The bright red blood splashed in the exclamations of the spectators, and in the sighs, it slowly spread along the wood grain of the high platform.
The afternoon sun was so dazzling that it made people panic. Gu Mang stood up straight, with no expression on his face - he just looked at it like this, watching his head roll down and his corpse falling.
His best friend was decapitated, his head rolled forward, rolled to the edge of the execution platform and stopped, staring at him with unclosed eyes. It seems to be saying, Mang'er, turn back.
It's over, let my death be the end of a dream, don't go any further. There is no road ahead, only a mirage.
Turn around. give up.
The executioner's machete was dripping scarlet, and blood was running all over the place.
go home…
The executioner sang according to the rules: "The execution is over—"
Like a beast that has been dormant all winter, it slowly wakes up in a dark cave. After the initial stimulation and shock, the crowd froze and gradually recovered.
Most of them have a feeling of wanting to see Lu Zhanxing, who was separated from the body on stage, but not afraid to see it. Some women mustered up the courage to take a peek, and immediately buried their faces in the palms of their hands, trembling with fright at the bloody scene.
"It's so miserable."
"Don't look on the stage, it's scary. If you watch it, you'll have nightmares when you sleep at night."
After a while of chaos, the crowd's focus gradually shifted to Gu Mang.
Slowly, some people started to notice Gu Mang's expression, and some people started to whisper:
"How come Gu Shuai... no response...?"
"Really, he didn't even change his face... Does he still hate Lu Zhanxing, after all, Lu Zhanxing pitted him so badly."
"Then why did he come to see them off?"
"Probably... for the sake of face. Hey, people like them are fighting inside, so how can they turn to the bright side."
After all, Gu Mang was a minister of the state and he had not yet cooperated with the enemy at that time, so someone immediately retorted: "What nonsense? Gu Shuai is not that kind of person at all! Although Deputy Shuai Lu is his old friend, in the end he made a great contribution. Wrong, Gu Shuai saw him off for righteousness, but he didn't lose his manners because of courtesy, he has already done this, what do you want from him?!"
The other party did not give in too much, and sneered: "Brothers and brothers, sharing life and death, sharing weal and woe, that is called brother. If I were Gu Mang, I would have been imprisoned long ago, or I would have kneeled in front of the emperor and begged for my own favor. The life of my brother is exchanged for the life of my brother, how can I be like him!"
"How do you know that Gu Shuai never asked?"
"Just based on his indifferent attitude, he Gu Mang is a cold-blooded, ruthless, hypocritical pseudo-good person!"
Gu Mang may have heard these words, or he may not have heard them. He still looked at the execution platform - the executioner had left, and the executioner was directing the left and right to deal with the follow-up. Standing in the scorching sun at noon, he was as tall as a pine tree, elegant and straight, and he didn't look like he was hurt in the slightest by pain.
Without blinking, he watched Lu Zhanxing's body tied up, Lu Zhanxing's head hanging high, and the blood on the ground washed away.
The execution officer displayed a scroll of yellow silk edicts and read without any emotion: "The criminal minister Lu Zhanxing lost his virtue in front of the battle, beheaded the envoy to cause disaster, Feng Ming's army was defeated, and the grace of God was greatly punished. On the third day, the announcement was made in the state, and Xian envoys heard it."
Lang Lang's voice echoed under the blue sky and daylight, and all the dust was settled.
The execution is completely over. Gu Mang didn't stay any longer, he carried the pear blossom white jar that he and Lu Zhanxing drank, turned around, and left without looking back—
One hundred thousand robes, and finally he was the only one left.
Gu Mang returned to his own residence. Mo Xi wore an invisibility cloak and kept following.
This great general, who once ranked first in Chonghua, was so poor that he did not have a mansion of his own. It's no wonder that money is needed for conscription equipment, money for food and equipment, and money for dredging relationships.
And his salary was only so much, so after he got rid of his slave status, he just rented a hut in a secluded place in the East City. In addition to the firewood room, this hut has only one bedroom, the only bed in the bedroom, a quilt, a pair of tables and chairs, and a few tattered wooden boxes.
It turns out that this is all the belongings of a general who is famous all over the world.
Gu Mang returned to the house and put the wine jar on the table. Then he went to the wood room. It was lunchtime. He boiled water and made a fire to warm up the leftovers in the gauze cabinet.
