Bai Qian had heard more than enough from her parents, and their so called friend that instantly threw her into his 'not wanted' basket. Still not completely over her anger with the views men held about women, to find out the Heavenly Overlord had turned her down flat even though she was a Princess of the Fox Clan was poor judgement in her eyes.
"Well, I don't want you either, you stupid old man." she whispered very softly before quickly biting her tongue to look around. Having just insulted the Heavenly Emperor, she did not want to risk lightening bolt punishment for her insolence.
Then seeing as the ones in the Upper Realms must not have heard her, she quickly delved into her small treasure box that held her most useful items, one of which was a magical pointer that Mi Gu had given her should she ever get lost. The last time she had used it, was when she had run away to the Celestial Heavens to play with the fires works. That day, she had accidentally set her fathers scrolls on fire, and the ensuing blaze had cause such a mess, that her brother Bai Zhen had commented the fire was almost as impressive as the Celestials fireworks. So of course it was all it took to have her on a cloud and off on a trip to mayhem.
It was dark outside, but not being one who was afraid of the dark, she waited silently in bed with her eyes closed until each of her parents had come in to kiss her goodnight. Then waiting for Bai Zhen to stick his head in the door to check on her before Mi Gu poked his head in the door as he always did before he too retired for the night.
Deciding it would be best to wait an hour or so, she quietly sang to herself to pass the time. Her mother had taught her many rhymes and funny songs when she was younger, but she still liked to sing them now and then. But as she sang to herself, her mind tried to imagine what Kunlun Mountain looked like and what fun she might find when she got there.
Her brother had told her the Disciples were all older like him, but were very serious. They loved their lessons they received under the Heavenly Overlord, and they even trained for battle. Bai Zhen had already begun teaching her some of their Fox Clan magic and even sword training, which she too loved, so thinking, she might perhaps take a look at their armoury when she got there as well as see what else they had to play with.
Thinking too that enough time had passed, she rose quickly before instantly taking on her fox form. It was much easier to move about than in her human form, which felt the cold too easily and moved too slowly. Opening the door just enough to squeeze through the gap, she quickly looked about the hallway, and seeing no lights under the other doors, she safely assumed they were all asleep, before making a mad dash through the main den and straight outside,then running to the entrance of Qing Qi, she was finally free.
It took mere minutes, but no sooner had she passed through the small gate, she was running for the open fields, where she would catch a cloud. Being in fox form also allowed her to use a magic spell Bai Zhen had taught her. Children were not normally able to catch clouds on their own, they needed adult assistance, but in her fox form, and with a magic spell at the ready, she was on a cloud in no time. Pointing the directional twig out in front of her, she whispered her destination and before she knew it, her cloud turned sharply to the right and flew at great speed.
It was quite a distance to Kunlun Mountain but she knew she had arrived the moment the large gates came into view. They were enormous, and though they were closed, it didn't dissuade her, in fact it merely added to the fun of the adventure. Unable to fly her cloud directly over the gates due to a huge energy barrier that shot up into the air for miles, she lowered herself to the ground and pushed against the gate.
Expecting it to be locked, she was pleasantly surprised to see it swing wide open which automatically had her running in. The moon was bright in the sky and the entire entrance was lit up brilliantly and being a white fox, she too was lit up brightly, but she didn't care, she was too much in awe of the mountain in front of her. It was enormous, and even though it was night time, she could clearly see a few windows lit which seemed to be in the clouds.
Running ahead, she saw no one, but she did feel the immense strength of the Mountains energy. It was so heavy in the air, that she had to stop several times to take deep breathes until her fox form was able to manage. And by the time she had reached the Obelisk that marked the entrance to the Mountains top, she was more than capable of breathing with ease.
But somehow she had to find a way to the top and if it meant climbing, it would take her all night, so sniffing around the base of the mountain she did not notice the approach of a nearing Immortal until it was too late.
Zhi Lan, the sixteenth Disciple was on guard duty. Not that there was really anything to guard against, but he did oversee the barrier to ensure no one entered, especially at night and having felt the foxes arrival the second she passed through the gate, he watched on in awe, while following closely behind. But the moment she reached the obelisk with the intention of climbing the mountain, he stepped in.
"Well what have we got here?" a kindly voice said gently as her entire body was lifted up into the air.
Spinning her head around, she came face to face with a young man, one she gathered was a Disciple, and going by the soft eyes that were looking at her, she did not feel at all afraid or that she might even be in trouble. Instead she gave him the same look she gave her family. Widening her large doe like eyes, in her fox form, she looked even more endearing, that the young man who was holding onto her, pulled her small body closer, while her nine tails flashed about his face happily.
"A Nine Tailed Fox. I've heard about your kind, what brings you here little one, you are a long way from home." he said softly before gently enveloping her body in a warm energy blanket he created himself, and before she knew what was happening, she suddenly felt movement.
Instantly the air changed, it became thick and white and before she knew it, she was on top of the Mountain at the main entrance.
'Oh this is too easy.' she thought to herself as the boy put her down on the ground. "Follow me, I'm sure your parents will be worried about you, and though Shifu isn't here, we still need to get you home, so I will have to inform first senior." he said just as softly as before, but this time a little sterner.
