On his way to Kunlun Mountain, Bai Zhen was besieged by strong ripples of unknown energy whiplash; he did not see it coming and was knocked off his cloud. When he traced back to the source, he learned with dread of the tragedy that befell his sibling. After that Bai Zhen made a mad dash for Kunlun Mountain. On his arrival, one of Kunlun disciples pointed him here. He was about to made his way inside but found Zhe Yan was deep in conversation with someone else. Since Bai Qian's name came up, he decided to stop and found out what was going on.
It turned out Ye Hua wish to offer his cultivation to made Fifth sister's elixir. Zhe Yan was right to question his motive. He cannot understand why he would want to do that after their disastrous parting. What he hoped to get in return for helping her?
Ye Hua was the last person he deemed a charitable sort. He usually did everything with specific purposes in mind, used all the cards to get the upper hand and came out as a winner. That was the very reason he was praised among his peers and elders, even if he had yet to hit his first hundred thousand years.
Besides, he should have known he was the last person the Fox Clan want to be indebted to. Who knew what kind of complication of Ye Hua's sacrifice might cause in the future; the relationship between their clans was strained enough as it was.
As he listened in, what he learned made his blood boiled. Ye Hua turned out to be Fifth sister's husband during the time of her heavenly trial. The old phoenix had hidden his secret well. All this time he told him not a single word about his suspicion of Ye Hua. Bai Zhen seethed with anger. How dare he hid such critical information from him!
The mention of her jumping down Zhu Xian terrace brought tears to his eyes. His baby sister, the one he practically raised from a mere fox cub by himself, had suffered such grievance. He did not even known until now. Why? Why must she carry all burdens by herself? Did he not remind her times and again she had brothers and family who love her and would always stand by her side, come what may?
Another doubt plagued his mind. Was Ye Hua also responsible for her blindness? He bared his teeth and growled at that possibility. Was it the reason she asked Zhe Yan for the Amnesia Potion? Because she wanted to forget that miserable and torturous lifetime with Ye Hua? Right at that very moment, Bai Zhen really wanted to throttle Ye Hua, no, he would annihilated him. Celestial's Crown Prince be damn.
He had warned Ye Hua once if he ever hurt his sister; there will be retribution. The only thing that held him back was the thought of Ali. He cannot believe that chirpy boy was actually his nephew. Fifth sister was currently incapacitated; not that it would make much different since she completely forgot about Ye Hua and their son. It was his duties as her family to protect the child.
Bai Zhen took many long, deep and slow breaths and reminded himself not to be rash. If he went in there and picked a fight with Ye Hua now, at best he would get the scuffle he sought and some meaningless apologies. At the end of the day, Ali would still be in the Ninth Heaven with them and his sister's suffering left inadequately avenged.
He needed to know what else he missed. Bai Zhen planned to squeeze the rotten phoenix for every little tidbit of information he knew about those two's past. His parents needed to be informed as well. Together they would find a way to obtain Ali and brought him back to Qing Qiu; then they would seek justice for his sister.
It would be foolhardy and pointless to clue Ye Hua in on their plans before they were good and ready to collect all the debts owed. A faint, humorless, icy smile ghosted upon Bai Zhe's perfectly formed lips. Let Ye Hua enjoyed his remaining days before all hell broke loose.
For now, he had a wayward plan to sabotage. It was shameless of him to try using that elixir to get back into Fifth sister's good graces. Whatever happened between them during her time as a mortal already came to an end. It did not bode well for her to get involved with him in any capacity; especially since she was vulnerable and had no memories of her past. Had she been in her right mind, he doubted she would even tolerate his presence.
"I am sorry, I just happened to hear about what you are offering," Bai Zhen inclined his head towards Ye Hua. He had to use every ounce of his control to remain indifferent to him.
"Zhen Zhen, it is good you are here." Zhe Yan's mood brightened a little when his eyes fell on the person he had been missing for days. He turned blind eyes to said person's daggering and accusing glare and asked pleasantly. "How long have you arrived?"
"Just in time to hear Ye Hua offering his cultivation for the Elixir." Bai Zhen face darkened slightly.
With one side-glance at him, Zhe Yan could tell he was lying through his teeth. That meant Zhen Zhen had been here long enough to learn about Bai Qian's tragic past. He gave him a bland smile and an imperceptible nod, they would talk later. Already he could imagine how earful that conversation would be, Zhe Yan thought with chagrin.
