Zhe Yan was single minded in protecting the Bai Siblings. - Page 60

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Zhe Yan would need to suggest Bai Qian take the children back to Xiwu Palace soon, the Fox Den was not the place for them right now. Not only for their emotional safeguarding, but physical safety too. Bai Yi's current state was in flux, it was still undetermined if he would overcome the soul-root-disorder. If Bai Yi did succumb to soul-separation he would become a crazed -very powerful- beast, it could turn deadly in an instant.

But Zhe Yan realised he would have to ask Bai Qian this later. Bai Zhi had clearly told his other children at least the main reason why Fengjiu now lay dead, if not the details. Fengjiu had managed to kill her killers, and in the absence of living targets to commit vengeance upon Bai Qian was taking out her considerable fury on anyone nearby.

The voices coming from the Fox Den entry hall were loud, spurred by anger and grief. Bitter words were being had on all sides. Zhe Yan stood unseen at the entryway, he would listen and watch and intervene if things were looking too unsightly.

Bai Qian had in fact just finished accusing her brother Bai Qi of not ruling his land properly. It had been on the borders of Bai Qi's Western wilderness that Fengjiu had died after all.

Bai Zhi's eldest child Bai Xuan came to his brother's defence. Saying that Qing Qiu had never had an army, or even guards, it wasn't their way. He continued, saying that the ruling of any land in Qing Qiu was not for her to criticise. She was of the Heaven Tribe now, soon to be Tianhou, she had no say in such matters anymore.

Zhe Yan saw Bai Qian's face freeze in fury, she'd likely taken Bai Xuan's statement as meaning 'not part of the Bai family', rather than the intended meaning. He decided to intervene before these children really did start fighting each other. He wasn't in the mood to deal with any more blood today.

"If you want to assign blame and seek vengeance, go and use that Yuqing fan of yours to kill little Xueyu. I believe she's currently asleep in her brother's arms.", He spoke as he entered the room.

He'd not been delicate with his words, but deliberately spoken with all the subtlety of having thrown a boulder between the siblings. This made them all pause in shock, and seeing as they were not going to tear each other apart, he continued to speak.

He made the point that Fengjiu had absentmindedly wandered right next to the Ghost Realm border without any thought to the potential dangers. Because of her pregnant state she hadn't been wearing the bell's that would summon Dong Hua with the tiniest application of magic. Fengjiu could not use the Tiancang cage for the similar reason.

This pregnancy of Fengjius' had been a delicate one, the infant in her womb had been exceedingly sensitive to extremes of yin or yang energy. The Tiancang cage was far too powerful, and also made of pure yin energy. It would have upset the delicate balance of energies needed to carry the delicate infant to term. So in this way if Bai Qian really wanted to blame someone, they could place the blame on Fengjiu's tiny daughter Xueyu.

"So, if you truly need to assign blame, then the majority should land on Fengjius' infant daughter.", Zhe Yan finished speaking.

He'd spoken harshly, but a fight between Bai Qian and either of her brothers was absolutely the last thing anyone needed to happen right now.

Seeing as Bai Qian was still taken aback by his words, he spoke again, but in a softer tone this time,"You can blame your brother, Fengjiu, or Xueyu, even fate itself. But to what end? What does it accomplish?", He asked Bai Qian.

Bai Qians fury had been snuffed out with his words, and now the woman standing in the room before him reminded him of when Bai Qian had been just a little fox, free with her likes and dislikes, her feelings expressed clearly on her face. Bai Qian had practically raised Fengjiu, it was understandable her grief would be greater than the grief of the two brothers before her.

Zhe Yan walked over to her, "Your anger won't bring her back," he spoke gently now, in sharp contrast to his sharp, brutal words earlier.

"She's gone, little one.", Zhe Yan spoke, as he placed a comforting hand on her head, as he'd done many times before she Bai Qian had been a small child.

With no viable target for her grief fueled fury,it finally dissipated. There was nothing now to distract Bai Qian from her grief and with a tiny, keening sob, she took half a step forward, and with her face planted on his chest she finally started to cry. Zhe Yna used his free arm to wrap Ba iQian in a half-hug.

Bai Zhi, Bai Xuan and Bai Zhen returned from the room where Fengjiu, Bai Yi and Ning Shang were likely still occupying. Bai Zhi paused at the doorway, spending a moment to take the scene in. Bai Xuan had also paused at the entryway, clearly trying to figure out what happened, and how to handle it.

