Author Notes: Hello again, everyone! I've added a brief explanation on how the tragedy in Ep35 was averted to explain the 'Disregarding certain deaths' tag. Enjoy :)

- Chapter Start -

Riding past the gates of Ping An Manor reminded Zhou ZiShu of returning to Saijin Manor, but with a few changes.

Instead of sharing Wen KeXing's horse after being rescued from the palace, he sat astride his own.

Instead of slumping half conscious with two holes in his chest from those nasty hooks, he sat healed, tall and straight in the saddle.

Instead of Gu Xiang and Cao WeiNing rushing out to greet them, it was Zhang ChengLing, beaming from ear to ear while crying with happiness. The newlyweds were staying at the Gentle Wind Sword Sect under the new leadership of Fan HuaiKong. Their wedding had been eventful, to say the least.

Flashback...

The day before the wedding was to take place, BeiYuan received an urgent message from his spy network. Mo HuaiYang and his disciples had been spotted making their way to Ghost Valley carrying wedding gift boxes filled with weapons. At the same time, a large group of alliance members were seen following a horde of drug men, heading in the same destination.

After fortifying Mount QingYa's defenses, Wen KeXing ordered the wedding ceremony to be held two hours earlier, much to the bridal couple's surprise. By the time Mo HuaiYang and his disciples arrived, the celebrations were over. They were apprehended at once and their hidden weapons confiscated as proof of a planned ambush. A furious Mo HuaiYang broke free and lunged at Cao WeiNing, screaming about the corruption of evil. Gu Xiang stepped in front of her husband, unarmed and unafraid, but it was Wen KeXing who intercepted the attack and ordered everyone not to interfere.

After a prolonged and thrilling fight at the top of a nearby mountain, Wen KeXing emerged victorious, but with a stab wound in his chest. ZiShu had only caught the first part of the fight before going off to lead the drug men and alliance members to an enclosed area. After the drug men overpowered the others, he blew up the entire area with explosives supplied by BeiYuan. He returned just in time to stop an enraged Scorpion King from killing Wen KeXing after taking the Glazed Armour pieces from Mo HuaiYang's body.

Once Wen KeXing was safe at Ping An Manor, ZiShu took the remaining gunpowder and went to set off the avalanche at the World Armoury which buried the Scorpion King, Zhao Jing, the body of Du PengJu and his men in snow. Since he only had a handful of days left after removing the nails in his body, he resigned himself to dying along with them.

Luckily, Ye BaiYi and Wen KeXing had other plans for him.

End flashback...

"They're back! Shifu and shishu are back!" Zhang ChengLing barely waited for them to dismount before flinging himself in their arms.

BeiYuan and Wu Xi were next to greet them, the former with a big smile and hug, and the latter with a quick check of their pulses and a pleased nod. Seeing Wen KeXing's open mouthed shock at being hugged by Bei Yuan made Zhou ZiShu's grin widen.

The group of young disciples pouring out of the building made him grin even more.

"Shifu! Shishu!" Bi XingMing rushed over to him, followed by Cheng ZiChen and their fellow disciples.

ZiShu and Wen KeXing were soon surrounded by their newest members of Four Seasons Manor and ZiShu couldn't think of a better welcome. Too bad the newlyweds weren't here, but they would come for a visit soon, he was sure of it. His joy only diminished when ChengLing brought them to see Ye BaiYi.

"Old monster!"

"Ye-qianbei!"

"What's the meaning of barging in like this? Did you leave what little manners you had at the Armoury? You two couldn't wash up first before bringing in all this dust?"

Ye BaiYi may have lost his immortality, but not his irascibility.

"Sorry, we were worri-" Qin HuaiZhang's disciple began only for his soulmate to cut him off.

"Old monster, you look terrible!"

"Lao Wen!" Resisting the urge to facepalm, ZiShu nudged his soulmate's arm, but the words had already been said.

They had seen Ye BaiYi start to age from a few weeks back, starting with the lock of white hair at his temple. At that time, ZiShu hadn't consciously realised what it meant, preoccupied with recent events at White Deer Cliff and then the near massacre at Ghost Valley.

Seeing him like this with hair more white than black and previously smooth skin now lined was akin to having a bucket of iced water dumped on his head.

"Ye-qianbei..."

"Save it," Ye BaiYi cut him off. "I know what you two want to say, but save it."

He turned to Wen KeXing and nodded, reluctant pride reflected in his eyes as he took in the mane of pure silver hair.

"You did good, brat."

"You didn't tell me my hair would turn white!" Wen KeXing complained, but without heat.

Ye BaiYi just raised an eyebrow.

"Would it have stopped you?"

Wen KeXing shook his head.

"Not even for a second," he said.

"There you go. And since we're done with the pleasantries," Ye BaiYi made shooing motions, "go clean yourselves up and spend some time with your twenty children. I want to meditate in peace."

"We can clean up later. You can meditate later too," Wen KeXing said as he made to sit beside him.

"Get off! You're making the sheets dirty!"

"I'm not!"

"You're also covered in dust and you stink!"

"... A-Xu! This old monster says I stink! Tell him I don't!"

