Rescue Me, My Love

You Old Fox You

Bai Zhi felt it was time to teach his elder sunzis a lesson. He was pacing in the arena with his hands behind his back. He saw Bai Xue and Mo JinDe coming out of the corridor towards him. A smile crossed his lips. A moment later, Baohu and Jinzi followed. Since it looked like everyone was coming, he decided to wait. Mo Yuan and Ye Hua came out next. They sat under the pavilion with Baohu and Jinzi. Bai Zhi smiled. He was about to school some young dragons. "Good morning, my sunzis. Since you seem to think you can best me, I'm here to teach you both a lesson. You best get ready because here I come!" Before they knew what hit them, there were ten Bai Zhi fighting them with their nine tails blazing. There were back and forth, spinning, dodging, raising into the air, sliding and furiously using there swords. The battle went on for over an hour. One by one the false images disappeared. Bai Xue was knocked down first. He was bound with magic and couldn't get free. Baohu pointed and laughed. "Zufu get Xue Xue!" Mo JinDe was not so easy. He was jumping all over the arena. He jumped behind Bai Zhi and nearly had him. Two moves and Bai Zhi bound him too. He dusted his hands together and left them laying there as he walked to the pavilion. " Zufu!! Come on! No fair!" Mo JinDe wailed. He finally broke his bonds. He broke Bai Xue's for him. They walked to the pavilion together. Mo JinDe looked at Bai Xue and sighed. "He kicked our asses Da ge. He kicked us good. First Fuqin and now Zufu! We need to train when we get back home!" They both flopped down on pillows by the table. Mo Yuan laughed at both of then. "Got your asses kicked by your Zufu! He's a wiley fox full of tricks! You just found out the hard way!" "Fuqin, you could have warned us!" "Why? And miss you getting your asses kicked again? You boys better take training more seriously. I've warned you time and again. You both must be as powerful as your Zufu and I! No excuses!" Bai Zhi nodded in agreement. "Your generation are weak!! Grow up and build your power! No excuses!" He turned to Baohu and Jinzi. "Now it's time for you two to practice." Both of them looked at each other and grinned.
Before anyone could blink, they had thrown a binding spell on each of them. Bai Zhi grinned and broke it. Mo Yuan grinned and broke it. Bai Xue and Mo JinDe were caught! They looked at each other and then the grinning little foxes. Finally they broke free. Bai Zhi nodded and laughed. "See? Your Didis both bound you. Ha!! Very well done, Xiao hulis!" Mo Yuan motioned for them to come to him. "So you like training with your Zufu?" "Fuqin, Zufu teach us a lot about fox magic. He said we smart and can learn fast!" Jinzi, for once, was excited and talking. "Fuqin, Zufu said we can learn dragon magic too. You will teach us, won't you?" "Once you learn your fox magic, then I will teach you dragon magic." He turned to Bai Xue and Mo JinDe. "I suggest you two stay for at least an hour of training. These little ones will train with their Zufu as well. I'm going to check on Qian Qian and your new Didi and jiemei."
Bai Zhi took Baohu and Jinzi through the fox dance sword routine. They only used practice swords for now, but they were doing very well. Bai Xue elbowed Mo JinDe and nodded at them. "Isn't that the dance Fuqin and Mother do together? How come we never learned that?" "It is only taught to foxes. Mo Yuan knows it but doesn't teach it out of respect for fox tradition, that's why", Bai Zhi explained. "Since your mother is a fox, I see no reason why you both can't learn it. Care to try?" Mo JinDe jumped up and brought forth his blade. "We thought you would never ask, Zufu!!" "The essence of this sword dance is the movement of your feet, the fluidness of your motion and the emotion you decide to put into it, whether it be your hate, love, or anger. For your mother, it was her love for a future partner. That's your Fuqin. Once you decide which emotion, you must keep that to succeed. Ready? Watch!" His feet moved in a poetic arc and his sword took different positions swinging, arcing, thrusting. He twirled into the air and landed as soft as a thistle. They were spellbound. For four hours he trained the four, the great and the small. He was very impressed that all four of them chose love as their emotion. Inwardly he smiled to know that their lives were filled with love. It spoke volumes to his heart.
