Next, Lu Zhanxing was exposed for three days.
During these three days, everything in the mirror continued to fade, and people's voices were blurred as if they were separated by a vast ocean. Mo Xi does not need an invisibility cloak to go anywhere freely, but time is running out, he can no longer talk to anyone from eight years ago, and he can't use it to elicit more truths.
He fell into passive waiting.
And during these three days, Gu Mang didn't go anywhere, and no one came to visit him—also, Lu Zhanxing was Gu Mang's closest friend in the past, as well as Wang Bajun's deputy commander. Many people thought that Lu Zhanxing would not die in the end, thinking that at the last moment he would surely be forgiven by the emperor.
But the Lord did not take into account Gu Mang's feelings and face, and Lu Zhanxing was still beheaded.
So, almost everyone smelled this message—
Gu Mang had really lost his power, and it was impossible for him to make a comeback.
Gu Jiajun is finished.
No one would accompany a lackey in the sunset. In the past, there were few pommel horses in front of the general's gate.
Only Mo Xi from eight years later accompanied him, but Gu Mang couldn't see it. He stayed at home, lying on the bed in a daze, not eating if he could, not moving if he could, and time seemed to stand still. But Mo Xi knew that time was still mercilessly passing, and Mo Xi would sometimes look at his hand and stretch out his fingers, all of which had become transparent—it seemed that he had left the world in the mirror just a few hours later.
He didn't even know if he could make it through tonight.
"Gu Shuai."
There was a knock on the door, and someone shouted from outside. Gu Mang stared blankly for a while with his eyes open, and then staggered to his feet. Because he had been hungry for too long and had been lying down for too long, his mind was a little dizzy, and he almost fell over after landing on the ground. Mo Xi instinctively went to help him, but he couldn't help him - Gu Mang still fell to the ground in a panic, and quickly got up again. The door opened, and standing outside was a herald in the palace.
"Your Majesty has a purpose, please make a quick trip to the Golden Palace."
Gu Mang looked very tired: "What's the matter?"
"This..." the messenger said, "I don't know the subordinate, but Gu Shuai will go."
Mo Xi understood that it was Your Majesty who was going to give Gu Mang the last task. He couldn't help begging that he could stay in the time mirror for a while longer, not to let him escape at this time. He really wanted to see what Gu Mang's last appointment was before his mutiny.
After sending the officials away, Gu Mang came to the dim bronze mirror. He changed into clean coarse clothes and washed his face with water. Drops of water dripped down his cheeks, washing away the tiredness on his face, but not the bloodshot eyes.
In order to make himself appear more energetic, Gu Mang raised his hand to tie his hair and combed himself a high ponytail, and then he habitually wanted to buckle the crown button representing the emblem and rank, but his fingers touched the stage. null.
He is no longer a general.
"…
Gu Mang was silent for a while, then groping for a while, he took out a silk tie to wrap his hair bun in place. The silk tie was lotus root white, and he was secretly wearing a mourning for whom he was rebellious.
He entered the palace.
When Yu Lin saw him, the red pheasant on his pocket rustled and wanted to salute, but he quickly realized that he shouldn't be doing this, so he straightened his head again.
- In the deep palace, the heaven is majestic and solemn, the imperial guards could not look at him openly, but their eyes were secretly watching him appear from the end of the promenade and disappear into the depths of the royal city.
Over the years, Gu Mang has walked through this corridor countless times, and his rank has become higher and higher, and his fans have become more and more numerous.
But now, he has become a commoner, blue shirt and cloth shoes, alone. He shed half his life's blood and spent all his sincerity. In the end, he went round and round to return to the starting point, which was not much different from when he first entered Miyagi as a slave.
Stepping into the hall, the majesty of the throne above the high-level, because it is not the time of the court meeting, there is a three-layered soft tent in front of the throne, covering everything behind it.
The appearance of a king should not be taken lightly.
Gu Mang paused, his eyes did not lift, his eyelashes drooped, his eyes looked at his nose, and his nose looked at his heart. He knelt down and kowtowed: "Gu Mang, the common people. See you, Your Majesty."
The Golden Palace was empty and silent, and there was no answer.
Gu Mang waited for a while, then got up and kowtowed again: "Gu Mang, a commoner, see your Majesty."
