"Qing Cang?" he whispered beyond stunned. His eyes were bulging in his head as he watched his wife silently flop back down against the pillow and her eyes once again close. The cold chill in the air that had sent a shiver up his spine and drained the colour from his face would have frightened her to death had she awoken at that moment, because he looked like death.
His body remained rigid against the foot of the bed, his eyes had yet to return to their normal size and his hands were visibly shaking and all the while a million questions assaulted his fragile mind as plausible explanations began to gather.
Very very slowly, Ye Hua began to piece together the information he had managed to garner from her sleep talking. It was painstakingly slow, because he was still in shock, but beginning with his very first meeting with her, when she rescued him from the cave, the sudden image of a Lotus pond and a boy dressed in white running away from him soon had him pausing as an inkling to where his thoughts were going saw him once again in a classroom as a child solving riddles in order to win treats from his teachers.
Su Su had also mentioned the Lotus Pond via the tune she still hummed from time to time even though he didn't think she realized it and that had him wondering yet again where it was exactly the vision of the Lotus Pond was, or rather memory, because that was the impression it always gave him. And it was definitely a Lotus Pond, because the dream and visions always came with a strong scent of Lotus flowers.
But as his mind went over the untold topics of Higher Learning she had mentioned mainly in dream state, he then began to wonder about this so called Shifu she constantly mentioned and that had him realizing her unusual nightly discussion were becoming more and more frequent. And not only was the knowledge becoming more indepth and at times profound, but he also began to realize she had mentioned many things and even names of people who actually existed.
And that brought to mind Qing Cang. The only Mortals who may have learned of him would have been those he used for his own unsavoury purposes and usually those Mortals would die once he had what he needed, because even though he had dabbled in affairs that broke Heavens laws, even he would never allow a mere Mortal to know of his existence, their world and even their wars, because every Immoral faced severe consequences for doing so and being a proud man whose pride was legendary, he could not allow himself to fall from Heavens graces let alone suffer the humiliation.
But it was the Ghost War he focused on next. He had learned everything there was to know about that war, right down to the smallest of details which included the models that were now held in the Celestials archives which had been quickly gathered by Di Jun who oversaw the investigation immediately afterwards. Though it was obvious from the records he had studied, that Di Jun had been greatly affected by the War Gods death, because his investigation had been meticulous but what surprised even him, was the official story he had released in order to prevent a full scale search for the War Gods body and that of his Seventeenth Disciple. If anything, Ye Hua had a strong feeling that he had learned everything there was to know and in the end chose to make his disappearance seem trivial or rather flighty.
And that then had him returning once again to Su Su and their initial meeting. At the time, he had been rather shocked to see her in the possession of the The Jade Purity Fan of Kunlun that had once belonged to The War Gods Seventeenth Disciple. It was such a rare artifact and after losing sight of it, he then found it again in the possession of the Ghost Tribes Overlord and Qing Cangs son Li Jing who was also on Mount Junji looking for The War Gods Seventeenth Disciple.
He had heard rumors that the two had once had an affair and because of it, he had not faltered in his search for him since the day that war ended. And so once again he was drawn back to Qing Cang, The Ghost Tribe and a war that saw thousands die tragically and two very important people who disappeared without a trace.
Looking down at the peaceful face that now seemed to be relaxed and smiling as if her dreams were no long on unpleasant things, his lips thinned out and hardened as her Shifu, Qing Cang, Seventeenth Disciple and a Lotus pond began to swirl about in his head. He never once took his eyes off her face and nor did she seem aware of his presence, she was sleeping deeply and peacefully without a care in the world, which was all he had ever wanted for her, only he himself was now uneasy as he began to piece a seventy thousand year mystery together.
If her Shifu was indeed a High Deity of the Celestial Heavens whose star graced a part of the sky that no normal Immortal did, then that made him Hierarchy. If her Shifu had led a war against Qing Cang, then that made him only one man and that was The War God. And if he was her Shifu, then she was his Disciple and with the Jade Purity Fan of Kunlun in her possession, then that had to make her the Seventeenth Disciple Si Yin.
