"Lady Le Xu?" Su Sus voice whispered softly into the light green flare of light that erupted the moment contact was made.
"Who is this?" the same tight voice asked and this time a little louder.
"lady Le Xu, I am Su Su." she said while measuring her words very carefully.
"Where is Ye Hua? Why have you got his mirror? Who are you?" the voice suddenly became angry and not so softly spoken and suddenly she became nervous, because she just wanted to tell her that he was alright and to stop crying.
The voice had told her that she cried every day for her son that she loved very much and being a mother herself, she could only imagine how terrible it must be to lose ones only child. The thought was so distressing to Su Su that she just wanted to reach out, one mother to another and put the womans fears to rest.
"I am Ye Huas wife Su Su. I just wanted you to know that he is alright and you will see him again." Su Sus soft voice replied before the tears began to roll down her face.
The ensuing silence was a long one and for a moment, Su Su thought she had gone. But the sudden sound of crying soon had her clutching the mirror to her chest in the hope that his mother might feel her heart breaking for her too.
"My son is dead. Why are you doing this? Leave me alone." the soft choking voice whispered back at her and making her cry even harder.
"I'm so sorry. I just wanted you to know that he is well and you will see him again. Please don't cry." her own whispered choking gasp replied and now wishing she had never picked up the mirror because the crying on the other end was so heartbreaking that Su Su could not bear to listen to it.
"My beautiful son would never hurt me like this. What you are doing is evil and I don't deserve it. He is gone and all I have left is a few precious memories until I can join him." the unstable voice of his mother bit back before the light green energy died and the connection was lost.
Sobbing, Su Su collapsed onto the bed and wept. That Ye Hua had wanted to be with her for the sake of their son was one thing, but to leave his own mother heart broken, and having heard her voice and mournful sobbing for herself, Su Su just couldn't accept it and all she could do was cry bitterly, because it was the final proof she needed to know the voice had been right all along.
___
Somewhere....
Putting the mirror into her inner pocket, Su Jin wiped the tears from her eyes and burst into full belly laughter. It had been so easy to pull the tears out and force herself to cry and having an enormous amount of cultivation and added power, she could also disguise her voice and having spent her entire life beside Ye Huas mother, she knew absolutely everything about her, right down to what she would have said had she actually been the one to answer Su Sus call.
She had initially thought Su Su would cave after just a few dream state visits, but as the weeks rolled by and Su Su adamantly refused to leave the cave with her, which she could not force without notifying Ye Hua or worse, their son, she had come up with the brilliant plan of stealing Lady Le Xus mirror because she knew that Ye Hua had taken his own mirror back and given it to Su Su. She had seen her with it.
Everyone knew Le Xu spoke to Ye Hua through it when he was little, it was the only way she could talk to him so he would know her voice. And though Su Jin was positive that Ye Hua never answered her, she knew it affected him greatly, in that he always smiled a little more afterwards, especially when she sang songs to him, which she would sometimes hear him humming during the day.
Now entering the cave having been outside sitting under a tree, she found Su Su curled up in a ball crying on her bed like the pathetic little nothing that she was and the urge to keep it going had her sitting on the bed beside her to continue the whispering that attacked Su Su day and night.
"Su Su. Why are you crying?" her soft voice asked while ensuring to inflict as much sadness into her tone as possible.
"Please leave me alone." Su Su jumped as her head spun in all directions hoping just once to see who was talking to her, because as yet, she had no face to the voice.
"I can't do that. If you come back with me to the Nine Heavens, Ye Hua will be able to return where he belongs, and his poor distraught mother will no longer cry. She mourns for him everyday Su Su and only you can ease her tears." Su Jin whispered pleadingly and every ounce of gentleness that she could muster.
Shaking her head, Su Sus lips thinned. It was Er Lis birthday in just two days time, and she was not going to miss it and nor could she just up and leave, Ye Hua would chase after her and they would all be caught, she just couldn't no matter how terribly sad she felt for his mother.
"No. Ye Hua will be back soon, please leave me alone." she cried before once again curling up into a tight ball to block the voice out.
"I'm afraid I cannot do that Su Su. Ye Hua is to be my husband, his Grandfather has already promised him to me. He needs to come home."
"But we are already married." Su Su whimpered back even though she really didn't want to answer, she had to make it clear to this woman that Ye Hua was her husband.
"And I already explained to you. Under the laws of the Celestial Heavens, a Mortal Marriage is not legal and seeing as you are also Si Yin, a girl who is a wanted fugitive, you marriage is still illegal and if you don't return to our own world Su Su, not only will you die when his Grandfather catches you, which he will, Er Li will die, because he is deemed unfit to be an heir to the Throne and therefore unfit to live."
"However, if you return willingly, your punishment might be painful, but Lord Pua will spare your sons life. It is the only saving grace he has to keep him safe, and I promise you Su Su, as Ye Huas legitimate wife, I will ensure that Er Li is kept safe and no harm will come to him." Su Jin countered strongly before rising to her feet.
Then leaning down over the quivering girl before she could come up with any more excuses, Su Hin took a firm hold of her arm and tried to force her off the bed.
