Choices And Arrivals

-Shen Wei-

"Lady Yue…" Shen Wei try to gently pull away from her tight hug, as she came to him as soon as she saw him enter in the room. Looking at Da Qing's mess up fur, he was sure, the poor cat was the one she was hugging until he showed up. Actually, Lin was holding him, so he could not run away.

"My little one, who is it the one causing you pain? Is it this Kunlun's reincarnation? I can punish him for you if he had returned to the world wrongly." The fox lady said, still hugging him, but giving Zhao a nasty look.

"You know I had been cursed, the pain is always there." Shen try to distract her from Zhao.

"Ah the curse… it was such a sad story between brothers." She said, finally letting him go.

"Yes, Ye Zun was quite surprise I took the stab for Kunlun. He didn't wanted to kill me." Shen sadly said.

"Which remain me, Kunlun…"

"I'm Zhao Yunlan, my lady." Zhao prepare himself for the worst.

"My brother is coming, soon. Show him you deepest respect." She said and Zhao looked at Zhen a bit lost. He had no idea who was her brother.

"Lord, Húa is the former leader of the fox tribe. They guard more than the sacred mountain. The key to the heavens is Mount Kunlun, for which two of the strongest tribes are set to watch over it. The fox, which had achieve the highest level of cultivation among the fairies are the ones in charge now, but if they were to fail, the dragon tribe, which have less numbers, but more raw power are to act on their place."

"That's right my little ghost. Last night, the demons dare to come too close to Mount Kunlun, so my brother should have call for the gathering of the tribes. Long ago, not only the demons and humans were at war, before Nuwa created the humans, the fairies dominated the world and they did war with each other for many years. Your former self intervened many times and at the end they agree to honor a pact. Kunlun gave each tribe a mountain they would call their own and as long as they don't turn against each other they would prosper and find peace. However, if the gods were to need their assistance, they would gather and fight as one." The fox lady said.

"So, they will unite now?" Lin dare to ask.

"Probably. One of the tribes had already break the pact, be in league with the gods enemies and came too close to their sacred mountain. If that doesn't call for a gathering, then what will?" She asked, looking at Lin with a golden penetrating gaze.

"I will call my Uncle Four and see what I can get from him. He was expecting us to go to Nuwa's temple and…"

"Don't bother, little Nuwa, he will come here. This is bigger than Guardians or ghosts." The fox stop her.

"Lady Yue, we need to find the Holy artifacts to re-seal both Hell and the underworld. We were told Nuwa's hidden temple holds another one." Shen said.

"After Pangu separated the yin and yang to create both heaven (yang) and earth (yin), he left behind many artifacts that could be used for both good and evil. Nuwa used those to mend the world when it was broken and later to seal those who seek destruction, so yes, gathering them again will help restore the world once again, but nothing is as easy. I'm afraid that your path will not be an easy one and at the end, not all of you may come back alive." The lady said, freezing them all in the spot.

"In a war, there is always the possibility to lose something or someone. I knew from the start that even fighting angry ghosts to keep the civilians safe was dangerous. This is nothing different, we all have choices, so I will give you, my Guardians a decision to make. Either you walk away and stay safe, or help restoring the world. What do you said?" Zhao asked, deeply looking at them one by one.

"As if I have a choice. I am a Nuwa's descendant, after all." Zhu said, giving his Chief a wink.

"Well, if the world is destroyed by demons, what's the difference? We all die if they win, so I rather go down fighting." Lin reply.

"I'm just a cat fairy, so don't go expecting too much from me." Both Zhao and Shen smiled.

"Your presence and encouragement is more than enough, honorable Da Qing." Shen added.

"Ah, finally someone who appreciate my worth." Shen smiled.

"Didn't you just said you will do nothing but watch? Just what kind of worth is that, old cat?" Zhao refuted, as it was usual between them.

"The same as a shameless former god who can only bark no bite!"

"Hey! I did well in the fight, right Xiao Wei?" Shen sighed while the fox lady laughed.

"Please let's not fight for this..." Shen said, wanting to face palmed himself.

"I… well, I'm not too good with fighting either, but this is also my world. So, I will protect it… for as long as I can." Guo added, ending the bickering.

"That will help more than you imagine, little white one. Your virtue will be needed, very needed." The lady said.

