Seventeen: The Uncle Arrives

Su Mo Ye passed their bedroom, walking as swiftly as he could as the shrill sounds of her sensual moans filled the air. Some months ago, he had received a conference call from Bai Zhen of Qingqiu whom had told him of the missing fox princess, his niece Bai Fengjiu. Since Fengjiu was the chef of the family, it seemed unnatural that she had gone missing for so long. Previously, she had been miraculously detained in the Sky Kingdom due to a mishap caused by her curiosity, but since Cheng Yu was around and seeing that she stayed out of trouble, the Bais were relieved. But the next thing was Bai Qian returning with severe injuries and having to seclude herself in the Kunlun Mountains to recover from the severity of her injuries. As such, nobody had the time to look up Bai Fengjiu, since Bai Qian's plight had already caused such discord in Qingqiu.

The ninetailed foxes were known to live in freedom and independence, which was why Fengjiu's parents hadn't bothered to check up on her all this while. However, apart from Bai Qian, her closest relative had been her uncle, Bai Zhen, who happened to be also Su Mo Ye's good friend and drinking partner. Su Mo Ye couldn't stand by without offering his friend any help. He had never seen this niece of Bai Zhen, but Bai Zhen did send him a picture of Bai Fengjiu a few days ago.

Based on his friend's description, Fengjiu was pretty much a 'child' at this point, and she had a knack of vanishing without a trace when she was either in trouble or she didn't like what was given to her. In the last incident, it had been a clingy suitor whom had freaked her out and caused her to depart to the mortal world after, as she normally did. But then she had returned after Zhe Yan located her, only for her to disappear again from the Sky Kingdom following her purposeful investigation of the mortal woman. Although Fengjiu had returned again to Qingqiu after that, she had only returned for about a week before she went missing again, which had aroused Bai Zhen's suspicions. Was there something linked to her disappearance and reappearance?

In spite of the disguise by Dong Hua, Su Mo Ye had a slight tinge of suspicion that this female immortal known as Hong (Red), who was brought to the palace with the male immortal known as Zi (Purple), was no other than the missing fox princess. He noted that based off the photograph, the fox princess did indeed, bear a resemblance to Hong. But if she was indeed the princess, who could be the man with her? Bai Zhen had made no mention of a man.

He thought it was possible to identify Bai Fengjiu from one of her favourite foods or wines, but there wasn't a suitable time for him to approach. It was apparent that the male immortal was someone important to her, if not her husband. Since the male immortal was highly protective of her and never let her out of his sight, and it was not appropriate for him to walk in on a couple making love, the best bet had to be for Bai Zhen and Zhe Yan to come and witness her themselves in the banquet. There was about three days more of the banquet. With that, Su Mo Ye thought no more about how Hong could be the princess.

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

"Are you feeling a lot better now, my love?" Dong Hua faced Fengjiu lovingly as he enveloped her with kisses. She had appeared to be extremely exhausted following their lovemaking a moment ago, and had fallen asleep. Dong Hua attributed it to lack of exercise and too much unhealthy food in the immortal realm, of which could really cause her to gain a few pounds. He really had to persuade her to exercise as soon as they got back.

"Let me sleep..." she groaned.

"I told you too much unhealthy food and too little exercise is bad for you." She had been prone to exhaustion for two weeks now. Maybe she was emotionally stressed as well, since she had been crying for no reason, Dong Hua thought. He realised there was more to relationships than just two people being in love, and he had made up his mind to conduct much reading and research so as to provide his queen with the best.

"Just let me sleep in peace... You're nagging me too much," she mouthed and put the pillow over her head.

"Jiu'er, you rest in the room, okay? I'll go for a walk," Dong Hua said. With his sharp sense of hearing, he had known someone was outside their room earlier. Who else could it be than their busybody of a host?

He materialised instantaneously before the eyes of Su Mo Ye himself, who received the shock of his life. "Let's discuss," he told the immortal, and with a wave of his hand, they reappeared in the West Lake Park, one of the most secluded spots in the vicinity of the West Sea.

