"Since Creation rests in your hands, pardon my ignorance, what is it you want inquire from the Stone of Destiny? You are not one to be puzzled about Heaven's will." Pillowbook 2, Chapter 16

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Dong Hua had not needed to meet with the current Tianjun in over a hundred years and was mildly surprised by what he saw. Physically he was the same as the last time Dong Hua had seen him. Tianjun's hair was the same uniform white it had been for a while. The deep crags of wrinkles now lining his face were a bit deeper, but that was all. Tianjun's mind which had always been a bit slow in Dong Hua's opinion had only slowed further with time.

No what had been surprising was his spirit, there was as shaky and ephemeral quality to it. It was immediately obvious to Dong Hua that the current Tianjun was dying. Not of any malady or injury, but simply old age. Hao De's lifespan would be short for a dragon, considering they could live for at least 500,000, Hao De's would be only a little over 300,000. The reasons for such an early demise could be many, stress, lack of focus on cultivating during his lifetime, or a hundred other reasons. Dong Hua did not care to know why, only that it was certain that Hao De Tianjun would die.

It seemed Ye Hua would be sitting on the Throne of Heaven and beginning his reign as the eighth Tianjun sooner than planned.

Sometime in the next fifty years Hao De son of An Yuan would lie down to sleep and find himself in the realm of nothingness. Had no one else noticed? Or was everyone merely not mentioning it out of politeness? He supposed of all the beings left in the world, only he, Mo Yuan and Buddha were the ones able to see such things clearly.

In any case Tianjin's slowed mind was part of the reason it had taken him nearly a full day to get the man to leave the matter of the Ghost Realm fully in his hands. The key issue finally addressed Tianjun shifted the conversation. The man attempted -and failed- to subtly boast about the gift he had prepared for the upcoming celebration of Dong Hua's daughter's birth two months hence.

Dong Hua listened with only half an ear as his thoughts were preoccupied with thoughts of the Ghost Tribe, Heavens Throne and Fengjiu. He realised he should contact Fengjiu after this meeting was over to inform her that he would be back a day or so later than planned. He'd need to talk to Ye Hua and Bai Qian too, but that could wait until tomorrow, Hao De would not be dying so soon.

From his sleeve a voice called his name, a mere whisper of sound escaped from the mirror he had just been thinking about. It was Fengjiu, and he had never heard her voice so weak before. Without word or movement he teleported to the bells.

And quickly tried to suppress the shiver of fear that crept into his mind when he realised he was in the Fox Den and Fengjiu was not. The bells were sitting innocently on her bedside table. Why was she not wearing them? No, that thought was irrelevant, and would not help him find her any faster. He moved quickly through the Fox Den and called for Mi Gu.

"Diju-" Came the surprised greeting from Mi Gu.

"Where is Xiao Bai?" He interrupted, not allowing the tree spirit to finish.

"S-she went walking, around Qing Qiu."

The Kingdom of Qing Qiu held the largest amount of territory among all the eight wildernesses, and his wife was somewhere out there, likely injured.

"Did she say where, specifically? Or anything else?" He demanded.

"N-no, just that she might visit the Peach Forest" Came the worried and somewhat fear filled response. He could not find it in himself to care that he was scaring Mi Gu right now, it was not important.

Fengjiu would have had no reason to contact him if she were injured in Zhe Yan's Peach Forest, Zhe Yan would have healed her. Still he took no chances.

"Go and check the Peach Forest. If she is not there then bring Zhe Yan back here with you, she's injured. I will bring her back here when I find her." He was not even looking at Mi Gu as he gave his order; his attention was now focused on the copper mirror.

The mirror was still active, glowing softly; Fengjiu was injured but not dead. So long as the mirrors were connected he could use it to track her. He began casting the spell and barely registered when Mi Gu left.

He focused through the mirror in his hand and followed the connection back to its partner. The connection was dim and flickering, it's owner was unfocused, likely losing consciousness. Quickly he cast the spell, white energy enveloped the mirror for a second and quickly faded. The connection had been too weak to give him an exact location, but she would be somewhere within a five mile radius of where he landed.

Focusing on his spell as as the anchor point, he teleported.

He found himself in a green plain, immediately he started flying to search for Fengjiu, day was turning to the beginnings of evening. He rose high and attempted to orient himself. It was a quick task, He could feel the extremely yin malevolent energy that was a signature of the Ghost Realm less than a mile away. There were hills, rocky outcroppings, a thin river and a few small woods.

They'd had a snowball fight in those woods, a long time ago.

