Long-winded summary:
The traitorous general Gu Mang once again returned to his home country, and everyone was quick to exclude him. It was said that the one who hated him the most was once the closest of his brothers — The cold and stoic Young Master Mo.
Prickly furred top x Fluffy furred bottom
Rumour on the streets: Young Master Mo had prepared 365 ways to interrogate him via torture and was waiting to try it on Gu Mang. The rich variety of comprehensive methods he had were more than enough to play with him for an entire year without repeating.
But the rumours were soon prohibited by Young Master Mo, using the reason that they painted him as a lunatic and were gravely inconsistent with the truth.
So what was the truth?!
The truth was even more unspeakable—
Mo Xi’s Identity: The cleanest, most honourable commander of the Empire.
His relationship with the traitorous Gu Mang: They’ve slept together before.
...THIS BOOK IS FORBIDDEN, ALL OFFENDERS...
...WILL BE PUNISHED....
Chonghua had once produced two young and promising generals, like water meets fire, both as different as the eye could see.
The one like water was called Mo Xi; cold by nature, he practiced abstinence, and has been single to this day. Within the army, the stakes on when General Mo would finally offer up his virginity had accumulated to the point where it could fill any poor man’s belt with ten thousand strings of gold overnight.
The one like fire was called Gu Mang; warm by nature, he was always full of smiles, and treasured the ladies like precious jewels. If he had to pay out of his pockets for every single time he kissed a girl, then he’d probably have to pawn off all his possessions down to the underwear he wears to afford it.
There was a day, long before Gu Mang had committed treason, where on a sudden whim, he grabbed a book that he had compiled and ran over to ask Mo Xi to write his opinion of it.
At that time, General Mo was holding several volumes of books, his hands tied with military affairs, so he only asked General Gu one sentence: “What did you write?!”
“Everything.” Gu Mang explained enthusiastically, “Fine delicacies, personal experiences, travel notes of the mountains and rivers, weapon catalogs, and other trivial things.”
Mo Xi received the book from him, lifting the brush in his hand, dipping it into the ink pot, preparing to comment.
As Gu Mang finished talking, he smiled and said: “I also wrote about you.”
Mo Xi was suddenly alarmed by this, pausing the movement of his hands to look up at him.
“…What did you write about me?!”
Gu Mang honestly replied: “A factual description of our past events.”
“What past events?!”
Gu Mang scratched his head, shamelessly grinning with a little “hee hee”, then quickly replied: “All of them.”
“……”
Mo Xi did not respond, staring at him for a moment before dropping his long eyelashes. Then, with an unreadable expression, he wrote two ruthlessly cold lines in Regular script:
“THIS BOOK IS FORBIDDEN, ALL OFFENDERS WILL BE PUNISHED.”
...He was the greatest stain on his life....
In the evening, fine snow drifted on the frontier of Chonghua, gradually accumulating into a pure, white layer on the ground. Wheels ran over it and pedestrians walked by, leaving behind several lines of different depths tracing their paths.
Wang Ermazi, who was selling his pastries, put all his effort into advertising, a breath of white mist leaving his mouth. He shouted in a loud voice: “Come everyone, freshly baked pastries!”
With a clamor, he struck twice on the the worn-out gong that hung by the stove, continuing to peddle his goods: “There’s almost nothing in this world that’s thicker than the pastries I bake — apart from Gu Mang’s face! Come and buy one! Come one, come all!”
The passersby listened, laughing to themselves.
This pastry stall had been running for over ten years, and a few years ago, Wang Ermazi had been singing a different tune. Back then, what he’d quack loudly was: “Come take a gander! These are General Gu’s most favourite pastries! I guarantee that after a bite, you’ll become as invincible as him and rise steadily in ranks!”
In the wind and snow, a party of strong military cavalry trotted by slowly, led by a young man of about seventeen or eighteen. With a sable fur-trimmed brocade hat on his head and his handsome little face wrapped up in a thick woolen collar, he seemed rather unenthusiastic.
This young man was called Yue Chenqing, the Deputy General of the Garrison.
This person possessed two skills that would leave others in the dust. The first was obvious to see, and embodied the saying, “When others anger, I will not, for when ill with rage, a replacement can’t be sought. Should I anger, who would it please? A wound to the heart, puts me ill at ease.” Yue Chenqing, who was deeply invested in this philosophy, had almost never truly been angry, having the best temperament out of all the spoiled young masters.
His second skill, was to always make himself comfortable, as comfortable as possible. So if he could sit, he would never stand, and if he could lie down, then he would never sit. Yue Chenqing’s favourite saying was, “If there’s wine today, then drink it away, if there’s none tomorrow, then from a brother, we borrow." As a result, he would never leave anything of value overnight – wine was finished within the day, and women were taken to bed first, the talking left for after.
