Baohu stood looking out at the army and those surrounding him. He had to admit he still couldn't believe his Fuqin had told him he was staying home. That ancient golden dragon of immense power had told him he could handle the situation without him. To say he was at a loss was an understatement. Mo Yuan had looked over Baohu's battle plan but had said nothing. In his eyes, it was now or never for Baohu to prove himself. When they gathered to leave, he stood by Bai Qian with his arm around her shoulder and waved him off. Insecurity hit Baohu like a ton of bricks. He squared his shoulders and prepared. It was now or never!! Shandian Li had appeared in her battle armor. He scowled and growled at her and she snorted back at him. He relented. Mei Ying was behind JinDe. He blew smoke and growled. She screeched loudly. That went on for a good ten minutes before Baohu broke it off. JinDe crossed his arms over his chest and scowled. She smiled sweetly and whispered in his ear. Both brows rose and he grinned. So she goes to war too. It was decided that Mei Ying and Shandian Li would gather the children. One last sorrowful look at his Fuqin and the army jumped to the borders of the demon lands. JinDe transformed and Shiba rode on him. The site of the celestial army being led by a white haired man riding a magnificent white steed and a golden dragon by his side was enough to send ordinary demons to hide. Shiba led them to the mountains where the caves were. They were met with resistance, but they overwhelmed the demons quickly. The caves were emptied of children quickly. The site of those abused children had Baohu in a very bad temper. They swept through the mountains searching every cave. When that was done, they turned toward the palace grounds. The gate was open, but what was in front of it was sickening. The rotting corpse of Shang Hei was laying in the road. It was obvious he had been dead since Dijun removed his soul. His foul stench was nearly enough to turn one's stomach. Ye Hua raised his hand and burned him to ashes. As they proceeded to enter the gates, they were met by an old man. He was the only minister left of the last dead king. "Who are you? I don't recognize you." "I am Tianjun Ye Hua, twin brother of Mo Yuan and ruler of the nine heavens. This is Bai Baohu Zhe, God of War. Mo Yuan is his Fuqin. We are here to take the children that were taken in raids on our lands. Any children in this whole land are to be handed over within an hour's time or we will raze your land to the point where no home or even a cave will be left standing. Do you understand?" "Most of them were in the caves. That shaman had some here. I will get them. The others are in beast form. They are under some sort of spell. I couldn't break it or control them." "Bring the children you have here and then take us to the beasts." Twenty children were brought out. When they saw Ye Hua and Baohu, they fell on their knees crying. Ye Hua walked over to them. "Come now. You will be taken to Kunlun Mountain where you can heal and be returned to families. The white dragon and the golden dragon will transport you now. Go to them." Ye Hua pointed to Bai Xue and Mo JinDe. They decided it was too risky to let the children hang on to them so they built a large transport cage for them. There were nearly 2500 total not including the beasts. Xue and JinDe gathered them and took off for Kunlun.
The beast pens were in a sorry state. One by one Baohu scanned them over. One by one he and Ye Hua were able to get them back into human form. They were starved and had been abused and beaten. One child who had been a stag, fell down on his knees. "Who are you, great lord?" "I am Ye Hua, son of the Father of Gods, Fuxi, twin brother to Mo Yuan, ruler of the nine heavens. We have come to save you. Is this all of you?" "Some of us were killed for food for them. I gored one of them when that shaman came to get one of us. He started screaming and holding his head. He ran off so I charged the soldier and stuck him with my horns. There is one more of us. A bear. They took him away and I haven't seen him since." "Do you mean Xiong Da Hei?" "Yes! Have you seen him?" "He is saved! No worries now. We will transport you to Kunlun mountain. You will be fed and brought back to good health there. Now come and get ready to leave this place." Baohu returned to the palace to speak with the old Minister. "Are you in charge here? Where is your ruler? Surely you have one?" "High God I am the leader. We have no ruler." "Address me with my proper title. I am High God Bai Baohu Zhe, God of War, son of Mo Yuan, Sunzi of Fuxi and Bai Zhi, Fox Emperor and Prince of Qing Qui, Master of Weaponry and Master of Kunlun. If you are indeed ruler over this pitiful land, tell me now why I should spare your pathetic life for the torture of children! Well?!?" The Minister fell down on his knees to bow. "High God Bai Baohu Zhe, the former leader was killed by that shaman. He took over here. I took over after he died. We left him where he fell. I sent messages to the nine heavens, but we could not get through. Fear of the gate guardian brought our messengers back without delivering our messages. Please forgive us. Our land is destroyed and our people have been oppressed. We only want peace. Also I wish to return these jade pieces. Each child had one, but we didn't know what they are for. Please leave us in peace. We just wish to rebuild and start over." Baohu nodded, took the box of jades and left. When the last child was taken care of, they left for Kunlun and left a very subdued demon realm behind. Ye Hua knew they would never recover to the great land they once were, but they could have peace. He decided to send emissaries to offer aide and any assistance they might need.