Bai Zhen had no such reaction, he went straight over to where Zhe Yan was cradling the weeping Bai Qian. While taking a quietly crying Bai Qian from his arms, Bai Zhen sent him a particularly unimpressed look, "What did you do?" He asked, tone vaguely accusatory.

He simply shook his head, it was rarely worth it to argue with Bai Zhen.

"I'll leave this to you", Zhe Yan excused himself from the huddle of Bai siblings and their father.

He was absolutely not running away from Bai Zhen, he simply had other things to do.

He left Bai Qian to Bai Zhen and the rest of the Bai children to Bai Zhi as he walked over to a nearby table. He started preparing plain green tea, but then he noticed that this was the same table he'd healed Xueyu on. It had been cleansed of course, but the thought of drinking from the teacup now had all the appeal of eating ash. He moved to a small side table and made the tea there instead. Thinking of it, he really should go and check on that particularly tiny and newest member of the Bai family.

With tempers and grief mostly calmed, Bai Zhi was now discussing with his children about the invitation Dong Hua had sent and asking for their thoughts and opinions on what response, as a family, to give. Of course no final decisions would be made without their mother Ning Shang, the Fox Empresses input, but for now it was mostly discussion. A sort of distraction from things.

He walked over and the tea he'd made to Bai Zhen. It could be considered a sort of silent apology for making the mans' youngest sibling and only sister cry.

"What is this?", Bai Zhens suspicious tone was almost playful, almost.

"Green tea." He replied.

"Just tea?", Bai Zhen asked. Zhe Yan supposed Bai Zhen had a right to be wary, he had made them all drink mind-calming tea earlier.

"What? Did you want me to put honey in it for you?", Came his own reply.

Bai Zhen's brow wrinkled slightly, but he still accepted the drink before pointedly looking away from him. Bai Zhen also proceeded to insert himself back into the discussion, without responding to Zhe Yan's question at all.

He often teased Bai Zhen about his childlike sweet tooth, and his response had always been the same wrinkled brow and disgruntled look. It was a relief to see some things did not change, even in the midst of tragedy.

In the end the general consensus was that that Bai Zhen would go with his father to make the Ghost Tribe answer for their sin. Bai Qian could not go because of her position as Crown Princess of the Heavenly Tribe.

Aside from Bai Qian it was Bai Zhen who was the most experienced with battle and warfare amongst Bai Zhi's children. He had 'recent' battle experience, having led troops in the past at the Battle of Roushui, one hundred thousand years ago. Bai Zhi and Ning Shang had made the wise choice not to start a family until the end of the prehistoric era, when the world was finally at peace. Battlefield experience in this later age was rare enough, but it was rarer among those from Qing Qiu, whose policy had always been rather detached from the grudges and hatreds between the ghosts, deities and demons.

Bai Xuan had always been the best with administration. This eldest child of Bai Zhi had been helping his parents rule Qing Qiu before his siblings had been born. He would be able to handle the affairs of Bai Yi, Bai Zhen and Fengjiu's lands as well as his own for the time being. Bai Qi would have enough troubles in the coming days protecting his own Western Wilderness from potential incursions and the ever increasing number of refugees to handle such things.

It was time like this where Zhe Yan was reminded that these children of Bai Zhi were sovereigns in their own right. Their people came before personal grief and want of vengeance, barely, but still.

Bai Qian proceeded to extract quite a number of promises from Bai Zhen. Mostly regarding detailed and gruesome explanations of exactly how to exact vengeance on her behalf.

At the same time Bai Zhi asked Bai Qi to return back to his Western Wilderness and have his people track down the refugees that Fengjiu's killers had originally been chasing. That would give them information on exactly which tribe or band of ghosts they had come from, and thus which their fury would descend upon.

Though Zhe Yan could not imagine Bai Zhi's fury would end there, no, the ghost that had proclaimed themselves leader of the Ghost Realm seven months ago would not escape their wrath. That ghost would soon find out that claiming overlordship of an entire realm also came with its downsides, like being responsible for what your subordinates do.

