Landing heavily to her knees, Cheng Yus harsh breathing and concerned voice lost itself to the even harsher breath from Ye Hua. Su Sus eyes had once again began to glaze over and as Ye Hua quickly took his son from her arms, Ci Hang moved towards the bed. They knew they did not have time to linger, but he wanted to study the energy.
It was thick, dark and definitely Qing Cangs , but after a thorough search for the source, he soon realized it was merely residue. The actual power source had to have been hidden in the canopy itself which annoyed him immensely. Not because it was missing, but because he was Haode had been taken back to the Celestial Palace on it.
Cheng Yu had told him that Haode had been in the bed chamber, and had been studying the bed closely, so it was more than likely, he had noticed the power coming off it and even worse, that source was now in the Celestial Heavens and continuing to gather cultivation from the Celestial Heavens energy source. It wasn't as strong as the island they had left nor as strong as Kunlun Mountain, but it was strong enough. But not wanting to return just yet, seeing as Ye Hua was going to continue running, he put it to the back of his mind to dwell on later.
If Ci Hang was really honest, he would admit that he was allowing Ye Hua and his wife to escape because he loved the thrill of mystery solving and in just one day, he had not only been given a mystery to beat them all, but he was thoroughly enjoying the solving. And sending Ye Hua back to face his Grandfather, along with Cheng Yu, was not an option.
He was actually having fun with what he now knew would be a chase. Not only was the inner desire to solve Su Sus predicament at the forefront of his mind, so was Ye Huas magic, which he knew he would unleash the moment they returned. And seeing the way that Su Su was reacting to Qing Cangs residue energy, he knew Ye Hua would definitely want her out of that house.
But it was exciting, in fact he had not had anything remotely this exciting since Ye Hua was very little.
As a child, he was generally a good boy, well mannered, studious and respectful and most of all honest. Only, being a genius, when he did commit himself to mischief, it was always spectacular and briefly his mind went back as one such incident came to mind, one that almost paralleled this one.
Ye Hua knew that when his Grandfather got a new Harem woman, he would disappear for a couple of days or more if she was really beautiful and the peace he got from those few days were what he not only thrived on, but continuously wished for, because everyone knew he rarely left the boy alone for a second. Haode was such a task master that Ye Hua was constantly seeking peace until eventually he took matters into his own hands.
And so a whole month went by where the Palace saw a continuous flow of beautiful woman passing through his Grandfathers doors. For a whole month, no one saw Haode and of course not even Ye Hua, who seemed so much happier for it. But that soon came to an end when a woman arrived with her Demon minders and family to join Haodes Harem.
The uproar at her arrival brought the flow of women to an abrupt end. Having heard of this womans unnatural beauty, Haode was of course mesmerized and instantly love struck, but being a Demon, she could not marry into the Celestial Palace. Only they were there because of a promised alliance and untold wealth, which the Demons saw as most beneficial and a definite advantage, only the Celestial Palace had not offered such a deal.
Eventually a meeting was held in the Grand Hall and this so called deal which the Demons had in writing which Haode himself had supposedly signed and sealed was shown as proof that he had requested their daughter himself.
Denying he had even though the writing was in his own hand, or rather exactly in his own hand, Haode was forced to take extreme measures to prevent a war seeing his visitors were becoming aggressive and outraged. Offering a peace deal, alliance and wealth without the girl in order to keep good relations with them, he then conducted a thorough and almost brutal search for the one who had placed him in that predicament by holding interrogations of every soul in the Celestial Heavens including Ye Hua.
Lying outright that he had nothing to do with it, seeing how enraged his Grandfather was, Ye Hua, who was only a mere 1500 years old at the time, cowered in fear behind his tutors who all spoke on his behalf because they believed him.
And they did believe him, because Ye Hua never lied. They fought tooth and nail to get him out of that interrogation which was horrendous for a child that young, but eventually they did as others were forced to face even worse interrogations while Ci Hang lent himself to solving who had the culprit could have been.