As for patrolling……. He would play first, patrol later.
There were many bazaars at the Beiguan Frontier Fortress, mostly selling animal hide, herbal medicines, spiritual stones, slaves, and so on. Although not terribly interesting, but to the troops in the bitter cold, it was a good way to pass the time.
“I want that seven-tailed civet.”
“Go buy the tail feathers of that ubume“
“The quality of the tumbleweed being sold there looks quite good, it will definitely brew into a fine medicine. Bring me ten baskets.”
While walking, he instructed his retainers following from behind to help him purchase a myriad of goods at the bazaar, completely neglecting his duties. While his retainers had some reservations, hindering their Deputy General was not something terribly easy for them to do.
As he strolled around, Yue Chenqing felt his stomach rumble, and looked around for something to eat. It was at this time that he heard the yelling from Wang Ermazi coming from somewhere distant, the sound of his throaty voice and the clang of his worn-out gong travelling through the wind and snow:
“Selling baked pastries here! Pastries as thick as Gu Mang’s skin! Come have a look!”
The moment Yue Chenqing heard this sales pitch, the corner of his mouth twitched, and thought to himself: Oh dear, this person unexpectedly dared to use Gu Mang as a joke! Is that even acceptable? He’s asking for trouble!
While he was thinking this, he immediately urged his horse forward, and just as he was about to open his mouth to reprimand him, the strong fragrance of bake pastries flooded his nose. As a result, the harsh criticism that had threatened to leave his mouth, was swallowed back in together with his drool that almost leaked out.
His criticism was changed into: “…Give me one pastry.”
“Coming right up!” Wang Ermazi nimbly grabbed a piece of baked pastry from inside the stove, wrapping it up in an oil-paper bag and passed it to the customer in front of him, “Here you go, be careful, it’s hot. You must have it while warm!”
Yue Chenqing took the piping hot pastry and bit down on it, and with a crunch, the golden-brown crispy pastry burst out layers of flavour from within, the taste of hot oil, wheat bran, ground meat, and Sichuan peppercorn melting on his tongue, instantly permeating his mouth with the fragrant toasted smell, causing him to greedily swallow his saliva.
He could not help but sing praises: “The flavour is great.”
“Why, of course it is. This Erma’s baked pastries are known as the finest on earth.” Wang Ermazi proudly bragged, “Even though Gu Mang was so highly regarded back then, whenever he returned from battle, he would always come running to my stall to eat five or six pieces!”
When he had finished blowing his own horn, he didn’t neglect to add on furiously, “Though, if I had known that man surnamed Gu would turn into a traitorous dog, I should have mixed poison into those pastries I sold him, getting rid of him as soon as possible for the good of mankind!”
While chewing on his pastry, Yue Chenqing replied: “Don’t make these kinds of irresponsible remarks in the future. Also, that sales pitch of yours, you should quickly change it.”
Wang Ermazi’s eyes widened: “Sir, why’d you say so?”
“You should just obediently listen to what this ‘sir’ has to say.” Yue Chenqing took another large bite of the meat pastry, and with his cheeks bulging, he continued, “We are soon going to war against Liao Country, and I’m afraid our troops will have to stay here for quite a few years. If you continue to blather on about Gu Mang like this all day long,” He chuckled maliciously, “Hehe, you’d best be careful of poking the sore spot of his Excellency.”
This “Excellency” that Yue Chenqing referred to, was of course their leader, General Mo Xi.
Mo Xi, who was appointed the title of Xihe-Jun
by the previous Emperor, was born into the noble family clan of Mo. He was one the four generals of the family clan, which also consisted of Mo Xi’s maternal grandfather, paternal grandfather and his own father. As a result of such a prestigious bloodline, Mo Xi also naturally possessed an extremely terrifying spiritual talent, and on top of that, studied under the most ruthless of elders at the Cultivation Academy. At this moment in time, he ranked as the top General of Chonghua.
Despite all the above, he was only twenty-eight years old.
Owing to his family, Mo Xi’s personality was as cold as a blade, and he always kept his word. He was repeatedly warned by his father that “The tender valley will bury your heroism. Flirt less, work harder.” As such, Mo Xi’s heart had always been pure, clear of lustful desires, and his character extremely upstanding. It could even be said that in the last twenty-eight years, he had never made a single major mistake.
Except for Gu Mang.
To Mo Xi, Gu Mang was like the ink on a paper, the mud in the snow, a drop of provocative blood on a gentleman’s pristine and orderly mattress.
