Hongyan had intended to wait, he really had. And he had waited. He had waited for a good few months before he’d finally started looking in earnest. Because by then, the subtle bad feeling in his gut had grown to something quite alarming.

As such, Hongyan had once again found himself venturing into the frozen wastelands up north, figuring that there was a significant chance that his wayward mate would choose to reside there. Granted, he’d gone looking there once before with no luck, but this time around, this time around⸺ “Jixue!”

Having traversed a raging blizzard, Hongyan had finally found him, holed up inside some cold, dark cave. Jixue wasn’t moving though; he was breathing, sure, but⸺

Something was wrong. Hongyan immediately knew this, even before getting closer. Dreading what he was about to find, he immediately closed the distance, lifting his mate into his arms, and then⸺

Strangely enough, Hongyan heard it and sensed it at once, and upon reaching down, he found a... bulge? “Jixue?”

A chick, he thought. No, a kit. No, both. Two of them. An egg. An egg that was starting to crack.

Panic lay close at hand, but somehow, Hongyan managed to rein himself in. And with Jixue out of commission – with Jixue in such a bad way – and with Limao long dead and gone, there was really only one remaining option.

 

---

 

Predictably, Bai Mingyue did not react well to seeing his onetime master in such a state, which was even more apparent by the time Hongyan had gotten them to the Green Jade Peaks. He was greatly alarmed though, and he wasn’t the only one. Even so, he had the presence of mind to bark at Hongyan’s nephew to get Little Yue away from the scene, clearly intent on sparing him from what was about to unfold.

Little Yue wouldn’t allow himself to be left out though. Instead, the youngster crouched down next to where Hongyan sat with Jixue, and reached out to touch that firm bulge. And as he did, something in his expression sharpened considerably.

“Jun,” Little Yue then said. “Get my instruments. Master, get strong alcohol and some rags.”

Then, once the other two had left – if particularly unwillingly in the case of some – he finally looked towards an extremely pale-looking Jiao Ziyu.

“Go boil some water, Peak Lord Jiao,” Little Yue finally said, and then, for a brief moment, it was just them – Hongyan, Jixue, and Hongyan’s cute little son-in-law, holding Jixue’s hand in his.

“Grandmaster,” Little Yue then said, eerily calm. “Are you familiar with the term Caesarean section?”

At this, there was a noticeable exhale, followed by a slight twitch of those pale fingers.

“I’m not sure if we can sedate you,” Little Yue then said, giving that hand a mild squeeze. “So, I’m going to ask the others to hold you down, okay?”

Jixue’s lips – pale, so pale – finally parted to admit something other than a laboured breath. “Do it.”

“Okay,” Little Yue said. “Okay.”

That latter portion was uttered as if the other sought to reassure himself. Hongyan would take it though, because although the situation was still dire, it seemed as though someone had a plan.

As such, when the others returned and Little Yue asked them all to hold Jixue down, Hongyan steeled himself against the rising nausea and did as he was told, taking his position at Jixue’s back, keeping it firmly pressed against his front, leaving the wings fanned out to the sides. Little Jun meanwhile took his position at the other end, securing Jixue’s legs, whereas Mingyue and Little Yue sat down on opposite sides of Jixue’s protruding abdomen, Little Yue with a kit of some small but incredibly sharp-looking knives, and Mingyue with some clean rags, alcohol and a small water basin at his side.

Taking a deep breath, Little Yue then shook his hands slightly, having just washed them in alcohol, mumbling something about needing them very clean.

Mingyue meanwhile sat motionless, having moved very little since providing the mouthpiece that was apparently to safeguard against Jixue biting his own tongue. And with the Peak Lord’s agitation now tightly under wraps, Hongyan saw it more clearly now; the distinct powerlessness at being out of one’s own depth. He felt it quite keenly as well after all, and thus, found it quite easy to recognise.

“Okay,” Little Yue said again, partly to them and partly to himself. “Let’s start.”

Picking up the small knife – a scalpel, he later called it – he then made the first incision.

 

---

 

Although harrowing, the whole ordeal was over relatively quickly. Little Yue’s hands proved steady throughout the procedure, and Mingyue was there, using his qi to keep blood and organs in check as his disciple made incisions and then finally moved to extract the egg. Once it was in his hands though, Little Yue did seem at a bit of a loss as to what to do with it, seeing as to how there was still work for him to do.

Thankfully, this was right about when Jiao Ziyu had finally mustered up enough courage to step in, and once he’d gingerly taken the bloody egg, Little Yue quickly picked up needle and thread and got back to work.

Hongyan meanwhile tried not to flinch as the needle pierced Jixue’s flesh. However, judging by the looks sent his way, he wasn’t entirely successful. No one commented on it though, and Little Yue immediately set to work with connecting pieces of tissue. Hongyan honestly tried not to look, yet still found himself eerily transfixed by it.

Then finally, it seemed as though the other was finally done, and Mingyue immediately wiped everything down with alcohol, then dressed the wound, covering it up.

“It will heal on its own,” the Peak Lord finally said, his voice clipped. “If you attempt to lick it, I’ll bloody kill you.”

Hongyan wouldn’t have dreamed of it, honestly.

