Gu Mang/History

## Gu Mang

* MB wechat
* Novel (CN)
* Novel (KR)
* Novel (ENG)

Qingguang Elder
清光长老 *Qīngguāng Zhǎnglǎo*

	+ Wangba Army (commander, former)
* Liao Kingdom (former)
* Xihe Manor (former)
* Wangshu Academy

## History

### Early Childhood

Gu Mang was a slave by birth, with his parentage unknown, and lived in Wangshu Manor as Murong Lian's personal slave. There, he was subjected to ridicule for his blood, often being mistreated by Murong Lian and the servants in Wangshu Manor. The only one who was close to Gu Mang was Auntie Lin, who was said to be the "ugliest female servant in Wangshu Manor".

He had a lisp when he was younger, so he pronounced "Lin" as "Ni". She would often slip him desserts, sew clothes for him, teach him how to read, and sing him nursery rhymes. When he was injured after being pushed off a swing by Murong Lian, she was the one to take him to get treated. She later died of an unknown cause when he was four years old.

Once, he was being bullied again by Murong Lian, getting his face stained by oil paint and being forced to stand with a bowl full of water on his head. He was then told to stand there for a full shichen, and if any water ever spilled from the bowl, all of the slaves in the manor would go hungry along with him. When he manages to stay still for a full shichen, this upsets Murong Lian, and so although the other slaves would receive food, Gu Mang still had his dinner taken for no reason.

Later, while eating dirt to satisfy his hunger, he was found by Lu Zhanxing, a boy a few years older than him who had just been sold into Wangshu Manor. He was then given a steamed bun that Lu Zhanxing had saved for him, and they soon became close.

As Gu Mang grew older, he investigated his background in secret. He formed guesses about his parentage from collecting information from forbidden pamphlets and gossip on the streets. Once, when he was cleaning up the abandoned library in Wangshu Manor, he discovered a box filled with letters that Murong Xuan exchanged with Miss Chu.

Gu Mang realized that he was most likely the child of Murong Xuan and Miss Chu, and that it meant that Murong Lian was also his half-brother. Having been a slave for many years already, he did not want to come forward and stand with the nobles that he belonged with, wishing that he could bring up his fellow slaves as well instead of only himself.

Despite this, when facing the Hero's Ribbon left behind by Murong Xuan, he couldn't help but tie it onto his forehead and take a closer look at himself in the mirror. However, before he could have the ribbon on for long, Murong Lian suddenly came storming into the room, yelling at him and angrily snatching the ribbon from him.

A few years later, Murong Lian chose him to become his study attendant and brought him to the Cultivation Academy.

### Cultivation Academy

Gu Mang studied in the Cultivation Academy under Yanbie Hall. It was there that Gu Mang learned that he had outstanding natural talent, and within just a few years, his cultivation greatly surpassed Murong Lian's. This made Murong Lian extremely jealous, and so he was beaten and cursed at more often.

Later, he would also receive his holy weapon, a suona named Fengbo. Fengbo's noise would often annoy those around him, especially students who specialized in musical cultivation, and so he would travel to the back mountains where he wouldn't bother anyone in order to practice. In the meantime, he bought a scimitar from a weapons shop to use instead, and only summoned Fengbo when needed.

One day, he saw a young Mo Xi standing underneath an osmanthus tree in the academy practicing with his bow. He would go on to see him again a few more times; reading alone at the stone steps, eating alone against a tree, and leaving the academy's cultivation practice field. He noticed that Mo Xi was always alone, and heard a lot of gossip surrounding him, ranging from Mo Xi's personality to his prowess. This caused him to develop a rather bad impression of Mo Xi. At that point, Gu Mang was already greatly familiar with Mo Xi, even though Mo Xi barely knew who he was.

Once, as Gu Mang passed by the drill ground, he witnessed academy slaves kneeling in front of Mo Xi while he had Shuairan in his hand. Thinking that Mo Xi was bullying the slaves, he was about to speak up for them when he heard them frantically apologize to Mo Xi for trying to steal his money pouch. He found out that they hadn't stolen it on purpose, and were being starved as punishment for offending Murong Lian. He watched as Mo Xi withdrew Shuairan, gave them his money pouch and turned to leave.

Knowing that interacting with slaves was a great taboo in the academy, Gu Mang was dumbfounded by this. Days later, when news spread through the academy that Mo Xi was whipped and beaten for breaking this taboo, Gu Mang became worried and uneasy over Mo Xi's state. He realized that the two slaves who tried to steal Mo Xi's money pouch were doing so under Murong Lian's orders, and that it was all a part of Murong Lian's ploy to prevent Mo Xi from being nominated as the academy's outstanding student.

A few days after, Gu Mang saw Mo Xi once again, eating underneath a tree. Mo Xi noticed him staring, causing him to feel uncharacteristically nervous. Suddenly, Lu Zhanxing called him over, and he hurriedly fled into the distance to Lu Zhanxing.

Gu Mang would later see Mo Xi more often on exorcism missions. Mo Xi was prone to being angered and treated him rudely, however in spite of this, Gu Mang never resented him and always responded to him with a smile.

## References

2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Novel, Chapter 120: This Oath in Life and Death
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Novel, Chapter 157: The Hero's Ribbon He Could Never Wear
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Novel, Chapter 11: Slave Collar
5. ↑ Novel, Extras, Chapter 212: Dream of Youth (16)
6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 Novel, Chapter 102: Sharing A Room
7. ↑ Novel, Chapter 16: Suspicion