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xiaolanhua
PRELUDE
GODDESS OF XISHAN
Approximately thirty-thousand years ago, Xi Yun was born into the Xilan Tribe - the neutral party that stood between Fairy and the Moon Tribes. She was born as the next Goddess of Xishan and spent her younger years living with her people in their land. Every Goddess was given the power and duty to suppress the evil Taisui and protect all three Realms, but the war between the Fairy Realm and the Moon Tribe brought about change. When the God of War, Chidi, sacrificed herself to seal away 100,000 troops from the Moon Tribe, it set wheels into motion. This led Chidi's disciple to work with what remained of Taisui in order to save what was left of Chidi's primordial spirit. Ronghao stormed Xilan in search of the young Goddess to use her power to bring back Chidi, killing nearly everyone in his path. In order to protect Xi Yun, her parents and the few people left alive sealed her away into an orchid seed, sacrificing themselves to ensure that Ronghao couldn't drain her of her power and her life.
BEGINNINGS
GOD OF FATE
Nearly twenty-eight thousand years pass before that seed is found and became planted by an immortal, Si Ming, the God of Fate, from it sprouted an orchid. The new God of War, Changheng, encouraged Si Ming to continue growing the orchid when she thought of disposing it after damaging it with alcohol, thus helping the plant cultivate into a fairy simply named Orchid. Orchid became the disciple of Si Ming, the immortal who tended to the Destiny Books. They spend many days together until her master eventually left "to travel the mortal world", and Orchid is left alone in Arbiter Hall. A thousand years pass where Orchid lived much of it alone except for a few plant spirits that accompany for brief periods of time. She is even bullied by the other fairies due to her "odd" background, and the fact that there is no one to stand at her side as friends. Every day, Orchid spent her time cleaning Arbiter Hall and fixing fifty Destiny Books a day - until she can reach 50,000 and submit her resignation to work elsewhere.
Five hundred years ago, Orchid happened upon an injured Changheng, and she helped nurse him back to health, forming a deep attachment and affection for him - believing it to be love. He also developed such an affection for Orchid, that he's forced to remove her memories of their time together in order to protect her. As it turned out, Changheng is engaged to the Goddess of Xishan, but Orchid's original identity has been sealed away so well to the point that she cannot be easily identified. His brother, Emperor of the Heavenly Realm, refused to let Changheng fall in love or be unfaithful to his intended.
SHUIYUNTIAN
IMMORTAL CRIMINAL DAQIANG
And so, they both harbor feelings for each other for five hundred years, which partly led to Orchid witnessing Changheng in danger through his Destiny Book. She attempted to change this "fate" by jumping in the way of an attack while he was attempting to strengthen the seal on the Haotian Tower. This act actually put her inside the tower, getting pulled towards Dongfang. When she's drawn to his body, they kiss. Unbeknownst to them both at the time, her powers as the Goddess of Xishan pulled together Dongfang's primordial spirit, placed the Xilan Heart Curse upon him, swapped their souls, and part of Xi Yun's primordial spirit took refuge inside the man's primordial spirit. Orchid ends up in his Sea of Emotions, where everything has been frozen and all of his emotions cut away. Upon touching the tree, she began the process of reawakening his emotions. When they both wake, it's to find that they are - indeed - in each other's body while still locked in the tower.
Orchid is obviously upset about being in a criminal's body, but especially so when Dongfang began cutting all of her hair off. She tried to retaliate by pulling on his hair, which resulted in their first act of shared pain. Unfortunately, Orchid failed to successfully use his powers and only hurt "herself", to which Dongfang suggested that they should recreate the situation to swap back. It's only after fighting to refuse a kiss that Orchid managed to summon enough power to make Dongfang fly away and hit the seal. Seeing this, she has no choice but to try and reverse the swap so that her body doesn't end up dying. Thus they have their second kiss which is successful in swapping them back to normal, however, this means that Dongfang also has access to all of his powers, and he intends to use them on her first. It is only due to the fact that he shares her pain that Orchid has an opportunity to escape the now-broken seal, fleeing only to almost be caught by Changheng who is on the search for escaped criminals. Believing that her escaped criminal was caught, she continued on with her life as if nothing had happened. After obtaining funds from her plant friends, she traveled to Haishi to visit her merchant friend Jieli to try and buy a cure for her immortal root so she can pass the immortal exam. Due to her "friend", Orchid is sent to Liufang Pavilion to deliver a dress as part of her payment. When she went to put the dress away, a fairy was hiding inside trying to escape the Pavilion to avoid being killed. After changing the fairy into a plant to help, Orchid is distracted from leaving when her bracelet senses a Destiny Book nearby.
She managed to summon the Nameless Destiny Book to her from within the barrier, and tried to leave the building with it and the fairy in tow only for them both to be caught. They're taken to the Soul Transformation Grounds, where they're then pushed into a pot that would have corrupted their spirit. Only Orchid is saved from this fate by Dongfang, who realized that any injury that she received - he also had. Thus he was alerted to her predicament when she'd been struck earlier during the capture, arriving in time to catch her as she fell. He proceeded to attack the people responsible, and cracked the pot in half, causing dark souls to spew forth and cause chaos in Haishi. Dongfang told Orchid that no one was allowed to harm her, for she was his - all of her belonged to him, after stating that he wanted to kill her, and would kill anyone who harmed her. Orchid mistakenly thought that after being locked up, then rescued by her, that he was in love with her. He then demanded that she break his seal, and she could see that it was the Xilan Holy Seal upon his forehead. Stating that she couldn't break it as she was an ordinary orchid, he revealed her "damaged immortal form" which offended her and made her flee, dropping her cure from earlier.
