Li Wei felt that it was simply too tiring to be a steward of someone like Commander-in-chief Mo, who always said one thing but mean another.
If time could reverse, he would rather work under Master Liu, who had eighteen concubines. Perhaps the machinations of all those eighteen concubines combined together would not be as complicated as this cold-hearted Commander-in-chief Mo.
But obviously time could not be reversed, thus Li Wei could only clear his throat and cautiously ask, "Zhushang, have you been to see Gu Mang? "
"......No."
"Oh." Li Wei breathed a sigh of relief. "Then it'd be best not to see him."
"Why?"
"This...... Zhushang, it's like this. Given Gu Mang's current situation, he probably doesn't even know who he is, let alone you. According to the physicians' diagnosis, he truly felt that he was a mighty and magnificent male wolf."
Mo Xi widened his eyes, "He felt he was a...... what?"
"A mighty and magnificent male wolf."
Mo Xi, "......"
This was the most ridiculous thing he had ever heard this year.
He held his forehead for a long time, then slowly opened his mouth. "Which physician made this diagnosis? Are you sure there's nothing wrong with his own brain?"
It was rare for Li Wei to see such a stunned reaction from him. He could not help but laugh out, but when he saw Mo Xi's expression, he hurriedly and meekly put on a solemn face.
"Zhushang, when we heard this news, we couldn't believe it either. Therefore, when Gu Mang returned to the city, many noblemen went to prison to settle accounts with him. But he couldn't even say a word, which made people angrier." Li Wei paused, then continued, "Afterwards, Junshang handed him over to Wangshu Jun to deal with. At first, Wangshu Jun wanted to pry some secrets out of him, but no matter what methods he used, he couldn't get anything out of Gu Mang."
Li Wei sighed and shook his head, "He really has no awareness of being human."
Mo Xi digested this for a moment, then raised his eyes. His gaze lingered on a small clay pot in which hot tea was brewing. The steam rose, with wisps of mist drifting up, intertwining with each other.
"......I also heard that...... his soul is defective." Mo Xi paused, "What was that about?"
Li Wei was dumbfounded. He thought, his Zhushang was not the kind of person who would go around making inquiries, so how could he have known this?
However, he still replied promptly, "It's indeed defective, but it's not clear exactly how it was damaged. All we know is that Gu Mang was already like this before he came back."
Mo Xi frowned and repeated: "He was like this when he was sent back......"
"Yes. As soon as Gu Mang entered the city, the practitioners of the Medicinal Sect took his pulse. Those practitioners said, his soul, his pulse and even his spiritual core, all showed signs of having been harmed recently. It's definitely the work of those people from Liao Country. They used some kinds of nefarious arts and actually extracted two physical souls out of his three immortal souls and seven mortal souls[1], and even made him feel as if he was no different from a beast."
"......"
Mo Xi was silent for a moment, then feigned nonchalance and asked, "How would it affect someone if...... they were missing two mortal souls?"
"It depends on the two that are missing. The Shennong Tai said, of the two souls Gu Mang is missing, one was related to memory and the other, wisdom. That's to say, he will face certain difficulties in these two aspects. Other than that, there isn't that much impact."
Mo Xi lowered his eyelids and whispered, "I see......"
"Yes. As he lost a soul that affected his wisdom, he lost even his ability to speak. Later on, Wangshu Jun kept him in Fallen Blossoms Court, and the housekeeper trained him for precisely two years before he could understand what we were saying, and with some difficulty, speak a little of our language."
Having said this, he gave a deep sigh, "Sigh, we used to say he was a mythical beast, but now, he's really no different from a wild beast."
-- This was actually the reason everyone was dumbstruck when Gu Mang was escorted back two years ago.
At that time, when the city gate opened and the prison wagon which held the traitor Gu Mang slowly crossed into Chonghua's boundary, the common folk on both sides of the road saw ex-commander-in-chief Gu caged together with several wolves. There was also a stag in the prison wagon. The wolves torn up the venison and blood was splattered everywhere, but Gu Mang did not even dodge. He just quietly squatted among the wolves with a peaceful expression, and the wolves seemed to treat him as one of them as well; a female wolf even dragged a deer’s leg to Gu Mang to fawn on him.
