The next day, the imperial court was closed. Mo Xi brought Gu Mang to register as a slave.
In most countries, slaves were lowly. They couldn't cultivate or study and were called "untouchables".
Although Chong Hua wasn't fundamentally different from them, at least their attitude was slightly gentler.
Ever since the late emperor inherited the throne, Chong Hua abolished the harsh term "untouchables" and allowed slaves with decent qualifications to enter the Cultivation School and cultivate their spiritual cores. The late emperor even appointed slaves as generals and allowed them to form an army to serve the country.
These things had caused a huge uproar in Chong Hua. The old nobles all remonstrated, saying that this was a lesson learned from the mistakes of the past and that the ambitions of wolves were unfathomable. If the emperor gave the slaves power, they would desire more.
The implication was that if the slaves were allowed to cultivate and establish themselves, it was hard to guarantee that they wouldn't covet the throne and overthrow the government. Who wanted to be trampled underfoot?
But the old emperor didn't listen. He felt that the flames of war were rising everywhere in the Jiuzhou. The wars between countries were getting more and more intense. Anyone with the ability should be mobilized. Otherwise, the internal affairs would be stable, but external troubles would be inevitable.
Gu Mang and his army of tortoises rose under these circumstances.
However, a new monarch had his own officials. After the new monarch ascended the throne, he felt that "internal affairs" were more important than "external troubles," so he made an example of Gu Mang, reducing his power and demoting him to appease the old nobility.
This led to today's situation.
"We're here." The carriage stopped outside a small shop next to the Cultivation School. Mo Xi went forward and knocked on the half-closed door.
This was an old shop with a cramped entrance. It had been in disrepair for a long time. There was a wooden board lazily thrown outside the shop with the words "Cixin Smelting Shop" written on it. The red paint next to the word "smelting" had already fallen off.
Gu Mang asked, "Where is this?"
Mo Xi didn't answer. He just pushed open the old, shaky wooden door and led Gu Mang inside.
The lighting in the shop was not good, and the sunlight outside could not shine in for a long time. The shop was filled with a strong smell of rotten wood. However, in order to save money, the shopkeeper refused to light a lamp and only relied on the light from the furnace.
A stooped old man sat in front of the smelting furnace, slowly blowing air into the furnace. As he blew, red stars and purple smoke appeared, and dazzling orange molten iron flowed out of the grooves, like lava flowing out from underground.
Mo Xi said, "Uncle Song."
The old blacksmith was so engrossed in his creation that he didn't hear what was going on behind him because he was hard of hearing.
Mochime raised his voice and called out again, "Uncle."
Only then did the old man react. He slowly turned his head back. The firelight reflected on his wrinkled old face, making him look like an overexposed orange, shriveled and yellow.
He looked at Mo Xi and was stunned for a moment. Then he looked at Gu Mang and showed a look of realization. He quickly stood up and bowed shakily, muttering, "Oh, oh … it's Marshal Gu …"
Gu Mang didn't know what was going on. Seeing the old man bow to him, he followed suit and bowed to the old man.
Mo Xi was silent for a while. "He's not Marshal Gu anymore."
The muddle-headed Uncle Song was confused. "Is that so? Then what is he now? "
"A prisoner."
Uncle Song was very surprised. He stared at Gu Mang for a long time.
"A prisoner … a prisoner …"
He slowly walked over and held Gu Mang's hand with his wrinkled hand. After being stunned for a while, he suddenly smiled and began to talk nonsense. "Oh, Little Gu, you're in luck. Look, I didn't lie to you, did I? There are still many good people in this world. From now on, you're no longer a slave of the Wang Shu family. "
As he spoke, he happily patted the back of Gu Mang's hand. "Come, I'll melt the slave lock on your neck."
Hearing the old man's muddle-headed words, Mo Xi's eyes flashed with deep pain.
He closed his eyes and his Adam's apple moved slightly. Just as he was about to say something, he suddenly heard a muffled sound from upstairs. The wooden ladder creaked. A gentle voice rang out.
"Lord Xi He, why are you here?"
