go in?”
“N-No, of course you are!” The young cultivator hurriedly ushered him inside. “Please, this way! This way.” Then, stammering, he asked, “Who is Lord Xihe here to see?”
Mo Xi fell silent for a moment. Turning his face aside, he answered expressionlessly, “Gu Mang.”
“Oh! So you’re here to see him…” The young cultivator suddenly relaxed as understanding dawned.
Lord Xihe visiting a brothel was certainly beyond comprehension. But Lord Xihe coming to see Gu Mang? That made perfect sense. After all, the two of them had such a deep-seated grudge. If Lord Xihe was in a bad mood and wanted to come over to take out his frustrations on Gu Mang, that would be entirely normal.
Mo Xi followed the young cultivator into Luomei Villa without further difficulty. In his mind, he asked Li Junlei coldly, 【My actions are perfectly consistent with my character setting. Why aren’t you giving me any points?】
Li Junlei was probably still too flustered to recover from being caught off guard. It simply played dead and refused to answer.
As they walked, the young cultivator explained, “Lord Xihe, Gu Mang is in that filthy, abandoned shed in the back courtyard. When you go in, please be careful with your clothes. You wouldn’t want them getting dirty.”
Mo Xi frowned. “Why is he there?”
“Uh, that’s a long story. Didn’t Lord Wangshu punish him a while ago? So we put Gu Mang to work around the courtyard, chopping firewood and doing other labor. But a few days ago, he must have been terribly hungry, because he sneaked into the kitchen in the middle of the night to steal steamed buns.”
Mo Xi imagined Gu Mang sneaking around to steal steamed buns, and his expression darkened.
“And then?”
“Well, stealing one or two wouldn’t have been a problem. No one would have noticed. But he ate like a starving ghost reborn—he polished off four entire baskets in one go! When the cook went in the next morning, Gu Mang was still there, clutching the buns and stuffing his face. Naturally, the cook wasn’t pleased. He stormed over to settle the score with him. And then…”
Mo Xi glanced at the young cultivator, who had suddenly begun to look apprehensive.
“Did the cook attack him physically and trigger the sword formation?”
The cultivator’s eyes widened. “Yes, yes! Lord Xihe, have you seen that formation yourself?”
Mo Xi did not answer. Instead, indistinct shadows seemed to drift through his eyes. As though he did not want anyone to notice, he lowered his lashes.
“That cook went way too far with the beating and cursing. Gu Mang fought back fiercely, and when the sword formation activated, he couldn’t dodge in time. He ended up covered in blood.” The young cultivator rubbed the goosebumps on the back of his hand. “Good heavens, he had hundreds of cuts all over him. It was a terrifying sight.”
Mo Xi was silent for a moment before asking, “Was he badly hurt?”
“No, no, he’s fine. Thank you for your concern, Lord Xihe. That sword formation isn’t particularly powerful. There were lots of cuts, but they were all superficial. Gu Mang, on the other hand, was locked up afterward and is now curled up in the woodshed. Before this incident, we were at least giving him a piece of flatbread each day. But after what happened, the manager ordered that we starve him for another fifteen days, giving him only a bowl of thin porridge each day so he can learn his lesson.” The young cultivator hesitated, then offered, “Lord Xihe, why don’t I have someone tie him up and bring him to you? That formation of his is far too dangerous.”
“No need.” Mo Xi’s expression revealed nothing. After a pause, he said, “I’ll go to him myself.”
Since Gu Mang was no longer required to entertain guests, he had been moved into the shabbiest little room in all of Luomei Villa.
People often said that a lone wolf could not survive for long. Gu Mang’s body had, to a considerable extent, been reforged to resemble that of a wild wolf. He was afraid of being alone and often muttered to himself, which unnerved the people at Luomei Villa. So they had simply given him a black dog for company.
The black dog was sitting outside the dilapidated little room. The moment it saw a stranger approaching, it erupted into a frenzy of barking and snarling.
Mo Xi shot it a glance with eyes sharp as daggers. The dog froze for a moment, then immediately quieted down, its tail between its legs.
“Lord Xihe, even the dog is afraid of you.”
Obviously. The Mo Xi inside the book had killed countless people. What was one dog to him?
