EHW Ch50

Pei Xin said, “You may.”

Gu Fangzhi hadn’t expected Pei Xin to agree so quickly; his eyes widened slightly. He immediately said, “Many thanks, Your Majesty!”

Pei Xin replied, “No need.”

Gu Fangzhi protested, “How can you say that? My gratitude flows as endlessly as the waters of the Yellow River!”

Though his tone was exaggerated as always, Pei Xin could tell this time Gu Fangzhi’s thanks were sincere.

Pei Xin shook his head. “Even if you hadn’t spoken, I already intended to.”

Gu Yunchuan was steady and capable, skilled at leading troops. With a man like that in command, the soldiers would only become more loyal.

For the late emperor, however, that had been a double-edged sword: fearing Gu Yunchuan’s growing influence, he had stripped him of his command.

From the very first time Pei Xin met Gu Yunchuan at Liangshan, he had seen the man’s deep longing for the battlefield. He knew that Gu Yunchuan, like himself and Qin Xuan, had long grown used to the smell of dust and blood in war.

Pei Xin understood Gu Fangzhi’s loyalty, and would never, as the late emperor had, regard Gu Yunchuan with suspicion.

Gu Fangzhi opened his mouth. “Regardless, this subject thanks Your Majesty on my brother’s behalf.”

Pei Xin suddenly raised his hand and grasped Gu Fangzhi’s wrist.

Gu Fangzhi jumped. “What, did I hurt you?”

Pei Xin didn’t answer but countered, “Is it warm?”

Gu Fangzhi: “…?”

Pei Xin asked again, “Teacher, do you find the tent warm?”

Gu Fangzhi said, “It’s warm.”

Outside, the world was nothing but snow and ice, wrap yourself into a ball and you’d still freeze through.

He still remembered that day when he and Pei Xin had shared the same coat, pressed together against the cold until their very bones ached.

Compared to that, or even to the drafty thatched huts of Wucheng, this place was far, far warmer.

“It’s coal, brought from Xuancheng,” Pei Xin said. “Thanks to teacher, the soldiers won’t have to freeze.”

Gu Fangzhi was stunned.

He realized Pei Xin meant that he needn’t keep thanking him for helping Gu Yunchuan, but the words struck him all the same, filling him with sudden warmth. For a moment, everything felt worth it.

Pei Xin hadn’t slept in two nights. Tonight, exhaustion finally caught up with him; he soon drifted off.

When his breathing grew slow and steady, Gu Fangzhi tucked in his blanket, quietly blew out the candle, and lay down on the small cot outside.

But sleep didn’t come easily.

Pei Xin’s words still filled him with pride and a strange, glowing heat, his heart burned pleasantly, and every time he thought of it, the corners of his mouth rose.

He regretted not saving a file at that moment; if he had, he could reload it and listen again.

He tossed and turned for half the night before drowsiness finally crept in.

Just as he was about to fall asleep, something struck him, his eyes flew open wide.

Pei Xin had kissed him!

He couldn’t even recall all the details clearly anymore, only the faint bitterness of medicine on Pei Xin’s body, the cold, firm hand pressed to the back of his neck, and how Pei Xin’s lips had been thin, a little cool, a little dry.

The more he thought about it, the hotter his head felt. Under the blanket, Gu Fangzhi began practicing military drills just to calm himself down.

【Congratulations, player has reached a BE ending , “If you exercise after staying up late, you’ll achieve a perfectly healthy corpse.”】

Gu Fangzhi: “……”

Could this system be any more unhelpful?

Still, it gave him an idea.

He could save, then go ask Pei Xin what that kiss had meant.

So Gu Fangzhi saved the file and walked toward Pei Xin.

Afraid Pei Xin might grab him again, he stopped a little short of the bed.

Back on the battlefield, Pei Xin rarely dreamed of nightmares anymore.

Tonight, he’d fallen asleep quickly; his dreams were peaceful and calm,

Until suddenly, he heard a voice calling out, like summoning a spirit:
“Your Majesty- Your Majesty- !”

Pei Xin opened his eyes in confusion and saw Gu Fangzhi, dressed all in white, hair loose, standing a short distance from the bed.

Pei Xin: “…?”

Good heavens.

That damned Gu Fangzhi, wandering around in the middle of the night like a ghost.

Being woken from sleep was never pleasant. Pei Xin frowned.
“Teacher, what is it?”

Gu Fangzhi scratched his cheek with a finger, too embarrassed to ask directly, and said awkwardly, “…Why did you kiss me?”