 

---

 

Jixue was sleeping, quiet and exhausted, and Hongyan was watching him, feeling quite exhausted himself as they lay together on a sleeping mat in Peak Lord Bai’s abode, the egg now washed and nestled snugly in-between them.

Soon, it would crack open, but what then, truly? Was Hongyan about to be a father? Would Jixue allow it, or would he leave again, wanting to keep both himself and their offspring firmly out of reach? It was an absolutely maddening thought; both of them were.

Had he done the wrong thing, bringing them here? Jixue had seemingly been avoiding the Green Jade Peaks after all, and now, Hongyan had just gone ahead and⸺

“You did the right thing, bringing him here,” Little Yue said, as if somehow capable of reading the direction of Hongyan’s thoughts. “I’m pretty sure he would’ve come here himself, but... he probably wasn’t thinking straight. Hormones can do that.”

Hongyan knew that word, having heard Jixue mutter it on multiple occasions. He didn’t quite know what it meant however, and so, he asked.

“Well,” Little Yue said after a good while, taking a seat. “Essentially... hormones are various substances in the body that influence one’s mood and behaviour. Stress leads to the release of stress hormones, and those things are fundamentally connected to one’s survival instinct – a fight or flight instinct, essentially? I’m sorry, I’m no expert and I’m not really sure how to explain this sort of thing to people over here.”

Oh. “Then... you suggest that he didn’t tell me and instead chose to run off because he didn’t feel safe around me?”

Little Yue sighed, taking a moment to think about it.

“It’s not like that,” he said at last. “Probably. I mean, you’ll have to ask him for the specifics, but I know for a fact that pregnancy hormones can do weird shit to regular humans, so I can only imagine what the equivalent might do to Grandmaster’s species. Besides, maybe it wasn’t about you. Maybe he just wasn’t comfortable being so vulnerable around the palace?”

Oh.

“Besides,” Little Yue said. “It’s entirely possible that he was really caught off guard, freaked out, and then decided to deal with everything himself.”

Oh. Right.

“Little Yue,” Hongyan said, overcome by another wave of immense appreciation. “It’s really fortunate that you remained here with us. If not for you, then⸺”

“Yes,” Little Yue said, shaking his head in mild exasperation. “Clearly, it was a good thing I did. Honestly⸺”

He trailed off, looking at Jixue for a good moment before getting back to his feet.

“It’s a good thing Grandmaster’s got accelerated healing,” he then said, straightening out his attire. “High stakes aside, I’m not sure I’d had the nerve to conduct my first major operation on anyone else. Because one: I’m not licenced. Two: I’m not a surgeon.”

Huh. “You need a licence to be a doctor where you’re from?”

“Yes.”

Okay. “What’s a surgeon?”

“It’s a doctor who specialises in... uh... cutting people open to fix internal issues?”

Oh. “Don’t you have pills for that?”

At this, there was a mild huff.

“No,” Little Yue finally said. “We didn’t really have such things over there – nothing quite so potent, at any rate. I mean, sure, plenty of medicines in various forms, but... not the sort of pills that are made over here. We did have plenty of other things over there though.”

Hoh. “Tell me more?”

 

---

 

Jixue gradually became conscious of his surroundings. He was no longer in the cave but elsewhere, somewhere familiar; his old quarters at the Green Jade Peaks. Vaguely, he remembered Àiyǎn. It was all a bit of a blur, honestly. But he distinctly remembered the feel of Àiyǎn’s presence against his own, and then⸺

Mingyue’s, agitated as expected.

Youming Jun’s, then Jiao Ziyu’s, clearly distressed.

Then finally that of Little Yue, distant at first and then very close, and then⸺

Impromptu surgery. Improvised Caesarean section.

Some amount of time had to have passed since then though. Because even though Jixue could still feel the pull of stitches, they largely seemed to have served their purpose, with the underlying tissue having largely mended itself.

He didn’t bother opening his eyes though, continuing to doze. Waking up properly meant giving Mingyue the opportunity to yell at him after all, and Jixue didn’t feel ready to deal with that sort of thing just yet.

But when a warm and highly familiar set of fingers moved to caress the side of his head, Jixue couldn’t quite keep his eyes from sliding open. It took a good moment for his vision to clear though.

“Good morning”, Àiyǎn said, continuing to stroke Jixue’s face. “Did people over there really walk on the moon?”

Huh? “On the moon?”

“Yes, on the moon,” Àiyǎn said. “Is it true?”

Ugh. “Yes.”

“But how? It’s so small.”

Honestly⸺ “It’s small because it’s far away... farther than the mountains.”

“But how?” the fool insisted, leaning in. “Little Yue said there are no cultivators over there. How did they manage to walk on the moon without falling off?”

Jixue stared at him, irritated now. Because Jixue had only just woken up, and already, he was being questioned about the particulars of space travel.

It made his head hurt, and Jixue made no great secret of the fact – no, if anything, he exaggerated it, screwing his eyes shut and breathing in through gritted teeth in a way that immediately had Àiyǎn shutting up, then pulling him in and purring. It proved immensely soothing as well, and when sleepiness crept back in, Jixue didn’t fight it.

Of course, after that, there was that whole bit about dealing with the kids and all, but yeah, that was an entirely different chapter.