"Who are you?" Su Mo Ye asked with a dubious tone. Dong Hua ignored his question. "What ulterior motives do you have on my wife?" he asked coldly instead, much to the prince Su's fear. Was he going to die at the hands of this jealous husband?

"I'm not interested in her," he stated. "It's just... It's just that she resembles the fox princess of Qingqiu too much!" he held up his cellphone and showed Dong Hua the photograph sent by Bai Zhen.

"Who sent you this photo?" Dong Hua demanded, while maintaining a calm composure. Su Mo Ye answered him.

"In this lifetime, she only belongs to me, and me only," Dong Hua hissed, producing his sword and proceeding to utilise it to sever a branch of the tree cleanly. Though he spoke rather calmly, Su Mo Ye could sense the jealousy in the tone of his voice, and shuddered.

"That's the outcome for anyone who has any designs on her," he stated, pointing towards the branch.

"A lowly immortal like me wouldn't dare," Su Mo Ye stammered. Dong Hua seized the cellphone and deleted the image from the gallery, before returning it to him with a cold glare, and in a flash, he was gone.

The sword was unmistakeable. "Could he be ..." Su Mo Ye gasped. "Dong Hua Dijun?!"

Third Day of the Banquet

The intelligent Su Mo Ye feared for his life, so he kept his distance as the couple danced gracefully on the dance floor and fed each other lovingly with grapes, much to the envy of the guests to notice such a romantic couple. Bai Zhen and Zhe Yan should be here anytime soon, he thought.

"Shall we go somewhere after this?" Dong Hua suggested, tickling Fengjiu playfully on the chin. "There's a very beautiful location that I have yet to show my wife."

"Here in the West Sea?" Fengjiu responded curiously.

"Near the West Sea," he said.

"Very well, after the performances," Fengjiu said. "I've heard there will be a renowned dancer from the High Lands today."

"I recall my wife is very good at dancing," Dong Hua teased. She recalled how she had sung a song and danced during the mid-autumn festival event at Jiuchongtian Group in the past.

He was rather enticed by the low neckline of her dress, revealing a bit of her cleavage. Just too appealing, he thought, and fought the temptation to take her into a corner and kiss her profusely. Had they been in the mortal world where open-minded thinking was typical and public displays of affection rather common, he would have done so. For now, he had to just hold his arousal back in.

He was distracted by a sudden tug on his sleeve. Fengjiu appeared to be flustered. "They're here!" she whispered earnestly, pointing to two men dressed rather formally. "My uncle Bai Zhen and his lover Zhe Yan."

"Do you want to go and greet them?" he asked. Nervously she just stared at him uncertainly.

"Are you really afraid of your uncle to know our relationship? When we get married, they're be the first to find out," Dong Hua declared.

"I...I don't know.." Fengjiu said hesitatingly. "They've already seen us," Dong Hua said. "I believe they're just pretending they haven't, as they want to enjoy the food and performances as well."

"But how could they have found out?"

"Su Mo Ye," Dong Hua explained. "I've spoken to him yesterday. "He's been suspecting you are the missing princess."

"But I returned, didn't I? My uncle is rather jumpy. I've only disappeared for a week or two, and he's already in a panic."

"Maybe because you disappeared for so long before that without telling him," Dong Hua teased.

"No, my parents and grandparents aren't like that. It's just my uncle. He treats me like a little baby," she argued. Dong Hua planted a kiss on her lips. "Okay, okay. Shall we go get the food?"

She nodded eagerly, and as they were picking up their dishes, a commotion broke out. Some fairies were screaming over an immortal boy by the name of Nezha running around on fire wheels and putting fire on the food. Fengjiu gasped as the immortal boy was heading her way, zooming at full speed on his wheels. She was sent panicking in the fear that he was going to bump into her, and at the same time, she was feeling a bit dizzy since she woke up earlier today. Her legs felt like jelly, and she couldn't get herself to move out of the way in time, and Dong Hua had left to a different section of the hall to pick up specially customized bingsu dessert for her.

