The bright red blood splashed in the audience's exclamation, and then slowly spread along the wood grain of the platform.
The sun at noon was so dazzling that it made people panic. Gu Mang stood ramrod straight, his face expressionless. He just watched as the head rolled off and the body fell to the ground.
His best friend's head was separated from his body. The head rolled forward to the edge of the platform and then stopped. A pair of closed eyes stared at him. It seemed to be saying, "Mang 'er, turn back.
It's all over. Let my death be the end of a dream. Don't go any further. " There was no road ahead, only the illusion of a mirage.
Turn back. Give up. "
The executioner's machete dripped with scarlet blood, and the blood flowed all over the ground.
Go home …
The executioner followed the rules and sang, "The execution is over."
Like a beast that had been hibernating for a whole winter slowly awakening in a dark cave, after the initial shock and shock, the crowd stiffened and gradually regained their composure.
Most of them wanted to see Lu Zhanxing's body on the platform, but they didn't dare to. Some women plucked up the courage to take a peek, and immediately buried their faces in their palms. They were scared by the bloody scene.
"It's so miserable."
"Don't look at the platform. It's so scary. If you see it, you will have nightmares at night."
After a while, the crowd's focus gradually shifted to Gu Mang.
Slowly, some people began to notice Gu Mang's expression and began to whisper,
"Why does Gu Mang … have no reaction …?"
"It's true. His face didn't even change … Does he still hate Lu Zhanxing? After all, Lu Zhanxing tricked him so badly."
"Then why did he come to see him off?"
"Probably … for the sake of his face. Alas, people like them always fight among themselves. They won't come out in the open. "
After all, Gu Mang was a minister of the state. At that time, he hadn't colluded with the enemy, so someone immediately retorted, "What nonsense are you talking about? Gu Mang is not that kind of person at all! Although Deputy Marshal Lu is his old friend, he has made a big mistake. Marshal Gu saw him off for the sake of righteousness and didn't lose his composure because of etiquette. He has already gone to this extent, what else do you want him to do? "
The other party was not to be outdone either. He snorted disdainfully, "Brothers, brothers. We live and die together, share joys and sorrows together. That's what brothers are. If I were Gu Mang, I would have rescued him long ago, or I would have knelt in front of you and begged to exchange my life for the lives of my brothers. How could I be like him? "
"How do you know Gu Shuai hasn't begged?"
"Just based on his current cold attitude, Gu Mang is a cold-blooded, heartless, hypocrite!"
Perhaps Gu Mang had heard all of this, or perhaps he hadn't. He was still looking at the scaffold. The executioner had already left, and the executioner was directing his men to deal with the aftermath. He stood under the scorching noon sun. His figure was like pine and bamboo, elegant and straight. He did not look the least bit hurt by the pain.
He looked at Lu Zhanxing's body being tied up without blinking. He looked at Lu Zhanxing's head being hung up high. He looked at the bloodstains on the ground being washed away.
The executioner opened a yellow scroll and read it without any emotion, "The guilty official, Lu Zhanxing, has lost his virtue in front of the battle. He brought disaster upon himself by killing the messenger. Feng Ming's army has been defeated. Today, he will be sentenced to death. His body will be exposed for three days. This will be announced to the nation. "
His voice reverberated clearly under the clear sky, and all the dust finally settled.
The execution was completely over. Gu Mang didn't linger. Under everyone's sidelong glances, he picked up the jar of Pear Blossom White that he and Lu Zhanxing had finished drinking, turned around, and left without looking back.
Finally, he was the only one left among the hundred thousand soldiers.
Gu Mang returned to his own residence. Mo Xi was wearing an invisibility cloak and had been following him.
This great general who was once ranked first in Chong Hua was very poor. He did not have a mansion that belonged to him. It was no wonder that he needed money to recruit soldiers and make weapons. He needed money to buy food and equipment. He also needed money to build relationships.
His military salary was only so much. So after he got rid of his slave status, he only rented a small house in a secluded place in the East Market. In addition to the woodshed, there was only one bedroom in this small house. There was only one bed in the bedroom, a blanket, a pair of tables and chairs, and a few broken wooden boxes.
It turned out that this was all the property of a famous general.
Gu Mang returned to the house and put the jar of wine on the table. Then he went to the woodshed. It was time for lunch. He boiled water and made a fire. He heated up the leftovers in the screen cabinet.
He ate.
