25,000 Years later
Er Li was at that place again and continuing to struggle against a force that always left him feeling as if it would be his last time. He was tired of it, In the beginning, he had been so young and though he was not physically capable of doing much, or not as much as his spirit could, the excitement was what had kept him going. Finding one small tiny piece of his fathers soul really was like finding a needle in a haystack that was being whipped up by a tornado, and with each piece he found, he would shed a tear of happiness. It always felt as if he had achieved something enormously grand and each piece, he tenderly placed into the little pocket that his uncle had shown him how create.
It was an energy bubble attached to his soul, and over the years, he worked hard to find the pieces that he already had. His uncle Mo Yuan had told him that he was lucky that it was not the Chaos he was battling because it was bigger, and much more violent. And so for a very long time, he learned all manner of ways to protect himself.
Zhutian Terrace did not eat souls, but it did scatter them within where they were bound for all time. But they were at least contained, so it did make things easier. But only a little, because other soul pieces were attracted to Ye Huas glowing form. They shone brilliantly in that place, and initially Er Li had struggled to keep hold of them, because like the other pieces of souls, his was lost to the agony of being torn apart.
His father knew nothing of himself, he had no awareness at all, so Er Li had to do the thinking for him. In spirit form, there are no boundaries, so Er Li was on a par with his father in terms of strength, intelligence and energy, so he managed well enough. And when his uncle came out from his ten thousand year seclusion, he returned to help him. Though he told him that he was very impressed with what he had managed to achieve so far, because the little bubble was growing bigger.
And when he wasn't helping his father, he was either on Kunlun Mountain learning all manner of exciting things and filling his head with more and more knowledge, he was in Qing Qiu with his mother and free to be anyone or anything he wanted to be. She was much less strciter than his Uncle Mo Yuan, so of course he enjoyed his time at home, which is what he referred to Qing Qiu as.
And being the only dragon child among the other children his uncle Bai Zhen brought to play with him, he was also somewhat of a star. Though when his uncle Mo Yuan found out that he was erupting his pure white dragon form to entertain the other children, he was then put into dragon training, because in that form, Er Li was dangerous.
Many of the children were hurt by his tail and fire which he could not control, no matter how hard he tried to pull it in and just sit quietly so they could observe him. Instead his form would thrash and snarl and even bite when they got too close, and the sqeals of delight soon turned to terror when his fire would erupt at the sound. His hearing was far too highly tuned for one so young, which he had honed in Zhutian Tearrace, so their delightly squeals felt like thunder in his head which hurt like anything.
Bai Zhen and his mother were always there to pull him back in, but the older he got, the more difficult it became, until eventually Bai Qian was forced to seek help, and of course the only one who could, was her old Shifu, which she no longer addressed as such.
Only the day Mo Yuan arrived in Qing Qiu to observe the boy in his true form, he was forced to subdue minutes after he errupted and that was because, dragons did not do well around other dragons, especially untamed childish ones. Er Li sensed Mo Yuans inner dragon the moment he erupted and instantly he tried to attack it.
Snarling, biting and throwing fire in all directions, Mo Yuan could see for himself that this child would one day be powerful. At just a few hundred years of age, he was already showing signs of great strength and with his higher energy on top, he would be deadly. So not only did he smack the little snout that had managed to get its teeth wrapped around his ankle which he was trying to chew, he was forced out of Dragon form in an second
Only the moment he was forced back into human form, then Er Li was bouncing up into his feet and pulling on Mo Yuans robes to get at his pocket.
"Yum Yum!" He squealed as his hand dove inside to find the little candies that his uncle always carried with him. And no sooner was he happily sucking on the three that he found, then Mo Yuan was carrying him back to Kunlun Mountain to begin training him.
That had been thousands of years before, now at twenty five thousand years of age, he was much taller, in control of himself and far more powerful than the Disciples who not only treated him as a little brother and therefore family, but Er Li managed well enough without his father. He had his uncles to go to, he had his mother who was always there to fill his head with his fathers wonderful deeds and of course he had the Master of Kunlun who took over his training.
In all, his little life was full and busy and he never lacked for anything, especially attention, because like his mother, he loved to be loved, and he really was. Only he never really understood why he was not allowed to visit the Nine Heavens. He had learned that those people were his family too, but his Qing Qiu family forbade them from claiming him, and they outright declined all attempts to even visit with Er Li.
So he only knew the people his mother would allow him to know while growing up in a world that he was learning was not always as kindly as the life he had. Through his mother, he learned what had happened to his father, why he had been sentence to lightening bolt punishment and why he then had to die.
And this only increased Er Lis desire to set him free and bring him home. And for one reason.
The memories he had of his father, were vague and distant. Pictures were like shadows in the night, conversations were whispers on the wind, they were fragmented and distorted, so he never could get a clear memory of him in his head. Time had moved on and his memories faded, but his mother never forgot. It was for her, that he continued assist a man he barely remembered, and that was solely to end her tears.
