The Librarian and the Fox Princess: a Donghua Dijun and Bai Fengjiu story, V.I

Chapter 140 - To Have and To Hold

(Image credit - Jacob Li at Unsplash.com)

A/N: [ ] denotes aura-based conversations/thoughts as opposed to having them in their immortal form

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High Gods Zhe Yan and Mo Yuan hovered high over the hot springs in their auras under a strong privacy barrier.

Standing waist-deep in the water was the almighty god swaying back and forth to the music of the zither, or guzheng, that appeared to be playing itself.

Unbeknownst to the two old gods, Dong Hua had placed her under a powerful privacy barrier and Feng Jiu was playing a lovely and complicated song on the silk-stringed instrument that Bai Zhen had taught her when she was healing and studying in Kun Lun.

["I would have never thought I'd see Dong Hua sad much less be sad over you," said The God of War. "Honestly, I don't think he's sad at all, he just looks drunk to me."]

["You're wrong, just look at his body language. That is the look of a destroyed man. And you know he doesn't drink alcohol. He has priceless and aged bottles of my wine just for the rare occasion he'd have a guest at Tai Chen Palace or to give them away as gifts. He just actually sent me one of the first bottles I brewed. It's a collector's item at this point. It has such value that I could probably go to the black market and try to purchase your soul with it," said Zhe Yan.]

[Mo Yuan was not amused. "And how do you think they'll try to get a hold of my soul? "]

["Last time you popped into a bell, maybe this time someone takes a lid off of a teapot ..."]

[ ... "I have no problems leaving you here to be devoured by Dong Hua's sea monster. Since you think he wants you that badly ..."]

["Okay Okay, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have made that joke. It was in poor taste. You saved a lot of lives that day. I don't even know where I was. Probably napping or something but I should have been fighting side by side with you. I apologize."]

["Apology accepted. So why did he send that bottle back to you, again? Weren't those the bottles you used to give him after the major victories he'd have on the battlefield?" asked Mo Yuan.]

[Zhe Yan did not know how to explain to the celibate God of War that the newly arrived bottle was supposed to replace the beloved 500,000 year-old bottle he accidentally broke when their Xiao Jiu had unexpectedly come to the peach forest to ask her uncles for sex tips. "He was ... just thankful that Zhen Zhen and I trained Xiao Jiu so well ... in medicine, sword-fighting, calligraphy, and sorcery ... "]

["Well then shouldn't I have gotten a bottle as well?" asked Mo Yuan calmly. "I taught her Buddhist and Taoist philosophy, along with The Art of War and stratagems."]

["... I'm sure your bottle will be arriving soon ..." Zhe Yan knew he needed to change the subject. "Now, all the peach blossom wine in his collection is for Xiao Jiu. I'm actually sad that she's going to be married off and won't come around to the peach forest to spend time with Zhen Zhen and I. Speaking of Zhen Zhen. Doesn't this zither that Dong Hua has playing sound a lot like how my fox plays?"]

["This does sound a lot like Bai Zhen." Mo Yuan looks down at Dong Hua trying to awkwardly move his hips in slow circles. Slow ripples were forming in the water with each rigid gyration. "I honestly don't have a clue what he's doing. I know as Celestials we don't have the same ailments as mortals but Dong Hua isn't a Celestial so I don't know what his aging process will truly entail. Is he getting arthritis? Are these exercises for that? Is that why he's soaking in the hot springs? For his tired joints and muscles?"]

[Zhe Yan watched the painful scene below them. "I mean I know he knows Tai Chi and is quite adept at it. If he has arthritis he should be doing that. This ... I don't know what this is. Maybe it's some sort of dance? But Dong Hua is known to be elegant and refined in all of his movements. We've seen him kill monsters in ways that have made people swoon ..."]