Gu Mang stretched out his hand and dipped it in some blood. With an indifferent expression, he licked it between his lips and teeth, but apparently, he did not find it delicious enough and dropped his hand again.
Mo Xi quietly listened.
When Li Wei spoke until this part, he scratched his head, "But Zhushang, there's one thing I can't understand."
Mo Xi turned his dark brown eyes and looked at him impassively, "Mhm?"
"You see, Liao Country had already been willing to send him back, so why even bother to destroy two of his souls?"
"......Perhaps he knows too many secrets." Mo Xi said, "Rip out two souls, shut him down once and for all."
Li Wei was speechless, "Whoa, so ruthless. Then, is it possible to restore him to his normal consciousness?"
Mo Xi shook his head with a heavy heart and did not reply.
Unless the two missing souls were retrieved, and a spell was cast to return them to the body. But in the vast lands, who knew if those two souls of Gu Mang were still around, and if so, where?
"It was said that Wangshu Jun spared his life that year because he wanted him to have a taste of a life that was worse than death." Li Wei said, "But I heard that he's now very calm and isn’t any fun at all. It seems like Wangshu Jun has miscalculated."
"That's right." Li Wei suddenly remembered something and turned his head to ask Mo Xi, "Has Zhushang seen Wangshu Jun ever since your return to the city?"
Mo Xi shook his head, "No."
Although Wangshu Jun was an important member of the Military Office, it was practically a freeloader position with no obligations. He was of noble origin and proud of his position. Out of three hundred and sixty-five days in a year, it was considered to be good if he could even come to work for fifteen days.
Mo Xi raised his eyes, "Why did you suddenly asked about him?"
Li Wei said, "In recent years, his moral character has worsened. If Zhushang happens to see him, do not argue with him and lower yourself to his level. As you know, he has been thinking of ways to make things difficult for you."
"......" This came as no surprise to Mo Xi.
There were three great Junzi[2] in Chonghua, whose characters corresponded to "Precept, Calmness, and Wisdom" in Buddhism. Jiang Yexue's heart was calm, and he was unmoved by honor or disgrace, gain or loss, and thus he was deemed by others to be "Calmness.” Princess Mengze was honored as "Percept" because of her virtue and integrity. On the contrary, there were also three notorious human scums, which corresponded to the three filth[3] in Buddhism, "Greed, Hatred, and Ignorance".
Of the three filth, the one with the most significant relation to Mo Xi was the one who was "Greed". Greed referred to the coveting of deference and reverence from others; unless they obtained it, they would never be content.
This person was Wangshu Jun whom Li Wei mentioned.
Wangshu Jun's name was Murong Lian. He was Gu Mang's previous master. In the beginning, Gu Mang was chosen by him to be a study attendant and brought into the Cultivation Academy.
At that time, Murong Lian did not realize that this little slave had amazing talent. Within a few years, he outperformed him in his cultivation. He thus bore a grudge against Gu Mang out of jealousy and did not shy away from making things difficult for Gu Mang every day; he would hit, scold, and punish him whenever he was slightly unhappy. Everyone knew that he was cruel by nature, and his name was seriously at odds with his character. To use a simple case as an example --
There was a time when Gu Mang came to a village to slay demons and took pity on the villagers who were plagued by an epidemic. Thus, he used Murong Lian's identity to get the Imperial Medicine Hall in the Imperial City to prepare the antidote in secret. This broke the rules, but he did it out of good intentions. If it were other masters, they would just reprimand him in two sentences, and that would be the end of it.
But Murong Lian was different. When Murong Lian found out about Gu Mang's appropriation of his name to obtain the imperial medicine, he was so angry that he let loose a torrent of verbal abuse at him. First, he pelted him with seventy, eighty lashes of the whip. Afterward, he made him kneel on the academy's footpath for twenty days straight.
At that time, Mo Xi did not know Gu Mang very well and did not have much contact with him. Besides, he seldom used that footpath, so he knew nothing of this incident.
It was not until one day when there was a downpour he happened to pass by and noticed a figure. He walked over and saw that it was Gu Mang.
Gu Mang was soaked to the skin, his black hair was glued to his ice-cold cheeks, and beads of rain continuously dripped down from the curve of his lower jaw. He compliantly kneeled amidst the stream of passersby, holding a wooden sign in both hands with eight big words carved on it in red cinnabar:
"Despicable Slave Impersonated Master; Shameless Beyond All Description."
