The blood-stained white chess piece was placed on the dark red sandalwood tea table. It looked like the white of a bloodshot eye, lifeless but eerily looking in all directions.
Gu Mang resisted his excitement and slowly picked up the chess piece from the table.
At first, he didn't notice the difference of this chess piece, but after looking at it for a moment, his pupils suddenly contracted and he raised his head in astonishment: "Exquisite Chess Game?!!"
"In the end, Marshal Gu has dealt with the Burning Country a lot and is very knowledgeable." Jun Shang said, "It took three days and two nights to confirm that this is the Exquisite Chess Game, but Marshal Gu can judge it with just a few glances."
"That's right. This is one of the three ancient forbidden techniques … Exquisite Chess Game. "
Exquisite Chess Game.
It was a bloody technique left from the Great Desolate Era. It could refine black and white chess pieces with one's own spiritual energy and thus control all things in the world. Whether it was birds, beasts, humans, ghosts, immortals, demons, so long as the chess piece was planted, it would become a puppet and help the tiger do evil. However, this forbidden technique had a big limitation, that is, it had a very high requirement for the caster's cultivation base. Because every time a chess piece was refined, it would consume a lot of spiritual energy, so it was impossible for people who weren't at the Great Warlock rank to control it.
But even so, the [Exquisite Chessboard] was still one of the three ancient forbidden techniques that had been passed down for generations with the clearest traces. Compared to the mysterious rebirth secret technique and the mythical Gate of Life and Death, the Exquisite Chess Game stirred up a bloody storm that splashed the history of the entire Cultivation World.
Countless people with ambitions to proclaim themselves as kings and hegemons scrambled to collect the remnants of the Exquisite Chess Game from all over the world. Although there was still no one who could do what was written in the scroll of the forbidden technique, to cast beans into soldiers, millions of chess pieces, and to refine tens of thousands of black and white chess pieces with one's strength, no one could thoroughly master and use the Exquisite Chess Game to change the color of the universe and dye the mountains and rivers with blood. However, there were still cultivators who could refine dozens or hundreds of chess pieces.
And sometimes, to promote a mutiny and overthrow a regime, it only needed the most crucial few people to be temporarily controlled, and that was enough.
Gu Mang's eyes trembled.
"Exquisite White Chess Game …" He murmured and repeated several times, his lips trembling slightly, "So … So Lu Zhanxing was controlled by the Exquisite Chess Game?!"
Jun Shang replied, "Yes."
It was just a simple sound, but it seemed to light up the light that had been extinguished on Gu Mang's body in an instant.
Gu Mang said excitedly, "Monarch, are you telling me this because you want me to do something for Zhan Xing? I can do anything … "
"Marshal Gu." Jun Shang interrupted him and poured another cup of tea. "Calm down first. Sit down."
"But …"
"Believe me. Since I am willing to tell you the truth personally, I will not let Lu Qing be wronged."
His words were too ingenious.
What did he mean by "I won't let Lu Qing be wronged for no reason"? At first, it sounded like he wanted to rehabilitate Lu Zhanxing, but after thinking about it carefully, there was another possibility: He wanted to make Lu Zhanxing's case worth something, so that he would not lose this deputy commander in vain.
The sacrifice was worth it. This was also a kind of "not for nothing".
However, how could Gu Mang understand the hidden meaning in Jun Shang's words? He blinked his moist eyes and looked at Jun Shang's sincere face. In the end, he lowered his head and sat down.
Gu Mang was a bundle of firewood that was easy to ignite. A moment ago, he was still cold as if he would never trust or work for anyone again. However, as long as there was a little spark, he would offer his everything to Jun Shang.
Mo Xi closed his eyes, his eyelashes trembling.
At this time, Gu Mang's hope was rekindled. The pain in Mo Xi's heart was deep … because he knew that things would not go as Gu Mang hoped.
This fleeting flame was just Gu Mang's last reflection in the Chong Hua.
"Marshal Gu, do you know how I noticed this chess piece?"
Gu Mang shook his head.