It was extremely likely that the most recent self-proclaimed Ghost Lord did not even know this lesser tribe that was responsible for Fengjius death even existed. If he did not know about the tribe, then he was guilty of the crime of not knowing his subjects and ruling well. If the current 'ruler' did know about this tribe and specifically it's doings, like trespassing into Qingqiu to hunt down refugees, well. Then their fate would not be pleasant.

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Now that the atmosphere was slightly calmer Zhe Yan decided he should do the rounds and check up on his many patients. Perhaps afterwards he might be able to recuperate for a few moments to fully heal his internal injuries.

He was walking down the corridor that led to the rooms that held Bai Yi's wife, when Gungun appeared from the room ahead, there was a strained, worried bearing to the child.

"High God Zhe Yan," came Gunguns ever-polite greeting "Something is wrong with my little sister.", he informed.

Bai Qian and Fengjiu would sometimes hand over Bai Chen and Gungun to Bai Zhen and himself to babysit. While Bai Chen was off causing small amounts of chaos, Gungun would be reading some book or another. Eventually the child had read every non-medical book in his residence. Naturally Gungun had then politely asked if he might be allowed to read those too.

Over the years by virtue of curiosity, diligence, maturity and his ability to ask endless questions without being annoying, Gungun had learned many things. From magical healing techniques, creating medicinal teas, soups, pills, poultices and salves, Gungun had absorbed this knowledge like a sponge. Though the child was nowhere near his level in many of these areas, Gungun had enough knowledge and competence to be called a healer. It did not embarrass Zhe Yan to be known as the one who had unofficially and informally taught the little genius.

With all this in mind, it was likely that Gungun had noticed that his little sister did not have a true form.

Zhe Yan had not shared this information with anyone. With things as they were now, sharing another piece of bad news was unnecessary. Though Xueyu not having a true form was both a pity and a tragedy; it was not critically important for anyone to know just yet.

The true form of many Deities and Immortals formed only in the last six months of the three year pregnancy. Born two months early and in extremely hazardous circumstances, the childs' soul had lost cohesion. It had been hard enough for him to preserve the tiny babys' life. He was the best healer in the world, but even he couldn't shape souls.

He gestured for the worried child to go back inside the room, ever dutiful, Gungun did so. Zhe Yan followed behind.

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Gungun considered, "It will not hurt her? She is not injured?"

Gunguns calm and measured reaction to the fact his little sister did not have a true form should not have surprised him. Little Xueyu would never be able to transform into a nine-tailed fox, her hearing and sense of smell would likely never match her Gungun's, along with other minor traits.

"That is acceptable.", the child replied as he refocused his attention on his little sister.

Zhe Yan imagined there would be some sadness when the infant grew up, not having a fox soul when most of the Bai family members did. Only Bai Qian and Ye Huas first son Bai Chen was the exception; his true form was a black dragon.

As he was here, he should probably check the tiny infant Xueyu was doing okay. The infant had been born for half a day. This was about the time that most immortal children started to develop their own primordial energy reserves, the basis of magic. It meant Zhe Yan could scan the infant's spirit without fearing destabilising the infants still developing immortal root or soul.

Something was wrong. And it wasnt to do with the fact Xueyu did not have a true form.

He ceased the cursory scan of the infants' spirit and body, and cast a second medical technique.

Zhe Yan had lived for over five hundred thousand years, more than half of that time he had been a healer. As a result he was used to being the bearer of bad news, but so much in such a short space of time? He aws regretting his choice of profession, killing people was far more simple and less emotionally taxing.

First Fengjiu, then her father Bai Yi, now her little daughter...Heavens Will really was heartless. This too, like the fact Xueyu did not have a true form could wait until a better time, there was nothing that could be done right now.

"There is something else.", was the utterly confident statement from Gungun.

Normally Gungun was far too polite to use any information gained by unintended sensing of others' emotional states.

Gugun shook his head in denial, "I did not sense it," Before Zhe Yan could open his mouth to state his scepticism Gungun continued, "Your brows moved closer together in worry, for a quarter of a second you paused, and your eyes unfocused in thought. You contemplated telling me for a moment before you decided against it."

Zhe Yan silently cursed Dong Hua for having such an irritatingly perceptive child.

"If there is something wrong, then I should know, she's my responsibility now," softer, delicate vulnerable tremor, "My mother," The tremor in his voice was swiftly hidden, "And everyone says that Father is gone too...", There was a barely audible intake of breath, as if the child was steeling himself not to give in to his emotions, "Then isn't she mine to protect now?"

