Kunlun Mountain Part 2 - The Masters Disciple.

Chapter 14 - Part 4. Mo Yuan

Mo Yuan was in the elixir chamber when Bai Qian returned to Kunlun Mountain briefly to drop off the medicinal plants that Jianyu had given her.  Dressed as Si Yin, and in his Disciple robes, he did not notice Mo Yuan at the low table going through some of the many vials that contained a variety of toxins and poisons, but Mo Yuan noticed him.

Watching as he delicately placed each of the ingredients into small jars and labeled each one, Mo Yuan said nothing, but continued to watch, even recognizing some of them as he placed the jars onto the shelf above his head, though he almost laughed out loud when Si Yin had go up onto his toes to reach.

Placing his hands on the lower shelf, Si Yins head suddenly dropped, his shoulders sagged and his whole body slowly gave way beneath him, as he slid ungracefully to the step he was standing on.  So lost in thought, he was not aware of anything around him.  Mo Yuan watched as his face fell into his hands that were resting on his knees and his eyes stared blankly ahead of him.  He watched as a myriad of emotions flickered across his face and he knew, he was fighting internally with the past few days,  as he sat half hidden in the shadows watching his face intently, Mo Yuan sighed inwardly.  And it was then and there he realized, that the day he had organized for Bai Qian was no longer a contender, instead he decided at the last minute to change it.  His plan would be daring, and a risk but it would be one that would leave her no options.  Because he wanted her, and regardless of how much she struggled with the choice she had to make, or who he was up against, Mo Yuan was not going to lose.

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Arriving at the Fox Den on time, Mo Yuan waited patiently for Bai Zhi to fetch Bai Qian in the main den.   And like Liang, he too had to wait a considerable amount of time while she once again changed her dress several times and redid her hair.  In the end, she kept it simple and her hair was left completely unbound.  She looked beautiful.

Suddenly Bai Qian felt very nervous and shy when he finally came into view.  Though Liang had also made her nervous, Mo Yuan knotted her stomach severely, because she realized the moment she saw him in the den waiting for her, the choice she had to make after this day, would be the biggest one of her life, and this man may not be the one she had always thought would fill it.

But she smiled, genuinely happy to see him.  It felt as if it had been years since she had last laid eyes on his face, but the beautiful soft way his eyes looked at her, suddenly brought back every tender memory she had of him, that when she took his hand to be led away, her finger automatically stroked the inside of his palm in an intimate way, something she had never done before, causing Mo Yuan to look down at her in surprise and her father who happened to notice the intimate gesture, wonder at how close they actually were.

Once outside the den, Mo Yuan walked her to the entrance of Qing Qiu and as they both stepped beyond its barrier, he stopped.  Then turning her to face him, he once again looked at her with his soft tender eyes, her heart automatically melted.  

"Bai Qian, where I am taking you, are places you have been once before."  Then lightly pushing away the stray hair that had fallen across her face, he bent down and kissed the top of her head before pulling her into his arms, where he held her tightly.  "Just know, that when this day is over, our time together was given in love." he said softly, but so enigmatically that she looked up.  But she knew Mo Yuan, he always spoke in riddles, ones she normally knew how to read, and though this time, she did not understand what he meant, she knew that what he had planned, was not a conventional outing and nor was it one she was prepared for.

Suddenly the world around began to change.  A thick silver haze enveloped her and she suddenly felt light headed, but as the haze lifted away, her head also began to clear.  The air itself became much fresher and the sounds of the birds also changed.  Looking around, she was still standing outside the barrier of Qing Qiu, but somehow it looked a little different, though she could not quite put her finger on it.  Looking up, he merely smiled at her, before leading her back through the barrier.