Then turning his back he led the way. Up the large staircase they went, as her eyes moved from side to side. It was the most beautiful place she had ever seen, other than Zhe Yans Grove that is. There looked to be large swimming pools and even a training ground, which she could see to the left, but what immediately caught her attention, and only because the moon was lighting it up brilliantly was the Bell.
In a flash, she took off running. It was several seconds before the Disciple realized she was not following behind him, and after doubling back he had lost sight of her completely. Bounding up the steps he immediately notified Die Feng, the first senior Disciple of his find, and then loss.
"Well the Nine Tailed Foxes are not an enemy so she has no doubt run away from home. Take fifth and seventh and find her." he said softly before throwing out his energy to search for hers. And being a High Immortal, the only one on the mountain, he felt her presence moving towards the back of the mountain where the cranes were kept.
In a flash he was moving very swiftly to catch up with her, before she upset them. They were very temperamental birds who did not like to be disturbed, especially at night. But no sooner had he reached the back entrance, then the entire flock of cranes were in the air screeching. The noise was horrendous, but a quick glance about the area, gave him no clues as to where the fox had gone.
Moving out into the open to assist the cranes along with his second Disciple Chang Shan, both boys tried to ease the birds back down, but the arrival of a fox with nine tails had upset them so much they began diving towards them. The full span of their wings were spread wide, their beaks were honed directly at them, and the more Disciples that spilled out into the open, the angrier they became.
Suddenly the entire back section of the mountain erupted as the birds dove at them all. Nothing Die Feng did would calm them down, not even when he sent his juniors back inside, the horrendous screeching and the violent way they were attacking him soon turned to terror, when the birds turned on themselves.
But if he thought that was bad enough, suddenly the entire Mountain shook as the Bell of Kunlun rang out. It was so loud, he knew it would be heard by most of the realms. The bell was never rung except to announce the death of the Master of Kunlun Mountain, or the birth of the next Heavenly Emperor. So to hear it tolling, brought immediate panic to his juniors.
Crying and lowering themselves into full kowtow before Xuan Yuan, Mo Yuans sword, the Disciples instantly thought the worst. Tolling the death of the Master of Kunlun Mountain and the Heavenly Overlord of the Celestial Heavens into the air which was carried to almost every Realm in their world, not only had the birds in a frenzy, they had all collapsed to the ground in agony before going into full seizure.
Thousands of people rose from their beds in the middle of the night along withe the Fox Clan who knew what the Bell signified. And in seconds, they along with Realms Leaders descended on Kunlun Mountain.
Also racing back was Mo Yuan. Having heard the Bell tolling from the Celestial Palace where he had been working on several important missives, not only did he jump at the sound, but the Celestial Palaces maid and guards immediately raced to his Palace in such a manic rush, that he barely missed colliding with them all as he hurried out.
Tripping over the maids and guards who were all rushing about in a state of panic before throwing themselves at his feet, Mo Yuan grimly took in the scene as Di Jun also came in search of him.
"What is going in Mo Yuan?" he asked looking very relieved the moment he came into view.
"I don't know, But I'm heading back now." he said before disappearing in a haze of silver smoke, followed swiftly by Di Jun whos only memory of the bell tolling was for Mo Yuans birth and again on the death of Mo Yuans parents. Since that day, the Bell had lain silent, so he too was at a loss as to why it was tolling now.
But the moment he stepped foot on the Mountains entrance way, the sight that met him had both men running into the hall. Not only were the skies filling with the arrival of the world Leaders, but several were already in the hall on their knees with his Disciples who were all in tears.
But it was his cranes he was more worried about. Ignoring the open mouths, and then the uproar as he entered, he could feel the distress coming from his birds, they were so afraid, their frail bodies could not take the noise of the Bell or the interruption to their peace. Throwing out his hand, the Bell was instantly silenced, then throwing a hand over his birds, a blanket of calming energy washed over them all, and within seconds they were put into a deep sleep.
It took Mo Yuan over two hours to bring order to the mayhem in the skies above the Mountain. Sending them all home satisfied that all was well with him, he then took an other hour to settle his Disciples, especially the younger ones, who were all in tears and fearful.
By the time he learned what had happened, the Fox King had arrived with the Empress and Zhe Yan, which was just as well, because by the time he found the girl, not only had she found his wine cellar, she was drunk and stumbling about the spilled wine from his large vats which her tails were knocking off the shelves. Had her father not been there, she may well have received lightening bolt punishment.
Bending down to pick her up, he looked at the face of pure mischief. His anger at that time was raging. Not only had she caused utter panic to spread across their entire world, but to find her drunk in his cellar as if it were of no consequence was enough to snap his patience altogether.
But the moment her large doe eyes fluttered sleepily up at him and her small head fell onto his shoulder, Mo Yuan stood stock still to stare at her in awe, as her parents waited for his return in the main hall.
And not only did one of her front paws land on the side of his cheek, but the way it lightly stroked his face as she fell into a deep sleep, had Mo Yuans anger slowly ebbing away at the wonder of the little girl who could not only cause absolute chaos in such a short time, but to also be so endearing and cute, he couldn't help but smile down at her. Then almost jumping when she hiccuped against him, he suddenly found himself laughing all over again.