On a cloud with Feng Jiu and Zhe Yan, Mo Yuan quickly learned to tune out around this little girl. Her mouth never stopped moving from the moment she left Kunlun Mountain, though she did request permission to return from Zhe Yan to escort Donghua back to the Celestial Heavens once she had shown her face in Qing Qiu. Though one confused look at Zhe Yan, had Mo Yuan realizing that this too was one more thing he had yet to learn of and it didn't take much of a genius to figure out that the two were in some kind of relationship going by the way she raced back into the Hall to inform him of her return to Qing Qiu. Di Jun may have given her that well worn blank look that Mo Yuan remembered well, but for a second he thought he'd seen the mans eyes swirl as she turned and ran back towards him.
For a while, he had listened to her chatter. It seemed as if her Aunt had been keeping herself very busy since sealing Qing Cang back into Bell of East Emperor. From what he could gather from the somewhat garbled babble coming from the girls mouth as she jumped about on the cloud, Queen Bai Qian was in the process of creating an Army and from what Feng Jiu was suggesting, the Army was not only enormous, but she was making quite a name for herself.
As the woman who had saved the entire world from that man, she was not only known as The Queen of Qing Qiu, but also Gu Gu. No woman in his entire life had ever earned that title not even his mother and that soon had the pride rising. She was most certainly living up to every expectation he'd once had for her. Only the thought of her running an entire army soon had his mind once again going back to that valley of flowers.
She was never a subtle girl, no matter what mischief she got up to, she always got caught because she had no idea how to do anything without giving herself away. Whether it was the soft giggling that erupted moments before a prank, or the way her head would swivel in every direction just moments before she flew off the mountain for the low valleys for a moment of girl time, which is what he used to call it.
Only this time, she had taken a sword with her and being such an unpredictable girl, he was immediately concerned. Following her into the low valleys where she once again headed straight for the flowers which seemed to be the only place she loved to visit, he once again raised a barrier to watch her. It had been over five hundred years since he had last seen her frolicking in her true form, and it showed. She had grown even more beautiful and her dancing had also improved and for a while he watched faschinated with her agility. The leaps and twirls had become more complex over the years, and because she had grown taller and filled out a little more, he began to see the blossoming of a young girl on the verge of becoming a woman.
Her large doe like eyes were far more expressive and to his mind sparkling as she suddenly came to a halt in the middle of her dance. Then watching as a brilliant smile broke out across her face moments before she lowered herself into a perfect curtsy, he couldn't help but smile. Then just as suddenly a sweet shy smile of her own flickered as she coyly side glanced at an invisible suitor she was imagining in her mind. And it was at that moment that Mo Yuan realized that she was actually of marriagable age and had obviously been dwelling it, because no sooner was she batting her eyelids at her make believe companion, she was once again twirling about in the flowers which she was collecting.
Eventually her dance came to an end when she offered the flowers to whoever it was she was envisioning in her mind only he almost laughed audibly when her face tilted upwards and her lips pursed as if waiting to be kissed. In many ways, he saw her as the little girl that had arrived on his mountain almost a thousand years earlier, yet it was clearly obvious that her mind was moving into adult thoughts. He would have dwelled on that a little longer, only the sudden flash of light that hit the valleys moments before she was sent toppling onto her bottom by a flay of silver and blue tails that just as quickly transformed into a young man, almost had him on his feet and ready to attack.
But one look at the face, and then at hers, which was caught between a smile and a grimace, soon had him realizing that he knew him
"Hey idiot. Did you forget I was coming today?" the young man asked as Mo Yuan honed in on his energy, and it took only a few seconds for him to understand who he was.
"Si Ge!" she cried out as she was roughly pulled to her feet and dragged into his arms for a hug. "I didn't forget, I brought my sword." she laughed as he pushed her back to look at her.
"You are looking well, this place seems to suit you." he smiled affectionately her.
"We don't have much time, Shifu will send Zi Lan to come looking for me soon." she replied as the sword he had seen her take from the armoury materialized.
"Then lets get moving, I have to help Zhe Yan with his wine and he doesn't know I'm here." he said as a flash of mischief Mo Yuan thought no one else but her could achieve, flared through his eyes.
And in a second he was somersaulting over her head where his own sword materialized. Then bringing it down towards her form which was just as quickly ducking out of the way, she barely got her sword raised to block the intial strike and what looked to be a form of weapons training which Mo Yuan was unaware that she was receiving from her brother.
He did not look to be much older than her, but the skills he had were impressive even by a War Gods standards and had he not been observing behind an invisibility barrier, he might have joined them. But what had him very excited was the level of skill that she had. In all the time that she'd been his Disciple, not once had she shown his what she was capable of.
