Seven: Staying in Taichen Palace

When Fengjiu woke up, she was lying in a very comfortable-looking bed, where she presumed to be in the Nine Heavens. She was glad that it was Cheng Yu who was hovering over her and not the mysterious Dong Hua who had apparently followed her from the mortal realm to the realm above.

Cheng Yu was glad that her friend had finally regained consciousness. She revealed to the little fox that she had been in a 'coma' for about six days, and the little fox almost jumped up from the bed. The sudden movement caused her to realise that she had a stiff pain in her side, and she writhed in pain. "Relax," Cheng Yu coaxed. "You need to lie down."

"What happened?" the fox asked her friend. "It feels like I have a thousand stitches in there."

Cheng Yu looked a bit upset as she faced the fox. "It's my fault. I made a small blunder, and it almost caused you your life."

Fengjiu looked puzzled.

"The mortal woman isn't in the pagoda," the goddess explained. "She's imprisoned in Zhaohua Palace."

Fengjiu's eyes gaped wider. "How did we come about thinking she was in the pagoda? Did you mishear the news?"

Cheng Yu cleared her throat. "I didn't mishear. I assumed that they were talking about her. Or maybe she could have been imprisoned there in the first place, and then shifted to Zhaohua Palace. Because-" she paused and looked around her, before whispering, "She's pregnant."

Fengjiu looked shocked, but at the same time, Cheng Yu noticed that the anger in Fengjiu's eyes was apparent. Quickly, she patted her friend on the shoulder. "I know you're angry because of your aunt, but right now, what is most important is that you rest up. The rest can wait." She leaned in closer and gave the fox a bear hug. 

"Not so hard!" Fengjiu groaned. "My side hurts, and you're pressing on it!" Cheng Yu quickly lessened the strength of the hug, and Fengjiu was relieved. She looked at Cheng Yu softly and asked, "How did I get here though? The last I remembered was this purple cloth on top of me covering me except for my head, then a man carrying me up the elevator.. I was scared, but this time, it felt really different..."

"Ah, you are still afraid of elevators," Cheng Yu said.

"Ahem, don't remind me of it," Fengjiu responded. "But why an elevator in a pagoda?"

"Oh, that," Cheng Yu laughed. "Have you been in the mortal realm for so long that you haven't heard of The Big Palace Development project?"

"What is that?" Fengjiu looked a bit confused. Cheng Yu replied, "It was Dong Hua Dijun's idea."

"Dong Hua?" Fengjiu repeated. "What is he doing here? Is he an immortal as well?"

Cheng Yu almost choked in her laughter. "Did you forget what you studied in school? Do you remember who's Dong Hua Zi Fu Shaoyang Jun?"

Fengjiu looked alarmed. "The Dong Hua Dijun you mentioned is the Dong Hua Zi Fu Shaoyang Jun in the books?" Cheng Yu responded with a nod. "So is he the person who brought me here? Where am I?" Fengjiu asked further.

"This is a guest room in Taichen Palace," a cold voice suddenly spoke. "I see that the two female immortals before me have taken joy in including me in your girls' talk."

Cheng Yu immediately bowed and took her leave. "Pardon, Dijun. I did not see you approaching. I have to go now. Please take care of my friend for me."

Fengjiu looked at the purple-robed immortal before her. While she was captivated by his otherworldly looks, she had to admit that the chilliness of his tone tended to scare her at times. Nevertheless, he had saved her twice from danger, and a debt needed to be repaid. 

Dong Hua cleared his throat, and Fengjiu realised she had forgotten her manners in the Sky Kingdom. She quickly sat up straight, and bowed as politely as she could while still in bed, "Bai Fengjiu pays her respects to Dong Hua Dijun."

"You should lie down and take your rest instead of talking too much," Dong Hua said. "A young immortal like yourself should be focusing on cultivation and studying instead of sneaking into pagodas and trying to defeat beasts way above your cultivation level."

Fengjiu glared at him and pouted. "Yes, yes, Mr. Dijun. Thank you for your lecture."

Dong Hua ignored her sarcasm, then without a change in emotion, continued, "Princess of Qingqiu, you should continue to rest to recover your vitality. While you are in my territory, you are my guest, so if you need anything, do not hesitate to inform Chong Lin."

Chong Lin? He's here too? Fengjiu almost jumped in joy at this revelation, forgetting her slight annoyed feeling towards Dong Hua earlier. "Then what about Xing Si Ming? Is he here too?"

Dong Hua smirked. "Yes, Si Ming Xing Jun is here. What do you need him for, though? Do you need to have a mortal's fate written by the Lord of Destinies?"

Fengjiu almost fell over. Si Ming was the Lord of Destinies? If they were all immortals, why were they in the mortal realm in the first place, furthermore in 2018?

She quickly lay down and turned away from him. "Dijun, I will listen to your words and take a rest. I suddenly feel very tired." She feigned a yawn and closed her eyes. "I'm so so so tired."