Pei Xin: “?”

Gu Fangzhi took a deep breath, steeling himself.

“Why did Your Majesty kiss me today?”

Pei Xin froze. The irritation in his chest vanished at once.

So Gu Fangzhi hadn’t been able to sleep all this time, because he’d been thinking about that kiss?

Suddenly Pei Xin’s mood improved.

He grabbed a pillow, propped it behind his back, bent one knee, rested an elbow on it, and tilted his head to look at Gu Fangzhi.

“Because I wanted to-” Pei Xin said bluntly, without pretense or shame.

After a pause, he added, half teasing and half serious, “If teacher wishes, you may kiss me now as well.”

Gu Fangzhi: “……”

What kind of answer was that?!

He pressed a hand to his forehead, looking up at the ceiling.

He hadn’t wanted to hear some romantic confession like ‘Teacher, I’ve always admired you from afar’, but he’d also hoped it wasn’t just ‘a random hormonal impulse.’

In truth, Gu Fangzhi didn’t even know what he wanted to hear.

He just couldn’t pretend it hadn’t happened.

After all, it was his first kiss, and he’d had it twice.

His poor, young heart was in chaos.

But no matter how he turned it over, everything he might say sounded wrong.

…Forget it. Better to just go back to sleep.

Gu Fangzhi, mentally exhausted, reloaded a save.

Pei Xin: “…Zzzzz…”

The damned Gu Fangzhi, he’d woken him up only to force him back to sleep.

The dragon was furious.

Yet perhaps because they had just spoken, the peaceful dream soon shifted, and in it, Pei Xin saw Gu Fangzhi again.

They sat shoulder to shoulder, bathed in warm sunlight spilling over their heads and arms.
Almost involuntarily, Pei Xin reached out, his palm coming to rest over the back of Gu Fangzhi’s hand.

The dragon was pleased.

Before dawn the next day, Pei Xin was already awake.

Of the eight infiltrators Qin Xuan had sent into Wucheng, only five had made it inside, fewer than expected, but still enough.

Up front, Pei Xin, Qin Xuan, and the other commanders were in discussion; behind them, not far away, Gu Fangzhi was speaking anxiously with Gu Yunchuan.

“Big Brother, you have to be careful,” Gu Fangzhi said. “Fight if you can fight, but if you can’t, run. As long as the green hills remain, there will always be firewood to burn.”

Yesterday, Pei Xin had proposed sending a force to circle around behind Wucheng and trap the enemy in a pincer movement, “wrap Wucheng up like a dumpling,” he’d said.

And the one leading that force was none other than Gu Yunchuan.

Gu Yunchuan was already dressed in gleaming silver armor that reflected the cold light of dawn, making his features look even sharper and sterner.

He placed a firm hand on Gu Fangzhi’s head. “Don’t worry. I’ll be fine. You take care of yourself too.”

Gu Fangzhi replied quickly, “Of course I’ll be fine. You’ll be fine too.”

From the front, Pei Xin: “……”

Yes. Neither of them would have any problems.

After all, when Gu Fangzhi rewound time, the only one who ever got hurt… was Pei Xin.

***
Midnight.

When Gu Yunchuan’s troops took their positions, Pei Xin and Qin Xuan simultaneously began their flanking assault from the east and west.

Under the pitch-black sky, cavalry at the vanguard, archers in the rear, four thousand elite soldiers advanced in silence.

They were like a vast, invisible net, tightening around Wucheng under Pei Xin’s command.

At a hilltop, Pei Xin suddenly reined in his horse.

He turned to glance at Gu Fangzhi.

Gu Fangzhi was mounted on a small pony Pei Xin had personally found for him, barely half the height of Pei Xin’s warhorse. He looked like a child riding a toy.

Pei Xin almost laughed but restrained himself, clearing his throat.
“This is the highest point here. From here, you can see nearly all of Wucheng’s layout.”

Gu Fangzhi blinked and followed Pei Xin’s gaze.

Indeed, it was the tallest vantage in the area, the view completely unobstructed, a perfect position to oversee the battlefield below.

Before he could even respond, Pei Xin spoke again.

“Teacher, stay here.”

Gu Fangzhi froze.

He had insisted on coming along out of worry for Pei Xin, yet now Pei Xin was leaving him in the safest place.

At first, Gu Fangzhi wanted to refuse, but after a moment’s thought, he realized Pei Xin wasn’t wrong.

