The next day happened to be a court recess, and Mo Xi brought Gu Mang to register him as a slave.
In most countries, slaves were considered lowly. They were not allowed to cultivate, were forbidden from studying, and were even referred to as “baseborn commoners.”
Although the Chonghua Nation was not fundamentally different from those countries, at least its attitude was somewhat more lenient.
Ever since the previous ruler inherited the throne, Chonghua had abolished the harsh term “baseborn commoners” and allowed slaves with decent aptitude to enter cultivation academies under special circumstances and cultivate spiritual cores. The previous ruler had even appointed people of slave origin as generals, allowing them to form armies and serve their nation.
These matters had once caused an enormous uproar throughout Chonghua. The old aristocrats repeatedly submitted death petitions, saying that there were precedents for such actions, that people with ambitions like wolves could not be trusted, and that if the ruler granted slaves power, they would only desire more.
What they meant was that if slaves were allowed to cultivate and establish careers, as time passed, there was no guarantee that they would not covet positions of authority and rise up to overthrow the government—after all, who would willingly be trampled beneath someone else’s feet?
But the old ruler refused to listen.
He believed that the Nine Provinces were engulfed in warfare, and conflicts between nations were growing increasingly fierce. Anyone with ability should be put to use. Otherwise, even if internal affairs were stabilized, external threats would remain unavoidable.
Gu Mang and his Wangba Army rose to prominence under such circumstances.
However, with every new ruler came new officials. After the new emperor ascended the throne, he believed that “internal affairs” were more important than “external troubles.” Therefore, he used Gu Mang as the first target, stripping him of authority and demoting him in order to appease the old clans and aristocrats.
And that was how things had reached their current state.
“We’re here.”
The carriage stopped outside a small shop beside the cultivation academy. Mo Xi stepped forward and knocked on the half-closed door.
It was an old shop with a narrow entrance and years of disrepair. Outside, there was only a wooden board casually thrown aside, with five large characters written on it:
“Compassionate Heart Refining Forge.”
The character for “refining” had already lost the two red-painted dots beside it.
Gu Mang asked, “Where is this?”
Mo Xi did not answer. He simply pushed open the swaying old wooden door and led Gu Mang inside.
The shop had poor lighting. Sunlight had long been unable to shine directly inside, and the room was filled with the heavy smell of rotting wood. To save money, the shopkeeper even refused to light lamps, relying only on the glow from the refining furnace.
An old man with a hunched figure sat before the furnace, slowly blowing air into it.
With each breath, sparks scattered through purple smoke. Orange-red, dazzling molten iron flowed out from the channels, resembling lava pouring from beneath the earth.
Mo Xi said, “Old Song.”
The elderly refining master was completely absorbed in his creation. Combined with his poor hearing, he did not hear the movement behind him at all.
Mo Xi raised his voice and called again:
“Old man.”
Only then did the elder react. He slowly turned around. The furnace light reflected onto his deeply wrinkled face, making him look like an orange that had been overexposed to the sun—shriveled and yellow.
He looked at Mo Xi and froze for a moment. Then he looked at Gu Mang, and a realization slowly appeared on his face.
He hurriedly stood up and shakily bowed.
“Oh, oh… it’s Marshal Gu…”
Gu Mang stood there in confusion. Seeing the old man bow to him, he followed his example and bowed back.
Mo Xi was silent for a moment before saying,
“He hasn’t been Marshal Gu for a long time.”
The muddle-headed Old Song looked confused.
“Is that so? Then what is he now?”
“A prisoner.”
Old Song was greatly shocked. He stared at Gu Mang for a long while.
“A prisoner… a prisoner…”
He slowly walked over. His wrinkled hand grabbed Gu Mang’s hand. After staring blankly for a moment, he suddenly smiled brightly and began speaking nonsense in a scattered manner.
“Ah, Little Gu, you’ve gotten lucky. See? Didn’t this old man tell you? There are still many good people in this world. From now on, you’re no longer a slave of the Wangshu Manor.”
As he spoke, he happily patted the back of Gu Mang’s hand.
“Come, this old man will melt away the slave collar around your neck.”
Hearing the old man’s confused words, a flash of deep pain crossed Mo Xi’s eyes.
He closed his eyes, his throat moving slightly. Just as he was about to say something, a muffled sound came from upstairs.
The wooden stairs creaked.
A gentle voice sounded:
“Lord Xihe, why have you come?”
