Kunlun Mountain
500 years later
Mo Yuan was in awe of Seventeen’s transformation as she continued to change and grow in his eyes. The mischievous girl he’d met thousands of years ago had transformed into a lovely woman who then became a devoted mother. Seventeen’s change was similar to the one of a butterfly. She’d grown vividly colorful, dazzlingly eye-catching wings that made Mo Yuan’s heart feel as if it would fly away.
Mo Yuan still reveling in Seventeen’s exquisite beauty. Seventeen took Mo Yuan’s breath away every time he looked at her.
Hundreds of years later and he still felt the same as when they first became lovers. If he were honest, he’d loved her from the time Mo Yuan first set his eyes on her when she was newest his disciple.
Mo Yuan never knew his immense love would and could continue to grow with every passing day. Not only did Mo Yuan need Seventeen like he needed air, but she became the air he breathed…..Sweet peach blossom scented air.
Mo Yuan never forgot the blood from Seventeen’s heart still flowed within his body. She was the reason his body was preserved making it possible for him to return from death. Seventeen was also the reason; he wanted to return. Mo Yuan wanted to come back for her because at the moment his soul shattered, Mo Yuan realized he was in love with Seventeen.
In many ways, Seventeen was not only the reason he was alive, but she was also Mo Yuan’s reason to live. He never took his wife for granted because she’d had different options, but Seventeen chose him.
Mo Yuan knew Seventeen remembered her past. She’d recalled all her memories of Ye Hua and still selected him.
As did Mo Yuan’s life, his children continued to grow and flourish. A-Li became more handsome and possessed a compassionate heart, just like his mother Seventeen and Ye Hua. Mo Yuan’s daughters were busy, mischievous, talkative, beautiful and took after their mother. The boys, however, were just like their father, Mo Yuan. They were introverted, quiet, and handsome. The boys found their sisters to be annoying. They hid from them in Mo Yuan’s seclusion cave which was also Mo Yuan’s place of refuge from the girls. They sat in silence for hours. Words weren’t necessary between Mo Yuan and his sons; they just understood each other.
If there was one person in charge, that was the eldest A-Li. He ruled the pack, and A-Li was the only one who could control his sisters, who utterly adored their older brother. Longwei and Junjie followed A-Li and looked up to him more than they did their father, God Of War.
Mo Yuan’s daughters discovered, their mother had once been a Kunlun disciple and persuaded Mo Yuan to take them as disciples also. Unable to listen to nagging from four stubborn girls, Mo Yuan now had twenty-four disciples.
His daughters being the cunning nine-tailed-foxes-they were, talked their way out of doing any physical tasks. The boys said nothing and followed the rules as a proper Kunlun disciple would.
Mo Yuan, Master of Kunlun Mountain, also became the Master of Perception. The girls called Mo Yuan by many names depending on the situation. When the girls were in trouble, they called Mo Yuan, Shifu. If they wanted something, they termed Mo Yuan, Daddy. When they were angry at him, he was High God Mo Yuan.
One day, Mo Yuan’s eldest daughter Eu Meh walked up to Senior disciple Die Feng. She pulled on his robe with her little hand until Die Feng knelt to her eye level. Eu Meh held Die Feng’s face with both hands met his gaze and said,
“Number One, you must never get married because I’ve decided you’re going to be mine.” She added in a serious tone, “If you plan on marrying anyone else, I’m going to cast an enchantment spell and make you marry me one way or another.”
Mo Yuan’s most trusted disciple Die Feng became Mo Yuan’s least liked disciple in a matter of seconds. Mo Yuan looked up at his dumbfounded, confused senior disciple and decided he’d need to keep a close eye on that sly and sneaky fellow Die Feng going forward. Mo Yuan concluded it was always the quiet ones who were the lustiest. He knew from personal experience because Mo Yuan was a silent, lusty man.
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Ye Hua
Ye Hua never remarried. Since he was Heavenly Lord, there wasn’t anyone to challenge his decision. He still loved Qian Qian. That feeling never changed, but Ye Hua admired her from afar. The fact Qian Qian still remembered him after drinking water from the River of Obvilon was testimony that her love for him had once been sincere. Ye Hua wasn’t forgotten. Ye Hua had left a mark on Qian Qian’s beautiful heart.