Mo Xi stopped in front of him.
Crystal droplets of water splashed and bounced off the sides of the umbrella, with some of them converging into streams that rapidly flowed down the frame of the umbrella.
The people around them threw curious gazes at them, but when they caught a glimpse of the flying serpent[4] clan crest on Mo Xi's robe, they were all startled and lowered their head as they took their leave, not even daring to take another look at them.
"......You......"
Gu Mang seemed to have been soaked until he was out of it; he did not even know when there was a big umbrella over his head, nor did he notice that someone had stopped in front of him.
So, when he suddenly heard someone speaking so close to him, he was startled out of his stupor. He raised his head at once --
A confused and drenched face entered Mo Xi's vision; the corners of his mouth were clotted with blood, and the sides of his face were covered with lash marks. He shivered with cold, like an abandoned dog in the mud. Only his black eyes were still bright as he looked at him with those water-washed eyes.
It was beyond ludicrous and pathetic when he put that sorry figure together with that
"Despicable Slave Impersonated Master; Shameless Beyond All Description" wooden sign.
Mo Xi's friendship with Gu Mang was not very deep at that time, but he knew that Gu Mang impersonated others to appropriate medicine because he could not bear to see the suffering of an entire village plagued by an epidemic. Thus, he went to Murong Lian's residence and asked him for a pardon.
Murong Lian did not agree but quarreled with Mo Xi instead. At last, he simply ordered someone to summon Gu Mang back and asked him in front of Mo Xi, "Gu Mang, do you know why this esteemed and venerable Mo Gongzi came to our door today?"
Gu Mang shook his head blankly as water droplets dripped from his face.
Murong Lian hooked his finger at him, indicating for him to go over, and then he stretched out his ghastly pale finger to stroke Gu Mang's damp face. He condescendingly rolled his peach blossom, sanpaku eyes[5] and said with a shadow of a smile on his face, "He came for you."
Gu Mang was clearly stunned for a moment. He turned his head to look at a self-composed Mo Xi and then turned back to Murong Lian. Finally, he brusquely wiped the rainwater off his face and pulled his lips back in a grin: "Is Gongzi joking?"
Murong Lian smilingly said, "What do you think?"
"......"
"Your capability has certainly improved. If Mo Gongzi had not braved the rain to intercede for you today, I wouldn't have known that you had hooked up with the esteemed Gongzi Ye[6] of another clan."
Mo Xi clenched his teeth and said, "Murong Lian. I'm just trying to say something in fairness. Don't make it sound so filthy."
As if in a daze, Gu Mang turned his head toward Mo Xi, a trace of gratitude momentarily flashing through his cool, clear eyes that were like seawater. But then he shook his head almost imperceptibly at Mo Xi when Murong Lian was not paying attention.
Murong Lian squinted at Mo Xi and harrumphed at him as if putting on a show of force. He then turned his head towards Gu Mang and said in an amicable tone, "Kneel."
Gu Mang did as he was told; he kneeled in an erect posture in front of Murong Lian with his head bowed.
"Take off all your upper garment."
"Murong Lian!!"
"This is my residence. No matter how much of an esteemed guest Mo Gongzi is, you should not lecture me in my house, isn't that right?" Murong Lian glanced back at Gu Mang and said, "Take it off."
Gu Mang did as he was told. He removed his robe, exposing a sturdy, well-proportioned physique, and lowered his eyelashes without saying a word. Murong Lian slowly scrutinized his figure, from the taut muscles to the honey-colored skin under the candlelight -- Murong Lian was very thin. When he was sizing up Gu Mang, he looked like a noble young master, who feared the cold, sizing up a top quality animal fur; it was as if he wished he could tear off Gu Mang's skin and wrap it around himself to strengthen himself.
Around this time, an attendant served Murong Lian a teacup of hot ginger tea. Murong Lian drank it and sighed, "Gu Mang, isn't it a wonderful feeling to have a spiritual core? Being able to move Heaven and Earth at the Cultivation Academy must have felt fantastic, doesn't it? You must be thrilled to befriend such a distinguished nobleman like Mo Gongzi, aren't you?"
"I really don't know who gave you the guts to falsely proclaim yourself as 'Murong Gongzi', all for a prescription to save some outcasts. Hehe. "
His thin fingers laid the teacup down as he suddenly raised his eyes.