—— He was the greatest stain on his life.
The night fell.
In the barracks outside of the fortress, a clear cry broke through the sandstorm, an operatic voice lingering in the air, wafting through the bitter frost like a ghost.
“…The rain made fresh pools of water in Yuming, the skies are clear at the Golden Tree Pavillion. There is none who call for the end of the love songs and wine, even while looking at insects and ants, the heart is moved.”
The bodyguard on watch-out by of the Deputy General’s camp glanced left and right like a quail, noticing in the distance a tall black shadow approach, and immediately changed his expression. In a flurry, he pushed open the tent and said: “Not good!”
“What’s not good?” Yue Chenqing yawned and lifted his eyes while on the general’s seat, propping his face up with one hand.
“My goodness, haven’t you noticed the time? Deputy General, I think it’s best you quickly get up and guard the fortress, stop watching the play.”
“What’s the hurry?” Yue Chenqing commented lazily, “It isn’t too late to go after the show.”
After dismissing his bodyguard, he turned to the opera singers in the tent and said: “Don’t mind us, please continue to sing.”
And so the operatic lilt that was like a fine thread of silk suspended by the heavens resounded: “The nation rises within the Yin, the wind blowing petals to the corner of the eyes, Qi Xuan was still teaching incomplete scriptures, to ask the east wind’s when we would awaken from this dream.”
“Oh please Deputy General Yue, Deputy General Sir! Please hurry and tell them to stop singing.” The bodyguard begged with haste, “What on earth is all this?”
“Life is far too short and miserable, let us enjoy and live in the present.” Yue Chenqing chewed on his fingernails, “Otherwise, these days would just be far too bland.”
“But if Xihe-Jun were to see this sight, he will definitely be angry again….”
“Xihe-Jun isn’t even here, what are you so worried about?” Yue Chenqing grinned, “Besides, this Xihe-Jun always looks so unhappy, and never seek any pleasures nor tries to enjoy himself. He’s already this old but gets angry when he hears me tell a vulgar joke. Don’t you think it’s tiring for me to always try to please him?”
“Deputy General,” the bodyguard looked as if he was about to cry,
“Lower down your voice a little….”
“Hm? Why?”
“B-Because…” the bodyguard’s eyes glanced towards the seam of the tent and stuttered “Because…”
Yue Chenqing rolled around on his seat, even covering his head with Xihe-Jun’s silver fur coat, and chuckled: “Did Xihe-Jun scare you stiff? Why are you stumbling at every mention of him?”
“Ah, but what a man this Xihe-Jun is.” Yue Chenqing said, “He wants to personally abstain from sexual desires, but drags his entire army together to boredom together with him. Look at our army, there’s not even a single bitch in sight.”
This was the truth. Out of all the armies of Chonghua, it was Xihe-Jun’s division of troops that suffered the most
This was the truth. Out of all the armies of Chonghua, it was Xihe-Jun’s division of troops that suffered the most.
Although under the rule of Xihe-Jun there wasn’t much to complain about when it came to food and clothing expenses, but just as Yue Chenqing said, this person was both boring and serious. It’d be fine if he alone was inhuman and unable to appreciate beauty, but he also wouldn’t allow his subordinates to look for girls to have some fun.
Yue Chenqing clearly found this thought extremely amusing, but he suppressed his smile and pretended to be unaffected, letting out a sigh: “He’s a good person in all meanings of the word, it’s just that his desire to control is too strong. Look, his anxiety disorder and mysophobia has completely consumed him, and he truly has no interests whatsoever. It’s truly a waste of that handsome face of his.”
The bodyguard has an expression as if facing imminent doom and quickly said: “Yue-gongzi, hurry and stop talking…”
Yue Chenqing not only did not stop, but on the contrary, his spirits rose even higher: “Look at you all holding your breath, did your mouths start blistering? Hehe, while he’s away, I’ll quickly let you guys out. Tonight, let us brothers find some girls to fool around with and abolish guarding the entrance. Let’s host a beauty contest by the bonfire, I want to award the most beautiful girl in the village–“
“Who are you awarding?”
Suddenly, a deep, cold and ruthless male voice resounded, rattling the tent, and a tall man in silver armor as cold as frost walked in.
He stood tall and straight in his military uniform, his shoulders broad and waist slender, and his long legs were clad in a pair of black leather military boots. When he raised his eyes, all of his handsome facial features were cold and rigid, his gaze was frosty and sharp as a spear.
This person could be no other than the Xihe-Jun that Yue Chenqing was having a blast ridiculing earlier, Mo Xi.
Why did Mo Xi suddenly return?!!