Mo Yuan was in the hall drinking tea when Xue and JinDe brought the children. He was in shock when he saw how many there were. Jinzi was there to heal any wounds and diseases. Zhe Yan was doing the same. Mo Yuan took it upon himself to walk amongst them to find out their names and where they came from. When Bai Qian came walking into the arena, many of the children gravitated towards her. He sat her on a bench and let her get names. When Baohu came with the other children, Mo Yuan was livid. He highly regretted not going to war. Shiba came to his side. "Shifu, these are the children I wanted you to save. Tianjun Ye Hua and Lord Baohu have saved them. Some have been killed. I couldn't save them all. I tried. I really tried!" Mo Yuan hugged the boy around his shoulder. "It's ok, Shiba. You did the best you could. The rest have all been saved. Come over here with me for a moment. I have something for you." He took the boy to a bench under the pavilion. Mo Yuan pulled the flute out of his robe pocket. "A few days ago, my mother gave me this flute to give to you. I thought it strange but she told me to believe in your talents. Then Baohu came to me and told me of your ability to be able to spy out the lay of the land and remember every detail of the terrain. I was amazed. That is indeed a rare gift. The thing that got my attention the most was the fact that you didn't even realize that was a gift, but that you wanted a flute to play and learn magic music. It seems my mother knew what your real talent was. This flute is her gift to you. I will teach you music until you hear the songs my mother has for you to learn." He handed the flute to Shiba and waited. He took the flute and turned it over in his hands. He smoothed the jade and brought it to his lips. He started playing a tune that Mo Yuan knew all too well. It was the song his mother had been playing in his dream when she gave him his flute. It was a song of peace and love, strength and softness, love from the heart. Mo Yuan had tears in his eyes. Ye Hua had come to stand by his Da ge and listen. He too had tears in his eyes. Their mother had seen the child for what he was, a gentle spirit inside a fierce body. Ye Hua knew right then that he would be just as special to them as Shiqi had been to Kunlun during her years as Si Yin. "Shiba, that was beautiful. Where did you learn it?" "I don't know. It just came into my head." "Always listen to your heart and magic will come from your flute. Now come help us with the children."
Baohu had brought the box with all the jade tokens. One by one they sorted out what token went to which child. There were five tokens left in the box. One of them belonged to Shiba. Four were left. It was determined that those four had been killed. The tokens were taken to the throne room. Ye Hua sent out messages to gather the realm leaders in the throne room on Kunlun. The story was told of the kidnapped children. Gasps went out over the room as names were called. Homes were found for those whose parents had been killed. The children who had died had a memorial made using their tokens. This memorial was placed at the entry to the throne room in remembrance of them. It took over two weeks, but each child was brought to family who would care for them. Shiba stayed and the young stag asked to be taken as a disciple. His background was checked. His parents had been travelers. They were caught in a raid during their travels and he was taken. Baohu sat on the dais in the great hall. It was decided he would take the young stag as a disciple. "What is your name?" "Hongse Zhu". "Hongse Zhu, today you will be know as Shijiu, nineteenth disciple of Kunlun. Swear him in, Die Feng!" "Today you take an oath to Kunlun Mountain and your fellow disciples. Bow now to your Shifu and God of War!" He bowed three times and was accepted by his brothers. All of the disciples welcomed him. He was to room with Shiba.