Bai Zhen was terrified by the abrupt ant yet, frantic scream of his niece, but when he got there, he was relieved to see that the boy had stopped metres away from Fengjiu, but she had fainted. Without waiting any time, Zhe Yan was called to the scene, and Dong Hua immediately dropped what he was carrying and teleported just in front of them.

"Jiu'er!" his shouts were rather frantic, as he held her dearly. Bai Zhen glanced at Zhe Yan confusedly for a few moments.

"What just happened?" he demanded. "Why did she suddenly faint out of the blue?"

"Bai Zhen greets your Majesty. An immortal boy on fire wheels almost hit her," Bai Zhen whispered.

"She was almost hit by a car in the mortal world," Dong Hua replied softly while looking a bit tense. "I shouldn't have left her all alone.."

"Dijun, chill. Zhe Yan will check on her," Bai Zhen said in a soothing tone. "I guess my brother and sister-in-law will be most glad to have you as their son-in-law, but for now, let's her to her room first. She needs some silence."

Dong Hua watched the unconscious Fengjiu held by her uncle, and stretched out his hands. "I'll carry Jiu'er," he said, and Bai Zhen placed his niece firmly in Dong Hua's arms. "With your power and cultivation, I can be less concerned about her safety and well-being, as Little Five has been trying to matchmake her with so many in the past but Little Jiu didn't like any of them. But we can talk about that later. Does Dijun want to go by foot, or shall we teleport?"

Dong Hua looked serious as he focused to cast a teleportation spell to bring the four of them into their bedroom. Upon arriving, hastily he cast another spell to return the messy sheets to normal, but Bai Zhen only smiled. Previously Bai Zhen had spoken in an extremely soft and almost inaudible tone which he was certain only Dong Hua and Zhe Yan, being a High God, could hear, but now that they were in the solitude of the room and he was absolutely sure nobody was listening since everyone was at the banquet, he was able to speak in his usual voice, without having to keep it low. He felt more comfortable this way.

They gave Zhe Yan some space in the bedroom for him to check on Fengjiu's vitals and assess the reason for her sudden collapse, and headed to the other side of the spacey room to discuss.

"I apologise for my directness and if I have been disrespectful, but how long has Dijun been with Little Jiu?" Bai Zhen clasped his hands courteously.

"I'll not hold it against you since you're her uncle," Dong Hua still appeared a bit tense while talking. "In answer, we married two weeks ago, but we have been together in the mortal world for three months."

Bai Zhen did not press more on their relationship. "Has she been unwell recently?"

"She fainted once when our boat crashed, but she woke up almost immediately. Then, she has been very tired lately," Dong Hua told Bai Zhen.

"I presume she is not used to the seafood. She has never seemed to like seafood very much in the past. She does enjoy fish a lot, but all these exotic dishes aren't common in Qingqiu. I doubt she would take a liking to them."

"Does she not like seafood? I recall she splurged on seafood just yesterday at the banquet," Dong Hua told Bai Zhen. "And she was going for sour desserts a lot, when I recall she has a fondness for sweet and sugary treats."

Bai Zhen looked apprehensive upon hearing Dong Hua's words. "That's not like her taste at all. I guess we need to inform Zhe Yan."

Jiu'er, don't scare me, I need you, Dong Hua repeated continuously in his mind as he gazed towards Zhe Yan who was taking Fengjiu's pulse in a very grim manner. You need to be okay, Jiu'er. We have yet to have our official marriage ceremony, Jiu'er. Nothing can happen to you now. Jiu'er! Jiu'er!

Note: As I don't know BZ's character very well having not actually watched all the episodes of TMOPB, most supporting characters will be OOC. Please tell me if you liked this chapter in the comments!