Upon returning to Arbiter Hall, she realized that she lost the Universe Pill to cure her immortal root, crying over it, which caused Dongfang to shed a tear as he felt her emotions. So he stealthily walked into Shuiyuntian, and made his way to Arbiter Hall just as Orchid made up her mind to go back to Haishi for more medicine. She was surprised to see him at her doorstep and attempted to prevent him from coming in, but her strength was no match for his. In her struggle, the Nameless Destiny Book fell at their feet and Dongfang sent her away so he could look at it, discovering that it belonged to what remained of Chidi's primordial spirit. If he could discover where she was, he could use her life to unseal the 100,000 warriors and attack Shuiyuntian. Coming back, Orchid attempted to get the Destiny Book back from him, a struggle that resulted in damaging the book. After learning that the God of Fate won't be coming back for a while, he threatened Orchid to fix the book for him or he'd burn down the greenhouse. That threat was interrupted when Changheng came looking at Arbiter Hall for any escaped criminals, while also wanting to see Orchid again. Dongfang cloaked them both and sent one of the flower spirits to speak to Changheng, wanting to send him away. Once that was accomplished, he switched tactics from threats to bribery, saying that he would give her the Universe Pills if she fixed the book.
After spending much time trying to fix the book, Orchid was too tired to continue - as she had experienced almost dying in Haishi, then threatened by Dongfang in one day. She expected him to leave for the night, but he stated that if he left, she would be coming with him. Once it was clear to both of them that Orchid would not be leaving, he would be staying, so she showed him to her master's room. However, he was insistent on Orchid staying within his sight, even if that meant sleeping in the same room. He was so insistent that he even teleported to her room after she had left. It was only after much time had passed and she smacked her forehead on her desk that he agreed to returned to his borrowed room to sleep for the night. That night, Orchid dreamed that they had both been caught and executed by Changheng - one as a criminal, the other as the person who harbored him. Due to this nightmare, Dongfang experienced fear for the first time in a very long time. Come morning, Orchid wanted to sleep longer and unknowingly gave him the first order to count all of the flowers in her greenhouse, which he did. When she awoke four hours later, it was to find out that he had truly done it.
While having breakfast together, Orchid asks for his name only to sneeze partway through being told, thus missing that he is indeed the Moon Supreme and giving him the nickname Daqiang. He doesn't correct this mistake, though does torment her by saying that Dongfang Qingcang likes to eat fairies. Later, he found her embellishing the story of the Great War and became angry, insisting she find something else to read. This led to her deciding to make pastries for the festival that celebrated Shuiyuntian's victory over Cangyanghai, including him in the process - which continued to anger him. All of this was done as a way to procrastinate and take the day off from fixing the Destiny Book he wanted, and simply because it had been so long since Orchid had anyone around this long. When she does finally sit down to try to fix the book, she ended up passing out, having drained herself during the events in Haotian Tower. So the next day, Dongfang went out to collect morning dew as dictated by the Xilan scroll on how to attend to the Xilan orchid. Waking to find him gone, she celebrated just as he was coming back, though that quickly turned to sorrow at the thought of being alone and how alone he must have been in the tower.
Only a few short moments after expressing this sadness, her flower friends vanish to sleep for the day, and she's left alone only to be surprised when Dongfang handed her the collected morning dew. After some back and forth of it being too cold, hot, and bland, she drank the whole bowl. The next day he even took her to the highest point of Shuiyuntian to see the sunrise, despite it meaning she had to wake up early and worry about being caught in the Emperor's palace. However, despite the care Dongfang was showing her each day, Orchid snuck into his room to steal the Universe Pills and then proceeded to take them. This filled her with yang energy, which was extremely harmful to her true nature, and could have killed her if not for Dongfang extracting it. Even though she was cured, Orchid was still sad as her master was not here to make her flower soup whenever she wasn't feeling well, and so Dongfang attempted this so that she would stop making him feel sad. Making flower soup is not something he did well, but his attempt did cheer her up. From this Dongfang realized that he couldn't simply focus on her physical well-being, but also her emotional one if he wanted her to recover and fix the Destiny Book.
Wanting to make her happy, Dongfang asked her what it is she wanted and was unwilling to grant her request to turn himself in. She said that since he wouldn't that that, the only thing she wanted was to pass the immortal examination so that she could work at Changheng's palace to repay him for his kindness. Orchid did not like when he took on Changheng's appearance, and had an encounter with Fairy Danyin - another who sought the God of War's attention. When it was time to take the exam, Dongfang secretly helped Orchid cheat a little by channeling energy into her to fight off other fairies who wanted to bully her and take her Yingzhao to win, even going so far as to place the weakest of the creatures in her path. It was decidedly a good thing that he was there, as someone from Haishi appeared to corrupt Orchid's Yingzhao in order to kill her to get the Destiny Book back. Though, he left her in Shangque's care while he investigated the odd energy first. This resulted in Orchid having to flee for her life, then jumping in to save Danyin, and the other fairies by offering to be a distraction while they sought help from the immortals.
After Dongfang knocked the Yingzhao out, he went to kill it for hurting Orchid, but she didn't hesitate to take his sword and throw it. Instead of killing it, she healed it of the evil qi and return it to it's natural state, then captured it. This act of emotional mercy confused Dongfang, and she explained that without emotions, she and the other fairies wouldn't have survived without them. The conversation was cut short by the arrival of Changheng, and after shooing Dongfang away, lied to the immortals about what happened to protect him. It was by listening to them speak that she learned about the evil qi, and that it was likely put there by someone from the Moon Tribe - possibly an escaped criminal. This put into her head that Dongfang was the one responsible, and she confronted him later, to which he refused a proper explanation. She ordered him to turn himself in - issuing her second unstoppable command, and with much struggling, started to drag him out. Dongfang was forced to explain that he had been there to help her pass the exam, making it so she cheated - stating that her life was as important as his own to him. That made Orchid change her mind about him turning himself in, thus they went back inside.