Mo Yuan went to meet Shijiu the next morning. After breakfast, he went looking for him. Die Feng was showing him around and getting him ready for his first lessons. Mo Yuan stopped them. "I'll take him now, Die Feng. Is Baohu at the training ground?" "Yes, Shifu, he is." "Very well, I'll see him there." Die Feng turned to go to the classrooms as Mo Yuan led Shijiu to the grounds. "I am High God Mo Yuan, Lord Baohu's Fuqin. I retired, but I help when I can. The first thing we teach here is how to control our inner beast. I'm told you gored a demon to death with your horns. We will teach you more and learn more about your abilities. Come now with me to the arena." Baohu was waiting for them there. He was wearing a simple Kunlun blue robe, but he had started wearing his hair in a pony tail. So had JinDe. A warrior's pony tail. Mo Yuan grinned. That white hair shown like a beacon across the field. He walked over to Mo Yuan and bowed. "Fuqin! Is this Shijiu?" "Nice hairdo! Yes, this is Shijiu! I'm told he has a very nice set of horns. I'll sit here and watch for now." Mo Yuan left them standing in the arena as he went to sit under the pavilion. Baohu walked up to Shijiu with Shiba behind him. He bowed and waited. "Shijiu, one of the first things you learn here is how to control your inner beast. Shiba is working hard on getting his bear under control. I hear you gored a demon with your horns. Transform now and let me see your beast." Shijiu transformed into a young stag. His horns were not fully developed. It was obvious he is a juvenile. Baohu softly rubbed his horns and down his face. He patted him on the neck. "Very nice, Shijiu, very nice! I can see you are going to be a rather formidable foe when you are full grown! Transform back now." He stood before Baohu with his head down. Not to be deterred, Baohu ignored his shaking. "Tell me what you can do in your beast form." Shijiu started out slowly. "I can jump very high over obstacles, I can run very fast, I can smell enemies far away, sometimes up to five miles away and I can stab with my horns." "Nice! Nice! We are here to help you develop those skills, to hone them and sharpen them. You will also spend time in the classroom learning other things. For example, Chang Shan, Er dizi, is an excellent chef as you know. He also has exceptional fighting skills and he makes nearly all of the potions and elixers. You can choose what field you wish to study. I chose warfare when I was young. My twin, Lord Jinzi, chose to be a medicine king. He is very great already and wields great power. You don't have to choose now. Take your classes, practice your spells and learn to cultivate. Those are important. Today you showed me your beast form. Tomorrow you will learn more on how to hone his power. Any questions?" "Lord Baohu, are you as powerful as your Fuqin?" "He says I am." "Did you ever fight him?" "Yes." "Did you win?" "No, but before you doubt my power, I'll tell you this, I would have had to kill my Fuqin to beat him. I couldn't do it. I conceded to him because you see, my Fuqin is the one I look up to. He is the epitome of grace and power. Fuqin is ancient by many standards, but he still has the stamina of a much younger man. Much younger. I hope you understand." "I do understand. My Fuqin was a very great stag. That shaman killed him with black magic. I wish to be a righteous and upright warrior just like him! I can learn to be one here." For the rest of the day, Baohu worked with Shiba and Shijiu. Slowly but surely they were blossoming into young warriors. Mo Yuan watched and took note. He was very pleased.
Baohu worked with his young disciples every morning and they attended classes for the rest of the day. They had chores to do and went about them with no complaints. The two were close. In fact they bickered back and forth just like Bai Qian and Zi Lan had done. They quickly became the school favorites. Being young, they were doted on by Die Feng and Chang Shan. Mo Yuan noticed the antics of the two but he laughed when he remembered Shiqi and her pranks. He was in his study waiting on Taiyang and Zhenzhu to come to his office. It seems they were shirking their own duties. They came running to his study and skidded to a halt in front of the door. After much elbowing and clothes straightening, they knocked. "Enter." They walked in like royalty. "You wanted to see us, Fuqin?" "Sit down. It has come to my attention that you two have been shirking your duties and slacking off in your studies. I will hear your excuses now." They sat silent and looked down at their hands folded in their laps so neatly. "Well? No excuses? Hmmm?" They still said nothing. "This silence does nothing to help your cause! So be it! As of tomorrow morning, you both will be confined to your rooms. No fun, no tricks and no interaction with anyone else. Understood?" Taiyang pleaded with his Fuqin. "Fuqin! Please don't confine us! We haven't been shirking our duties! Honest we haven't! We've been working on a project together. Please