In Darkness

The Company of Silence

AN: Apologies for the delay! Today turned out to be far busier than intended.

"Mother, mother, I thought you wouldn't come back now that Father went away!"

"A-li?" Bai Qian pulls back, struggling to hone in on his features. When she can't, she instead chooses to pull him in close.

He still smells the same, sans the newborn smell that lingered when she last held him.

It has to be A-li.

Jumping slightly when she hears the sound of a tray falling to the floor, Bai Qian looks up only to feel a familiar hand tugging on her sleeve slightly as the woman sobs next to her.

"Your Highness, you're alive! Crown Prince's soul gathering lamp really worked!"

How are they here?

Squinting, Bai Qian looks back at the door. She can't have anyone else coming in right now. She already feels too exposed as it is.

"The light... Nai Nai, it's too bright."

Nai Nai looks up at her in relief before looking around. Realizing the source of her trouble, Nai Nai offers to close the door before quickly leaving her side, returning as soon as it's securely shut, "Your Highness, you can see?"

"Not..." Why does she feel so tense? Are there many Celestials on this mountain? 

Sending a quick, subdued amount of her own cultivation out to search for Celestial energy, Bai Qian quickly retracts it before even scanning beyond the upper mountains.

This place is crawling with Celestials. Not only that, but they've allowed A-li to leave the Nine Heavens, which means it must also be heavily guarded.

"My eyes are still missing. I have fake eyes but they're very sensitive to light. Tell me, Nai Nai, are there many Celestials here?"

"This is Kunlun Mountain, your Highness... Many Celestials come here in hopes of training under High God Mo Yuan," Kneeling down, Nai Nai carefully attempts to extract A-li's arms from around her mistress, "A-li, the stone floor is cold. How about you help your mother over to the bed? It wouldn't be good for your mother to get a cold, would it?"

'My name is Mo Yuan; I'm the master of Kunlun mountain.'  

How much trouble have I gotten myself into this time?

Bai Qian reaches forward instinctively at the thought of parting, pulling A-li closer to her, "It's alright, Nai Nai, let's just stay here for now. I want to hold my son."

o~O~o~O~o

"Gugu!" Bai Feng Jiu knocks on the door, glancing back at Mo Yuan and Zhe Yan before hesitating, "Gugu, may I come in?"

"Yes, Xiao Jiu." A soft voice comes from inside.

Not even a moment later and a young woman opens the door. Turning to the two men when Mo Yuan takes a step to join her, Bai Feng Jiu uses her best, most polite voice possible, "High God, may I have a moment alone with her first?"

When she receives a polite nod in response, she offers him a succinct courtesy before walking into the room and closing the door behind her. Conjuring a novice privacy shield, she almost startles when she suddenly feels Bai Qian strengthening it, stabilizing it and ensuring no other High Gods could easily listen in. 

Her Aunt is on the bed she had been sleeping in for the past week, sitting with the little prince in her lap. How does she even begin? Gugu, while we were in the Nine Heavens, Zhe Yan took me to the rock of incarnations. Gugu, while you were sleeping, we found out that you're not fated for Li Jing but rather the Heavenly Lord of the Nine Heavens. That man doesn't know yet. There are so many things that she needs to tell her, but Nai Nai's presence leaves her wary.