He eats.
His last brother was also dead, and he could never look back on what happened yesterday.
But he eats.
On the small wooden table, there was an empty red clay altar where Lu Zhanxing drank before his death, a large bowl of white rice, green vegetables and tofu, Gu Mang looked like someone who had been hungry for a long time, his chopsticks pressed against the bowl and kept plucking rice into his mouth. Soon the bowl of rice was eaten to the bottom, and there was not a grain of rice left. He got up again and went to add another bowl to himself, still the same kind of hungry food.
It seems that there is a bottomless hole in his heart. Only by eating something constantly, the feeling of emptiness will not be so shocking.
He buried his head in the food, his mouth was full, his cheeks bulged, and finally he couldn't swallow the food as fast as he could. He slowed down, but still choked. He was choking, trying to swallow the food in his mouth without saying a word, as if he was trying to choke on something he couldn't say, something he couldn't complain about.
He almost swallowed miserably, his head raised, his eyes wide open, and he looked at the roof rafters, and suddenly let out a choking sound.
Like choking from overeating.
So ridiculous.
But his eyes were red.
Mo Xi was standing beside him, a short distance away, but he couldn't say a word or touch Gu Mang even a hair. He just watched Gu Mang's eyes become more and more wet—
Gu Mang raised his head, as if to endure what was in his eyes. He even quickly raised his hand to wipe his eyelashes, and then took a breath.
He restrained himself, at least he thought he restrained himself, so he lowered his face again and picked up his chopsticks again to pick up the bland rice.
When he was young, he and Lu Zhanxing used to eat the kind of white rice with only green vegetables and tofu in Wangshu Mansion.
He tried to squeeze a few mouthfuls, but the pain of death was like a belated blade, digging into his heart, and finally began to fight for his breath, eroding his flesh and blood, and shattering his feigned indifferent face.
So slowly, his hand holding the chopsticks began to tremble, his lips containing the rice began to tremble, he began to tremble, he held on to himself, but tears began to flow out of his eyes.
Drop by drop, it fell to the table along the cheek.
He didn't make a sound, while he was stuffing the rice, he raised his hand to wipe the tears, his throat was bitter, the choking was stuck in it, and he was forced to swallow it together with the rice.
But at a certain point, my hands that were shaking uncontrollably could no longer hold the green vegetables and tofu. I tried it once, it slipped down, I tried it again, and it pierced...
This man with 70,000 souls on his back was suddenly defeated by the trivial failure at this table.
Gu Mang suddenly threw his chopsticks, got up and swept everything on the table to the ground. The porcelain cup crackled and shattered all over the floor, and the most shattered one was the empty wine jar that Gu Mang brought back.
He panted, his chest heaving sharply, staring blankly at the mess in front of him.
The red mud wine jar was smashed into a mess of old dreams by him.
Gu Mang looked, looked... his eyes were red, and then he walked over, almost squatted down in a daze, and reached out to pick up the debris—but before his fingertips touched it, he curled up again. There was an expression like waking up from a dream on his face.
This kind of waking up from a dream made Gu Mang's face look very broken.
That was the first time Mo Xi had known him for so long, a kind of brokenness.
If Gu Mang dared to appear in front of anyone in the army with such an expression, everyone's belief in him would collapse. He is not a god of war, but a pool of ooze, a lonely and helpless ant, a handful of scattered sand.
Gu Mang sat down like a slack. He was wearing a well-pressed and clean military uniform, but he fell on the dirty floor as if all his muscles and bones had been taken away.
He shivered, he stared at the mess in the place.
At first, a small whimper leaked out of his throat, like a displaced wolf pup, and then later, the whimper turned into a choked sob, which stumbled out intermittently from the depths of the throat.
"sorry Sorry… "
Mo Xi looked at him, watched him sit on the cold ground, slowly curled up and hugged his knees, watched him desperately hold back, but couldn't hold back his tears, watched him biting his lips desperately, His teeth were full of blood, but he still couldn't hold back his weak voice.
The gods finally collapsed.
God of War finally collapsed.
Gu Mang loosened his teeth slightly, he bit himself with full force, he was about to be driven mad by himself, gasping for breath, his eyes were red, his eyes wandered the room in despair, as if hoping that someone would suddenly appear. , save him, kill him, God, or devil.
