Bai Qian was reading a scroll inside the Den when she heard the Bell chiming. That sound! She knew that sound by heart, it was from Kunlun Mountain. Had something happened to her mentor? She thought then immediately rushed to Yanhua Cave to check up on him.

She stopped abruptly after taking a few steps inside. Her feet stayed rooted to the spot when she saw the figure clad in white sitting cross-legged on the stone bed. Unbidden tears of longing and joy poured out of her eyes. It was her mentor, he was alive!

"Seventeenth, is that you?" The newly revived Mo Yuan opened his eyes and looked upon her. He took in her fair face and large doe eyes and familiarized himself with her changed demeanor. He always suspected she would be one true beauty once grown up and he wasn't disappointed. Time certainly didn't wait for anyone. Cute little girl back then had become this refined beautiful female in front of him now.

"Come. Come and let me take a look at you." He held his arm out urging her to come to him. "Let me see if you've made any progress all these years."

Bai Qian walked shakily across the distance to him before collapsing in his waiting arm. "Master," she cried out.

"You're indeed my little Seventeenth," he put on that soft smile reserved only for her.

"Master, you've finally returned," she sobbed holding him tightly. "I have been waiting for you for such a long time. I thought you'll never come back."

They held each other for a long time, contented to be together once again. Mo Yuan gently pushed her head back a little to take a better look at her. "My little Seventeenth looks lovely in this form as well," he smiled teasingly.

Feeling embarrassed and a little self-conscious of their still pressed body, she lowered her face, murmuring, "Master, you haven't changed at all." He didn't even look surprised seeing her dressed as a female. Had her mentor knew all along, she wondered.

"Is that so?" he said amused. Using the other hand that wasn't holding the small of her back to raise her chin up, he gazed deeply into her eyes. "But my little Seventeenth has grown into a beautiful lady."

Bai Qian face redden at his complement, "Master really mean that?" She looked back at him shyly. The soft glow shining out of those darkened eyes made her tremble slightly. How she missed him looking at her like that. Her eyes unknowingly followed his lips which curled into a small smile once again and her heart quickened in response.

"Every word," he replied. "Tell me, Seventeenth how have you been these past years."

"Very lonely," she admitted, resting her forehead against his shoulder. "After you were gone, I brought you back to Qing Qiu and stayed here with you ever since."

The hand that touched her hair soothingly paused for a while before resuming its movement. "Is that so?" he said quietly.

Mo Yuan was confused a little when he woke up, clearly this place wasn't on Kunlun Mountain. But when he looked around and found the vase on the side table adorning with Peachtree branches, he knew his Seventeenth was around. Only her loved to decorate his room with flowers.

"How long have I been gone?" he asked.

"Too long, Master, too long," she repeated.

"It has been seventy thousand and six hundred years. I have been waiting years after years for your return." She had missed his warmth and gentle smile, his arms that held her whenever she cried and the hands that always protected her from harm.

After hearing that Mo Yuan was lost to his own thought. Never had he suspected it would take this long to come back. Didn't Seventeenth said, she kept his company here all these years? Had her family allowed her to stay with him? Distracted as he was, he didn't hear the footsteps coming closer until Zhe Yan showed up at his side.

"Mo Yuan, you're finally awake."

"It's about time," Bai Zhen who stood beside him said. "To safeguard your body, our sister has hidden out here in Qing Qiu ever since you were gone."

Zhe Yan suggested, "It's too damp and cold in here. Let's move out."

When their reached the opening of the cave, Mo Yuan stood still for a moment basking in the warm light and breathing in the fresh air. It was good to be back.

"You must have had a hard time in the past seventy thousand years," Zhe Yan said.

"My spirit was split into fragments, so it took me quite a lot of time to put them back together," he replied.

They relocated to the Fox Den after that. Bai Qian drape a cloth over her mentor's shoulder and brought out the teapot and small cups for everyone.

"Zhe Yan, during the time when I was asleep. Did anyone who looks identical to me appeared?"

"There is one such man. Your little disciple even knows him quite well," he nodded at their fifth sister.

"Little Seventeenth, you know him?"

"Don't be shy. Tell him," Zhe Yan urged her.

"The man you just mentioned… He's my fiancé. The Crown Prince of the Celestial Clan," she said in a low voice.

Mo Yuan paused for a moment, "Your fiancé?"