He teleported to them and began searching, flying closer to the ground than before.

He saw a collection of black dots near the woods on the Ghost Realm side. He flew closer, heedless of the Ghost Realm's dark energy, such a thing was a trifle to him. The dark blots he'd seen were bundles of black clothing, and swords; remnants of dead ghosts. But he could not see Fengjiu, nor sense her. Of course, she would not have been able to use her power to activate the mirror in the Ghost Realm.

Swiftly he moved toward the forest edge and began flying under the treeline, the trees were too thick for him to scout from above.

He quickly found her.

"Xiao Bai!" He focused on her face, as he did not quite want to look and comprehend the amount of blood he had seen on her from afar. He placed two fingers on her black veined neck, and just as quickly withdrew it in horror; there was no heartbeat. He was gathering her into his arms when he saw her smile and felt her di-

No.

He had not felt...she was not...

His face shuttered and became utterly blank.

He hadn't felt anything, Fengjiu was still alive, she was. She was just sleeping, only sleeping. He just needed to get to Zhe Yan, he would wake her up.

He rose and vanished in a swirl of white mist.

---------------- Zhe Yan-------------------

Zhe Yan, Bai Zhen and Mi Gu had only been in the Fox Den for scant seconds when Dong Hua appeared with Fengjiu in his arms. Zhe Yan saw the black-red ruin that was Fengjiu's midriff and immediately cast a diagnostic techinique without a word. Seconds later he stopped, and recast another, then another increasing disbelief. He did not cast a fourth, the action was futile. There was no soul or spirit he could sense to diagnose, Fengjiu was dead.

He was a healer first and foremost. Pushing all sentimentality aside, he focused on what could be done. He could do nothing for Fengjiu, but the baby tied to her chest was not crying, and was in fact barely breathing.

"Put her down." But Dong Hua was unmoving, his gaze unfocused, thoughts seemingly in another place.

Zhe Yan removed the contents of the table and physically guided Dong Hua to lay her down. But he would not let her go, and so Fengjiu ended up half-lying down, cradled in his arms.

Zhe Yan untied the torn strips of cloth Fengjiu had used to ensure her baby was secure and picked up the now naked child. He removed his peach over-robe and placed it on the small table before him so the child would not be cold. He then placed the child down and used his diagnostic spell again, hopefully he could save Fengjiu's daughter.

"Why are you not healing the young highness?" Mi Gu asked him, uncomprehending.

"There is nothing I can do." He frowned slightly as the spell informed him of the dire state the child was in.

"Of course there is, you're the best healer in the world." That was Bai Zhen.

He was, but even he could not heal the dead.

"Zhenzhen, I can't." He began healing, focusing on the most pressing issue of the child's damaged soul.

Zhe Yan was thankful he did not look as Bai Zhen performed his own soul-searching spell and came to realise that Fengjiu was dead. He did not think he could handle seeing the grief etch itself onto his face. He could do nothing for the dead, but he might be able to spare the living, all of the living. He glanced warily at Dong Hua, who was now sitting with Fengjiu cradled in his arms, eyes unseeing. Bai Zhen had brought a hand up to touch Fengjius' face. Mi Gu was simply standing still, staring, clearly in deep shock.

Zhe Yan had no time to worry about those two, Fengjiu's daughter was in a dangerous state. Two months early, poison in her blood and dark energy clinging to her soul. He could not risk teleporting or moving her now that he had started healing, souls were tricky like that. More critically he could not risk Dong Hua leaving his sight.

"Zhenzhen, I need you to go to Kunlun, tell Mo Yuan what has happened, and bring him here." He ordered, voice calm. Panic never helped anyone in these situations.

Bringing Mo Yuan was a precautionary measure, but one that was very likely going to be needed. He doubted Dong Hua was going to have a normal reaction like crying for a year, or going into silent mourning for a few thousand years. More likely than not, not his reaction will be violent and potentially cataclysmic. Together he and Mo Yuan might be able to calm Dong Hua down, or at least restrain him. If they couldn't...well, it was best not to think about it.

"Bai Zhen." He still wasn't responding, so Zhe Yan used his name, rather than his nickname for the man.

There would hopefully be time later to mourn for Fengjiu, but it was not now, not yet.

"High God Bai Zhen!" He ordered again, shouting this time. He had used this same tone of voice to command armies of his fellow kin in the prehistoric age. This was before they had been nearly wiped out and he had dedicated himself to healing and hermitage.

Zhe Yan's order broke Bai Zhen out of his horrified daze. Zhe Yan had never shouted in Bai Zhens presence before, thankfully his generally reserved attitude paid off. Bai Zhen was no longer dumb with shock.

