Lu Zhanxing

**Lu Zhanxing** (陆展星, *Lù Zhǎnxīng*) is Gu Mang's fellow slave and childhood best friend. He is the former deputy general and second-in-command of Wangba Army.

## Personality

Much like Gu Mang, Lu Zhanxing is described as shameless, eccentric, and carefree, and also possesses a fiery personality. He maintains a jovial disposition even in the face of death, eating and drinking happily with Gu Mang right before he was about to be executed. Despite enlisting in the army, he still wanted to live a long life but was unfortunately unable to.

Lu Zhanxing is shown to have a kind heart, as evidenced by when he sought out to find a four-year-old Gu Mang to give him the remainder of his food when he heard that Gu Mang was left to starve. He is also shown to be capable of putting on a good act, and keeps people's secrets to himself.

## History

### Early Childhood

Lu Zhanxing is a slave by birth and was later sold to Wangshu Manor. On his first day in the manor, he witnessed a four-year-old Gu Mang getting his face smeared with oil paint and being forced to motionlessly stand with a bowl full of water on his head by Murong Lian. He heard Murong Lian tell Gu Mang to stand completely still for a full shichen, or else the rest of Wangshu Manor's slaves would starve alongside him if he spilled any of the water. Lu Zhanxing felt disheartened by this, thinking that he would starve on his first day as he thought that Gu Mang would not be able to handle such a task.

To Lu Zhanxing's surprise, Gu Mang prevailed and held the bowl over his head for a shichen, and the slaves of Wangshu Manor were given two steamed buns for their dinner. He eventually discovered that this upset Murong Lian, and Gu Mang's dinner was still taken away despite having stood still as he was told to. Hearing this, Lu Zhanxing ate only one steamed bun, saved the other for Gu Mang, and set out to find him.

He found Gu Mang crouching in the grass meadow in Wangshu Manor's flower garden, eating dirt, and he asked him why he was eating dirt. Gu Mang's reply was that he was hungry, and after seeing Gu Mang's dejected appearance, he immediately brings out the steamed bun he saved for him and tells him that he will protect him. From now own, they were close friends and grew up together in Wangshu Manor.

### Cultivation Academy

A few years later, Lu Zhanxing, along with Gu Mang, was appointed as one of Murong Lian's study attendants in the Cultivation Academy. He was part of the group of attendants accompanying Murong Lian when Gu Mang was brought in after Mo Xi asked for lenience from Murong Lian on Gu Mang's behalf. He was there to witness Gu Mang get his first Slave Collar.

### Joining the Army

After graduating from the Cultivation Academy, Lu Zhanxing enlists in the army together with Gu Mang. He later becomes the deputy general of Gu Mang's Wangba Army.

When Gu Mang started to get closer with Mo Xi, he tried to convince him not to in case misfortune would befall Mo Xi and drag Gu Mang down as well, but Gu Mang only told him *"we value feelings above all"*. He eventually started to get suspicious of Gu Mang and Mo Xi's relationship with eachother. He noticed that Mo Xi constantly monopolized Gu Mang's time, and after Gu Mang finished one of his patrols with Mo Xi, he once noticed a red bite mark on Gu Mang's neck.

### Battle of Phoenix Cry Mountain

On a battle against the Liao Kingdom, Lu Zhanxing, Gu Mang, and Murong Lian led Chonghua's army to Phoenix Cry Mountain. They split up, with Gu Mang heading directly over to the hinterlands of the Liao Kingdom's southern city while Lu Zhanxing and Murong Lian watched over the troops.

The attack on the Liao Kingdom was originally flawless; however, in a moment of impulsiveness and hotheadedness, Lu Zhanxing killed an important envoy from Rouli, a country that was still picking between Chonghua and the Liao Kingdom. Because of this, Chonghua's armies suffered major casualties, as Murong Lian's imperial army had to fight against Rouli's forces while Gu Mang, along with Wangba Army, was not able to receive aid from Murong Lian's army, and so seventy-thousand (70,000) soldiers from Wangba Army were lost.

***This section contains spoilers!***
Later on, it is revealed that Lu Zhanxing was controlled into killing the envoy using the Zhenlong Chess Formation, with Jiang Yexue, who was doing it under the emperor's orders, as the mastermind behind it. Before it was revealed that Jiang Yexue was behind it, it was believed that the Liao Kingdom put the chess piece in him. The chess piece placed in him was imperfect, and was only able to control him for a short period of time.

### Execution and Death

After returning to Chonghua, Lu Zhanxing was interrogated, imprisoned in The Chamber of Ice, and was to be executed after autumn.

During his imprisonment, he was visited by an interrogation official. He told the interrogation official that he wants to see Gu Mang, and that he wants to apologize to him in person. The interrogation official then took out two wooden dice from his qiankun pouch, and Lu Zhanxing recognizes the dice as Gu Mang's from the red lotus mark on them. He immediately recognizes the "interrogation official" as Gu Mang even before he takes his mask off, and starts explaining himself and apologizing for what he did.

To Lu Zhanxing's shock, Gu Mang told him that he did not betray Chonghua as he was controlled by the Zhenlong Chess Formation, which the Liao Kingdom had used on him. Overwhelmed by his emotions, Lu Zhanxing starts to laugh and cry as Gu Mang watches, asking him if he could see their dead comrades too, to which he replies with "always". After he was freed from the guilt of being a "guilty subject", both start to reminisce. Lu Zhanxing recalled how he would always lose to Gu Mang in gambling, however Gu Mang told him about a "gambling demon" in Chonghua, who never lost on the gambling tables, who also turns out to be Lu Zhanxing himself.