She pointed at Zhe Yan accusingly, "It was his fault. And my father and the Sky King. They all conspired to arrange a marriage between me and him. I didn't even want it in the first place."

"Oh? Fifth sister are you saying you want to cancel this marriage?" Zhe Yan glanced back at Bai Zhen, both had anticipated this move already but had yet to confirm it with her.

"Zhe Yan, he was ninety thousands years younger than me. Though he was very nice to me, I still think he should find someone his own age, experience some love and live a little. I told him as much. I even promised him, if we were married, to find some decent side consorts for him," said Bai Qian.

Bai Zhen snorted at their sister cluelessness, "How sensible."

"See, you got my point perfectly," she beamed at her brother. "We're not suitable at all. Why must you drag this on? I didn't mind that his uncle eloped with my maid. That was a long time ago, can't we just forget about that and move on?"

"You don't want to marry him but let him living with you here for the whole month?" Zhe Yan raised his eyebrow so high at that peculiar comment.

"What should I do then? He suddenly dropped his son here and used him to get to me," she defended herself. "That riceball is so adorable, even you won't be able to say no to him. He keeps calling me 'mother', you know? It's just so sad he lost his mother since young. I must remind him greatly of his mother."

She added as an afterthought. "Come to think of it, Ye Hua mistook me for her many times. He seems unable to move on from her."

Mo Yuan listened to her quietly. "So that was my twin brother," before slowly taking the cup to his lips.

"Brother?" Zhe Yan stared at him hard. "Why haven't I heard that you have a twin brother?"

"I only learned of it when Heavenly Father passed away. That year, the Four Pillars of Heaven and Earth collapsed. In order to repair them to be able to support the heavens again, my mother nearly had a miscarriage. When she went into labor, she was supposed to give birth to twin sons. But she only managed to keep me alive. My younger twin was lost," Mo Yuan said.

"Heavenly Father used half of his powers to create a celestial fetus and turned it into a golden lotus. He entrusted it to me and asked me to nurse it until he could be born into this world. When I sacrificed my spirit to the Bell of East Emperor, he was finally awakened."

Zhe Yan exclaimed, "It's no wonder. That golden lotus withered when your soul and spirit vanished. Soon afterwards, Consort Le Xu gave birth to Crown Prince Ye Hua. When that lad was born, rainbow birds flew around the pillar for 81 days and the misty clouds in the twilight appeared for three years. Only the son of Heavenly Father could be blessed with such a celebratory sight."

"Everyone said that Ye Hua resembles Master. I almost mistook him for Master as well when I first met him," she commented. "Do you want to meet him, Master?"

"Perhaps, a little later," he replied then he turned to look at her. "Are all your seniors doing well?"

"Master, after you passed away, your disciples searched for us for several thousand years. Then their families came and took them home one by one. They went to fulfill their dutiful roles."

Bai Qian paused, it pained her to tell him this. "Kunlun Mountain is no longer what it used to be. I don't wish Master to see what Kunlun Mountain has become now." She had seen it, even with second senior's hard effort, Kunlun Mountain was not as glorious as it was once.

"It doesn't matter. We'll set out toward Kunlun Mountain now," he said dismissively. "I wish to meditate there for a while."

"Of course, you should recuperate as soon as possible," she acquiesced.

Bai Qian smoothed out the fabric in her hand almost absent-mindedly, it was in dark-blue tone he preferred. She had ordered this cloth for her mentor six hundred years ago when Zhe Yan said he would wake up soon.

"Master, I have brought your cloth." She announced before walking inside the room and placed it on the table nearby. "May I assist you?" She asked, afraid he would exerted himself too much too soon. She had noticed his sluggish movement earlier.

The Elixir she brought him was only enough to wake him up, her mentor need to meditate soon to recuperate. Kunlun Mountain was saturated with divine essence, she understood why he wanted to go back there without delay.

After he changed into new cloth, she helped him to sit in front of the mirror. There was silence between them as she helped him combing his hair, but it was not uncomfortable. Many times when she looked up, their eyes met in the mirror.

Bai Qian looked at her mentor's reflection and pondered, she remembered Ye Hua once asked her to help binding his hair when they were in the Mortal Realm. Both brother looked almost the same but she would never mistook one for another.

Her mentor's eyes were always so expressive, brimmed with emotions if one care enough to look for. Though he always feigned indifferent, she knew he was just the opposite. Her mentor was a passionate person so unlike Ye Hua whose eyes sometimes were so cold and cutting. The air of distant civility he put on made him very hard to read and understand at time.

