After delivering that whole speech, dong hua had pulled xaio bai up with him and they had retired for the night, leaving everyone swallowing down the threat that dijun had just swiftly placed on their life. Entering xaio bai's room, he just held her in his arms, engraving the feel of her on his heart. He had been without her for so long that separating even an inch from her felt like miles to him. It was only now that his soul could feel her warmth and rest easy with the satisfaction of having her close. For what felt like half a day, he just held her, taking her in. But he reminded himself that he had another task that he can't put off any longer. Slowly and with extreme difficulty, he pulled her face back from his chest and kissed her on the forehead.

Pouring all his love and sincerity in his eyes for her to see, he softly said, "xaio bai, forgive me please."

"what for, my love?"

"I pushed you away. I hurt you so much. You had to suffer through so much because of my stupidity. Please forgive me, my love."

Feng jiu felt the pain and sadness in his eyes when he said that. She understood the circumstances that had led him to do what he had done back then. Even though his cold rejection of her had caused her extreme pain and heartbreak, she could now see that they had come from a good place in his heart; it had all come from the love that he held for her. She might not agree with those decisions of his but even misplaced those decisions had been made out of his love and concern for her. With the hand he had been dealt, he had had a tough time traversing through the new roads of love that he had found himself on and without a sign to lead him through.

Holding his face, cradled between both her hands, she made sure he could see the truth in her eyes while she tried to put it into words for him to understand.

"donghua, you are anything but stupid. You did what you thought was right at that time. Yes it had hurt me, I won't deny that but now that I understand your reasons, I know it came from your love for me. So please don't belittle our love by calling yourself stupid. I just feel that if you had talked to me about all this instead of deciding everything by yourself, without my input, regarding something that affected both of us, we could have managed to minimize all this damage that we caused each other, unknowingly. "

"And as for pushing me away, I had forgiven you for that a long time ago. There is no need for apologies, my love. I just need you to promise me one thing. Promise me, you will not hide things from me from now on. Don't make my decisions for me, donghua, talk to me instead, let us figure it out together. You no longer need to shoulder every burden alone, I am here for you, my love, but you have to truly allow me to be there with you and not just in essence. I know communication and feelings don't come easy to you but let me help you with that, let me lead you through the ways of the heart. But for me to do that, I need to know that no matter what happens and no matter the cost, you will share all your burdens, honestly and openly with me from now on. I am no longer the weak little fox I was before, donghua. I am not just your little companion now, I am your mate, your equal. So please don't take away my right to care for you, don't put me in a bubble in order to protect me. Let me be your equal, my love. We can handle everything that comes at us, together. But for that to happen, you need to stop hiding things from me. I need honest and open communication from you, dong hua. Promise me that."

Donghua was overcome with emotions on hearing her words. She had so eloquently threaded together all his worries and traits along with a simple solution to it all. She had understood his fears and love for her, without him having to explain it. His xaio bai had seen right through him, so easily and she didn't even know that. He had felt her concern dripping heavily from each word that she spoke and understood what she was asking of him. Though, it was not that big a thing what she was asking for, but for him communication had never been necessary. He was not used to sharing his every thought and feeling but for her, he will do it. He will bare his heart and soul if it meant he could be with her forever.

"you have my word, xaio bai. It will not be easy for me, but for you, I will do it. Please bear through my struggle, my love. With time, I will get better at it. I will do whatever you ask of me, my little fox. I love you."

"I love you too, dong hua."

He kissed her then, unable to control his emotions, he let it go. Placing his hand at the back of her head, he pulled her up towards him and crushed his lips onto hers. He felt her gasp at the crushing pressure of his lips but this allowed him to snake his tongue into her mouth. Closing his eyes, he kissed her hard.

Feng jiu had lost all lucid thought the moment his lips had touched hers. She felt lightheaded at the punishing rhythm of his kiss. There was a desperation in the movement of his lips like he had been hungry for this for too long. She felt his arm tighten around her waist as he pulled her hard against him. Trying to accommodate his needy mouth, she pushed up on her tiptoes and circled his neck with her arms. With her body now pasted to his', she felt a moan escape her throat and greedy as he was being right now, he took full advantage of it and advanced further into her mouth. She didn't know how it was possible for him to deepen the kiss further but he sure did until she felt her knees tremble.

Without breaking the kiss, though he had pulled her up in his arms until her feet left the ground and urged her to wrap her legs around him. As her legs folded around his waist, she was now level with his face, which allowed him to explore her mouth further. But with the continued force of his kiss, she forgot to breathe. She felt him bite hard on her lower lip, reminding her to breathe again. With this he started on a new venture as he began biting and tugging on her lips, slowly moving down towards her neck. Her mind went blank as she felt herself about to combust from the biting and sucking motion of his lips on her neck. He felt herself moan softly again and again as he continued his exploration down her neck leaving behind a burning trail of his lips. As he moved down towards her chest, his chin moved her robes aside for his exploration to continue and when he bit exceptionally hard onto the soft swell of her skin, she let out a loud cry.

