SuSu left the room when Mo Yuan entered as usual. She’d stopped sleeping with him and avoided being alone with him. But SuSu was unaware, Mo Yuan followed her all night, every night from a distance unknown to her.
From behind, Mo Yuan swiftly caught SuSu, when her body lurched forward as her water broke. She cried out from her contraction when he carried her back to bed.
SuSu’s dress was cold and drenched with bloodstained water. Her breathing in short, uneven, sharp inhales and exhales.
Mo Yuan’s expression one of worry. He asked, “How close are your contractions coming?”
SuSu whimpered, “I don’t…know.” and suddenly cried out from another contraction.
Mo Yuan whispered, “SuSu, I’m getting Zhe Yan. I’ll be right back. Don’t move. Please!”
Mo Yuan left and instructed one of his disciples to find and bring Zhe Yan to Kunlun Mountain because SuSu was in labor.
SuSu labored intensely the first day. She cried out and screamed in pain with every contraction. SuSu didn’t want Mo Yuan around. The second day, SuSu’s arduous labor continued, but she was fragile, exhausted and lacked the energy to cry out. She didn’t have the strength to scream. She fell asleep in-between her painful contractions.
SuSu’s cervix was fully dilated, but there wasn’t any sight of the baby crowning. Instead, she profusely bled both days.
On the third day, she faded in and out of consciousness. SuSu’s state compromised and wavered due to her weeks of self-starvation before going into labor. When she came back around, she asked for Ye Hua again. SuSu ignored Mo Yuan when he tried to comfort her. She closed her eyes, weakly gasped with uneven exhales while tears ran down her face.
Immediately, Ye Hua came to her and looked terrified. SuSu was ghostly white. Her hair was soaking wet and stuck to her pale face. SuSu’s breathing labored and shallow. She went in and out of state of awareness. Ye Hua was shocked by the vast amount of blood that was everywhere.
SuSu slowly opened her eyes and smiled at Ye Hua. She whimpered in a light voice, “Ye Hua, I don’t think I’ll be able to leave with you. I don’t think I’m going to make it. I’m so tired that I only want to close my eyes and sleep…forever.”
Ye Hua tenderly held SuSu’s hand and whispered, “You’ll be alright. SuSu, I love you. Once you have the baby, we can leave and be happy together.”
Ye Hua pressed his lips to SuSu’s hand, when she closed her eyes and faded back into sleep.
Mo Yuan walked in and saw Ye Hua kissing SuSu’s hand. He’d heard most of their conversation. Mo Yuan asked, “Ye Hua, what is SuSu talking about? Where would she go? Why would she leave with you?”
Ye Hua turned to Mo Yuan angrily, scowled as he hissed, “SuSu knows you never loved her. She feels used by you. SuSu wants to live with me after she has the child. She doesn’t want to vanish, and I don’t want her to either. I love SuSu.”
Mo Yuan attempted to control his anger, “Ye Hua, SuSu is Seventeen. She is not a separate person. Is this why she’s been so upset? What did you say to her?”
Ye Hua shouted “I gave you Qian Qian! You and she will have eternity. Why can’t I have SuSu until her natural death? She’s only experienced pain, suffering, and loneliness. She carried your child, can’t you let her live just a bit longer? 60 years is nothing in an immortal terms!”
Mo Yuan was furious. His voice came out in a low growl, “Did you put crazy ideas into SuSu’s head? Is that why she stopped eating and allowed her body to become this damaged? SuSu and Seventeen are one! Why can’t anyone understand this? Has everyone lost their minds? If Seventeen lives so will SuSu. They are halves to a single individual!”
Zhe Yan’s voice came from behind, “Everyone need to stop arguing. The mortal is dying. You’re wasting precious time. Her heart can’t take much more of this. If we don’t take the baby out, the baby is also going to die!”
Zhe Yan glanced at SuSu and added, “Mo Yuan, the baby’s breech. She has been in labor too long, if this continues they’ll both die. She’s too weak to deliver naturally, and it’s becoming dangerous for the baby. I must cut her open and take the child out before it’s too late.”
Mo Yuan’s voice tensed, “SuSu will die if you do that, Zhe Yan. Isn’t there any other options?”