Bai Zhen let Zhe Yan off the hook for the time, he had the bigger fish to fry. "Ye Hua, on behalf of Qing Qiu, I am thankful for your generous offer but I have to decline."
He put on his most charming face. "You see, my sister is about to marry. Even if High God Mo Yuan see you as his younger brother, it seems highly improper for her to accept help from another man who is not even her family. I hope you could understand?"
A uncertain, tensed smile tugged at the corner of Ye Hua's mouth. He doubted Bai Zhen's sincerity when he claimed just arriving. His eyes roamed over the older man's face but found nothing betrayed him. Maybe he was too paranoid.
From what he knew of Bai Zhen's personality, he had quite a temper and very protective of his sister. If he heard half of what took place in the past between him and Qian Qian; he would never pulling his punch or let Ye Hua go so easily. This might as well be for the best, Ye Hua sighed in relief. Now was not a good time to stir trouble with the Fox Clan.
"As much as it is great to see you, there is no time to waste. Please step out of the room, so we could begin our work here." Bai Zhen informed him.
Since his offer was shot down twice in a row, Ye Hua had no choice but to vacate the room. With Ye Hua gone, Bai Zhen walked over to Zhe Yan with a scowl on his face. "I do not even know where to start with you. How could you? You are in so much trouble, old man."
"Give me the Elixir now, I promise not going too hard on you later." Bai Zhen made his demand known.
"I can not and will not. Do not argue with me yet, Zhen Zhen." Zhe Yan sharply cut him off, a deep furrow quite evident on his forehead showed how deadly serious he was. It was not often Zhe Yan rose up against him, Bai Zhen's earlier irritation with him made him annoyed more and more.
Zhe Yan stood his ground refusing to give in to his demand. He already made his decision even before Ye Hua came in. He had watched Bai Qian growing up from small to big. She became very dear to him, almost like a younger sibling he never had. He had been living longer than most and cultivated a lot of spiritual power along the way. Losing a little cultivation was no matter to him; he never involved himself in the politics of all realms and lived relatively in peace.
"Fifth sister will need time to recover, who know how long it would take." Zhe Yan hoped he realized the situation at hand. "Not only the Northern Territories rely on your strength for its protection, there is Qing Qiu to consider as well. Your niece is injured. Even if she is not; she is not ready to rule in her aunt's stead."
Zhe Yan jab his finger into Bai Zhen's hard chest. "That leaves you. Only you can take care of people of both kingdoms. Do you understand now why it could not be you,Zhen Zhen?"
Zhe Yan's remark hit the nail on its head when he brought up the needs to maintain civic duties in both lands. "I get it, I get it all right! You have all the good reasoning. It does not mean I have to like it." Bai Zhen, as usual, threw a hussy fit at him.
"This is my sister we are talking about," he punctuated the word 'sister.' "My baby sister, for whom you are asking me to sit on my hands and do nothing."
"You? Sitting idly?" Zhe Yan retorted incredulously. "I can practically hear the wheels in your head turning furiously. Ah, I will have none of that." He waved his finger in front of Zhen Zhen; not giving him any chance to deny it. "Leave Fifth sister's well-being to me, then you can busy yourself with your scheming."
"So can I have some peace and quiet? I need to concentrate on making the Elixir now." He shooed Bai Zhen out of the room and set in the Elixir inside the cauldron.
Bai Zhen turned his nose up at Zhe Yan. "Do as you please. It is not as if I could change your mind, you never listen to me anyway." He stomped out of the room; his voice carried over inside, to where Zhe Yan stood. "Just remember, I am not done with you yet. You, old, rotten phoenix."
Zhe Yan was used to his occasional temper tantrum; he merely shrugged his shoulder and went right back into purifying the medicine.
A while later, Zhe Yan brought the freshly-made pill to Mo Yuan's room and fed it to Bai Qian. Mo Yuan did not even move from his position by her side. He hunched over her form and held her hand against his own forehead, effectively hiding his face from the world.
"Mo Yuan, I need you to step back. I am going to use the Soul Magic to check on her." Zhe Yan asked him and waited patiently for him to move away. "You may already done that but I have to be certain."
Mo Yuan wordlessly tucked her arm back under the bed cover and back away a few steps.