His relationship with his older brother Mo Yuan was something Ye Hua treasured. Just as A-Li loved his younger siblings, Ye Hua discovered Mo Yuan loved him also. Ye Hua was not alone.
Qian Qian’s daughters Lì húa, Chenguang, and Chun Hua all declared they were going to marry Ye Hua and become Heavenly Empress. They all wanted to sit on their uncle’s lap and planted sweet kisses on Ye Hua’s cheek. They fought over who was going to marry Ye Hua, much to the concern of their father. The girls questioned Ye Hua who he thought was the prettiest, which one he was going to marry and when he was going to propose.
Ye Hua found great joy in watching Mo Yuan cringe when his daughters were around Ye Hua. Ye Hua also told Mo Yuan that he would go to the realm of nothingness first because of Mo Yuan’s advanced age. Ye Hua said he’d marry Qian Qian then.
Ye Hua wasn’t teasing either. He was serious.
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Bai Qian
Bai Qian and Mo Yuan went to the thatched hut on Mount Junji often to be alone. Five hundred years later and Mo Yuan still wanted bodily pleasure every day. Often, quite often, once was not enough for Mo Yuan. Her Shifu still worshipped Bai Qian’s body after six children. Shifu was a lusty man.
They made love throughout the day, and in the evenings, Mo Yuan played his zither. He sat on the front steps of the cottage and played Bai Qian’s favorite songs while she sat close beside him. Bai Qian looked up at nighttime sky and found her star that sparkled and twinkled against the dark air. Bai Qian realized as bright as her star shimmered, it was nothing compared to her dazzling life as the cherished wife of, Master of Kunlun Mountain, High God Mo Yuan, The God Of War, Bai Qian’s beloved Shifu.
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Below the mountain, a group of traveling merchants followed the same path that had been used for hundreds of years. A young boy heard distant music drifting lightly in the air. He looked up and asked his grandfather if he heard the song. The boy’s grandfather closed his eyes and listening to the tune and said softly,
“I remember hearing that same song when I was your age. My father, his father, and his father’s father have all heard that sound. There is an old myth high immortal gods live up there. The God Of War and his beautiful wife a white nine-tailed fox queen. Eternal lovers.” The grandfather chuckled.
The boy pointed towards the snow-capped peak and asked, “What is the name of that mountain?”
His grandfather smiled and replied, “The highest peak is Mount Junji, but we call it Mount Song (嵩山) because of the music.”
The end
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Epilogue:
Lessons
Ye Hua learned many things from his three loves with Qian Qian. With SuSu, Ye Hua discovered the euphoria of first love. He also experienced unconditional love. SuSu was the one who broke the shell Ye Hua had around his confined heart. She opened his heart, mind, and body to unexplainable pleasures he never knew existed. He also realized even immortal gods make grave mistakes and some errors that can’t ever be undone.
A valuable lesson that Ye Hua would never forget.
His second meeting at the Eastern Sea taught Ye Hua the truth behind the saying ‘you reap what you sow.’ His intentions were good, but Ye Hua had damaged a person. He deserved whatever Qian Qian did to him. Ye Hua was the creator of Qian Qian’s tortured soul. Ye Hua had once believed SuSu, and Qian Qian meshed together were unable to move from the past or go towards the future stuck in the middle. Ye Hua realized, he was the one trapped in the middle. He was unable to change the past and incapable of controlling the future, stuck in the midst of heaven and hell.
Ye Hua’s final lessons from Qian Qian were there is a definite right and wrong way to behave. Regardless of the situation, threats and manipulation should never the way to resolve anything especially love. Had Ye Hua’s approach to Qian Qian been honorable, his future could have been different. The first step did determine the end.
Ye Hua understood forgiveness to be divine. The weight of guilt and self-punishment was crippling. Through Qian Qian, Ye Hua was able to forgive himself for his mistakes, but he would always remember so that he wouldn’t repeat them. Ye Hua grew more in the 10,300 years with Qian Qian than he did during his entire 50,000 years of immortal life.
Ye Hua also discovered nothing remains the same. Life, love, and people were constantly in the flux of change and with change also came growth. Watching Qian Qian change from SuSu to Bai Qian, Mo Yuan’s wife was the most intriguing metamorphosis he’d ever witnessed.
If there was one act, Ye Hua was proud of, that was his choice to take Qian Qian back to Mo Yuan. True lovers didn’t hold each other back but empowered them to move forward even if it meant they would be apart in the end. Qian Qian was Ye Hua’s Shifu in lessons of life and love.