She was sad that she hadn't actually improved, and due to her own morals, insisted on withdrawing from the exam results the next day. As she was on her way out to do so, a glowing firefly was spotted eating from her garden, which she coaxed into the Firefly Stone. When she went to withdraw, Orchid ran into Danyin, who forbade her from dropping out on account of Orchid saving her life. This did not make them friends, however. Before Orchid could do much else, Changheng appeared, and she tried to withdraw from the exam with him, but he stated that he wasn't looking for someone with power - but what mattered were her actions. She also tried to give him back the Firefly Stone, but it turned out that by feeding it, Orchid had become its master, thus he didn't want to force it. Bolstered by this, she made her way back to Arbiter Hall, unknowing that another jealous fairy switched the Firefly Stone with a regular one. On the way, she met Ronghao who asked for her help to revive a plant. This was a test, as he had corrupted it with evil qi, and Orchid unknowingly tapped into her powers as the Goddess of Xishan in front of him to heal it. Elsewhere, the fairy who did steal the Firefly Stone was caught in a fight with Danyin and brought before the emperor - and she was severely punished for claiming that Changheng had given it to her. Orchid only witnessed the fairy being escorted out for her punishment, and was accosted about the whole ordeal, only for no one else to believe it.
This incident showed Changheng just how serious the emperor was about ensuring destiny would occur and a marriage would happen between the God of War and the Goddess of Xishan. He removed Orchid's name from the list of fairies granted permission to work in his palace in order to protect her. Orchid, of course, does not know any of this - only that her name is not on the list and it was Changheng who personally removed it. Not only this, but her Firefly Stone is now just an ordinary rock. Dongfang took her to secretly witness a conversation between Changheng and the emperor, where Changheng must say that Orchid is hardly deserving of the job as she's some nameless flower or else it would result in her being killed. However, she knew nothing of this, and was only hurt by his words and what she believed to be his feelings. They return to Arbiter Hall where Dongfang encouraged her to cry, and then proceeded to repeat that she was as important as his life - something Orchid felt resonate more than any previous times. It was at this moment that Changheng brought soldiers to Arbiter Hall in order to search it for any criminals or those of the Moon Tribe.
To keep Dongfang from trying to fight, and ensure that Changheng didn't find out about her immortal criminal, Orchid grabbed him and threw them both off of balcony into the water below. This is where they have their third kiss, as Dongfang shared his breath with her so she wouldn't drown. Much is awkward after the soldiers leave and they return to Arbiter Hall to face each other, with Orchid scurrying off to get dry. Some time later, Orchid is making her way through the forest and approached by Danyin, who revealed that not only are there immortals kept in Haotian Tower, but people from the Moon Tribe as well. This information prompted Orchid to place a sleeping draft in Dongfang's liquor so that she could make him escape, knowing that he is too stubborn and refused to leave. She even packed him snacks, alcohol, and a blanket in the boat out of concern for his well-being. Orchid stated that she knew he was from the Moon Tribe, and that meeting him showed her that the immortals were wrong; not all of them could be bad. Thus, Orchid wanted to save him by making them part ways, unknowing that he would just secretly come back anyway. He did return after she fell asleep, carrying her to her room despite knowing that she was fully recovered and could fix the Destiny Book for him. While there, Dongfang used his own blood to create the Bone Orchid Bracelet, an item that would summon Hellfire to protect her when he wasn't around. He rendered it invisible so that she wouldn't immediately notice it.
The next day, Orchid went off to truly become a fairy and be assigned a position before the throne. She spoke to the Great Turtle, who confused her as he mystically spoke of her one single fate as Goddess of Xishan, and didn't give her an assignment. The immortals checked her true form only to find it has been hidden, thus believing her to be a spy for the Moon Tribe. Her Bone Orchid Bracelet sent out Hellfire when the guards attempted to seize her for punishment, linking her to Dongfang Qingcang. Foolishly, she removed the bracelet which allowed the emperor to string her up and hurt her to get answers out of her. At first, Dongfang is too busy fighting Changheng and Ronghao to realize what is happening, only appearing when she's being choked. He claimed her as his woman, and removed her restraints before placing the bracelet back on her wrist. Then he proceeded to attack the entire assembly with Hellfire, ready to kill hundreds of thousands of immortals without Orchid's intervention. Dongfang pulled back, threatening to destroy Shuiyuntian if anyone tried to stop him from leaving, then walked out with Orchid.
Before they reach the exit, Changheng stood in Dongfang's way, wanting him to leave Orchid behind. They fight with Dongfang the stronger of the two, and again Orchid intervenes to save Changheng's life. Eventually, Dongfang destroyed the magical artifact that held back the four rivers, sending water rushing back in to destroy Shuiyuntian and giving Changheng an ultimatum; save Orchid or save Shuiyuntian and Yungmengze. Thus Dongfang successfully left with Orchid to the Oblivion River. He used Hellfire to warm her up after being attacked by the emperor and Orchid had to face the Moon Supreme that she had made fun of mere days ago. She even tried to return to Shuiyuntian in the hope of explaining that she was not a traitor, but he kept her in the boat. Once they reach the other side, Orchid tried to escape one more time, only for Dongfang to destroy the boat and make her stand at his side to face Shangque in his dragon form. They go for a ride on the dragon's head, which terrified Orchid at first until they reached a pleasant flying speed as they move to the battlefield in Cangyanghai.
CANGYANHAI
MOON SUPREME DONGFANG QINGCANG
They make their way to the battlefield, where the Moon Tribe is having infighting and just Dongfang's appearance is enough to put a stop to that and unite them all under him again. He is easily accepted by all three branches, though his brother does so unhappily due to their past. Orchid is then taken to be treated for her wounds, even if there is far too much chatter and not enough healing. Dongfang appeared and declined to let her go back to Shuiyuntian, also stating that she is to fix the Destiny Book - something that she refused to do. Later, she convinced the flowers in her room to give her some pollen that would put the guards to sleep so that she could escape, this attempt was put to a stop by Shangque who was outside her door. He led her to the dungeon, where Dongfang waited for her and took her into a very dark space - stating that this would be where she lived from now on. When light filled the space, she was surprised and happy to see Arbiter Hall and ran around, believing that he had returned her to Shuiyuntian. It was heartbreaking to realize that he had constructed a whole new version, even if he had done it just for her to be happy. Dongfang was angry and jealous when she said she wanted to go back to Shuiyuntian, even mentioning Changheng. It was at this point where Dongfang said that every kindness he had done for her was due to the One Heart Curse, as it had linked their emotions and thoughts. He told her that this is where she'd be staying alone, changed the weather to a storm and left her there.
