Immortal Mortals

The Potion

"Jie." Chang Li's voice came from behind as he helped Tai to gather the horses together.  The storm that had raged through overnight had caused a lot of damage to the stables which needed to be dealt to quickly.

It was still raining, but the winds had now died down and thankfully the storm had passed over leaving only the light drizzle in it's wake.  "Chang Li, I'm glad you're here, give us a  hand." he replied as two horses were pushed towards him.

Taking up the reins with no idea what to do with them, he held onto the reins tightly with a blank look on his face.  "Jie, I've brought a friend with me." he said as one of the horses tried to move out from his tight grip.

Looking up impatiently, the last thing Jie needed to deal with was visitors when the horses needed to be taken care of immediately, but giving the young man, who had moved forward a slight nod of his head and a quick once over glance, he returned to what he was doing.

"Forgive my rudeness." Jie said politely as he closed the inner stable doors behind him.  "As you can see, I'm a little busy right now." he added with another cursory nod, before taking the two horses from Chang Li and leading them back towards the house.  

If anything, Jies nerves were very raw, but with the arrival of Chang Li, he began to calm down a little.  Ai would not act out with him there and that gave both himself and Tai some measure of comfort, because Tai was very much aware of the tension between the two of them, though he had hoped they had worked out their differences before their return, he couldn't help but be disappointed to find they had not.  Though he knew his father, he would do whatever he had to do to win her back and that gave him heart.

He was also learning a great deal from their ongoing issues.  With a marriage of his own looming, every mistake his father made he remembered. And when his time came, he would not make the same mistakes with his wife, in fact, Tai was paying very close attention to the both of them and he knew if his marriage to a girl he was fast falling in love with was ever to face such woes, he would end them before they began, because in the end, the women always won.  Or that was his impression anyway.

Sending Tai inside to let Ai know Chang Li had arrived with a visitor, Jie led the two men to the back of house where a small lean to had been erected.  It wasn't ideal, but it would do until he could get the stable fixed.  The storm had ripped away part of the roof and until it stopped raining, it would have to wait, though in the meantime Chang Li could help him with a a temporary fix to keep the rain out.  Much of the hay was now drenched and would need to be used quickly before it fell to rot, and that was one more thing for him to worry about. 

About to lead the men indoors. Chang Li stopped him.  "I need a few words with you in private." he said quietly and going by the look on his face, Jie knew it had something to do with home, so nodding his head lightly, he lead them all back towards the stables under the pretense of fixing the roof while keeping a close eye on the house.

No sooner were the men inside the stables than the young man who had accompanied Chang Li, erupted from his barrier and he found himself face to face with Bai Zhi and going by the light chuckle he could hear coming from behind him, Zhe Yan was also there.

"Mo Yuan." Bai Zhi greeted him with a what looked to be a smirk.

And having no idea why, he merely gave him a nod in return followed by a confused look, but when Zhe Yan lowered his barrier and burst into loud raucous laughter, Jie knew they were up to something and suddenly his eyes narrowed.

Ignoring him for now, Jie faced The Fox Emperor.  "What brings you here?" he asked politely not liking their sudden appearance, they could be caught at any moment if Tai returned or worse Ai.