After leaving Mo Yuan at Yan Hua cave to get supplies from his hut at the Peach Grove, Zhe Yan hurried over the fox den to mobilise the agreed plan with Mo Yuan and Bai Zhi.
Seeing the exhausted faces of Zhen Zhen and his mother, he held his hand up in greeting instead and went straight to Xiao Wu's room. Her eyes were red-rimmed and staring blankly into space, unseeing anything but the grief that her clenching heart was feeling. Zhe Yan approached her, plunked medicine into her tea cup and forced her to drink it without any difficulty, her movements just automatic. Within seconds, her eyes drooped and he put his hand on her head to guide her to her pillow. After tucking her in, Zhe Yan went back to the open seating area to meet with the fox family and Mo Yuan. A Li, thankfully was fast asleep when his mother arrived so he was blissfully unaware of what happened.
After allowing Mo Yuan a brief glimpse of his Qian Qian and a kiss on the forehead for his son, they set about organising themselves on what lay immediately ahead. Repeating their conversation at Yan Hua cave for Zhe Zhe and Bai Zhen's benefit again yielded the same expressions from their faces: surprise, disbelief, anger, understanding, and finally resolve- to help the two people who, despite the very long road it is taking, deserve to get their happy ending.
After giving Bai Zhen the letter, Mo Yuan and Zhe Yan proceeded towards Kunlun Mountain while Bai Zhi went to the Nine Heavens to meet with Di Jun.
When they arrived at the base of Kunlun, both Mo Yuan and Zhe Yan were surprised to see a number of immortals littered around, and wanting to get a glimpse of the activities. The dragon Qi had risen as the bell tolled, signaling something big was about to happen and some immortals wanted in on the action. Not wanting to disturb or be disturbed, they instead head straight to the grand hall where both high gods were surprised to see Kunlun's disciples lined up in two straight columns out front, awaiting the return of their Shifu. All fifteen disciples had their hands together and raised to their chest in greeting. "Welcome home, Shifu." Then they all rushed forward and went down on their knees to bow and kowtow to Mo Yuan.
Mo Yuan's lips slightly curled up in a smile but his eyes were full of emotions at seeing his spiritual sons, all alive and well. "I've kept you all waiting so long. Stand up." He quietly commanded them and started walking towards the platform, with Zhe Yan following behind.
The disciples assembled back in their kneeling position to formally kowtow after Mo Yuan took his seat at the platform with Zhe Yan on the side. Then Die Feng spoke.
"Shifu, when Zi Lan told me about the rise in the dragon Qi of the mountain, we immediately call on all our brothers to prepare for your return, even if we were unsure exactly when. For seventy thousand years, we searched everywhere for you in the hopes that you would return as you had promised before you saved us from the Bell of the East Emperor,"
Zi Lan, who was still tearful because he still had a hard time believing that their Shifu was finally back, added, "Shifu, I also have something to say. When your body went missing, Seventeen also disappeared. I have gone everywhere in the mortal realms to look for him but I fear he is dead." His cheeks became wet with tears for the youngest brother with whom he often quarrelled but loved regardless.
Mo Yuan looked at Zhe Yan before facing his spiritual sons. "Thank you for all your sacrifices. I know the last seventy thousand years have not been easy for all of you and I appreciate that you went out of your way to search for me. When I sacrificed my energy to the Eastern bell, my soul scattered in the chaos and it has taken me all these seventy thousand years to piece them all together before I could return. That I even have a body to return to is owed to your Seventeenth brother, Si Yin. Had I been buried at the Sea of Innocence without the soul jade, my body would have decomposed. Si Yin is a nine-tailed fox, only not male, but female. Si Yin is in fact the only daughter of the fox emperor, Bai Zhi, whom our brother and close friend Zhe Yan brought to Kunlun to learn discipline since her family could not get her under control. They brought her to me as a last attempt because she had a big responsibility to take when she grew up. Si Yin you will now know is Queen of Qing Qiu, High Goddess Bai Qian, saviour of realms who sealed the Bell of the East Emperor three hundred years ago."
Aghast at learning that their youngest disciple brother was actually female, various comments and facial reactions could be heard and seen from her brothers. "No wonder she did not bathe with us!" "The tantrums!" "The crying!" Then Zi Lan, who really missed his junior brother-now-sister asked, "Shifu, does she know you are back? We heard there was a battle again at the Ruoshi river and she and Crown Prince Ye Hua fought Qing Cang and that the Crown Prince died but no body was recovered. Does she need any help from us?" A chorus of agreements from the older disciples were heard and Mo Yuan's heart swelled with pride for his spiritual sons. Regardless of gender, they will always love his Qian Qian and protect her like their beloved sister.