After spending much time with the stormy weather, it got Orchid thinking back on the last time they switched bodies, she even devised a plot to get Dongfang to come back. This included a hunger strike, along with standing out in the storm to get sick, refusing treatment, and stating that she had something she could only say to Dongfang. When he got there, she led him outside, then kissed him unexpectedly with the lightning striking them and completing the body swap. Since she has very little control over his powers, the storm stopped, so even when Dongfang tried to switch them back, there was no lightning to complete it. So Orchid was now in his body and ordered "Dongfang" to be sent away to a cell, only to realize that now she had to pretend to be the Moon Supreme. The first order of business: a ceremony to welcome him back as all-powerful leader of the Moon Tribe. She fumbled her way through it, though refused to kill someone from the Fairy Tribe and returned to "her" room for the night. All of the guards were sent away, and in came a group of women all seeking the Moon Supreme's nightly attention, though they were sent away just as quickly. As Orchid was asking Shangque more about Dongfang's past, pretending to be missing not only memories and power, Dongfang had escaped the cell and tackled her to the bed. After a struggle, they both had to resign themselves to their temporary fate, Orchid learning that if anyone suspected that the "Moon Supreme" did not have his full strength, there would be people who sought to kill him. So Orchid attempted to learn to be Dongfang.
It was at this time that Orchid was prompted to ask if Dongfang truly killed his father to become the new Moon Supreme, which he confirmed was not a rumor. She could not understand this, as she had no parents and thought that she would cherish them over killing them, even calling him a jerk. He replied that he was, as now that she was in his body, Orchid would also have to be one - which she responded by kicking him out of the room. The following day, Orchid is put to the test by attending a meeting to discuss how to take over Shuiyuntian; which she then proceeded to burn the plan after learning they wouldn't spare even the plants. While her actions at the meeting were odd, the only person who truly suspected anything continued to be Dongfang's brother. Orchid had a meal and gave her own body a bath, unknowing that there were spies reporting back to people that wanted Dongfang dead at the time. The final nail in Xunfeng's suspicion was to challenge the Moon Supreme to a spar, driving the fairy out to discuss it. While Orchid was able to hand the task off to Shangque, there was a mishap in not knowing a detail about their childhood. Believing herself to be successful, she returned to the room to wait for the storm that would allow them to change back. While in his body, she took advantage to at least not be locked up anymore even though she had wanted to go home.
What they didn't expect was to be ambushed by the lord of Haishi, who had plotted with Xunfeng to steal away Orchid and the Destiny Book or for Changheng to appear in their defense. Dongfang sent Orchid away from the stand-off so she wouldn't go after Changheng and was left alone with him. Orchid wandered the forest in search of an injured Changheng, only for Dongfang to catch her, and state all of the things that would happen if the immortal found Orchid in the Moon Supreme's body. She made him promise not to hurt or kill Changheng before staying quiet. Thus, Orchid hid while Dongfang confronted Changheng with all the things he had noticed about Orchid's time in Shuiyuntian. It was Ronghao who appeared to reveal the bodyswap between the two, allowing Orchid to actually be able to speak for herself. She faced a dilemma - return to her body and watch Dongfang regain the power to kill Changheng, or save herself and let Dongfang die. Orchid decided to swap back, hoping that the promise would be enough. While Dongfang did attack once, it ended after she brought up the promise, and tried to run to Changheng. She was pulled back and kissed - right in front of Changheng, who was taken away shortly after.
After Dongfang had dealt with the attempted coup by his brother, Orchid temporarily returned to her fabricated Arbiter Hall. Many in the palace believed that she had saved Dongfang, so began calling her by a name of respect. The women even wanted to hold a banquet for her, which Dongfang allowed - along with her freedom. Not that she had anywhere to go after openly concluding with Dongfang, but it gave her some happiness. It wasn't long before Orchid's next dilemma came calling, this time it was in the form of Jieli - someone she considered a friend. Jieli snuck into the realm, the palace, and Orchid's fake Arbiter Hall thinking that this little flower was finally living the good life. Dongfang threatened Jieli's life if Orchid continued to refuse to fix the Destiny Book, and would have her friend killed within three days. Yet Orchid couldn't, in good conscience, fix a Destiny Book that the Moon Supreme was so very interested in. With Jieli at her side, she became convinced that Dongfang might actually have feelings for him, and thus to attempt to flirt with him.
It did not go well, though she did learn that in order to use Hellfire, Dongfang had to cut loose all of his emotions - remembering the tree she saw back when they first met. She decided to look at his actions, not his emotions, while also wanting to help him revive his Seven Emotions Tree. Orchid received pills from Jieli that would allow her to experience heightened emotions, first taking the one for joy and then for sorrow. At the time, Dongfang did not have his emotion-blocking ring on, and was in the middle of a meeting to discuss what to do with his brother. Even without this added fact, Orchid and Jieli were both still in serious trouble, she even promised not to play a trick like this one again to keep Jieli from facing the consequences for Orchid's actions. Wanting to make it up to Jieli, she wanted to help her friend escape by lending her the Bone Orchid bracelet to protect her. However, Jieli insisted that Orchid go with her, even lending her the Heart-Hiding Hairpin to keep Dongfang from sensing her nervous emotions as they made their way outside. Once they reached a place beyond the guards, a woman from Haishi appeared to collect the Destiny Book. Orchid gave Jieli the bracelet and told her to run, wanting to protect her friend. When she was attacked by a whip, Dongfang became aware that there was a situation before Jieli even managed to come clamoring for his help.
