5/5 stars on Goodreads
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| Remnants of Filth vol 4 by Rou Bao Bu Chi Rou |
Volume 4 was heartbreaking, more so, because it began with such a hopeful note. Gu Mang has his memories back and Mo Xi is starting to trust him again. All they need is to flee from the demon bat island and everything will be well. Except, Gu Mang is determined to push Mo Xi away. Even a night of passion brought on by a demonic potion affecting Gu Mang won’t change his mind.
The moment they return home, things start going wrong. Gu Mang is taken into custody for excruciating magical experiments. Mo Xi isn’t there, because he’s investigating the truth about Gu Mang. He learns it too, but almost destroys his own health in the process. The truth isn’t what he had thought, and it sets him against the emperor—never a good place to be. But it might be in vain, because Gu Mang may have lost his mind again. The book ends before we learn for sure.
This book was mostly from Gu Mang’s point of view. And it’s such a different story than the reader has been led to believe. The love story we’ve thought was one-sided was very real for him too. But he’s a realist and knows that a slave and a nobleman can never be together, and so he’s pretended to only toy with Mo Xi. Here, in his thoughts, he can confess his love. But he doesn’t reveal it to Mo Xi. For his part, Mo Xi, having learned the truth, is more willing than ever to declare his love publicly. Only, he never gets a chance to do that either.
This was an intense volume that wrung the reader dry. But at least there was the great spicy scene at the beginning of the book, and the knowledge that the men love one another. Now there’s the agonising wait to learn if it’s too late; whether Gu Mang has lost his mind for good or if there’s still hope for the men.
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