It had been three months since Seventy-Three was struck by lightning, and every time he goes to sleep, he would continue to relive his nightmares. Mo Yuan decided that since the boy had a connection with Zhe Yan while in the Nine Heavens, then a visit to Zhe Yan would be in order.
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Meanwhile, Zhe Yan was in Qingqiu, checking up on the sleeping Fengjiu. He noted that it had been 1,500 years that she was in a deep slumber. Bai Qian had looked physically tired taking care of her all the while, and Ali had constantly been asking when his Sister Fengjiu would wake up.
Zhe Yan closely monitored Fengjiu's breathing and pulse, scanning her body for any changes since his last visit. He commented to the powerless Migu, a tree spirit who was Fengjiu's housekeeper in Qingqiu, that there had been no visible improvements since he last checked on her. Shortly after, he fetched a large porcelain vial from his sleeve and told Migu,"I've increased the dosage of her medication. Please feed her one pill a day. You should have ample supply before my next visit."
The loyal tree spirit bowed in reverence and gave him his word that he would do so, before receiving the vial with clasped hands. "Thank you, High God Zhe Yan."
Zhe Yan turned to Bai Zhen who was sitting in the corner and informed him that he would be going to the Kunlun Mountains next to check up on the boy, at the same time asking if Bai Zhen would like to join him. Bai Zhen declined, standing firm in his decision to stay in Qingqiu for now and assist his younger sister in handling all the matters of the kingdom that required her indulgence, since Fengjiu had been sleeping all this while.
"Very well, I understand your concerns on Fengjiu's condition and your commitment to your family. No worries, I will bring you sweet treats when I get back," Zhe Yan said to Bai Zhen with a wink, before leaving.
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Bai Qian was up to her neck in the affairs of the kingdom. She recalled why she had decided to give up her inheritance to the throne in favour of her young niece back then. She didn't enjoy politics, and if not for her brother, father, uncle and grandfather having her back, she would have collapsed with all the stress that she had. She wondered how Fengjiu had coped while being in charge of all the matters of the kingdom as its young monarch. She attributed her disinterest in the matters of the kingdom to her lazy and unbothered personality. She loved having fun, and though she was the Crown Princess, she wasn't interested in getting involved with handling the affairs of the Sky Kingdom, which she let Yehua handle himself.
A number of immortals of different ranks who had witnessed the meteorite event in the Sky Kingdom had asked Bai Qian about the silver-haired boy. Although they had not said it to her, Bai Qian knew what had been in their minds: the question of whether he had been Donghua. In addition, the Third Prince Liansong was among the immortals who were curious about the boy. Being a gossip-monger himself, it was not surprising if Liansong had been curious about whether the boy was Donghua, but Liansong was one of the few immortals that had been particularly close to Donghua since a long time ago. Donghua hadn't much friends, apart from Shao Wan, and so his friendship with Liansong had been exceptional. It had been unfortunate that Liansong arrived too late as Donghua had vanished. Liansong had done what he could to dissuade Donghua from putting his life on the line during the royal wedding, but Donghua was adamant that he needed Fengjiu back in his life, and had been willing to take all the risks he could in order for him to have another chance at love with her. Sadly, this had ended badly for the two of them. Liansong felt a heavy heart for his friend.
While the stress of handling Fengjiu's affairs weighed down heavily on Bai Qian, she also felt a little annoyed that now her husband, similarly, had to handle a lot more affairs pertaining to the Sky Kingdom and they hadn't met for a very long time.
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Meanwhile, Zhe Yan set foot in the Kunlun Mountains. It had been 1,300 years since he escorted the boy to the God of War, and when Mo Yuan had kindly requested for his presence, he had been eager to see what was the matter that required his assistance.
He had walked side by side with Mo Yuan, observing all that was happening inside his abode, when suddenly he chanced upon Seventy-Three's painting of the place resembling Bihai Cangling. Mo Yuan had the boys, Jian Wei and Hao Xinzhi, suspend the painting over the wall in the living room, in a specialised area where Mo Yuan would often play a game of 'go' against his opponents. This way, he could be able to have a good view of it when he played 'go'.
Zhe Yan could not help realising that the spot in the painting was in fact, very familiar. But try as he might, he could not recall where he had seen it, especially the tree with purple blossoms. In fact, he had flown over the area as a young phoenix, without knowing that it had been Donghua's birthplace. As Donghua had no parents, he had been fostered by a pair of immortals, who then had a child, Zhi He. Due to her non-biological family ties with Donghua, Zhi He had became a princess in the Nine Heavens. Zhe Yan noted that the painting was a mesmerising depiction of nature, with the purple blossom tree, a peach blossom tree, the sea and the skies. As he was acquainted with Mo Yuan, he didn't hesitate to ask about the origins of the painting, and Mo Yuan told him about how Seventy-Three had presented it to him, and told him that the place in the painting was a figment of his imagination. Recalling that Seventy-Three was the boy he had brought in, Zhe Yan was even more eager to see the boy now.
