Mo Xi’s heartbeat suddenly quickened. His mind buzzed, and he immediately reached out to restrain him, but before he could touch Gu Mang, his neck was already wrapped in an embrace.
In the darkness, Gu Mang was almost trembling from collapse. Between their kisses, he murmured hoarsely and incoherently:
“Hold me…”
Back when Gu Mang fought in wars, people said there was the ferocity of an alpha wolf in him—ruthless, sharp, brave, and possessing the ability to command. He was a war general standing upon an unreachable altar, revered by the Chonghua Empire, and thus he had earned the title:
“The Beast of the Divine Altar.”
But outsiders did not know the wildness he possessed in other places.
Only Mo Xi knew what Gu Mang was like in bed. He had powerful, taut muscles, a sharply defined waistline, and a body full of tension when their necks intertwined. In the past, when the two of them were entangled with one another, Mo Xi had been kissed by Gu Mang countless times, and afterward he had sunk deeply into that warmth, unable to free himself.
But not now.
Too much time had passed. There was betrayal and life and death between them, national hatred and personal grudges. Suddenly being restrained and forcefully kissed again caused anger to burn within Mo Xi, stirring up desire. His ears rang, but he still forced himself to endure it. He restrained Gu Mang with his backhand, then roughly buried his fingers into Gu Mang’s hair. The scent of blood spread between their lips and teeth.
Mo Xi gritted his teeth.
“…Don’t provoke me.”
A fireball suddenly lit up in his palm, illuminating the sleeping quarters.
It was still the same as Mo Xi remembered—the small servant’s room without windows, with belongings scattered messily everywhere. Beside the bed was a small jar turned upside down as a makeshift bedside table, and on top of it sat a round-bellied vase holding a few wildflowers.
Gu Mang’s consciousness seemed to have completely collapsed. He stared at Mo Xi blankly and longingly for a while, as if he had not understood a single word Mo Xi had said. After a moment, he moved closer again, wanting to kiss Mo Xi’s pale, slightly parted lips.
Mo Xi felt both irritated and overheated.
“Don’t touch me!”
But the ghostly figure had given Gu Mang some damned medicine. His body had recovered extremely well, and with even the slightest relaxation, Mo Xi could barely keep him restrained.
Their struggle became too fierce. In a moment of carelessness, Gu Mang tripped over his own foot and dragged Mo Xi down onto the bed with him. The small wooden bed let out a dangerous creak.
Mo Xi landed heavily on top of Gu Mang.
Almost at the same time, Gu Mang let out a hoarse muffled sound.
The contact and friction with another man caused his gaze to become even more confused. His body after taking the aphrodisiac was burning hot, and moisture shimmered in his blue eyes, as though fire had ignited upon a river’s surface and was about to consume Mo Xi’s soul.
Mo Xi lowered his head and looked at the man beneath him.
His own blood was burning fiercely as well.
He had restrained himself for so many years, and on top of that, he had always possessed an intense desire for Gu Mang. He had to forcibly suppress his own urges just to prevent himself from crossing any boundaries.
His actions could be controlled, but his reactions could not.
Mo Xi’s breathing grew heavier and deeper, filled with the strength and tension of a man. While he commanded Gu Mang in a low voice not to move, the warm breath from his words brushed against Gu Mang’s ear, causing a shiver to run through him.
Gu Mang’s throat moved. His damp eyes looked at him for a while before he rasped:
“…It hurts.”
“…”
“Very… hot…”
Mo Xi breathed heavily. In those deep blue eyes, he saw his own reflection, surrounded by a haze of desire.
“I’m very… hot…”
It was not only Gu Mang who was hot.
But Mo Xi would never say such words aloud. His arm firmly pressed Gu Mang down, yet Gu Mang continued struggling and rubbing against him beneath him. After going back and forth like this, how could Mo Xi possibly have no reaction?
As their bodies tangled together, Mo Xi finally shouted in a low voice:
“Stop moving!”
But Gu Mang felt it.
The man was pressing firmly against him. Through their clothes, even an accidental brush against that hardness seemed to awaken some deeply buried memory inside his mind.
His entire body trembled, and a low moan escaped his throat.
