The fated ones

Chapter 60

The next afternoon, dong hua was single mindedly working on something in the bed chambers he and feng jiu shared. His work table was covered with herbs, roots and flowers of all kinds along with a special tray full of different vials. His concentration was fully focused on the task he was doing, when he felt someone's aura outside the bamboo house. He knew the person to whom that aura belonged.
So, without straying away from the task at hand, he swiped away his hand in the air to open the door. Seeing as the house wasn't that big and the visitor was nosy enough to poke around, dong hua continued with what he was doing, knowing that the visitor will eventually find his way to the chamber doors.
Minutes later, he heard the sound of approaching footsteps before the chamber doors burst open. Zhe yan burst in with a huff and started complaining, "do you know how long it took for me to find you? Couldn't you or xaio jiu have received me at the gate?"
Getting no reply from dong hua, he ventured further into the room. The vantage point from the gate was such that only the work table was visible in the direct view. To look at the rest of the room, the viewer needed to turn around and look specifically for the rest of the room. Originally the room had been designed this way by feng jiu to provide herself some privacy. Though at this moment, it was working as a deterrent for zhe yan. He saw dong hua toiling away at the work table and walked forward to inspect.
Nearing the table, he observed the selection of plants and potions spread out in front of dong hua. Given the area of his expertise, it took the medicine king nothing but a second to recognize the potion dong hua was working on.
"why are you making the body stabilizing medicine? That is an unusual choice, even for you." Zhe yan asked. He waited for an answer but after waiting for a few minutes he realized he wouldn't be getting one. With the amount of time he had spent in doing hua's company over the millenias, he was accustomed to being ignored by the almighty god. So, not thinking much of it, he began talking again.
"where is xaio jiu anyway? Normally, she comes running out the house every time I visit. Is she in court, today? I wonder, why zhen zhen didn't tell me about it?" He was muttering away the last part, when he finally turned around. Looking at the rest of the room, he saw the answer to his question, sleeping away at the huge circular bed in the center of the room.
"why is xaio jiu sleeping away the daylight? She is not one to slumber for long." As he continued on his musings, he walked towards the bed in pursuit of waking her up. In his mind, he thought, dong hua was pampering feng jiu too much by letting her sleep so late but as he neared the bed, he saw the most unusual sight.
In a light, disbelieving voice he questioned, "is... is... xaio jiu glowing? Dijun?"
Finally, he heard an answer from behind him, "yes, she is."
Zhe yan hurriedly walked towards her bedside as he continued speaking, "why is she glowing? Her skin looks so golden, right now. What exactly happened?"
He continued checking her vitals, aura, cultivation and spirit. Slowly, he gave her a complete body checkup trying to find out the root of the problem but came up empty handed.
Perplexed, he looked up to see the approaching figure of donghua and asked "what happened, dijun? Her spirit, aura and cultivation are roaring with health but her body is running a high temperature and her heart is beating a thousand times a minute. And all this is without including the fact that her skin is actually glowing golden. Please tell me what happened, maybe I will be able to help you take care of her?" The puzzlement and ambiguity in zhe yan's voice transformed into a soft plea.
Dong hua silently went to sit by feng jiu's bed side and spoon fed the medicine to her lips. Only after the medicine was all finished, did he turn to address the old phoenix. He knew that zhe yan's plea came from a place of true concern and affection. The man thought of feng jiu as his own first born child. So, the paternal love seeped through his entire being. So putting him out of his misery, he answered his original question.
"my golden blood got assimilated with hers."
This baffled zhe yan completely. At a loss of words, he threaded together a sentence with great difficulty. "how... could that... happen?"
Gazing at zhe yan seriously, dong hua answered," yesterday both of us, accidentally cut our hands on a broken piece of cup. I was inspecting her wound when a drop of my blood dripped down into her palm. Before we could understand what was happening, the golden drop slid down towards xaio bai's open wound and stitched it close. At the time I thought it just might be another healing property of my blood. But when xaio bai didn't woke up by night yesterday, I was concerned. Since this morning, her skin had been glowing with this gold luminescence and the temperature came up just hours earlier."
Zhe yan's mouth dropped open. He was having a hard time comprehending what he had just been told. Making sense of what little he understood, he asked again, "how... how is that possible? Did you know that was possible?"
To this question, he got no reply. Instead all he got was a painful glare directed his way. It took him a moment to realize that the question he had asked was beyond idiocy. It stood as a fact that if dong hua had known about the possibility of any such reactions, he would have sealed the flow of his blood before it could even touch feng jiu. The man was nothing if not overprotective of her. So, revising his previous statement, he said, "let me rephrase that question. Have you ever seen such drastic reactions to your blood?"
"the handful of times I have bled had been in the battlefield. You were there beside me every time, so, I don't think it is hard for you to understand that this reaction of my blood might just be specific to xaio bai. As for the healing properties of my blood they normally work only when an immortal drinks it, not through direct contact."
