Fanfiction: Mo Yuan and Shao Wan - Chapter 91 (Ten Miles of Peach Blossoms 三生三世十里桃花)

Chapter 91

written by Panda
edited by kakashi

Cold and miserable, Yue shivered slightly as he adjusted his position behind the small clearing he had fashioned for himself. And not for the first time he wondered if he was truly as insane as his brothers accused him of being.

The relief that had passed through him when the Ancestor had accepted him back into her camp had been immense, but his brothers - most especially Lei and Shi - had not given him time to savor it. They had ripped into him as he stood dripping wet from a long shower, had minced no words and had been very aggressive as they had told him that he had been utterly ridiculous with the risks he had taken following the Ancestor around.

It wasn’t that he had fallen for her, he had told them angrily. Are you being truthful?, his inner voice had questioned, but he ignored it. He had said that only close to her was where he would get the chance to prove his worth as a Demon, but his words were largely ignored.

His brothers knew him better than anyone. They all had similar backgrounds. Born with superior fighting skills in the Purple Queen’s realm and once of age, they had all travelled down to her palace and competed to be trained and placed in her elite force. They had grown up together, eaten their meals together, on many occasions fought each other and that had made them a tight unit known for their ruthlessness and strength.

Their words had rolled off him then as he had been more preoccupied with getting dressed and having a proper meal but now, those words came back to haunt him. He wondered once again why he kept going overboard when it came to her. The truth was he couldn’t explain it himself. He had such mixed feelings about her - he felt predominantly admiration and awe that he was chanced to work for such a legend and yet, mixed in with that was totally inappropriate lust that had erupted like wildfire when he had been her constant bed companion. He knew the latter feelings were completely futile and that she could defend herself more than competently without his help - and yet he couldn’t stop trailing her.

When she had left the camp earlier in the evening, he had instinctively crept after and had not been overly surprised to discover her destination was the Celestial camp. What did surprise him a lot though was the fact that she had not yet emerged back from there.

The forest was damp and extremely uncomfortable but he had camped out in worse and more unforgiving environments, especially those surrounding the Demon camp. Being so close to such a huge amount of Celestial power unfortunately dimmed his own powers and gave him a dull throbbing headache. However, he was determined to wait it out.

Shifting unto his right leg, he futilely tried to find a more comfortable position as he thought about the wisdom of gathering some wood to make a campfire just outside the enemy’s positions, when his ears pricked at a faint distant sound. His initial feeling was relief that finally the Ancestor was heading back to camp, but he decided to err on the side of caution and wait a bit before he followed.

After he deemed sufficient time had passed, he stepped out and moved stealthily toward the path back to their camp. He had only taken four steps when he heard a sudden sharp sound behind him and a bright blue light was the last thing he saw before he lost consciousness.

***

Tian Gu carefully and painstakingly worked out the mistake in her tactical plans as advised by her Shifu and then laid down on her mat with a longfelt sigh. Suddenly, she was hit by a wave of homesickness so strong it almost brought tears to her eyes. She missed home so much. The trip to the enemy camp and the subsequent use of her elemental power had drained her more than she had realized. She stretched out her hands and turned them side to side. Her fingernails still held that faint black color that was a giveaway to the use of the power. Sighing, she dropped them and sat up.

She pulled her hair from its bindings and fluffed it with her hands. After massaging her scalp for a minute she re-tied it, albeit much loosely. She was so tired - yet she knew she wouldn’t be able to sleep without doing what needed to be done. She went to the corner of the room and got out her writing materials from the beaten up box.

Long held custom made her take out her scroll and brush and after preparing some ink, she noted approximately how long the color had remained in her fingers. The simple act of writing and recording the log coupled with the memory of her Shifu’s slight admonishment earlier let another wave of homesickness wash over her. This time it was so strong she dropped her writing materials and laid down, her face implanted in her pillow as memories of her brothers ad her father washed over her.

Her Father.

Her Hero. The best man she had ever known.

Her earliest memories were of the sounds of revelry, the chinking of wine glasses and loud conversations that had filled her home when her Mother was still... The halls had been saturated in the finest silks and could even have been described as gaudy. They had had some of the finest musicians in the land, to fill the days and nights with music...because her mother hated silence. Some of the best poets in the land....because her mother liked the fine arts. And some of the best spell casters in the realms...because her mother was fascinated with them.

Tian Gu had been much too young to take advantage of what had been offered. But she remembered how her father had smiled more readily then with no shadows clouding his eyes. He had been been content and always eager to make his wife happy. She was the light of his life. All her mother had to do was ask for something and he got it for her. The painting he had commissioned from the renowned painter Tong Lu had cost two dozen of their very best horses and had caused quite a stir amongst the royals for its extravagance - yet he had claimed he would have paid double if asked. Tian Gu still remembered the expression on her mother’s face the day she had gotten the painting and the loud smack on the lips she had given her father before twirling her around. She had squealed in excitement and had felt like the happiest child in the world.

