"How do you feel, Yan Zhi?" Xuan Nü patted her sister-in-law's shoulder with a weary smile, and Yan Zhi caught her Sao Zi before Xuan Nü could collapse from her lack of strength, "I think you'd better rest, Sao Zi." "No...not when we are so close to our goal. Help me up, Yan Zhi." Xuan Nü refused Yan Zhi's proposal with a determined gleam in her eyes, "We must move to the coast of Ruo Shui at once."
"But that's too far from here for you to make it!" Yan Zhi protested, but Xuan Nü gave her a roll of her eyes, "Don't be foolish, Yan Zhi, if we travel the same way we did as before, it'll be a good week before we get there. We'll cloud leap there." "And risk getting discovered?" Su Jin snapped in disagreement, and Xuan Nü sneered back in return, "It's the final part of our plan, Su Jin. The faster we head to Ruo Shui, the better. I don't care about exposing our tracks now. They could follow us for all I care."
"Once we activate the bell, none of them can stop us." Xuan Nü continued on with an expression filled with glee, "They will regret everything they have done. They will kneel for mercy, to me, to us, and to Qing Cang." "Provided they don't arrest us first." Su Jin got to her feet, speaking with plain annoyance as she brushed past Xuan Nü, "We should take one cloud, since it'll be a quick journey over the North Sea." "But we'll pass Kun Lun." Yan Zhi pointed out worriedly, but Xuan Nü shrugged her off, "Mo Yuan probably doesn't know what's coming, that old man."
"He's Ye Hua's twin. He might." Su Jin pointed out, but Xuan Nü had already called a cloud to their feet, "Well, are we going, then?" "Well, don't say I didn't warn you." Su Jin grumbled under her voice, and the trio leapt onto the cloud.
Kun Lun was unusually quiet. It lacked the sound of its students and disciples chanting mantras and reciting different types of poems. It also lacked the sound of liveliness, for the waterfalls were silent, and the herons did not not call. The clanging of swords were missing, as were the students meant to spar, and only Xuan Nü did not notice the absence, for she was too absorbed in murmuring how she'd have Yan Zhi open the bell grandly.
"We're here...at last..." Xuan Nü gave a sigh of familiarity, upon seeing the sight of the coast that she had been on only once, and even as they alighted on the sandy shore of Ruo Shui, Yan Zhi immediately felt a chill down her spine, and she whipped around almost instantly, her eyes sweeping the surroundings for the Crown Prince and his men, but it was either the Crown Prince's troop was well hidden, or that the Crown Prince and his men had yet to arrive. But even as she panicked, unable to locate any sight of the Crown Prince's men, she felt a hand slip into hers, and Zi Lan's gentle voice spoke by her ear, "Look at the cliffs more closely. They are there."
Indeed they were. Yan Zhi barely noticed that the soldiers were all crouching by the ledge of the cliffs, black and white chainmail all gleaming under the moonlight, and a few figures stood further back, seemingly in discussion, and Yan Zhi didn't have to look too closely to guess who they were. High God Mo Yuan. The Crown Prince. Brother. High God Zhe Yan. High God Bai Zhen. Princess Feng Jiu. And...was that the Crown Princess? Yan Zhi paused, attempting to focus on the last white figure that stood, speaking to the only female figure in pink, but before she could squint, Xuan Nü had yanked her by her collar, "Yan Zhi, I said, Unseal. The. Bell."
In the fleeting moment, Yan Zhi caught a glimpse of movement by those lined on the edge of the cliff, but she soon came face to face with the horrendous bell that had haunted her dreams for months after the war. The East Emperor Bell was intricately designed, yes, but it shone with a dark red light that made Yan Zhi feel like it had stabbed her with a spike of malice and hatred. "Yan Zhi?" A gruff voice called, and with a jolt, Yan Zhi found herself on the verge of running away from the bell and into safety's arms, but she forced her legs to stay as she gulped, her voice a fearful whisper as she answered, "Father?"
"Yan Zhi...my dear girl. You have come to free me." Qing Cang spoke, but it was filled with impatience as he rushed on, "Free me, Yan Zhi. I sense that you have gotten cultivation and power from your Sao Zi. Are you here, Xuan Nü?" "Father, I am here." Xuan Nü rushed forward at once, and Qing Cang let out a booming laugh, "But of course! My filial daughters! But what business does a Celestial have with you?" At that, Qing Cang's laugh simmered into hatred, and Xuan Nü bowed to the bell, "Father, she is an accomplice, and an assistant, in this entire process. She helped break me out from prison when Li Jing locked me in."
"You have been used, my daughter," Qing Cang warned, and Xuan Nü finally realised something was wrong, "For she is not alone."