"Am I nothing in your eyes?", was Zhe Yans reply.

Gungun blinked in surprise.

Zhe Yan continued, "Your mother is not here anymore, does that mean the whole Bai family simply dissipates too? Strange, I was sure I'd just talked to your great-grandparents, your great-uncles and great-aunt just a few minutes ago. Perhaps I'm just going senile in my old age then?"

"You are not senile.", Gungun repleid, but Zhe Yan noticed the clever child did not refute the fact he was old.

"You are the noble, mature, serious, dutiful child of your parents, brilliant at whatever you put your mind to; the genius of your generation,", he repeated the same praises he'd heart others say a thousand times over about Fengjiu and Dong Hua's singularly exceptional child.

Gungun looked ready to refute or at least downplay the praise, but Zhe Yan finished his speech with with,"It's a relief to know you can also be this stupid once in a while."

Gunguns well hidden pride clearly flared at being called stupid, Zhe Yan realised it was probably the first time anyone had seriously used that word in relation to Gungun before now. Gungun clearly did not know how to refute his statement without being impolite, so Zhe Yan spoke again to save him the effort.

"What else would you call coming up with such a foolish idea of having to take care of your sister by yourself.", Zhe Yan queried.

Gungun stopped looking at him and instead looked back at his fragile little sister, blissfully sleeping away.

"You are not alone, you will never be alone," Zhe Yan continued speaking.

Anguish, raw and crippling flashed in Gungun's eyes and Zhe Yan was moving to place a hand on his shoulder in comfort, but Gungun leaned away.He had forgotten about the child's sensitivity, it had been a recent development. He drew back and placed his hands behind him once more.

In the chaos of the past half a day, between Fengjiu and Bai Yi, he doubted many had been able to handle their own emotions well enough to allow Gungun not to feel ill around them, let alone control them well enough to comfort him.

Perhaps they had not thought it necessary, Gungun had always been such a stoic, mature and brilliant child. It was easy to forget that for all his genius, he was still a child.

Of all the beings currently in existence, Zhe Yan was quite sure he had the most experience dealing with grief, in others and himself. It was logical that he was the first that would be able to reassure and comfort Gungun.

"The fact you thought the Bai family would allow you to shoulder all these burdens by yourself is testament that even though it's well hidden, you definitely inherited your mothers particular brand of foolishness.", he finished his half scolding, half comforting speech.

Zhe Yan had a feeling such comparisons would be cherished now. The child was so much like Dong Hua it was too easy for others to forget Fengjius' own traits in him, few as they were.

"I understand, Thank you for reminding me.", Ever courteous and respectful, Gungun bowed in thanks to him. Zhe Yan pretended not to notice Gungun subtly wipe his eyes with the top of his sleeves as he rose from his bow.

When Gungun was standing tall again, the child spoke, "You have not told me the other thing that is wrong with my little sister.", Came the polite, but determined request.

Gunguns' face was rarely expressive, but Zhe Yan could see the strong will reflected in the childs' stance and bearing. This child really would not give up, wanting to bear all the knowledge and responsibility for his little sister, even before the adults around him knew.

Zhe Yan admired the child for that. To try and deflect a second time would be a disservice to Gunguns determination, and hurt his pride. Gungun had proven himself mature and wise, it was not fair of Zhe Yan to keep treating him as a normal child. In the space of a single day Gungun had had to step into the mantle of an adult, the thing he'd always desired. It was a shame it had happened as the result of such a tragedy.

"It is extremely likely she will never be able to use magic.", Zhe Yan spoke, matter of factly.

Gunguns' knowledge of healing and medicine was evident with the immediate questions that followed, "Unstable spirit channels, or an injury to the immortal root?", Gungun asked.

Unstable spirit channels could possibly be fixed or at least improved, an injury to the immortal root could not be. The immortal root was where a person gathered and stored their primordial energy, the origin of the power of every immortal being. Whether one was a deity, ghost, devil, demon, it was the same.

"Both.", Zhe Yan replied.

Gunguns mind was clearly racing at a terrifying pace, trying to solve this new puzzle that had arisen,"The extreme yin energy from the Ghost Realm overwhelmed her spirit, which allowed the poison to damage her immortal root?", Gungun asked again, though it was more of a statement than a question.