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Mo Yuan
Mo Yuan being a Taoist Master was well versed with the virtues of life, but his teachings were lessons of love. Mo Yuan realized love could make miracles happen. He never thought Seventeen would come back to him. Mo Yuan had given up hope and was stunned when she returned to him.
He also learned ‘The Nice Guy’ often, very often gets the girl. His patience and unwavering love were rewarded by Seventeen becoming his lover, wife, and the mother of his beautiful children.
Something, Mo Yuan never took for granted.
Mo Yuan discovered celibacy isn’t necessary to keep peace within all the realms. The unspoken language of intimacy was an exquisite form of communication. The sensation of a Seventeen’s soft skin, luscious lips, welcoming arms, and inner warmth was indescribable. Had he never discovered or experienced the feelings he shared with Seventeen, his life lived would have been incomplete.
Lastly, Mo Yuan determined, six children were not enough, he loved impregnating his wife. Mo Yuan planned to have many more disciples on Kunlun Mountain.
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Bai Qian
Bai Qian’s teachings were the most profound. She learned to love herself. She was once the mortal SuSu, who’d endured traumatic heartbreak and betrayal. Then she was another version of herself that was twisted and coiled, but it was all part of an unexpected journey she didn’t know she was on.
Her path may have appeared paved in gold, but there were missing bricks and holes where she stumbled and fell. The lesson was what she did when she fell, and she needed to get back up and moved forward. Bai Qian stumbled many more times and became bruised from her tumbles, but she got back up every time. That was the only way to get from the beginning to the end. However, when she got to the end Bai Qian realized, the end was not the purpose, but the journey itself was the goal to obtain.
During her periods of hardships, she’d also experienced joys. Those moments of happiness fueled her through the dark times. A-Li was one of her greatest treasures, and she wouldn’t have had him if she hadn’t gone through her heavenly trial which was far from heavenly.
Bai Qian realized the importance of positive internal self-dialog. She became her thoughts, and her thoughts had the ability to turn her into someone else who wasn’t her real self. Bai Qian was the one who controlled of her mind and heart so Bai Qian would remember to stay strong for her sake.
She also learned to value life. Death was never the answer regardless of how difficult things became. If she had died, she wouldn’t have had the chance to change the things that made her choose death.
Instead, she’d determined to face her demons face on and overcome because she was a great white nine-tailed fox. Her demons were powerless because they were from the past and not in the present.
The here and now she’d determined, and decided with a healthy mind and heart. Bai Qian was now the provider of joy no longer the thief of happiness.
Bai Qian learned one true love could sometimes be two true loves. Her love for Ye Hua was genuine. Their timing was off, but the feelings were sincere.
Bai Qian believed she’d chosen Mo Yuan the day he first kissed her, but she was wrong. The moment she determined to cut her heart to give him her heart’s blood, was when it occurred. She sacrificed herself for Mo Yuan and continued to do so for 70,000 years. The reason plain and simple, Bai Qian loved him. She’d loved him from the first moment she laid her eyes on Mo Yuan.
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A-Li
Through the eyes of an innocent child, A-Li saw things and events that helped shape his future. By watching his father Ye Hua, A-Li learned how to be a man. A man who was able to cry while remaining strong. Tears didn’t show weakness; it was evidence of human emotions. Being strong enough to express one’s true emotions reflected true strength.
A-Li came to understand titles don’t define the person. Bai Qian was his mother, aunt, and friend. Her motherly love never changed regardless of her title. A mother’s love could come from a mother, aunt, sister, friend. Uncle Mo Yuan was the father of A-Li’s siblings, but that didn’t make any difference. A-Li never felt less loved due to his mother marrying Uncle Mo Yuan. If anything A-Li’s experienced more love due to his younger siblings and all three of his parents, who adored and love him unconditionally.
A-Li felt fortunate and bragged about his two great fathers because one was the Ye Hua, Heavenly Lord of Celestial Heaven and the other High God, Mo Yuan, God Of War and Master of Kunlun Mountain.
Thank you to all those who followed Mount Song. I dedicate Mount Song to all those who have suffered, endured, persevered, and overcome to become beautiful butterflies with vivid, eye-catching wings in flight.
YeGenMo