Before she could be hurt more, Changheng descended from the sky to save Orchid, taking her away after she passed out. However, this was not truly Changheng, but Ronghao in disguise and he used illusions to trick her into fixing the Destiny Book for him. Orchid finally did so for the sake of finding out why so many wanted it, to clear her name, and because she trusted Changheng. It was only after the book was fixed that Orchid became suspicious, realizing that something Dongfang had broken in the true Arbiter Hall was now "fixed". Even cleverly asking "Changheng" a question about an event that never actually happened. She refused to give the book to the Lord of Haishi, even though he attempted to strangle her to retrieve it, and did succeed in stealing it from her temporarily. Dongfang's appearance is the reason she was able to get the book back, watching as the Moon Supreme fought off her kidnappers. Free of the illusion, she followed him to once again destroy the Soul Transformation Cauldron, and attempted to soothe his anger. He made her promise not to leave his sight without telling him, and stated that he would be able to find her in an instant even in a field of a thousand other orchids. Orchid also made clear that she hadn't attempted to run away, as she'd promised to heal his Seven Emotions Tree.
This was the true beginning of Orchid's love for Dongfang, as she thought about how her master, Si Ming, said the exact same thing - and Si Ming was the most important person in Orchid's life. After passing out and waking up in one of Cangyanghai's forests, among a small hunting village of mostly women, she also refused to give up the Heart-Hiding Hairpin. She stated that she didn't want Dongfang to be able to read her thoughts and feelings, saying that she should be allowed to have secrets. This was also due to the affection she had started to feel for Dongfang, only he was unable to comprehend why. The following morning, Orchid was witness to an elderly woman questioning him about where he was when their husbands and sons were dying all those 30,000 years. Normally, this would have resulted in some sort of punishment, but Dongfang simply walked away. Orchid questioned this, and it was after checking on his Seven Emotions Tree that they saw it had been ressurected by Orchid. This actually resulted in a bad-tempered Dongfang over the next few days, as he was having nightmares about his father. He even told Orchid that he didn't want to see her face after she made him an orchid from her primordial spirit to help him sleep. He blamed her for the tree being revived and all of these emotions starting to form that he had no control over.
Things escalated in Jieli decided to steal treasures from the palace, and while Dongfang cared little for the actual items of worth, in her bag was a wooden carving that he had made with a maid back in his childhood. He ordered Jieli to be killed, and it was only Orchid literally risking her life that first prevented this. She refused to budge on protecting Jieli, even offering up her life in Jieli's stead, which Dongfang obviously could not follow through on. They escaped punishment only for Dongfang to vent some of his anger out on his brother by planning his execution. She learned that the maid who had made the wooden carving was also killed by the former Moon Supreme. This information prompted Orchid to delve further into Dongfang's background with his father and brother, going to the man to ask him questions about it. Even through all of the horrible things that were said, one thing stuck with her, and it was when the former Moon Supreme looked at Dongfang after realizing he could wield Hellfire and said "Why you?". Together with Jieli and Shangque, she decided to dig even further, believing that there must be some hidden story underneath it all.Shangque told her that there had been a forbidden technique book in the former Moon Supreme's chambers, but the whole place had been scorched by Hellfire, anyone who trespassed was also severely punished.
Still, Orchid was determined to get to the bottom of the story and went inside, searching until she found a hidden compartment under the throne. While the book was turned to ashes, she was able to use her power to reconstruct an illusion of it in order to read it. She learned that the method was torturous, especially since this was used on Dongfang as a young child. Believing that there was still more to find, she continued searching despite the protests of Jieli and Shangque that everything had been burned. Yet her search yielded results in the form of a repaired zither, a cuju ball, and a personal scroll about how the former Moon Supreme tried to hide Dongfang's natural ability for Hellfire at first. All items that had a connection to Dongfang. In her heart, she felt that his father must have been very sad to learn this, but Jieli pointed out that Orchid can only guess at what the man was feeling. This put it into her head to visit Oblivion River to talk to the former Moon Supreme's spirit. All she needed was an Illuminating Flower, only this was an extinct treasure.
As it so happened, in one of Jieli's thefts of the palace, she had found a withered flower that Xunfeng had acquired in his attempts to talk to his father. Thus, all Orchid had to do was bring it back to life; a feat that was not easy as she poured so many hours into this task that her wound reopened and blood dripped onto the flower. This is what the flower needed in order to revive, so her next step was to traverse the dangerous waters of Oblivion River to reach where the souls resided. It took her four hours and several injuries to reach her destination, just as she was about to summon him, Dongfang appeared and tried to make her leave. She showed him the repaired zither and said that she has questions, undeterred when Dongfang said there was nothing to ask - showing that there was nothing he wanted to hear. Orchid persisted and summoned the former Moon Supreme's spirit anyway, first taking the lead in asking questions until Dongfang could hear no more "lies" from the man who bore him. She stood witness as the father and son expressed all of their grievances, Dongfang still blaming his father for so much pain and abuse. It was one phrase that Orchid caught from the former Moon Supreme, prompting her to ask why the man "let Dongfang kill him". They learned that it was a secret technique to instantly killing off all emotions to kill a loved one, thus the former Moon Supreme sacrificed himself so that Dongfang would not have to suffer any more hardships. The former Moon Supreme recognized that Dongfang's Seven Emotions Tree has been revived, and tries to sacrifice his spirit in order to kill it once more. He still did not want his son to bear the pain of killing his own father. Dongfang refused, saying that this time it was his choice to carry those feelings. At the end of their time, Orchid attempted to give Dongfang the cuju ball to have one last happy memory with his father - only for the former Moon Supreme to take it and try to start. In the end, Dongfang did not kick it back and the spirit faded as the flower burned out, only then calling him once again by the title of "father".