"That is the only explanation that I can think of, yes.", He confirmed.

"And when my mother cu-," Gungun hesitated, a rare occurrence, "The way my baby sister was born", came the amended sentence, "That was the reason her spirit channels are damaged."

Even the mature Gungun was not quite ready to voice the act that had meant that his sister had had a chance at surviving. Gungun knew his mother had cut the baby sister he was holding from her womb to save the childs' life, but not the details. Later and if Gungun asked, Zhe Yan would share those details with him, but not now.

"That is correct.", He confirmed Gunguns' theory.

It was the only thing that made sense given the information Zhe Yan had.

Immortal pregnancies, whether demon, ghost, deity, or devil, always lasted three years, very different from a mortal's nine months. Labour too for Immortals was much longer, often lasting at least seven days; Fengjius' own birth had lasted ten.

The length of labour ensured that the mothers spirit that had nourished the infant until that point could separate cleanly and carefully from the infants' exceedingly fragile spirit channels. Xueyu being born as she was, this process had been skipped utterly, causing severe damage. It really was likely the child would never be able to use magic techniques. If they were fortunate enough to be able to, it would be unstable, prone to backfiring, or being uncontrollable. Fengjius' infant daughter would have power, and be able to cultivate, but being able to use it safely; that was extremely unlikely.

"This is fine,", Gungun stated; conviction in every line of the child's face and body, "Such things don't matter. I'm her elder brother, I will protect her.", Gungun stated.

"If she cannot use her own magic power, then I will create magical items and weapons for her. If she can, then I will do my utmost to help her develop and control it. If there is no one around to talk a lot to help her brain develop, I will do that too. I swear it.", Gungun promised.

He didn't need to mention to Gungun again that the child was not alone. Gungun's promise had been more of a 'big brother protecting little sister' promise than 'I must raise my sister alone' promise.

"Well said.", he praised.

At that exact moment a tiny, mewling sort of squeak came from the crib a few feet away.

Xueyu had woken up.

Gungun was instantly at his little sisters crib, methodically checking with both eyes and a delicately applied medical scanning technique to see if anything was wrong.

As lungs were one of the last organs to develop Xueyu's were still slightly undeveloped and small, thus the reason for the tiny, weak cries. Thankfully this wouldn't be added to the list of problems the child would face when they were older. Within a month the lungs would finish developing, then the infant Xueyu would cry as loudly as other babies did soon enough.

Thinking of loud children, he had not seen Bai Qians eldest son Bai Chen recently.

"Where is little...Chen?", Zhe Yan asked. He often had to correct himself from saying 'little A-li', even though it had been many years since Bai Qian had given her son his proper name, and discarded the unfortunate infant name.

Gungun finished reassuring himself that his little sister was alright before he replied a few seconds later, "In the room opposite, asleep.", was the succinct reply from Gungun.

Zhe Yan watched as Gungun carefully picked up Xueyu, whose tiny squeaking cries stopped immediately. Evidently the child simply wanted to be held.

Zhe Yan sent a querying look at Gungun to clarify why exactly Bai Chen was sleeping.

"Uncle Ye Hua used a sleep spell on him.", Gungun elaborated, "He kept trying to leave the Fox Den, for 'answers and vengeance', is what he said.", Gungun finished reporting.

For the first time in the past day, someone was asleep and it wasn't because he'd drugged them to sleep, that was novel.

"He should not be causing trouble for others.", came Gunguns rather harsh judgement of Bai Chen's actions.

"Grief affects everyone differently, Bai Chen's reaction is understandable, even normal.", Zhe Yan replied, defending the very normal response from Bai Qians eldest son, who was still only the mortal equivalent of ten years old, the same as Gungun.

Gungun had a tendency to be easily annoyed by others that were less mature than he was. A category that included mostly everyone, adults included, never mind other children.

"Am I wrong?", Gungnu asked tentatively, clearly worrying there was something wrong with him.

Of course Gungun would manage to worry about if he was grieving for his dead mother in the appropriate way to cause others the least amount of concern. Being considerate of others was a virtue, but being too considerate, to the detriment of your own wellbeing, that was not helpful or healthy.

By all accounts as a child Ye Hua had acted in a similar fashion, reserved, mature and polite, always worrying more for others than himself. Ye Hua was the genius of his generation, just as Gungun was already the genius of this new generation. Perhaps this was just the way of geniuses.

