Taoist Master

The Mare

Taoism. Mo Yun couldn't remember a single day where its teaching had not influenced his every thought. From the day he could walk, his father had begun his lessons based on the philosophies of Taoism which governed his every action whether it was studying or playing. The Tao represented the way to good clean and honest living while ensuring his mind was kept pure of thoughts not conductive to his wellbeing and therefore those he would day protect which was the path his father had set out for him.

Even as a young man, his dalliance with the ladies never encroached on his studies, the women were merely a distraction, someone to relieve the pressure of which he used whenever the urges became too great. Only, as the years flew by and his duties took over, Mo Yuan found himself no longer wanting the same thing his friends did. His life and everything he had learned had prepared him for a solitary life and one he wanted to commit himself to fully. So deciding to dedicate his life to the realms as his father had hoped he would, Mo Yuan eventually gave up all women and the pressures that came with them.

And now, as a much older man, one who was set in his ways and very comfortable with his life. Women still continued to chase him, but having been alone for so long and fully immersed in his school for boys and his duties to the Celestial Heavens, he just didn't think any of them suitable to his lifestyle or the kind of man he was. If anything, he stopped caring about them altogether.

The long years of solitude had mellowed him. He no longer had a desire for companionship or even a night time drink over candlelight which he had once enjoyed. And he certainly did not miss the pleasures of the flesh, the soft warmth of the many fragrances they always brought with them or the mindless conversations he once indulged in just to keep them in his arms a little longer.

Only now, on a horse and with a woman tucked in against his chest, smelling like peaches and still giddy with the excitement of owning her first stallion, Mo Yuan felt those familiar stirrings once again rising. Back then, he had not been overly particular so long as the face was beautiful, the body buxom and he gained his pleasure in the end. This time however, something else was stirring and he couldn't quite place what exactly it was, but he did like the laughter, the bright sparkle in her eyes when she briefly looked back and the excitement of gaining a hard earned prize which she was joyfully patting. So his smile was real, his happiness for her genuine.

Only it was short lived. Because the horse was beginning to break free of the sedation spell and his concern immediately rose because she had yet to notice having lost herself to the triumph of her win.

He honestly dreaded to think how the horse would react if it were to waken completely to find itself in the air, speeding away from its herd and with the both of them on its back. And though he had earlier felt her alarm at being pulled closer to him so she could better control the horse, he didn't think she would cope with steering the cloud and the horse simultaneously, so without thought, Mo Yuan once again reached over her shoulder to reinforce his sedation spell on the horse.

Instantly the laughter gurgled to an abrupt end and her body stiffened while her head quickly turned to eyeball this cheeky man who was daring to hug her tighter, only to gasp when she found her face literally pressed up against the side of his face. Goggle eyed and stunned, Bai Qian felt all the air in her lungs evaporate in a second while Mo Yuan chose to ignore the soft parting of her mouth against his cheek. Instead he very gently poured a little more energy into her horse to keep it in a semi state of awareness while also disabled.

"He will buck again if he awakens, it is best that we finish the journey in silence." he informed her gently but authoritatively.

Having found herself literally pressed up against his face, she could barely manage a squeak in reply and a nod of her head before Mo Yuan drew back to give her space and a moment to pull herself together. But for the both of them, the suddenness of finding themselves in a position that anyone would have deemed far too familiar, set both their hearts racing and for two different reasons.