In the middle of the night, feng jiu felt something disturbing her rest. She tried to avoid it and continued sleeping but whatever it was it kept poking and prodding. Sitting up on the bed, she pushed out her hands to throw off whoever was disturbing her. Still caught up in the sleepy spell, it took her a few minutes to realize that she was completely alone in her chambers. The room was exactly as it had been when she had gone to sleep. Centering and regulating her breath, she tried to find out what was the disturbance that she had felt. It took her mere moments to realize the source of the problem.

Someone was banging on her shields around qing qui. The poking she had felt had come from there. alarmed at the fact, she immediately sent off a missive to migu to search out who was trying to force his way into qing qui. She quickly climbed out of bed and dressed for the possible audience.

As she walked out of her room, she found Zhong lin and si ming murmuring hurriedly to each other in the hall. Crossing her arms in front of her, she loudly cleared her throat to get their attention.

The two men, however, jumped up in fright. Feng jiu stamped down on the chuckle that rose up as she addressed the two guilty looking faces, "what brings you to my house, star lord? in the middle of the night, might I add."

"I...I..." si ming stuttered.

"answer me, star lord."

"I came to find dijun, your majesty."

"and why would you need to find my husband at this hour?"

"an emergency came up, your majesty."

"explain the emergency, star lord."

She watched as instead of answering her, si ming began looking at Zhong lin out of the corner of his eyes. It was apparent that he was looking for some way out as he continued to wait for some cues from Zhong lin.

Shaking her head, feng jiu hardened her voice further as she commanded, "that was an order, star lord."

The fidgeting hands stopped as si ming began, "your majesty... a war has broken out."

"elaborate." She said in a deathly silent voice.

"a couple of hours earlier, a demon army started attacking all parts of the realms. We don't know how it happened but suddenly every kingdom, clan, and coven was under attack. the attack on sky kingdom failed because of your shields but when they were unable to get inside the heavens, the demons set up a base near the ruoshi river bank. The only place that had been safe from the attack was qing qui. Everyone thought it was because of the presence of dijun so, ye hua tianjun, sent me here to call for him."

"It isn't." feng jiu muttered as she again felt the banging on her shields.

"your majesty?" si ming questioned, indicating to feng jiu that he had heard what she had said.

"qing qui isn't the exception to the war anymore. Just like you got to know about dong hua's absence. I infer the demons got a hint of it too. They have been banging against the qing qui shields for almost an hour now. that is what woke me up." feng jiu explained before she herded si ming further, "continue what you were saying."

"yes, your majesty. Since dijun isn't here I was going to find his highness, lian song but Zhong lin told me he too isn't available, right now. the demon army is wreaking havoc out there and it has become difficult for the celestial army to break out in pieces and fight them off. Though his majesty, ye hua tianjun has controlled the spread to his very best, the demon army is spread out far and wide in huge numbers. I would now have to find the war god mo yuan, medicine god zhe yan, and the fox emperor bai zhi."

"you would find neither of them, si ming. Mo yuan has gone with dijun and lian song while zhe yan is in bihai cangling right now, researching something. As for my grandfather, he is off on a vacation with my grandmother. We have no idea where he has gone off to this time. My estimate would be the mortal realm and we both know how hard it is to find someone in there if they don't want to be found." Feng jiu explained. Before she could continue further on what she was speaking, migu burst in the front door.

Out of breath and heaving, he called out, "your...majesty...., demons....out there. army...attacking....qing qui."

Feng jiu walked towards him and patted him on the back, saying, "breathe migu, breathe. Take a long deep breath. Si ming just told me what's happening. Stop worrying and just breathe." While migu tried to catch his breath, Zhong lin handed him a glass of water and addressed feng jiu, "what should we do now, your majesty?"

She looked at Zhong lin,si ming and migu apprehensively before saying, "do you three trust me?"

All the three heads nodded in unison as si ming answered, "with our life, your majesty."

"good because I have a plan. But first," she asked si ming, "where is uncle ye hua, right now?"

"he is leading the celestial army at the wood fairy forest outside the sky kingdom."

Feng jiu gave a short nod of her head. She then extended he hand in front of her and materialized four delicate branches on it. as the three pairs of eyes watched, several red little buds started to sprout on the branches. The buds grew but didn't unfurl. These red unfurled blossoms were none other than the phoenix flowers and at that moment, they looked eerily similar to the one on feng jiu's forehead. she materialized a large white cloth in her other hand and wrapped up the branches in it.

