A Tear Frozen in Time

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Initially, a disagreement on who should carry out the second part of the plan, brought it to a stand still. It was never going to be cut and dry, both men knew this, yet there was still a part of Ye Hua that believed he still had a chance with her, even though he knew deep down, it was over for him. He had seen for himself how deep her love for Mo Yuan was despite the anger that she so stubbornly clung to.

"I am the one who took her eyes High God Mo Yuan, I should be the one to return them." Ye Hua insisted, only Mo Yuan knew for a fact, that she would sink herself deeper into the mess she was making if she so much as even heard his name.

For the loss of her child, forgiveness would not come so quickly, not when she was still unaware of what had really happened or even why Ye Hua had chosen the path he took. But they did have a plan which involved them both, and he was dead set on sticking to it.

"No. We do exactly as planned Ye Hua. Mistakes have already been made by both of us, we cannot allow anymore. So long as you do as we planned then I will deal with the aftermath." he shook his head adamantly as they quietly entered the Peach Tree Grove where they could feel Zhe Yans energy heading towards them.

"The aftermath?" Ye Hua shook his head in disbelief. It was surely an understatement because what they planned to do would more than likely create consequences that they might not actually be capable of containing.

"Very well, but I want a chance to talk to her privately." he demanded seconds before Zhe Yan suddenly appeared in front of them and going by the look on the mans face, he was not overly pleased to see Ye Hua.

"What are you doing here?" Zhe Yan asked without preliminaries or a smile of welcome regardless that he was with Mo Yuan.

"Zhe Yan, I brought Ye Hua here to save her. Kindly allow him a chance to speak." Mo Yuan replied for him and forcing he Zhe Yan to look at him.

Glaring at Ye Hua, the memory of Xiao Wu stumbling through the Celestials Lotus Pond just a day before she threw herself into Zhutian Terrace would haunt him for the rest of his days. He could so easily have saved her had he known and nor would he have cared one iota for the consequences. Only the sight of Ye Hua standing before him with sadness in his eyes that were pleading for understanding, only infuriated him. If anyone deserved understanding, it was her.

And had it been anyone other than Mo Yuan pleading on his behalf, the boy would not be standing there a second longer. "Alright. For friendships sake, I will allow it, but you had better satisfy my anger Ye Hua, I do not like you, and nor do I want you here." he replied with a curt nod towards Mo Yuan before turning back to the stone table to sit down.

And so for a few hours and several bottles of wine later, Zhe Yan learned the truth of her trial and the devastating decision that Ye Hua had been forced to make in order to save her life. There were many things that had taken place that he had not known of, but there were even far more that he did know that only raised more questions in his mind.

"The Celestial Heavens has always done things that defies logic. Tell me Ye Yua. Why would Qing Qiu and the Peach Tree Grove want to align ourselves with you, when a mere Mortal that was no threat to your safety, could not be protected even by you, a man that holds untold power?" he asked, his voice trembling with emotion that none but a handful had ever heard come from one of the oldest Gods in their world.

"I do not ask for forgiveness, or even understanding. What I did, was something I will regret for the rest of my life, it is something I must carry forever. But I do want to make things right, I want to help her to heal from it or at least offer a kindness I was unable to give her when she needed it the most." Ye Hua replied with tears streaming down his face which hung low, being unable to look either man in the eye and hold it.