Zhe yan thought over what dong hua said and while only one conclusion made sense, there was still something that he couldn't get out of his mind. Out loud, he mused, "this might just be a readjustment for xaio jiu's body to your blood. When I think about it, an acclimatization makes sense. We both know that your blood is too powerful on its own. So, maybe merging into an equally powerful beings body like xaio jiu, required for some readjustment on her part. Let me check one thing."
Zhe yan picked up feng jius' hand off her body and spread out her fingers. Carefully taking hold of her index finger in one hand, he transformed his other hand into the sharp claw of his phoenix form and pinched the skin at the top of her index finger. As expected, his sharp talon broke through her skin and blood leaked out. The blood that dripped down her finger though, was golden in colour instead of being red.
Zhe yan gave a firm nod of his head as he said, "see, her body is still getting used to it. Once she is fully accustomed to it, her body will filter out the golden pigment itself..." but there was something that he didn't say out loud. In his mind, he could justify everything, except for the high temperature. The foremost fact of immortality was that immortals didn't suffer from diseases and sicknesses like mortals did. Problems like fever, cold, diabetes, and everything else that happened to mortals, didn't happen to immortals. The further he continued down that thought lane, the further his doubts about the occurrence of this fever puzzled him. Immortals only suffered from sickness of spirit, aura and cultivation unless...
A possibly impossible scenario struck zhe yan. The thought seemed so absurd that it just might have been a possibility. But since, he had no clue or evidence for that yet, he decided to keep his thoughts to himself until he can be absolutely sure about his theory. Turning towards dong hua he said, "that is the only possible reason I understand, right now. But to make sure of this and the other matter you brought to me last week, I will need to go to bihai cangling. Only by studying the nature and livings at that place will I be able to treat her any further. For now, xai jiu just needs to rest. From what I estimate, she will be back to normal in a couple of days. But if something like this were to happen again in the future, I need to know what I am dealing with. So, if I have your permission, may I go to bihai cangling?"
Dong hua eyed the old phoenix, as he replied, "xaio bai has already given you access to every place in the universe including bihai cangling. So, why are asking me that?"
Taken aback, he answered, "oh, I didn't know that. It didn't occur to me that bihai cangling was also included on that list. In that case, I will take my leave and you take good care of xaio jiu."
As zhe yan got up to leave, dong hua called out, "and zhe yan, if your talons hurt xaio bai ever again, then I will personally pick off every single one of your feathers, by hand."
With that, shaking his head, zhe yan left dong hua watching over feng jiu as he went on the trip to prove if his doubts were impossibly true or naturally wrong.
Feng jiu woke up by the evening of that day but she was running such a high temperature that she couldn't stay awake for more than half an hour. That whole night she faded in and out of consciousness, every few hours. Dong hua on the other hand, stayed awake by her side, continuously feeding her either medicines or soups.
By the morning, the next day, her temperature had gone down but her heartbeat still remained too erratic. The golden luminescence of her skin had dimmed down but it hadn't faded away completely. When she woke up this time, she was fully aware and cognizant of her surroundings. Taking note of her symptoms and vitals, dong hua concurred that she wasn't in any danger of falling asleep any time soon. He helped her sit up and arranged pillows behind her so that she could rest comfortably.
Sitting down beside her, he picked up the medicine bowl that ha had placed on the bedside table earlier.
He spooned some medicine to her mouth but instead of opening up she pressed her lips tight and shook her head. Without retreating the spoon, he said, "you need medicine, xaio bai. Be a good girl and drink it now."
Again, she shook her head in refusal.
"xaio bai..." he said with a reproachful tone.
"but the medicine will be bitter." She answered in a sacred, low voice.
He put down the spoon back in the bowl before reaching forward and caressing the side of her face. Tenderly, he spoke, "I know you are afraid of bitterness, my little fox. I will never feed you anything bitter."
In a soft, worried voice, she asked, "you promise it is not bitter?"
"I swear, my love."
With a slight nod of her head, she said, "okay." Dong hua, again spooned the medicine to her lips and this time she opened her mouth. Slowly, he fed her the entire bowl and wiped off her mouth with the edge of his sleeve. After putting the bowl aside, he looked back at her and asked, "now, was that bitter for you?"
"not as much as I had feared." She answered.
"Good, because you have to drink it after every three hours."
"nooo..." she said as she shook her head fervently.
Focusing the same stern glare from earlier, he admonished, "xaio bai... be a good girl."
"I don't want to, dijun. They make my mouth feel bad." She said with all the innocence of a child.
Dong hua scanned over her face before he said, "oh? I was thinking of offering you a gift after you finished your medicine but if you don't want it then okay." After he finished saying that he started to get up from the bed.
Intrigued by his statement, feng jiu grabbed at his hand to stop him from leaving. She nudged him to sit down beside her, again. He followed her movements and settled down by her side.
"what gift were you talking about?" She asked, curiously.
"but you don't like the medicine. So, there comes no question of that gift." He shrugged.
Feng jiu shifted herself into his arms and rested her face against his chest as she replied, "if I promise to drink the medicine will you give me the gift?"
He caressed the back of her head as he answered, "I will, little love."