"Go to Kunlun, get Mo Yuan, now!"

Bai Zhen left.

Zhe Yan was grateful, because moments later Dong Hua started to speak, and Zhe Yan could almost not understand what he was hearing; perhaps he did not want to.

Dong Hua had come into being before Zhe Yan, he was the last primordial being left in the world after Fushen and Mushen had departed many years ago. Dong Hua, Fushen and Mushen were born from the first breath of the universe. He existed before celestial gods and spirits, dark demons and ghosts. Dong Hua had existed for countless aeons before Zhe Yan hatched as the first phoenix, before the dragons were born in the skies and nine tailed foxes emerged from their dens.

Dong Hua was his elder, and he had always known Dong Hua to have what he called 'Purity of will'. He was unhesitant and unyielding, every action was sure and precise, every thought clear and unstained. He had been the only one capable of bringing a universe steeped in chaos and blood into peace and stability. He could have easily done the opposite, but he chose heaven, peace and a life of quiet duty protecting the world he had helped build. He was the previous Master of the Universe, Supreme Ruler of the Six Realms, one of the three beings that had ordered the energies of the universe, ruling of the Yang principle. That was Dong Hua, Lord Shaoyang of the purple manor, not the man in front of him.

But now he sounded like a child. Lost, confused and...pitiful.

"I can't see her."

Zhe Yan did not have a moment to spare to wipe the tears that had gathered in his eyes, he blinked them back and continued his work.

"Little bird," Dong Hua began, and Zhe Yan's eyes widened in shock. He'd not heard that nickname spoken since he was a child, many aeons ago. "Why can't I see her?" He continued voice plaintively beseeching for an answer.

Dong Hua had retreated into memory to escape reality, but to go so deeply, and so far back? And what could he say? 'oh her body is right there in front of you, in fact you're holding her right now, can't you see?'. No, there was nothing he could say. As much as it pained him to hear Dong Hua so broken, it would be far worse if he started processing reality without them being ready for the potential fallout. Where was Mo Yuan?

He spared a moment to look at Dong Hua fully, and just as quickly returned his focus to healing the tiny child on the table. Dong Hua's eyes were glazed and unseeing, but at the same time he looked so bereft, as if some small part of him knew what was going on.

"Is she not here?"

There was a long moment of silence after that. Zhe Yan used it to finish cleansing and strengthening the soul of the tiny child in front of him.

Dong Hua had begun to mutter something softly, too quiet for Zhe Yan to hear. He was too focused on repairing the child's organs to pay more attention to Dong Hua and make sure he did not move. After a few moments he realised he knew what Dong Hua had whispered, because he had kept repeating it, "Star".

There was only a few more seconds left until he would be finished healing when he saw Dong Hua rise and lay Fengjiu gently down to walk outside.

He cursed and called out, "Dijun stop! Come back! Dong Hua!"

If he left now the child would die as the organs he was supporting and healing would collapse all at once, never mind the utterly dire state of the childs primordial soul and spirit.

Ten seconds passed, the baby's organs were stable enough to support life without him needing to continually heal them. Zhe Yan had just picked up the child so he could follow Dong Hua and check she was healthy simultaneously, when Bai Zhen and Mo Yuan arrived.

Mo Yuan's grim countenance likely matched his own.

"Whe-" Mo Yuan began.

"Outside." He replied.

The three High Gods teleported outside, leaving the dazed Mi Gu in the Fox Den.

--------------- Bai Qian----------------------

Bai Qian had been adamant that she did not need a wet-nurse when her son Fuzan came along. Her own mother had not needed one, so how could she do less? Embarrassingly, it had taken only six months before she allowed a wet-nurse to feed Fuzan for a day so she could drink a little. She was sure that five entire years without any alcohol at all was tantamount to torture. In this she realised the mortals had it easier, with the quick growth of their babies. They only breastfed for a year on average, for immortals it was closer to five.

She allowed herself to drink only a few times a year, the rest of the time she was sober so she did not inadvertently poison her second son. Today was one of those rare wonderful days, it was late evening and all the children in bed. She was getting ready to guiltlessly enjoy a bottle of Zhe Yan's peach wine when her husband appeared beside her.

"Where are the children?" He asked.

"Sleeping of course, and Nai Nai is putting Fuzan back down to sleep, wha-" She attempted to ask why he seemed so worried, but he interrupted her.

"Dong Hua has not been here?"