Jun Shang said, "After Lu Zhanxing was taken into the Yin Prison, the jailers interrogated him in detail as usual. However, they found that he was in a very strange state at that time. He did not speak clearly and his reaction was very slow. I had doubts in my heart, so I let Zhou He perform a magic analysis on him. "
After he finished speaking, he pointed at the white chess piece on the table.
"Then they found this in his body."
"After all, the exquisite chess game is not a magic that is easy to control. No one has been able to truly master it since ancient times. Therefore, this white chess piece is not as perfect as it is recorded in the book. It can only be regarded as a failure. However, it can still control living creatures in a very short time and make them do what the caster wants to see. "
Jun Shang paused and raised his eyes, "Marshal Gu, you have always been smart. Presumably, I don't need to say it. You should know which side would benefit the most from Lu Zhanxing killing the envoy at that time."
Gu Mang was silent for a while and said in a low voice, "… Liao."
"Yes. It is Liao. "
Jun Shang picked up the white chess piece and stood it up. He exerted force with two fingers and the white chess piece suddenly spun rapidly. He stared at the chess piece and said, "The caster, because his cultivation was not good enough, he could not use the exquisite chess game to control others for a long time. He also could not control cultivators like you and Lord Xi He who had reached the peak of spiritual power. And your deputy marshal Lu Zhanxing was alone in the army at that time, so he became the best candidate for the other party."
As if layers of gauze were being removed, revealing the bloody truth and hideous scars underneath. Gu Mang's fingertips were trembling as he stared at the ugly white chess piece.
"Think about it, Marshal Gu. No matter from Lu Zhanxing's temperament, origin, status … his anger made this matter reasonable. If it was not for Zhou He's careful investigation, this case would have ended like this, and no one would be suspicious. "
The white chess piece was still spinning on the table like a spinning top. Separated by this frantically spinning exquisite chess piece, separated by a narrow wooden table, a ruler and a minister looked at each other.
"A chess piece buried the most valiant army of the Chong Hua, destroyed the reform of the Chong Hua, and made me completely become the puppet of the old aristocrats. And you, you people, will never have the chance to rise again. Can you imagine that scene? "
"… Imagine?"
After a long time, Gu Mang's expression was palpitating with fear. He whispered in a hoarse and tired voice, "… Jun Shang, I have been living in this scene these days."
He crossed his hands and pressed them against his brow bone, burying his face deeply. "From the moment I knelt in the imperial court and begged you to build the seventy thousand tombstones for my brothers … I have already … already …"
He was like a traveler on the verge of death after trekking in the desert for too long. The sudden hope made him choke.
From Mo Xi's angle, he could see the side of Gu Mang's face. The slender phoenix-tailed butterfly-like eyes had clear traces of tears falling down.
Jun Shang was silent for a moment and whispered, "Minister Gu, I am very sorry."
Facing a Jun Shang who had insulted and disrespected him in the court, how many ministers could let go of it without any resentment?
Putting aside those servile and coquettish people, whether it was a Murong Lian or Mo Xi, none of them would easily accept such an apology from the bottom of their hearts.
But Gu Mang was a general with a poor life. Other generals could be high and mighty, but what about him?
He was often shameless, grinning as he went to the aristocrats to ask for military pay, and thick-skinned to build relationships with other commanders. He was not lowly, so lowly that if someone slapped his left cheek, he would put his right cheek up.
He had no choice.
He only had so much. He was responsible for the lives and dignity of 100,000 soldiers. His pockets were empty, and he had no background. The only thing he could pitifully take out was his smiling face. He could only nod and bow.
What else could he do?
Gu Mang silently wiped his eyelashes with his thumb and raised his head.
The wind blew away the candle. Mo Xi saw that his tears had not dried, but he still tried to smile. That smile was broken, but strong.
Gu Mang said, "It doesn't matter. At that time, Elder Zhou had not sensed the traces of magic on the exquisite chess pieces. Jun Shang did not know the truth. That kind of reprimand was deserved. "
He paused, and then carefully peeked at Jun Shang's face with his moist black eyes.
