Qing Qiu.
Arriving in Qing Qing, Haode grimaced at the rain. He was wearing a protective shield but it had been years since he had last stepped out into such extreme weather and he being able to feel the cold only made the heartbreak of Ye Huas disappearance that much more depressing. But they were not waiting in the rain any longer than it took for that thought to pass through his mind. No sooner had the Foxes Tree Sprite become aware of their arrival, then they were both being ushered inside.
"Haode, Di Jun! This is a surprise." Bai Zhi said greeting them warmly which had the Empress quickly flying into the main den to welcome them having heard who it was that had braved the cold winter rains just to visit them.
"Forgive us for the sudden intrusion and lack of warning." Haode replied with a smile as he looked about the chamber. It hadn't changed at all since he was last there. It was hard to believe they were considered the worlds most wealthiest and powerful Tribe when they lived so simply and for a moment he felt uncomfortable being in such a basic and unadorned home, but that was soon swept from his mind when the Fox Kings Granddaughter appeared in a flash of red silk and soft blushes to serve them tea.
Leading them both to sit down on the plush sofas that were covered in pillows of almost every colour, the four took a seat as Feng Jiu poured the tea while also wondering what on earth had brought Di Jun out into the wet weather. He did not like to be uncomfortable, so she was more than nervous by the visit which only increased at Haodes presence, also being a man she gathered did not like to rain going by his uncomfortable entrance.
"I take it you have met my Granddaughter Feng Jiu?" Bai Zhi asked as the girl almost upended the tea pot all over Di Jun in her haste to serve them. Her eyes were on his face and her heart was racing at the speed of an arrow just looking at him. There was something in his eyes that she wasn't too sure of, and of them all, she was the only one who could read those eyes most of the time, but suddenly she became nervous.
"Yes I have." Haode replied giving the girl a nod of his head and a warm smile. "In fact, she is the reason why I am here." he said watching as the teapot hit the cold metal tray with a resounding clang only to then watch as she jumped back.
"Me Your Highness?" she asked Haode even though her eyes were on Di Jun who was also looking at her, but having no expression on his face, none there knew what he was thinking or even if he was.
Turning back to Bai Zhi, Haode first asked after Bai Qian. "I heard she was injured during her battle with Qing Cang. I am sorry to hear that." he said and he genuinely was. The woman was a heroine, one they all owed a debt to.
"She is sadly unresponsive. We have not been able to reach her since that day." her mother replied. It wasn't exactly a lie, so she felt no guilt in misleading these two men, when the truth was, she had no idea where her daughter even was.
"I also heard about Crown Prince Ye Hua. We are truly sorry to hear of his passing." Bai Zhi cut in with a sad expression, one that was also just as genuine, he had liked the boy.
"Well. Unfortunately fate has seen fit to take him, which is why we are here." Haode said and getting to the point of their visit in order to move the conversation away from his wayward Grandson and onto their Granddaughter.
Taking a sip of tea, Di Jun watched the girl fidget beside her father with an amused expression while also listening in on the mind chatter which never seemed to cease. In fact it never ceased to amaze him how very active her mind was and at that moment, she was not being overly polite towards Haode who was receiving a tongue lashing for daring to wear his golden dinner plate hat which is how she viewed his crown, one she thought was best suited on the Monkey King, a man who was even more ostentatious than he was.
"As you know, Ye Hua has passed away, so the marriage arrangement is no longer valid." he said with a grimace before also taking a sip of tea while also watching the girl closely who had suddenly stopped fidgeting to stare at him, then back at Di Jun.
Saying nothing, Bai Zhi and The Empress stared straight ahead. They had heard of the girls infatuation with Di Jun and perhaps his infatuation with her, or rather over his abundance of patience which he gave to no one else. And suddenly all three had the exact same thought, that perhaps they were there to arrange a marriage between the two and just as suddenly, Feng Jiu stopped breathing.
"But in saying that, we can see no reason why an alliance cannot still be made." Haode pressed on which had Bai Zhi then leaning forward to stare at Di Jun.
"Oh? So now you want Feng Jiu?" he asked Di Jun directly who merely stared back. Di Jun never left the Heavens for any reason unless there was something in it for him, so for him to visit personally only increased his summation that he was the one here for her. But, if Di Jun was thinking anything at all, nothing was showing.
"Yes." Haode replied and now becoming very uncomfortable having seen where their thoughts had taken them. "For my Third Son Lian Song." he replied quickly.
Suddenly the air seemed to have left the cave along with the colour in her soft cheeks as those words began to sink in. Even her Grandparents sat there staring at both men as if this were some kind of sick joke. But being the first to gain his mind back from where it had gone, Bai Zhi was not going to sit back and allow either men to break her heart, because he could feel her heartbeat almost stop.
