14. Back To The Future- Er, Life!
The world has one long river known as time! Humans were like fish in the river, only flowing downwards with the current. Sometimes, one or two fish would jump above the river’s surface and see the events below, predicting the future. Without the River of Time, the world would be still, becoming a drawing. Only with this river can change occur, and the world can move, either prospering or withering. The River of Time, with roaring currents. Every ripple was a story, an event that occurred in the past.
Sweat covers Fang Yuan’s back as he feels the blazing sun overhead and hears the idle insect chittering in the strangely familiar woods. The confusion in his gaze eases as several recollections saturate his mind—the yearly exam, defeating Fang Zheng, advancing to Rank 2, wrestling away his family’s inheritance, and a lot more as all these end with one stellar memory of a crying Fang Zheng losing his mind and stabbing him in the back in the presence of every Elder after the Wolf Tide, forcing him to use his trump card.
Fang Yuan touches his chest before revealing a cold smirk.
‘Hah!’ Anger is the last thing he feels. Instead, Fang Yuan feels amusement. ‘To think my dear Little Brother has a devil in him, too. Hehe, well played, you Crazy Bastard. Well played.’
He closes his eyes, focusing on his aperture. Within his Aperture is a floating cicada. Its lively green wings look like crumpled brown leaves and its vibrant body releases a deathly aura.
However—with everything said and done, only one name remains in Fang Yuan’s mind.
‘Gu Yue Zie Qi. I’ll remember you.’
<<<>>>
Lo Jik’s chest rises and falls as he quickly turns around and watches Gu Yue Village. He’s merely on the outskirts. What happened?
Sweat pours down his body as he recalls the sensation of having his head caved in. He feels the acute pain in his back without any claws or tears. He recalls his thrill and fears when that beast hunted him.
A Beast King!
The Gu World doesn’t have ordinary beasts alone. The Gu Yue Village would expand madly despite the wildlife threat if this wasn’t the case. However, every organism has its manner of growth and survival. Wild animals grow unlike humans, turning stronger, fiercer, and slightly more intelligent with age. Their claws will eventually rend steel, and their bites will crush diamonds!
However, that doesn’t make the wildlife threatening to a Gu Master.
Gu!
A Beast—with a certain age, power, and influence—attracts Gu Worms to its body. The Beast and the Gu Worm enter an implicit agreement where the Beast houses the Gu Worm and protects them. Meanwhile, when sensing danger around the beast, the Gu Worms will work with the beast to defeat the external threat.
Of course, a beast does not have an Aperture. So, how could it use a Gu?
The answer is a Gu Worm’s properties.
Until a human refines them, wild Gu worms can use the essence in the air to invoke their abilities!
This is what differentiates a Beast from a Beast King! Even an Ordinary Beast King needs a team of 3-4 Rank 2 Gu Masters to tackle! No matter the burst of energy from the Hope Gu, Lo Jik could never contend with such a creature—or escape—evidently.
It happened.
He was chased by a damn Bear King!
Was?
Did it happen, or has it yet to happen?
Lo Jik stares at the sun before touching his back, feeling the dampness from the girl spilling water on him.
‘It happened. I died. Why am I back, not only alive but in time, too? Did Hope Gu do it? It can’t be. The Legends around the Hope Gu are far from time. Why can I remember my death?’
Lo Jik frowns before a cold glint flashes in his eyes. Since this isn’t his first rodeo with death, emotions fail to control his actions as he calms down, cracking a vicious grin.
‘What a shitty way to start the day.’
He promptly turns around and enters the Village.
Fuck that.
He won’t go in the wilds for a while.
<<<>>>
Mo Bei sports a terrible expression as his face is as pale as a paper. He grits his teeth. Yet he doesn’t feel unwilling. It’s just unusual, is all.
“Are you sure?” Mo Bei softly questions as Cao kneels between his legs, smiling pretty. She nods gently, explaining, “Reporting to Young Master. Cao splashed Lo Jik with the odorless concoction. You might not know it yet, Young Master. However, Hunters and Doctors in the Village have different drugs. A few brews on the bait make the target dizzy, while a few attract them to a specified location upon a trap. My elder sister’s husband’s aunt knows concoctions related to bears.”
She slowly undoes his trousers. “Bears are very dangerous. They are fast and silent. Their noses are extremely sensitive, too. My Brother-in-Law’s family has been pharmacists for centuries and developed a line of medications that attracts different bears while repelling others. The one I splashed on Lo Jik will draw a Bear King from tens of kilometers away since their senses are better than regular beasts.”
“What if the Bear King attacks the Village?” Mo Bei gasps as Cao gives her little partner gentle strokes, blowing hotly against it.
“Bears are intelligent creatures, Young Master. They stalk and study their prey before attacking. I saw Lo Jik leave. However, even if he returns before entering certain depths of the forest, the Bear King will not attack the Village after noticing the guarding Gu Masters.”