Yue Chenqing was stunned at first, and after coming back to his senses, he immediately began to shiver, wrapping his fur coat around him even tighter.
“General Mo.” Deputy General Yue put on a wretched and pitiful appearance, weeping, “If you were going to return earlier, you should have told us— ouch!”
That “ouch” was because Mo Xi felt that his weeping was too disgusting, and so he summoned his spiritual sword, pressing it against Yue Chenqing’s cheek, before tossing it aside.
Yue Chenqing, who was almost beheaded, hurriedly climed up from the general’s seat, brushing away his messy hair off his cheeks and said: “Xihe-Jun, how could you hit me!”
“You’re asking me, but I haven’t asked you anything yet. Tell me, why are there women in our base?”
Mo Xi shot a glance at the female opera singers who had been scared into silence, then turned his head and glared at Yue Chenqing: “Did you bring them in?”
Yue Chenqing had originally wanted to mutter a few more things, but once he saw Mo Xi’s expression, he immediately froze in terror: “…Don’t be like this. I was just listening to a song, a famous song from LiChun Nation. Xihe-Jun, why don’t you join us and watch to a bit….?”
Mo Xi’s expression turned grave, and he snapped with annoyance: “Obscene. Drag them out.”
Fortunately, he didn’t call for them to be beheaded.
Yue Chenqing hugged his knees, sobbed pathetically while seated on the general’s seat, and whined miserably: “You are so cold-blooded and heartless. I’m telling my father that you haven’t treated me well.”
Mo Xi took one look at him and said: “You leave as well.”
Yue Chenqing: “……”
Mo Xi waited for the aggrieved Yue Chenqing to leave, then sat down in the tent all alone. Removing his black dragon leather gloves, he pressed his long, slender fingers to his temples, then slowly closed his eyes.
Illuminated by the candle light, this complexion seemed to look a little off, carrying the faintest tinge of a sickly pale blue. Coupled with the cold ruthlessness hidden in the depths of his eyes all year round, he looked even more haggard.
He seemed to have a lot on his mind.
Not long ago, he had received a secret letter from the Imperial Capital of Chonghua which was personally written by the current Emperor of Chonghua. After receiving the letter, Mo Xi had reread it three times before finally confirming he hadn’t misread it.
Gu Mang was returning to Chonghua.
The letter was currently being kept underneath his robes, nestled snugly against Mo Xi’s heavily throbbing heart and warmed up by the temperature of a man’s chest. Gu Mang was returning to Chonghua — This news was like thorns growing in his heart, every thorn prickling him with pain.
Mo Xi frowned and tried his best to suppress his anxiety, but in the end, the demonic fire in his heart still poured out endlessly. He suddenly opened his eyes, and with a thump, he kicked over the files in front of him with a long leg in wrapped up in a black leather boot.
Crash.
“Oh no, General Mo!” The bodyguard on duty outside of the tent hurriedly leaned in through the tent entrance, and asked fearfully: “Please calm down, Yue-gongzi is still young, and his love of fun and trouble is just human nature. It was us subordinates who did not handle the situation well and did not stop Yue-gongzi from watching to the opera. If you want to blame and punish us, don’t hesitate to do so, but you must not anger yourself like this…”
Mo Xi suddenly turned around, and in the faint darkness, his eyes lit up like electric flames.
“Get lost.”
“…”
“Without my consent, no one is allowed in.”
“Understood…”
The tent cover fell again, and it was terrifyingly silent both inside and outside, with only the sounds of northern blizzard blowing outside the tent, the distant movement of soldiers on duty, the crisp crunching of military boots meeting snow, and the whinny of war horses at the spiritual beast camp.
Mo Xi leaned his face to one side, glanced downwards and stared the mulberries that had tumbled and rolled on the ground, which looked just like the heads of those that Gu Mang had plucked with his own two hands over the years.
He wondered how someone, who had committed so many atrocious, evil, and wrong deeds, who betrayed his country, his comrades, and close friends, who was now shouldering the worst of reputations, the debt of blood, and deep-rooted hatred, still had the courage to come back.
How could Gu Mang still have the nerve to return?
Mo Xi slowed his thoughts for a while, forcing himself to calm down, and then once more, took out the secret letter which he had read repeatedly to the point it was worn out. In the Emperor’s elegant writing, it wrote:
...Liao Country intends to sign a truce with our country. In order to show sincerity, the traitor to our country, General Gu Mang, will be returned to us by escort....