Sounds of cloaks flapping were heard at once, and Yan Zhi spun around, half in surprise and half in relief that the Crown Prince's men showed themselves, but when Su Jin grabbed Xuan Nü by the shoulder, yanking a hairpin from her head and placing its tip against Xuan Nü's neck, Yan Zhi spun back around in complete surprise. "Stop there! Or I will kill the Ghost Queen." Su Jin shouted across the riverbank, and the soldiers froze at once. "Ye Hua. I want to speak to Ye Hua." Su Jin snarled at the soldiers, who looked to each other in confusion, and just when Yan Zhi thought they would move to attack, the soldiers fell into lines, and from the parting, Ye Hua strode forth, his black armour shining beneath the moon.
"Ye Hua..." Su Jin's voice instantly took on a gentle tone, one that Yan Zhi had never heard her use before, and the Crown Prince cringed from the address of his name, before he raised his eyebrow coldly, "Whether you hand over the Ghost Queen or not, you will be sentenced, Su Jin. You cannot pretend to be a hero after you've worked as a villain." "You...traitor." Xuan Nü spat, struggling in Su Jin's arms in an attempt to wriggle free without piercing herself on the hairpin, but Su Jin merely burst into a cackle, "Oh, hush, you. I am not the traitor. Or rather, I did not plan to be a traitor from the start. But someone else has."
"Someone...else?" Xuan Nü choked, her eyes falling on Yan Zhi as they widened in horror, "Not you, Yan Zhi...not you..." "It is me, Sao Zi." Yan Zhi bowed her head, unable to bring her guilty eyes to meet Xuan Nü's betrayed ones, "I was with the Celestials right from the start." "No wonder...no wonder it was so hard to find you...no wonder you even survived against the four beasts..." Xuan Nü trailed off, her eyes miraculously managing to find Zi Lan, who had been, up till that point, very much under glamour, "Constable Zi was not a mortal, then. He has been following us under a disguise..."
"No, he is not." Ye Hua spoke up, waving his hand to remove Zi Lan's glamour as the disciple came back into view, "In fact, Xuan nü, you could call him one of your most loyal haters." "Zi Lan?!" Xuan Nü took a gasp of air, as if the news had shocked her, "Kun Lun..." "You still remember, then, Xuan Nü. How we let you in, how we accepted you, and how you betrayed us for Qing Cang." Zi Lan spat at her feet, his voice filled with fury, "How does it feel now? To have accepted Yan Zhi in, only to find out she betrayed you?"
"Yan Zhi..." Xuan Nü began pleadingly, but Su Jin had grown impatient from the conversations. "Enough said! I will kill her, Ye Hua, if you don't agree to my deal." Su Jin's arm clamped further on Xuan Nü's windpipe as the hairpin began to draw blood from the side of the Ghost Queen's neck, "So what is your choice, Ye Hua? To make a deal? Or to have her killed at once." "What is your deal?" Ye Hua growled, knowing that Su Jin meant nothing good, and Su Jin beamed at him, as though she had not threatened him just a mere moment ago, "Marry me, Ye Hua. I want you to take me back into the embrace of Xi Wu Palace as your wife again. I want you to divorce Bai Qian, and drive her away from your side. Or else..." The hairpin pressed further into Xuan Nü's neck, making the Ghost Queen yelp in a fear and terror, "Xuan Nü dies."
The silence that washed over Ruo Shui was so quiet that the sounds of the waves crashing onto shore became terribly noisy at once, and Ye Hua could not believe his ears. Divorce Bai Qian? Marry Su Jin? Never. He would never do that. But yet Di Jun had only agreed to the capturing of the trio. The former Heavenly Lord had not approved to their instant murder without a trial. But even as Ye Hua hesitated, a voice cried, loud and clear from the cliffs above him, the single word echoing in the entirety of Ruo Shui.
"No!"
Bai Qian flew down to her husband's side, not caring that everyone on the cliff had called her back, and tried to convince her that it was a terrible idea to go down. Her safety had been one thing, but her secret had been another; for it was a fatal secret that would give away Bai Qian's weakness at once: her abdomen. "Qian Qian, calm down." Ye Hua cupped her face at once, and Bai Qian's eyes were full of horror as she shook her head, "You promised, Ye Hua. You would never take anyone else." "And I intend to stick to that, Qian Qian." Ye Hua offered her a soft smile, "Go back up to Xiao Jiu, and away from this danger. Go on."