His last brother was dead. He could not go back to what he had done yesterday.
But he ate.
On the small wooden table, there was the empty red clay jar that Lu Zhanxing drank from before he died. There was a big bowl of white rice, vegetables and tofu. Gu Mang was like a person who had been hungry for a long time. He kept eating rice with his chopsticks. Soon, the bowl of rice was eaten by him. There was not even a grain of rice left. He got up again and went to get himself another bowl. He still ate like he was starving.
It was as if there was a bottomless hole in his heart. Only by eating continuously could the empty feeling not be so shocking.
He buried his head in the rice. His mouth was stuffed full. His cheeks were bulging. In the end, the speed of swallowing could not catch up with the speed of stuffing food into his mouth. He slowed down, but still choked. He choked and tried hard to swallow the rice in his mouth without making a sound. It was as if he was choking on something that he could not say, or something that he could not complain about.
He swallowed almost miserably. His head was raised, his eyes were wide open. He looked at the beams of the roof. Suddenly, he let out a sob.
It was like he was choking because he had eaten too much.
It was so funny.
But his eyes were red.
Mo Xi was standing beside him. He was very close, but he could not say a word. He could not touch a single hair on Gu Mang's head. He just watched as Gu Mang's eyes became more and more moist.
Gu Mang raised his head, as if he wanted to hold back the things in his eyes. He even quickly raised his hand to wipe his eyelashes and sniffed.
He restrained himself. At least, he thought that he restrained himself. So he lowered his face again and picked up the chopsticks to eat the bland and tasteless rice again.
When he was young, he and Lu Zhanxing often ate the rice with only vegetables and tofu in Wangshu Mansion.
He tried his best to take a few mouthfuls, but the pain of death was like a delayed blade that drilled into his lungs. Finally, it began to fight for his breath, corrode his flesh and blood, and shattered his face that pretended to be indifferent.
So slowly, his hand holding the chopsticks began to tremble. His lips with rice began to tremble. He began to tremble. He tried to hold on, but tears began to flow out of his eyes.
Drop by drop, they flowed down his cheeks and fell on the table.
He did not make a sound. He raised his hand to wipe his tears while stuffing the rice into his mouth. His throat was bitter. He choked on his sobs and swallowed them with the rice.
But at a certain point, his trembling hands could no longer pick up the vegetables and tofu. He tried once, but it slipped. He tried again, but it broke …
This man, who carried 70,000 souls on his back, was suddenly defeated by this insignificant failure on the dining table.
Gu Mang suddenly threw his chopsticks. He stood up and swept everything on the table to the floor. The porcelain cups shattered all over the floor. The one that shattered the most was the empty wine jar that Gu Mang brought back.
He gasped for breath. His chest rose and fell rapidly. He stared blankly at the mess in front of him.
The red clay wine jug had been smashed into a pile of scattered old dreams by him.
Gu Mang looked and looked … His eyes were red. Then he walked over and squatted down, almost in a daze. He reached out to pick up the broken pieces. But before his fingertips touched them, he suddenly curled back. He looked as if he had just woken up from a dream.
This kind of waking up from a dream made Gu Mang's face look very broken.
It was the first time that Mo Xi saw this kind of broken look on his face after knowing him for so long.
If Gu Mang dared to appear in front of anyone in the army with this kind of expression, everyone's faith in him would collapse. He was not the God of War. He was a pile of soft mud, a lonely and helpless ant, a broken piece of loose sand.
Gu Mang sat down weakly. He was wearing a neatly ironed and clean military uniform, but he seemed to have lost all his muscles and bones. He fell and sat on the dirty floor.
He trembled. He stared at the mess on the floor.
At first, a small whimper escaped from his throat, like a homeless wolf cub. Later, the whimper became choked. He struggled to struggle out from the depths of his throat intermittently.
"I'm sorry … I'm sorry …"
Mo Xi looked at him. She watched him sit on the cold floor, slowly curling up and hugging his knees. She watched him try his best to hold back his tears, but he still could not hold back his tears. She watched him bite his lips so hard that his teeth were full of blood, but he still could not hold back his weak voice.
The God finally collapsed.
The God of War was finally defeated.
Gu Mang slightly loosened his teeth. He bit himself with all his strength. He was almost driven crazy by himself. He gasped for breath. His eyes were red. He looked around the room in despair. It was as if he hoped that someone would suddenly appear to save him, to kill him, to save him, to save him, to kill him, to be a God or a demon.