But it wasn't until Haode had every maid and guard lined up in the training area for execution, that Ye Hua finally stepped forward. Not only had Ye Hua mastered his Grandfathers handwriting he also stole his seals. Ci Hangs heart broke for him that day, not because of the mischief and near cause of a war, or even the punishment he received which also saw him saving his life. But because of why he had done it. He had done it only for a little peace. But he was a kind boy, one who did not like to see those of lesser standing abused, and in the end it had been his kindness that had seen him throw himself at his Grandfather begging for their lives.
This was another reason why Ci Hang was with him yet again. Only this time, no amount of begging would save his wife or even Cheng Yu for that matter which increased his desire to solve Su Sus mysterious circumstances, while also increasing the excitement for himself.
And it was Su Sus predicament that needed solving if they were perhaps to save her. He now knew for a fact, that Mo Yuan was returning, and that meant he needed to not only figure out how she was sealed, but how to break it, in order to get to Mo Yuans body which his soul needed.
And that was another problem, because Ci Hang was one of the very few in their world, who knew how to soul search and transfer it into a body which would require a vast amount of work and energy to accomplish.
Had she buried him in the Sea of Innocence, the basalt coffin would have preserved his body within the divine energy saturating the entire burial site, Mo Yuan would not need the soul lamp to lure his soul to his body, which he would have to use and they would not have to gather the fungal grass which someone would have to get.
That then took his mind to Zhe Yan of the Peach Tree Woods. He was one of the few who knew how to cross a soul over and Ci Hang was positive he would have noticed Mo Yuans star back in the sky and if anything, Zhe Yan would be working hard to find a way to gather his soul pieces, but without the soul lamp, he knew no other way.
Deciding he would visit the Peach Tree Grove once he was certain the Ye Hua was safe and would not run again, he then turned his attention to Su Su and her reaction to Qing Cangs energy. It was obvious that mans hold over her was exceptionally powerful even though he could see that the energy itself was slowly dying away.
"This explains the dreams she was having." Ci Hang said as he watched Ye Huabegin to edge Su Su out of the room. She was staring wide eyed at Cheng Yu and Lian Song who was beginning to rouse, but other than confusion and concern for the mans bleeding wound, she seemed to be alright. In fact, the glazing of her eyes were beginning to return to normal the further he pushed her out of the room.
Thinking about what Ci Hang had said, Ye Hua shook his head lightly.
"No. She was not having those dreams I first arrived." he said as Su Su looked at him frowning.
"That is because Mo Yuans soul would have awoken that energy. He was after all connected to both her and Qing Cang so it was possible the link opened when the crystal was hung over he bed." he said while going onto explain.
"When Mo Yuans soul scattered, some pieces would have remained within the bell. Qing Cangs soul was also sealed within the Bell, therefore both of their souls are connected. By bringing them together, Mo Yuans soul piece was all it took to open a connection between Qing Cang and Si Yin which would have been the reason for the memories opening, something I also think Mo Yuans soul piece may have influenced on purpose." he said which had Ye Hua glaring at him briefly and then back at Su Su, who was edging out of the room without his help.
"But why would he need Mo Yuan? We had the original bed." Ye Hua asked confused.
"You may have had the original bed, but you did not have the original power source which needs to be in this world not that one. All you had was a mirrored reflection of it. It was powerful, but not that powerful. Once the connection between this world and that one opened. Qing Cang then had full reign to reseal and maintain control of her while gathering cultivation for his power source through the connection.
"So that means we need to leave, and now." Ye Hua said without a second thought.
Listening to them talking about her, Su Su said nothing, but she was paying attention. They may have thought that Qing Cang had resealed her, but she still had the memories of what she had seen, learned and heard on their island. She still didn't understand what it meant, but she did understand that it was dangerous to the well being of her son and her marriage, so she did not fight Ye Huas instructions to gather only what she needed, the rest he would destroy before they left to start again.