What Zhe Yan found was nothing short of mysteries and unbelievable miracles. Large portion of her spirit held together; only some of it was damaged and missing. He felt as if the heavy weight was lifted from his chest; she had better chance at recovery than he first suspected.
As he delved deeper; Zhe Yan found the presence of Soul Jade in her aura. It could attribute to the reason why her spirit did not dispersed immediately. He guessed it had buffered and took away the full blunt of the hostile energy of the Bell.
Zhe Yan recalled his magic and studied her profile intently. He had seen the way the Bell's destructive power had toned down. That could only happen when the Bell already consumed a strong spirit. How did she survive then? Zhe Yan frowned at the unlikely notion.
"I could tell you her spirit is there, not whole but there nevertheless." Mo Yuan's soft voice pulled him out of his deep thought.
Zhe Yan lifted his head and met his brother's eyes straight on, only then he could see his expression bleak and hopeless. The haunting agony swarming in those once beautiful eyes almost robbed him out of his breath.
Before he could even asked, Mo Yuan spoke up. "I know you did not miss how the Bell stopped for a moment and what it meant. Now you are asking yourself how it could be. The soul jade, useful as it is, did not had that kind of power. Nor the small slices of Nuwa stone I gave her."
A preposterous idea slowly formed in the back of Zhe Yan's mind, he gasped out and immediately turned back to Bai Qian. As he delved into her essence again; he found what he had missed the first time. The presence of what was once there but no longer. Zhe Yan's face lost its parlor; he looked at Mo Yuan for a few prolonged silence.
"Mo Yuan, this... She …," Zhe Yan stammered incoherently; one look at Mo Yuan's distraught face, he swallowed down the rest of his denial.
"I did not know. How could I not know, Zhe Yan?" Came his strangled cry. "Had I known, I would never let her far from my side. Then this would never happened."
"I know, Mo Yuan, I know." Zhe Yan said soothingly in his most gentle voice. He dropped his hand on his brother's trembling shoulder and pulled him in tight.
The way he hunched his back in utter defeat pained Zhe Yan. Gone was the illusion of the mighty God of War, Conqueror of Demon Overlord and Savior of the World. In front of him was a grieving husband and father.
If the physical and emotional pain of Bai Qian near-death pushed him to the edge and wrecked a havoc on his already frail body and mind; the loss of their child was simply too much for him to cope with. Fates was indeed cruel to him for landing devastated blow on him one after another.
Zhe Yan wished with all he had that he would be able to pull through this highly troubled time.
"Listen to me, you can not blame it on yourself." Zhe Yan spoke slowly, giving him the time he needed to absorb it. "It is too early to tell. I doubt even Fifth sister knows it." He offered that little bit of information; hoping to give his brother a small consolation.
"No, she definitely did not know," Zhe Yan swiftly corrected his earlier saying. "Do you really think she would risk her life if she knew she is pregnant with your child?"
Even if Qian Qian's brother told him to leave, Ye Hua could not make himself to walk away without learning her condition first. He took off of the Elixir Cauldron room to avoid further confrontation and bided his time by the lotus pond instead.
It felt like an hour had passed when he saw a white-clad disciple walking passed him. Ye Hua could not remembered his name but he was usually the one running errands for High God Mo Yuan. Ye Hua intercepted him and tried to pry information about Qian Qian; unfortunately, he could offer nothing new aside Zhe Yan had finished his Elixir and was tending to her.
"This medicine is for High God Mo Yuan?" Ye Hua motioned the tray in his hands.
"Yes, Your Highness. High God Zhe Yan said to bring it to Master when it is still hot," replied Mo Yuan's second disciple.
"I will take it, I am going there anyway. You must have your hands full right now." Ye Hua did not waste his time; he helped himself to the tray. "Please attend to your other duties."
Chang Shan opened his mouth to decline the offer when the tray simply taken from him. He looked at him in askance, blinked, then said stiffly. "Thank you, Your Highness. I will take my leave now."
Ye Hua carried to tray to High God Mo Yuan's room; he was about to knock when he heard voices from inside. He could barely made out what was being said; but one sentence stood out loud and clear. The tray in Ye Hua's hand slipped from his shaking hands and fell to the ground.
Clang.