"okay I promise to drink my medicines. Now, give me my gift." Excitedly she extended her hand in his face.
Chuckling, dong hua took hold of her hand and pressed a soft kiss in the middle of her palm. He buckled their finger together before he replied, "my gift is not necessarily a physical object. It is more of a promise. I will fulfil your one wish, every time you finish a bowl of your medicine."
Giddy, she looked up at him. "and I can wish for anything?"
"you can, little love." He pressed a soft kiss to the top of her head.
"so, do I get a wish for the bowl I just finished?" She questioned with an excited look on her face. Observing her excitement, dong hua chuckled before replying, "what does my little fox want for her first wish?"
Grasping the collar of his outer robe, she whispered, "kiss me, husband."
His breath hitched at her wish. Lightly caressing her jaw, he murmured, "as my queen commands."
Dong hua bent forward and lightly pressed his lips to hers. Softly, he started tasting her and exploring her mouth. He had now become familiar with each and every crevice of her mouth and body but it had been a couple of days since he had last tasted her. Since, the day he had revived her, they hadn't been apart from each other. So, these couple of days had been too long for the both of them. The kiss that had started out soft and sweet was now turning to hungry and ravenous. Feng jiu had started moaning out loud from his ministrations. It was these moans of her that broke him out of his reverie. Clearing out his mind, he had to drag his mouth away from her.
When she tried to coax him back, he pressed a long kiss to her forehead before saying, "we can't my love. You have not fully recovered yet. Your body is till weak from the earlier sickness. Rest now, little fox."
Feng jiu growled and grumbled her disappointment. Making sure that he could hear, she mumbled, "I don't even understand how I could get sick. Immortals don't get sick."
Dong hua enveloped her in his arms and lied back down on the bed with her. Placing his mouth above her ear, he answered, "your body is acclimatizing to my blood, xaio bai."
"what do you mean?" She asked.
While she played with the strands of his hair, he narrated zhe yan's visit to her. He explained to her everything he had said and the meaning behind it. Finishing up his explanation about the incident, he said "I agree with what zhe yan said. Though, something still feels a little off about this incident. I am completely sure that you will make a full recovery in a few days. There is nothing you need to worry about. Just focus on getting better. Okay, my little fox?"
"yes, my love." She nodded her head sluggishly and wrapped up in his arms, she quickly fell asleep.
By the last bowl of medicine, that night, feng jiu had made several types of wishes of dong hua. While the most had been about seeking out a kiss from him, the rest were quite interesting. In one wish she had asked to be the one to do his hair for a week of her choosing and even though, he was a little skeptical about that one, he had agreed. Another wish had been about seeing him in clothes of different colours. Her exact words had been, "I love he color purple on you but I really want to see you how you look in the rest of the colors." Again, despite his reservations on the topic, he had obliged to her wishes and done an impromptu fashion show for her. Feng jiu had gotten a kick out of that show. Watching dong hua model for her in different colors, she felt extremely privileged and on the verge of bursting out in laughter, at the same time. By the end, she had failed horribly at keeping in her laughter. As thick skinned as dong hua was, he had just shaken his head at her silliness and ignored her puns and jokes for the rest of the day.
After finishing her last bowl, she was resting with her head in dong hua's lap. She was playing with the silver strands of his hair when he asked, "what is you wish, this time, xaio bai?"
She pondered over her choices for a minute before she softly whispered, "dijun?"
"yes, little love?"
"will you tell me about what you were discussing with lian song that day?"
She waited for him to say something but the silence felt too long. Getting anxious that he was about to refuse her, she opened her mouth to change the topic but before she could utter even a single word, he spoke up.
"is that your wish, xaio bai?"
"yes, I mean no. Only if you want to." She muttered out.
Dong hua gently caressed her head as he said, "its okay, little love. It's time you know."
This was how dong hua finally explained the whole situation regarding the seals to her. He started with reminiscing the events of the day she had been revived. From the events of the day in the valley, he further related the evidence found in case of the lei niaos. Gradually as he went on, feng jiu understood what exactly had happened and what could have happened if dong hua hadn't figured out the situation and the consequences thereafter.
As the reality of the circumstances settled over her, she grew somber. Understanding the change in her emotions, dong hua started on the rectification aspects of the whole scenario. He explained to her how a list had been prepared including all the seals ever made for all the living out there. He described how lian song had personally worked his way through the list and restructured, reinforced the seals throughout the realms.
"if lian song had reworked all the seals then what problem had required your attention that day he visited?" Feng jiu asked.
"it had come to his attention that a seal existed in the lower levels of the demon realm. When he inquired about it, the demon lord had no recollection of any such seal. He wanted to know how to proceed in such a scenario. What I told him that day was to take mo yuan with him and inspect the seal in person. From what I understood, this seal was made by someone significant that is why the demon lord had no clue about its existence."
After answering all the questions to her satisfaction, he gently tapped her on the back of the head ans said, "now, go to sleep, little fox. You need you rest." Humming her approval, she nestled deeper in his chest and quietly fell asleep.