On a cloud and heading towards a distant peak, he said nothing to her as his arms fully enveloped her quivering shoulders. His own eyes were moist and his breath uneven and though she may not have known what she actually wanted, he was also at a loss as to what he was exactly doing. He had just stolen her from her marriage trial which under every Celestial law was illegal and therefore punishable, but then again, he had never cared for the laws anyway unless they served a purpose, and at that moment they had nothing to do with what he was doing or where he was taking her.
He had felt her presence in the den which had the embarrassment rising, because he had never meant for her to see him in that state. In fact, he had not meant to lose control of himself at all, but after a week of watching her with that man, doing her damnest to be alone with him, even going on dates that she should have been having with himself, the emotions eventually caught up with him when he saw them whispering playfully into each others ear.
It had taken every ounce of willpower and centuries of self control not to take that mans head from his shoulders. Instead, the moment she had raced into the den to change, then he too left defeated and ready to give up. It was the worst feeling any man could suffer especially for a War God, and that was defeat, especially against that man who brought every ounce of hate he had to fore and being a man who never allowed emotions to cloud his judgement, the resentment and jealousy in the end forced him to his knees in tears as he prepared to let her go, if that was what she really wanted.
Only he had not expected to feel the overwhelming wave of sadness pouring off her when she stumbled on him. He had purposely kept his head down though mainly to hide his embarrassment at having been caught in tears, which was something no man would want anyone else to see, least of all her. But the emotional turmoil that she was in along with the soft gasp as her own tears gave way moments before she fled Qing Qiu, soon had him on his feet and giving chase.
He had thought she would run straight to Guotin, only the wisp of energy that flew out the den and straight into the sky had him also cloud jumping after her. He knew then where she was headed and he had a strong suspicion that he knew why. It was well known that she was drinker, especially when her emotions were unsteady, but to find her on her knees sobbing at the side of the lake and unaware that he was there watching soon had him moving towards her with the intention of talking her through it.
Only the moment his name passed her lips as a strangled heart wretching whisper, then all reason left him as he pulled her up into his arms and fled with her back to Kunlun Mountain. And rather than take her back to the sea of flowers, he instead stormed her straight though the main entrance and to his chamber where a barrier went up behind him.
Her head was still buried in his neck and her arms loosely gathered about his shoulders. He could hear his Disciples scurrying to meet with him, but the way her arms tightened about his body and small sob of distress at being caught crying by them, soon had him strengthening his barrier, though not because he thought they would break through it, but to keep out a certain man who might actually strom the mountain in search of her.
Sitting her down on his knee, he continued to hold her until she had cried it all out. His head rested against the top of her own while his eyes hooded over sadly as he waited for her to pull herself together.
It was some time before she managed to achieve any semblance of control, but the moment her eyes opened and his chamber came into view, the tears immediately began to flood her lashes all over again.
"You always were able to break me." she whispered against him.
"I think that goes both ways." he replied softly before gently forcing her back to look at her.
Gently wiping away the tears, his fingers lightly brushed over her cheeks while her eyes remained fixed to his face. He really did know how to break through her every defence without even trying she thought to herself. The look of immense sadness in his eyes was enough to have her hands raising to lightly brush across his lashes before lowering them again to her lap where she continued to sit even though an awkwardness had now fallen over them.
"Will you listen to me?" he asked softly when she had finally settled enough to drop her head back against his shoulder.
Saying nothing, he took that as permission to speak and what he had to say to her, came nowhere close to the emotions that rose as she learned of what he knew about her trial, why Ye Hua had dug out her eyes and why he had been forced to give them to Su Jin who he hated more than anyone else in the world. But what she also learned of, was a spell. One of many that Ye Hua had been gifted along with his fathers immense cultivation.
"That spell is one that I also know, and as far as I am aware, we are the only two people who have knowledge of it. It allows one to see through the eyes of another." he explained as Daoji immediately came to mind.
"He was that horse?" she asked incredulously.
"No. He wasn't. But his spirit had the ability to travel through the eyes of another." he explained before bringing to light his brothers desire to be with her outside of the Lotus Ponds confines.
"For centuries you had sat with him in his Lotus form, so it was natural that he would cling to the frriendship that you had offered him. Only he wanted more, so he used the spell our father had given him so he could see a little of the world, though I am sure he had not meant for Ye Hua to use it chase after you. He would only have given it to him as a way to see though the eyes of birds or any other small creatures in order to view his wider surroundings." he explained clearly and slowly.
"And that's why he took over Daojis sight? So he could spend more time with me?" she asked more than stunned, because this was a magic that not even the Foxes had knowledge of, and she herself was a Master of Spells having learned them all under her father and brother as well as Zhe Yan.
"It was pure chance that he learned of the horse. I had brought Daoji to the top of the mountain to heal him from his wounds when he first arrived. At that time, you were on your two week vacation and during that time, I allowed the horse to roam at will so of course it would have walked about the Lotus Pond confines."
"Only Ye Hua was confined to that immediate area seeing as his spirit needed to remain as close as possible to his lotus and that meant being able to see into only a few of the caves and chambers in his immediate vicinity. The spell allowed his spirit to see outside of his confines, even though his spirit remained in his Lotus." he explained further which only added to the mounting questions.
"If he was able to see through the horse, but his spirit remained in the Lotus, then how was he able to affect the horses decisions, because I know now that he did." she asked becoming confused at the jealousy Daoji had towards Mo Yuan at that time.
