Chapter 6

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Everyone left inside the Great Hall was astounded at the sudden exit of Dong Hua Dijun. It was not a normal behavior of the Former Emperor to leave without any word. Cold and intimidating as he often appeared to everyone, he still has manners to excuse himself. But today's turn of events was starting to go unexpected.


Bai Qian's eyes lingered on the spot where Dijun disappeared in thin air. He may pretend not to care, but Xiao Jiu's disappearance probably caused him to worry. She was reminded of when he came to Kunlun Mountain on the night her niece was recuperating from cutting off one of her tails. He told them that time not to  tell her the truth, that his visit was real and was not only Xiao Jiu's dream.


She let out a sigh and hoped that her niece was not in grave danger.


Ye Hua took hold of his betrothed's hand and gave it a comforting squeeze, which caused her to shift her attention back to him. "Don't overthink, Qian Qian." He gently said as she tended to do so in uncertain situations.


He recently returned to the immortal world after three years of being in a deep sleep. And the universe doesn't seem to run out of problems.


On the other side of the Great Hall, Mo Yuan and Tianjun were both silent after the unexpected departure of Dong Hua. Moments before the arrival of the frantic-looking Bai Zhen, Tianjun was discussing the particular issue that occurred in the Department of Mysteries.


Mo Yuan cleared his throat to break the trance that enveloped them. His face turned serious once more. He asked Tianjun to continue with his explanation since he still doesn't have the full grasp of the extent of the problem.


Tianjun explained to him that High Goddess Zu Ti's moonstone crystal shattered inside the room where it was stored for safekeeping. The last thing the person in charge to guard the artifact saw, before leaving to seek help, was bright light illuminated the area.


"That explains why he left." Mo Yuan said to himself as he connected the dots on the possible reason that caused Dong Hua to leave.


He only heard a few things about the short connection between Seventeen's niece and Dong Hua. Most of them were from Zhe Yan, who decided to include such information when he asked him the things he missed while he was in his very long sleep.


He paused for a while to think. Zu Ti was an ancient High Goddess who sacrificed herself to help save and protect the mortals from further calamities and deaths. She was a close friend to Shao Wan. Shao Wan.


Slightly shaking his head, he spoke. "I remember how unique and complicated Zu Ti's power was in the earlier times. Even the magical artifacts that she owned held rare capabilities that not most artifacts could do." He paused again. "And as an ancient deity myself, it would be ideal for me to take charge of this matter since I am more familiar with the magic involved."


Tianjun's eyes slightly widened in surprise at the proposal suggested by Mo Yuan. "But there is a possibility that this matter could take longer than expected to be resolved. You only came back a few years ago and have only been in seclusion for a short time. We wouldn't want to burden you, High God Mo Yuan."


"You do not have to worry about that. I'll be back in seclusion once this issue has been fixed. Although your only intent was to ask for my advice about the problem at hand, heading this matter is the best option we have." He replied.


Tianjun nodded. "We are grateful for your assistance, High God Mo Yuan." He bowed slightly to show sincerity. "I will send someone to notify the immortals in the Department of Mysteries about this in order for them to be prepared to coordinate with you in resolving this problem."


"That would be great." Mo Yuan replied.


Tianjun then excused himself and left first. While Mo Yuan, on the other hand, walked towards Ye Hua and the two Bai siblings' spot. "Ye Hua." He greeted his young twin with a soft smile as he forgot to do it earlier.


Ye Hua bowed and greeted his older twin. Bai Zhen also did the same.


Bai Qian looked at Mo Yuan. "Shifu, are you going to return to Kunlun now?" She asked.


He shook his head. "I won't go back yet. I still need to see Dong Hua to talk about an important matter."


Ye Hua joined their conversation. "Gege, would you like to join us for lunch? I know you've only been to Jiuchongtian a few times since you got back. It would be nice if you join us for a meal."


Mo Yuan had a hint on where this was going. His twin and the two Bais would surely ask him questions about the event that happened regarding Zu Ti's moonstone crystal. But since he's the one taking charge of the problem, it would be beneficial to have a few trusted and capable helping hands.


