In her chamber back in Qing Qiu, she tried not to think too deeply about what she was about to do. She had briefly discussed it with Mo Yuan and having left him not long after she was soon preparing herself to flee again and this time covertly, because if her family knew what she was about to do, they would absolutely prevent it. In fact, her father and even her mother would take the task off her and do it themselves.
Which is the main reason why she had taken Er Li off Kunlun mountain and brought him home because she knew her parents would be far too occupied with their grandchild rather than the pinched look on her face as she steeled herself for what was coming.
Mo Yuan had absolutely forbidden her from attempting the next part of Ye Huas revival, and instead had insisted on doing it himself, seeing as he had cultivated enough energy over the past few thousand years specifically for this purpose because if anyone knew what needed to be done once Ye Huas soul had reached a certain stage, as well as the amount of cultivation he would need, it was him.
He might be the Heavenly Fathers son, but no one was exempt from taking what he had placed under permanent guard, not even him. And having returned with near depleted cultivation to the point of collapse, he fully fed his body the divine energy of Kunlun Mountain to not only take on those beasts, but he was also planning on using what was left to create the elixir.
And cultivation was the key to gaining the Fungal Grass. Too many had died because they had not prepared themselves before hand. The beasts were the only living creatures known to be exceptionally powerful in both magic and strength. Only those with exceptionally high cultivation and knowledge of the beasts would be able to battle them successfully and to date, no one had or at least not that he was aware of.
And after a tense standoff, she verbally agreed to stand back and let him, only she had also reverted to a childhood practice of crossing her fingers behind her back. A promise wasn't valid if your fingers were crossed and no sooner had she left Kunlun Mountain, then she immediately prepared herself to leave again with or without her Shifus permission. Because one sacrifice was more than enough for any man, she was not going to let him do it again.
In fact, she herself had tasked Er Li with one final chore. He was to keep her parents occupied by being as cute and endearing as possible without actually telling him why. Though it wasn't really all that difficult because he was such an adorable little boy who merely had to smile and his grandmother was all over him. And if she smiled, then his Grandfather was also enamoured and no sooner was he back in the den, then he quickly set about throwing himself into their arms before regaling them all manner of mischief he had managed to get himself into when the Master of Kunlun Mountain wasn't looking.
Listening to the laughter from her chamber, Bai Qian took a few moments to allow herself a little pleasure from it too. She rarely got to hear him laugh because he was normally such a serious child, much like his father had been when he was little and though their lives were worlds apart, this was one aspect of Ye Huas nature that their son had inherited and of course, being taught under the Grand Master himself, he had learned to control his rather childish tendencies quite young, though the Disciples kept him grounded by allowing him all the freedom he wanted while with them.
And it was her Disciple brothers her mind then briefly moved to. She had seriously considered requesting Die Feng and Chang Shans assistance, because as much as she wanted to do everything for herself, this was one task that she knew she might not be able to accomplish on her own. But in the end, she decided against it, after all, the last thing she wanted to give Ye Hua on his return was a life debt that he had no say in.
She had plenty of cultivation and she certainly had the confidence in her abilities, but still, those beasts belonged to Heaven and contain half of The Heavenly Fathers cultivation, so she wasn't that stupid as to think it would an easy walk in. Not having sat with Mo Yuan for several hours learning everything she could about them.
Though her one question had gone unanswered. And that was why the fungal grass wasn't just destroyed rather than left under the protection of four beasts that would only draw the brave and stupid to try their luck which is exactly what had happened. Thousands of lives had been lost to those beasts in the hope that the fungal grass could be won. Whether for legitimate reasons, or just for the thrill of being able to beat them.
And it went unanswered because Mo Yuan couldn't answer it. It joined one more list of long questions as to why such things existed in their world and none more so than Zhutian Terrace and even the Bell of East Emperor.
But her mind eventually settled on Ye Hua and it was there that it stayed as she quietly slipped out the front entrance with the excuse of getttng a little fresh air. She went unnoticed because her parents were fully enraptured by Er Lis tales of fun filled days on Kunlun Mountain, in fact, not even Mi Gu noticed her leave having also lost himself to the childs happy laughter, though had he looked up seconds before she passed through the entrance, he would have noticed the battle armour that briefly came into view as the hem of her dress flicked up as she turned the corner.
Passing through the main entrance without anything to delay her, she was then on a cloud and heading for Yingzhou island where the Heavenly beasts had been in seclusion since the death of Mo Yuan and Ye Huas father. It was mid afternoon and though the sun was shining, the mists still hung heavily in the air which only increased her apprehension as she landed as silently as possible.
Though her foot falls echoed loudly off the stone strewn beach and instantly killing the deathly silence that met her. She imagined those beasts could even hear her fear as she made her way towards the only cave on the island which suprisingly had a set of steps built into the entrance way, as if purposely provoking anyone stupid enough to visit.
She could not see them from outside the cave, but she could certainly feel them. Their energy was so powerful that she could feel herself choking on it the closer to them she got and she knew that if she didn't calm herself down, she was as good as dead.
Allowing herself a few minutes of deep breathing and quiet contemplation on the reason why she was there, she then took one long drawn out breath before proceeding up the steps and onto the short platform before delving to the left. She didn't have much time owing her, because she knew that Shifu would not be far away. Having left him to gather the soul lamp as well as Ye Huas body before he made his way to Yingzhou Island for the fungal grass, she wasted no more time thinking.