Mo Xi turned his head and saw a man wearing a plain white robe and leaning on a wooden crutch coming down the stairs with difficulty.
It was Jiang Yexue.
Jiang Yexue was the owner of this smelting shop. Uncle Song used to be a smelting master in the Yue family. He could be considered Jiang Yexue's mentor. After Jiang Yexue was expelled from the Yue family, the only person who was willing to accompany him was this old man from the Yue family.
Mo Xi said, "I brought him here to be registered as a slave."
Jiang Yexue was slightly startled. "Who?"
Mo Xi turned his tall and straight body to reveal Gu Mang behind him, who was looking left and right.
Jiang Yexue muttered, "… It's Marshal Gu …"
Uncle Song, who was beside him, was unwilling to be left out. He stretched out his withered twig-like hand and patted his disciple's back. He said cheerfully, "Today is really a good day. Yexue, look, our Little Gu is promising. He's the first Chong Hua to be registered as a slave, right? It's really not easy. "
"…" Jiang Yexue sighed. "Master, what you're talking about is something that happened many years ago."
Uncle Song was puzzled. "Did I remember wrongly again?"
"Yes. At that time, I could still run and walk. "Jiang Yexue lowered his eyelashes and smiled at the old man." Master, you must be tired. Go and rest. "
Jiang Yexue comforted the old man and returned to the two people. "I'm sorry, Lord Xi He. Master has been speaking incoherently all these years. I hope you don't blame me."
Mo Xi said, "It's okay."
Gu Mang blinked and followed suit. "It's okay."
Mo Xi glanced at him. The way he looked at Gu Mang today was not fierce, but a little strange. It was as if he was shrouded in the shadow of the past.
Jiang Yexue took in all of this. He sighed softly and said, "If you want to be registered as a slave, please follow me upstairs."
Mo Xi asked, "But your legs …"
"I'm using my crutches." Jiang Yexue smiled. "It's okay. I can walk."
They went upstairs. The second floor of the smelting shop was much brighter. There were all kinds of weapons and armors condensed from spiritual power hanging on the shelves.
In this world, most of the weapons used by cultivators were made from spiritual bodies. They would go to various smelting shops to choose the weapons they liked and let the smelters fuse the weapons with their own spiritual cores. When they wanted to use it, they only needed to recite the incantation and the weapon would be summoned.
Although these weapons were not as powerful as spiritual weapons, they were made from similar principles and were very powerful.
In order to create powerful weapons, the smelters would go out to hunt for all kinds of spiritual bodies — the beak of a fire phoenix, the claws of a green dragon, the teeth of a sky-devouring white elephant … The fiercer the spiritual beast, the more powerful the spiritual power it contained, and the more powerful the weapon it refined would be.
Some smelters would even use resentful spirits to create weapons that could summon vengeful spirits to help them in battle. The most typical example was the Water Ghost Talisman passed down in Lord Wangshu's family. It was said that there were nine thousand drowned evil spirits in it that were full of resentment. There was also the sword spirit, Li Qingqian, who used the same principle.
But Jiang Yexue's smelting shop was different. The old man's vision was so bad that he was about to die. As for Jiang Yexue himself, he was so soft-hearted that he couldn't even bear to kill an ant. Asking him to fight phoenixes and dragons was simply a fool's dream.
"The spiritual power I use to refine weapons comes from flowers and plants."
He turned his head and saw Mo Xi looking at his windowsill. He couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed. The spiritual bodies he hung out to dry on the windowsill were all soft and fluffy. One look and you could tell they weren't very useful.
"The children of the Academy of Cultivation … will come here to buy some weapons. They won't hurt people easily."
Mo Xi said, "There's nothing wrong with that."
Jiang Yexue smiled.
Although his refining skills came from the Yue family, his way of doing things was completely different from the Yue family's. The Yue Juntian pursued tyranny when refining weapons, while the Murong Chuyi didn't care whether it was cruel or not. Therefore, when he was young, Jiang Yexue often had conflicts with his father because of their different ideologies.
It was very difficult to change a person's mind unless they suffered unbearable pain.