The Xihe Lord, who had never been moved by beauty, felt that a single soft sound from Gu Mang made him unbearably hard, painfully swollen, and nearly insane.
It was too difficult to endure…
Especially with Gu Mang lying on the bed at this moment, his clothes disordered, his eyes hazy, his chest rising and falling as he breathed.
His expression looked so sorrowful, as though he was blaming Mo Xi for refusing to touch him, or perhaps he was simply suffering from pain and emptiness.
“I feel awful…”
Mo Xi clenched his teeth.
“Endure it.”
“You…”
Gu Mang’s mind was unclear.
“You rub against me again…”
Such naked and direct words, simple yet shameful, spoken from Gu Mang’s mouth, caused a sudden blaze to rise in Mo Xi’s chest. He abruptly closed his eyes and cursed inwardly, refusing to look at Gu Mang’s face.
But this was not something that could disappear simply because he did not look.
Gu Mang raised his hand to touch his face, trembling as he tried once again to capture his lips.
Mo Xi opened his eyes.
His dark eyes were deep and turbulent.
Even though such fierce desire had already accumulated within him, when Gu Mang moved closer to kiss him, Mo Xi raised his hand and covered Gu Mang’s face.
Mo Xi said angrily:
“I will never… touch you again!”
Gu Mang clearly understood.
His eyes widened slightly, as though he was hurt or suffering from something. The moisture in his blue eyes grew deeper and deeper.
Mo Xi could not give him any response.
Otherwise, Gu Mang would resonate with him, and this illusion would become even harder to break.
But he also could not remove the aphrodisiac poison currently affecting Gu Mang.
Fine beads of sweat appeared on Gu Mang’s forehead. In his confusion, it seemed he could no longer endure it. Beneath Mo Xi, he struggled weakly.
“…It hurts…”
“…”
His pupils contracted under the stimulation of the medicine. Unable to endure the torment, Gu Mang choked out:
“…Don’t… don’t do this…”
Mo Xi restrained him.
The person in his arms trembled more and more violently until, in the end, he was almost convulsing.
“So… painful…”
After enduring for so long, Gu Mang nearly broke down. Like a dying fish, he gasped desperately for air. His face was flushed with an unnatural redness, and he struggled and sobbed in confusion and violent desperation.
“You… might as well… kill me…”
Mo Xi’s heart tightened.
“Gu Mang…”
“Kill me. Just do it… kill me…”
“…”
Mo Xi cursed inwardly. He swept backward with his reverse grip and shouted:
“Transform into a blade!”
The Suiran whip suddenly flew back into his palm. Amid flashing red light, it transformed into a blood-colored long sword, and with a sharp clang, it collided with the bayonet once more.
Mo Xi gritted his teeth. Through the space between blade and sword, he stared at that icy-cold face only inches away.
Was this an illusory figure created by the Dream Person?
Or was this truly Gu Mang sent here…
The ghostly shadow laughed wildly and unrestrainedly:
“Come now. With your abilities, if you truly want to kill him, it is not impossible. Aim at his chest and stab. Go on… hahaha! Stab him! If he happens to be real, then he will die—if he dies, wouldn’t that be exactly what you wanted?”
“A traitor. A criminal who betrayed his country… Come, Xihe Lord, what are you hesitating for?”
“Kill him! Hahaha!!!”
Kill him.
He was a traitor.
He had caused the deaths of countless civilians, countless soldiers, sending all those who had once believed in him into despair.
He abandoned his motherland and surrendered to the Liao Kingdom—
But wasn’t the First Royal Army of Chonghua also something he had personally built?
Using his own blood and tears, even his own life… he had dragged those people out from the hell of war.
It was Gu Mang who crawled out with his brothers. It was Gu Mang who returned carrying the corpses of those who had died in battle. He saw hope and a future, and so he shouted, stubbornly insisting:
“Come on! It’s alright now. Call me Marshal Gu. I will definitely take you home.”
I will take you home…
A group of filthy cultivators, some slaves who had no fathers or mothers, used their blood and loyalty to seek a gravestone with names carved upon it for their fallen comrades, and a proper burial with dignity.
But Chonghua refused.
The old aristocratic clans refused.