Mo Yuan went straight to the nursery with Ye Hua in tow. Everyone was asleep so he didn't want to disturb them. Bai Qian was not there. "Ye Hua, I'll meet you in the hall for tea. I'm sure the ladies are there already." Ye Hua left him at his bedroom door. He walked in to find Bai Qian asleep in their bed. He ran his knuckles along her cheek and gazed upon her beauty. Was it possible that childbirth had made her even more so? He sighed and nodded to himself. Indeed she was! The epitome of loveliness, grace and power. His goddess! He stood up to leave and she sighed. He passed healing energy over her and left her smiling. He walked into the hall to female twittering. He rolled his eyes mentally. Qian Qian is the only woman he's accustomed to. He took his seat and poured himself a cup of tea. Bao Feng Yu was excited and couldn't wait to talk first. "Da ge! The babies are so beautiful! I can't wait to give Ye Hua one of his own!" He put his hand in his chin and was listening to the chatter. Ye Hua was carefully watching his Da ge. Slowly Mo Yuan's head begin to fall over. He was asleep. "Poor Da ge! He's worn out!" When he nearly fell out of his chair, Ye Hua got up and jumped him to his room. "Take a nap, Da ge. Everything is ok now. I'll wake you for dinner." Mo Yuan nodded and laid down next to Bai Qian who was still napping. Ye Hua smiled to himself. Very seldom did something get the best of his brother. Very seldom.
Now that Bai Zhi was acquainted with his four sunzis, He decided some good old fashioned fox mischief was in order. He started with simple little pranks. For a solid week he had been pranking all four of them and they were totally clueless. He was talking to Mo Yuan in the main hall when Baohu and Jinzi came walking in. With a thought he untied their robes as they bowed to their father. "Aiya! How did that happen?" Mo Yuan was silent but he caught the glint in Bai Zhi's eyes. JinDe and Xue both came in with their wives. When Xue picked up his tea, it splashed into his face. The look of surprise on his face was priceless. Meili wiped his face and smiled. He narrowed his eyes and looked at JinDe who also had tea all over his face. They had a moment of communication between them. Bai Zhe Zhe came in and sat down. "Mo Yuan, those children of yours are something else!" "Thank you, but don't forget these four here!" Bai Zhi laughed out loud. "Who knew that Mo Yuan, the great God of War, would have eight children! Eight! I only have five! I'm amazed!" "I'm about to go visit the newest ones now. Would you care to come with me?" Bai Zhi nodded and they headed off to the nursery. As they were walking away, the tea cups of all four boys flipped over.
Baohu, being a rather smart little fox, decided to mind read his zufu as he walked away. "A ha!! Zufu been pranking us!!" He decided they could get even when he least expects it. "Da ge, Er ge, Zufu has been pranking all of us! Why don't we prank Zufu?" Bai Xue got a twinkle in his eye and called Baohu and Jinzi over. There they were, the four older sons of Mo Yuan plotting a prank on their zufu. They all had their heads together when they realized their zumu was listening. Four pairs of eyes landed on her. She was drinking her tea talking to Meili and Mei Ying when she felt the stares. "What?" JinDe broke the silence. "Zumu, you can't tell Zufu we are on to him! We are about to prank him good!" "My lips are sealed, but all four of you will owe me one!" They all kissed her at once and left the room scheming.