Stunned senseless by this revelation, he could only sit there and stare at her. But no matter how tight his summation was, there were gaps and glaringly obvious ones. For one, High God Mo Yuan did not take female Disciples, this had been a law since the day he took over as the Master of Kunlun Mountain.
There was also the fact that the changes in Su Sus behaviour and dream state only came to light with the arrival of the quartz crystal a crystal that also sent his own mind back and pulled at his heart so tightly he could barely breath if he got too close to it.
But the most obvious, was Su Su was Mortal. There was no Immortal breath in her body what so ever, in fact, she had been stunned to find herself in the Immortal Realm. Her reaction was genuine and honest, she had been a little afraid too, because he had felt it.
But that at once took his mind back to the Far East where he had met The Second Prince of the West Seas Die Feng, a boy he knew had also been a Disciple of the War God. Many times he had caught him staring at Su Su. Initially jealousy and protectiveness had gripped him having thought the Prince was lusting after her, only he soon realized his stares were one of confusion.
Even towards himself when he was with Su Su, he would catch Die Feng staring overly hard at them both. All his life he had been compared to the War God, so he had initially known that Die Feng had also mistaken him for his old master. But Su Su? In her male form, did she resemble the Seventeenth Disciple and that was why he couldn't stop looking at her.
If that was the case, then not only would meeting himself with the same face as Mo Yuan and a woman with the same face as his Junior Disciple be unbelievable, but the chances of meeting two people who looked exactly the same as the two people he had been searching thousands of years for, to suddenly appear before and with the Fan of Kunlun in attendance, it must have surely knocked him back.
But as that thought came to mind, so did Li Jing. That he was snooping about Mount Junji with the Fan of Kunlun in his search for Si Yin, suggested that perhaps he had caught a glimpse of Su Su and had also mistaken her for his lost lover, why else would he be on Mount Junji with that Fan in his hands?
Which only took his thoughts back to the Fan of Kunlun. That it was even in her possession was a mystery. But what was even more astounding, was the Fan was a Celestial Artifact of immense power. By all rights, it should have returned itself to Kunlun Mountain, because an Immortal artifact that powerful would not allow itself to be taken by anyone who was not connected to it. That Li Jing was on Mount Junji where Su Su happened to be dwelling, could explain why it had allowed him to take hold of it. But if that was the case, then did that mean she was Si Yin?
Shaking his head adamantly, he knew without a doubt that she was not, because in the end, she was still Mortal and at the time of the Great Ghost War, High God Mo Yuans Seventeenth Disciple had been a High Immortal. One could not just suddenly lose their Immortal essence unless they died, so it was impossible.
But as he dwelt on that, the lack of a past along with her lack of memories suddenly had something in the back of his mind shifting. There was actually a way one could lose their Immortal essence and that was through rebirth and that was only done for life experience, trials and cultivation gathering. And suddenly a light flicked on as his hand slowly rose.
Releasing a small burst of energy at her head, he quickly put her into a deeper sleep. There was only one to tell if she was in fact a rebirthed Immortal and that was an essence that forever remained attached to the soul regardless of what form one took. But in order for him to delve into her deep enough, he not only had to use his own cultivation, but the procedure needed to be done very quickly so as not to disturb his child while at the same time, maintaining the hold on the spell he had around their home.
The latter spell, was maintained constantly by Ye Hua in order to keep themselves hidden from view. One small mistake and it could cause a ripple effect on the spell and either weaken it or collapse it completely and therefore opening the channel for anyone on the other side to find them. He knew he was taking a big risk, but he had to know if she was who he thought she was and not just for his sake, but also their childs. If she was in fact Immortal, then he had some serious thinking to do.