Back in the palace, Xunfeng's punishment of eighty-one lightning strikes commenced, except after thirty, Dongfang halted it and took the remaining fifty-one. This was to do his own atoning for killing their father and to spare the life of his brother. When Xunfeng said that this made up for nothing, and he still wanted to kill Dongfang, Orchid intervened by placing a magical artifact that had recorded the entire moment. She then accompanied Dongfang back to his chambers for rest and recuperation, only to find him missing from bed after retrieving his medicine. After searching, she found him in his father's room amidst the rubble finally able to mourn his father's death and his own actions in taking that life after thirty-thousand years. Orchid held him through his pain. After that, she remained a near-constant presence at his bedside while he recovered, bringing him medicine and helping him walk. She even said that if he took his medicine, she would make him flower cakes to take away the bitterness. To her surprise, Dongfang was faking it a little - wanting her to dote on him in a way no one had since he was a child. She lingered in the background while the brothers united, Xunfeng now pledging his full loyalty to Dongfang, and admitting that he had helped the Lord of Haishi to establish his area in return for help. Only looking back did he realizing that help only came to keep the battle in a very long stalemate within the Moon Tribes. Orchid noticed that there was something else Xunfeng wanted to say, but refrained, so later tried to give Dongfang tips for being more friendly towards his brother. This involved trying to teach him to smile, and a near-hug that she stopped short (romantic tension).
Later when talking to Jieli and making flower cakes, she absentmindedly admitted that Dongfang was cute and tried to play it off as acting. Her friend was not fooled by this at all. Believing that Dongfang had changed with his emotions, Orchid optimistically thought that he would stop trying to fight and dominate the Fairy Tribe, but Shangque and Jieli were not convinced by this either. This was when Dongfang showed up to thank her according to Moon Tribe customs, wanting to give her this token personally as she was the first one he'd ever thanked in this manner. He thanked her for changing him, for being able to feel what the people around him are going through. Unfortunately, Dongfang still wanted to attack and take over Shuiyuntian, and he wanted to do it to give Orchid back her home. This unsettled her deeply, so she feigned being tired to avoid him for a while. While staying away from him, she began to have dreams about Xi Yun's life as a child with her parents. Thinking back on it, she recalled that the Great Turtle had called her "old friend" and said that her path was different from all the other fairies. Wanting to know who she truly was, Orchid found the coldest cave to sit in so her true form would reveal itself. Dongfang found her questioning who she was, and tried to comfort her by saying he had cared for her according to a Xishan orchid, but it didn't matter anyway, because she was the most important person to him.
This resulted in them fighting over their differences in being from opposing sides. Even if she wasn't a fairy, Shuiyuntian had been her home, and it was filled with people she cared about - people he would fight and kill if they stood in his way. Neither could give up what they wanted to protect for each other, despite their feelings becoming stronger. Now they were at odds with each other. It wasn't long before Jieli started asking how tribulations worked for immortals and high immortals, taking an interest in Orchid's previous work for the first time. She started thinking about the Destiny Book that she had fixed, the one everyone seemed to be fighting so hard to keep. Upon writing it down from memory, Orchid concluded that this must be a tribulation for a high immortal, but was unsure of anything else except for everyone's interest in them. When she learned that Dongfang had descended to the Mortal Realm just in time for the finale of this particular mortal, Orchid tried to follow after him. They were quickly caught, but allowed to accompany Dongfang during his time here. She had to state that interfering with a mortal's fate would cause their primordial spirit to vanish, so they took on the roles of a wealthy businessman and his retainers.
YUNGMENGZE
GOD OF WAR CHIDI
After purchasing a large estate, their first order of business was to visit the local hotspot - a place where they could drink and be entertained. After paying their way to see the supposed "fairy" dance, Orchid was surprised to see Changheng going through a tribulation. She did everything she could to distract him from seeing Xiao Run and killing him on the spot, even faking losing her bracelet. As it turned out, the dancer was the high immortal that Dongfang had come to see, marked visibly to have ties with him by the Hellfire mark on her back. She also learned that Xiao Run had been engaged to the woman, Xie Wanqing, in this mortal life. While Orchid was successful in preventing Dongfang from seeing Xiao Run, things were still awkward between them after their last talk of betrayal and what they couldn't give up. She told him that if he attacked Shuiyuntian, that they would be enemies - this was their relationship. Later that night, Orchid confided in Jieli both about Changheng and came to the conclusion that Xie Wanqing must be the previous God of War Chidi. However, what Dongfang wanted with her exactly was still a mystery to her.
The following day was the Lantern Festival, the day Xie Wanqing was destined to meet her fated person - and they went out as a group under the pretense of trying to enjoy the festival. Dongfang was more interested in finding Xie Wanqing so that he could witness her tribulation, while Orchid wanted him to be honest with her. He bought her a flower, and after lying about his intentions in Yungmengze, promised that he wouldn't lie again so long as she didn't. While he was distracted by a vendor selling cuju balls, Orchid slipped away into the bustle of the festival to make sure that Dongfang did not mess with the fate of the two gods on this night. She found Xiao Run running passed the place where they were supposed to meet, chased by men from a gambling house. After seeing them about to beat him with sticks, she used a little bit of power to put the men to sleep, then accidentally became the "fairy" from Xiao Run's dreams, causing him to fixate on her. She fled from him, then hid behind a stall to avoid him, only to be caught by Dongfang. He accused her of lying and came here just for Changheng, even though she said she hadn't, and threatened to kill him here and now. In response to that, Orchid said that she knew he had come here for Chidi, and that Xiao Run was Xie Wanqing's destined one, so Dongfang couldn't kill him. However, their fated meeting had been disrupted by the intervention of Orchid and Dongfang, with Xiao Run and Xie Wanqing falling in love with their saviors tonight.