In fact, even if the incident with his dead wife hadn't happened, Mo Xi felt that Jiang Yexue would still have parted ways with the Yue family in the end.
Jiang Yexue took an iron box from the shelf that was piled with refining materials. He brushed away the dust on it and walked over to the two of them.
Mo Xi had once accompanied Gu Mang to remove the slave locking ring, so he was very familiar with this iron box. Jiang Yexue looked at him with some hesitation and said, "Lord Xi He, I'm going to cast the spell. Do you want to step back?"
Mo Xi's face was very calm. He looked at the black box without any extra expression and said, "No need."
"Okay, then I'll start."
He put the box on the ground and said to Gu Mang, "Gu …" The words were on the tip of his tongue, but he didn't know how to address him. He could only sigh and say, "Please sit down."
"Close your eyes."
"Put your hand on the box."
Gu Mang calmly did the first two things, but he refused to do the last one. He opened his eyes again and stared at the box for a while, murmuring, "… I don't like this thing."
Then he looked up at Mo Xi and said, "I'm leaving."
"Sit down."
"I'm leaving."
Mo Xi said, "If you still want to stay in Xi He's residence, you must do as he says."
Gu Mang had no choice but to curl his lips. He looked a little wronged and a little vigilant. But after hesitating for a while, he still put his hand on the box.
Mo Xi said to Jiang Yexue, "Cast the spell."
Jiang Yexue nodded. It was actually wrong to do what the Murong Lian did in the past. The slave locking ring itself was very powerful. If it was casually buckled, it could cause the wearer's spiritual flow to go berserk, or even accidentally die.
But at that time, the group of youths didn't understand this principle.
The refiner Jiang Yexue lowered his eyes and silently recited the incantation. Soon, a dark spiritual flow flowed out of the hole in the iron box. That spiritual flow climbed up Gu Mang's arm like a snake, from his forearm, to his shoulder, to his collarbone … It circled around his neck, and finally condensed into a black iron ring. With the lingering charm of the smoke, it turned into a small token hanging on the iron ring.
"It's done."
Gu Mang opened his eyes and touched his neck. He didn't speak after touching it the first time. But soon he touched it a second time. This time he spoke. He turned his head and murmured thoughtfully, "… Necklace …"
Mo Xi leaned against the window with his long legs and narrow waist. Hearing him say this, he was startled. "What?"
Gu Mang said in surprise, "You gave me a necklace?"
"…"
Mo Xi didn't answer, but Jiang Yexue couldn't bear to see him like this. He nodded at him.
Gu Mang got confirmation. His blue eyes flashed with scattered light. He repeatedly touched his slave necklace. His face, which looked as gentle and kind as before, showed some cautious joy.
Then he turned his head and said to Mo Xi, "Thank you."
A moist wind blew in from the window, blowing the scattered hair on Mo Xi's temples. He stood not far away with his arms crossed, looking at Gu Mang's profile without saying a word.
The current Gu Mang was like a fragment of the old Gu Shuai. He wanted to see the shadow of his old friend in him, but in the end, his only result was that one of his eyes was stung red by this fragment.
Almost when no one was paying attention, he closed his eyes in embarrassment and his throat moved —
Many years ago, on the second floor of Cixin Smelting Shop, in this room, the young Gu Mang also touched a slave necklace with a bright smile on his face.
That necklace, at that time, was taken off by Uncle Song.
"It's over, Senior Brother Gu. From now on, you're no longer a Murong Lian." At that time, Mo Xi looked at Gu Mang's face and said solemnly, "You're free."
That time, it was the necklace that fell off. Gu Mang was smiling.
Time flies, and circumstances change.
This time, it was the necklace that was fastened. Gu Mang was still smiling. Nothing seemed to have changed.
But Mo Xi felt as if there was a bitter thorn in his throat. He couldn't swallow it no matter how hard he tried.
This bitterness seemed to want to haunt him for the rest of his life.
"Wait." Jiang Yexue was talking to Gu Mang. "It's not over yet. I still need to write a few words on this … necklace. "
"What words?"