This time there was finally a reaction, but the reaction did not come from the throne of the Golden Palace, but from behind Gu Mang, wafting in like a thin smoke.
"Gu's surname, you also know that you are a commoner now, how could your Majesty want to see you?"
Mo Xi and Gu Mang turned back together, but saw Murong Lian standing at the door with wide sleeves in disgust.
Eight years ago, Murong Lian hadn't even started to smoke Floating Life Ruomeng, so his mental state seemed to be much better than after, and he wasn't as tired or thin. He was wearing a blue and gold-trimmed aristocratic robe. Although his expression was a bit playful, his shoulders were straight and his long legs stood up straight. Lazy look.
Gu Mang straightened up and asked, "Why are you?"
"What happened to me?" Murong Lian sneered, "Gu Shuai is so forgetful, you have served me in my house for so many years, pinched my shoulders, beat my legs, and flattered me in every possible way. Have you forgotten all your books?"
"… "
"Furthermore, now you are a commoner, and I am the prince. It is your honor to have me deliver the message for you."
The pointed chin was raised, and Murong Lian's pale face showed ridicule.
"Kneel down to take the decree?"
Gu Mang was silent for a while, and finally his eyes fell. He knelt down on the ground, the edge of his pale blue robe slumped. Mo Xi was accustomed to seeing Gu Shuai with armor on. It turned out that after the armor was removed, his bones were thin, and the neck exposed at the wide neckline was so tired that it would break with a slight squeeze.
Murong Lian fluttered out the splendid and luxurious sleeves of the golden-edged robes, took out the decree of the emperor, and said slowly: "The Emperor Xi Tianjian, the imperial edict of Chonghua, the battle of Fengming, the floating corpse for thousands of miles, trace the origin, all because The coach Gu Mang did not know people properly, the deputy general Lu Zhanxing lost his morals, killed the Rouley envoy, trapped the army in the cauldron, and hated the diplomatic relationship between China. Now the guilty minister Lu Zhanxing has shown his head to the public, and ordered the old coach Gu Mang to take responsibility for his decision. Skull, go to Rouley to apologize in person. Appreciate this."
After reading this edict, not to mention Gu Mang, even Mo Xi was stunned.
What Your Majesty meant was that Gu Mang personally took Lu Zhanxing's head and went to the country of Rou Li to apologize for Lu Zhanxing's killing of the envoy of the country!
The voice in the time mirror was getting quieter and quieter, and Mo Xi felt the buzzing in his ears even more at this time.
He actually wanted Gu Mang to personally present Lu Zhanxing's head to the neighbors...
Your Majesty, it doesn't matter how Gu Mang is feeling, whether Gu Mang will collapse or not betray! - He is indeed testing Gu Mang's bottom line.
Even at the cost of forcing this person away.
Murong Lian narrowed her three-white peach blossom eyes: "What? Isn't Gu Shuai still accepting the order?"
Mo Xi shook his head.
Do not.
you don't take... you don't...
But looking at Gu Mang's eyes, this person seemed to have already seen through the disgust of your Majesty. After the initial daze, Gu Mang's expression became indifferent, calm, and even a little undisguised disgust.
don't take...
"Public people Gu Mang." A vague voice fell from Gu Mang's lips, "... the purpose."
He raised his slightly trembling fingers and took the edict from Murong Lian's hand.
Falling off the cliff, everything is a foregone conclusion.
So, in the late autumn of this year, many people have a new destiny - Chonghua's only slave army is not safe, Lu Zhanxing asked to be beheaded in the east, and his head was hanged in the downtown for three days. In order to humiliate Gu Mang, who had contradicted him in court, three days later, the emperor ordered Gu Mang to personally send Lu Zhanxing's head to the country of Rou Li, in order to thank him for beheading him to make him disrespectful.
Gu Mang set off on the road with his brother's head on his back.
Sun, dusk and dusk were originally the thickest and most brilliant colors, but in Mo Xi's eyes, they were white and almost transparent. The power of the time mirror is getting weaker and weaker, and the world in the mirror begins to collide with the world outside. Mo Xi can even hear the chants outside the time mirror occasionally.
It was Jiang Yexue's voice, chanting the curse.
"Crossing the sea of misery, there was no chase yesterday..."
"Huangliang is a dream, why don't you come back..."