They had entered hell for Chonghua. They had dragged their broken bodies out while barely clinging to life.
And then the person seated upon the throne seemed to say:
“Oh? Weren’t you supposed to have all died in hell? Why did you come back? What am I supposed to do now? I can’t possibly take an army formed by slaves and commanded by slaves, bury the dead in Battle Soul Mountain, and grant the living honors equal to those of nobles, can I?”
Hell was where lowborn people belonged.
A barren graveyard was enough. Why would they need tombstones?
So Gu Mang betrayed them.
Gu Mang left.
Mo Xi was not someone who could not understand.
Nor was he someone who could not forgive.
—
But why the Liao Kingdom?
The people of Liao were practically all madmen. Every time they conquered a country, they slaughtered indiscriminately, ate human flesh, drank blood… They were obsessed with conquest and would destroy beautiful lands without hesitation.
Why did he choose Liao of all places?
The Liao Kingdom that had killed his father!
The Liao Kingdom that devoured people, that relied on bloody arts to slaughter across the world and bring disaster upon countless lands!
Why?!
Was it for revenge?
Because of hatred?
Or because Liao was one of the few great nations capable of standing against Chonghua?
Because only by entering the devil’s den himself, destroying all traces of kindness, sacrificing his loyal heart, could he one day stand beneath their city walls, rip out the emperor’s heart with his own hands, and crush those nobles who had once trampled upon them beneath his feet, leaving only a ground soaked in blood and brain matter?!
As these thoughts flashed through his mind, the Suiran sword in his hand was suddenly knocked away by Gu Mang.
With a swift motion, the bayonet was already pressed against Mo Xi’s chest.
Gu Mang did not speak.
He made no further move.
He merely looked at him calmly and said:
“You lost.”
Mo Xi remained silent.
Instead, the ghostly shadow laughed, almost with a sigh:
“Xihe Lord, I warned you. Yet you still couldn’t bring yourself to fight him seriously.”
“…”
“Seeing how deeply attached you are to him, I shall tell you.”
The ghost paused, then spoke with obvious amusement.
“The Gu Mang before your eyes is real.”
“Thanks to your unwillingness to hurt him, he would not have been your opponent otherwise. However…”
The ghost laughed softly.
“You have feelings, but he no longer has any sense of loyalty. Gu Mang is currently being driven by evil energy, and he only listens to my commands. If I order him to kill you, he will not hesitate.”
Its voice drifted endlessly around them:
“Reality and illusion, truth and falsehood—you cannot tell which choice to make. That is the true purpose of the Dream Person technique. Have you learned it now? Unfortunately, even if you have, it is already too late.”
The ghost gave its final command with a mocking laugh:
“Go. Kill him.”
Gu Mang’s deep blue eyes darkened.
He immediately raised his hand and swung his blade.
But at that moment, in the split second before the strike landed, the red lotus mark on Mo Xi’s neck suddenly emitted a bright glow.
Dozens of red sword energies burst out from his body!
Gu Mang was startled. He immediately turned away to dodge, raising his hand to strike away several of the flying swords attacking him. The sounds of clashing metal rang out repeatedly.
But while he was fully focused on forcing back the sword formation, his feet were suddenly bound by ropes transformed from the Suiran whip.
His footing became unstable.
He staggered and fell to one knee, supporting himself with one hand on the ground. Raising his eyes, he looked at Mo Xi with a fierce and cold gaze.
“You pretended to lose.”
He finally spoke.
Mo Xi dispersed the sword formation, his expression extremely complicated.
He walked toward Gu Mang. Spiritual energy surged within his palm, causing Suiran to wrap even tighter around Gu Mang’s body. Then, with two fingers, he lifted Gu Mang’s chin and removed the demonic weapon from his trembling hand.
Mo Xi stared at those clear blue eyes.
His expression was gloomy as he said coldly:
“…Yes. If I could be so easily captured, wouldn’t that have betrayed all the painstaking lessons my senior brother once taught me?”
“…”
Gu Mang showed no expression, as if he could not understand Mo Xi’s words at all.
Mo Xi raised his eyes.
“What other tricks do you have? Why not use them again?”
The ghostly shadow sneered.
“I naturally—”
But before it could finish speaking, the surrounding illusion suddenly trembled violently!