The world had darkened when her mother had died and she had cried so hard she couldn’t speak nor eat for days. On the third day, her father had come to her, his face haggard with grief, grey streaks completely covering his once dark sable hair. He had gathered her close to his chest. Then he had soothed her, rubbing his hands over her head while singing her favorite lullabies. When he was sure she had calmed down, he had spoon-fed her with porridge and had promised in his deep calm voice, which sounded uncharacteristically hoarse, that he would strive to make sure she had all the love she would ever need.

And he hadn’t lied. For the last hundreds of years, Tian Gu had been showered with all the love and affection anyone could ask for, her father had seen to that. Although not one scrap of the past gaiety in their palace remained, her days were not barren but filled with laughter. From classroom lessons such as writing, reading and practicing spells to breaking in the wildest horses, her father was always there to guide her as he patiently taught her all she needed to know.

She had grown and had never had any secrets from him...until her world had been shaken from its axis six months past. Ever since, things had not been the same. She had wanted, had needed to leave the realm but she didn’t know what excuse to give that would not make her father suspicious. She had tried not to let it show, but unconsciously, she had become more moody to the extent that her brothers had teased her if she was having man troubles. They had jokingly but seriously promised to find and teach the boy who broke her heart some lessons.

The day her father had come to ask her to join an official meeting she had been petrified that he had somehow found out her secret. Her heartbeat had increased exponentially as she saw how weary and sad her dad looked. She had wanted to instantly confess and beg his forgiveness for having kept something of such magnitude from him, but the weight of his would-be disappointment in her mind had her keep her mouth shut and she could only stare at him mutely, her heart thundering frantically in her chest.

“I have tried and failed to do my duty,” he had begun wearily. With a quiet sigh he then continued, “I thought I could somehow protect us from this nonsense outside, but truly, I should have known better.”

She had been so confused as to what her dad meant, but at least, her panic had subsided greatly as she inferred that just maybe it had nothing to do with what she feared. She gave a great inward sigh of relief and a silent prayer to Pangu. Her curiosity had been piqued however and she wondered what could have made her dad so weary. A silence stretched and she had to call out to him.

“Father…I am waiting.”

“Ahh.”

She let out her breath in a huff. Her dad could really be insufferable when he wanted to be. He loved to tease her by drawing things out and it was a characteristic that had annoyed her ever since she had been a baby. He always told her patience was extremely important in breaking horses and she had always countered that that didn’t apply to her. And they had both known it was true: no-one in their Kingdom had her touch when it came to the horses.

“Father!”

“Tian Gu, patience!” he had shouted. And she saw his eyes were misty and immediately got petrified once more. Could she have been wrong? Could he really be about to talk about the thing that had given her sleepless nights in the last couple of months?

He saw the look in her eyes and had gentled his tone immediately. “No, my child. It is I, an old man, who is to blame here - you have done nothing wrong. It is I who has to balance my father duties with being a King.”

She stared at him intently and he, with a bleak look in his eyes, continued: “You know we live our lives generally free from all the politicking outside and that’s how I like it. However, during extreme times, we have to be drawn into the outside world and its troubles. This is one of those times. There is a huge war that will soon boil over and as it has been put succinctly to me by that Prince, I cannot bury my head in the sand. I have to join in. We have to join in.”

Abruptly he stood up and clasped his hands behind his back as he paced around the room. Tian Gu wasn’t surprised by that, he also always had had that habit of stopping his conversations to ponder the next words. What was most exciting was the news he had already given and she instantly had started thinking about how she could wrangle her way into joining the people leaving. Yes, leaving would be a gift from the Gods and she would be able to fulfill her mission, she thought excitedly.

“Tian Gu.”

“Yes, Father,” she answered distractedly, her mind still thinking of how to convince her father to join the team.

“How would you like to be married?”

“Married!! No, Father,” she shook her head empathetically. She was relieved to see that he nodded as he sat down next to her.

“That is what I thought too, but I had to make sure. We have to join the upcoming war, Tian Gu, we have no choice. And I would rather help the Celestials than the Yellow Demon King. However, I am still the ruler of my realm and as the King, I have to ask for something tangible for the help we will render with manpower and the Horses. So, I initially thought of asking for a betrothal between you and the God of War.”

Her father obviously didn’t register the utter amazement that passed through her at his words, because he continued hurriedly.

“However, I was informed that would not work and was advised to ask for you to be his disciple instead. He might still refuse, but that seems a more probable request. It will entail you being away from us for a long time, what do you think?”

A Kunlun Disciple!! Her heart almost burst with joy and she all but shouted: “Yes Father! I will love to be a disciple. When do I go? When will all the terms be agreed? When-”

Her voice trailed off as she saw his expression.

“Oh Father, I have been selfish in my joy. He might not even take me, Kunlun has never taken any females before,” she whispered.

He shook his head and rubbed his hand on her head as he had always done whenever she had needed to be petted or reassured in the past. This time it was different, the person who needed reassurance was him. “No my child, once he sees you, he will take you. You are extraordinary. Just be yourself and always trust your instincts and you will thrive.”

Trust your instincts...

Tian Gu opened her eyes, raised her head in a swift move which caused her hair to slip out of its loose band but she didn't notice as she sheathed her sword at her waist. She stepped out of her tent into the still night with nary a star in sight and surveyed her environs as she quickly adapted her eyes to the dark. The camp was dead silent and the only person she encountered as she strode silently towards Shifu’s tent was a lone sentry who nodded boredly at her as she strode past him.