Mo Xi’s black military boots crossed several stone steps. He then swept aside the heavy curtain and looked into the cramped, dim room.
Unlike the lavishly decorated spaces elsewhere in the villa, this little room was bare and austere. Apart from a pile of firewood and a few broken jars, there was nothing else.
Gu Mang was curled up in a dark corner like a wild animal. Hearing someone approach, he twitched his ears, lifted his head, and stared silently at the intruder, alert and wary.
The young cultivator who had accompanied Mo Xi hurriedly warned him, “Lord Xihe, please be careful. You can beat him or curse him as much as you like, but whatever you do, don’t touch him with your bare hands. He’s hostile toward everyone now, and he fights back viciously.”
Mo Xi seemed unconcerned. He merely gave a slight nod and said, “You may leave.”
The young cultivator hesitated. Lord Wangshu often said that it would be no problem if Gu Mang died, but everyone knew those were just words. If Gu Mang really died, they would all be in serious trouble.
Marshal Mo hated Gu Mang so much. Surely he wasn’t planning to wait until nightfall and then tear the man limb from limb…
“I want to be alone with him for a while.”
Mo Xi’s gaze was dark and somber. The young cultivator did not dare say anything more and lowered his head.
“Yes, my lord.”
Once the cultivator had left, Mo Xi released the curtain. The heavy, filthy cloth fell behind him, plunging the room into darkness. There was not even a single candle inside.
In the darkness, only Gu Mang’s bright, clear eyes shone.
Mo Xi frowned. Suddenly, something seemed wrong.
What is going on with his eyes?
He raised one hand, and a ball of flame flared to life in his palm. Then he walked toward the two faintly glowing points in the darkness.
Gu Mang had been locked up for five days, and his mind had grown somewhat muddled. On top of that, he had not seen such a painfully bright light for a long time. A low, threatening growl first rose in his throat. When he realized that the intruder had no intention of stopping, the growl turned into a mournful whimper, like that of an animal trying to flee from its cave.
But he was too weak. He had barely managed to scramble up and take two steps before stumbling and falling to the ground again.
Mo Xi stopped in front of him. At last, the firelight spilled over Gu Mang’s wretched, disheveled figure.
Realizing that escape was impossible, Gu Mang simply turned his head and glared at him again.
Something really is wrong.
During their previous two encounters, the lighting had been dim and ambiguous, and emotions had run too high. Mo Xi had never properly examined Gu Mang’s face. Only now did he realize that Gu Mang’s eyes were no longer the same.
The black eyes that had once been so full of laughter were gone.
In their place was a pair of deep blue irises, speckled with faint, luminous points in the gloom.
They were unmistakably the eyes of a snow wolf.
Although Mo Xi knew that Liao had subjected Gu Mang to a reforging process that fused human and beast, seeing the signs of a wolf replace the features he had once known so intimately still made his hands tremble.
He abruptly seized Gu Mang by the chin and stared hard into those sea-blue eyes.
Who are you?
Who the hell are you?!
The flame in his other hand flickered more violently with its master’s agitation. Its light grew almost white, illuminating Gu Mang’s face as Mo Xi’s gaze raked over him with the merciless precision of a blade.
Perhaps Mo Xi’s stare was too searing, too painfully piercing. Somehow, Gu Mang found the strength to wrench himself free. He struggled forward another few unsteady steps.
Mo Xi barked, “Stop right there!”
The fireball hovered in the air as one of his hands clamped around Gu Mang’s arm.
His movements were too forceful. This time, Gu Mang was genuinely frightened. Several dazzling flashes of blue light burst forth. The sword formation activated again, and dozens of invisible swords exploded out of Gu Mang’s body. Their blades all turned in unison and shot straight toward Mo Xi.
In the next instant, blood should have been spraying everywhere!
But at that very critical moment, something strange happened.
The moment the swords touched Mo Xi, they all dissolved into crystalline wings, drifting slowly down to the ground.
Gu Mang stood frozen in shock.
Mo Xi, however, acted as though he had known all along that the sword formation would have no effect on him. Tightening his grip, he pulled Gu Mang back toward him in one swift movement.
“???”
Gu Mang remained dazed for a moment. Then he suddenly realized that he was being held in a solid, unyielding embrace and immediately began struggling wildly with both hands and feet.
