When Mo Xi opened his eyes, the first thing that came into view was a dark bluish-green canopy embroidered with flowing-cloud patterns. The curtains swayed gently, breaking up the hazy daylight outside.
For a moment, his mind was blank. Where was he?
Then he realized.
That was right. He and Gu Mang had been pulled into the Time Mirror together. This was the past projected by the ancient divine mirror.
Although this was not a true journey through time and space, the world inside the mirror was actually identical to the real world in every detail. He could speak with people from that time and alter the events of that era… In a certain sense, he had already returned to the past.
And it was a past that had been extraordinarily painful for Gu Mang.
This realization made Mo Xi’s heart suddenly race. He immediately sat up from the bed. His black-jade-like hair spilled loosely over his shoulders. He reached out and swept open the canopy—
This was the bedchamber in Xihe Manor. He looked around. The furnishings in the room were not much different from those of the present, except that a few swords and sabers were missing from the weapon rack. A painting of peach blossoms in Guangling still hung on the wall.
He walked to the sundial beside the window.
This sundial had been made by the Yue Residence. Golden spiritual energy flowed through it year-round. All one needed to do was tap it lightly with a knuckle, and it would display the current year and date as well as the time of day.
Mo Xi raised his hand and lightly touched the flowing spiritual light on its surface. Ripples spread outward, and a line of seal-script characters appeared on the sundial.
Mo Xi stared at the year and date displayed on the sundial.
The beating of that organ inside his chest grew faster and faster, while his complexion became increasingly pale…
Sure enough, it was this year.
He had indeed returned to this year…
He suddenly closed his eyes. His eyelashes trembled faintly, and his Adam’s apple bobbed.
He would never forget this year.
This was the year Gu Mang was stripped of his authority and demoted after the disastrous defeat at Fengming Mountain. Lu Zhanxing was executed, and the surviving remnants of the Eighth Army were imprisoned.
It was the year Gu Mang decided to betray them.
And this day…
Mo Xi’s pale, slender fingertips brushed over the spotless sundial, gently rubbing the characters flowing across its surface. Bitterness surged through his heart like yellow clouds blotting out the sun, pressing down so heavily that he could barely breathe.
This was the day he had been ordered to travel north and leave the imperial capital.
At that time, Gu Mang had already suffered terribly from persecution. Every day, he idled about in the pleasure quarters and brothels, laughing and joking as though nothing mattered. Mo Xi had tried to persuade him several times, but to no avail. Thus, all he could do was wait for time to soothe Gu Mang’s wounds.
Back then, he had been too naive.
He thought Gu Mang would endure it just as he always had. He thought Gu Mang would survive these hardships and difficulties. He believed that there would eventually come a day…
But he had been wrong.
Gu Mang had failed to make it through this ordeal.
By the time Mo Xi completed his mission and returned to the imperial capital, Gu Mang had already left Chonghua. A few months later, news came from the battlefield that Gu Mang had betrayed them and defected to the Liao Kingdom.
He had not even sensed Gu Mang’s rebellious intentions. He had failed to understand what Gu Mang truly thought, failed to sit down and have a proper conversation with him.
He had not even had the chance to say more than a few words to Gu Mang. He had not had the chance to make one final attempt to hold him back before Gu Mang took that final step into hell.
And yet now, he had returned to this year, this very day.
He had returned to the time he had revisited countless times in the depths of the night, returned to…
Returned to a moment that might possibly reverse the course of fate.
Even though he knew the Time Mirror could not truly alter the past, Mo Xi’s heart still clenched as though it had been burned. He did not even have time to dress properly before he abruptly pushed open the door and walked outside.
The brilliant sunlight of eight years ago suddenly struck his face, making his eyes sting painfully. Yet he refused to close them. He endured the urge to cry and gazed almost greedily at every blade of grass, every plant, every stone, every corner of the courtyard.
A soft, startled cry suddenly came from around the corner.
“Ah!”
Then, hurriedly:
“Greetings, Master!”
Mo Xi turned his head, and another strange turmoil churned inside his chest.
This year, Li Wei had not yet come to his residence. The person greeting him now was a senior maid named Shuangqiu.
Back then, Mo Xi had found this poor beggar girl by the roadside. Unable to bear watching her be bullied by unscrupulous men, he had taken her into his residence. Seeing that she was clever and capable, Mo Xi had once considered appointing her as the chief steward of Xihe Manor.
But not long afterward, he discovered that she was actually a spy planted beside him by Murong Lian, and that she harbored intentions of seducing and assassinating him.
Thus, he had driven her out of the estate.