Dong Hua coldly walked away, without even saying good night or asking her to take care. Fengjiu watched as the purple robes disappeared from sight. What a difference from the mortals, she thought to herself in disappointment. This immortal was as cold as ice, and as heartless as the mythological deity Bigan, who was said to have his heart seized by the fox Daji as a mortal. She wondered if there would be a chance to make him change for the better, before he really ended up single for eternity. She knew that a high god like him had an infinite lifespan of immortal years. Unlike earth deities who possessed a finite lifespan, an immortal could live for uncountable eons as long he or she cultivated well and accumulated merits from performing good deeds and reading Buddhist scriptures. An idea formed inside her little head that she would repay her debt of gratitude to him with kindness, and it would be by helping him learn what emotions were, and helping him to walk out of that icy-cold shell of his. And in no time, he would probably find love, and it would a great merit for her. In no time, with all the merit and years of cultivation she accumulated, she would soon ascend to the status of a high immortal in time to come. She laughed happily at the fact.

But then, Fengjiu was more concerned about her aunt. As long as the mortal woman resided in the Sky Kingdom, she would remain a threat to her aunt's engagement to Prince Yehua. While she was not the type of person to lay a finger on an innocent woman, she worried about her aunt's happiness and well-being. She had thought that with her aunt's cancelled engagement to Sangji, she would have acquired a better match. But now, she was again being 'cheated on' as she believed it to be. Since the mortal woman was pregnant, it would be heartless for the prince to abandon her in favour of his prior engagement, but then, her aunt was innocent, too. What would the best case scenario for the two of them? She wondered.

She wouldn't leave the Sky Kingdom until she was able to find out more information about the mortal woman and the Prince's decision on his engagement to her aunt.

....................................



A week passed, and Fengjiu made a speedy recovery, but was still not as strong as she had been before the pagoda incident. She was tired of sitting in her bed doing e-cultivation (a virtual mode of cultivating using the laptop in Taichen Palace) and playing on the TianBox with Cheng Yu, the immortals' variation of the game console. At times, Liansong and Si Ming, whom she had forged a new friendship with, would join her in console games, but she was very bored. After all, she was a fox, and she loved being free and in the wild. She hated being restrained in the palace, but she was aware that she needed to stay in the palace to gather information about the mortal woman.

Liansong and Si Ming, as the gossip kings of the Sky Kingdom, related to her what they had gathered from the gossip of the Sky Kingdom, and combined it with the facts that Liansong had witnessed himself as the uncle of Yehua. Yehua had admitted to Liansong that he was in love with the woman but at the same time, he was unable to defy the orders of the Sky Kingdom. However, since Fengjiu's aunt was missing at this time and the woman was pregnant with his child, he was doing as much as he could to protect the woman and fulfill his responsibility as a father and lover. Perhaps what was more important right now for her, was to find her aunt. But where in the Four Seas and Eight Deserts could she start looking for her aunt? Also, mortal women couldn't live very long, and she didn't know when her aunt would be coming back to fulfill her marriage to the Sky Kingdom. Considering her aunt was also a loyal disciple of the God of War, by no way would she be leaving her own master without a word. She would be due to come back very soon, she reassured herself.

One particular night felt so cold and desolate. She was finding difficulty in containing her desire to explore the palace, and so she decided to do so as a fox. Upon leaving her room for the first time, she was astonished to realise that the entire palace was in fact, a labyrinth. It was so majestic that she was sure to get lost. After taking a long path where she ended up in circles, she randomly pushed open the door to enter a room that looked similar to hers. Very soon, she found herself leaping onto the bed, which in comparison to hers, was even softer and spacier. It had to be a king-sized recoil spring mattress, she observed. She transformed back into her human form and started losing herself in the sheets, rolling on the bed in joy, until she felt her body come into contact with something soft and warm.



On a closer look, she realised someone was sleeping on the bed next to her. Flustered, she clambered to her feet and tried to get up from the bed, but then her little feet was caught in the blankets, causing her to slip abruptly and land hard on the sleeping person. Her lips met with the person's lips in an accidental kiss, causing him to stir and awaken from his sleep.

This had to be the most uncomfortable situation in her life, Fengjiu thought. Of all the people of the Sky Kingdom, the person she had bothered in her moment of presposterous play, had been the former emperor of the Sky Kingdom, Dong Hua Dijun. What reason would she have to be jumping on his bed and accidentally landing a kiss on his lips?

Sleepwalking. That had to be a good enough reason. She closed her eyes and then opened her eyes again, and feigning ignorance, said, "Ah, where am I? I'm not in my room! I have to be sleepwalking again! Yes, I have just sleepwalked from my room to... another room!"  She faked a laugh, and got up quickly, before scurrying out of the room, with her cheeks still as red as a tomato.

"Sleepwalking," the purple-robed immortal smiled to himself, as the door shut behind the fox. "Ah, it must be fun."