Mo Xi turned his head and saw a man wearing a plain white robe, leaning on a wooden cane, slowly and with difficulty making his way down the stairs.
It was Jiang Yesue.
Jiang Yesue was the owner of this refining forge. Old Song had once been a refining master in the Yue Manor and was also Jiang Yesue’s mentor in his early years. After Jiang Yesue was expelled from the Yue family, the only person willing to remain by his side was this former Yue Manor servant.
Mo Xi said:
“I brought him here to register as a slave.”
Jiang Yesue was slightly stunned.
“Who?”
Mo Xi shifted his tall, straight body slightly, revealing Gu Mang behind him, who was looking around curiously.
Jiang Yesue murmured:
“…It’s Marshal Gu…”
Old Song, unwilling to be left out, reached out his withered branch-like hand and patted his disciple’s back, smiling happily.
“Today really is a good day. Yesue, look, our Little Gu has made something of himself. He’s the first person in Chonghua to have his slave status removed, right? It really wasn’t easy.”
“…”
Jiang Yesue sighed.
“Master, what you’re talking about happened many years ago.”
Old Song looked puzzled.
“I got it wrong again?”
“Yes. Back then, I could still run and walk.”
Jiang Yesue lowered his eyelashes and smiled at the old man.
“Master, you’re tired. Go rest for a while.”
After comforting the old man, Jiang Yesue returned to the two of them.
“I apologize, Lord Xihe. Master has been speaking more and more incoherently these past years. I hope you won’t take offense.”
Mo Xi said:
“It’s fine.”
Gu Mang blinked and copied him.
“It’s fine.”
Mo Xi glanced at him.
Today, the look he gave Gu Mang was not fierce. It was only somewhat strange, as though he was surrounded by some shadow from the past.
Jiang Yesue noticed everything and quietly sighed.
“If you wish to register his slave status, please follow me upstairs.”
Mo Xi asked:
“But your legs…”
“Just rely on the cane.” Jiang Yesue smiled. “It’s alright. I can walk.”
The group went upstairs.
The second floor of the refining forge was much brighter. Various weapons and armor formed from spiritual energy hung from the racks.
In this world, most weapons used by cultivators were forged from spiritual bodies. Cultivators would visit different refining shops to select suitable weapons, then have the refining masters merge the forged divine weapons with their own spiritual cores. When they needed to use them, they only had to recite a spell with their thoughts, and the weapon would appear when summoned.
Although these weapons were not as powerful as divine weapons, their forging principles were similar, and their might was still astonishing.
Furthermore, in order to create fierce and powerful weapons, refining masters would venture out to hunt various spiritual creatures—
the beak of a fire phoenix, the claws of a blue flood dragon, the teeth of a Heaven-Swallowing White Elephant…
The more vicious the spirit beast, the more powerful spiritual energy it contained. The weapons forged from them would possess an even more terrifying presence.
Some refining masters would even use resentful spirits inside weapons, creating blades capable of summoning vengeful souls to aid them in battle.
The most typical example was the ancestral Water Ghost Talisman of the Wangshu Lord’s family. It was said that nine thousand drowned evil spirits had been melted into it, creating an overwhelming aura of resentment.
And the sword spirit Li Qingqian was created through the same principle.
However, Jiang Yesue’s refining forge was different.
Not only was the old man nearly blind and confused, but Jiang Yesue himself was an extremely kind-hearted person who could not even bear to step on an ant.
Asking him to fight phoenixes or slay dragons was nothing more than a foolish dream.
“The spiritual power I use for refining comes from flowers and plants.”
He turned around and noticed Mo Xi looking at the windowsill, and could not help feeling embarrassed.
The spiritual bodies he had dried there were all soft and gentle things. Anyone could tell they were not useful for refining powerful weapons.
“The children from the cultivation academy… come here to buy weapons that won’t easily hurt people.”
Mo Xi said:
“There’s nothing wrong with that.”
Jiang Yesue smiled.
Although his refining techniques came from the Yue family, his principles were completely different from theirs.
Yue Juntian pursued dominance above all else when forging weapons. Murong Chuyi also did not care whether methods were cruel or not.
Therefore, when Jiang Yesue was young, he often clashed and argued with his father because their beliefs differed.
A person’s thoughts and beliefs were very difficult to change unless they had endured unbearable pain.
Actually, even without the incident involving his late wife, Mo Xi felt that Jiang Yesue would have eventually parted ways with the Yue family.
Jiang Yesue took an iron box from a shelf piled with refining materials and brushed away the dust on top. He then brought it before the two of them.
