Fanfiction: Mo Yuan and Shao Wan - Chapter 32 (Ten Miles of PeachBlossoms 三生三世十里桃花)
Chapter 32
written by kakashi“I am famished!” Shao Wan declared and strode towards the cave entrance. All this lovemaking had been excellent, but now she needed real food, urgently.
In a flash, Mo Yuan was before her, blocking her way.
“Woman, you are stark naked!” he said alarmed.
She looked him up and down. “So are you. I like it.”
“I won’t allow you to walk around like this in front of my disciples!”
She shrugged. “They might learn to appreciate it. If they’re that afraid of women, they won’t be good soldiers.”
“Do I have to lock you up for real?”
He seemed serious. She was still too weak to stand a chance against him in a fight, even though she felt rejuvenated and much stronger than before. This Mountain with its fabled healing properties sure was amazing.
“Wait here,” he said with emphasis. “Do not move out of the cave.”
He grabbed a robe and disappeared. Shao Wan considered walking out despite his warning, because he was very desirable when he was angry... but then she decided against it, since she believed it possible he would indeed punish her by locking her up. Which would likely mean him staying away from her. Which she did not consider an option. Dammit, her lust really made her too compliant.
After resting a bit more on the platform with her eyes closed - they had not slept a lot - she started to pace around, trying to pay no attention to the noises her stomach made. She could feel the excessively strong divine energy in the air and the longer she stayed in here, the more she felt it. She could also feel the God of War’s essence all around her. She was almost moved to lick things to taste him. Had any demon in the history of the realms been exposed to Kunlun for this long? The mountain was obviously making her a little crazy. One could only hope it wasn’t permanent.
“If you’d have told me I’d stay in Mo Yuan’s meditation cave without trying to destroy it, I would have laughed at you,” she said to Fong Hung, who had managed to climb out of the bowl Mo Yuan had put him in and hopped towards her.
Before the toad reached her, the God of War was back, looking very proper and stern in the right amount of robes and his usual topknot. She was quietly lamenting the change in hairstyle when he conjured three beautiful dresses from his sleeve and arranged them carefully on the meditation platform.
She was stunned. They were exactly like she liked them, dark, moody colors, simple, yet elegant cuts. They also fit her perfectly.
“What magic is this?” she demanded to know.
“I went to the mortal realm and had them made for you,” Mo Yuan said matter of factly, looking at her with a pleased expression on his face.
“How did you know my size?”
He smiled one of his little smiles and said: “I took good measure last night.”
She chose a dark blue one to wear. It somehow matched his robe, which was blue as well, though in a lighter tone, with dark red inserts. Mo Yuan kept looking at her as she arranged her hair, combing it with her fingers until he frowned at Fong Hung who had hopped onto his foot, croaking loudly.
“He must be hungry,” Shao Wan observed. He really had grown.
“Do you need … any other womanly things?” Mo Yuan asked, gently trying to shake the toad off by moving his foot back and forth.
She raised her eyebrows questioningly.
“Things … a woman might need?” he repeated. “Combs? Ornaments for your hair? Powder? Other … things?”
“You could undress again and let your hair down,” Shao Wan said, “a woman might need that.”
He rolled his eyes at her and she laughed. “Send one of your boys for toiletries when you have them fetch the ingredients for my potion. But now, a woman needs food.”
“Follow me,” Mo Yuan said. He took Fong Hung off his foot and tried to place him back in his bowl, but the toad struggled with all its might and even tried to bite him with his tiny teeth. Shao Wan went over and took her pet from his hand, stuffing him down her bodice.
“He doesn’t like you,” she said. “Funny, Fong Hung was always very fond of you before.”
“I told you it keeps watching us all the time. Are you sure you want to put it there?”
“Why, are you jealous of a toad now?” she laughed at his face and quickly strode after him when he walked towards the cave entrance, making the barrier disappear with a flick of his wrist.
“You should put him into the lotus pond,” Mo Yuan suggested as they walked past it, “it should be beneficial for him.”
Shao Wan thought that was an excellent idea. She fished Fong Hung out of her bosom - the little rascal tried to cling to her dress with his hands - and put him into the water, near the most beautiful lotus flowers. “I will bring you some flies later,” she said, “if there are any on such a holy mountain. We will make you grow back to your old size in no time.”
Mo Yuan watched her press a kiss on the toad’s head with a slight frown and then took her to the kitchen, where he told her to sit down at a little table. The Mountain was deserted, not a single boy in white to be seen anywhere. Maybe she had scared them away for good, Shao Wan thought, quite pleased. Mo Yuan wouldn’t have had to have dresses made for her.
It dawned on her then that Mo Yuan must have been the one to sanction his disciples’ fool’s errand. The sneaky bastard. He had expected her to succumb to his charms. He really was her most formidable opponent.
She looked at him standing at the stove. She imagined both of them naked and her sneaking up on him from behind, undoing his hair and seeing how fast she could get him him to take her on that worktop over there. So far, she couldn’t complain - she basically only needed to flash him a teasing look and he would react immediately, like someone starving for much too long.
He turned, sadly fully dressed, presenting her with a bowl and chopsticks.
“What is this?”
“Raw meat. I got it from the mortal realm.”
“Ye heavens! Kunlun Mountain might shake you off for defiling it!”