Suddenly, Jiang Yexue's voice disappeared, leaving only the sounds of the world in the mirror.
Gu Mang, who was traveling a long way, tightened the cloth bag he was carrying, and came to Yazikou, Dongshi, in Chonghua, and walked to a bakery stall.
"Madam, here are five pancakes."
The baker was a pretty woman. When Gu Mang came to visit her stall in the past, she would laugh and shout, and her voice was so loud that she wished the whole world would know that Gu Shuai ate the meat cooked by her house. cake. But today, when she looked up from the hearth with a smile, the smile froze.
Gu Mang thought he didn't make it clear, and said, "Five pancakes, still the old taste."
The woman suddenly became a little embarrassed. On the one hand, she was in a hurry to distance herself from this lost man, even if it was a business relationship, it seemed that she would be embarrassed, but on the other hand, she was really embarrassed, and her conscience was worried about her snobbery. .
It was like this for a while, and her husband came over.
"It's not for sale, it's not for sale, our house is closed!"
Gu Mang was stunned for a moment, then opened his eyes slightly: "But the evening market has just begun..."
The man is quite unreasonable: "I won't sell it!"
Gu Mang understood. He glanced at the woman, and the woman's face was flushed with embarrassment. Her conscience seemed to be completely shattered at this moment, and the shattered blood rushed to her face, dyeing her face red.
He remembered that the first time he came to buy cakes in front of her stall, she hadn't married yet, a girl with tender water and green onions. Seeing him come to patronize, he stammered excitedly.
At that time, she was the same as now, her cheeks were shining.
It's a pity that times have changed, the girl has become a woman, and the reason for her blushing is completely different from that in the past.
Gu Mang sighed and said, "Forget it. I originally wanted to buy some and bring them to eat on the road. Your family's pancakes are very similar to the one I ate in the north, and they are all very good. Thank you for doing that. Years of good business."
After he finished speaking, he turned around and left. The woman was ashamed to death, so she couldn't help looking at his back and shouted, "Gu Shuai!"
Her man was shocked and immediately covered her mouth: "What are you yelling about? Don't die!"
The woman shivered, and after this sound, she lost her integrity and courage. She lowered her head and did not dare to speak again. And Gu Mang disappeared into the bustling crowd after a slight pause in her footsteps, and when she raised her head again with tears in her eyes, she could never be seen again.
…
Mo Xi accompanied Gu Mang, walking with his family and watching.
Gu Mang seemed to want to take some food from his homeland on the road, and even stopped eagerly for a while in front of the stall selling Chonghua paper-cut small paintings, but he was too eye-catching. The more people he sees.
Originally, the stall owners would warmly solicit customers, but when Du Du walked by, they all lowered their eyebrows and said nothing, wishing they could even disappear into this world with the stall.
Gu Mang is a man of interest, and he doesn't blame them.
These small businessmen are guarding a small base for a living, whoever pays attention to him will probably have a hard time in the future. He has lived at the bottom and knows how painful it is to be despised and not enough to eat, so when he looked at these hawkers who avoided him, there was no resentment in his eyes.
It's just that he didn't know that it was such a difficult thing to buy one or two things from his homeland when he came and left.
Gu Mang finally left the bustling Dongshi empty-handed. As he walked, he sighed, "Zhanxing, I'm sorry, I can't buy your favorite pear blossom white for a while. I can't drink it for you. "
The head in the rucksack will naturally not answer.
Gu Mang tightened his rucksack again and continued to walk forward.
Soon, he passed the garrison and left the city gate. He walked on the ancient bridge chiseled with white jade. This bridge is called Chonghua Bridge. One end is connected to the suburban post road with long pavilions and grass.
At the end of the bridge, there was a rotten old man who was over 100 years old, his legs were rotten, and he was provoked by mosquitoes. Gu Mang knew this person, and he leaned here for many years, asking people who came in and out of the city every day to beg for food.
The old beggar was old and never moved. The city guards chased him away countless times. He rolled his old eyes, propped on the ground with his hands, and crawled away cursing, but after a day or two, he seemed to be attached to He crawled back like a gangrene of bones, still begging here.
Gu Mang once asked others why this old man insisted on being paralyzed by the Chonghua Bridge at the gate of the city.