Mo Bei’s expression eases as he nods. “And if Lo Jik attracts the Bear King, he won’t survive. He’s only arrogant about his martial arts. I’ll see how arrogant he is when the Bear King devours his corpse.”
He looks down at Cao, who takes him inside her warm mouth. Mo Bei gently pats her head and strokes her cheek. “You did great, Cao.”
He beams as she moves, her cheeks sinking in.
“I’ll be sure to make you my- ugh!”
Mo Bei groans as his body shudders. Cao quickly laps it up before pulling back and smiling with her lips tight shut as she poses and gulps loudly.
“I’ll definitely make you my concubine,” Mo Bei vows aloud, making Cao blush.
<<<>>>
“Shout, and I’ll kill you right now.”
Cold words, followed by the touch of a chilly metal tip against her back, stop the humming Cao in her tracks. The evening sun set long ago, casting dusk’s gloom upon the Gu Yue Village. Meanwhile, the cheery Cao returning to the Mo Family’s Estate cannot help but tremble as she recalls the familiar voice. The basket between her arm and waist almost falls as she feels the sharp tip poking into her flesh through her clothes.
“If you want to live,” the voice sincerely whispers, “you best follow my instructions. Believe me. Nobody will miss your headless corpse a few trails away from the bazaar.”
Fearful of her life, Cao acts naturally. She might be young, but life is a good teacher. Cao wouldn’t have been a modest schemer if it wasn’t! She paces quietly as the suspicious figure leads her into a shabby cabin. There, she notices a brand-new wooden chair alongside rolls of hemp rope.
“Sit.” The man behind her takes the basket from her as Cao trembles, sitting on the chair. Only now does she gaze upon Lo Jik’s impassive features. Her eyes widen, and her lips gape as Lo Jik calmly walks forward and picks up the hemp rope.
“Work with me, and you’ll live. Shout, and I’ll stab your throat with my dagger, letting you choke on your blood instead of instantly killing you.” His peaceful tone doesn’t reduce the chill spreading through her spine as Lo Jik ties her feet and hands to the armrest. As he works, he smiles and chats.
“I bought this chair today—for you. You should feel honored.”
“Lord Gu Master,” Cao begs softly, tears forming in her eyes. “Cao is sorry for splashing you with water this morning. Please forgive Cao,” she slightly raises her chest, begging, “Cao will do anything.”
Lo Jik exhales sharply before crouching ahead of the girl named Cao. He recalled seeing her in the bazaar and waited for her there until the evening.
“Cao,” Lo Jik smiles comfortingly. “I want you to tell me the truth, or I’ll do the same to your other thigh.” His hand slowly balls a thick strip of cloth.
“What—” Cao blinks.
Lo Jik instantly presses the thick ball of cloth and his hand against the girl’s mouth before stabbing his dagger into her left thigh!
Cao struggles against her restraints instantly, her loud shout barely a meek muffle at this point!
Time passes as Lo Jik doesn’t pull his dagger out. Instead, he lifts his hand from her mouth, letting her shuddering gasps fill his cabin’s interior. Meanwhile, her tearful face stares at him fearfully.
“Once you tell me the truth and leave, be sure to use disinfecting medicine,” Lo Jik smiles, giving her slight hope. “I don’t wash my dagger.”
She quickly nods, trembling.
“The truth.”
Lo Jik smiles.
A dagger in the thigh does wonder to a woman’s integrity as she spills the bean. She revealed how Mo Bei forced her to mark Lo Jik in a concoction odorless to humans before letting a Bear King kill him off. However, Lo Jik also knows Mo Bei better than the wench and understands that he isn’t intelligent enough to think that far.
It’s fine. Lo Jik likes this story better.
“Alright,” Lo Jik nods firmly, retrieving ink, quill pen, and bamboo paper from his shelf. He turns her chair to face the wooden furniture and places the material atop it.
“I want you to write what you said and leave Gu Yue Village tonight, or the Mo Family will kill you.”
“Y-Yes,” she nods, secretly relieved.
Her thoughts grow vicious as she pens the tale.
‘Mo Bei isn’t right about many things, but he did get it correctly. This fool is a traitor to his class. After leaving this maniac’s house, I will quickly take Mo Bei to Mo Chen and reveal that Lo Jik played with me. Mo Bei is a smitten fool. He will demand Lo Jik’s head. I will also tell them Lo Jik forced me to write an insidious lie about the family and intends to use it against them. It will force Mo Chen’s hand.’
Mortals develop their sense of survival—depending on another’s knife to butcher a chicken.
“Here,” Cao whispers meekly with a pale expression as blood slowly flows down her pale thighs.
Lo Jik looks over the parchment, nodding in contentment. Cao went above and beyond by adding the recipe for that Bear lure.