"Well, my loyalty had always be with the Ghost Slayer. If he fights, so will I." Chu said and Zhao came closer to Wei to whisper in his ear.

"Hey, he is not really in love with you right?" Zhao asked winning a discreet elbow in the ribs from Shen Wei, although his flushing face said it all to the rest of the Guardians.

"No, his love interest is more than obvious. Please behave…" Shen whisper back. He was going to add some more but the sudden sound of a bell that seems to resonate all over the temple, make them all turn toward the entrance of the temple. Shen took the lead, as he knew the bell could only be ringed by none humans, as the barrier rejected all inhuman, with the exception of the ones he selected.

Zhao, of course was following him closely and he was a bit surprised to find a small brownish fox, waiting at the end of the long stairs. The fox wasn't any different from a normal one to Zhao's normal sight, however, Shen came down the stairs and slightly bowed to the little fur ball.

"Your Honor, I have a message from Mount Kunlun." The little fox said, and Zhao arched an eyebrow a little surprised. He had heard Da Qing talk for years, but the fox voice was like that of a child. It was kind of odd any a bit funny.

"You may come in, I welcome you and all of your fox tribe." Shen Wei said and the barrier turned golden for a second before disappearing from their eyes again.

"That's…" Zhao begin while looking up.

"The barrier acts as his owner wishes. The fox is probably a kid. The elder wants for the Ghost Slayer to understand he is not sending a messenger to give him troubles. Kids are usually a sign of peace, so Shen Wei allowed the entire tribe in, if they so want it." Da Qing explained.

"So they will really gather here." Zhao said as he watched the little fox turn into a human-like kid.

"Yes, there is no doubt. Ming Yue was consider a sage among her kind, she may hug a lot, but she is quite wise." Da Qing reassure him.

"Like mother, like son…" Zhao smiled. After the kid was guided the room they left, the kid kneel in front of the lady fox first, then in front of Shen Wei.

"Please, there is no need…" Shen said, helping the kid that looked no older than fourteen, to rise again. Zhao smiled quite pleased with his lover kindness.

"Speak, young child. Is my brother coming?" Lady Yue asked.

"Yes, Lady Yue. The tribes had been convoke to a special gathering. The elder had took the liberty to summon the pact tribes to this temple, which held the best protection and had both the Guardians and His Honor in one place."

"Tell the elder I don't mind. More or less at which hour could we expect them to come?" He wanted to prepare something special for the leaders, to show him his appreciation.

"About that, Your Honor…" The kid blushed a bit nervous.

"Yes, what is it?" Shen pressed, but again the bell resonated all over the temple.

"They are all coming about now, please forgive our lack of manners for not telling you with much anticipation…" The kid kneel again and deeply bowed. Zhao laughed.

"Don't worry kid, these are troubled times. The sooner we deal with this the better. By the way what's your name?" Zhao asked the kid, who didn't dare to look at him for more than a few seconds. It wasn't that he feared Zhao, but that he remember he was the one kissing the Lord Ghost and he didn't want to act embarrassed in front of the humans.

"It's Feng, my Lord." The fox kid responded.

"Good, do you know who is down the stairs now?" Zhao asked again. The kid sniffed once before responding.

"The dragons…" Both Feng and Yue responded at the same time.

"I will great them, please wait in here." Shen Wei said, while hastily going out.

"Dragons, he said? I mean, they were mention before, but Hell, we are actually meeting them right now?" Lin asked swallowing hard in disbelief. Just how many surprised he will have in such a short period of time. Shen Wei being the Ghost Slayer, his Chief being a former god, fighting demons in great numbers, witnessing the unbelievable power of a fox lady from which he didn't even knew they could change to human-like form and now there were dragons too. Zhu shudder at his side, probably thinking the same.

"Just how many tribes are out there, that we don't know anything about?" Zhao asked Da Qing.

"Too many to name them all, but only the pact ones are coming, which means than aside from the foxes, the snakes and the dragons, there should be the floras, the lions and my own tribe." Da Qing said with nostalgic. He had been away from his tribe from way too long.

"You are wrong, little kitty. It's quite possible another one will come, although probably after the gathering." Lady Yue added.

"Who?" Zhu asked curiously.

"A god." She said. Leaving them all in shock.

AN: Thanks for reading.