At that time, an elderly monk told him that this old man once went to the battlefield, and then the entire army was wiped out. The old guy's conscience can't handle it, and it won't be long before he can't stand it anymore, so he goes to the old gentleman to confess his guilt. But at that time, the old gentleman implemented virtuous government and was unwilling to kill people. He only stripped him of his military rank, abolished his spiritual core, and made him a commoner.
He tried to drink alcohol to relieve his worries, tried to believe in goodness and escape, but in the end he couldn't get rid of the knot in his heart.
Later, day by day, day by day, the mind collapses day by day.
The young monk became an old monk, and the old monk was insane. Every day, he could recall the moment when he left his comrades and fled. He was completely driven mad. He chopped off his own legs in his madness. In this way, you can change the past, thinking that the old self will not turn around and run away.
But to no avail.
The old man is getting more and more crazy.
He is almost eighty, and for so many years, he has been guarding the Chonghua Bridge day and night. Guarding on the road that the army must pass through when returning home, a pair of turbid old eyes are always looking at the horizon in the distance.
No one knew what he was waiting for.
Until that day, Gu Mang triumphed for the first time as the head coach. He wore a bright red cloak wrapped in gleaming armor, rode a golden-winged snow horse, and rode the vast army with the billowing dust and smoke.
The dirty and pickled old man by the Chonghua Bridge was suddenly more energetic than any time Gu Mang had seen before. He dragged his severed limbs and struggled to straighten up, trying to wave at them, crying with tears in his eyes, "Come back! You're back!"
"Who is this old man talking about?"
Gu Mang looked left and right, only to see himself, and his comrades behind him.
After thinking for a while, Gu Mang suddenly moved in his heart and suddenly understood what the old guy had been waiting for—
He was waiting, waiting for the brothers who were abandoned by him to go back to the city in high spirits and fresh clothes after decades of time.
The old guy has been waiting.
So Gu Mang got off the horse and walked up to him. The old man looked up at him, the sun pierced the old guy's dim eyes, and the old guy burst into tears. While crying, he kowtowed to Gu Mang. At the same time, he moved to hug him.
Lu Zhanxing clicked his tongue at that time and said, "Mang'er, it's so dirty!"
Gu Mang said, "It's fine."
He raised his hand and touched the old guy's head.
When people are weak, they make mistakes. The deserter has tormented most of his life for his escape, Gu Mang thought, enough is enough.
The old guy kept his leaky mouth open and cried hysterically, calling Gu Mang "Xiao Zhao" for a while, and calling Gu Mang "Xiao Chen" and "Little Winter Melon" for a while.
Gu Mang complied one by one, and from that day on, the old guy lived in peace.
He was still a little crazy, but no longer looking straight at the horizon, he started to look like a serious stinky beggar, laughing at people passing by, flipping a dirty broken bowl and singing his Lotus falls.
"..." Gu Mang tightened the cloth wrapping Lu Zhanxing's head and walked to the end of Chonghua Bridge. He knew that today might be the last time he passed by this old beggar.
"Old man."
The old beggar had a lot of harvest today, and there was a big steamed bun in the broken bowl of begging, and a cake in his arms. He actually didn't remember who Gu Mang was. Although Gu Mang untied his knot when his class teacher returned to the DPRK, but after all, he was old and tortured by obsession for so long, he didn't remember where he was back then. A general dismounted, willing to forgive him as a sinner, willing to be his Xiao Zhao Xiao Chen Xiao Winter Melon.
Therefore, he raised his head, smiled stupidly, and looked at Gu Mang very leisurely.
"Master, give me a reward."
Gu Mang also looked down at the stinking beggar. After watching for a while, he also smiled.
"The only person who is willing to talk to me now is you."
After he finished speaking, he handed all the soft shell coins in the Qiankun bag to the old beggar.
Gu Mang said, "Let's go."
He got up, but the moment he got up, the old man suddenly grabbed his wrist.
"What's wrong?"
The old man seemed to realize something, but he didn't seem to realize anything. Finally, he shivered and stretched out his dead wood-like hand, and took out the dirty pancake from his arms.
Like offering a treasure, his face is full of folds and smiles.
"Give, give."
"For me?"
The old man seemed to have a perception that ordinary people don't have because he was close to the destiny, and kept stuffing the pancakes into Gu Mang's hand: "Take it, with your brother, eat on the road... Eat on the road..."