“Good. I will pull the knife out and cover your mouth to muffle your scream.”
Cao nods, relieved beyond belief.
Her eyes widen as her body trembles in pain as she screams into the ball of cloth the second Lo Jik takes the knife out of her thigh, causing a fountain of blood to erupt. Yet, instead of taking the gag off her mouth, Lo Jik suddenly drives his dagger into her comely chest, penetrating her heart!
Cao’s eyes widen as she stares at Lo Jik.
“Did I give you Hope?” Lo Jik smiles gently. No hatred can be seen on his face. He leaves the dagger embedded into her chest. “Sorry. I lied. How else could I have made you cooperate?”
Tears flow down the girl’s eyes as Lo Jik sighs. He could never let someone with fatal intentions live, not before, and not here either.
Life slowly drains from her eyes as Lo Jik removes the gag and—
*Riiiiiipppppppp*
He tears her clothes, revealing her pale form. Lo Jik slowly unravels his outfit before draping his clothes on her. He never moves the dagger, letting it stick out against the robe’s surface as he calmly tears the letter she wrote in two unequal halves. He stuffs the small half into her collars before sighing and collapsing on his bed.
He’s still naked but too mentally exhausted to do anything.
Too much happened today.
He is sure bloody scent will fill his cabin by tomorrow, but he no longer cares.
‘I’ll just build a new damn cabin!’ He scoffs.
So the world will look back and marvel at the day when a naked Lo Jik shared a cabin with a corpse.
‘I was too unlucky today. Imagine that. I’ll be lucky tomorrow. Mo Yan said she would return in five days. I hope she is there tomorrow.
He smiles peacefully and enters a deep sleep.
<<<>>>
Mo Yan returns early, as scheduled. Her need for a warm bath after a grueling mission to scout the wolves’ activities leaves her unaware of her surroundings once she enters her home estate. So, she fails to notice the tense environment and unusually anxious servants greeting her.
‘I wonder if Mo Bei’s calmed down.’
Leaving on bad terms left her with a distaste for the entire week. Mo Yan wishes to quickly patch things up with Mo Bei.
‘But I should report to Grandfather,’ Mo Yan exhales once she notices Mo Bei isn’t in the garden training his knuckles off.
A loud yell greets her the second she enters her Grandfather’s study.
“Who DARES interrupt me now?!”
A wild breath of a Rank 3 Gu Master pins her, making her breath catch in her throat as it disappears just as quickly, making Mo Chen sigh.
“It’s you, Mo Yan. Come in.”
She blinks, entering the study before noticing her brother pale as paper and a corpse lying beside him. She frowns, her protective nature taking over her worries as she looks at her wrathful Grandfather.
“What is going on?”
“Ask your Moron Brother!” Mo Chen hisses as Mo Yan blinks again. She forces herself to return to her usual attentive state as she glances at Mo Bei. Observing the corpse beside him, Mo Yan frowns.
‘Wait a minute,’ Mo Yan focuses on the girl’s robes. It’s bigger than her body, so it doesn’t belong to her. She remembers this outfit. Her expression twists in confusion as Mo Yan reaches out for the collar, yanking it away to reveal a VERY familiar dagger embedded in the woman’s chest. Mo Yan and Mo Chen care little about the corpse’s exposed breasts. However, Mo Bei suddenly covers his mouth before turning aside and puking his stomach out!
“Isn’t she Mo Bei’s toy?” Mo Yan looks at the hurling Mo Bei. “Who killed her?”
She already knows who did it. She wants to understand the ‘Why?’ since the guy she likes is not unreasonable.
“Bastard!” Mo Chen yells at Mo Bei, surprising Mo Yan again. It’s the first time Mo Bei is receiving such a treatment. However, it’s not Mo Yan’s first time since she used to do a lot of stupid shit.
“Explain to your sister why Gu Yue Lo Jik killed your fucktoy instead of vomiting in MY study!”
Mo Bei shudders, tears forming in his eyes as he quickly nods. He hurriedly wipes his mouth before explaining.
“It’s all Cao Cao’s fault! She said I wouldn’t have anything to worry about if Lo Jik’s done! Cao followed Lo Jik for days before noticing how he’s hunting in the forest and his compassion against for the mortal servants before deciding to use a Beast King’s lure on him—”
*Pah*
Mo Chen blinks in surprise as Mo Yan delivers a tight slap to Mo Bei!
“Sister!” Mo Bei gasps, only meeting Mo Yan’s cold stare filled with fire so hot that Mo Chen’s anger pales in comparison. “Next!” she demands, making Mo Bei shudder.
“L-Lo Jik killed her! He’s a murderer! Grandfather! Please, you must find justice for me!”
Mo Yan grits her teeth before looking away.
She can’t look at her brother after what he did.