"Then may I ask Jun Shang … how do you plan to overturn Lu Zhanxing's case?"
Jun Shang did not answer. In this kind of silence, the spinning of the white chess pieces slowly slowed down. The spinning became more and more tiring, more and more dispirited …
Outside, lightning flashed again, reflecting the distant mountains, making them look like malicious spirits that came out from the belly of the earth.
With a boom, thunder broke through the sky, and rain poured down like a waterfall. Jun Shang said, "Marshal Gu, I'm afraid that's not possible."
Gu Mang's pupils shrank in the purple lightning, and the white chess piece on the table was also exhausted at this time. It struggled with its last bit of strength to spin a few more rounds, and then lay on the table, no longer moving.
Everything returned to silence, like a pool of lake water with surging waves. Feng Yi was about to break out, and the shining scales would illuminate the abyss, returning justice to all.
But suddenly, the wind stopped, and the water was extinguished.
River Earl dived back into the depths of the cold pool, making the people on the shore wait bitterly for a long time. They were happy for a long time in vain.
"…" Gu Mang's throat was a little dry, "What do you mean?"
Jun Shang did not answer his question immediately, but asked, "Does Marshal Gu know how Lu Qing feels in prison now?"
"…"
"Until now, he still thinks that killing the envoy in Feng Ming Mountain was something he did impulsively. He feels extremely guilty. Zhou He said that when he was being interrogated, he kept saying that he wanted to see you. He wants to apologize to you personally for his impulsiveness. "
Gu Mang suddenly closed his eyelids, and his fingers hanging by his legs clenched into fists. The veins on his forehead bulged, and his expression was extremely painful.
Jun Shang's fingertips stroked the pale white chess piece again, and he rubbed it, "Lu Qing doesn't know that people whose minds are controlled by white chess pieces, no matter if it's murder, betrayal, rape, or any other kind of evil, they can do it all, and they will think that they are doing it willingly. He is just an innocent victim, a knife that kills people. But he thinks that he is the murderer. "
Gu Mang suddenly straightened up, and he couldn't help but say in a trembling voice, "Then why didn't Jun Shang tell him!"
"Why didn't I tell him?" Jun Shang seemed to be asking a rhetorical question, but also seemed to be asking himself. He laughed softly with some sadness, and after a while, he said, "… Because Gu Mang feels guilty."
He turned his head to look at the vast curtain of rain, and the world was desolate under the rain, but his voice was even colder than the mountain.
Jun Shang said softly, "Gu Mang doesn't know how to face him. He is not a rebellious minister, but a general who has been tortured for the sake of Chong Hua. Gu Mang's heart is also made of flesh … Gu Mang doesn't have the face to see him. "
He paused, "Do you think that Gu Mang doesn't want to clear his name, and doesn't want to immediately return your reputation and justice?"
"You are wrong. How can there be a Monarch in the world who is willing to disappoint an important minister like this? " Jun Shang got up and walked to the edge of the golden platform, and looked at the endless night in front of him with his hands behind his back. He was silent for a while, and suddenly said with a sigh, "Marshal Gu, there is one thing that Gu Mang is afraid that even if Gu Mang were to kneel in front of you today, you would still not believe me."
He paused for a moment, and said, "— In Gu Mang's eyes, your army is the most precious treasure that Gu Mang inherited from Father Lord. No matter how much land you give Gu Mang, no matter how beautiful you are in exchange, Gu Mang will not agree."
"…"
"Gu Mang doesn't want to lose you at all."
The author has something to say:
Jun Shang: I think I can have a few other names.
Gu Mang Dazed: What?
Jun Shang: Drama queen.
Gu Mang Dazed: 66666, and?
Jun Shang: Movie emperor.
Gu Mang Dazed: 66666, and?
Jun Shang: Thousand Faced Arhat.
Gu Mang Dazed: 66666, and?
Jun Shang: Nothing else, I just want to know what my real name is. I am the only supporting character in the novel, and I still don't have a name.
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