Gu Mang was stunned.
Perhaps the eyes of the elderly and children can see ghosts and the future.
He looked at the wrinkled old face that was shrunken like a walnut. After a while, he slowly corrected himself with a smile, and took the cake from his homeland from the old beggar.
"Thank you. In the end, I can still take away the same thoughts of my hometown."
The old man nodded ignorantly at him, his lips were trembling, and he kept saying: "You want to come back, come back..."
Gu Mang's smile stopped, but he didn't fall down. His eyelashes trembled slightly, and he got up and said, "Let's go."
After he finished speaking, he carried a cloth bag and glanced back at the towering tower.
On the tower, the two strong seal characters of "Chonghua" were dazzled by the setting sun.
Gu Mang watched for a while, and seemed to be muttering to himself, and seemed to be talking to someone.
He said again: "Let's go."
go.
The remnants of Wang Bajun were also detained in prison by the emperor, and Lu Zhanxing's remnant was in Gu Mang's rucksack. No one came to practice for Gu Mang.
He turned around and walked alone on the Chonghua Bridge. The river rolls under the bridge, like yesterday's glory.
And the old man by the Chonghua Bridge suddenly stretched out his voice at this moment - his voice was like a broken gong and drum, the old man stretched his neck, watching Gu Mang's figure walking towards the twilight horizon. His voice was hoarse, his trembling hands banged on the begging bowl, he opened his mouth, and began to sing hoarsely the most fluent lotus fall he remembered—
"The time of humanity is like a shuttle, and I say that time passes by differently. The prosperous people in the past envied me, but it was easy to waste once a year. Poor today, I have no money, and every moment is like a long year. Driven to the front of the mountain. The encirclement is enchanted, and the people are greeted like gods. Today's gold is gone, who will return, and friends are out of the pack to cook with hounds. There is no good porridge in the day and no sleep at night, and I end up singing the lotus on the street. Don't blame the mother and father, don't blame the gods. I had known that I was ups and downs here, and I regretted that I became a demon that day. Now I can't stand it, and I diligently persuade people to quit like me!"
I, too, once carried a tall horse with a light fur and a fat horse, and drove all the people to the front of the mountain.
I, too, held the jade waist with a black armor in my pocket, and the arrow broke through and shocked the feathers for nine days.
And now...
Mo Xi opened his eyes. He looked at Gu Mang's back without blinking. When he blinked more, he looked at less. He watched Gu Mang away like this, and tears finally flowed down his face - he never did. Knowing that Gu Mang betrayed the country was painful, but knowing it in his heart and seeing it with his own eyes was not a normal feeling.
Heart-piercing, soul-shattering.
Why did it come to this point...
Why go to this point? ! !
In the past, the young man in fresh clothes and angry horses, like a beggar who lost his soul, a wild ghost, walking along the ancient road from the long pavilion, all the way to the distance...
And Mo Xi knew that his departure was a seven-year separation from Chonghua.
When he came back, his two souls were gone, his mind was damaged, his body was covered in blood, and the gap was difficult to bridge.
When he came back, either he or Gu Mang was fine. Whatever the conspiracy of eight years ago, the wrong has been made - and it can never be changed.
"Gu Mang..."
His heart pierced like a sharp cone, and Mo Xi wanted to follow him, but Jiang Yexue's singing became more and more distinct in his ears, and the various colors in the time mirror were indistinguishable.
Gu Mang's figure was so thin that it seemed that he would disappear at any time.
He seemed to want to wade through the sea of time and reach the end of the years to embrace the lonely figure.
I want to wade through the waters of blood and save the old man who will never look back.
But as the spell-breaking chant came to an end, Mo Xi could no longer move. Leaving this world is only for a moment, Mo Xi can only watch the small, lonely back, with no one to accompany him, and go on the road alone—
His internal organs seemed to be torn apart.
He even wanted to ask Jiang Yexue to wait a little longer... don't read any more...
Just wait a minute and give him one last moment.
At least let him accompany Gu Mang down this post road, at least let him accompany him for a while longer.
"Crossing the sea of misery, there was no chase yesterday..."
Let him stay with him again.
There is no hatred.
Without grudges.
Even a little longer is fine.