Seeing Gu Mang crying, Lu Zhanxing told him that he was happy that he was able to tell him the truth, and that whatever he chose, he will be happy for him. After a while, he said,*"Who told you to be my brother? Even if we've never sworn."* After Lu Zhanxing mentioned this, Gu Mang tells him that they will swear, leaves the room and then returns with pear blossom white wine in tow. Gu Mang thanks Lu Zhanxing for his care, both drink their fill and perform their bows.

Soon after, Lu Zhanxing was brought to the eastern market to be executed. To his disappointment, he isn't given any wine before his execution, however Gu Mang appears wearing Chonghua's formal military robes. He once again brings him pear blossom white wine, and once it ran out, Lu Zhanxing voices his last wishes to Gu Mang. Unfortunately, the time of the execution is not long after. Lu Zhanxing and Gu Mang exchange goodbyes, and he is beheaded as Gu Mang watched. His body was hung at the eastern market for three days, and Gu Mang secretly buried his head on the shore of the Soul-Summoning Abyss.

### Time Mirror

Three days before Lu Zhanxing's execution, he is visited by a prison guard, who in truth is Mo Xi. Shocked by Mo Xi's presence, he drops the dice he was playing with. After picking the dice up, he asks Mo Xi if he would like his fortune to be told as his execution was in three days, but is turned down. Mo Xi set a soundproof barrier down and tells Lu Zhanxing that he came down to see him to ask whether or not there were any injustice he wanted to speak of about the Battle of Phoenix Cry Mountain.

Lu Zhanxing, knowing about the truth behind the situation, lies and tells Mo Xi that the emperor arrested him for killing the envoy, and that because of his mistake, Gu Mang received punishment along with the remaining thirty-thousand survivors of Wangba Army, and then says that he would like to ask "why".

Mo Xi is angered by this, and starts to interrogate Lu Zhanxing on why he lost his control, if he knew what was happening outside the prison, and then reminded him about the seventy-thousand soldiers who were killed and Gu Mang's current state. After Mo Xi's outburst, he starts to laugh, and in turn says *"Isn't it a good thing, to never receive responsibilities from His Majesty ever again?"*

He then tells Mo Xi that he killed the envoy on purpose, which ignites Mo Xi's temper once again, and he is pushed against the wall with Mo Xi's hand around his neck. He goes on to say that it was better than letting Gu Mang keep pursuing his dream, which was doomed to fail, and calling him and his army fools for giving their lives for others. Lu Zhanxing believed that doing so would save Gu Mang from the people's criticism and ridicule that angered him, as he considered Gu Mang's desire to fight for Chonghua stupid and that the nobles' only grew more fearful of him becoming the new Hua Po'an.

Mo Xi, enraged, asks him if he really wanted to force Gu Mang to desperation and make him walk onto Hua Po'an's path, to which Lu Zhanxing says that he only wanted Gu Mang to stop and not be so naive. He was afraid that if Gu Mang recklessly continued like that, he would only receive a death without a whole corpse if he were to lose a battle after reaching his peak. The two began to escalate into another argument.

After telling Mo Xi to let Gu Mang go, but is then startled by a possibility that Mo Xi proposes to him: that Gu Mang will defect. Lu Zhanxing continuously denies this, but falters in the end. When Mo Xi figured out that he had already seen Gu Mang during his time in prison, he refuses to tell him the truth, insisting that Gu Mang did not visit him, nor did he have any injustice. Before Mo Xi left the prison, Lu Zhanxing asks him if he and Gu Mang were in a romantic relationship, and is left bewildered when Mo Xi confirms this.

## Relationships

### Gu Mang

Gu Mang is his fellow slave, childhood best friend, and later, his sworn brother. Lu Zhanxing has known him ever since he was sold into Wangshu Manor. They both grew up together and cared deeply for each other, as Lu Zhanxing always gave into Gu Mang's wants, such as intentionally losing him so that they could share his own desserts together, and also vowed to protect him up until the end, even keeping the secret of Gu Mang's visit from Mo Xi in the Time Mirror.

### Mo Xi

Despite having Gu Mang as a mutual friend, Lu Zhanxing and Mo Xi did not share a deep relationship, partly due to their differences of status. They would often not acknowledge each other at all, even if they bumped into one another, and would only halfheartedly do so if Gu Mang was present. Lu Zhanxing once tried to persuade Gu Mang not to get close to him in case any misfortune that befell Mo Xi takes Gu Mang down as well, but Gu Mang paid him no attention and went on to befriend and accompany Mo Xi.

Lu Zhanxing noticed that Mo Xi always monopolized Gu Mang's freetime, and he was also suspicious of the budding relationship between the two, as he noticed that Gu Mang once had a red bite mark on his neck after he finished patrolling again with Mo Xi. Later, Gu Mang reveals that Lu Zhanxing did not dislike Mo Xi at all and that he actually liked him a lot.

## References

2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 Novel, Chapter 120: This Oath in Life and Death
3. ↑ Novel. Chapter 11: Slave Collar
4. ↑ Novel, Chapter 12: Murong Lian
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Novel, Chapter 161: Lies
6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 Novel, Chapter 85: The Plan of Eight Years Ago
7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 Novel, Chapter 86: Hoping That Your Wings Would Break
8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 Novel, Chapter 72: That Year's Defeat
9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Novel, Chapter 116: Lu Zhanxing's Injustice
10. ↑ Novel, Chapter 174: Imperial Promises Are Most Unfathomable
11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Novel, Chapter 119: True Intent Was This
12. ↑ Novel, Chapter 61: What Am I
13. ↑ Novel, Chapter 123: From Now On, Into the Abyss
14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 Novel, Chapter 84: Lu Zhanxing of Eight Years Ago
15. ↑ Novel, Chapter 192: Promise of the Past