"Are you forgetting your origins?!"
Gu Mang buried his head lower: "I dare not forget."
"Your martial arts, your clothes, your spiritual core, everything you have today -- is all thanks to the Murong clan. You are nothing without the Wangshu Residence! "
"It is as Shaozhu[7] lectured."
Murong Lian did not say a word more. After a long time, he suddenly laughed, "However, since you are so capable, I will certainly not mistreat you, lest your wings become hard and someone else wooed you away."
Coldly, he ordered the attendant, "Go, bring me that gift that I had prepared for a very long time for Gong--Zi--Ye." He stretched out each syllable in a sarcastic tone, mocking Gu Meng's previous act of impersonating the young master of the Murong clan.
At that time, other study attendants of the Murong clan were also present. One of them, Lu Zhanxing, was Gu Mang's best buddy. As soon as he heard that Murong Lian was going to give Gu Mang that "gift", his face turned ugly, and he actually looked at Murong Lian with what can be almost called a "glare".
Murong Lian raised his hand and ordered the attendant to lift open the lid of the box under everyone's gaze.
The crowd turned pale, and a few did not even manage to hold back their shock and exclaimed,
"It's the Slave Restraint Ring!"
The moment Gu Mang heard this, he raised his head abruptly with his eyes wide opened and looked blankly at the sandalwood tray held above his head.
Mo Xi's face turned dark.
The slave restraint ring was worn around the neck by slaves deemed by their masters to be the most disobedient and most repulsive. Its purpose was to restrain and punish the slaves.
After putting it on, they could never take it off, unless permitted by their masters. The effectiveness was more or less about the same as a dog collar. If being a slave on the social stratum was already a great disgrace, then being shackled by a slave restraint ring was adding insult to injury, so much that even the other slaves would look down on him.
"Put it on yourself." Murong Lian waved his hand. "Surely you don't need me to invite you, 'Murong Gongzi Ye'?"
Author’s Notes:
Criteria for choosing a spouse.
Mo Xi: Not choosing any, I'd only remarry.
Yue Chenqing: Pretty! Sweet! Great legs!
Jiang Yexue: I am a widower and have no plans to remarry.
Murong Lian: The women in this world are all but commonplace; they aren't my cup of tea. What? Hehe, men aren't my cup of tea either.
Gu Mang (serious face): Requirements: Luxurious fur, pointed head and palate, healthy limbs, fast running speed, keen hearing and a strong sense of smell. Females who have successfully given birth to and raised a litter of more than five wolves will be given priority.
Mo Xi: ………………………………
Footnotes
[1] 三魂七魄 three immortal souls and seven mortal forms (baser instincts that motivate a human being) in Daoism, contrasting the spiritual and carnal side of man.
[2] 三大君子 lit. three great gentlemen, 戒定慧 lit. Precept, Calmness, and Wisdom (Buddhism) which Buddha taught followers to cultivate: Precept, to perfect moral conduct; Calmness, to devote oneself to inner peace; and Wisdom; to cultivate wisdom.
[3] 三垢 lit. three filth, 贪嗔痴, lit. Greed, Hatred and Ignorance. Also known as 三毒 (San Du; the three poisons).
[4] 腾蛇 Tengshe, or Flying Serpent, is a mythological creature in Chinese mythology. It is also an asterism in the Chinese constellation Encampment (Shixiu 室宿).
[5] 桃花眼 lit. peach blossom eyes, a shape of eyes said to have exceptional ability to attract the opposite sex.
三白眼 lit. three white (or sanpaku) eyes, where the white can be seen at three sides (left, right, top/bottom).
So basically 桃花三白眼 is peach blossom eyes where the white can be seen on 3 sides. (Murong Lian’s eyes)
桃花眼> 📷 三白眼>📷
[6] 公子爷 - another term for young master from a noble family, so "esteemed Gongzi Ye" is basically just saying "esteemed young master" here.
[7] 少主 Young Master
Lianyin's Notes:
*eyes mossy and Ah Lian*
Dante's Notes:
Dun dun dun~ bet none of you saw that coming. On a more serious irl note, I'm seeking more translators for Yu Wu so we can put out more double updates. DM me on twitter at shizunofficial or on novelupdates at DanteNotes.