He couldn’t even ride a horse properly; on the battlefield, he’d just get in the way.

From here, with such a clear view of the field and close enough to the front, he could still watch Pei Xin’s every move and ensure his safety.

Gu Fangzhi nodded. “Your Majesty, please be careful.”

As soon as he spoke, he realized his voice was shaking, he couldn’t help it. Even if he could save and reload, this was his first real battle, and the nerves were impossible to suppress.

Pei Xin, on the other hand, seemed utterly calm.
No matter how dangerous the battlefield, as long as Gu Fangzhi stood on his side, he knew the man would never let him fall.

Like the strongest shield in the world.

Pei Xin spun his silver spear in his hand, the weapon gleaming like lightning.
“Let’s go,” he said. “Whatever needs saying, save it for when we return.”

He left behind a small group of elite guards to protect Gu Fangzhi.

After Pei Xin rode off, Gu Fangzhi craned his neck, eyes fixed on the field below, every few steps Pei Xin took, Gu Fangzhi would mentally “save” again.

He didn’t know how long he’d been watching when, suddenly, a sharp cry, like a hawk’s screech, cut through the air.

The next moment, an enormous explosion echoed from Wucheng.

Almost instantly, five pillars of fire shot skyward, tearing through the night and turning darkness into daylight.

The horns blared. The battlefield erupted in chaos.

Gu Yunchuan’s catapults hurled massive stones into Wucheng’s walls; in the confusion, Pei Xin’s forces stormed from the front.

With a deafening roar, the gates shattered open.

Pei Xin’s spear impaled an enemy soldier, flinging him aside.
Kicking his horse into motion, he charged through the broken gate first.

Now it was Gu Fangzhi’s turn to panic, he was too far to see clearly.

He cursed under his breath, swung onto his pony, and called to his guards, “Quick, quick, quick, follow me!”

As he descended from the hill, the corner of his eye caught a familiar figure.

He turned, and saw Ye Bao, sword raised high, shouting with grim determination:
“Everyone, charge with me!”

Wait, wasn’t Ye Bao just a refugee?!

How had he become a soldier?

His voice carried clearly through the chaos:
“Qi obeys the Mandate of Heaven, Qi shall perish by the Mandate of Heaven!”

Wait a second.
Wasn’t that the opening line from Founding Emperor?!
How did Ye Bao know that?

A thought flashed through Gu Fangzhi’s mind, and his eyes went wide.

He remembered the name he’d given his game protagonist.

“…On a stormy night, my wife turned out to be a man and stole my baby…”

Ye Bao → Night Bao → Ye Bao.

So, Ye Bao was the game’s protagonist?!

Gu Fangzhi recalled his mission in Liangshan: protect Pei Xin, help him crush the Cangsheng Sect, and make the protagonist realize the sect’s evil.

But now, after he and Pei Xin had infiltrated the protagonist’s city and used rather questionable methods, and were currently launching a full-scale assault right in his face…

If the protagonist survived this battle, wouldn’t it only convince him even more that Pei Xin was a tyrant?

Wouldn’t this lead straight to the same tragic ending again?

Oh, dear God.

Gu Fangzhi wanted to kick himself.

After thinking it over for a long time, he finally reached out and loaded Save Slot No. 2.

In an instant, night turned into dusk.

The sounds of slaughter disappeared; the blazing fires became a quiet campfire.

Time rewound to two days earlier, to when Gu Fangzhi had first met Ye Bao outside the thatched huts.

Not far away, Pei Xin was astride an imaginary warhorse, brandishing an imaginary spear and striking down imaginary enemies.

The surrounding refugees looked at him, baffled.

How humiliating.

The war hadn’t even begun, and Pei Xin had already suffered a total defeat.

Expressionless, he scanned the area, wondering why Gu Fangzhi had suddenly rewound time to this point.

Just as he was puzzling over it, Gu Fangzhi came hurrying over.

“You- ”

Pei Xin had only opened his mouth when Gu Fangzhi grabbed his wrist and dragged him into a corner.

“When we leave tonight, take one more person,” Gu Fangzhi said urgently, practically pressing against Pei Xin as he whispered near his lips so no one could overhear.

“That guy, Ye Bao, let’s kidnap him!”

Pei Xin: “…?”

Gu Fangzhi’s tone was deadly serious, he clearly had his reasons.

But Pei Xin could only think, this was probably the first time his “teacher” had ever used magic… for another man.

Pei Xin clicked his tongue softly.