"Zhe Yan and I are working on a plan to get her back to us. I have one other story to share with you before we resume our Kunlun activities. You all remember the golden lotus by the meditation cave?"
Suddenly frightened with what he was about to reveal, Die Feng squirmed on his seat as he raised his arms forward. "Shifu, when you died, the golden lotus withered as well. I took it out of the water to find somebody who can revive the plant but Consort Le Xu of the Nine Heavens touched it and it vanished. It was my fault, Shifu. Please punish me," he bowed Low to wait for his punishment.
"No need for any punishment. That golden lotus housed a piece of my soul that would serve as my anchor to put the rest of me together if the time came to destroy the bell. It happened to pass and that soul anchor became Crown Prince Ye Hua. He was the piece of my self that I separated when I became War God with the help of my Fuxi. When Ye Hua sacrificed himself last night, the last piece of me was finally complete. Just so you all understand, Ye Hua was a part of me but he was not me. He was able to transform into mortal because Fuxi transferred half of his cultivation to the golden lotus to keep it alive while I put myself back together."
"Shifu, Queen Bai Qian was engaged to the Crown Prince! They fought the battle together last night. Does she know all this?"
Mo Yuan looked down shook his head but Zhe Yan stood up and answered for him. "She will find out once she wakes up. You all now how your youngest brother-now-sister can be volatile when caught by any surprise. Her tendency to react now and think later is still the same, though a little bit more subdued. She will need time to digest all these things so your Master and she can move forward with their lives. You also realise Mo Yuan is father to young prince A Li, whose mother is also Bai Qian. Therefore, when she returns to Kunlun Mountain, she will no longer be the Seventeenth disciple not only because she is to be the future Mistress of Kunlun, ergo you Shimu, but also because being the world's only High Goddess and saviour of the realms when she sealed Qing Cang three hundred years ago, she is now at par with Mo Yuan in terms of her service to everyone in our world."
Again, it was Zi Lan who broke the silence after Zhe Yan's speech. "Who would have thought that our lazy Seventeenth could achieve so much and now is a mother!" Everyone laughed.
"Shifu" Die Feng eagerly called. "We are so happy to have you back and we gladly welcome our Shimu and your brother to Kunlun. Is there anything we can do to support you?" Then a murmur of excited well wishes from the rest of his brothers.
"There is something you can all do for me. I am still weak from my lost cultivation and when Zhe Yan and I arrived at the base of the mountain, we already saw a number of immortals wanting to come in and have a look. This will probably continue on for the next few days so we need to prepare for these visitors. The important ones I will meet-"
"-The rest you serve tea before you kick them out of the mountain. If you run out of any supplies, go to Qing Qiu and the Fox Emperor will supply what you need." Zhe Yan interjected. "As his physician, your Shifu needs to meditate for 2 hours everyday before meeting anyone else. He also needs to eat on time and be in bed after dinner- no alcohol or else you will answer to me. Chang San, you will personally make sure that Mo Yuan complies with this. Mo Yuan has to pick up his family in a few days and Die Feng, you will be in charge of the mountain until he comes back. Also some of you will need to prepare to extend his chambers to fit in Bai Qian's things, as well as a chamber for A Li, and maybe start thinking of setting up a few more of the future children they will have." The last phrase was said with a playful wink.
Bowing in obedience, the disciples all said, "Yes, Shifu, High God Zhe Yan," before standing up to get themselves organised to their tasks after Mo Yuan waved his hand in dismissal.
The rest of the went as they had expected. Various leaders from all the realms who wanted to be first to confirm the resurrection of the War God arrived. Those who came re-confirmed their allegiance and support to the War God thinking that nobody has yet come back from the dead, not even Fuxi. Having Mo Yuan at their side will mean they will always win any war. Confident that Mo Yuan was well enough in the care of his disciples, Zhe Yan made his leave with a promise to give him a heads up when Qian Qian goes to Mount Junji.
Meanwhile at the Nine Heavens, Bai Zhi just finished telling the story to Di Jun and both were now headed to to the Sky throne to meet with Haode. Once they entered hall, Di Jun ordered everyone who was not part of the royal family out and put a privacy barrier around them to make sure that no gossiping maid would hear the conversation.
"Haode, Emperor Bai and I will be speaking on behalf of High God Mo Yuan, whom you know has returned to us. We know you are mourning the loss of Crown Prince Ye Hua. We cannot fathom the grief of losing a son, or a grandson, or a nephew, especially when no body has been found in the Ruoshi river to complete your grieving process with a proper burial at the Sea of Innocence. We hope that you will find consolation in the fact that while Ye Hua is no longer, he is not completely gone from us."