...Gu Mang was once one of Chonghua’s people, and was once deeply trusted, yet he did not think of remaining loyal and repaying his debts, committing treason for his own personal gains. In the past five years, he has plundered the city states of his home country, destroyed the peace of our nation, slaughtered his past comrades, and abandoned his old friends and relatives. I fear it will be difficult to pardon his sins....
...In ten days, Gu Mang will return to the city to repay for his crimes, hatred for him runs deep and wide. I am afraid it is not a decision I can make alone, as such I have written to every noble in order to discuss this issue together. While I know Xihe-Jun is far away in GuanShan, as someone I personally trust, I sincerely request your presence, please do not neglect your responsibilities....
...Please take care of yourself....
Mo Xi stared at the letter for quite a while, then suddenly scoffed, and as he laughed to himself, an expression that was somewhat bitter, somewhat hateful gradually surfaced on his face.
This man was charged with the serious crime of treason, was there even a reason to continue to allow him to live?
He deserved to have all his limbs pulled off by horse cart, chopped in half by the waist, boiled to death like a caterpillar, or suffer death by a thousand cuts.
He deserves to be killed!
He thought bitterly.
He deserves to be killed.
But as he raised his brush to write the word “kill”, his hand trembled without completing the word, and the ink soaked through the silk fabric of the scroll.
From outside the tent, the faint sound of an ocarina1drifted past. It was unknown which homesick and weary little devil decided to blow away his sorrows, filling the air of whole campsite with a sense of bleakness, the ground covered in white frost.
Mo Xi’s heart instantly raced with anxiety, and his dark eyes flickered with an inexplicable light. — In the end, he spat out a curse, tossed the brush in front of him and picked up the secret letter, his palm suddenly bursting into flames, instantly burning it to ashes.
The specks of scattered ashes fluttered in the air, and Xihe-Jun blew at it, fusing the ashes into a long distance sound transmission butterfly.
“Gu Mang was once recommended as a guard by this subordinate. As he has committed treason, this subordinate must bear the blame. Regarding the trial, in order to avoid arousing suspicion, this subordinate should not be involved.” After a pause, he added in a low, unhurried tone: “Mo Xi of the Northern Frontier, prays that His Majesty is well.”
He raised his hand as soon as he finished, and the spirit butterfly fluttered away.
He gazed towards the place where the butterfly had disappeared and thought to himself, Great, the dust has finally settled between his and Gu Mang’s long-running entanglement of over ten years. Gu Mang had killed so many of Chonghua’s soldiers, and caused grief to the common people. Now he’s being discarded after serving his purpose, sent back by the enemy country after being exploited by them. It’d be strange if the civil and military officials at the Imperial Capital weren’t in a hurry to exact their revenge on him.
Unfortunately, he still had to guard the frontier for another two years, and seems like he wouldn’t be able to witness Gu Mang’s death penalty.
He slowly closed his eyes, and though his face showed no signs of emotion, his fingernails were carved deep into his palms.
It’s all over.
They were old friends on separate paths, isolated and estranged.
And once reunited, though things remained the same, they themselves have changed.
What kind of feeling was this? Maybe it is something that others will never understand.
Mo Xi sat down lethargically, and in the desolate army tent, his face was washed over with exhaustion.
In the end, he wasn’t able to save Gu Mang from walking down the wrong path.
Enemies, lovers, rivals.
What the relationship between them was will forever remained unsolved in the history books to come.
Perhaps no one else in this world other than they themselves will ever know of that extremely filthy, yet extremely erotic secret of theirs. That is, the fact that these two, who seemed to be irreconcilable enemies——
——have actually slept with each other before.
That’s right.
Years before, that abstinent and rule-abiding Xihe-Jun, had once pushed Gu Mang down on his bed and ferociously ravaged him. That frigid man had lost all his composure with Gu Mang, sweat dripping down his chest, desire polluting in his eyes.
And what about Gu Mang, who rebuked the Heaven and Earth, who bathed in the fire of war? He had once been fucked so thoroughly by Xihe-Jun to the point he shed tears, gently opened up his soft lips to beg for General Mo’s kiss, and indulged Mo Xi in leaving deep, purple bruises across his strong and firm body.
They were mortal enemies, their hatred as deep as a ravine, their destiny entwined with death.
But before that, during a time before they had walked their separate paths—
Those two youngsters had once been passionately entangled with each other.
Until their love and desire had intertwined. Until they were impossible to separate.
Soon after Mo Xi had received the secret letter from the Imperial Capital, the news that Gu Mang was about to return to the city was finally announced to the public by the Emperor of Chonghua, together with the method of punishment–
He would be handed over to Wangshu-Jun, who would be given full control.
The news quickly spread throughout Chonghua Country, and although Mo Xi’s army was located far away at the Northern frontier, they also learned of this by the third day after the announcement.