Shuangqiu held a basin of water and curtsied delicately.
“Master woke from his afternoon nap rather early today. I shall go have some tea and refreshments prepared for you.”
Back then, Mo Xi had always treated her courteously because he pitied her lonely circumstances.
But now, looking at her again, he felt only disgust.
He flicked his sleeve.
“No need.”
“Does Master have no appetite? I brewed some refreshing plum wine a few days ago. If Master doesn’t mind—”
Mo Xi said coldly, “I said no need.”
Shuangqiu finally sensed that something was wrong with him. She dared not press further, so she lowered her eyes, bent her knees, and curtsied.
“Yes.”
After a pause, she added somewhat unwillingly, “But I… I was only concerned about Master. I hope Master won’t blame me.”
Although Mo Xi found her extremely irritating, he was not petty or vindictive, and he could not be bothered to quarrel with a woman.
Besides, he had something far more important to do now.
“Prepare a set of ordinary clothes for me. I’m going out.”
“Is Master leaving the city?”
Mo Xi paused.
“I’m going to the palace.”
According to the records concerning the Time Mirror in ancient surviving manuscripts, anyone who entered the mirror would be completely restored to their condition at that time. Their body, appearance, and even thoughts would all return to their former state.
The reason Mo Xi could still retain the memories of the present was probably because he had been dragged into the mirror together with Gu Mang. He was merely an accidental intruder.
As for Gu Mang…
He had probably been completely reverted to his former state. He likely had no idea that he had come through the mirror from the outside world, much less knew what would happen afterward.
In other words, if Mo Xi went into the city to find him, the person he would meet was only the Gu Mang of that era—
That Gu Shuai who was at the lowest point of his life, utterly down and out.
What did that mean?
It meant that he actually had a chance to speak with Gu Mang on the eve of his betrayal.
At this thought, even Mo Xi’s fingertips began to tremble slightly.
The Mo Xi of eight years later had traveled through time and was about to face the Gu Mang of eight years earlier.
He could ask Gu Mang countless questions. He could clearly observe Gu Mang’s mental state on the eve of his betrayal. He could discover what Gu Mang had been feeling at the time and learn the specific details surrounding his betrayal…
He might even be able to determine what he should have done back then to prevent Gu Mang from betraying Chonghua.
Although such an attempt would ultimately be futile—once Jiang Yexue rescued them from the Time Mirror, every change they made would vanish without a trace—Mo Xi still felt that, at the very least, the questions, confusion, pain, and incomprehension that had tormented him for eight years might finally receive some explanation through this conversation.
But before that, he had to go to the royal city.
“Lord Xihe!”
“Greetings, Lord Xihe!”
Upon entering the palace city, the Yulin Guards lowered their heads and clasped their arms in salute. The scarlet pheasant feathers atop their helmets trembled softly, while the gleam of their armor flashed dazzlingly beneath the morning sun.
The sensation was extremely strange.
Even with his thoughts in complete turmoil, Mo Xi could not help noticing several familiar faces.
The soldier at the corner of the corridor would, eight years later, become an elder in charge of guarding the Academy.
The Yulin Right General standing beside the stone beast on the palace steps would later be bestowed upon Wangshou Manor by the Sovereign and become Murong Lian’s personal guard.
The young man wearing the seven-bead red-tassel helmet would later lose his life while rescuing people from a demonic fire in Chonghua’s royal city. Mo Xi himself would personally tie a heroic martyr’s sash around the body inside his coffin.
There were also several soldiers whom Mo Xi would later select and recruit into the Northern Border Army.
In the future, some of these people would rise to prominence while others would remain poor. Some would live, while others would die.
At this moment, none of them knew anything about their futures or destinies.
Only Mo Xi walked among these living old acquaintances, as though traversing the dreams he had repeatedly dreamed over the years.
He looked at each familiar face, as if gazing upon wandering souls from eight years ago.
Everything felt so unreal.
At last, he arrived at the Golden Luan Hall.
The Sovereign, who had only recently ascended the throne, was leaning against a soft cushion embroidered with coiling dragons. He supported his cheek with one hand, eyes closed as he rested.
The beaded crown hanging before his handsome, delicate face swayed faintly, making his expression appear even more fragmented and difficult to read.
Compared with the present, the Sovereign of eight years ago was thinner and more volatile.
It was only natural. At that time, the previous Sovereign had died, the foundations of the state were unstable, and both internal and external troubles were extremely difficult to handle. The ferocity between the Sovereign’s brows was naturally much heavier than it would become later.
“Greetings, Your Majesty.”
“Oh, Lord Xihe has arrived.”
