Jinde also got up and went over to him, gently grabbing his arm. “So now we’ve come from admiring my beauty to the person that can make you happy?”
Xin Lan tensed. Ah … “You trapped me.”
Jinde chuckled in response and rubbed his arm. “I know you too well. Xin Lan, why can’t you be honest with me?”
“Do you really want me to be honest?”
“Yes. If you aren’t, then how will we find a solution?”
Xin Lan turned back around, his gaze slipping over the person in front of him. “I meant what I said before. I was in bad shape back then. You patched me up, body and mind. I admired your beauty, I delighted in your innocence. If not for the curse, I would have given it a try. But I found out about Chun Yin soon. It was merely a few weeks. Do you really think that would have been enough? I stayed at your side because of what you did for me. And then I stayed on because I felt that you were the right person to lead our race. I sincerely admired you. After that … I stayed because you needed me and because I thought of you as a friend. Continue reading →

Xin Lan didn’t stop to massage Jinde’s shoulders but he did take a look at his face, holding his gaze for a moment. “I’m not sure what to do. Should I pretend I’m surprised and ask you just what kind of motive you think I have?”
“Aren’t we too old for that already?”
“I would have thought you were too old to get insecure around me either. Does it really bother you so much? To imagine I was … secretly thinking of you?”
“So you were?” Jinde raised his chin, his golden brows arching above his eyes. He wouldn’t let Xin Lan get away with skirting around the subject like this. He had to get the truth. Continue reading →

Jinde blinked and pushed those thoughts aside, turning to where Xin Lan stood. This follower of his had already noticed him and was looking over.
Jinde smiled and turned to Xiang Yu. “Leng Jin Yu left with Qiu Ling. Would you mind waiting here for another moment? There’s something I’d like to discuss with Xin Lan.”
“Oh. Sure.” Xiang Yu nodded and went to wait below the plum tree. He crouched down to pick one of the flowers Qiu Ling had used before and stared at the small petals. He reached out, grabbed one of them and pulled. The petal came off and Xiang Yu opened his mouth, only to close it again. What was he supposed to say now?
There was nobody he’d like to see soon and as for somebody being in love with him … He tilted his head. That fake dragon was obviously in love with him. There was no reason to waste this flower on him. No, he should try to find something meaningful. Mn, maybe … He put the petal away and smiled.
“I know him.” Continue reading →

Qiu Ling nodded with some hesitation. He didn’t know when Jing He would return. Until then … nothing would happen to his soul, would it? “When can Jing He return from the High Heavens? Does he … need to stay there for a long time?”
Xiang Yu tightened his lips and shook his head. “I don’t know. Time moves differently here and there. Not much time will have passed in the High Heavens since I left. It shouldn’t be enough.”
Qiu Ling took a shaky breath. Right. Even if many days passed in the mortal realm, it didn’t mean that Jing He would have spent a lot of time in the Nine Heavens. His soul hadn’t been cracked too badly but repairing that … How long would it take? He couldn’t just wait here for him to return, could he? “Then … can I go there and wait with him until his soul is healed?”
Seeing Qiu Ling’s pleading look, Xiang Yu wanted to nod. He really wanted to. This man desired to meet his lover just how his lover longed to see him. Keeping them apart … how could that be done? But he also knew that Jing He’s soul had cracked because of this deep love. Seeing him right now before his soul had had time to heal, it might just deepen the injury to his soul.
Continue reading →

Qiu Ling walked to the other side of the courtyard and leaned his head against the wall. He had done everything he could to make sure that Jing He fell in love with him back in the Nine Heavens. Then he had followed him down to the mortal world and once again fought to win and hold onto his heart. All this time, he had worried that things would go wrong but only because of his heritage. Only because he knew that part of his blood was demonic and that things would get ugly if the gods ever found out. Never once had he imagined that things might turn out like this, that something would go wrong on Jing He’s side. That he … his soul would actually get damaged.
Qiu Ling glanced back at Xiang Yu. He might not know this guy very well but he didn’t seem like a bad person. He was likely saying the truth. Furthermore, he had also known that something was wrong with Jing He’s soul. It was just that he had thought it was because of the soul-engraving dagger. Now, it had turned out that he was wrong.
Continue reading →

Xiang Yu furrowed his brows in discomfort but contrary to Xin Lan’s expectations, he didn’t erupt. He didn’t even try to shake Qiu Ling off and just let him continue with a bitter expression.
Xin Lan’s brows rose in surprise. Had somebody exchanged this fallen god for another person? Was this really the same person that hissed and lashed out at him as soon as he got too close or at least went into hiding? How come this Qiu Ling was suddenly allowed to touch him?
He reached out to see whether something was indeed wrong but Xiang Yu’s nails sunk into his arm before he even had the opportunity to brush his skin.
“What do you think you’re doing?” Continue reading →

Qiu Ling raised his brows. “They … haven’t finished yet? Oh. And here I thought my old man didn’t have the stamina anymore after being reincarnated. Turns out he could hold on longer than expected.”
Xin Lan frowned. That really wasn’t anything he wanted to think about. “That’s nothing you should worry about.”
“Oh, well, I don’t care anyway.” Qiu Ling turned away and went back onto the courtyard, slowly ripping the petals from the flower.
Xin Lan’s brows twitched. “What are you doing there?”
“Oh, it’s about my beloved.” Qiu Ling turned back to him and showed him the flower that had already lost a third of its petals. “See this?” He ripped out another. “It means I’ll get him back.” He held the petal and finally out it into his storage ring, then he ripped out the next one. “This one means I’ll get him back soon.” He put the petal into his spatial ring too and ripped out the next one. “I’ll get him back.” Another petal found its way into the spatial ring. “I’ll get him back soon.”
“This is ridiculous.” Continue reading →