"You are an extremely mature and thoughtful person, far more so than most adults, thus it's understandable your reaction would not be the same as Bai Chen's." He was careful to avoid calling Gungun a child. "Your feelings and reactions are your own, they are yours and thus how can they be wrong?", Zhe Yan finished his attempt at reassuring Gungun.

"They are not wrong, only different.", Gungun repeated, clearly thoughtful as he looked down at his infant sister. Said infant was clearly mesmerised by Gunguns hair, wide eyes staring at the shining threads as her tiny fists made grabbing motions, clearly too far away to grasp Gunguns hair.

Depth perception and all the other skills babies developed would come later, for now Gunguns hair was quite safe.

Gungun bowed head in an attempt to hide the tears that threatened to escape, but Zhe Yan saw them glistening on his lashes. The stubborn child refused to let them fall, instead Gungun blinked them away.

"I am fine.", was Gunguns noble, but ultimately futile attempt at convincing Zhe Yan he was indeed 'fine'.

At that moment, the child had sounded just like Fengjiu on the day she'd found out she was pregnant with Gungun. The same words, the same slightly higher pitched tone and shaky tremor, attempting to convince themselves that everything was alright.

"You should go now." Gungun suggested, though more like an order.

And that was Dong Hua if he'd ever heard it.

Zhe Yan did not attempt to conceal his surprise at the child's audacity. It was not something he'd ever heard or seen from the ever-polite, rule and order loving son of Dong Hua's.

Zhe Yan looked at the child in a clear unspoken demand for an explanation.

Gungun smiled wanly, "She needs changing."

Zhe Yan had spent far longer around babies and children than he'd have liked. As a result he knew Gungun had just lied.

Most would consider the manipulation attempt the sign of an exceptionally clever and crafty child. From Gungun –genius that he was- the attempt came off as clumsy, almost desperate.

Despite Gungun's stubborn efforts to maintain his stoic façade, Zhe Yan could see it would not last much longer. If Fengjiu's proud son could not bring himself to grieve in the presence of others, the least he could do was allow Gungun the space to do so in private.

"I have other patients too see, no need to see me out.", he spoke and turned to leave the room.

"High God Zhe Yan", Gungun said.

Zhe Yan paused and looked at Gungun, the tiny child holding his tinier little sister.

"Thank you.", Gungun said, as he bowed to him. As Gungun was still holding his little sister in his arms, it was an awkward sort of half-bow.

Whether the bow and thanks were for him saving Xueyus life, healing her, telling Gungun about the child's problems, or the fact he was acquiescing and leaving the room to give Gungun privacy and preserving the child's pride, he wasn't sure. Probably for all of those reasons.

He never liked being thanked for such things, they were all of the Bai family, of course he would always do his utmost to help, "It was no problem.", was his reply as he turned and then exited to the room.

Back in the corridor he immediately walked to check on his next patient, but resolved himself to talk to Bai Qian about taking the children back to Jiuchongtian, being surrounded by all the powerfully raw emotions swirling around the Fox Den really was not fair on Gungun.

As he walked through the corridors on his way to check on Bai Yi, his thoughts drifted to the final issue he had noticed, but not shared with Gungun.

With how Xueyu had been born, there should have been traces of Fengjiu's spirit still clinging to the child's soul, improperly separated as they had been. But there had been absolutely nothing, it was exceedingly strange. The primordial soul dissipates into nothingness the moment someone dies. But there were normally still traces of the persons' spirit left behind. These spirit wisps often carried some memories or emotions from it's owner, they often lingered for seven days after a soul had departed. Fengjiu had been dead for a few minutes at most before he'd examined her. There should have been some fragment of her spirit lingering, but there had been nothing, absolutely nothing.

He could only hope it wasn't another ill omen for the tiny infant Fengjiu had left behind.

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End of Chapter notes

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The next chapters will be a few weeks at least!

I would be immensely grateful if readers could comment if they would prefer to see more of what is going on in the background with Dong Hua and his 'your retirement is cancelled' ancient generals. Or if readers would prefer that stuff be a mystery, and instead I focus the new few pov chapters on Mo Yuan, Gungun and our canon characters.

This is the discord server I'm often discussing the story ideas or plots in if anyone wanted to join and say hi!
https://discord.gg/Tr4CUn4yfR