Mo Yuan was holding Lei Lei and Junjie in his arms. He was swaying and purring to them. Bai Qian had Bo Bo and Chu Chu in her arms. They had all been fed and were being put down for a nap. "Xiao Wu, you amaze your old Fuqin. These golden foxes are so beautiful! And the dragons! The little white one is going to be a force to be reckoned with. Mark my words! I just wanted you to know that training the boys has been a delightful experience. They are very sharp and I have to be on my toes in the training arena. Those two older dragons are more than worthy of their positions in the nine heavens too. You have done well, Mo Yuan. Very well, indeed!" "JinDe is much like his mother while Bai Xue is rather quiet and reserved. Baohu and Jinzi are in a class by themselves. You've seen those two for yourself. I've considered letting Jinzi study under Zhe Yan. He's a natural healer and I believe he could be a great medicine king one day. Baohu is going to be a great warrior. He may be the one to take my place some day. Who knows?"
Mo Yuan and Bai Zhi were walking out of the nursery when the four boys appeared. "Fuqin! You want to go to hot spring with Baohu? We all going! You come too, Zufu! Get good soak! No more stinky foxes or rank dragons!!" Bai Zhi looked at Mo Yuan, raised a brow and mouthed "stinky foxes"? "What a good idea, Baohu! Have you got our favorite oils? Towels? Go in the nursery and tell mother where we men will be. I need a good soak!" The little boys were already naked paddling around the pool when Bai Zhi and Mo Yuan got there. Mo Yuan got in the pool naked but Bai Zhi kept his linen pants on. Baohu asked,"why you keep your pants on Zufu? Fox thing not as big as dragon thing?" Bai Zhi's face turned red as he looked at Mo Yuan. Mo Yuan shrugged and said,"it's a long story." Bai Xue came next and he too waded in naked. Last but certainly not least, JinDe had been hiding waiting for just the right moment. He ran, removed his barrier and cannonballed right into the pool. He rose from the water like a golden model, slung his hair back, flexed his muscles and laughed out loud when he saw his wet Zufu. "That's for pranking us all week, Zufu!!" Mo Yuan broke out into a loud belly laugh. "He's done it to all of us! He didn't want you to feel left out!" "So you finally figured out it was me pranking you, hmmm? Took you long enough." "Baohu read your mind, Zufu! Baohu know it was you!!" "I can see that I must learn to close off my mind around you. A very sly little fox! Very sly indeed!"
That night Bai Zhi was watching Zhe Zhe comb out her hair. "Zhe Zhe, we are the most fortunate grandparents in the world! We have missed out not spending more time with them. We must make it a point to set aside time to come here for the little ones. We also need to invite Xue Xue and JinDe to bring their wives to Qing Qui. It is their heritage too. What do you think?" "I agree! We should invite them tomorrow. I hope we're not leaving are we?" "No, my dear! I'm quite enjoying being here. Those two little foxes are a challenge for this Zufu too! It's like training ours all over again. Makes an old fox feel quite young!" The next morning in the arena, Baohu and Jinzi were waiting for their Zufu. "Zufu, Jinzi want to show you something!" He walked out into the arena. "Watch!" Jinzi split into four. Bai Zhi was speechless. "Jinzi, how did you learn this? I didn't teach it to you!" "Jinzi see Zufu do it to fight Bai Xue and JinDe. I learn it." "Baohu, call your Fuqin here please." Mo Yuan appeared instantly. "What has happened?" "Show him, Jinzi!" Jinzi grinned and split into four. Mo Yuan's mouth fell open and he stared at Jinzi and then Bai Zhi. "When did you teach it to him?" "That's the whole point. I never taught it to him. He watched me use it against Xue Xue and JinDe. He observed and taught himself." "Jinzi, this magic is very complicated and won't last long unless you have cultivated a lot of power to maintain it. Your Zufu is powerful and can do it. Fuqin is very proud of you!" Bai Zhi turned to Mo Yuan. "Zhe Zhe and I have decided to stay at least a year here if that is ok with you. I want to intensely train these two. Do you have any objections?" "I have no objections. I want them to learn from you. You're the best teacher for them at this point. Their classroom teaching I can handle but fox magic is from you alone. Push them hard! Don't let them slack off a bit!" "Oh trust me! Ol Zufu is going to put them through the wringer! When I get through, they will have no trouble going through their trials."