"Di Jun. It is widely known that Feng Jiu has been spending a fair amount of time in your Palace, which has led us all to believe that you have feelings for her. Be honest with me. Do you really have no feelings for her at all? Are you really willing to give her over to Lian Song?" he asked incredulously.
Di Juns eyes never left her face and though that look was still there, one that only brought tears to her eyes because she knew he did have feelings for her, she said nothing as she waited for him to answer.
"Marriage alliances are never made with feelings in mind, they are created to bring two tribes together for the betterment of the people." he replied which they all knew to mean, he did have feelings for her but was willing to let her go.
In tears, Feng Jiu looked at him in anger. "If that's the case Lord Di Jun, then our people don't need yours for our betterment. We are more than wealthy enough." she replied softly but each word was inflicted with anger, she was so furious.
"Feng Jiu, that's enough!" Bai Zhi berated her. Though she was allowed to sit in and listen, she had no say in the discussion.
"No!" she snapped before moving to stand before Di Jun before Bai Zhi could stop her. "I refuse this marriage alliance. I absolutely will not marry that Prince, not when he is in love with someone else, someone you had no right taking off him. And nor will he marry me!" she seethed between clenched teeth.
"Feng Jiu!" The Empress snapped before standing to take her away.
But she would not have a bar of it.
"Do you know why Lord Ye Hua was killed and why my Aunt was injured during her battle with Qing Cang. Because fate deemed their union worthless. Lian Song and Cheng Yu were in love, and she is more than suited to him, yet you almost killed them too and now you want to throw me between them. What will that make me? I don't love him, I love you Di Jun and I know you love me too, yet you can sit there and allow this sham?" she asked as the tears rained down her face.
She may have been young, and had no real voice when it came to these kinds of decisions, but in her mind, if she didn't speak up now, she would never get another chance, but her Grandmother moved in to take her arm before dragging her from the room.
"Why must you Celestials break apart true love because your own lives are so miserable? I hate you both and I too will die young if you try to force me to marry him." she screamed at them both of them as her Grandmother finally managed to get her out of the room and into her own.
_______
Mount Junji
Honing in on the little spark of energy, Ci Hang slowly but surely began to untangle it from the multitude of strands that were keeping it hidden, yet despite the difficulty of his task, he could not hold back the laughter. Ye Huas magic was astounding. Genius even, and he knew that once he found him, he would be sitting him down for a very long lesson which he planned on learning.
But with over one thousand strands of energy to untangle, his mind was fully focused on the spark which never left his sight but as the hours turned to days, he began to wonder if Ye Hua had noticed his attempt to break through, because no sooner did he have half the strands untangled then more would suddenly appear and attach themselves and the faster he worked, the faster the outer strands gathered.
And it was then that he got to see the true brilliance of his magic. not only had Ye Hua created a magic that was almost impossible to break through, but he was losing energy trying. He had to find another way, but to do that meant letting the little spark go and he was loathe to do that because he wasn't sure if he would be able to find it again.
Only the moment he thought of giving up, he suddenly felt a slight tremor in the magic. it was small, but not only did some of the strands give way, but they were not replaced. Instantly he jumped on the sudden change. It had happened without warning and that had him wondering if something had happened to Ye Hua because the longer he remained attached to the one thread of energy that he knew would lead him to the boy, the weaker it seemed to become.
Delving in deeper which cost him precious energy he also noticed that each strand that had entangled themselves around the one main strand, were slowly disengaging themselves as if the magic itself was weakening and before he knew it, that one strand finally gave way.
By the time he had finally managed to follow the direct link, he not only knew exactly which world Ye Hua had fled to but there was also another essence attaching itself to the linking strand of energy, one that belonged to man whose star was still flickering in the sky when it should not have been.
_____
Somewhere.....
Curled up on the floor in front of the hearth, Su Su writhed in agony as another jet of pain flared across her abdomen. She could feel her baby moving with the pain and she could also hear the voice of that man from her dreams.
"Shifu.... it hurts..." she whimpered softly into her hands that were tightly clenched against the sides of her face.
"Don't cry. Shifu is here." his soft voice said which did help. It felt as if he was actually there, and she could almost feel the soft patter of his hand on her shoulder as the tears rolled down her face.
Somewhere in the back of her mind, the image of a large pool of water came back to her. She was inside it and the water was over her head. But the moment the fear began to gather, his soft calming voice was there again with tender words and gentle pats on her back.