"I'm staying here." Bai Qian clung to Ye Hua's hand insistently, and his smile fading, Ye Hua turned back to Su Jin, who now had tears streaming down her cheeks. "You heard my answer, Su Jin." Ye Hua spoke coldly, his heart bearing no sympathy for the Zhao Ren Princess at all, but Su Jin was more preoccupied by what she had seen to be distressed over his answer. "She's...she's pregnant, Ye Hua..." Su Jin's lips trembled, and Bai Qian tensed as almost everyone else out of the secret took a gasp. Even Yan Zhi, who had met her at least once, and had also known of her secret, gave a slight gasp, and Su Jin lifted her gaze to Ye Hua's, "Why?"
"I love her." Ye Hua answered simply, knowing that she referred to his answer now, "Like I never loved you."
With a cry of anguish, Su Jin gave a hysterical laugh, before she glared at Ye Hua with a pair of broken eyes, "Did you think I was joking, Ye Hua? Did you think that I would still hug you, and say that it's fine, and I was just kidding, and that you'll get an alive hostage as you wish? Let me tell you, Ye Hua, those times were long over." And before he could understand where she was headed, Su Jin drew her arm back, and there was a brief flash, before the hairpin was plunged straight and true into Xuan Nü's neck, and the Ghost Queen froze over at once, before she crumpled to the ground, finally freed from Su Jin's grip, her final breath condensing on the cold air as blood gurgled in her throat, flowing out freely from the side of her mouth.
"No!" The bell suddenly began vibrating with life, as though it was coming back alive, and just after Ye Hua raised his arm, forming a shield with his magic, the East Emperor Bell exploded into a ball of malice red light, its seal shattering as it emitted a high pitched ringing, and with a scream, Bai Qian fell to her knees, the feeling of powerlessness flooding over her as she realised that her seal had been broken, and that Qing Cang had broken free. "Qian Qian!" Ye Hua shouted over the ringing in his ears, barely managing to pull her up in the blindness of the moment, and when the light burst finally settled, Qing Cang floated before the bell, his Double Crescent Halberd in hand as he roared, his fury shaking the whole of Ruo Shui as he pointed his halberd at Su Jin, "You! You killed Xuan Nü!"
"Qing Cang? How is this possible?" Bai Qian wheezed, having spat out a mouthful of blood when the seal broke, "No one has broken the seal just yet. You could not have escaped..." "You Celestials are stupid, Si Yin. I believe my bastard son knows exactly how I broke out from the bell." Qing Cang snarled, attempting to lure Li Jing out, but Ye Hua answered grimly, so that Li Jing would not expose his whereabouts, "When Xuan Nü married Li Jing, you made sure they went through a blood bonding ritual, in which you split the third of your soul and power that you had placed in Li Jing into two, and removed one of the half to be deposited into Xuan Nü. You do not grief your daughter-in-law, Qing Cang. Rather, you are delighted by her death, for it brought you your freedom." Ye Hua growled, drawing his Qing Ming sword, and Qing Cang furrowed his thick eyebrows at the Crown Prince, "Who are you, Celestial? With a face and wisdom alike Mo Yuan's, but an age so much younger than his?"
"Crown Prince of the Celestial Nine Heavens, Ye Hua, and twin to Mo Yuan." Ye Hua answered, his sword held tightly in his hand, "That's right, Qing Cang. I am Mo Yuan's brother."
"It's a pity your brother isn't here, then. I'd have loved to kill you two as a set." Qing Cang smirked, before he raised his arms up in a gesture of summoning the soldiers, "My loyal subjects! I have returned! Join me, and we will fight this war against the Celestials! We will triumph over them, this time, and all our revenge will be done! Join me, my brothers, to avenge the blood that was spilled in the first war, where all was ended by a surrender, and cowardice!"
At his words, the rebels could no longer sit still. They had been twitching, waiting for Qing Cang's call to join by their side, and with his words, they launched forward, diving down towards the former Ghost Lord as he spread his arms in a mock embrace, and Ye Hua tightened his grip on Bai Qian's wrist as he made a subtle gesture for his soldiers to retreat and prepare for attack. "Why do you not join me, my subjects?" Qing Cang turned on the remaining small number of Ghost soldiers and generals, who stood unmovingly, never once swayed by Qing Cang's words.
"We are not your subjects. We fight only for one lord, and that is the Ghost Lord Li Jing!" The head of the loyal Ghost soldiers raised his sword to the sky, as the others then followed and raised theirs too, joining in their leader as they leapt down from the cliff to join the portion of Ye Hua's men. "As you wish!" Qing Cang growled, infuriated that an amount of them had actually refused his offer to join him, and even as he raised his halberd, so did Ye Hua raise his sword, and with a levelled, gaze, the two looked at each other, before they yelled in unison.
“Charge!”
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A/N: Oh wow I wrote this chapter in under an hour owo
Also, guys, we are just a few hundred words from this story reaching 100k! I have never dreamed of the day that I could ever write a 100k word fanfic...
Thank y'all for your continued support <3
Z, out.