As she got closer to Shifu’s tent her stride changed and she walked on more thoughtfully. On the surface, it didn’t appear like there was anything wrong. The tent looked exactly as it had when she had initially gone to see the God of War. And yet…

Trust your instincts...

...she couldn’t shake the feeling something had been off the last time. Seeing him with his hair down had been extremely unexpected, she thought with a quickening of her breath, but there was more to the vague feeling that had solidified later in her room. With renewed determination, she strode towards his tent and was just a few steps away when she bumped into a forcefield of such immense power that she got thrown into the air with a yelp.

Rubbing her bruised bottom, she re-approached the tent, this time a lot more cautiously and she carefully examined the barely visible forcefield that completely encapsulated the tent. Probing the field a bit, she noted the energy signature was High God Mo Yuan’s and that quelled her anxiety a bit - but she still wasn’t fully satisfied. She briefly thought of waking the Crown Prince but she thought of how he - and the Crown Princess! - might react changed her mind rapidly.

Muttering to herself, Tian Gu wondered if she wasn’t making something out of nothing - the God of War had a right to shield himself from any interference - but she knew she had to do something to expend the energy that was coursing through her. She decided to do one last quick check around the camp perimeters.

Rubbing her eyes tiredly and finally ready to call it a night, she had almost completed her tour when she saw the evidence of a possible breach in the camp security. Crouching down to examine it, she looked ahead to the direction the intruder might have come or left camp and decided to track for a while. Looking around, she quickly saw some horses tied together and went to draw some strength from them. Then she turned back and with blazing eyes, stepped nimbly into the forest.

***

His brothers were right, he was going to get killed.

Groaning inwardly while trying to make as few movements as possible, Yue slowly opened his eyes to find out where he was. He was disoriented when he felt Demon energy in the tent - and for a moment, he felt pure fear, thinking he had been captured by the Yellow Demon Lord. But when his vision had cleared, with relief he saw the the Purple Queen instead, arguing with a lady all clad in brown.

Taking stock of himself, he discovered that he had been tied up: his arms and legs had been trussed together like done with stubborn animals. He experimentally wriggled his fingers and tried to maneuver them somehow to his rope bindings but it proved to be in vain.

He closed his eyes in anger and frustration and in the next breath, something hot singed near his face and he opened his eyes in alarm to see the same blue light as earlier, this time much closer to his face.

“As I said, he is harmless,” the Purple Queen drawled out from the back. “Check his shoulder.”

The light went off and Yue stared into the most unusual eyes he had ever seen. They roamed over his face as though memorizing every inch while staring at him unflinchingly, before she jerked his arm roughly towards her in search of his birthmark.

She went back to the Purple Queen and after a few more whispers that he strained futilely to understand, she left the tent.

“The Ancestor did come to ask for a refund for your services. I now know why she did,” the Purple Queen said and she came and crouched next to him.

“Your Highness, I-”

She silenced him with wave of her hand. “You have no excuses, you are meant to be an elite bodyguard and here you are all tied up. I truly am a wonderful businesswoman to have sold such a defective product.”

He couldn’t defend himself - she was absolutely right. He had failed to act even as a simple run-of-the mill warrior and he felt a hot wave of shame wash over him.

When next she spoke, her words were dripping with scorn. “I heard some interesting things when I was tied up back at the Demon camp. I heard some other soldiers excitedly saying that Yue brought the information that I snuck into camp. Is that correct?”

Yue knew he was walking a very fine line between death and survival. While Yi Mei Niang wasn’t known to be a warrior, she was still fundamentally a Demon Queen and had a great deal of pride. He was also at a disadvantage with his muted powers, plus, he was immobile. He decided keeping his tongue too himself would be the safest option - especially as she already seemed to know everything.

“I see.”

She stood up and brought out a dagger from her waist. His pulse sped up as she crouched over him one more time and brought it down swiftly and cut his ropes. Excruciating pain spread all over his extremities as the blood returned to them and he rolled over coughing and moaning, shaking them and trying to massage them a bit to assuage the pain.

Ignoring him, she went to the side of the tent and talked as though to herself: “So the Ancestor is with him. Maybe something can still be salvaged from this mess.” She turned back to him and when she saw that he had gotten himself back under some control, she stepped towards him.

“You are damn lucky I was the first person that saw Tian Gu bring you into camp.”

The woman with the breathtaking eyes’ name was Tian Gu. He filed that information away.

Yi Mei Niang continued. “You owe me, Yue. You owe me for a lot of things. I am not even going to start from training you and feeding you from when you came to me because you have made me some money already and you know I am always fair.” She paused and looked at him to make sure he was paying sufficient attention. “You owe me for not doing your job and failing to report the Ancestor’s plans, for betraying me, for endangering my life and now because I saved yours.”

She glared at him and he dropped his eyes from guilt.

“Good. I see we are in agreement. I am going to let you go and if you know what’s good for you, you better go far away. But here is what you are going to do for me…”

Chapter 92