But as the minutes turned to hours, the pain in her belly began to increase and with it a rush of fluid that burst out between her legs. Crying and terrified, she tried to call to Ye Hua, but he was still on the beach and unable to rise, the fear for her child and herself grew until her crying gave way to screams of agony when the pain began to intensify.
Ye Hua had been gone for almost three hours and not knowing when he was coming back, Su Su quickly began to divulge herself of her undergarments. She knew what was happening and she tried very hard to be brave, but the pain was excruciating, and just wanting Ye Hua at her side, the anxiety and fear began to build which only increased her pain.
Until eventually, the pain became unbearable. The heat that swirled around her entire lower region from her belly down was unimaginable and unable to find a position where she could gain a little comfort, she instead curled herself up as best as she could and began to rock.
But the moment, the blood between her legs began to flow and the pain flared searingly down her entire body, a blood curdling scream erupted followed by another as her body convulsed and trembled.
The pains were still half a minute apart, but they were so excruciating, she could barely manage the breathing techniques she had practiced, but it was one heart rending contraction that sent her mind into oblivion as her mouth opened and a scream horrendous erupted from her mouth.
And it was only then that the sound of the door being thrown wide, had her head turning towards the sound of her husband who had finally arrived.
In horror, Ye Hua looked down at Su Su who was not only curled up on the floor trying her best to manage the birthing on her own, but the sight of so much blood had his own heart racing in fear for her.
Trying his best to stabilize his emotions which would have an affect on the barrier that surrounded them, Ye Hua immediately raced to the kitchen to boil water and fetch clean towels and cloths. He knew what to do, he had read all there as to know and having enough cultivation to spare should he need to assist her and their child, he talked to her in a gentle tone as he quickly gathered what they would need.
"Su Su, you need to unfurl your body." he said gently helping her back onto her back before placing a cushion under her bottom to ease her discomfort. Then pushing her skirt up around her waist, he then forced her legs apart.
She was quite swollen below, so he knew the pain was severe and from what he had read, she was close to delivering. Excited, but fearful, Ye Hua quickly dashed back to the kitchen to fetch hot and cold water and more towels before placing himself at her side where he could see both her face and her lower region.
Only the moment his eyes fell on her face, then this attention was immediately drawn to the small marking on her forehead. It was pulsing and as a sudden rush of understanding hit him, Ye Huas heart almost gave out.
"You were sealed.....?" he whispered down at her, but she was too far gone with the pregnancy pains to hear him, and as another scream erupted from her, he quickly gathered himself together, while putting that thought to the back of his mind as he dealt with the birth of his child.
Taking her hand, he then counted the seconds between each contraction,
"Su Su, I'm here now, everything is going to be fine." he said patting her head, neck and shoulders with a cool damp cloth, while pressing a hot cloth against her lower back and abdomen to help ease the pain during each contraction.
"The crystal Ye Hua..... did you get it?" she asked once the pain eased and her mind began to focus more clearly on what was happening and where he had disappeared to.
"It's here Su Su. I found it. But don't think about it, just focus on breathing." he reminded her gently as he alternated between hot and cold cloths while Su Su did her best to remain calm and he tried his best to avoid looking at the seal in the middle of her head that was now glowing bright red.
Now that Ye Hua was there, nothing else mattered except the baby and as she cried and gasped her way through each contraction, Ye Hua magically monitored his child. The babys heartbeat was strong, and from what he could tell, he was facing the right way, but something other than the seal on her head was bothering him.
As much as he was present with Su Su and their child, there was another presence in the room. He could feel it, and he knew exactly who it was, but that wasn't what bothered him. He could feel it delving into the magical barrier he had placed around their home and it also seemed to know that Ye Hua was too preoccupied to stop it, but forcing his energy outwards to strengthen his barrier, only lessened the energy he was giving to Su Su in order to help with the pain.
He was literally juggling his energy to maintain his barrier and protect Su Su, in the end, he was not only forced to let go of the barrier momentarily as Su Su began to bear down, but he felt a definite attachment at the other end and it was making its way towards them.
Unable to stop them, Ye Hua forced himself to ignore it, while he fully focused on his child who was now being born. He could see the head crowning, his heart was in his throat and Su Sus screams were beyond anything he had ever heard, but the moment their child was born, he not only quickly gathered up the slippery bundle, but he slammed a powerful burst of energy at the approaching Immortal who had broken through to their side of the magical spell, but he was too late.
In the space of a few seconds, four things happened simultaneously.
The entire magical spell he had woven collapsed around him. His beautiful son was born into his waiting arms. The front door was thrown wide, and his wife turned towards the window to smile at the essence he had felt lingering in the room with them, an essence that was now free to return to their own world, while awakening his little Seventeenth in the process.