Mo Xi had once accompanied Gu Mang when he removed his slave collar, so he was more familiar than anyone else with this iron box.
Because of that, Jiang Yesue hesitated and glanced at him before saying,
“Lord Xihe, I’m about to perform the spell. Would you like to step away for a moment?”
But Mo Xi’s expression remained calm. He looked at the dark, gloomy box without any unnecessary emotion.
“No need.”
“Very well. Then I’ll begin.”
He placed the box on the ground, then said to Gu Mang:
“Gu…”
The word reached his lips, but he did not know how he should address him now. In the end, he only sighed.
“Please sit down.”
“Close your eyes.”
“Place your hand on the box.”
Gu Mang calmly followed the first two instructions, but when it came to the last one, he refused.
He opened his eyes again and stared at the box for a while before murmuring:
“…I don’t like this thing.”
After saying that, he looked up at Mo Xi.
“I’m leaving.”
“Sit down.”
“I’m leaving.”
Mo Xi said:
“If you still want to stay in Xihe Manor, then you must do as he says.”
Gu Mang had no choice. He could only pout slightly, looking somewhat aggrieved yet wary. After hesitating for a while, he finally placed his hand on the box.
Mo Xi said to Jiang Yesue:
“Cast the spell.”
Jiang Yesue nodded.
The way Murong Lian had handled it back then was actually incorrect. The slave collar itself contained enormous magical power. If it was simply placed on someone without proper control, it could cause the wearer’s spiritual flow to go berserk or even result in accidental death.
But at that time, none of those young people understood this.
The refining master Jiang Yesue lowered his eyes and silently recited the incantation.
Very quickly, a dark spiritual stream flowed out from the holes of the iron box. Like a snake, it climbed upward along Gu Mang’s arm—from his forearm, to his shoulder, to his collarbone…
It wrapped around his neck, and finally condensed into a black iron collar.
The lingering smoke curled once before transforming into a small plaque hanging from the iron ring.
“Finished.”
Gu Mang opened his eyes and touched his neck.
After the first touch, he did not say anything.
But soon, he touched it a second time.
This time, he spoke.
He turned his head and murmured thoughtfully:
“…A necklace…”
Mo Xi, who was leaning against the window with his long legs and narrow waist, froze slightly when he heard this.
“What?”
Gu Mang looked surprised.
“You gave me a necklace?”
“…”
Mo Xi did not answer.
Jiang Yesue, however, felt a little unable to bear it and nodded at him.
After receiving confirmation, tiny fragments of light flowed through Gu Mang’s blue eyes.
He repeatedly touched the slave collar around his neck. On that face that looked as gentle and kind as it had in the past, there appeared a cautious happiness.
Then, unexpectedly, he turned around and said to Mo Xi:
“Thank you.”
A damp breeze blew in through the window, stirring the loose strands of hair beside Mo Xi’s temples.
He stood not far away with his arms crossed, silently watching Gu Mang’s profile.
The current Gu Mang was like fragments of the former Marshal Gu.
Mo Xi wanted to see the shadow of his old friend within those fragments.
But in the end, all he received was the pain of those fragments piercing his eyes until they turned red.
Almost when no one noticed, he closed his eyes in a disordered and miserable manner, his throat moving slightly—
Many years ago, it was also the second floor of the Compassionate Heart Refining Forge.
It was also this same room.
The young Gu Mang had likewise touched a slave collar around his neck, his face filled with a brilliant smile.
That collar had been removed by Old Song.
“It’s over, Senior Brother Gu. From now on, you are no longer Murong Lian’s person.”
At that time, Mo Xi looked at Gu Mang’s face and said solemnly:
“You’re free.”
That time, the collar fell away.
Gu Mang was smiling.
Years passed, and everything changed.
This time, the collar was fastened around his neck.
And Gu Mang was still smiling.
Everything seemed as though nothing had changed.
Yet Mo Xi felt that his throat was bitter, as if a bitter olive had become lodged there. No matter how he swallowed, he could not force it down.
This bitterness seemed destined to haunt him for the rest of his life.
“Wait.”
Jiang Yesue was speaking to Gu Mang.
“It’s not finished yet. I still need to carve a few words onto this… necklace.”
“What words?”
“Your name, and your identification number.”
He flipped through the Chonghua Nation’s slave registry records, checking which numbered slave Gu Mang was to receive the slave collar.
“There it is. Seven hundred and ninety.”