Excitement boiled over at the Northern Frontier Army.
On the outside, they remained impassive and silent as ever, but as soon as they rotated off duty, almost everyone could be seen discussing this topic animatedly. Mo Xi observed them, but for once, did not control the chatter.
He felt that it was perfectly understandable for them to be so high-strung — because the previous commander of the Northern Frontier Army was none other than the one who swept away everything in his path, the invincible General of the Gu Family. A great majority of the soldiers in the army had once been willing to follow Gu Mang to their graves. They were undoubtedly loyal to the end, but a long time ago, they had also sincerely given their allegiance to their General-in-chief Gu Mang — despite the fact that the troop title he had assigned to them was “Wangba Army."
This wasn’t a joke, but absolutely serious. Before Mo Xi had taken over, the personnel records of this division of the army used to go down as such:
Liu Dazhuang, Soldier of the Wangba Army
Zhang Dayan, Squad Leader of the Wangba Army
…..
And so on and so forth.
At the head of it all was “Gu Mang, General-in-chief of the Wangba Army”.
According to reason, there should be no one who would want to enter a division with such a vulgar name. Yet that couldn’t be farther from the truth. At that time, Gu Mang was the most outstanding and illustrious high-ranking officer in Chonghua. A majority of the famous generals either had handicaps, were bound by obligations, or would act arrogant.
But Gu Mang was different. He was born as a slave, with no parents, no care in the world, no skin on his face, and no fear of death.
If all the chief generals of Chonghua were to take off their clothes and stood in a row, Gu Mang may not necessarily have been the most robust out of them, but he would most definitely be the guy with the most scars.
He was fully deserving of the title of Chonghua Empire’s “Beast of the Altar”.
Gu Mang’s assistant at the time would always look at his injuries and criticise him: “As a chief general, why on earth would you always rush ahead of everyone? Do you not even know of the concept of hiding yourself?”
Gu Mang would just laugh it off. His face was one that didn’t belong to the battlefield; it was very gentle, and his handsomeness carried an air of childish naivety behind it. When people looked at that face, all that would come to mind would be the image of a little flower blooming on the plains after the first fall of rain, and not bloodshed or death.
After that, this charmingly sweet man would blink his black eyes, slightly purse his soft lips, and in a voice possessing the texture of satin, he would coax his angered friend in jest: “These long legs of mine cause me to run fast. I was forced by nature I tell you, forced.”
As long as he was on the battlefield, it would seem as if it wasn’t all just the freezing cold and bloodshed, but also laughter as sweet as nectar.
He would remember every single one of his comrade’s day of birth, and during peacetime, he would often bring the cultivators the army worked closely with to small villages to drink and be merry. Even when occasionally coming across crafty local villagers who would charge sky-high prices, Gu Mang wouldn’t get angry, he would just smile and throw down all of his money pouches onto the table to exchange for meat and wine for his men.
At the end of the night, he would then shout in a loud voice: “Eat well and drink well! Tonight, Daddy wants to see you all expand your bellies and fill it up! All of you are my precious darlings! If we run out of funds Daddy will find something else to exchange for you!”
Gu Mang was a man of his word, and one time, he stripped off all of his own military robes and armor, flung them at the liquor counter, and traded them for some White Pear Blossom Wine. The rowdy soldiers then howled with laughter, saying: “General Gu, we still want to eat beef! Do you have anything else you can strip off?”
At that time, he was down to only his snowy white inner robe, but yet he laughed and pointed towards them: “Give me a minute.”
“No way! General Gu, you’re not really going to pawn off your underpants, right!?”
“It’s not even worth much money….”
Gu Mang had no intention of pawning his underpants, though really did have nothing left of value on him. Under everyone’s surprised and amused gazes, he walked over to the wine-selling widow who was laughing heartily, and kissed her on the cheek.
The soldiers turned deafeningly silent, and the charming widow was also stunned by his actions, the wine ladle in her hand dripping wine onto the ground with a pitter-patter. After a while, she finally returned to her senses, and began to raise her ladle to chase Gu Mang out–
“Shameless! How dare you disrespect this old lady!”
There was a roar of laughter.
In the room full of laughter and hissing, Gu Mang was chased by the widow from one end to the other, and as he laughed, he begged for mercy: “I was sincere! Really! You’re so pretty! So pretty!”
“This old lady already knows she’s beautiful! You’re pretty charming yourself, youngster! But you’re just too shameless! Don’t you know how to sneak into my bed at night? But no, you had to do it in front of so many people, you Dengtu Zi!”