Save him.
accompany him.
pain…
It was so painful.
Why is the world so vast, but 70,000 heroes cannot be retained.
Why is the underworld so deep that it doesn't accept him as a living ghost
He was the only one left.
Gu Mang finally let out a mournful cry, he cried, he hugged himself, he hugged himself tightly, as if he was trying his best to hug his brothers and sisters across life and death, and it seemed as if he had been taken away by the dead brothers. Heroic souls cross Huangquan to embrace their Gu Shuai hard...
The cry that leaked out of those bloody lips was ultimately utterly sad and unbearable.
Gu Mang kept saying, "I'm sorry..."
sorry…
Mo Xi looked at him, and it was like gouging out his heart. When Gu Mang was crying silently while eating hard, his heart hurt like a knife.
By this time, Gu Mang's pain was like his pain.
Gu Mang's helplessness was like his helplessness.
It was only now that he saw it with his own eyes. After losing Lu Zhanxing, Gu Mang was in so much pain.
It hurts like a heart is drained of blood.
He looked at Gu Mang's eyes, Gu Mang's mind must be a little confused, as if he could see ghosts, but also as if he longed to see ghosts, Gu Mang was desperately searching all over the room.
- He wants someone to accompany him, even if he wants to save his life, he wants to have someone to accompany him.
Mo Xi's heart was twisted like a knife.
In the past, when Gu Mang Jindian complained about his grievance, he was not by Gu Mang's side.
Later, when Gu Mang was in deep pain, he was not by Gu Mang's side either.
now…
Knowing that there is no change in the past in the mirror, knowing that acting recklessly may be dangerous.
But like Gu Mang, Mo Xi had endured too much pain all along.
Before Gu Mang did not betray the country, he owed Gu Mang... It was because he didn't accompany Gu Mang well, and he didn't see Gu Mang's heart knot in time. It was because he regarded Gu Mang as an indestructible god, but he forgot about it. What was wrapped in the battle armor was actually just a mortal body of flesh and blood.
A scarred, but still struggling...
Flesh and blood.
People's hearts are not stubborn stones and cold iron. The eight years of forbearance finally collapsed in the ant's nest. Mo Xi couldn't bear it any longer. He lifted the cloak's invisibility curse. He half-knelt down beside Gu Mang, and he said hoarsely, "Gu Mang, look at me, I'm still here."
I am still here…
But Gu Mang didn't know whether it was because he was too sad, or because his mind was stretched to the extreme, and he had already collapsed. He actually had no response to Mo Xi's voice and Mo Xi's sudden appearance.
Mo Xi was speechless from the pain, and his hands were shaking. He raised it, wanting to bring this lover who was wearing a military uniform but had no glory in his arms.
At this moment, he didn't want to think about the consequences anymore.
He really...
In the eight years of pain and longing, in the retrospect of the time mirror, I have been driven crazy.
"Gu Mang... Gu Mang..." Mo Xi said softly, hoarsely, "It's alright, I'll accompany you... I'll accompany you..."
He hugged him from behind and wrapped him in his arms.
But just as the shoulders were about to touch, a faint light flickered, and Mo Xi actually realized that he had passed through Gu Mang's body—
He stared at his hand in a daze, his face paled a little bit, his eyes panicked inch by inch.
Time is running out.
Murong Chuyi and Jiang Yexue's curse of breaking the mirror had reached the last stanza.
He doesn't know how long he can stay in this mirror world, but at least from this moment, he has become nothing.
Can no longer have any echo with this world.
He couldn't show up again, couldn't comfort Gu Mang, and couldn't turn Gu Mang back.
…
On this day, Gu Mang sat shyly in the pile of broken porcelain on the floor, hugging his knees, and he stayed like this from dawn to dusk.
The night fell, he leaned against the cold wall, like an outlier beast, curled up and fell asleep, the tips of his eyes were red, the tip of his nose was red, and even the edges of his ears huddled in the black hair were glowing. Poor thin red.
Mo Xi sat next to him all night, Gu Mang in the dream was also sobbing unconsciously, Mo Xi raised his hand, but he couldn't wipe away this tear from eight years ago.
As time goes by, nothing changes.
Even if it's just a mirror, they have come to this point after all.