He smiled and nodded at Ye Hua. "That would be great. It's been a while also since I've last seen A-li."


-----


A-li was ecstatic and in awe to see his father's twin join them for lunch. He decided to entertain his uncle with his questions while they waited for their food.


And when they finished their meal, Bai Qian asked Nai Nai to look after A-li for a while while the adults have a discussion in the study room. Feeling the serious atmosphere that appeared after lunch ended, her loyal servant took A-li to his room and away from the serious talk that was about to ensue.


Finally, inside the study room were Mo Yuan, Ye Hua, Bai Qian, and Bai Zhen. Mo Yuan spoke first as he noticed the slight hesitation of his brother.


"Ye Hua, why don't we begin with your questions. I know you have a few of them." He started.


Ye Hua glanced at Bai Qian first before he faced Mo Yuan. "Gege, how severe is the problem in the Department of Mysteries?"


Mo Yuan heaved out a sigh. "I am unable to give you an answer at the moment since I haven't done enough investigation yet. I need to know how damaged the crystal is first before I can say anything." He paused and looked at the three people inside the room. "I told Tianjun earlier that I will be the one in-charge in handling this matter."


Bai Qian's jaw dropped. "Then are you indirectly saying, Shifu, that this is another major problem?" She asked since she knew by experience that magical artifacts made by ancient deities can be catastrophic when in the wrong hands or when they're damaged.


"It doesn't have to be that way, Seventeen. However, the magic involved is something unfamiliar to younger immortals. Zu Ti's power is one of a kind, and only a few have a full understanding about it." Mo Yuan replied.


Ye Hua's eyebrows furrowed after hearing what his brother said. "Can you tell us more something about High Goddess Zu Ti?"


His brother slightly nodded. "Unlike most immortals with parents, Zu Ti was born from a transformative birth; similar to Dong Hua. She was also born and known as a Light High Goddess. The unique power she possed enabled her to manipulate time and space.


The magical artifacts she created in her home in Gu Yao Mountain were often protected with powerful wards since almost all of them would enable one who possessed even a piece of them to do what few or no one could do. But only a few were left after--" He paused as he was reminded of what happened hundreds of thousand years ago.


"After what, Shifu?" Bai Qian asked, prompting him to continue.


"After she helped Goddess Shao Wan and sacrificed her own body in the process that allowed the humans to live peacefully in the mortal worlds that are now separated from the Wakagi. The now shattered moonstone crystal was one of her powerful creations, and it is a great mystery how a ward-protected item broke into pieces on its own." He continued.


Bai Zhen, who was silent the whole time, finally spoke. "High God Mo Yuan, do you know by chance the exact feature or power this artifact can do?"


"I have an idea of what it can do, but I need to see Dong Hua to verify this." Mo Yuan replied.


Bai Qian's forehead scrunched in confusion. "Shifu, what does Dong Hua Dijun have to do with High Goddess Zu Ti?"


Mo Yuan let out a deep breath and looked out from the open window of the study area before shifting his eyes back to his former disciple. "Goddess Shao Wan and Zu Ti were closed friends, and Shao Wan's best friend was Dong Hua."


Bai Qian's eyes widened. "Dong Hua Dijun had a female bestfriend!?" She exclaimed.


Her reaction broke the tense atmosphere. Ye Hua and Bai Zhen chuckled. Mo Yuan smiled amusedly at her. "Seventeen, you make it sound like he can't have one."


Bai Qian looked slightly abashed. "That's not what I meant, Shifu. I just never thought that he'd be that friendly."


"Don't worry, Seventeen. I won't tell Dong Hua you said that." He teased, which made the other gods in the room laugh. "Going back to the topic, at some point Goddess Shao Wan would tell things to Dong Hua. And given his reaction earlier, he probably knows something."


This shifted the serious mood back again.


Bai Qian paused to make sense of everything. Her mind started to connect the dots between the incident that took place yesterday at the Department of Mysteries and the unexplainable disappearance of Feng Jiu. The whole room was once again silent.


"Could it be that Xiao Jiu's disappearance is related to what happened to the moonstone crystal?" She didn't realize that the question meant to be said internally was spoken out loud.