“The problem is this,” Mo Chen snorts, handing Mo Yan a strip of bamboo paper stating—
Young Master forced me to intentionally harm Gu Yue Lo Jik due to his jealous nature—
The rest is torn away.
Forcing herself to calm down, Mo Yan mutters, “A strip of paper and a dead maid’s ramblings aren’t worth anything. The Clan won’t do a thing. However, if the rest of the confession falls into the wrong crowd, it will drag the Mo Family’s name through the mud,” she looks at her brother, stating icily, “And yours.”
“Exactly,” Mo Chen sighs. “Lo Jik left the corpse by the estate’s back door, allowing a servant to discover her the second they opened the door. He also intentionally sent us a small strip of paper alongside dressing this wretch in his clothes.”
“Why do his clothes matter?” Mo Yan frowns before her eyes widen. “I’m sitting in a room with a Beast King’s lure?!”
Mo Chen scoffs.
“Calm down. Beast Kings are too intelligent to attack a Gu Master’s institution.”
The Mo Family’s Elder massages his forehead. “It’s clear that Lo Jik doesn’t want to blow this matter. But he’s angry. Why else would he send a corpse with his tainted clothing and a threat in the form of a note written by this whore?”
Mo Bei’s body shudders as Mo Chen insults the girl he likes… liked.
“Since he doesn’t want to expose the matter, there’s a chance to settle things quickly and discreetly. I will send someone to hear his demands—”
“Grandfather,” Mo Yan interjects. “This matter is too important. Gu Yue Lo Jik has the Academy’s attention due to his battle potential. Sending a servant may be seen as an insult. You cannot lower your head, and Lo Jik might kill Mo Bei.”
Fright fills Mo Bei’s eyes.
“It should be me,” Mo Yan nods.
“Elder Sister! No!”
“Shut up this instant!” Mo Chen roars at his grandson before looking at Mo Yan, “Why you?”
“I’m a familiar face,” Mo Yan sighs. “I’ve seen his cabin, and I’ve seen his living conditions. Lo Jik also spoke up for me. Compassion isn’t lost on him. He’ll be willing to talk with me. Not to mention, I might persuade him to reduce his wild demands.”
Surprise and pride prevail in Mo Chen’s gaze as he nods.
Fearful, angry, hateful, and frustrated when it comes to Lo Jik, Mo Bei cannot help but utter, “He is a liar. He will extort the family like he extorts my classmates before harming us!”
Mo Chen stares at Mo Bei for a while before questioning, “Do you remember the story about Ren Zu when he unintentionally lets Wisdom Gu escape?”
Mo Bei looks at his Grandfather, who recounts—
Ren Zu had the Rules Gu and Regulation Gu and could capture all the ten thousand Gu in the world, obtaining Strength Gu but losing Wisdom Gu.
At that point, his net still contained three Gu. He opened and saw the Attitude Gu, Belief Gu, and Suspicion Gu, respectively.
Ren Zu was unwilling to let them go. Thus, the three Gu could only bet with him.
Once Ren Zu opens the net, they would run out in three different directions, and whoever is captured by Ren Zu would be subdued. Guess. Who did Ren Zu catch in the end?. It’s the Attitude Gu!—
Mo Chen firmly stares at his Grandson, explaining, “Lo Jik meticulously displayed his attitude about wanting to settle things peacefully. Why would I suspect that attitude? And why would you not believe it? Our world is riddled with lies, and Attitude alone makes things work.”
“I will rest for a while and promptly leave.” Mo Yan nods. There’s another reason why she said she should be the one to meet Lo Jik. Turning around as Mo Bei stiffens, Mo Yan cruelly yanks the dagger out of the woman’s heart, letting Mo Bei glance at the fatal wound in his lover’s bosom.
He desperately looks away, meeting Mo Yan’s icy stare.
How dare you attempt to take my lover’s life? Karma stings, doesn’t it?
***
Alternate Title: River of Time; It Proves It—We’re All Fish!; Mad Lad Fang Zheng; The Mysterious Zie Qi; More Changes; Cao’s Plan; Simp!; A Worthy Concubine; The Blade; Cooperating With Hope; Tying Without Resistance; Simple Torture Technique; The Note; Vicious Thoughts; Hope Is a Great Asset to Use; In The Heart; Damn, Lo Jik and a Corpse?; The Lure Recipe; Mo Yan’s Return; Anxious Estate; The Elder’s Pressure; Mo Bei’s Being Grilled; Mo Yan is Used To The Drill, Lol; The Admittance; Confession Letter; Demands; Mo Yan Steps Up; One’s Attitude; The Slap; Angry Mo Yan; Unfortunate Events Always Succeed With Fortunate Ones; Back To Life; Remembering The Future That Never Was?; Compassionate, Not Naive; A Threat Resolved