The metal cup hit the stone surface loudly; the voice echoed through the silent hallway. Before he even known, his feet carried him off on their own. He unknowingly fled all the way from living quarters into the woods. His robe got caught by a tree branch, putting a stop to him running blind. His back hit the tree trunk; he slid down and slumped against its base. Only then what he learned truly registered in his brain. For the first time, Ye Hua laughed hysterically at the twists and turns of his life. It was over, truly over for him and her. There would be no off-chance of her ever returning to him after this. Even him could no longer convince himself with false hope.
"Who's there?" Zhe Yan dashed out of the room when he heard the loud crash. He found no one there; only a medicine cup and a tray laying forgotten on the ground. Mo Yuan's disciples were too respectful and too disciplined to spy on their mentor. Bai Zhen was supposed to be with Feng Jiu. That left only one person.
"Ye Hua, why must you brought more misery on yourself." He sighed in resignation and went back into the room.
"Zhe Yan, please leave us." Mo Yuan asked softly.
"I will send in your new medicine later. Get some rest, Mo Yuan, you need it." Zhe Yan turned around to leave, then paused and threw another worried glance back at Mo Yuan. "I am truly sorry for your loss, brother."
The door shut off and the room fell back into silence. Mo Yuan gathered Bai Qian's upper body in his arms with aching slowness. He held her close to his chest. Tears coursing down his cheeks unchecked and dropped on her pale face.
No matter what Zhe Yan claimed, he should have noticed the signs. She got tired quickly and sleep a little longer than usual. He just chalked it up on her being her usual lazy self. When she clung to him and was needy of his touches; he teased her for being unable to get enough of him.
"I have failed you, Seventeenth. You and our child," he whispered brokenly. His whole body shook as he sobbed for the small life that was snuffed out before it had a chance to be born into this world.
"From the beginning, I was supposed to remain dead; me returning to life is unnatural, Heaven tried to impede my resurrection every way it could. I know then, when I opened my eyes again, there will be repercussions for my action but I do not care. You are all that matters. For what it is worth, it never occur to me you would use your heartblood to save me. All this time, I have reconciled myself to embrace any retributions. Fates had thrown everything at me all my life. What is but a few more?"
"But I never thought the price would be so high. A life for a life. The balance is restored, a justice served. Such is the way of Heaven. What will you say, my little Seventeenth when you know the truth? Would you blame me? Hate me? Could you find it in your heart to forgive me? For my part in condemning our child's life?"
Alas, she cannot gave him the answer he sought; his question left hanging in the air.
Zhe Yan planned to hunt Ye Hua down and finish the talk, one that Zhen Zhen had interrupted, with Ye Hua. After he made sure a new cup of medicine was sent to Mo Yuan's room properly this time, he went to check up on Feng Jiu.
Thankfully the lass's injury was not far too serious; he fed her an immortality pill and let her rest. On his way out he discreetly observed how intensely Dong Hua stared at her face, or how one of his hand kept patting her hair. Zhe Yan did not know if he was conscious of his action and of the picture they made. Dong Hua might succeeding in hiding his affection from everyone else, including the lass, but for someone who knew him for almost hundred thousands of years; his veiled attempt was obvious to him.
Zhe Yan gave a slow shake of his head. "Bai Zhi, Bai Zhi. Who would have thought the oldest and most powerful ancient gods are nibbled by your descendants just like that? Hao De likes to think he is the most powerful and influential figure in all realms, having Mo Yuan and Dong Hua on his side; in truths, it is you."
Next chapter : Many of our characters deal with the fall out from the Bell's destruction. There would be many talks among them as they tried to settle their differences. Until next weekend then. ^^
#loreinacadis0412 : Regarding LJ's child, there might be surprise yet. =_* Your suspicion of his intention is as good as mine. Call me a pessimist, I never thought for a minute he ever did anything out of goodness in his heart. In the series, he just wants to please her. YH's too much alike the Sky Lord; alway calculating and looking for his gain. Even if he hate the man with a vengence, he turns out like him more than he care to admit.
#raina : I guess that happy reunion would be a long wait. Many things left unresolved after the fallout of the Bell.
#pennameisblank : It's an obstacle they need to work through, were they to spend the rest of their lifetime together. I believe YH already get that memo in the latest chapter. lol
#Guest : Tension is high in Kunlun Mountain now.
#bebepantheon : There might be a chapter where our characters reflect of past events. When, I don't know yet. The plot need to move on quickly for the time.