Jing Yi couldn’t help but glance at Qiu Ling every now and then. Even though he seemed to have managed to talk Qiu Ling out of feeling guilty, he was still worried that deep down, Qiu Ling might still have similar thoughts. Anyway, he couldn’t let him get that distressed whenever something didn’t go well in his life. None of that was Qiu Ling’s fault. He couldn’t quite understand what the reason for that behavior was in the first place though so how could he help him?

He pondered what to say but there was nothing he could think of. If he asked the wrong question, it might distress Qiu Ling again. After all, there seemed to be quite a few … unpleasant things in his past.

He didn’t want to remind him of any of that. No, today was supposed to be a memorable day for both of them. And one with nice memories. So maybe, for now, it was better not to bring it up. It was better to just make sure this would also be a good day for Qiu Ling and not one he remembered as the one where he was so worried that he had done something wrong that impacted the life of the person he loved.

Jing Yi pondered silently and then stepped closer to Qiu Ling, grabbing onto his arm.

Qiu Ling turned toward him and raised his brows in surprise. This … How did he deserve this unexpected happiness? Ah, could it be his beloved had been very touched because of how empathic he had just been? That had to be it!

Even though Qiu Ling was quite sure of his explanation, he couldn’t help but want to hear it from his beloved directly. After all, who didn’t like to be told a few sweet words every now and then. Thus, he pretended to be confused and looked at him questioningly.

Being subjected to that gaze, Jing Yi smiled sheepishly. How come the person who always wanted to take advantage was suddenly not just accepting his actions? He would have felt awkward if he exposed his true thoughts so Jing Yi rubbed Qiu Ling’s arm and shook. “Oh, it’s … it’s a little chilly, don’t you think so?”

Qiu Ling looked up as if he could actually see the temperature, furrowing his brows. He was a bit disappointed that he seemed to have interpreted his beloved’s behavior wrong but, well, this was still a great opportunity! Thus, he waved his hand.

The temperature around them increased but that wasn’t the only thing that happened.

Jing Yi’s eyes went wide and he stopped in his tracks, staring at Qiu Ling’s hand that was still raised and then at the empty air. What was that just now? It had felt like … like something was moving around them.

“What is it, my love?” This time, Qiu Ling wasn’t pretending. He really was confused. Why was his beloved staring at the air like this? He tilted his head to try to see whatever it was that Jing Yi saw but there was nothing other than a few petals. It wouldn’t be that his beloved had just realized how romantic this little stroll really was so now he was completely awed? That would be nice …

“What did you do just now?” Jing Yi jerked around and gripped Qiu Ling’s sleeve, looking at him urgently.

Qiu Ling was taken aback. What was happening here? He really couldn’t understand anymore! Had he done something wrong? Was his beloved angry at him? He gulped at that thought and carefully covered Jing Yi’s hand with his. “That … You said that you were getting cold so I wanted to help you. I just made it a bit warmer. Don’t be angry, alright?”

Jing Yi’s mouth opened and closed again. “Qiu Ling, can you repeat that?”

“Don’t be angry?” Needless to say, that was the most important part to Qiu Ling.

Jing Yi closed his eyes and wondered how to explain to him.

“Is it still cold?” Qiu Ling frowned. He had felt like it was a mild day in the first place. Now that he had adjusted the temperature, it couldn’t be called anything but warm. His beloved wouldn’t be falling sick, would he?!

Slightly worried, Qiu Ling waved once more and the temperature rose.

Jing Yi closed his eyes, trying to feel again what he had been unable to notice these last few years. It wasn’t clear but he could feel the warm breeze touching his skin and hear the currents turning around them. It wasn’t as much feeling the spiritual energy as noticing the airflow around him. Still. It felt … somehow special.

In the last years, he had tried to feel the elements several times. He had sat on the earth and next to the water and gone outside when a storm was brewing in the hope that he would finally have some kind of breakthrough. But he had never even felt close to a revelation. Now, that had changed.

Qiu Ling wanted to say something but stopped himself when he saw Jing Yi’s focused expression. He himself calmed down and tried to think logically. He had just used his magic. Maybe his beloved had figured something out because of that? After all, human cultivation seemed to be similar to the dragons’ magic. It might have helped him.

Silently, Qiu Ling raised his hand again and made the wind whirl around them slowly, the hot and cold currents interchanging. Then, he waited.

Jing Yi still clung to his sleeve and had his eyes tightly shut. He concentrated on the things he could sense but those were just things of physical quality not spiritual.

No, what he actually needed …

His fingers slowly unclenched and his hands wandered over Qiu Ling’s chest to his shoulders and down his arms as if on their own. What he had felt just now hadn’t come from the wind itself but from Qiu Ling. He had managed to feel it.

He wasn’t sure why. Maybe it was because he had been so close to him, closer than he had been to anyone else in the last years. Maybe it was because he had touched him while Qiu Ling used his spiritual energy. Maybe … maybe there really was some kind of connection between them.

Jing Yi didn’t know what it was. But he was sure that this was his opportunity to finally find out how to sense spiritual energy. He had to use it!

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