Gu Mang did not understand what that meant.
He simply listened, looking half-understanding and half-confused.
Jiang Yesue used spiritual power to carve the words onto it.
After finishing one side, he turned it over to carve the other.
He raised his head again.
But this time, he was not looking at Gu Mang.
He was looking at Mo Xi, who stood by the window with the light behind him, his expression impossible to read.
“Lord Xihe, please look at this side…”
Mo Xi said:
“Don’t carve anything there.”
“But I’m afraid that would not follow the regulations. Even if it is not a personal name, it should be the family name, or the name of the residence or government office.”
“Neither is needed.”
Mo Xi paused, then turned his face away.
Jiang Yesue sighed.
“But…”
“Does the other side still need to be carved?” Gu Mang suddenly asked. “What should be carved?”
“Yes.”
Jiang Yesue said to him:
“It should contain the name of your master.”
Gu Mang frowned and thought for a while.
Just as Mo Xi was becoming impatient and was about to come over and tell him to leave, Gu Mang suddenly said:
“I know who to carve.”
He turned to look at Mo Xi.
“Carve you.”
Mo Xi:
“…What nonsense are you saying?”
“You are the master. Many people call you that.”
Mo Xi closed his eyes briefly and frowned deeply.
“You talk too much. Hurry up and get up. We’re leaving.”
“Can’t your name be carved?”
Mo Xi said sternly:
“No.”
He did not know why.
He had merely imagined Gu Mang wearing a collar around his neck with his own name carved onto it, and suddenly felt a surge of restless heat in his blood.
Irritated, he shook his head as if trying to chase away a bothersome mosquito disturbing his peace.
Then he grabbed Gu Mang by the back of his collar and lifted him up.
To Jiang Yesue, he said:
“Elder Qingxu, farewell.”
Jiang Yesue said:
“I’ll see you off.”
“Your legs are inconvenient. There’s no need.”
Jiang Yesue smiled.
“It’s nothing. I’ve long since gotten used to it. Besides, I happen to need to go to West Street to buy some pine oil. Wait here, I’ll take some money…”
Mo Xi said:
“Where is your wheelchair? I’ll go bring it over and push you.”
“Sitting all the time isn’t good either. A wooden cane is enough.”
Jiang Yesue gathered some loose coins into his storage pouch.
“Let’s go.”
The three of them arrived at a general goods shop at the corner of West Street.
Jiang Yesue asked the shopkeeper to fill two pots with pine oil.
While they waited for the owner to return with the containers, the curtain at the entrance opened and closed.
A young boy walked into the shop, loudly shouting:
“Shopkeeper! Shopkeeper! Has everything my family ordered arrived yet?”
Then another cold and dignified voice followed:
“Yue Chenqing, stop jumping around like that.”
They turned around.
The person who entered with wind and snow surrounding him was Yue Chenqing.
The person who stepped inside after him, dressed in white robes, was Murong Chuyi.
The two groups suddenly encountered each other.
Everyone froze in surprise.
Especially Murong Chuyi.
His sharp phoenix eyes immediately landed on Jiang Yesue.
Then they narrowed slightly.
Murong Chuyi:
“…”
Jiang Yesue:
“…”
For a moment, the atmosphere became extremely strange.
After all, Murong Chuyi’s elder sister was Yue Juntian’s official wife, while Jiang Yesue’s mother had been Yue Juntian’s concubine.
Although both women had already passed away, the two younger generations had never truly forgotten those complicated past events.
Jiang Yesue lowered his voice.
“Chuyi…”
Murong Chuyi said nothing.
Suddenly, he flicked his sleeve and turned to leave.
Yue Chenqing hurriedly tried to persuade him.
“Fourth Uncle…”
But Murong Chuyi had already lifted the curtain and stepped outside.
His icy voice came from outside, carrying a trace of anger.
“Yue Chenqing, every time I go out with you, nothing good ever happens.”
In his panic, Yue Chenqing completely ignored Jiang Yesue’s presence and stomped his feet anxiously.
“Fourth Uncle! How was I supposed to know he would be here… Don’t go, wait for me…”
But Murong Chuyi replied:
“Don’t follow me!”
Since he had said not to follow, Yue Chenqing did not dare disobey.
He could only stand there dejectedly, exchanging awkward looks with the others.
The atmosphere fell into silence.
Jiang Yesue sighed.
In the end, he decided to break the suffocating quiet.
“…Chenqing, Chuyi… has he still always treated you this way?”