Though she did seem to enjoy weapons training, he realized she had only ever shown him enough to pass her tests and nothing more and he wondered why. If she had shown him that she was far more talented than she was letting on, then he would have moved her up a level or two, only she was barely managing to keep herself from failing.
Only the longer he watched as her battle with her brother, then he realized that the dancing he had just observed was in effect the same agile moves she was utilizing as they danced a sword dance over the tips of the flowers. Every single dance move he had just watched her perform were now being utlized in a much different way. The same high kicks and twirls were in full display only this time she had sword in her hand, but what made the dance so beautiful was the battle itself as her brother matched every single strike and high kick with his own.
They continued their battle until eventually the bell for dinner rang out and Bai Zhen prepared himself to leave.
"Si Ge. You promised to teach me some of the Fox Clans magic with this dance routine but its been hundreds of years, and I haven't even learned one." she groaned breathlessly as they both rested to catch their breaths.
And it was then that Mo Yuan was made aware of her training under her brother, training in Fox Clan battle and magical skills which he had no idea she was receiving. Initally he was a little offended that the boy would dare to train his own Disciple on his own Mountain, but on reflection, he saw it as an advantage. After all she would one day rule over Qing Qiu, and knowing their own battle strategies and magic was not something he could deny her. In the end, he continued to observe her growth under her brothers strict training, while giving himself only what she needed to.
Now on a cloud and heading to Qing Qiu with Feng Jiu and Zhe Yan, he couldn't help but wonder just how much her skills had grown in his absence and the moment The Blue Mountain range of Qing Qiu came into view the excitement in his eyes flickered briefly before he quickly drew it back in.
Only Zhe Yan noticed and suddenly he began to feel very nervous. He had tried his best to explain the changes she had gone through, and though he had also informed him of her ascension to High Goddess, he had not gone into detail, because she had made it very clear that it was over and not up for discussion. She had told him a little of what had happened, but she refused point blank to tell him who had taken her eyes and nor would she go and get them. She wanted to leave it in the past where it belonged, though he had suspicions.
Now entering the main entrance where Mi Gu was there to greet them, Feng Jiu ran on ahead to let them know of Mo Yuans arrival.
"Is Xiao Wu in the den?" Zhe Yan asked as Mo Yuan examined the tree sprite with interest.
He had known of Mi Gu before he had died and it seemed that the sprite was doing very well for himself. His cultivation was growing and in time he would have enough to enter Mortal Trials in order to shed his Earthly form and move up the ranks as a higher being.
Looking up at the sky, the sprite sniffed up at the sky with a shake of his head.
"Its not mid afternoon, she won't be back from the training grounds until dinner time." he smiled at them both before quickly ducking his head into a reverent bow at Mo Yuan.
"Then we go there." Mo Yuan said with a brief nod of acknowledgement before turning to Zhe Yan to lead the way.
Mo Yuan!" a soft voice called from the Dens entrance way and stilling his steps just as Zhe Yan was about to lead him out again.
"Zhi Zhi." he smiled affectionately at her. Bai Qians mother was a very close friend and for a few seconds he admired her loveliness even in her older age. She was still as beautiful as he remembered her to be.
"What are you doing here, you should be resting." she chided him softly before opening her arms for a quick embrace, one that surprised him because she never embraced him in the past, but seeing the tears in her eyes, he gathered it was the emotions that had his own arms opening and embracing her back.
"I take it you have come to visit Qian Qian?" she asked with the same smile on her face as she released him, only there was something in her soft gaze that had him nodding his head slowly.
"Well, as Mi Gu has no doubt informed you, she is currently on the training grounds where you will find her most days training her soldiers. Why not come in for tea and a chat." she suggested before taking his arm and pulling him towards the den.
"There is no need to go to any trouble on my account Zhi Zhi, I am not staying long, I only came for a short visit." he protested only the soft look in her eyes soon had him conceding and seeing as Zhe Yan was not only to protest on his behalf he had to assume that she wanted to speak to him before he saw her daughter.
"You know Mo Yuan, she has let Kunlun Mountain go. She stopped talking about you and her Disciple brothers not long after you left for the Chaos." she said softly as he was led to the main den to sit while Mi Gu rushed off to assist Feng Jiu only to find that she had disappeared the moment she had entered the den.
The compassion in her eyes mingled with embarrassment at having been the one there to meet him rather than her daughter. The pain in his eyes was all too obvious, he had never held back on his feelings and emotions with this woman because she had a knack of stripping away the barrier he wore for everyone else anyway.