don't ask us what for!! It's a surprise!" "Oh? Well in that case, you best get finished. I want no missing of classes. Now off with you!" He rose from his desk and went to find Qian Qian to eat snacks and drink tea. He went to their room. She was laying on the bed, but she was not sleeping. "Qian Qian? Are you ok?" He rushed to her side. "Mo Yuan, call Baohu here. Call him now!" He called Baohu to him. Baohu rushed in the door with great worry written on his face. "Baohu, your Mother wanted you!" "Mother?" "Baohu, talk to these boys for me please. Something is wrong! Please?" He sat by the bed and held his mother's hand. He put his hand on her stomach and closed his eyes. He opened them and looked straight at his Fuqin. "Get Jinzi! Get him now! Hurry Fuqin!" Mo Yuan shot out of the door and left the mountain at the speed of light. Jinzi was drawing water from the lake when his Fuqin nearly crash landed. He ran to him to stabilize him. "Jinzi! Come quick! Your mother needs you now!" Jinzi put his arm around his Fuqin and jumped them back to Kunlun. He had no time to waste as they ran to Mo Yuan's room. Baohu stood when Jinzi walked in. "Jinzi, Mother wanted me to talk to our Xiao Didis. They are in distress. They say they are starving. Mother must have a detached placenta again. Please check!" Jinzi scanned twice to make sure. He hung his head. "According to my calculations, they are two years and one month along. I must do surgery today or they will die. I'm sorry. I need Zhe Yan to help. Fuqin, please call Shushu Ye Hua here. We will need you and him to give energy to these babies. If they are to survive, it must be done. Baohu, go get Zhe Yan. Hurry!" When he left, he had his Fuqin help him prepare for surgery. Chang Shan brought all of the potions and elixers he needed. He was only waiting on Zhe Yan. Only thirty minutes had passed when Baohu returned with him. Jinzi explained the situation. "I know there is a chance they won't survive since they will be early, but they will die if we don't. I need your help, Shifu!" Zhe Yan nodded and they both prepared. Ye Hua came rushing through the door. Mo Yuan kissed Bai Qian on her lips. "I love you! I will be here when you wake. Now be calm."
Ye Hua put her to sleep. Jinzi did the surgery. He pulled out the first baby. He was golden, but his hair was white. Much like JinDe. Mo Yuan took him into his arms and purred to him. He fed him healing energy. Jinzi pulled out the second baby. Another golden boy! His hair was also white. Mo Yuan handed the first baby to Ye Hua and took the second. He cuddled and purred to him. He fed him healing energy. "Do you have names for them, Da ge?" "The first one shall be called Mo Gaoxing. The second one shall be called Mo Xingfu. They shall bring joy and happiness to all of their siblings." Ye Hua nodded. He smiled at Gaoxing. The little boy was smiling back. Jinzi reached for his little Didi. "I need to check him over, Shushu. I just want to make sure he is breathing properly." Ye Hua handed him to Jinzi. Jinzi snuggled him and unwrapped him. He scanned him carefully. "His lungs are rather immature, but he can survive if you give him a shot of energy every day, Fuqin. Gaoxing! Welcome to our family! I'm your San ge, Jinzi. I hear others coming. I love you!" Gaoxing smiled and cooed. Baohu came to stand by Jinzi. "Ho, Gaoxing! What a handsome little devil you are! Just like me! I'm your Si ge, Baohu! Come to me!" Jinzi handed him over and they were talking back and forth. "Jinzi, Gaoxing said he wants Mother to give him milk. He's hungry!" "Here, Baohu, let me have him and I'll see that he gets it!" Mo Yuan propped him up on his mother's breast while she was still sleeping. Baohu promptly turned around. Jinzi took Xingfu and looked him over good. "Xingfu! I'm your San ge, Jinzi! Welcome to our family!" He kissed him and passed him to Baohu. "Ho, Xingfu! I see you are handsome like me! I'm your Si ge, Baohu! Jinzi, Xingfu says he's hungry too!" Mo Yuan took him and propped him on the other side of Bai Qian. They both drank their fill and snuggled down by their mother. Mo Yuan left them there for the time being. They were indeed very beautiful babies. They were carbon copies of Mo Yuan. True to their names, a great happiness spread over the whole mountain complex when the birth was announced. Mo Yuan looked at them and smiled. He had been so wrapped up in so many things he had forgotten that the quads were on their trial. He looked at Jinzi and Baohu and frowned. "I've been so occupied that I forgot about the quads being on their trials! How many days has it been?" "Fuqin, I believe it has been around twenty days. We must keep an eye out for them."
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Rescue Me, My Love
قصص الهواةMo Yuan is in the Chaos for 20,000 years. He hears a voice that calls to him. He wakes up just in time to rescue Ye Hua after he passed his high immortal trial. Bai Qian had been sitting by him in the cave the day he woke up. He decided right th...