Mo Xi snapped, “Stop moving around!”
At the sound of his voice so close to his ears, Gu Mang abruptly raised his head. His panic only intensified. Clearly, he understood that the sword formation was his last line of defense. If it failed, the lone wolf would be left without even the few claws and fangs he had left. He would be completely at the mercy of others.
And against this man, who was suppressing his fury with such difficulty, Gu Mang had no power to resist at all.
“Don’t…”
At last, he spoke, his voice trembling slightly.
Mo Xi’s chest rose and fell as he looked down at the man in his arms. Grinding his teeth, he demanded, “Don’t what?”
“Don’t…”
He had already lost the ability to speak once before. Now, frightened out of his wits, he struggled to form the words, each syllable slow and awkward.
“Kill me…”
Mo Xi: “…”
Those deep blue eyes shimmered with the pitiful, pleading light of a frightened beast. With tremendous effort and clumsy desperation, Gu Mang begged him.
“I…”
His lips moved slowly.
“I… want… to live…”
Mo Xi’s heart gave a violent jolt.
When he met that look in Gu Mang’s eyes—the look of someone driven to the very edge of despair—the scar on his chest seemed to throb painfully all over again.
—I want to live! What’s wrong with just wanting to live comfortably? Officer Mo, do you understand me? Huh?! I can’t survive as a normal person! I can’t survive while fully conscious! Do you know what it’s like to want to die every single second of every single minute? You have no idea!
During their final battle, just before Gu Mang was captured, he had screamed those words at Mo Xi in a frenzy, utterly out of control, his eyes bloodshot and his body drenched in blood.
He wanted to live.
And yet he wanted to die every second of every minute.
Year after year, he had endured this torment, trapped in an endless cycle of suffering with no escape.
Now, blue-eyed Gu Mang whispered in a small, miserable voice, driven by nothing more than an animal’s instinct to survive.
“I want to live…”
“…”
Mo Xi closed his eyes briefly.
“I won’t hurt you.”
The man in his arms continued to tremble faintly.
He was terribly hungry. His cheekbones had grown so prominent that his face looked gaunt and hollow, and his slightly long black bangs hung down along either side of his face.
He kept staring at Mo Xi’s face. Mo Xi simply allowed him to look for as long as he wanted.
It took a long time before Gu Mang’s trembling began to subside.
But the moment Mo Xi moved his arm, Gu Mang’s eyes widened again. His pupils darted anxiously from side to side. He seemed to want to escape, yet also seemed to understand that escape would be futile.
“…It’s me.”
“…”
Mo Xi did not know why he had not seized Gu Mang and interrogated him, tormented him, or humiliated him.
He had been so disappointed, so hateful, so tangled up in conflicting emotions, so unable to find peace.
Yet now that he was actually looking at Gu Mang, helpless and bewildered, the storm raging inside him seemed to have fallen silent, like a torrential downpour finally coming to an end.
“Do you still remember me?”
The patience in his own voice surprised even him. After asking the question, Mo Xi felt strangely uncomfortable, so he made his next words harsher.
“If you don’t remember, forget it.”
Gu Mang remained silent.
Just as Mo Xi was beginning to grow restless again at his lack of response, Gu Mang suddenly said, “You paid to sleep with me.”
“……………………”
“Listen to me.” Mo Xi was practically grinding his teeth. “From now on, don’t use that word in front of me. And that day, I came to see you to discuss something. Not to… not to…”
No matter what, he simply could not bring himself to say the word prostitute or sleep with.
Mo Xi’s face darkened. He turned his head away, then finally forced out stiffly, “Remember this: we were discussing something.”
“Discussing something…” Gu Mang murmured.
At last, he relaxed a little. Even so, his eyes continued to track every tiny change in Mo Xi’s expression.
Finally, he asked slowly, “…Why?”
“Why what?”
“Why did my…”
Gu Mang had not yet recovered emotionally. He could not speak as calmly or fluently as he had on the night they first met again. He had been so thoroughly starved and beaten that, for the moment, he could only force the words out one at a time.
“My swords… are gone. When I hit you, why… can’t I hit you?”
Mo Xi did not answer immediately. His expression slowly darkened, becoming cold and grim.
“Why?”
“…”
Why?