"Of course not, he is with Tian-"

"Tianjun just told me he left without word or warning, if the children are not in danger then-" There was only one other reason Dong Hua Dijun would rush around.

"Fengjiu." They said in unison.

Without another word spoken they both teleported to the Fox Den.

She and Ye Hua arrived to see Dong Hua standing on a swathe of grass outside the Fox Den entrance, staring at the stars with placid-if blank-look on his face. She did not know what she expected, but this was certainly not it. She and Ye Hua moved quickly toward him, but as soon as she saw her Fourth Brother, Bai Zhem, her Teacher Mo Yuan and High God Zhe Yan teleport a way away. Ye Hua arrived in front of the three High Gods at the same time she did.

She had a thousand questions and worries, but instead of voicing all of them she asked only one.

"What is going on?"

The sky blackened in answer.

------------------ Dong Hua --------------------

Stars.

Dong Hua had the thought that they were important, though he could not remember why.

Perhaps he'd realise what it was if he saw them.

He did not realise he had walked outside until the night breeze blew a strand of his hair across his face. He looked up then, night had come and stars had started to appear, ready to begin their pavane across the sky.

He spent a long moment looking up at the stars twinkling gently in the sky, innocent and oblivious. He could not see Fengjiu's star. How clever destiny was, he thought, and how cruel fate. It had waited until his life was at the height of joy before taking his light from him.

He had seen and dealt out death to far too many beings to not know the feel of it. No, he was too intimately aware of death to successfully trick himself into believing that Fengjiu's was not real, and inescapably final. There was no recourse, no sacred artefact or holy plant he could find. There was no spell he could cast, no sacrifice he could offer to return her to life.

She was dead.

Gone.

Fengjiu was dead.

And the stars kept shining, as if the loss of her star was insignificant. And for the first time in his life, true hatred rose in him, fierce and unquenchable, born of grief he could not fully comprehend.

What had he said once?

'I have never feared destiny, and I certainly don't need it's charity'

This was his punishment he supposed. For his arrogance. For hoping he could love and be loved, and daring to try. Thirty thousand years ago, there had been a chink in the armour of destiny. A strange twist of fate that allowed him the chance to gamble on love.

He had gambled, and for thirty thousand years he thought he had won.

How foolish of him.

He spoke then.

A single word.

A rejection of fate and denial of destiny.

"No."

And reality began to shatter.

---------------- Zhe Yan----------------------------

Zhe Yan watched as the stars blackened and the moon drew close bleeding red flame. The ground started to shake and collapse into itself as chunks of earth rose into the sky.

They were too late.

"This is your answer? To destroy the world? Hardly the action one expects of the Master of the Universe!" He shouted to Dong Hua at the same time Mo Yuan was ordering them all to form a barrier around Dong Hua.

Green energy leapt forth as Bai QIan added her own barrier, it merged with the shields Mo Yuan, Ye Hua and Bai Zhen had formed.

Zhe Yan used a single hand to raise his own barrier, as the other was still holding Dong Hua's tiny daughter. His gold met the blue, white and green energy of his fellow High Gods and merged into a single multi-coloured shield. Seemingly sealing the harbinger of the world's end and the magic he was casting inside.

Everything paused, the barrier held for a heartbeat, two, and then it shattered. Multi-coloured remnants of magic floated in the air like snow before they disappeared.

As the residue of their magic dissipated he saw a new barrier had risen, clear and colourless. The only indication of it was a faint distortion in the air, as if heat was warping it.

The world shook once more, and it seemed to him that the blackened stars were screaming.

Mo Yuan was swiftly ordering them all to attack a single point of the barrier. Mo Yuans Xuanyuan sword struck the shield with a clash as loud as thunder. Bai Qians Yuqing fan focused slicing streams of air at the same point, and Ye Hua and Bai Zhen summoned their own swords to join them.

He added his own magic to the assault, but even as he did that he knew it would not work. If there was a single thing Dong Hua excelled at above all skills common among immortals, it was shields and barriers.

The water in the lake had started to boil, steam rose to lend a rather mystic air to everything. Of course Dong Hua would manage to make the end of the world look elegant. The child in his arms was struggling to breathe due to the hot dense air as the world began to burn.

"Can this help?" Came a shaky voice from his left.

Mi Gu was beside him, sluggishly offering a stone pendant shaped like a leaf. Zhe Yan's hands were full, but he peeled back two fingers from Dong Hua's daughter to take the pendant.

What could Mi Gu possibly have that could help?

He took the pendant and the answer came to him immediately.