"That would have been a combination of both of their love for you. Using any other sentient being in this way will affect their ability to think rationally, and because Ye Huas love for you was spawned on this mountain, Daoji would have also felt it as its own." he continued to explain until she fully understood.
Because from his view point, this was important and explained why she herself had lost her own eyes.
But she didn't need him to explain this, because her mind was already figuring it out for herself though she did have one more question.
"Does Ye Hua have a memory of that time? Does he rmember his time as that Lotus, me as that Disciple and does he remember using that spell?" she asked only to lower her head when his shook softly from side to side.
"When he was born into this world, he lost all his memories of that time. It would seem that fate had truly thrown you two together again."
"Fate....." she whispered softly. It had indeed seemed as if fate had been playing with her all along.
"So not only did fate throw you at me, but it then threw Ye Hua at me and not only that, it forced me into a love trial in order to ascend only it seems as if the trial is still going...." she stated flatly against him because not only was Ye Hua still in love with her, but that side consort of his still had her eyes.
Mo Yuan too had to agree. He had already discussed this possibility with Ye Hua. Of the two, she had ascended, only he needed to let go of centuries of love for her in order to also ascend only this would only happen if she chose a different path, because the longer she took to gaining back her eyes while forcing the Celestials into a war with her because of them, the harder it would be for him to let go.
And this was where they came to a stalemate because she heart was broken not just by Ye Hua, but also himself, two men who happened to be brothers had unhinged her mind to the point that it had, and he couldn't help but feel incredibly guilty.
"If I had not sacrificed myself, would anything have changed?" he asked with a soft sigh before placing his head once again on top of her own.
"Of course not!" she replied adamantly only to pull back to look at him when she felt his head shaking.
"Yes it would have. For a start, Ye Hua would not have been born. He needed me to die in order to be given life, and Qing Cang would have succeeded in killing much of the world including you." he stated flatly which immediately had her thinking of where his mind was at now, because she couldn't see the relevance.
"Darling. I know you were hurt, and I am truly sorry for the part that I played, but have you considered that what you went through was your fate and Ye Hua is still in that trial trying to come to terms with what he did while also letting you go cleanly?" he asked as his soft brown eyes delved deeper into her which held his gaze as she allowed her thoughts to dwell far deeper than they had ever gone.
"That might be true and I can find understanding in it, but that bitch still has my eyes Mo Yuan." she replied vehemently.
Gently taking her chin into his hands, his gaze softened at the ice that was back to clouding her honey brown eyes again and for a moment, all he wanted to do was kiss her, to take her pain then wrap her into a protective energy bubble forever. Only this was something he knew he could not help with, not when he believed that Ye Hua was still going though his half of the trial.
"I understand that your eyes need to be dealt with and that I am not in a position to assist, but I must ask that you let Guotin go." he asked rather than demanded seeing as her entire body felt as if it would leap off his lap at any second.
For the longest moment, her eyes bore into his own with a vengeance. It was one thing to be there in his chamber and wrapped up in his arms and once again feeling that overwhelming warmth that his arms always gave her, but he had just taken her to Kunlun Mountain. It didn't matter if she gave permission for it, Guotin would be within his rights to take an official complaint to the Skylord and having been in her den causing all kinds of mischief for over a week, that would only strengthen his claim that Mo Yuan was illegally setting out to disrupt their trial.
But even worse would be for her to walk away now. She wasn't sure that he would be that petty as to take a complaint to the Skylord, after all her parents had given Mo Yuan permission to stay, but it would not look good for Mo Yuan regardless, not when she was in his arms, on his bed in his bedchamber, and Guotins energy on the mountain along with her mothers.
Mo Yuan too could feel his energy, and though he didn't think the man would be foolish enough to battle his Disciples to get to her, he could not let her go without an answer, so tightening his grip his forehead lowered to rest against her own.
Her eyes closed as the warmth of his breath spread down the length of neck which was making it even harder to think, but she had made a decision, one she hoped she would not regret.
"I have already committed myself to learning everything I need to know about him Mo Yuan. This isn't just about you or Ye Hua, but my people who are relying on me to protect them." she said softly as his head stiffly rose to look down at her.
"This is not just a trial of learning Qian Qian. It's a marriage trial. I am asking you to walk away from it." he gritted his teeth painfully as her eyes once again hardened against him.
"I entered this marriage trial for one reason only and that was to gain information and if possible an alliance. You know as well as I do, that when Qing Cang frees himself from that bell, there will be another war and thi time, no one will be exempt, least of all Qing Qiu because he already marked me." she pointed to her forehead where he had placed his seal on her which he could do again if he so chose.
"This is one reason why I created my army. I know he will come for me and those that I treasure, and seeing as we have so little alliances and friends in this world, it is my duty to create them. That is what I am doing and if you cannot see that, then you leave the den, because I cannot end what is also fated." she stated flatly and with every ounce of conviction.
"You don't need to go through a marriage trial for information. I can tell you everything you need to know about him."
"And what kind of leader would that make me?" she asked stubbornly lifting her chin. "I could ask anyone in this world and I would be given all manner of answers, but none of them will come close to what I have already gained in just eight days." she snapped back only to shudder as a wave of energy pierced through the barrier towards her..
Guotins energy was furiously searching for her, they could both feel it, though her mothers energy was calm which was reassuring but without some sort of closure, Mo Yuan was not going to let her go anywhere.
"Then give me your promise." he stated just as adamant that he was going to get an answer out of her.
"Alright, I give you a promise. When the second week is up, I will walk away......" her soft voice trailed off as her entire body was then dragged back into his arms while his breath heaved out in relief while completely missing the pained expression in her eyes.