The Sovereign’s eyelids moved. He opened his eyes, and a pair of deep, cold eyes locked directly onto Mo Xi standing before the hall.
Even though that gaze was restrained, it still carried the aura of a tiger and wolf, concealing vigilance, ferocity, and sharpness.
The excessively cold gaze pierced Mo Xi, suddenly filling him with a long-forgotten familiarity.
Anger.
And pain.
In the past, the Sovereign had always intentionally or unintentionally revealed this attitude toward him. It was only after Mo Xi swore the Heavenly Tribulation Oath, making it impossible for him to betray Chonghua or the person seated upon the throne for the rest of his life, that the Sovereign’s wariness toward him gradually relaxed.
But now, standing before the throne was a Mo Xi who had never taken that oath.
In the Sovereign’s eyes, he was like a tiger or wolf that had never been shackled.
When Mo Xi had been young, he had not felt it so clearly.
But looking back now, the vigilance in the Sovereign’s gaze sent chills throughout his entire body.
“Lord Xihe should be departing for your northern fief today to teach the arts,” the Sovereign said leisurely. “Why have you come to the palace at this time? Could there be some matter?”
Mo Xi bowed.
“Yes. There is indeed something. I wish to delay my departure to the north for a few days.”
“Oh?”
The Sovereign narrowed his eyes.
“Why?”
“I am unwell.”
When dealing with this fox of a Sovereign, no other excuse would work.
Only claiming that he was physically unwell would make it difficult for the Sovereign to refuse.
Moreover, Mo Xi had never lied in the past. He had always said exactly what he meant and meant exactly what he said. He had no history of pretending to be ill without reason, which made his excuse even more convincing.
Sure enough, the Sovereign was slightly startled.
After a moment, he straightened up. As he studied Mo Xi from his elevated seat, he mused,
“Is that so… Is it serious? Perhaps I should select an excellent medicine cultivator from Shennong Terrace and have them go to Xihe Manor to treat you?”
“It is only fatigue, too many dreams, and sleepless nights,” Mo Xi replied. “A period of rest will suffice. There is no need to trouble Shennong Terrace.”
“I see.”
The Sovereign regarded him thoughtfully, then asked as though casually,
“How long will Lord Xihe need to postpone your departure?”
Mo Xi calculated the date on which Gu Mang would betray them and leave the city.
It had happened seven days after Mo Xi left the imperial capital.
This time, he did not want the same thing to happen while he was away.
Thus, Mo Xi said,
“Ten days.”
The Sovereign did not immediately answer.
Those eyes, deep as a cold abyss, silently studied Mo Xi’s face.
After a long while, he finally smiled faintly.
“Lord Xihe has spent so many years fighting on the battlefield. You have suffered injuries countless times and never thought anything of them, simply putting on your armor and returning to battle. Yet now, because of a little insomnia, you intend to delay the important task I entrusted to you for ten whole days?”
“That period is rather long, is it not?”
Mo Xi did not argue with him.
“If I were not mentally and physically exhausted, I would not have come to ask Your Majesty for an extension.”
“Lord Xihe has spent years fighting east and west. It is rare for you to wish for some rest. If I refused, I would seem far too lacking in human feeling.”
The Sovereign idly toyed with the string of beads wrapped around his wrist.
“However, as a pillar of Chonghua, there are naturally many important matters that I require Lord Xihe to personally handle. If I grant you ten days of rest, arranging everything afterward may prove difficult.”
He paused, then smiled.
“Three days. What do you think?”
“…”
Three days?
Three days later, Lu Zhanxing would be executed at the Eastern Market.
Why had the Sovereign chosen this exact day?
After Lu Zhanxing died, Gu Mang’s reaction would surely be extremely intense.
Yet the Sovereign wanted Mo Xi to leave at precisely that time…
Mo Xi asked,
“May I ask Your Majesty to grant me two more days? Would five days be possible?”
“No.”
The Sovereign smiled faintly.
“At most, I can grant you three days. Any longer, and I truly will not be able to arrange the important affairs that follow.”
“Your Majesty…”
The Sovereign had already made up his mind. He interrupted Mo Xi.
“Lord Xihe need not say anything more. Since you are unwell, return to your residence and rest early.”
After a brief pause, he added meaningfully,
“Insomnia and vexation require you to cultivate the heart. Recently, Lord Xihe would do well to see less of certain people who make your heart restless.”
Mo Xi gazed toward the Sovereign seated upon the gilded throne.
The Sovereign, in turn, looked down at him through the swaying strands of his beaded crown.
Mo Xi said quietly,
“Your Majesty is referring to Gu Mang?”