At Murong Lian’s banquet that day, someone had remarked that although Gu Mang’s sword formation was extraordinary, no one in the world still knew its secret.
That person had been wrong.
At the banquet, there had been someone who not only understood the secrets of the formation but also knew exactly why Gu Mang had created it in the first place.
That person was Mo Xi, who had remained silent throughout.
Mo Xi stared at Gu Mang’s face, still restraining him with one arm to keep him from moving. With his other hand, he released Gu Mang’s chin and slowly traced his fingers down the side of his neck.
At last, the rough pad of his thumb came to rest on the lotus-shaped sigil of the sword formation.
Mo Xi looked down at him without speaking, stroking his neck. His eyes had grown faintly red. It seemed that in the next instant, he might bend down and bite the lotus sigil in a fit of hatred, tearing through Gu Mang’s skin and blood vessels until the man died in his arms.
As though doing so would finally ensure that Gu Mang could never deceive him again, never betray him again, never disappoint him again.
Only then would Gu Mang finally behave.
Perhaps Mo Xi’s gaze was too obsessive, the emotions suppressed beneath it too frenzied. Gu Mang sensed that something was wrong. His eyes wandered uneasily, and his lips trembled slightly, as though he were whispering something under his breath.
At last, Mo Xi spoke, slowly and in a low voice.
“Stop chanting.”
“…!”
“No matter how many times you try to summon it, it won’t work.”
Gu Mang stared at him in astonishment. “You… know?”
“I know.”
Mo Xi’s gaze moved away from the lotus and slowly, deeply sank into Gu Mang’s dark blue eyes.
“This sword formation can activate on its own. But if you truly want it to appear, you can also summon it by making a sincere request.”
Gu Mang’s face grew even paler. His eyes widened.
Mo Xi’s expression was complicated, as though profound hatred had become hopelessly entangled with profound attachment, forming a web from which he could not escape. He had no idea what he should do.
“But if I don’t allow it, it won’t appear either.”
Mo Xi paused. The color in his eyes deepened further. His pale lips parted and closed as he continued, slowly and deliberately.
“Because it listens to you, but it listens to me, too.”
“You’re not its only master.”
With every sentence Mo Xi uttered, Gu Mang’s face grew a shade paler. By the end, he was as white as a thin sheet of paper, staring blankly at the man standing so close to him.
“Wh… why…?”
Mo Xi looked down at him. His breathing was low and heavy. Though he did not wish to reveal too much of what he felt, the pain in his eyes could no longer be concealed. His eyelashes trembled, and his Adam’s apple moved as he swallowed.
“Gu Mang.” He paused, then closed his eyes. “Have you really forgotten everything?”
Gu Mang stared up at him, his ocean-blue eyes reflecting Mo Xi’s handsome, unfamiliar face.
“You… it can’t stop you…” he murmured, suddenly growing flustered and alarmed. His expression held the wary alertness of a wild animal. “Why… does it listen to you?”
Mo Xi’s expression was impossible to read. It was unclear whether he looked cold or wounded. His lips parted, and his words came out icy and merciless.
“Of course it listens to me.”
“…”
Silence.
Mo Xi closed his eyes.
Then, as though a suppressed river of molten fire had finally cracked through the earth, he abruptly opened them again. His eyes were now blazing scarlet!
He suddenly lost control and roared, “Of course it listens to me—because the blood used in your sigil is mine!”
Gu Mang had clearly understood.
He stared wide-eyed at the unfamiliar man before him, completely stunned.
The man’s expression was unbearably complicated, as though he carried twice the love and hatred, endured twice the pain, and was now erupting with twice the despair.
Suddenly, Mo Xi raised a hand and almost violently tore open the stiff, neatly overlapping collar of his uniform, exposing the long, bare side of his neck.
His gaze was tempered with icy light, yet steeped in a turmoil of fire and ice. He gritted his teeth.
“Do you see it?” The light in his eyes was sharp, but wet with tears. “This sigil—it’s exactly the same as yours.”
“Your blood! You did this!”
As he spoke, he abruptly shoved Gu Mang away, as though he suddenly could not bear to touch him anymore, could no longer bear to have anything to do with him.
Mo Xi covered his forehead with one hand.
His voice broke on the final word.