Si Yin and High God Mo Yuan had been missing for Seventy Thousand Years. If he had found one half of the mystery couple, then he was even closer to finding Mo Yuan. That the world was looking for a male rather than a female, also momentarily stunned him. No wonder they could not be found, he thought to himself, but still others would have to know about her secret, she was just a child when she left Kunlun Mountain with his body, one that had belonged to High God Zhe Yan.
But realizing he was getting ahead of himself, he quickly pushed all thoughts to the back of his head. The sleeping spell he had placed her under would not hold for much longer and his child was beginning to become restless again, already he could feel the slight movements.
Thinking as quickly as possible, his mind went back over centuries of magical knowledge he had stored in his mind. He was literally a walking encyclopedia of knowledge and once he had a good grasp on the spell he would need, he then quickly scanned his child. He could also put the child under a sleeping spell, but that would require even more energy which he did not want to risk using, instead he held his hand over her head then forcing it to the side and away from him, he closed his eyes, and wove the spell.
Delving into her body for the seat of her soul, a very small area at the nape of the neck where the pineal gland was found and what was known as the true seat of the sixth chakra or third eye. His inner sight was wide open and with only seconds to spare he delved straight in. Her soul was swirling as was expected but rather than see what he was hoping to see, which was a small swirl of energy that kept the body in a state of Mortality which a true Immortal would have on their soul, he saw nothing at all. Nothing that would suggest she was Immortal, not even a glimmer of Immortal essence.
Breathing heavily as he quickly pulled his inner sight out of her, he checked his child who seemed to doing alright then falling back against the foot of the bed his eyes closed in even more confusion that what he was in before.
It was obvious that she was not Immortal so therefore she could not be Si Yin.
"Then how....?" he whispered staring at her.
For the longest moment his mind continued to swirl as it searched for a rational understanding, but no matter what explanation he came to, she was still Mortal.
And as his mind lingered on his findings and assumptions, the sudden sound of a zither was heard. Initially it was faint, barely audible, but the moment the sound registered, his eyes rose up towards the cage where the sound seemed to be coming from.
His eyes narrowed in on it, but his mind took a few seconds longer to acknowledge the connection, but when it did, an anger born from confusion and doubt rose up so suddenly that his entire body flew up off the bed to snatch the little cage down from his small hook.
"This......!" he whispered softly. His eyes had narrowed to thin slits and his lips were pressed together tightly as he thought over the past months and everything his wife had uttered since its arrival and suddenly he no longer felt the urgent desire to protect it. Whatever 'it' was.
And before he could think about what he was doing, he ripped the stone out of the cage, then tossing the small twine structure onto the bed beside his sleeping wife, he stormed from the house.
The cold air was baling against his stiff body as he strode purposefully towards the beach while the howl of the icy wind lashed against his hair and robes, sending them flying out about his body. The sting was noticeable, but his mind was on only one thing and as he thrust aside the winter branches that were covered in a fine mist of sleet while ignoring the gashes to his hands and face. And as he marched towards the shore, the sound of the zither began to grow louder.
He could now recognize the tune as being the one that Su Su had named the Spirit of the Lotus, but rather than feeling peaceful and calm, he wanted it gone. He wanted his wife back to how she was without the fear and unknown hanging over their heads.
And as the shoreline came into view, he could see the mists also beginning to roll in which only increased the sombre emotions that were racing through him and the determination to get rid of a quartz crystal that he now believed had brought untold anxious nights and restless days. In the middle of the beach and surrounded by mist and a chilly wind, he didn't even look down at the stone that seemed to be begging him to hold on a little longer, instead he raised his hand, and in one swift flick of his wrist, the stone was thrown back onto the beach where it had come from.
Then turning slowly as the sound of the zither began to dull beneath the enclosing mist, he walked back to the house and a small family he now hoped would be healed from whatever that stone had brought them.
Only the moment he reached the small shell laden pathway he had built for Su Su, a scream so terrifying rang out so loudly, that for a brief moment, he was rendered motionless. But as the scream turned to a blood curdling screech, his feet flew like the wind towards the house.