She cried constantly when she thought no one was looking. She cried in the day, and she cried at night. She even awoke crying, but always for him, there were smiles, her eyes lit up when he came home, and she had endless and bountiful amounts of love to lavish on him, but in all the years he had lived, he had never ever seen her eyes completely filled with laughter. There was always that deep sadness hovering at the edges. He may have been young and inexperienced when it came to adult love, but he understood the deep hole his father had left on her heart, because it was always there to see if one cared enough to look, no matter how bright her smiles were for him.
And so he continued to find the pieces, just to take the slight droop of her eyes and turn them upwards. It was his only incentive which no one else knew about, not even her. He loved her immensely, and he knew that she loved him, but when it came to his father, some things were unspeakable, especially the pain he had left her with. They never talked of that day when he left, or the funeral that followed, but Er Li learned of it from Die Feng who never lied, and never hid truths from him, because unlike his mother who only wanted to protect him, Die Feng saw no need for it, not when the child would one day be called upon to take his fathers place, which he knew well enough would happen.
And so from Die Feng, he learned of what had happened to his body after his Great Grandfather had rescued him, how his Grandfather had refused to allow his body to be cared fro properly and what his Uncle Mo Yuan had done when he found out.
Not only had he stormed the Nine Heavens to take over the funeral, but he physcially threw Yang Cuo across the Hall when he tried to stop him. The damage to his Grandfather had been swift and almost lethal. In fact, Die Feng had told him that had Ci Hang and Lord Pua not been there, there could have been two funerals that day.
And not only did his Uncle Mo Yuan severely berate the rest of the family including Ye Huas mother and two uncles, he ordered them all to punished after the funeral for desecration of a body which was a law that pertained solely to war, but the way his Uncle Mo Yuan had worded it, Lord Pua was left with no choice but to do accept the order, because even he was disgusted in what was takeing place. Only it never occurred to him to use an obscure law like that one and no sooner ws Mo Yuan firmly in place as the over all authority of the funeral, then the rest of it ran smoothly.
His father was then buried in the Sea of Innocence the very next day and with his body fully healed of all wounds which his Uncle Mo Yuan dealt to himself. Only his mother and himself were absent, because his mother had been forced into a deep sleep which she was unable to wake from. Die Feng told him that it had taken her almost two months to break free, and when she finally did awaken, the agony of learning that she had missed the funeral almost sent her back to sleep again. Only the arrival of himself, had her slowly reentering the world of the living.
Now twenty Five thousand years later, Er Li was once again in that place. He began as he always did, and that was to close his mind off from everything and every other soul piece but his fathers, before strengthening his inner barriers. Then quietly and without fuss, he began to seek out the tiny golden flecks of light, that the other soul pieces fought harder to hide. o Only this time, something felt much different and for a while he was unsure as to what he was feeling. The Soul Pieces felt far more peaceful than normal, they felt easier to manage. And it wasn't until he had found three more, that he realized that they were no longer fighting against him.
And it was then that Er Lis excitement began to rise.
"Finally. You are with me......" he cried as his small body flew deeper into that madness to search harder and longer than he had ever done before.
He had no idea how long he had been there, but the sudden arrival of Mo Yuans energy, had him quickly racing towards him. Mo Yuans spirit was just as radiant as his brothers and the closer Er Li got to him, the more Mo Yuan could see how very close he was to completing a mission he had thought would take a little longer.
"Return to Kunlun Mountain. We have work to do." he whispered softly at the boy who did not need to be told twice. He knew exactly what was happening, and with his uncle there to assist him and his father, Er Li did as ordered.
It was where is body was still lying in sleep and where Die Feng and Chang Shan came into view the moment he awoke.
"Thank the the Heavens! You're finally awake." Chang Shan exclaimed in a rush of excitement.
"Fetch his mother." Die Feng ordered before quickly lowering himself to the boy to check him over.
Unknown to Er Li, he had been in a semi unconscious state for almost two weeks and no one had been able to wake him, not even Mo Yuan who had eventually left to pull him out, only he it had taken him just as much to time to find the boy, because he had gone deeper into that chaos than what even he considered safe.
Er Lis excitement at the change in his fathers soul pieces had seen him go in too deeply and though he had been more than safe, the Disciples had become worried after day two that they had all immediately thought he had bcome ill.
Now racing into his chamber, Bai Qian flew to lower herself to his side as Mo Yuan also entered.
"Prepare him a meal and something to drink." he ordered before ushering the Disciples out and raising a barrier.
"Er Li........" Bai Qian cried softly as she gently drew him up into her arms.
Lowering himself to her side, Mo Yuan just as gently placed his arm about her shoulders while furtively looking the child over. To his eyes he looked to be alright, but that excitement he had felt when their souls met, suggested that Er Li was already aware of what was happening and it was then that Mo Yuan carefully and slowly explained to her that not only had her son succeeded in a mission that should have taken him much longer, but her husband was coming back.