When donghua heard her cry out, the fog that had overtaken his mind cleared. He remembered where they were and the fact that they weren't married yet. Thankfully though, he had put up a privacy shield around the room when they had entered to prevent others from eavesdropping on their conversation, he thought to himself. With extreme difficulty, he pulled his face out of her chest and placed a soft kiss on top of her lips. In order to calm himself down, he placed his forehead against hers and focussed on regulating his breath.

Gradually, both their breathing returned to normal. With her forehead still against hers, he breathed her in and whispered, "you make me lose all control, jui'er."

"yet, you control my every breath and thought, donghua."

He lifted his head and placed a gentle kiss on her forehead. Supporting her with one arm, he disentangled her legs from his back and moved towards the bed. He placed her in the middle of the bed and crawled in after her. He settled down, with her in his arms.

"no more kisses for you, now." He reprimanded softly and saw her pout, cutely up at him.

He chuckled at her expressions and pressed her lips to the top of her head, pacifying his little fox.

She had somehow taken hold of the white strands of his hair and was now playing with them. He caressed her head and asked," xaio bai, why did you give such different gifts today? Why not the same one for all?"

"you already know the answer."

"humor me then, my little fox."

"well, then. You know zhe yan is the soft-hearted one. I have seen his soft side several times. He is a healer at heart. So, with the access I have given him, he can easily get all the medicines, herbs and spells he would ever need. No beast, animal or barrier will ever stop him. But also, Zhe yan already has all the power he needs and wants. He has no requirement or wants for more. If I had given him access to my power, he would have only felt bounded to protect it and boundations are not what I want for zhe yan."

"As for my family, they are loving and loyal but they don't have control over their tempers. Giving them access to power or place would most likely prove harmful for us. In one fiery fit of temper, they can cause too much harm. We would be left running around, putting out the fires they caused." She shuddered, just thinking about it.

"As for the dragons, they already have too much access and too much of something is never good. Giving them open access to everywhere and anywhere they want, would have gotten to their heads. They already have the freedom and little cognition of their actions, what they require are boundaries to control those actions. That's why I gave them access to my powers. The strength behind it would make them more cautious and in control of their actions."

"On an individual basis, though, Mo yuan has always followed behind you blindly, so he knows never to abuse the power he has. Allowing him to channel my power will only ever be fruitful. As for lian song, I have seen the power he has so acutely hidden from everyone and I know you had something to do with it. So, under your guidance, he can only use my powers for the good of the realms. Also, he is awfully afraid of your sword. And as for Ye hua, he is soon going to be the heavenly lord, he is mature and decisive but he needs to understand his boundaries so that he doesn't become like hao de in future. The depth of my power will give him those boundaries. Did I say it right?"

Donghua looked at her with pride and love in his eyes, "I couldn't have said it better, myself."

As she continued playing with his hair, he asked something that he had been very curious about, "tell me one thing more, xaio bai. Why didn't we ever, had a child in the mortal realm?"

Feng jiu blushed and hid her face in his chest at his question. But he continued to implore her, "tell me, xaio bai"

"the marriage was never consummated. I used the illusion spell on wen chang every time."

Dong hua's mind was quite literally blown. He had never thought feng jiu would do that. He was confused as to whether he should be happy about this news or sad.

"why jiu'er? That was me in my mortal form."

"exactly because of that particular reason. It was your mortal form. But that was not you, my love. I was in my immortal form, my true form and I, feng jiu, am yours, only yours"

Hearing this, he felt as if his heart had just doubled in size. He kissed her birthmark and whispered," you love me best."

Next morning at breakfast, everyone had been waiting for dong hua and feng jiu, when they emerged holding hands. And with their appearance, a feeling of calmness and affection settled over the room. It was like their love was a force of its own, a warmth that everyone could feel. Fengjiu took the seat bai qian had reserved for her and Donghua settled down beside her. But before they could have begun, the atmosphere changed, feng jiu looked at dong hua, "can you feel it? Something is asking for entrance in qing qui?"

"I feel it, too, xaio bai. Allow it to enter. It's about time it came." Donghua replied calmly.

Suddenly, Mo yuan also stood up, "my disciples are here", he exclaimed.

The moment he said it five of his disciples appeared in the fox den.

"Greetings, my lords." They bowed.

"Why are you all here?" Mo yuan inquired.

But before he could finish, a huge piece of white rock came zooming past them and stopped in front of feng jiu, suspended in the air before her.

"Kunlun mountain has given a gift."