"What do you mean, Di Jun?"
"Mo Yuan relayed to me the history of the golden lotus which you, Consort Le Xu, touched during your visit to Kunlun Mountain. The golden lotus that withered and disappeared with your touch became your son, who was actually the anchor soul of Mo Yuan that was separated from his primordial spirit and energised by half of Fuxi's cultivation. That anchor soul was the reason Mo Yuan was able to assemble back all his scattered soul pieces from the Chaos and return to us." Bai Zhi explained. He further added, "Mo Yuan is now back at Kunlun Mountain to check on his disciples and re-establish himself. He is also claiming young Prince A Li as his son and will from now on be with his parents in Kunlun until he is old enough to train under Di Jun to take on Ye Hua's mantel of Crown Prince and successor to the Nine Heavens."
Pausing for a bit to let their audience digest the news and make their reactions, the faces of the royal family were of shock. Skylord Haode opened his mouth only to close it back again as he thought of the future of his kingdom. His grandson was the War God?! No wonder he excelled in evertything he threw at him, took the harshest and worst punishments can overcame them with ease- except for the situation with the mortal where he completely lost his composure, almost not wanting to live after his wife jumped from Zhu Xian Terrace. He still had a successor but waiting for A Li to grow up means that he would have to take back all the work he had already delegated to Ye Hua and he was not sure if his tired old bones were still up to the task, and that had him worried. His sons were adequate at best in dealing with real issues and he was not confident that they had enough leadership ability to head meetings with the various kingdoms where personalities can be difficult.
As if reading through his thoughts, Di Jun said, "With no Crown Prince until A Li comes of age, we (looking pointedly at Bai Zhi, still irritated since he missed out on the Yan Hua cave discussion) and by we I mean myself, Bai Zhi, and Zhe Yan, and of course Mo Yuan, will help you manage the realms for the important issues. Coming out of retirement is the least we all could do seeing as we lost an important pillar in the kingdom. That should ease some the burdens you have to take on, Haode."
Grateful for the support of the best and most powerful High Gods of all the realms, Haode raised his arms in thank you but was cut off by Bai Zhi, who remembered his only daughter's suffering from her mortal trail in the Nine Heavens.
"I cannot speak for Di Jun but Zhe Yan, Mo Yuan and my support will come changes in how things are run here, Haode. The Nine Heavens owes the fox clan and Zhe Yan a great many debts and we have never once collected, seeing it as our duty to lend assistance where one is required. I just found out yesterday that my only daughter who is now queen of Qing Qiu and was engaged to the Crown Prince had her mortal trial interfered by the Nine Heavens, where she suffered greatly and was even imprisoned in a dark room, starved, and her eyes taken out while pregnant with my only grandson!"
Haode's and his family's eyes were now as wide as saucers. WHAT?!?! Su Su was Queen Bai Qian of the fox clan, the wealthiest and most magical of all the first beings of the immortal world? No wonder she reached High Goddess status! They made sure she suffered well enough to jump to her death and leave her newborn son behind. What to do, what to do? He badly needed their support because without it, his foothold will not last until A Li take over. It will be worse if he feigns ignorance and deny the accusation since Mo Yuan has all of Ye Hua's memories so there's no escape. If Bai Zhi declares war on him, he will definitely die. With no other choice, Haode looked at the rest of his family so they all follow his lead, and they all get down on their knees and kowtow deeply at Bai Zhi, asking for his forgiveness.
"Emperor Bai, I realised my mistake when Ye Hua jumped after his wife at Zhu Xian Terrace. Le Xu admonished that had I allowed Ye Hua to marry the mortal he fell in love with, the worst case was that there would be one more consort at Xiwu Palace, but I was worried at how it would affect our marriage alliance so I did everything I can to make sure she was gone from Ye Hua's life forever. Only I did not realise how deeply he felt for her. I was wrong and I will take my punishment."
"I'm glad you're willing to take accountability, Haode. We will revisit this again with Lord Pua once things settle down," Bai Zhi then heaved a deep breath as he shook his head, adding,"had you tried to deny it and escape, I would have declared war instead of given you my family's backing."
Di Jun, having no reaction at all at the almost heated exchange, said, "Young Prince A Li has a palace maid here named Nai Nai. I assume Mo Yuan will want her to stay with the young prince at Kunlun to help him get settled. Ye Hua's trusted aides can also stay with him or move to Taichen Palace until A Li takes over Xiwu Palace." With that, Di Jun the privacy barrier was removed and Di Jun's right hand summoned to go to Xiwu Palace to help Nai Nai pack A Li's belongings.
A few moments later, Bai Zhi left with Nai Nai to the fox den.