A Trial by Halves

Questions, Answers and Tender Eyes

Finding herself in a large fully furnished cave, Su Sus eyes widened. Fully lit up with candles she could see the furnishings were a far cry from what they had left behind and for a few minutes, she merely stared at the opulence dripping off the finely carved seats, plush fur rugs and intricately carved door frames that led to the bed chambers of which there were eight. But it was the sound of the ocean that she could hear through the large opening that had her slowly turning in Ye Huas arms to look back.

"You must like the ocean." she said softly having just left an island surrounded by the water and a place she had fallen in love with. Only this place did not seem all that friendly or peaceful to her at that moment, though she guessed it was because of the circumstances and those they had brought with them.

"I do Su Su. The ocean brings me peace." he replied with a soft look down at his wife who was too stunned to say anything else having thought he had read her mind, but the tears in her eyes soon had him leading her to the plush sofas to sit down while he quickly took Lian Song to a chamber to rest.

He knew how she was feeling, he could feel the uncertainty and confusion in her soft gaze as she watched them leave without a word, and he could also sense that she was not at all happy with their predicament, but his uncle needed immediate attention which he decided to deal with first so that he would have the rest of the day with her while everyone else settled in.

"I'm fine Ye Hua, but we need to talk." he said as Ye Hua strong armed him onto the bed regardless of his protests which Cheng Yu was very grateful for because she would definitely have struggled to get him there on her own. He might be a genial man most of the time, but when he was angry, which she could feel that he was, he was not so pleasant and could become very difficult.

"Yes you are fine, but a head wound is no trivial matter. I will see what herbs I have available for an elixir, in the meantime, a little rest will do wonders, then we can all talk once you have slept." Ye Hua said once he was on the bed and his head resting comfortably on the pillow.

Turning towards Cheng Yu, Ye Hua, suggested that she also get some rest. "We can all talk in the main den later on this evening. I need to take care of Su Su and our son." he said rising to lead her to the chamber next door only to have her snatch her arm from his hand.

"I will stay here and watch your uncle." she said stubbornly. "If anything happens to him, how will we know if no one is here to keep an eye on him?" she asked, before firmly placing herself at the foot of the bed to watch over him, and maybe catch a little sleep if it came.

Not bothering to argue, seeing as he also had his Shifu to also deal with, Ye Hua quickly checked his uncle over one last time before leaving them to it. Lian Song would be fine but he could see the anger in his dark eyes along with the tightening of his jaw. There would be little time for rest for him, but he was definitely going to take as much as he could before he had to butt heads with that man.

Heading back to the main den, he briefly stopped to check his own chamber. It had been years since he had last been there and initially he had created it as a private retreat for when his duties became too much to bear.

Built into the wall of a cliff that spanned miles of low lying coastline of Southern Guangxi, he had chosen that particular place because of its lack of population and wild scenery which he loved. There were a few small townships nearby, but the cliffs offered complete privacy while also giving him access to necessities should he need them. Also being so isolated, his home would be very difficult to find behind his impregnable barrier which kept it hidden from any passing fishermen or large ships that wandered passed from time to time.

But most importantly, it was one of the few homes he owned that was unknown to anyone else. Though of course there were risks in bringing his wife there and why he had not taken her there first. And the main one being because it was in the Mortal World.