This Dengtu Zi made a ruckus so loud that it’d cause chickens to fly and dogs to jump, yet he didn’t forget to shamelessly yell out: “Yes yes yes, I’ll come fetch you tomorrow night, I can even stay back tonight for you as long as you bestow us with another two pounds of beef! I beg of you my fair lady!”
“Pah! Ever since setting up camp here, you’ve begged this old lady to put three rounds of beef on your tab, this is the fourth! Every single time, you’ve said you’ll ask me out tomorrow night, you lying little demon, you!”
The widow shouted, slamming her fist on the table, and with a groan, a single crack split open on the wooden surface.
The army riffraff rolled on the floor with laughter. Though in the end, after all was said and done, Gu Mang still used his dashing looks and an empty promise of “tomorrow” to coax the widow into bringing his men another two pounds of stewed beef.
“General Gu, you sure are great at the art of deception…..”
“Well, of course I am.” Gu Mang bragged, contently swaying back and forth, “I have been among the fields of ten thousand flowers, my conquests known throughout the lands!”
With such a commander, it was no surprise that at that time, a youngster made a brave remark: “Nevermind that we’re called the ‘Wangba Army’, even if they called us the ‘Jiba Army’ to challenge General Gu, I would still enlist!”
The friend seated next to him turned away in disdain, replying: “Dear me, all those holy books you read were all in vain. How uncouth.”
“Then how would you refine it?”
“Rather than saying Jiba, why not say Ji Ba, thus meaning cease the battle in order to repair weapons.”
The youngster was wowed, then said enthusiastically: “What a great name, I like it.”
“….No way, I was just horsing around. Who would really like a name like ‘Ji Ba’? Wouldn’t it be too humiliating to say it? If you don’t believe me then I dare you to try it out. If you called a dog by this, even he would be anxious.”
The youngster chuckled: “There’s nothing too bizarre in this world, just because it doesn’t exist now doesn’t mean it won’t in the future. If even our Grand Master can be called a Wangba, I’m sure it’d be completely reasonable to give some other thing the name Ji Ba.
It was fortunate this discussion wasn’t heard by Gu Mang, because who knew if he would slap the table and holler praise at this idea, rename himself to “Ji Ba Army General-in-chief Gu Mang”, then hook his arms around all his officers and soldiers, dragging them to suffer a calamity together.
The war was so grim, only a little madman like Gu Mang would strive to be original, enthusiastically joking about the fires of war. He not only held in his hand the troop title of “Wangba Army”, but even personally set off to draft their banners, cutting the jade-green flag into a brand new tortoise shape, even giving it a vividly realistic little tail. He casted a little magical curse on the banner, making this tortoise roar out: “Wangba, Wangba! Formidable and mighty, your aspirations touch the rainbows, your power shakes this very earth.”
It could be said to be extremely embarrassing.
The first time he placed this flag out on the battlefield, they were ridiculed to death by the enemy’s General. In the end, not even half a day passed before the enemy’s hundred thousand-strong army of cultivators were chased by the Wangba Army until they cried for their mothers and fathers. After this battle, Gu Mang fought in many campaigns both large and small, and always came back victorious.
This directly lead to those years where he was appointed General-in-chief. The moment those nations opposed to Chonghua heard turtles, the colour of their faces would change, and the sight that those enemy cultivators wanted to see the least was probably — a little turtle flag raised at mast amidst the smokey battlefield, and General Gu galloping towards them on horseback, clearing his throat and introducing himself seriously:
“Ahem. Good day, brothers. I am Gu Mang, General-in-chief of the Wangba Army, and I’ve come especially to ask for some tactical advice from my dear brothers.”
It was already shameful that they couldn’t defeat this young cultivator, what was even more disgraceful was that would still have to return home and report to their Emperor while sniveling: “Oh no, your subordinates were truly too incompetent, we were powerless against the Wangba Army!”
It was an absolute nightmare.
To the officers and soldiers of Chonghua, even though Gu Mang was mischievous and whimsical, he was full of charisma. At that time, there were many who revered him, to the point where some who would believe in Gu Mang’s ridiculous theory that “Crappy Names Bring Good Life”, taking it as gospel, and there were many children born then who had the misfortune of being given crappy names by their parents. The trend was once like this:
Chu Genzhuang.
Xue Tiezhu.
Jiang Dantong.
Therefore the first thing Mo Xi did after taking over the Wangba Army was to rename this cursed army.
He never allow for his personal military record to be “Mo Xi, General-in-chief of the Wangba Army”. Absolutely not!
