At the same time, the heavenly officials were packing up the scrolls they had been reading and made their way down from the room on the highest floor of the tower where they had been working. On the way down, they passed by the table where Leng Jin Yu and Jinde were sitting and glanced at them. Their gazes lingered on Jinde for a moment but they merely nodded when the two people looked up and then continued to make their way down, telling the clerk at the front what they needed before they left to go and report at the God of Justice’s palace.

Leng Jin Yu looked after them until they had vanished and then sighed. “I can’t help myself but always be a bit worried when I see people looking in our direction like this. It’s probably not strange at all that they are curious considering your get-up. Without that veil, you would probably draw less attention.”

Jinde chuckled and picked up the next book. “You are saying that but please remember the time when we were living in the dragon realm back then. How people react to my looks … you know it quite well.”

Leng Jin Yu glanced at him and couldn’t help but nod. From the day they had met, Jinde’s looks had indeed always made some kind of impact. Whether it was good or bad, there was no denying that it had been there.

Now, even though they were older and he had even gotten reincarnated already, nothing would have changed about that. If Jinde really lifted that veil, people would definitely stare and start talking about him. And then, with nothing having been prepared, the result would be a disaster not just for the two of them but also for Qiu Ling and maybe the whole dragon realm. Yes, it was probably better to suffer through these looks of suspicion than to allow that.

He sighed and then glanced at his husband again, motioning at the stack of books and scrolls in front of him. “Tell me if there’s anything I can do for you.”

Jinde glanced up but could only shake his head. “I’m afraid there’s nothing you can do save for accompanying me to read these. I have to say I am any less anxious with you around. But other than that there really isn’t anything for you to do. It would just take longer for you to read and tell me about everything inside compared to me doing it by myself.” He sighed as well, feeling that it would’ve been nice if there was somebody that he could talk about this with.

Thinking of that, couldn’t help but remember that youth in the mortal realm. Zheng Yin … He had been quite talented. Not to the point where he expected any insight in this specific case but that was also because Zheng Yin had been young. Give him a few years more and access to more information, and that youth would probably be able to measure up to him. Ah, maybe he should bring that up to Qiu Ling as well. Not that that was currently of any importance.

He shook his head at himself and then buried his nose in the books again, focusing on finding the right information.

At the same time, Xin Lan made his way over to the Nine Heavens. Considering the mood he was in, he hadn’t thought too much at first when Jinde told him to come here. Now that he arrived though, he couldn’t help but wonder just what was up with that. It definitely wasn’t normal for his Master to be in the Nine Heavens. More than that, it was dangerous and he couldn’t imagine any reason Jinde might want to put himself into this kind of danger.

He knew that he had left the Yun Zou Sect with his husband but from what he knew, they had done so to travel the mortal realm together. Now, how had he ended up here? It was a question worth asking and he felt that he probably should when he saw him but right now, his heart couldn’t calm down.

He wanted an answer to his question first before he was able to care about anything else. Especially since Hua Lin Yu was still in the spirit beast tribe’s territory where the time would be running differently for him. If he stayed here for too long and had a nice conversation with his Master, then his lover would wonder just why he had run away like that and needed several weeks to come back. In fact, he might misunderstand and see this as a break-up.

Just thinking of that possibility, Xin Lan winced. Unfortunately, there was nothing he could do. He knew that if he went back now, Hua Lin Yu would just insist on taking a look, trying to reassure him that he wouldn’t mind. But he would. He knew that much. Thus, he could only take care of this problem first.

He didn’t think about the issue any further and just looked around, trying to figure out just where Jinde might be. He had told him that he was in the capital city of the Nine Heavens but not exactly where. It really was difficult to say where he should even start looking for him.

Even though Xin Lan wasn’t as famous among the gods as he was among the dragons, he was still pretty well-known. So when he walked up to the guards, they had a faint inkling of who he was. Exchanging a glance, one of them stepped forward and inclined his head. “Senior Xin Lan, welcome to the Nine Heavens. Might I ask where you’re headed? Should we notify somebody?”

Xin Lan still wasn’t quite sure but glancing at this place, he figured that Jinde probably wouldn’t have come here alone. “Well, there’s a person that I would like to see. Some ascended deity of yours. I believe his name was Leng Jin Yu.”

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