Fighting back a grin, ZiShu shook his head as those two flapped their hands, trying to shove the other off the bed. He could tell Wen KeXing was holding back.

"Lao Wen, we really should wash up first."

Pouting, Wen KeXing tossed back his glorious hair, hitting Ye BaiYi in the face and making him sputter. Then he jumped up and flounced back to ZiShu.

"Wash? Do you mean bathing together?" He asked with a hopeful smile.

"Uh, s-should I prepare a b-bath?" Zhang ChengLing stammered, his face going red.

"Just some water and clean robes for now," ZiShu told him. "We'd something to eat and then..."

He trailed off, tipping his head towards Ye BaiYi while giving Wen KeXing a raised eyebrow to which the latter nodded, looking solemn once more.

"And then?" Ye BaiYi demanded.

"We'll see you later, Ye-qianbei," ZiShu told him before pulling his soulmate out the room.

"And then what, Qin HuaiZhang's disciple?" Ye BaiYi called after them. "Oi!"

But the only reply he got was the door gently pulled shut.

- o -

Half an hour later...

Lunch was delicious. Wen KeXing had caught and grilled two rabbits the day before, but that was the only meal they stopped for. A QinLai's chicken congee was in a class by itself, silky and fragrant with chopped chicken meat, liver and topped with a drizzle of sesame oil and chopped green onions.

"I could eat a pot of this," ZiShu said.

"Me too," Wen KeXing added.

A QinLai beamed as he took their bowls to be refilled. Zhang ChengLing got up and followed him with his empty bowl only to be called back by Ye BaiYi waving his own bowl at him.

"You do know that hot foods are prohibited," Ye BaiYi said once those two were out of earshot.

"We know," Wen KeXing replied.

"As is alcohol," Ye BaiYi added, giving their wine cups a pointed look.

"We know," ZiShu said.

Ye BaiYi gave them a narrow eyed look.

"You're throwing away the chance for immortality."

"We've decided we prefer to spend our lives with family and friends," ZiShu said.

Ye BaiYi stared at him before glancing at BeiYuan and Wu Xi who didn't look surprised.

"So this isn't just a visit?"

ZiShu and Wen KeXing shook their heads.

"Shifu! Shishu! We're staying together?" ChengLing appeared with two bowls of steaming congee, A QinLai behind him.

"Yes, little idiot," Wen KeXing told him with a smile. "Your shifu and I plan to rebuild Four Seasons Manor."

"After all, we have twenty disciples to look after now," ZiShu added.

"We'll all help!" ChengLing proposed, generously signing away his fellow disciples' free time.

"We will too," BeiYuan promised. "In the meantime, ZiShu and KeXing, this is your home. A QinLai will prepare a room for you. Or two, if you prefer?"

ZiShu glanced at Wen KeXing and saw the bright hope in his eyes. Smiling, he reached for his hand and squeezed it.

"Thank you, BeiYuan. One room is fine."

"I know that look," Ye BaiYi grumbled, starting in on his second bowl. "Give them the room furthest from mine."

- o -

Ye BaiYi was annoyed to find himself yawning after lunch. He had already slept for five whole days! He was even more annoyed to find the two brats trailing after him.

"Why're you following me? Don't you have better things to do, like training those little brats?"

"It's too hot right now," Wen KeXing said.

"We'll check their progress tomorrow morning," Qin HuaiZhang's disciple added.

"Then go make out or something," Ye BaiYi grumbled. "I'm going to take a na- uh, meditate."

"Before that, Ye-qianbei, we'd like to try something first."

Ye BaiYi squinted suspiciously at Qin HuaiZhang's disciple.

"Like what?"

"You didn't tell us the LiuHe Kung Fu allows us to view a person's spiritual powers," Wen KeXing began.

"I'm fine."

"Be that as it may, we'd like to-"

"I'm fine, brats!" Ye BaiYi smothered another yawn before glaring at them. "Just ate too much, that's all."

"That's never bothered you before, old monster!" Wen KeXing placed his hands on his hips.

"That's because I'm not an immortal anymore!"

"We know, we know," Qin HuaiZhang's disciple hastily cut in. "We just want to-"

"I'm fine."

Wen KeXing snorted and took a step forward.

"You're more stubborn than I am! Well, too bad, A-Xu and I are going to help you whether you want it or not."

Ye BaiYi blinked. He stared at him and then at Qin HuaiZhang's disciple who gave a grim nod.

"Why?"

"Because you saved A-Xu," Wen KeXing replied at once.

"Because you saved Lao Wen too," Qin HuaiZhang's disciple said.

Ye BaiYi found that he couldn't hold their gazes.

"I swore I would, didn't I?"

"And you did," Wen KeXing agreed, his voice gentling. "So please, let us help you in return."

"There's nothing you can do," Ye BaiYi told him. Well, there was something, but he wasn't going to say it.

"We can try," Qin HuaiZhang's disciple said firmly.

Ye BaiYi rolled his eyes.

"Fine," he muttered. "If you two want to squander your refined Qi like that..."

"It's not squandering," Qin HuaiZhang's disciple began, but Ye BaiYi just spun around and headed for his room, knowing the other two would follow.

- Chapter End -

A/N: Thank you for reading! Please leave a comment if you enjoyed it :)