And so the Wangba Army was renamed to the Northern Frontier Army, the troops were reassigned to Mo Xi, and that dark humour that was as unyielding as smoke and bloodshed, just like Gu Mang’s legendary reputation, had its curtains closed to a disappointing end.
And those little turtles that screamed, shouted and roared out ” Wangba, Wangba! Formidable and mighty!” were just like an incredulous joke heard within a mirage, never to be seen again on the boundless battlefield.
Once again, everything became very solemn, there were no flowers, no honey, no one who would even try to remember the most insignificant name, no one to take the officers out to play around, and no one who would trade everything apart from their inner robes in exchange for rice wine.
The war returned to an absolute cold-blooded grimness.
The winter was here to stay.
Although nowadays, the majority of those at the Northern Frontier Army hated Gu Mang’s guts, it was probably for this reason that when the topic of him came up, their reactions were not quite the same as the common folk.
This was especially so for those who used to went to war and back together with General Gu, the veterans of the “Wangba Army”. Every time they read out Gu Mang’s name, their eyes would somewhat glaze over dimly.
“Ah, I really wouldn’t have imagined that he would come to this kind of end.”
“Wangshu-Jun is a well-known tyrant, and with his Majesty passing Gu Mang to him to deal with, I’m afraid everything bodes ill for him with no positive signs.”
“I’m sure he’ll die without his corpse intact….”
A fiercely ambitious person will not necessarily be hated, but traitors are destined to be punished by all. It’s only when those veterans of the former Wangba Army get together, where they would chatter endlessly about things that have nothing to do with “hate”.
As the conversation winded down, the enthusiasm of some of the elders began to wane, and they sighed: “He was such a great man….. If it wasn’t for what had happened that here, he wouldn’t have–“
“Shh! Lower down your voice! To dare mention such an old story, do you not want to live?!”
That old veteran mumbled an “oops” before coming back to his senses, and realising what he had almost just said, the drunken stars in his eyes immediately scattered, and he couldn’t help but quiver.
The soldier next to him continued to remind him: “Nowadays we’re working under General Mo, and the one General Mo hates the most is Gu Mang. It’s not like you don’t know what his temper is like, if he really were to hear you, we’ll both be screwed!
“Yes yes, what you said is right. Look at me, the moment I have a drink I get all confused…”
The soldiers sitting around the fire stove didn’t speak another word, silently staring at that ball of flame, all of them with something on their mind. After a long while, someone finally let out a breath with great difficulty and said: “But I guess, people will change. All that we can say is that this is now General Gu’s fate.”
“How many years has it been already, why are you still calling him General Gu?”
“Oh, whoops. Yes. Gu Mang, Gu Mang.”
The night scene at the frontier fortress was silent, and the bonfire crackled, spitting out sparks in a gold brighter than the stars.
That tipsy veteran laid down on the ground, and using his arms as a pillow under his head, he gazed towards the night sky and began to count the stars, the Ziwei Star sparkling brightly. He swallowed hard, then muttered under his breath, so that no one but him would hear: “Ah, to be honest, back when I enlisted, it was to follow Gu Mang. I even had a drink with him while we sat around a bonfire, and he didn’t have a single air of arrogance at all. At that time I…..I’d look at him laugh and think, ah, if there was one day I could die in battle for him, then that could be considered a meaningful way to die. Who knew that in the end, he would unexpectedly…”
Unexpectedly face this kind of destiny.
After the birds were shot down, the bows were put away.
After exhausting their use of Gu Mang, the enemy country once again sent him back to Chonghua Empire as a gift to symbolise peace. This person had finally gone through the ups and downs of life, viewed a beautiful romantic scene, and one misplaced chess piece made him a traitor, but there was no room for regrets, and no way to return.
So what would you say is being trapped in one’s own devices?!
What do you mean by the fact that persisting in evil only brings your own demise?
Returning back to the main topic, although his fate was tragic, he could only blame himself for it, and for him to fall into a such a thankless position on both sides was great news for the people. For a moment, almost all of the people within Chonghua’s borders would raise their heads in hopes of catching a glimpse of Gu Mang’s outcome.
Beheading, a thousand cuts, boiling alive, hacked into minced meat, dragged apart by five horse carts, even a naive little girl who had barely learnt to speak would know to roll up her soft little tongue and vaguely keep up with the adults, saying: “We shudn’t wet gwo of dis shamewess pwig hed.”
Therefore, Gu Mang, General Gu, the former heroic commander of the Chonghua Empire, Mo Xi’s sworn enemy.
The legendary man once praised as the “Beast of the Altar”
That youth brimming with heroic spirit, who had once represented warmth and hope.
He finally lived up to his expectations and became a — “shwamewess pwig hed“.
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