The pendant was an amalgam of many powerful spells, some of which he did not know, the webs of each combined to form a complex matrix. The result was an artefact of extreme power and subtlety; clearly Dong Hua's work. And it was likely the only thing in the world now that could get through the barrier, by virtue of the fact it shared Dong Hua's nature, and was created by him.

There was no time to inform the others of what he was doing, no time. He stopped his magic barrage and moved toward the barrier. Gripping the pendant in his now free hand he moved it close to and then attempted to pass it through the barrier. It worked, his hand moved as if there was nothing there at all.

He cradled the pendant to his chest and moved forward. The pendant turned to dust as its power was dissolved and absorbed by the barrier, but he was thorough.

He was met by the utter stillness of the air, a stark contrast to the chaos outside. The sudden loud crying from his arms startled him. He had forgotten in his panic that he still held Dong Hua's daughter in his arms. She could breathe now that the air was calm.

Gold energy pooled at his fingers as he cast the spell that would knock Dong Hua unconscious. But the automatic response from the barrier was sudden and devastating. The spell he had thrown froze mid-air, gold energy turned red as the spell returned, hitting him in the chest.

The power of it brought him to his knees and nearly tore him apart; if he were any weaker he would have died. The spell reverberated, and sent shockwaves of agony coursing through his spirit. He managed to catch himself from completely falling to the floor with his free hand; the other still cradled the child.

His body did not fare so well. But he could already feel his shaky spirit working on repairing his damaged organs even as blood pooled in his lungs. He coughed to clear them, and spat the blood on the ground.

How arrogant of him to assume he could attack Dong Hua inside his own barrier and come out unscathed. Perhaps he was getting senile, ah well. Distinctions such as age would not matter for much longer, nothing would.

In sheer desperation he shouted "What about your son, Dong Hua! And your daughter! Will you kill them too?"

Seconds passed, and there was no answer from the primordial being standing at the centre of the world's end.

Zhe Yan laughed then, and it was as shaky as his spirit. Was this truly how the world would end? In flames? He'd always thought it would be cold, a slow freezing as life and creation slowed and died.

He was upset that he'd been so wrong.

----------------- Dong Hua ------------------------

The world was imperfect now, untidy, and wrong. He would destroy it, and build a better one, a perfect world.

A world where this day never happened, where he and Fengjiu would spend all their time into eternity in bliss. They would watch their children grow and have children of their own, and perhaps a million years from now they would both be old, and step into the void together while dreaming.

The Pillars of Heaven were his to break, the Threads of Reality his to unwind. He held sovereignty over the Yang principle, half of the energies of the universe were his to command.

It would be so simple to accomplish.

Some ant was chittering nearby, he could barely make sense of it. Eventually understanding came.

Son? Yes, he remembered now, he had a son. But he did not have a daughter, did he?

Slowly, almost imperceptibly he drew his eyes from the blackened vault of the heavens back to earth.

The ant, Little Greenbird he noted absently, was holding a something, a small bundle. A tuft of white hair crowned a tiny head.

She'd always wanted two.

The thought caused him to gasp, a sharp intake of breath as he realised what he was doing, the world he was damning.

He could not do this; destroy the universe out of his selfish desire of a single person, no matter how beloved. But the agony of her loss was too great. For the first time in the entirety of his long existence, he was not in control.

There was a reason he had never dared to love.

If he could not control his emotions or bring himself to face the full reality of his loss, the only way this day was ending, was with the world ending. There was only one thing he could do now, to spare the world, to spare his son and daughter and all he knew from annihilation.

With the same will he used to drag the world from bloody horror into peace, he wrested control of himself. A moment was all he could manage, a single heartbeat, but that was all he needed.

In utter silence he raised his hand to the heavens and cast the spell.

My children.

I'm sorry.

Fengjiu.

Forgive me.

---------- Everyone--------------------

The gods outside of the barrier had been frantic in their attacks after Zhe Yan had entered the barrier and fallen. Mo Yuan was issuing another order when suddenly a white light emanated from Dong Hua, and with only a blood red moon illuminating the starless sky, it was blinding. As the light faded and their eyes adjusted, they saw that all around Dong Hua were strange symbols, moon bright and unknown to any of them. They glowed in a strange pattern, two squares overlapping and entwined, so that the edge of it resembled an eight pointed star.

There was a brief flash as the symbols rose from the ground, they swiftly surrounded and entered Dong Hua's body. The five high gods watched in muted horror as the previous Emperor of Heaven and Earth collapsed like a puppet with cut strings, motionless.

The world brightened, the stars returned and the moon stopped bleeding and the ground ceased its collapse.

All was still.