"Huangliang is a dream, why don't you come back..."
stop reading...
Finally, in the throes of death and separation, Mo Xi watched as Gu Mang's figure was finally engulfed by the light of the earth and the sky, and the endless darkness was pressing down. His heart was twitching, struggling and twitching. The pain almost destroyed his sanity. He doesn't even want to go back to reality, it will only hurt more than before.
What he had to face was the broken pieces of Gu Mang, and what he had to pick up was the mess in the world.
How did he face Gu Mang? What do you think of your Majesty
How could he abandon the sins made by Gu Mang, and how could he suppress the heartache for Gu Mang
A mirror of time and space is a dream of Huang Liang, how many people are drunk to death in the world. The description of the mirror by the former school elders was not a false statement... Mo Xi was ruthlessly pulled out by a ruthless force in the pain that made him unable to breathe, and countless bizarre reflections flashed before his eyes - Gu Mangyan The smile at the tail, the annoyance in Gu Mang's eyes, the always-hot boy in the school age, the traitor on the Dongting battleship who vowed not to turn back, the joys, sorrows and joys they had experienced together for half their lives all came to mind at this moment, and they all shattered in the end. In the afterglow of the sunset at Chonghua Bridge…
—
"Xihe-kun!"
Jiang Yexue's voice came.
Mo Xi suddenly fell to the icy ground of the bat tower, his eyes were wide open, his chest heaved violently, he couldn't breathe... He was like a fish being dragged ashore, the pain of the dilemma was as if his bones were torn apart. Peeling from his flesh, he lay on the ground gasping for breath. In the chaos, he saw Jiang Yexue coming over, and Jiang Yexue kneeling beside him...
"Gu Mang..." Mo Xi almost choked up, "Gu Mang..."
"Don't go any further... don't go any further..."
Jiang Yexue grabbed his hand and diagnosed the heart pulse, which was actually a sign of dying. The pain is so painful that the heart is about to stop - gouging out the bone to tap the heart, gouging out the bone to tap the heart... The bone and the flesh will be separated... The heart seems to be crying in despair, as if to say that it really doesn't know how to deal with love and sin... Might as well kill him... Might as well stop it.
too painful.
Once again, watching the most important person go to hell, no... no... being forced to hell... lured to hell... and this time he still couldn't even save and accompany him... He still couldn't find out that Gu Mang was treasonous The ultimate truth of...
"Xihe-Jun!!" Jiang Yexue called to him anxiously, "Mo Xi!! Mo Xi!!!"
Don't go any further... There is a dead end ahead...
At this moment, another golden light suddenly emanated from the time mirror, and Gu Mang also withdrew from the mirror - he fell heavily and fell on the ground of the demon tower.
Mo Xi supported the body that was worn out and nearly collapsed in the time mirror: "Gu Mang..."
He stumbled and stumbled over. He looked at the body lying on the ground. He struggled to hold Gu Mang's hand. He didn't even hold it eight years ago or in the mirror. hand.
"Gu Mang..."
The fingertips trembled so badly that they were about to clasp them - but at that moment, the man who was lying on the ground suddenly moved, his palms curled up, and he retracted unconsciously.
Then, Gu Mang slowly-slowly sat up.
Silence.
He closed his eyes, frowned, eyelashes trembling, and opened them slowly.
His face was pale, his lips pale.
"..." He turned his head to look at Mo Xi, and didn't speak for a long time. His eyes ranged from trance to clarity, from brokenness to focus. Those emotions and blood that he lacked when he woke up were like ink on paper, slowly describing his spirit and temperament bit by bit.
A familiar face appeared in Mo Xi's eyes. It was during the process from drowsiness to awakening that he seemed to see an epiphyllum that had been sleeping for a long time finally budding - Gu Mang was no longer the ignorant puppet, no longer the prisoner slave who did not know what happened.
His eyes are still tempered blue.
However, the expression on that face gradually changed from dazed to calm, rebellious, sober and invincible.
Without any explanation, without even a word, Mo Xi could recognize that this Gu Mang was definitely not Gu Mang after his spiritual consciousness was broken, but...
What returned from the time mirror was Gu Mang who had recovered his past memories! ! !
Chonghua's beast of the altar, the former Gu Shuai, Senior Brother Gu!