As her hand moved deftly to bind her mentor' hair, she took in his appearance and made a mental note. She had gazed upon her mentor's face for seventy thousand years, but there were times she forgot how his lips curved into smile, how his eyes danced with mirth at her antics or narrowed when she tried to bargain her punishment. Seeing him awake and talking just brought those senses of familiarity back. If was like she was relearning her mentor all over again.

"What are you thinking, Seventeenth?" he asked. He had noticed her secretive smile earlier.

"Nothing, just old memories," she chuckled. "Did you remember the day I became your disciple, I said you looked just like a pretty face?"

"That one was really hard to forget," he commented dryly. No one ever brave or daring enough to say that to his face, but his Seventeenth said it without care. He was stunned but amused at the same time. Trusted Zhe Yan to send most peculiar disciple to his way.

He had lived for over three hundred thousand of years, had seen and experienced everything – been through countless wars, lives and deaths, love and losses – the world slowly became bland and boring. And he found himself not caring so much anymore. Still he always performed his duties as was expected of him. That was before she came into his life.

Her coming had disrupted his orderly ensemble but not necessarily in the bad way. Such carefree spirit and naivety, the vulnerable doe eyes she wore made him wanted to protect her, to shield her from the harshness life would bring her. Born to the immortal nine-tailed fox clan, chosen by the Jade Purity fan of Kunlun, he knew she was destined for more than a simple life. But greatness always came with prices and suffering, he want to be there for her as long as he could. When that caring and nurturing turned into love, he didn't know. But it was all the same too late, the world faced calamity and in order to maintain the peace, his spirit needed to be sacrificed. He wasn't afraid of death, yet his biggest regret was never telling her how he truly felt.

"I was too naïve back then, judging someone with a passing glance," her voice interrupted his wandering thoughts. "Only years after that I came to see the truth."

He was intrigued. "Oh? And what was that?"

"You might not have four arms and four hands as I had first thought but you're just as valiant and ferocious," she pointed out. "Some would say you're uncaring and indifferent, but I know you're compassionate and most understanding. Even when you put on a stern face, you still care." She smiled at him before a frown appeared on her pretty face. "And you also like to make fun of me, don't think I forgot that."

"You know me well, Seventeenth," he turned around when she was done with the finishing touch and wrapped her small hands in his bigger ones. An odd feeling of warmth flushed into her face as his thin lips slowly stretched into full smile. She cast down her eyelashes, no longer able to look at him. What was wrong with her? This was just her mentor. They had always been closed in the past, didn't they?

Mo Yuan took in her redden face and averted eyes and smiled softly. He lowered his head and whispered next to her ear. "Should we now proceed?"

She merely nodded not trusting herself to speak, then followed him out to meet with Zhe Yan and Bai Zhen who was waiting outside. If they noticed her subdued manner or flushed face, they didn't comment on it. The group immediately made their trip back to Kunlun Mountain.

When Ye Hua made it to Qing Qiu later that day, only Mi Gu was there to greet him. When asked where Qian Qian was, the tree spirit stuttered and refused to meet his eyes.

"She's at Kunlun Mountain with her mentor, High God Mo Yuan, isn't she?" he asked again.

Mi Gu stammered," I wouldn't know, Your Highness."

"Don't bother. I already knew she was there," he said coolly then left.

Ye Hua thought back to the day they met in the East Sea. He had been overjoyed when he knew for certain Qian Qian was his former wife, Su Su. Even if she completely forgot about him, he thought they could start a new life. He was confident he could make her fall in love with him again. But he never suspected, Bai Qian - Si Yin had been in love with someone else for so long. Li Jing voice rung clearing in his head: "In her heart, she only cared about him."

At first he didn't want to believe him but can't deny the truth. Seventy thousands of years she chose to stay be his side and waited for him. And for her to risk so much and sacrificed even more for him, it must have been love.

Since then he had doubts, a lot of doubts. Did he meant nothing to her but a mean to an end for her love trial? Did she drink that Amnesia Potion just to forget about him, because that place in her heart belonged only to Mo Yuan?

He want to confront her about her true feeling for him but she was gone again. She left with her mentor as soon as he came back. Now that he was here she certainly didn't think of anyone anymore, he thought sadly.