She was joking, but Mo Yuan looked like he indeed felt guilty for committing some some kind of sacrilege. Typical: Celestials were intimidated about everything, especially Fate. She took the bowl and the chopsticks from his hand and started to eat.
“What’s this taste?” she asked, with her mouth full.
“It would upset your stomach to eat raw meat without the right balance of spices. You are still recuperating. I also added a raw egg.”
She first gaped at him, then continued to eat, slowly, to make sure she tasted it properly. She would have liked to complain, but it was surprisingly good.
“Do you want some wine with it?” he asked, seemingly pleased she didn’t spit his food out.
“You are behaving strangely,” she observed, narrowing her eyes. “Do you want something from me? You can just ask.”
He shrugged. “I did not want you to throw a fit again.”
“You are feeding me morsels. I will eat a whole ox when I’m back in the Demon Realm,” she exclaimed.
He scowled and was about to reply something, surely a boring lecture about healthy diets, when his face suddenly lit up.
“My disciples are back,” he said, “come to the Hall with me.”
****
Mo Yuan looked at his bowing students with fondness. Sending them away had been necessary, but Kunlun Mountains wasn’t whole without them, even if his most favorite student would never return. Even now, two were missing: Die Feng and Zi Lan. Apparently, Die Feng had met a woman he knew and was escorting her somewhere. Second Disciple turned red and stuttered while he reported this, which made Mo Yuan wonder about what kind of woman it was - but Die Feng was by far the most responsible student he had and Mo Yuan trusted him.
Sixteenth’s whereabouts were less clear and Mo Yuan felt slightly apprehensive about his absence. However, none of his students had encountered anyone with hostil intentions when they were searching outside, which was good news. It meant there had not been an open escalation while he was entirely preoccupied with the Demon Goddess. Zi Lan was probably just blowing off steam in the mortal realm, as he often did.
Shao Wan sat next to him on the dais, looking every part a queen. Her back was straight, her face stern, her eyes sharp and commanding. His disciples were very much afraid of her, Mo Yuan had noticed, and quite unsure about how to treat her. Frankly, it only slowly dawned on him what he had gotten himself - and them - into. Her living with them here was going to be … interesting, to say the least.
“This is Demon High Goddess Shao Wan,” he told them, “serve her well while she is our guest here at Kunlun.”
They bowed again, deeply, murmuring their greeting. Then, they served them tea and Mo Yuan was glad that Shao Wan thanked them politely and then elegantly nipped at the filigrane teacup like any lady would.
Second Disciple approached him, obviously needing a word.
“Shifu, if I may-”
“Yes, Chang Shan,” Mo Yuan said - and wondered whether Second would be suited to be sent to the mortal realm for the contraceptive potion. Definitely not, Mo Yuan concluded after a short introspection. He needed someone more discreet. Maybe Die Feng would be back soon.
Second dropped his voice down to a whisper. “Shifu, what should I cook for Shimu? She expressed great disdain for our food before.”
Mo Yuan turned his head to look at Shao Wan, who did not react at all to being called Shimu but continued to look regal and aloof. Mo Yuan sighed in relief and wanted to give Second his answer, but when Shao Wan turned her head to look at him, time stood still. How was it possible that the powers of the universe were reflected in her eyes?
“Shifu?” Second cautiously said.
With great effort, Mo Yuan pulled his eyes away from Shao Wan's and cleared his throat. Had he just completely frozen in front of his disciples? What a spectacle he was giving them.
“The High Goddess will give you a list of food items and dishes that she likes.”
“I like raw meat,” she said and smiled sweetly.
Second flinched and quickly looked up at Mo Yuan. Raw meat on Kunlun mountain? What sacrilege.
“A list of food items,” Mo Yuan repeated.
“A list of meats,” she said.
Mo Yuan smiled at her and she grinned back - a challenge. Mo Yuan knew he needed to spend the afternoon reading military intelligence reports and find out what the situation with the Demons was, but he did not quite know what to do with Shao Wan in the meantime. He knew she would distract him too much if she was in the room with him. Even here, with all his students around, he was much too aware of her body next to his.
“Would you like to see the cranes?” he asked her. “My Second disciple will show you.”
“I have never eaten crane before, is it good?”
All the disciples audibly gasped. But Mo Yuan couldn’t help himself, he burst out laughing and could not stop for quite a while. It seemed this unusual outburst from their Shifu shocked his students almost as much as her idea to eat Mo Yuan’s cranes.
Later, when Mo Yuan was reading in his room, an exhilarated Second came in with fresh tea and a tale to tell: Shimu had tried to teach the cranes tricks. All of a sudden, though, her toad had appeared and had attempted to hop onto the cranes’ backs, causing the birds to panic. They had run around their enclosure in circles and wouldn’t stop, which had made Shimu laugh until she had to hold her belly. All the disciples had come to look at the spectacle and everybody was happy that Shimu was no longer angry. Before he left, Second thanked Mo Yuan profoundly for being given the task to find out what Shimu liked to eat.
Mo Yuan knew this happiness was only fleeting, but he had learned the hard way that happiness better be embraced to the fullest when it graced one’s life. Putting the scrolls aside, he left his room to go find Shao Wan and have her show him the kind of tricks she wanted to teach his cranes.
Chapter 33a