Instead she allowed the fear to sit comfortably in the pit of her stomach. This was a war strategy lesson she had been taught under her Shifu. In fact, the old war lessons were coming back thick and fast. Being fearless was not what won battles, rather it was knowing how to utilize the fear that would save her life. Fear forced every active sense to heighten. Sight, sound, touch, scent, they were all opened along with her inner fox energy which allowed her to see in the dark. To enter any war without fear, one became reckless and made mistakes. And fear was what she had a very healthy dose of which she was still pushing down into her belly when the first rumbling from the cave hit her.
She knew there was a magical boundary that kept them inside the cave, and though one could enter, the trick was staying alive long enough to leave again and no sooner had she passed over that boundary, then the rumbling sound suddenly began to shake the ground she was walking on.
Her heightened senses screamed out in agony while the fear in her belly grew stronger the closer she got to them, until eventually she not only found herself inside the main cavern which was barely lit, but two of the beasts were already in view as her sword erupted from her fan which she had thankfully been able to summon back to her having thought she had lost it.
Every little movement they made, she saw and felt and no sooner was her sword in full view, then she introduced herself.
"I am Queen Bai Qian of Qing Qiu and the Seventeenth Disciple of Kunlun Mountain. I am also the wife of Ye Hua, the Crown Prince of the Celestial Heavens and I have come for the fungal grass to save his life. Will you allow me to take it?" she asked in a clear and unbroken voice. One that suggested that she was not afraid of them and though it couldn't be further from the truth, her sword was at the ready while she waited for an answer.
The two in front of her Hundan and Qiongqi were at base level with her while the other two, Taowu and Taotie were still out of sight, but she could definitely feel them. She knew each one by name and that was because Mo Yuan had once given a lecture on each of their strengths and weaknesses. It was a lesson on the importance of utilizing your comrades strengths in war when yours failed which these beasts did.
Though she doubted even her mind could have imagined that she would one day be standing before these beasts while remembering that lecture that also taught her when to fight and when to run. And had she not been so terrified, she might have laughed at that thought. Only the way the two beasts seemed to be communicating with each other going by the thin slivers of energy that was passing between them, had her remaining stiffly facing them, while also covertly searching her surroundings for the fungal grass which grew in small pockets between the crevices of the dark grey rocks behind them.
Hundan was short, squat, winged and blind while Qiongqi was much leaner. But it was its tail she was focused on now as they seemed to have come to an agreement. On the tip were hundreds of tiny barbs surrounding one large hook that could shred a man to pieces with just one swipe and no sooner had the two began to take a step back, then the roar from the other two behind her had the two in front rushing at her.
And just as suddenly she was in the air and spinning as Taotie released a blaze of fire from behind and barely missing her. In that place, her fox ears were honed to perfection, she felt the two behind her edging in closer moments before the roar to attack hit and no sooner was she in the air, then Taowu, who was a two headed beast and the one who opened the attack, forced her spinning body back down with swipe of his clawed fists and straight towards Hundan the sightless.
Her sword was already flashing downwards as she landed heavily on her feet, only this beast was globulous in that it had form and shape but its body retracted all intrusions with ease. Her sword merely bounced off it before sending her flying into the wall behind her.
Injured already and barely maintaining her feet, the anger rose. This too was a weapon and one she had been taught to use to her advantage. Fear and anger mixed made a potent mixture and as the blood dribbled from her mouth and down her chin, her small frame once again took to spinning and leaping into the air while her sword flashed and flew at breakneck speed.
Whipping in behind her, Taoties form was enormous compared to hers, but its strengths lay solely in the two large pincers that erupted from beneath its wings. Physically it was strong too, but it was slow and not overly bright, in fact it relied heavily on its companions to send their prey to him and rather than wait around for that to happen, her sword instantly sliced through one of its large pincers before quickly ducking out from under its hefty feet and slashing at Qiongqis tail that whipped past her face and slicing across her left cheek.
She had no real battle strategy in mind, all she wanted was the fungal grass rather than any thoughts of killing these beasts. After all, they too were tasked with a duty that Heavenly Lord himself had given them, so her only aim was to push towards the back wall where a large tuft of fungal grass could be seen while her sword slashed and her body spun.
She knew she had injured them, because the stench of blood was in the air, which only heightened the adrenalin that was racing through her. She imagined that she might be one of the few to have lasted this long because it felt as if she had been in there for hours. And though every muscle was screaming at her to stop, the adrenalin continued to force her forward.
Nimble on her feet, she flew at the back wall time and time again while taking several hits to her body. Her gown was soaked through with both blood and sweat, but the moment she felt the soft hair of the fungal grass between her fingertips, then the feeling of victory hit as her sword slashed it straight out of the rocks and into her hands where she just as quickly magically hid it from view.
She wasn't sure if they had seen her uplift it, because they were all furiously spinning in a dizzying flash of fire, sword strikes and energy that was shaking every inch of the cave. Their roaring was reaching a deafening crescendo as she then raced back towards the entrance only to suddenly be thrown into the wall by a powerful hit from Taowu and barely missing a strike from Hundans wings which were razor sharp and venomous.
Screaming in agony, the pain was torturous and only added to the blood that was already seeping down her legs, but with only Ye Hua on her mind as she stumbled to her feet, she refused to give in, not now that she had the grass firmly in her possession. She was perhaps only a few yards away from escaping, but momentarily blinded by the hit, she forced her fox ears to take over while her sword continued to slash out in every direction.
And suddenly the pain exploded in her head as she felt herself being lifted. A flash of bright light was the last thing she saw. She thought she heard her name, but it is said that one hears their name called when death is near. She was saddened that it was going to end before she got to see his eyes open and that soft smile break across his face when he woke, but she had done all that she could, and performed one final duty to a husband who had risked it all for her alone. And as her body lost its weightiness, she allowed his face to fill her mind as the darkness then closed in.