Immortal Mortals

The Break

Mo Yuan looked, but what he was seeing wasn't fully registering.  Was this some kind of elaborate joke, a prank? He thought to himself?  Turning to look at Zhe Yan whose expression he couldn't quite decipher being a cross between a smirk and shock, and Bai Zhen who was looking straight back at him with what looked to be fear, and then back at Ai who had now seated the children at the table to eat, he shook his head lightly.  

No this was no prank.  Though the far away look on her face when she turned away from the children suddenly made his heart lurch, they had not cleared the air from their argument and she was still feeling the effects of it.  They had always ended their disagreements with a tender night of love making and this was the first time they had not.

But this wasn't Ai.  This was Bai Qian, a woman he was on equal footing with, an Immortal of immense power and one an argument with could be just as volatile as the powerful energy she possessed, now everything made perfect sense.

He needed to think.  Turning quietly, they left the house and returned to the path.  "Not here, we'll go back to the forest, there was even less chance of being stumbled upon especially if Tai decided to take his horse for a run.  So looking around to make sure there was no one around, they all fully opened their powers and magically transported themselves back to the little hill to sit down and talk.

Unable to hold it in anymore, Zhe Yan erupted once again into gales of hysterical laughter dragging Bai Zhen into his maniacal fits of giggles with him, and though he could see the hilarity of the situation, Mo Yuan was furious.

"Just wait till her parents find out Mo Yuan." Zhe Yan laughed beside him, though he was beginning to feel the heat from his sharp glare as he tried to organize his thoughts.

"How is it you never caught on Mo Yuan?" Bai Zhe asked confused.  "I know your powers were down, so you couldn't see her true identity, but surely my dense sister would have left plenty of clues to being Immortal at least." he added looking at him as if he suddenly realized the man was just as dense as she was.

Throwing him a harsh glare, which automatically had Bai Zhen grabbing for Zhe Yans arm and his eyes lowering, Mo Yuan sighed.  "I began to notice discrepancies earlier in our relationship, but at the time, I convinced myself they were mere coincidences, but it  is only in the past few days that I really looked at her in a different light, that I saw things no one of this world should know." he answered him softly.

"Oh?  What kind of things?" Zhe Yan asked with a wide smirk,  leaning forward as if he were about to hear some juicy gossip.

"Zhe Yan!  Now is not the time for childish behavior, this is a serious situation." Bai Zhen jumped in to still Mo Yuans rising anger as he glared furiously at the both of them, though he too was dying to know what his stupid sister had done to give herself away.

"Many things." he finally answered him after sitting for quite some time with his head in his hands.  Then going into detail of the events that happened not too far from where they were sitting, he told them what had happened to Meili, and the fighting skills Ai had taught the girl that were not known to this world.  

"So I take it, you're the brother who taught Bai Qian?" he asked turning his head towards Bai Zhen, which gained him a nod.

"You've seen for yourself how beautiful she is.  She needed to learn how to protect herself,. Even as a child she drew attention from the few men who ran into her, I could not allow her to be hurt, you know Immortal men can be just as brutal as the Mortal ones." he explained, though he was saddened that Meili had found herself in that situation, but also pleased that his teachings had not gone to waste.

"So what do you plan to do Mo Yuan.  You now know the truth, and you are both still in an arranged marriage to each other.  It will remain?" Zhe Yan asked, now serious and ready to do everything in his power to keep Mo Yuan from walking away, which is what he feared the most.