While Orchid waited back at the estate, Dongfang paid a visit to Xiao Run and removed most of his memories of Orchid, though failed to realize that a portrait had been painted. They discussed what to do, coming to the conclusion that so long as they married at the Flower Festival, how they met wouldn't matter. So Orchid would get close to Xie Wanqing, while Dongfang tried to be friendly with Xiao Run in order to find a way to get the two mortals to meet and fall in love. Her opportunity came when Xie Wanqing decided to look for a gardener, while Dongfang started school with Xiao Run; even becoming his partner-in-crime in skipping it for a cuju game. The next part of their plan involved getting everyone together under one roof, and somehow making sure that Xiao Run and Xie Wanqing's paths crossed. Orchid had a meal with Xie Wanqing, who told her about "the man of her dream", believing that he was real and this was her fated love. She asked for Orchid's help finding him, which Orchid agreed to, despite already knowing it was Dongfang. Out in the main hall, Xiao Run also had a painting of Orchid and displayed it for all to see, even sneakily getting Dongfang's backing to pay anyone who found her. Thus, things were going poorly. After talking and drinking for a while, both Orchid and Dongfang left to get more alcohol, then had a jealous spat over the fact that the other was on the mortals' mind still.
Then chaos happened, Xiao Run and Xie Wanqing began to search the restaurant for their friends, so Orchid and Dongfang decided to hide from them in the hopes that the meeting would occur. Coincidentally, they both hid in the same wardrobe, and watched as their targets were two ships in the night simply drifting by each other. With that having failed, they foolishly decided to leave the wardrobe and hide elsewhere. Orchid stopped to eat food, and Dongfang tried going outside; in the end, they were both caught by the people they wanted to avoid most. With their identities exposed, Orchid is sent an invitation to meet Xiao Run; and after realizing there isn't much else they can do, dress Orchid up like a clown in the hopes that her appearance, rude behavior, and shameless acts will put him off. Dongfang even applied her makeup, made her wait to visit him, and sent her off with snacks after plenty of advice. She then proceeded to be annoying, but Xiao Run accepted it all, believing that perhaps part of it was a test, though his heart is just too pure. Seeing her attempts fail, Dongfang decided to step in and make a "baby mama" play, stating that his wife was angry with him and so she dressed up like this. He really sold it, and Xiao Run bought it.
As they were leaving, they saw a place to participate in the lantern part of the Lantern Festival, so after Orchid got out of her clown get-up, they went together. Both hesitated over writing the wishes down, Dongfang believing that he did not write a wish and send it up to heaven to achieve his goal of destroying Shuiyuntian, and saving his people. He even told Orchid that if he was in a good mood, he might grant her wish; to which she replied that she wished there was no more war between the two tribes. Dongfang accused her of trying to get him to not wage war, and Orchid said that it wouldn't matter which tribe it was, if war started, then people on both sides would suffer on top of the Moon Tribe's tens of thousands of years already. He turned it back on her, saying that his people did suffer and that there were a hundred thousand troops that have been sealed away with loved one waiting for them. Orchid apologized for ruining their good time, but thought that people from the Moon Tribe and the Fairy Tribe truly may not be able to be together. As they released lanterns, they both silently had other wishes. Orchid's was that she hoped that Dongfang would always be safe and happy, surrounded by friends, brothers, loyalty, and love, and never lonely again - even if she could not stay by his side forever.
Orchid also learned that Xie Wanqing was going to be buying her way out of being a courtesan in order to propose to her dream man, using up all of her collected treasures in the process. This would be a problem for later. First came Xiao Run, who after discovering that he had feelings for his sworn brother's wife, decided to leave to join the garrison far away. Orchid's group went to see him off, trying to convince him to stay, but three of them failed. It was Jieli who saved it by stating that it was all a test, to see how true Xiao Run's feelings were after having chased after Xie Wanqing, and posting paintings of Orchid all over town. Dongfang and Orchid weren't married, but siblings, an overprotective older brother looking out for his sister. Xiao Run had passed the test, and was now allowed to marry Orchid. Only one person was pleased by this turn of events, but it was enough to get Xiao Run to stay in Lucheng. The group returned to their estate, sulking over what had just happened, and unsure of what to do next. Jieli said that their new plan would be for Dongfang to marry Xie Wanqing on the same day, then for the wedding night, do a spouse swap. At first, Orchid was against this, feeling it was immoral, but realized this would not only follow the fate poem and free them from the trials, but may be their only option. This left only Dongfang who refused this plan, stating that he would only marry the woman he loved while looking straight at Orchid.
With Dongfang refusing, Orchid tried to argue with him only to be interrupted by Xie Wanqing visiting with the purpose of proposing. Orchid unknowingly activated the One-Heart Curse again by ordering him to follow her and be quiet, wanting to make their plan work. She did all of the talking with Xie Wanqing, accepting the proposal, and attempting to accept an exchange of information only to be told that Dongfang must do this personally. Xie Wanqing stated that she would wait for Dongfang under the moonlight for this. Since she still was aware of the full extent of the curse, Orchid was both satisfied and upset that Dongfang did exactly as she told him too, glad that it nearly went perfectly, and hurt that perhaps he liked Xie Wanqing enough to accept the marriage without raising a fuss. Orchid accompanied Xie Wanqing home in a carriage, taking the opportunity to pose a series of questions about two people being from warring families being in love. The answer of "love is love" only further confused Orchid, believing that there was simply no way she and Dongfang could put aside their goals or accept them enough to be together. Later that night, Jieli probed Orchid about her feelings for Dongfang, and she stated that she didn't love him, too conflicted by their differences to admit to it just yet. She didn't know that Dongfang was listening or that Jieli would give him a little insight to how women would sometimes say what they don't mean, or give him the idea that if he wanted to know her feelings, to swap out the Heart-Hiding Hairpin for a fake.