The ghost was clearly shocked.
Mo Xi heard low curses echoing around the illusion, gradually fading and dispersing. The ghost spoke coldly:
“Mo Xi, the outcome has not yet been decided. You cannot capture me at all. Do not become arrogant too soon!”
Mo Xi’s expression darkened.
It seemed the reinforcements sent by the Emperor had finally arrived.
The bricks and tiles around them began falling apart, yet none of them struck their bodies.
Someone outside had begun attacking.
The Dream Person could no longer maintain the illusion.
The scene before them twisted and distorted.
Suddenly—
With a loud crash, Wangshu Residence shattered into countless fragments of dust, and everything disappeared completely.
“Xihe Lord! Xihe Lord!”
The reinforcements who had broken through the barrier were two people.
One of them was Yue Chenqing. He hurried over, first seeing Mo Xi and letting out a sigh of relief, but when he saw Gu Mang, he immediately froze in shock.
“You… uh… are you two alright?”
Mo Xi had returned to the foothills of Battle Soul Mountain.
His hand was still gripping Gu Mang’s hair, restraining this person who was currently far from obedient.
The red lotus mark on his neck gradually faded away, slowly disappearing without a trace.
Before Mo Xi could say anything, the other reinforcement spoke.
The Emperor had actually sent Murong Lian.
Murong Lian leaned against a tree, looking as though whether they lived or died had nothing to do with him. His attitude was basically: if they survived, he would report back; if they died, he would set off firecrackers and collect the bodies.
He still held a water pipe in his hand. He casually took a puff of Floating Life Like a Dream and exhaled a thin stream of smoke.
“What could possibly have happened to them? Aren’t they just standing here perfectly fine?”
Yue Chenqing still wanted to say something, but Murong Lian interrupted him again. He glanced at Gu Mang twice and sneered.
“This traitor really does have some ability. He was tortured by me until he had only one breath left, yet suddenly he’s full of life again and even managed to escape prison.”
“…”
“Xihe Lord, this king can’t help but wonder. He recovered so quickly—could it be that you have secretly been taking care of him?”
Murong Lian spoke in a deliberately mocking tone.
Mo Xi did not want to pay attention to this madman. He turned his head toward Yue Chenqing.
“Why did you come too?”
“The Emperor said that I had at least been your deputy commander for two years and had experience with Liao Kingdom magic arts, so he forced me to come.”
Yue Chenqing widened his eyes.
“Xihe Lord, have you already found that flower thief?”
Mo Xi glanced ahead.
There was a cave entrance in front of them.
The Dream Person technique required an enormous amount of spiritual energy to maintain, and the caster could not be too far away from the illusion.
He said:
“He is inside.”
Time was of the essence, so the three of them immediately entered the cave together.
Yue Chenqing looked back and forth at Gu Mang curiously several times before suddenly asking:
“Xihe Lord, you’re using Suiran to bind him. When we encounter the flower thief later, what will you use to fight?”
“…I have more than just Suiran as a weapon.”
“But you like using Suiran the most.”
Yue Chenqing scratched his head.
“How about this? I’ll find something else to suppress him…”
He rummaged through his Cosmos Pouch, searching through it, and finally pulled out a golden, dazzling immobilization talisman.
“Use this! This was made by my family. It can—”
“Take your father’s thing back.”
Mo Xi glanced at it.
“The spiritual energy is too violent. It’s not suitable.”
“…It’s not my father’s. My fourth uncle made it.”
Seeing that Mo Xi no longer responded, Yue Chenqing proudly held up the immobilization talisman and eagerly walked over to Gu Mang.
Gu Mang stared at him.
“…Oh wow, that’s a little intimidating. Those eyes are as blue as a wolf’s.”
Yue Chenqing scratched his neck, not daring to look directly into Gu Mang’s eyes. He clasped his hands and bowed twice.
“Big Wolf Brother, forgive me for offending you.”
Gu Mang glared fiercely at him, his eyes shifting uneasily, as if saying:
How dare you?!
Yue Chenqing had the courage of someone with little skill.
With a loud “smack,” he directly slapped his fourth uncle’s talisman onto Gu Mang’s forehead.