"Your name, your identification number." He flipped through the records of Chong Hua's slaves, checking how many slaves in this country Gu Mang had been fastened with the necklace. "Got it. Seven hundred and ninety."
Gu Mang didn't know what this meant. He just listened to him, as if he didn't understand.
Jiang Yexue used his spiritual power to engrave the words on this side of the necklace. After engraving this side, he turned to the back. He raised his head again, but this time, he didn't look at Gu Mang. Instead, he looked at Mo Xi, who was standing against the light by the window. His expression was hard to read.
"Lord Xi He, look at this side …"
Mo Xi said, "No need to engrave it."
"But I'm afraid this is against the rules. Even if it's not a person's name, it should be a family name or the name of a house."
"No need." Mo Xi paused and turned his face away.
Jiang Yexue sighed, "But …"
"Do you still want to engrave the other side?" Gu Mang suddenly asked, "What do you want to engrave?"
"Yes." Jiang Yexue said to him, "You want to engrave the name of your master."
Gu Mang frowned and thought for a while. Just as Mo Xi was about to tell him to leave impatiently, he suddenly said, "I know who to engrave."
He turned to look at Mo Xi, "You."
Mo Xi, "… What nonsense are you talking about?"
"You're the master. Many people call you that."
Mo Xi closed his eyes and frowned, "You're too long-winded. Get up and come with me."
"Can't I engrave your name?"
Mo Xi said sternly, "No."
He didn't know why, but just thinking about the necklace engraved with his name on Gu Mang's neck made his blood boil. He shook his head impatiently, as if trying to shake off a mosquito that disturbed his peace. Then he grabbed Gu Mang by the back of his collar and lifted him up. He said to Jiang Yexue,
"Elder Qing Xu, goodbye."
Jiang Yexue said, "I'll see you out."
"You can't walk properly. No need."
Jiang Yexue smiled, "It's nothing. I'm used to it. Besides, I'm going to West Street to buy some pine oil. Wait for me. I'll get some money … "
Mo Xi said, "What about your wheelchair? I'll get it for you. "
"It's not good to sit down all the time. A wooden crutch will do." Jiang Yexue put some coins into his Qiankun bag, "Let's go."
The three of them arrived at the grocery store at the corner of West Street. Jiang Yexue asked the shopkeeper to get him two pots of pine oil. Just as they were waiting for the shopkeeper to come back with the pots, the shop's curtain opened and closed. A young man walked in and shouted, "Shopkeeper, shopkeeper! Have the things my family ordered arrived? "
Then, another cold and dignified voice rang out, "Yue Chenqing, don't jump around like an unreasonable prance."
They turned around and saw Yue Chenqing walking in, followed by Murong Chuyi in a white robe.
When the two groups of people met face to face, they were both surprised and stunned.
Especially Murong Chuyi. His sharp eyes fell on Jiang Yexue and narrowed slightly.
Murong Chuyi, "…"
Jiang Yexue, "…"
The atmosphere was quite strange.
Murong Chuyi's sister was the first wife of the Yue Juntian, and Jiang Yexue's mother was the Yue Juntian's concubine. Now that both women had passed away, the two of them had not forgotten their past.
Jiang Yexue whispered, "Chuyi …"
Murong Chuyi did not say a word. He suddenly turned around and left.
Yue Chenqing hurriedly tried to persuade him, "Fourth Uncle …"
But Murong Chuyi had already lifted the curtain and left. His cold and angry voice came from outside, "Yue Chenqing, every time I go out with you, nothing good happens."
Yue Chenqing was so anxious that she ignored Jiang Yexue's presence. She stamped her feet anxiously and shouted, "Fourth Uncle! I didn't know he was here … Don't go, wait for me … "
Murong Chuyi said, "Don't follow me!"
He said not to follow, so Yue Chenqing did not dare to disobey. She could only stand there dejectedly and look at the others. For a moment, the atmosphere fell into silence.
Jiang Yexue sighed and finally decided to break the silence, "… Chenqing, Chuyi … Does he still treat you like this?"
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