Bai Zhen turned to his sister. "What made you say that, Qian Qian?"


"The moonstone crystal of Light Goddess Zu Ti shattered in the Department of Mysteries yesterday. And coincidentally, the guard who patrolled last night near the public garden said he saw a flash of bright light." She explained.


Ye Hua chimed in. "Qian Qian, the incident in the Department of Mysteries happened during day time which was why the meeting was rescheduled this morning." He reminded her.


Bai Qian went silent to think, but then another idea came up. "But it was a blue moon yesterday. Surely that's something?"


Mo Yuan, who was silent the whole time, thought of these assumptions. "It would be ideal if no one knows about the details we talked about earlier. Even the assumptions you made could give rise to rumors if they were heard by the wrong listeners." He turned to Ye Hua. "Ye Hua, I want you to make sure that the guard who spoke about what happened in the public garden yesterday remains silent. It would help if few can only know what's truly going on."


Ye Hua nodded in response.


Bai Qian couldn't help but be worried about her niece because when she made sense of the things she learned today, they all pointed to the idea that Xiao Jiu could be in danger. She sighed. It seemed like trouble loved the little red nine-tailed fox so much.


"Shifu, what do we do if Xiao Jiu doesn't come back in the next few days?" She asked because her niece was under her care since the latter stayed with her in Yu Xi Palace.


Mo Yuan's face had a solemn look. "I'll tell you after I speak with Dong Hua."


They all went silent again and hoped that Feng Jiu was completely fine and did not get herself entangled in the peculiar issue.


----


It was already 4 PM when Dong Hua Dijun returned to Taichen Palace. He was greeted by Siming, who was waiting near the entrance.


Siming bowed and greeted Dong Hua. "Dijun, High God Mo Yuan has been waiting in your study room for an hour now and he said that he has something important to discuss with you."


Dong Hua's brows furrowed at this. He already expected that Mo Yuan would look for him about this matter, but he did not expect it to be this sooner. He dismissed Siming and proceeded to go to the said room.


When he entered, he saw Mo Yuan sitting patiently with a cup of tea in his hand. The visitor then calmly placed down the cup when he noticed the arrival of the palace's master.


"Where have you been?" Mo Yuan asked as he watched Dong Hua took the seat across him.


Dong Hua filled his cup of tea and took a sip before he replied to the question. "Somewhere."


A small smiled rose to Mo Yuan's lips. "You left suddenly earlier. Surely, that 'somewhere' must be important."


Dong Hua looked at Mo Yuan with a solemn look on his face. "It is something important. But your presence here at this time confuses me. Care to explain?"


"I told Tianjun that I would be the one leading the matter regarding the incident in the Department of Mysteries. And I'm here because you're someone I know who can help me with this one." Mo Yuan replied.


Dong Hua paused from sipping his tea and placed it back at the table. "You did?"


Mo Yuan nodded. "I also know that you know full well what the moonstone crystal is capable of."


"Is that the information that you're after?"


"Yes."


Dong Hua looked at Mo Yuan and observed him. "Is that only it?"


The other man shook his head. "No. I want your assistance in resolving this matter since having two minds will quickly solve the problem." He paused to sip his tea. "I don't plan on prolonging this issue. Plus, Seventeen concluded that this problem could somehow be linked to her niece's disappearance."


The former emperor fell silent.


"And guessing from your reaction earlier, you seem to think of the same thing." Mo Yuan continued.


Dong Hua was silent for a few minutes. Mo Yuan bid his time and patiently waited for Dong Hua to reply.


"Okay, how do we go about this?"


Mo Yuan wanted to smile after hearing Dong Hua's reply, but he stopped himself. It seemed like the man cared more than how he wanted to appear to be.


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I hope you enjoyed this new chapter. Please don't forget to vote and comment your thoughts about this update.


A/N: I used some info about Zu Ti and Shao Wan from Back to Chaos in Dream. Thank you to the amazing translation team of the Elodsoompie website. Their great translations fuel my love for the ELOD universe and my fave DongFeng ship. 

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