Instantly Su Sus mind went blank. For weeks on end she had been hearing this voice in her head. In her dreams mainly, but occasionally in the day, and for weeks on end she had been fighting against the voice in her head by continuously telling herself that the voice wasn't real, that it was a figment of her imagination, that her mind made it up because she was literally a prisoner in a cave she could not escape from without help. In her mind, she imagined she had created the voice because she had no friends other than the ones she shared the cave with until she became so confused and exhausted from lack of sleep that she barely got through each day but the moment that hand touched her arm, something in Su Sus mind snapped.
Screaming, her entire body flew off the bed. Suddenly that voice just became a real person, not one she had created in her head and suddenly she no longer wanted to be there. The tears were raining down her face as she fled her chamber in fear and confusion. Gasping for breath between the screams of terror, she was blinded and winded but she struggled as hard as she could to get away from that voice.
"YE HUA! Su Su screamed as she raced towards the entrance only to hit the enormous barrier which threw her heavily back into the main den. The blood curdling screams erupting from her small frail form was terrifying even to herself because the fear was so real, but she couldn't stop, she was beyond terrified and through the screaming, that voice continued to talk softly and gently into her head.
"Don't fight it Su Su. I know you love Ye Hua, but if you come back now, you might still be able to take a place in his Harem, you can still be his wife." Su Jin whispered into her mind while slowly making her way towards the woman who was now on her feet and running back towards the barrier only to be slammed back again.
"You know. I can just take you, but it will be much easier of come willingly Su Su because you'll seriously hurt yourself if you throw your weak Mortal body at that barrier." Su Jin crooned softly and all the while the smirk on her face grew as the Mortal continued to scream.
Screaming Ye Huas name over and over again while continuously trying to break through the barrier to get away from that voice, she initially didn't see the sudden flash of light that flew passed her face. All she felt as her body fell back yet again was a hand gripping her arm but the sudden booming voice that yelled out as another flash of light hit, soon had her small body pulled up into the air and into a pair of arms she finally recognized as Ye Huas.
"BAD!" Er Li screamed as yet another jet of energy flew past her and directly towards the barrier where a wavelet of air rushed through it and collapsing his barrier in the process.
Choking and gasping for air, Su Su clung tightly to Ye Hua who was not only storming them both towards the entrance, but the anger he had reached was beyond anything Lian Song had ever seen. Only one look at Er Li, soon had him throwing his barrier back up.
In the air and floating, Su Su not only missed a breath, but she fainted at the sight of her son hovering in the air and still throwing bursts of energy at his fathers barrier and all the while screaming at whatever had left.
"What the hell is going on?" Lian Songs voice yelled over the top of Cheng Yu who was yelling at Er Li to lower himself while Ye Hua stood rigidly in the entrance with Su Su wrapped tightly around him and out cold.
"We have to leave and now!" Ye Huas soft voice rasped out seethingly as he threw out a small amount of energy to force his son out of the air and into Cheng Yus outstretched arms before not only barking out orders for them all to prepare to leave within the hour, but he stormed both himself and Su Su into their chamber to begin packing.
His mind was in turmoil from what he had seen the moment they arrived. He had barely heard Su Sus screaming through the barrier but the moment he reached it, the sight of her face screwed up in agony, pain and fear along with the rivelet of air moving directly behind her had him instantly storming in to save her. He had no idea who was in there with her, but he felt the presence the moment he entered.
It had been the same presence he had felt last time, and one he was now certain was not friendly nor an ally. But to see Su Sus face in agony like that was not something he ever wanted to see again. He also knew that whoever had been there with her, had obviously followed them back but it would explain why she had been a little more subdued of late.
Of course he had tried to talk to her, but she always smiled and just told him she was tired, but he knew now that was far from the truth. Not only had she been undergoing a traumatic experience which she had not informed him about, but whoever that person was, wanted his wife dead which meant only one thing. They belonged to his Grandfather and that meant he knew where they were.
Wherever Di Jun and Ci Hang were, no longer mattered and nor did the order to remain matter either. Within the hour, they left the cave for a new destination, and this time one that belonged to Lian Song, a home that none knew of and one he had been thinking of taking Cheng Yu to, only he had been waiting for Di Jun to return.
In the middle of a cold winters night, and in the middle of lush farmland where nearby cattle would at times roam freely, they entered the sprawling wood cabin in fear and trepidation and in the hope they had not been followed.
_____
Stumbling away from the cave, Su Jin wiped the blood from her mouth before cloud jumping back to the Nine Heavens. Injured from Er Lis direct hits of which she took four before she was able to escape, Su Jins anger was seething to boiling point. She knew she almost had her, but her mind was not on Su Su at that moment, but the baby.
He had seen straight though her barrier, and had looked her dead in the eye and for a mere baby not even a Mortal year old, his energy was extraordinaryly powerful. Too powerful she thought to herself before a sudden smile rose.
"If he has taken on some of this energy, then I can track him" she giggled now that she had something positive to cling to. "I also have the mirror..." she whispered as she made her way past Taichen Palace, only to stop briefly to stare in.
Then giggling softly as she walked away, she realized that not only did she have a direct link to Ye Hua no matter where they were, but Ci Hang was still stuck in Di Juns archives.