Save him.
Keep him company.
Pain …
Too much pain.
Why was it that the world was vast, but it could not keep seventy thousand heroes?
Why was it that the netherworld was so deep, but it did not accept him as a living ghost?
He was the only one left.
Gu Mang finally wailed out in grief. He wailed. He hugged himself. He hugged himself tightly. It was as if he was trying his best to hug his brothers across the line of life and death. It was as if his body had been taken over by his brothers who had died. The heroic souls crossed the Yellow Springs and tried their best to hug their Marshal Gu …
The cries that leaked out from his blood-stained lips were ultimately indescribable. He could not bear the pain.
Gu Mang kept saying, "I'm sorry …"
I'm sorry …
Mo Xi looked at him. It was as if his heart was pierced to the bone. From the moment Gu Mang tried his best to eat while crying silently, he felt as if his heart was being cut by a knife.
At this moment, Gu Mang's pain was like his pain.
Gu Mang's helplessness was like his helplessness.
At this moment, he saw with his own eyes how much pain Gu Mang was in after losing Lu Zhanxing.
It was so painful that it felt as if his heart was about to bleed dry.
He looked at Gu Mang's eyes. Gu Mang's mind must be a little confused. It was as if he could see a ghost, but also as if he longed to see a ghost. Gu Mang searched the entire room in despair.
He wanted someone to accompany him. Whether it was to take his life or to blame him, he wanted to see if there was anyone to accompany him.
Mo Xi's heart felt as if it was being cut by a knife.
In the past, when Gu Mang complained to the Golden Hall, he was not by Gu Mang's side.
Later, when Gu Mang was still in deep pain, he was also not by Gu Mang's side.
Now …
He knew that the past in the mirror could not be changed. He knew that acting recklessly could be dangerous.
But like Gu Mang, Mo Xi had been enduring too much pain all this time.
Before Gu Mang betrayed the country, he owed Gu Mang everything … It was all because he did not accompany Gu Mang properly. He did not see the knot in Gu Mang's heart in time. It was all because he treated Gu Mang as an indestructible god, but forgot that under the armor, it was actually just a mortal body of flesh and blood.
A body riddled with scars but still struggling …
A mortal body of flesh and blood.
After all, a human's heart was not a stubborn stone or cold iron. These eight years of forbearance finally collapsed. Mo Xi could not bear it anymore. He removed the invisibility spell on the cloak. He frowned and half-knelt beside Gu Mang, who was curled up into a ball. He said hoarsely, "Gu Mang, look at me. I'm still here."
I'm still here …
But Gu Mang did not know if it was because he was too sad or because his mind was so tense that he had already broken down. He did not react to Mo Xi's voice or Mo Xi's sudden appearance.
Mo Xi was in so much pain that he could not speak. His hands were also trembling. He raised his hand, wanting to pull his lover, who was dressed in a military uniform but no longer looked glorious, into his arms.
At this moment, he did not want to think about the consequences anymore.
He really …
He really had been driven crazy by the eight years of pain and longing. He had been backtracked by the Time Mirror.
"Gu Mang … Gu Mang …" Mo Xi's voice was soft and hoarse. "It's okay. I'll be with you … I'll be with you …"
He hugged him from behind and pulled him into his arms.
But just as their shoulders were about to touch, a faint light flashed. Mo Xi realized that he had passed through Gu Mang's body.
He looked at his hands in a daze. His face turned pale and his gaze became flustered.
There was no time.
Murong Chuyi and Jiang Yexue's curse of breaking the mirror had reached the last part.
He did not know how long he could stay in this mirror world, but at least from this moment onwards, he had become nothingness.
He could no longer resonate with this world.
He could no longer appear and comfort Gu Mang. He could no longer turn back Gu Mang.
…
On this day, Gu Mang curled up in a pile of broken porcelain on the floor. He hugged his knees and stayed like this from dawn to dusk.
As the night deepened, he leaned against the cold wall. Like a beast that had left its herd, he curled up and slept. His eyes were red, the tip of his nose was red. Even the edges of his ears that were curled up in his black hair were a pitiful shade of red.
Mo Xi sat beside him for the whole night. In his dream, Gu Mang was also sobbing unconsciously. Mo Xi raised his hand, but he could not wipe away the tear from eight years ago.
Time was like this. Nothing could change.
Even if it was just an illusion, they had still come this far in the end.
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