The next day, Orchid went out for a day on the town with Xiao Run, however everything he suggested reminded her of Dongfang to the point that she became upset and went silent. When he gave her the Jade Stone (formerly the Firefly Stone), she was reminded of the day he gave it to her - and it was the opportunity she needed. After being able to compare her feelings for Changheng against those she felt for Dongfang, Orchid knew who she would truly pick. She just hinted that she had had feelings for Changheng to his mortal version, without giving away too much, but then left to find Dongfang and tell him about her feelings. However, it was during the exchange that Dongfang had decided that Orchid did indeed love Changheng, and was thus going to meet with Xie Wanqing under the moon to fully accept the proposal. Orchid told him not to go, but she couldn't get out what she wanted to tell him. They met later that night, and feeling a little bitter, she told him that she was happy to marry Changheng. It was soon time for the double wedding, and Orchid was preparing, though there was a piece of her crown missing and Xie Wanqing offered to lend her some - also genuinely wishing to be a good sister-in-law. This made Orchid feel guilty over what they knew they had to do, though lying about it still felt rotten. She took Dongfang aside and talked about how she had never thought much about the fate of mortals when she looked after their Destiny Books. They lived, they married, they had children, and then they died - but to her, it was the same as a leaf on the fate tree appearing and then falling - a fleeting moment. It was only while living among them that she realized just how big and significant these moments truly were in their lives. Thus she hated what she had to do to both Xie Wanqing and Xiao Run, but Orchid wasn't expecting that Dongfang would agree with her - that he had actually grown attached to Xiao Run the mortal.
As she continued getting ready, Danyin - who had followed Changheng into the tribulation and had been Xiao Run's loyal servant, had been restored to her true identity and approached Orchid with the missing bead from the crown. She explained that Lord Yunzhong was willing to sacrifice Changheng if it meant that they could stop Dongfang from his plan, asking Orchid to help them pass this trial instead of letting their spirits dissipate. Just as they were about to play it by ear, Ronghao appeared to help them, manipulating Orchid through guilt, shame, and her kindness to all by stating that Dongfang wanted Chidi's spirit to unleash the 100,000 warriors to attack Shuiyuntian. That Changheng was only experiencing tribulations because of his love for Orchid, and Dongfang was sure to kill him once he had Chidi's primordial spirit. Orchid tried to argue against this last point, but she was outnumbered and far too guilt-ridden to hold firm. So she took the poison that would weaken Dongfang enough that Ronghao could save both his master and Changheng, stating that she was the only one that Dongfang trusted to let close. The hour was upon them, Orchid was wed to Xiao Run and Dongfang to Xie Wanqing - there was drinking and celebration for many. When it came time for the wedding night, Orchid and Dongfang sat together in a gazebo as they awaited for fate to take its course, only helping along a mix-up of a bride and groom meeting.
This is the moment that Orchid allowed Dongfang to pour them a cup of poisoned wine, though prevented him from drinking at the last second. She faced him seriously and asked again why he had truly come to the Mortal Realm, and he lied to her once more. Orchid was not to be deterred and came forward with the information that she had learned, but Dongfang said that it changed nothing. A hundred thousand soldiers had been sealed away for thirty-thousand years, families missing them, and the Moon Tribe crushed under the heel of Shuiyuntian. He would continue with his plan, even if she ended up hating him. Orchid removed her crown, and told him that she did understand that he had a duty to his people - that she could never hate him for that, but that is what made it so hard for her to know what to do now. As he moved to comfort her, evil qi began pouring out of the pearl that had been lost and given back to Orchid - last touched by Ronghao. In an attempt to save him, Orchid pushed Dongfang out of the way only to be surrounded by the qi, but Dongfang would not stay back. He forced his way in and then absorbed what he could, causing himself harm, though not fatally. After learning who was responsible for the poison and the evil qi, he went off to ensure that nothing else was interfered with - Orchid running after him and losing him. She was alone when Xie Wanqing attacked her, possessed and poisoned by a great deal of evil qi, haunted by all of her terrible past lives. Just as Xie Wanqing was about to kill her with a sword, Dongfang appeared and impaled his "wife", murdering her just as the fate poem declared, and saving Orchid.
With Xie Wanqing dead by his hand, Dongfang believed that she had failed the tribulation - not knowing that the fate poem had been fulfilled perfectly. Evil qi poured out of Xie Wanqing in a massive amount, all of it heading towards the too-injured Dongfang and Orchid. It was pure instinct that had Orchid lifting a hand to attempt some sort of feeble protection, the power of the Goddess of Xishan pouring out of her to shield them both from the evil qi. She managed to protect them, but that much power channeling through her damaged root was too much for her to take, and she passed out once the danger had passed. Unbeknownst to them both, Ronghao attached Chidi's tainted primordial spirit to Orchid's Bone Orchid bracelet for safe-keeping. Dongfang took Orchid away so that they could return home, though she woke and together they managed to make their way to a boat that would take them across the Oblivion River back to Cangyanhai. The immortals of Shuiyuntian took advantage of Dongfang's state to try to attack them, almost managing to kill them if not for Changheng appearing to protect Orchid. He attempted to reason with his brother that Orchid was not a traitor and should be allowed to return home, a request that Lord Yunzhong finally listened to. While Orchid did want to see the place she had called home for a thousand years, along with the friends there, she refused to stay with Dongfang - casting off their boat into the water.
It was thanks to Changheng's open rebellion against his brother that they managed to get away safely and land on a deserted island. Dongfang was in terrible shape, very near death, so Orchid used the Heart-Hiding Hairpin to draw enough blood to feed it to him. She was very much aware that this had healed flowers before, but it was her first time using it on a person, so it was a happy surprise that it worked. He questioned why she didn't go back to Shuiyuntian when she had the opportunity, even told her that she should never use her blood to save anyone - not even him. Orchid said it was only blood, and that she had openly defied Shuiyuntian so she couldn't go back anyway. Yet she couldn't say why she had done this, but Dongfang was able to read her without needing the One-Heart Curse to do so. Thus, they shared their first kiss that truly contained love - only to be interrupted by Shangque, much to Orchid's embarrassment.
CANGYANGHAI
MOON QUEEN ORCHID
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XILAN
GODDESS XI YUN
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