Three Lives, Three Worlds: A Fated Love (Dong Hua/Bai Fengjiu)

Romance on the Mountain

Fengjiu was tired from her tireless working. The joy of Ye Hua's return meant more harvests, more babies to name, more businesses to open. She was exhausted. It was eventually Migu who forced her to take the break to Kunlun Mountain.
"You will work yourself to death." He had cried to her, forcing her to agree to go.

She had forgotten the beauty of the mountain. The last time she had been there, she had been fated to love. She had left a loveless woman. She thought about Dong Hua for a while on the journey and sighed. She was unsure how to feel about him. Fate had told her to trust him, but he had never been truthful with her about how he felt. She sighed, looking down at the bells around her ankle. She had searched for them when she returned from the wedding. She felt a strange optimism that made her smile.

Mo Yuan met her with smiles and extended arms.
"I am so glad you have come." It had been thousands of years since there had been love on the mountain. But Fengjiu was bursting with it, whether she meant to show it or not, it radiated from her like a beacon.
"I hope you will enjoy the baths during your visit. We will be having a feast tomorrow evening, to celebrate your Gugu." He told her as they walked through Kunlun.
"A feast? I didn't bring any fruits!" She cried out, horrified.
"Don't worry, it is a small gathering. No need for such luxuries." He told her and she pouted, wishing he had told her, so that she could celebrate her Gugu properly.

He watched her pout as they walked to her room and repressed his chuckle. He could see the appeal and why Dong Hua had been tempted by her in the first place. She was irritable and playful, like a child, but also wise and nurturing like a queen, a very rare combination.

Fengjiu was glad to be alone when she sank into the pool. The salt bath worked to soothe her and she soon found herself relaxing into a state of cultivation.
"I think these are the salt baths." She heard Si Ming call out. Her eyes flew open and she began to panic. She knew she couldn't leave, because there was only one entrance and she would be soaking wet. In an impulse, she held her breath and plunged under the water.

She heard footsteps and hoped that the thick opaque water would mask her.
"You can leave now." She heard Dong Hua and began to panic. She was glad she was such a talented swimmer, or else her lungs would have made her known.

She felt the water shift as Dong Hua entered the pool. She couldn't believe that they were sharing a bath, it was too scandalous to imagine. She couldn't hold her breath anymore and burst from the water, to find a wide eyed Dong Hua Dijun.

He cocked his head after he recovered from his shock.
"Jiuer?" He asked, wondering if she was real, or perhaps just a figment of his imagination. She panicked and turned herself into a fox. However, before she could swim away, he caught her and carried her over to where he had been sitting. He sat and placed her against his chest, stroking her, caressing the nub where she had sliced her tail.

Fengjiu couldn't believe it. She was laying on his chest, it was scandalous, but she reminisced back to the time when he had found her in fox form and kept her as a pet for a while. He had stroked her then, but she had guessed he didn't know it was her. But now, he was fully aware of it and still held her to his wet chest, caressing her.

It was easier for him this way. There was no talking, no back and forth, just Jiuer, falling asleep on his chest. He smiled to himself as he smoothed down her fur, until fur became hair and he was cradling a soaked Jiuer in his arms.

She was fast asleep and he wondered what she would think if she awoke to find him there with her, but as he moved away, she clung onto his hair.
"Dijun." She mumbled, holding onto him and he sighed, smiling down at her. Even though she was apprehensive, she still clung to him, still yearned for him. He knew that as long as he could make her see him as available, he could fulfill their fate.

Fengjiu awoke in the bath alone. She remembered becoming a fox, being stroked by Dijun. But when did she return to human form? She hoped it was after he had left, because her wet bath clothes left very little to the imagination. She quickly dried off and ran back to her rooms.

As she dressed, she placed her hand over the nub of her ninth tale. She always viewed this as her love scar for Dijun. She had put herself in mortal danger when she attempted to add his name next to hers on the three lives rock. Now both of their names were missing and she wondered if they both belonged to a very exclusive club.

