Red Snow

Chapter 33

Bai Qian had concluded that celestials never had a sense of time. Back then, the twins would arrive at the worst of times. For example: in the middle of a spell, when she's about to start lunch and one time when she was taking a bath. Thankfully, her aunt had chased them away before they could catch a glimpse.

And now Ye Hua had decided to wake her up when she was about to fall asleep. Didn't he know how hard it was for Bai Qian to force down her anxiety in preparation for tomorrow?

Ye Hua had brought her out in the middle of the night. He urged her away from her son's bed, saying he wanted to take her somewhere.

"He's fifty," Ye Hua commented when she said AhLi would be sad if he woke up without his mother, "He can't keep sleeping by his mother's side, "

Bai Qian rolled her eyes. Only had been a father for a week and started giving her parenting tips. But she followed him anyway.

Ye Hua took her to the Western edge of the celestial realm where the tip of Kunlun Mountain touched the lowest layer of Nine Heavens.

Bai Qian caught the scent of peach blossom before she saw it. Soon, she found herself surrounded by acres of peach trees. It was so much like home, Bai Qian almost thought she was back in Qing Qiu.

"Immortal Peach Garden," Ye Hua explained. "I know it's nothing like the Ten Miles Peach Forest, but I want to give you a little bit of home before you leave,"

Gosh, why did he have to be so sweet? Bai Qian kissed him on the cheek, "I love it. Thank you, Ye Hua,"

The peaches grown here were different. They were at least five times the size of an average fruit, as big as her head. Bai Qian heard that they take three thousand years of bear fruits. Therefore, they were extremely rare and well sought after. Even Zhe Yan had only a few such fine specimens.

Suddenly, Bai Qian remembered the story her mother once told her. "The goddess that guarded this groove, did she know my mother?"

Ye Hua nodded, "The Western Queen had many attendants throughout the years, the seven coloured maidens, the jade rabbit, a three-legged crow, a golden toad and a nine-tailed fox,"

Bai Qian nodded as she remembered the tales her mother told her more and more. She picked up a peach pit from the ground. It was as big as her palm and rough around the edges.

"They grind the pits to make pills of immortality," she said.

"A shortcut way for mortals to become immortals," Ye Hua said distastefully, "Her Majesty only gives them to worthy heroes,"

"My mother said she helped make the two that were given to the archer," Bai Qian mused out loud, "but his wife took them all instead, and she was sent to the moon,"

It was a well-known folktale. Everyone in the mortal realm knew it. Bai Qian just never knew her mother played a part. Funny how stories are intertwined.

"You're remembering your childhood?" Ye Hua asked.

"Only bits and pieces," Bai Qian said, "At first, only the parts with Uncle Mo..."

Bai Qian swallowed down the name, "With your brother...and then Gu Gu...and slowly my parents,"

Ye Hua stared down to the mountain below, "Are you ever going to forgive him,"

Bai Qian sat down in the grass and wrapped her arms around herself, "No, I don't think I ever will,"

She couldn't meet his gaze, "Please don't force me..."

Ye Hua sat down next to her, "I'm not going to. I'm mad at him too,"

Bai Qian remembered the punch Ye Hua gave his brother. She couldn't help but smirk.