But even so, she had questions and it seemed to her that Ci Hang might be the one to give them to her rather than Ye Hua, who in a moment of clarity seemed to be wanting to keep her in the dark. Because no sooner did he see that the hold that room had over her clear, then he simply gave their son back to her to check on Lian Song who was coming around. There had been no attempt from him to address what to her was a very real problem even though she knew he had seen the fear and confusion in her eyes.
Thinking about it now that her mind seemed to be a little more clearer, much clearer than it had been for some time, she realized he had been keeping much from her. Some he had explained in simple terms but always she had felt he was fully holding back. Only at that moment, she was not only clear headed, but she was seeing the situation they were in, was entirely because of her even though he never really gave her that impression. He had blamed himself and tried to put the blame on himself.
Watching as he bent over a man he called uncle and the way his face seemed to crumble in sadness at the wounds he had sustained, also gave Su Su a little more insight into what he had given up for her. This man was his family, in fact all three of them were people he had known before her and seemed to care about deeply and that saddened her just thinking about it. That he would go to so much trouble to remain at her side while giving up the people who cared enough to come looking for him, only began to increase the belief that she was perhaps more of a hindrance to him and his family.
And that had her looking at Cheng Yu. Ci Hang had mentioned that she too was now in trouble and perhaps also his uncle. She saw it clearly then. Only, remaining at their side just to help her with the baby, was not the truth, but he was also protecting her as well and it only increased her fear for them all. Ye Hua was taking on far too much and the people he loved were in trouble because of it and all because of her, she thought to herself as she watched her husband give his uncle what looked to be a soft glow of energy from his hand.
Her mind was far less muddled than it had been, and in that brief moment she had also begun to realize that she herself had not questioned the many incidences and conversations that they'd had. Or even the decisions he had made on her behalf while completely caving in. It was also then, that she realized how weak her thought process had been up until then, because surely anyone with the suspicions that she'd had then, would have questioned them thoroughly.
But as Ye Hua helped his uncle to his feet to help him out of the room with Cheng Yu clutching at his hand as if he would disappear, Su Sus eyes then meandered towards Ci Hang who was not watching them at all, but his eyes were solely on her.
Normally Su Su would have lowered her eyes. Her demeanor until that moment had been gentle and demure. She would never have dreamed of maintaining eye contact. She would have smiled in embarrassment, lowered her eyes and blushed at being caught staring, only she did none of those things. Instead she stared straight back and for a moment Ci Hang did not see the Mortal, he was looking at the Disciple.
There was a definite air of arrogance in that look and if he wasn't mistaken, he believed then, that the seal was not complete, in fact he had a very strong suspicion, that the woman was stuck in between her true form and the Mortal one.
This will be interesting, he thought to himself, having read much about this Disciple and the kind of recklessness and at times outrageous behaviour that endlessly brought trouble to Kunlun Mountain, filled the archives. Though exceptionally ill tempered and too often naughty, he did not feel malice coming from that stare, but rather a tinge of uncertainty and also a sense of helplessness hidden behind the arrogance.
"We will talk in time. Prepare to leave." he said softly giving her a small nod of his head.
Then as if a switch had suddenly flipped in her mind, he saw the Mortal once again fall back into place. Her face flushed red, her eyes lowered and her entire body seemed to wither demurely before his eyes.
Watching as she turned and walked away, Ci Hang knew his meeting with her would certainly be very interesting. Then slowly leaving the room to follow, assuming that Ye Hua had an alternative home to run to, he gathered with them at the door.
"Do you have the means to begin again?" he asked looking at Ye Hua who was preparing to destroy what was not needed to take with them in order to leave the house exactly as it was when they arrived.
"I do." he replied as his arm enveloped Su Sus shoulders protectively.
Then with a small flick of his wrist, not only was the house on Mount Jun Ji left in the same condition that Haode had left it, but all five, including the baby found themselves in a large spacious, fully decorated cave overlooking the ocean somewhere in the Mortal Realm and fully enveloped in a barrier that no one but a few would be able to break through.