Mo Yuan and Shao Wan (三生三世十里桃花) - Vol. 1 [COMPLETED]

Chapter 43

written by Panda
edited by kakashi

It was a balmy, cloudy day when yet more guests arrived at Kunlun Mountains. One came on a beautiful phoenix while the other, resplendent in purple, came with his loyal retainer: It was High God Zhe Yan, the former Heavenly Lord Donghua Dijun and Star Lord Si Ming. As they reached the steps that lead to the Great Hall of Kunlun, the disciples rushed forward to greet them and pay their respects.

"Donghua Dijun - High God Zhe Yan - Star Lord Si Ming", they bowed.

Zhe Yan, a familiar face at Kunlun, graciously acknowledged their greetings with a dip of his head, while Si Ming bowed eagerly to everyone in return and Donghua Dijun simply looked bored at the proceedings.

"Where is your Shifu?" Zhe Yan asked the disciples after they had finished paying their respects, "take us to him."

Die Feng stepped forward and led them through the hallowed grounds of Kunlun. As they proceeded, the guests could discern childish giggles somewhere to the right and the sound of women shouting in the distance. Only a faint enigmatic smile spread over Zhe Yan's face. But Si Ming's eyes flittered hither and thither as he tried to catch a glimpse of the origin of these unusual sounds without making it too obvious how excited he was.

Mo Yuan was in the great room, reading. He put the scroll down when the guest approached and looked their way, his face impassive. One could have thought he was not overly excited to see his old friends. After announcing their presence to the Master of Kunlun Mountains, Die Feng bowed deeply and left in tow with Si Ming, who excused himself since he had "an important matter to attend to".

"I thought you would still be in your honeymoon phase," Zhe Yan said, "but I should have known the God of War doesn't have one romantic bone in his body. Reading dreary books so early in the morning, could that be why your wife isn't having breakfast with you?"

Not even waiting for an invitation to sit, Zhe Yan made himself comfortable and took four bottles of peach wine from this sleeve pocket. "By the way, I recently lost a large batch of my finest brew because of you, you owe me compensation."

Mo Yuan, who hadn't uttered a word since the guests had arrived, echoed: "Compensation?"

"Yes. I had to give Dijun five bottles of my finest because I lost a bet."

"I said eight days," Dijun interjected.

"And I said three. But it's been four weeks!" Zhe Yan shook his head in disbelief.

Mo Yuan sighed. "Don't tell me you just came here to tell me about a bet you had? It is going to be a busy day for me, I have a lot of reports to read."

"Now, now, you grumbler, this is not how you welcome guests who came to greet you after your nuptials. Nuptials to which they did not get an invitation, one must add - even though they consider you their closest friend. Dijun don't you have anything to say to the happy groom?"

"I don't have anything to say except to congratulate Mo Yuan for finally listening. Who knew he would be as eager to follow my advice as to marry her?" Dijun said drily. "Of course, he has only succeeded in causing more trouble; all I told him to do was to offer his body for the peace of the realms, not to stir up Celestial outrage by marrying a Demon."

Zhe Yan who had been smiling throughout the speech burst into laughter when Mo Yuan closed his eyes at the end of Dijun's speech. He reached out and poured peach wine for Mo Yuan who accepted the cup and downed its content in one go.

"You know well I am not really married to her, you can stop the pretense," Mo Yuan said tiredly, holding out the cup for more.

"Ah, but if you say you are married, then who can call you a liar? Good military strategy by the way, as usual, you are one step ahead," Dijun continued.