Turning her attention to si ming, she ordered, "go to ye hua and tell him that dijun and the three old gods are currently indisposed." She handed over the wrapped branches to him and continued, "tell him to send each of these flowers to the places under attack with his generals. Each of his generals is to carry only one flower each and on reaching the afflicted area, he is to place it in the middle of the territory and light it on fire. The flowers will blow up the demons throughout that piece of land or water and form a shield at the boundaries. The branches will produce an infinite supply of flowers, so all the places can be covered."

"also, si ming, inform him that he is to call off the celestial army from their separate bases and bring them to the ruoshi river bank. All his generals are to report there, personally, after their task of securing the people are done. understand?"

"yes, your majesty." si ming answered.

"then leave, immediately." She said before turning towards migu and addressing him, "find my father and my uncles, inform them of what is happening and to meet me at the ruoshi river bank in an hour. Tell them to come prepared for war. Make sure that you deliver this information to them directly and that no one other than their wives are witness to it. if a rumor spread before you are done, migu then I will use your branches as firewood for a century, I promise. No one else can know about it before morning. After you are done with informing all the kings, write a letter to my grandfather informing him of the same." Pausing, she materialized a small wooden box in her palm and handed it to him. "after you have completed the letter, sprinkle the dust from this box on it. the letter will immediately leave in search of my grandfather so make sure that you are completely done with it. now leave." feng jiu commanded and migu scurried off.

Lastly, she turned towards Zhong lin, "inform dong hua of what is happening and to come to ruoshi river bank but through a letter. If you will try to contact him right now, he will drop his spell in between and rush here. Then we will end up with two disasters to contain and we can't have that. So write him a letter, he tends to ignore the letter when he is busy doing something. After you have sent it off, meet me outside the fox den."

Zhong lin nodded and turned to leave but stopping midstride he said, "your majesty?"

"yes, zhong lin?"

"may I suggest, you take your medicine before we leave? that just might protect me from dijun later."

Feng jiu chuckled as she answered, "I will take my medicine, Zhong lin but don't worry he won't say anything to you. you are working under my orders, I will sort him out."

Reassured, zhong lin left the hall with a smile on his face. feng jiu kept her word and took her medicine before leaving the bamboo house.

Feng jiu appeared in front of the fox den and spread out her aura to inspect the lands of qing qui. Combing through the entire kingdom, she found no trace of any stray demon. Relieved that qing qui was secure, she retrieved her aura and sat down in the lotus position. Regulating her breath, she analyzed her barriers to take stock of the places where the demons were trying to break in through. Getting the map of the places, she sent out one last call before Zhong lin spoke, "I am here, your majesty."

She stood up and looked up at the sky as she said, "good because my friends are here too."

Puzzled, he too looked at the sky trying to find who she was referring to when a large purple bird appeared above.

"The lei niaos?" he asked

"yes, Zhong lin. Now, I have heard that you are a wind deity who is excellent at sleeping and invisibility spells. Am I right?"

"yes, your majesty."

"place a strong sleeping spell for the next half an hour over qing qui. I don't want to disturb people's sleep over what is going to happen next. Let us give them the rest and relaxation, they deserve."

"the entire qing qui, your majesty?"

"yes, Zhong lin. Not just the eastern lands but the entire qing qui." When she told him this, she watched as apprehension and self-doubt appeared on the usually confident steward's face. softly, she said, "You know, when dijun was discussing the details for our wedding with my family. He told my grandparents that you are the closest thing he has to a little brother and he trusts your capabilities more than anyone else. I fully trust what he said. For the one thing I know, dijun is the perfect judge of everyone's strength and capacities. If he says you can do it then I believe him and I hope you would also believe in his trust and your own strength."

Her words and the meaning behind it seemed to resonate with Zhong lin. She watched as the man who was questioning himself earlier was once again filled with confidence. He gave a firm nod of his head before placing his palms together and working on his spell.

While he was busy working his sleeping spell, feng jiu jumped from one lei niao's mind to another positioning them all around qing qui in strategic places. When she was done arranging lei niaos, she turned her attention back on Zhong lin. She felt the sleeping spell take effect all around her. Now, done with his part, she helped him settle down on a nearby rock. In her hand, she materialized a small vial and handed it to Zhong lin.

"drink this. it will help you recover your strength and cultivation much faster. You will be back to the original shape in no time."

Leaving him to recuperate on the rock, feng jiu moved back to her prior spot. She placed one palm over the other in opposite directions. Moving her hands slowly away from her body, she slowly moved up one hand. As her hands parted, Zhong lin saw a red energy culminating between them. she folded in her ring fingers and thumbs of both hands before rotating the hands in a side by side position. He watched as the energy started to gather at the tips of her fingers which she spread out at her side and finally, let the energy shoot through.

