A Tear Frozen in Time

Cutting Ties Cleanly

Nine Days earlier....

"That sound....." his soft voice whispered as the wind picked up the Nine Tailed Foxes whistle and carried across the land towards him.  Not even his barriers could keep it out as it swept through the guards, down the beautifully decorated cobblestone walkway and through the cast iron gates that had remained closed for thirty thousand years.

On his dais, Guotin eyes slowly opened.  He knew the sound well from many past battles where the foxes had participated.  Her father may have been much older than himself, but their history went back to the time his father had been alive.

He would never forget the day he joined his father on the day that Bai Zhi and Zhe Yan fought for the hand of her mother.  The obsession over her mother had been so fierce that they had literally taken their battle to Mount Cang Wu and it was there that he had heard the Nine Tailed whistle for the first time.

Zhe Yan had been using the tones of his ziher weapon to not only counter Bai Zhis energy strikes with musical frequencies that created magical barriers, but he was also able to use the zithers tone to not only block Bai Zhis whistle which was heard for miles and deafening for those close up, but he also used it against him.

The Nine Tailed Foxes whistle was piercingly painful when used in battle, its aim was to deafen, only Zhe Yans zither mimiced the sound while using its frequency to attack.  To Bai Zhi, it would have felt as if he had been hit by his own magic, and the more Zhe Yan attacked, the more intense the pain would have been for him.

In the end, it was their friendship that won the battle in the end.  Bai Zhi was struggling to maintain his feet, the tears were raining down his face and though both men were injured, Zhe Yan in the end could not kill him.  It would have been so easy for him, because Zhe Yans weapon was almost undefeatable.  But their friendship meant far more to him that her.

They had all seen him lay his hands flat against the strings the moment Bai Zhi released the last of his energy.  It hit him square in the chest, sending him flying backwards.  To those watching, Zhe Yan had all but conceded at the last second and allowed Bai Zhi to not only win the battle, but take her off him.

At the time, Guotin had thought he was weak.  He honestly couldn't see the point of starting a battle unless you were prepared to see it through to the end and he lost respect for both men.  Zhe Yan because he gave up too easily when he was actually winning, and Bai Zhi because his win was a dishonorable one.  If anything, he should have felt ashamed and walked away, only he was a coward in his eyes, because he took the girl over his own friend and left him there for Mo Yuan to save.

That had been a very long time ago, and to a young and impressionable mind, it taught him very valuable lessons, and rules to live by, even now.  Women are pleasures gifted to men from the Heavens, but they should never force ones pride to fall or friendships to fail.  In his young mind, women were the most dangerous vassals a man could own and should only be used to increase wealth and safeguard the people.

Which is exactly how he had viewed Bai Qian the moment he met her at the Celestial Heavens. He had gone out of his way to court her for an alliance that would not only safeguard his people and bring in wealthy and worthy alliances, but she would also strengthen his position against the Celestials, thus freeing him from their clutches forever.

Only he had not counted on falling in love with her. 

 And like her father and Zhe Yan, he had completely lost his head by battling against Mo Yuan when they both should have been safeguarding the world against Qing Cang.  

And with a heavily broken heart filled with sorrow and shame, he had crawled into his seclusion cave to let her go.  Though the guilt had been overwhelming in those initial years.  He turned his back on the world, closed down his lands and refused all visitors including his own advisors.