He heard her coming before he saw her. Dong Hua had not heard those bells in over three hundred years. His head snapped up when he recognised their sound. A moment later, he saw her walking in with one of the Kunlun students carrying a pot of stew.
"I made you all stew." She announced and Si Ming cried out what a useful girl she was.
"I will finally taste your famous cooking." Dong Hua smiled over to her and watched as she averted her gaze and blushed a deep shade of pink.
"I hope you like it."

Mo Yuan chuckled as his student lingered at the edge of the room.
"You can leave now." He reminded him, shaking his head as the boy ran off.
"I told you I cannot leave my boys in your company. They will become besotted." He told her as he took a second serving of her stew.
"I am sure anyone who stays in the Fox Den is well fed, no wonder Ye Hua wants to visit so often!" Si Ming cried out and Fengjiu basked in the compliments. She waited for Dong Hua to say something, but he just finished his meal and placed down his bowl.
"Dijun, what did you think of the meal?" Si Ming asked, giving Dong Hua an opportunity to compliment Fengjiu.
"I have told Fengjiu that my kitchens are available to her. I hope she will visit them for my sake in the future." He complimented her elegantly and watched as her eyes lit up with joy.

They walked together after dinner.
"Those bells-" He began, unsure of what he wanted to say.
"I have not worn them for hundreds of years. It was too painful." She told him and he nodded.
"And now?" He asked, wondering what had changed.
"It just felt right. They remind me of the happiest time of my life, when I stood at the altar with a man I loved." She reminisced, revealing too much, forgetting that Dong Hua remembered the time they had spent together in the mortal realm.

She walked a pace behind him as she reminisced in the bliss of that moment. She wrinkled her nose as she bumped into his back, as she had many a time when she first followed him.
"Jiuer, I remember those bells too." He told her, with his back to her. She couldn't help it, the old Fengjiu took over and she snaked her arms around his waist and placed her cheek against his hair.

Dong Hua gasped when he felt her arms around him. It reminded him of when she had embraced him before, when she had tried to win his affections. But this felt different. Before, he had never had to earn an embrace from her, he had fought them off, to protect them both from his ill fate. But now, he stood, encircled in her, his essence as strong as it had ever been. He silently thanked her, for lifting his curse, he had never thought it would happen, but she had managed the impossible.

Fengjiu was shocked when he didn't push her away. He rested his head back against hers and they stayed like this for a while.
"I don't understand what is happening." She whispered to him and he turned to face her.
"You don't need to understand. Just trust what you know to be true." He told her and she furrowed her brows.
"For example, you can see my essence has returned. Before, when we were together, I would become weak. But now, I am restored." He admitted, sharing his experience with her.
"You are not as grumpy as you used to be." She smiled to him, continuing to walk in front of him.
"Yes, I suppose." He chuckled, wondering why she noticed this over everything else that was happening to them

Fengjiu allowed herself to hope for a moment. She looked back at Dong Hua and saw him gazing at her.
"Why do you look at me like that?" She asked him outright.
"Because I want to." He told her and she chuckled, shaking her head.
"Should I not look at you?" He asked innocently.
"Not like that." She pouted and he raised an eyebrow.
"Why?" He cocked his head to the side.
"It makes me feel things I shouldn't." She admitted and he took a step forward.
"You always used to be so open with your emotions. Now you keep them so hidden." He noticed and she nodded.
"I cannot get hurt again." She told him and he sighed.
"You have become a cautious girl. It does not suit you." He told her, walking past. She acted on impulse and grabbed his hand.
"Dijun, you cannot expect me to be so open so quickly." She whispered to him and he pulled on her hand, bringing her into an embrace.
"I understand I hurt you before. I will make up for those times." He told her and she squeezed her arms around his back.
"Don't hold me so tight." He complained and she shook her head.
"I can't help it. If I let go you might disappear, like a dream." She explained and he sighed.
"I am not going to leave you." He reassured her and she loosened her grip a little.