"I understand that, however, I merely wanted to visit with her, see how she is getting along and of course see this army of hers, after all Qing Qiu has never had an army before." he said keeping the smile on his face even though his brows had begun to furrow with concern that she might prevent it.
"Then you must understand, that Qian Qian rarely sees visitors, even those she had once known. She is fully immersed in this army of hers and has little time for anything else." she warned him gently.
And it was a warning, because she could already see the disappointment gathering in his eyes. He may not have said much when the girl was younger, but they all had strong suspicions that he had feelings for her. Of course they understood why he had chosen to keep them to himself, but no Shifu would ever take the lightning bolts for his student no matter how naughty or unprepared they were unless they loved them.
And in her mind, no Nine Tailed Fox would give away senventy thousands years of heart blood for a Shifu no matter how revered they were unless love was involved. And seeing the way she had all but cut the world out of her life after his death, said she had been in love with him too. Only time had moved on and so had she. Her daughter was no longer that little girl, her heart was closed to all men, she made this clear that she would not accept any marriage proposals from anyone regardless of who they were, and once she made a decision, that was the end of it. So in her own way, The Empress tried to convey this to him, without spelling it out.
But Mo Yuan was adamant that he would see her at least once and then return to his Mountain before going into seclusion.
"We will not waste any more of your time, I wish to see her." he said firmly before rising along with Zhe Yan who nodded his head sadly because like the Empress, he too knew the kind of welcome he was going to get, but he had to see it for himself.
And so he found himself on the outskirts of the training grounds which Zhe Yan informed him she had created herself. And one look at the row of tents on one side and the battle grounds spread out as far as the eye could see on the other, soon had his heart firing in astonishment. All of them were in use. Some of her people were sword training, while others were racing through what looked to be an obstacle course which rivaled even the Celestials, and on the others he could see archery targets with arrows in the air and hitting their centers, and even horses being put through training, but it was her that his eyes finally rested on when shhe eventually came into view.
Heading straight for them, the figure dressed in white and on a pure black horse with her hair flying in the wind behind her, suddenly brought on another memory only he had no real time to dwell on it, because no sooner was he aware of her, then she was almost on them.
From that distance, he could definitely see how much she had grown. Beautiful beyond imagination, he stood stock still as if in a dream until eventually she pulled her horse to a halt and slowly slid off its back to stare up at him.
"High God Mo Yuan. I heard you had returned. You are looking well." she said in a tone that almost matched the colour of her gown. It was cordial enough and the way her hands raised to bow politely showed the respect that he was entitled to, but that was all she gave him. There was no warmth, no smile, not even recognition of her time under him. It was a strangers greeting and suddenly he understood what her mother meant, but he was not there for a stranger.
"Your gift has ensured that I am well Seventeen." he replied smiling at her. The soft doe like eyes seemed to take up most of her face, they were always beautiful, but now they were stunning. He always knew she would be beautiful like her mother, and for years he thought her mother would never know an equal, but looking at her daughter whos eyes suddenly narrowed in on him while the soft pink lips thinned out, he couldn't help but think how lovely she looked. It was little wonder she was the worlds most sought after marriage alliance and not just for her wealth, but no man in his right mind would be able to pass her by and not take a second glance.
The reference to the heart blood, came as a shock that he would mention it so openly. They were not exactly in a private area so could be overheard, but the reference to her Disciple placement soon had her defences rising.
"Kindly refer to me as Queen Bai Qian High God Mo Yuan. There is no longer a need for past titles." she informed him curtly before turning her head to look back.
"Of course. But I came to ask when you plan on coming back to Kunlun Mountain. Your brothers have searched for you ever since you left, they would like to see you again." he said and this time a little more forcefully while hoping that mentioning them, might get the girl to come home where he believed she belonged, even if it was just a visit.
"I am sure my brothers know where to find me..." she replied coldly and in reference to her blood brothers rather than his Disciples..... and as you can see, I am busy. However, please feel free to wander about the training grounds, I am sure you will find it to your liking." she said stiffly, before calling her horse towards her.
"Seventeen. I may have died but I came back. Please consider returning to Kunlun Mountain. Your place as Seventeenth Disciple is still active until I say otherwise." Mo Yuans tone suddenly darkened as she threw herself on top of her horse while at the same time ending the visit as coldly as it began.
Suddenly the air chilled as her eyes glazed over.
"Thank you for the visit High God Mo Yuan, however my place on your Mountain ended seventy thousand years ago. Kindly see yourself out." she said without a hint of expression in those once soft brown eyes that were now pooling to a deep dark swirl of jet black ink before she slowly turned her horse around and left him standing at the entrance staring blankly after her.