“Mo Yuan, the baby will die inside the mortal’s body! SuSu’s death is an interim before Xiao Wu returns to immortality. But we must remove the child from the mortal’s body before she dies. If SuSu dies and the baby is still inside her, your child will also die.” Zhe Yan’s tone conveyed his urgency.
Ye Hua screamed “You can’t cut SuSu! Why does she have to die for Mo Yuan’s child? Is the baby more important than SuSu? No, it’s not! SuSu’s life is more important than the baby’s!”
“Ye Hua, SuSu is Xiao Wu! If we do nothing, Xiao Wu will return to a dead child. Her baby!” Shouted Zhe Yan.
Ye Hua was inconsolable and unconvinced. He was furious as he yelled, “SuSu is not Qian Qian! She is a mortal woman! She doesn’t look identical to Qian Qian, only similar. They are two different people! Two separate bodies! You can’t kill SuSu just to get Qian Qian back! It’s an injustice. SuSu has known nothing but suffering. Why must she die? It’s unfair to SuSu!”
“Zhe…Yan,” SuSu’s breath short and shallow, “take…the baby out before……it’s too late.” SuSu whimpered as another contraction overcame her.
“Please…save the ba…baby…” SuSu panted and struggled to breathe. She added, “I know…I’m…dy…dying.” SuSu cried as she pleaded to Zhe Yan. “Please, save…my child.”
Gently, Zhe Yan explained, “I’ll do it SuSu, but I can’t use any spells to take your pain away because it’s too dangerous. Your body can’t endure much more of this. I’m going to have to cut you, and you’ll feel everything.”
SuSu faintly nodded ‘yes’, as Zhe Yan pushed both Mo Yuan and Ye Hua out of the room, and closed the door.
Nervous stress and tension made time crawl at a snail’s pace. Mo Yuan and Ye Hua’s expressions were of fear and concern, as they waited anxiously outside the bedroom door. SuSu’s piercing screams followed a long-drawn nerve-wracking silence. Suddenly, the sharp first cry of the newborn child, filled the air as the mortal, SuSu’s and Immortal High God Mo Yuan’s baby took its first breath of air.
Zhe Yan came out with a bundle in his arms and exclaimed happily, “Mo Yuan, it’s a boy! You’re a father!”
Mo Yuan cried tears of joy.
Ye Hua ran back to SuSu. Her complexion waxen, pale and her lips colorless due to excessive blood loss. Her hair drenched and plastered to her face. SuSu’s breathing broken, labored, shallow and uneven.
SuSu was dying.
She smiled and whispered with broken, ragged words, “Ye Hua, thank you…for saving me on Mo…Mount Junji. I would have died…without…you. I’m sorry…I couldn’t be with you. Thank you for trying to…save…my life. Where…is Mo Yuan?”
Mo Yuan was beside SuSu in an instant. He went to her, smiled lovingly and said, “SuSu, he’s beautiful. Our son is perfect.”
SuSu smiled and whispered faintly, panting in-between paused words, “Mo Yuan, I’ve……fulfilled my…sole purpose. I…may not have…your…love, but I had…the honor of…carrying and…giving you a child……I’m…nothing but a name…nameless, unimportant mortal…but I did…something grand……in my short life. I gave birth…to……the first son……for the God of…Wa…War.”
Mo Yuan’s eyes watered as he said, “SuSu, you’re wrong. I do love you, and I’ll continue to do so. I’ve always loved only you. You’re not going anywhere. You’re transitioning back to immortality. You’re coming home.”
SuSu smiled softly, and tears ran freely down the sides of her face. Her frail, cold hand lovingly caressed Mo Yuan’s cheek and said in her final breaths, “I lo…love you. You were……the only ma…man in my life. Thank you…for saying you love me…but your Sev…en…Seventeen will be back…so…I kno…know…you’ll be…happy……”
Suddenly, SuSu’s hand lifelessly dropped from Mo Yuan’s cheek, and onto the bed. She was still smiling, when she died with her adoring gaze fixed on his face.
Ye Hua let out a raspy, choked sob he’d been holding back. Tears filled his eyes and ran down his face. He said nothing to anyone and left Kunlun Mountain.
SuSu, the mortal who carried Mo Yuan’s child was dead.
To be continued…..