Mo Yuan told Zhe Yan about the issue of Seventy-Three's constant nightmares. As Zhe Yan also believed the boy was Donghua, similarly he also felt that there had to be a connection between him being Donghua and having dreams, presumably of his own past lifetime. But regardless if the boy was Donghua or not, there had to be a solution for his nightmares. Zhe Yan thus suggested that Mo Yuan allow Seventy Three to reside in the Ten Miles of Peach Blossoms for the time being. According to Zhe Yan's point of view, perhaps by providing the boy with a change in environment, this would help him with sleeping better and relieve him from having further nightmares. Also, it would be a good break from everything he was learning, and since the boy loved nature, it would be highly beneficial to him to live at his peach blossoms orchard and enjoy the nature before him. Another reason he thought would benefit the boy was his own collection of rare books, since the boy loved reading. Furthermore, as it was Seventy Three's first trip out of Kunlun since he was brought there, it would also be a good opportunity for him to experience the world out there and the different places in the Four Seas and Eight Deserts. While he was not the most junior disciple of Mo Yuan, he was the youngest disciple by age, although his age was not clearly known or mentioned to anyone. Finally, Zhe Yan was able to convince Mo Yuan to allow him to bring Seventy Three to the orchard.
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Six months passed by in an instant. Zhe Yan observed the boy laughing and playing in the orchard, playing excessively with the peach blossoms as they rained down on the grass below. He visually compared the two in his mind. Seventy Three was a lot more lively than Donghua had been. He associated it to Donghua being in reign when the realms had been in their darkest moment, which gave him a terrifying and cold demeanour and thus, instigating fear in his subjects then, upon them seeing how merciless he had looked. If Seventy Three really was Donghua, he must be the coolest and cutest Donghua ever.
The boy loved to play in the orchard, settling under the blossoms early in the day, but from afternoon to night, he had his nose in books from Zhe Yan's hidden collection, preoccupying himself with both reading and learning. In addition, Zhe Yan even demonstrated to him how wine was brewed in his orchard. Seventy Three had been so intrigued with brewing wine that in no time, the orchard was filled with various types of wines, differing in taste and flavours. One day, Bai Zhen also had the opportunity to run into the boy at the orchard. He had long heard of the boy and the possibility that he could be Donghua had never registered in his mind, but the sight of his silvery-white mane instantly reminded him of Donghua. Apart from Donghua, he had not seen any other immortal possessing hair of that colour.
The day finally came that the boy mustered his courage to speak to Zhe Yan to inquire about Donghua. It was by no doubt that he would chance upon a few texts referring to Donghua in Zhe Yan's limited but rare book collection. He had also read about the former Sky Emperor in various books back in the library in the Kunlun Mountains. The boy had also been curious about what the usual hair colour of immortals were. From his knowledge from books, he had noticed that silver was not a common hair colour of immortals, especially a young immortal like him, though older immortals would often possess white hair which was often likened to the silver colour of his hair. Despite being a Honghuang god, Zhe Yan's hair was a dark shade of black, and had no idea why Donghua's hair colour was as it was. Due to this, he had always assumed that Donghua's hair was silver due to a genetic condition that affected his hair.
Suddenly, a look of seriousness came over Zhe Yan's face, presumably due to a thought that had just clouded Zhe Yan's mind that probably all silver-haired immortals had a very special purpose in life. He used Donghua as the former Sky Emperor as an example, and asked the boy what would he have done if the world had given him such severe expectations on himself. Being the bright young immortal that he was, Seventy Three had read so much about Donghua to know all his achievements in his life and how he had been victorious in his battles against evil, including the sacrifices and oaths Donghua had made in his journey to become the Sky Emperor. Shock was written all over Seventy Three's face at Zhe Yan's sudden question, and he could only answer that it would not happen to him as he was but an ordinary immortal. Zhe Yan realised how terrifying the thought had been to the boy, and quickly rephrased the question. He asked what contributions would Seventy-Three want to make to the world as an immortal. The boy's answer was: "peace and calmness to the world where everyone values each other's presence regardless of their differences."
Ah, he was being very noble and kind, Zhe Yan thought. He was just like Donghua, sacrificing himself for the sake of the beings of the world. 430Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlf3fnqV7HA
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