The Storyteller

Beyond the barrier

Scared but excited, Bai Qian allowed Shibing to hold her a little tighter than normal.  He had said nothing about the momentary flash of light, because it came as quickly as it disappeared and no matter how many eye excercises he did, he couldn't bring it back.  Despondent and heavy hearted, he did not let on, instead he had allowed her to hold him until he slept.

That had been the night before, and being the day they had both decided that she would seek help for them, Mo Yuan put aside his own cares to assist her with this new venture which saw her clinging tightly to his fingers as she prepared herself to travel.

He could feel the fear, but with his arms fully encased about her shoulders, she began to feel the safety and trust which is exactly where Mo Yuan needed her to be.  In his arms and with his voice to guide her, her trust in him was imperative to staying alive so long as she maintained her hold on his voice and kept her thoughts solely on her objective.

And after a thorough teaching of his barrier which she learned by feeling his energy that he pulled up into the tips of his fingers, she understood far more about how barriers worked and the cultivation levels needed to raise such a powerful barrier.

For a moment, Mo Yuan could feel the unasked questions as to who he was to be able to raise that kind of barrier that only Di Jun could break down, not to mention where he had learned this higher knowledge considering he was just a mere soldier, but those questions went unasked, because for a moment, she feared the answer.  That he was someone very important to their world, after all, one did not get themselves into a battle with the Demon Overlord unless they actually had the ability to back themselves up.

It seemed very strange to her, and a few names did pass through her mind, but with his arms now wrapped tightly around her and his voice deepening to that resonant drone, she stopped thinking in order to bring Zhe Yan to mind.  She could clearly see him resting at the side of his jade lake drinking wine which he would be doing at that time of day, and as the vision of peach blossoms began to appear in her vision, then she gave Shibing a light squeeze of her fingers to let him know that she was now leaving.

Then waiting for him to begin his story, Bai Qian quickly brought the cave into mind before rising off the bed and making her way to the barrier while Mo Yuans fingers kept hold of her wrist.  He had a way of bringing her back should it speed up and though his story had already begun, he still paid close attention to her pulse while a story he hated took her on a safe journey out of there.

"Emperor Wu, might have been been the most powerful man in the world who ruled over it all, but he was also known more for his harem.  It was reputed that he had over 40,000 wives, all of them taken at each years selection even though his mother had tried to forbid it being the one who was meant to choose his wives for him.  Only the sight of every single lady at his door had his heart breaking at the thought of losing even one of them."

"The thought of owning the largest harem in the world was his only real desire.  He loved women.  Beautiful women, small and large women, even not so pretty women.  His libido was insatiable that it was reported that he had consummated every single one of his marriages."

And so it happened that one day the auditors arrived to review the Emperor expenditure while also auditing each and every Palace that his wives owned.  Thousands of Palaces had been built in the last ten years, so it was no surprise to find that his expenses in keeping his vast harem far exceeded the Emperors alloted yearly entitlements which was causing a very real concern for his people who were paying for it."

Ordered to lower his expenses or the country would face poverty, the Emperor just couldn't bear to lower his womens living standards.   All of them received a handsome yearly allowance, regular gifts of fine china and jewelry and even indian silks that were highly coveted by the wealthy."