The red blast of her power went and merged with the shield around qing qui. The previously invisible shield now turned a blazing red.

Surprised, Zhong lin asked, "is that the same protective barrier that you placed around sky kingdom, years ago?"

"aside from some minor adjustments, yes, it is the same barrier."

"last time you trapped the demons between two of these barriers. but this time, there is only one. Won't the demons run away from it?"

"that is what the lei niaos are for, Zhong lin." As feng jiu answered, loud thundering sounds started all over the night sky of qing qui.

They both watched as brilliant white lightning started striking down in tandem all over the shield. Zhong lin saw as a horde of demons came running from the left and directly into their view. They were trying to fly away from the red shield while dodging the multitudinous lightning strokes at the same time. they were so occupied in these two that they didn't saw the incoming rain of hellfire from the east. A gigantic purple bird had appeared for a second. In the next moment, the red hellfire that was raining down from its beak had torched the demons and set the whole shield on fire. While Zhong lin couldn't see the night sky anymore, the view of the red shield on fire was in itself too mesmerizing. The whole of qing qui was shielded under the protection of a demon eating red barrier which glowed even brighter with the red hellfire on top of it.

He felt a tap on his shoulder which broke him out of his reverie. Lowering his eyes from the sky he saw feng jiu waiting with a small smile on her face. shaking his mind back to reality, he stood up and looked at her for further commands.

"ready for a long walk, Zhong lin?" she asked

"yes, your majesty but where are we walking to?"

"don't stand on ceremonies, Zhong lin. Call me, feng jiu or xaio jiu, whatever you feel comfortable with. You are older than me in age, you know. As for our destination, it is very simple. We need to walk towards the nearby wall of the shield to cross it. I have activated a complete lockdown inside qing qui. No one can magically appear or disappear on qing qui grounds, not even the people inside the shield. So, we will need to walk towards the nearest wall to walk out of here."

"what about your father and uncles? How will they reach ruoshi river bank if you have locked down the entire land?

Chuckling, feng jiu said, "after the events of last time, they forced me to change the barrier configurations into allowing them free entry and exit. So, now anyone who has the nine-tailed fox blood running in their veins can easily walk in and out of my barriers. they can't remove the barriers but they can walk through it even when it is fully activated. as for the walking part, they'll figure it out. It might take them some time and they will definitely grumble about it later but they will figure it out."

Soon, the shield walls started to emerge in their view. As they grew closer, Zhong lin asked, "you said anyone with nine-tailed fox blood can pass through then how am I to leave?"

Without answering, feng jiu raised up her hand and drew a box-like shape into the air before sweeping it away. the box grew in size as it flew backward. On reaching the shield, the box integrated with it and formed a door-like opening in the blazing red wall. Zhong lin was still skeptical. He could see the hellfire burning crazily all around the door.

With a little apprehension, he asked, "won't the fire burn me if I were to walk near it?"

"look at your wrist, Zhong lin." Feng jiu said.

Lifting his wrist, he saw as the usually invisible sign glowed blue. This was the blue symbol that feng jiu had gifted to him that day in the valley. Since he had had no use for it, he forgot all about it. now, looking at it again, he recalled what she had said when she had given it to him.

For better emphasis, feng jiu again explained, "that mark is the best protection all over the universe, Zhong lin. You can sit inside that hellfire for days and not a single hair off your head will be burnt. No physical harm can come to you as long as you have my mark. So, no matter what happens in that battlefield today, the twenty-six people that I have gifted this mark will definitely be walking out of this alive." A few seconds later, she added, "Unless someone ends up swallowing a demon, then no one can do anything to save you. swallowing a demon collapses the spirit and there is only one consequence to it, immediate death."

Zhong lin shook his head as he asked incredulously, "why would someone swallow a demon?

With all seriousness, she answered, "no one does it willingly, Zhong lin but accidents like these have happened before. Even dragons don't dare to swallow demons. They will burn them in fire and drown them out but no dragon will ever eat a live demon. No immortal body can survive with two opposing spirits inside it and since the demon spirit is believed to be the more dominating one, the other spirit collapses, resulting in the death of the immortal."

Zhong lin was perplexed at what to make of this impromptu medical lesson but he took it with a grain of salt and tried to forget all about it.

Reaching the gate in the shields, both of them crossed over with ease before feng jiu shut the door closed. Making the barrier flawless like before, she turned to face Zhong lin, "next stop is ruoshi river bank."