At the same time, Xiang Yong arrived at the gate and gave Ye Yang a slightly annoyed look. “You’re back again. I thought you had just come to an agreement with An Bai.”

Ye Yang’s gaze toward Xiang Yong wasn’t any nicer. He also knew this man and An Bai weren’t actually interested in each other romantically but just the fact that they were on friendly terms and he and An Bai weren’t made him hate Xiang Yong’s guts. “Believe me, I don’t want to be here either but we need to talk. Now, may I come in?”

Xiang Yong naturally didn’t want him to but it wasn’t like he had much of a choice. Ye Yang wouldn’t have asked to see him instead if there wasn’t actually something to share. So, in the end, he could only turn to the side and motion at the gate. “Well, come on then. I hope this is worth my time.”

“Mn, I’d think so.” Ye Yang didn’t explain any further and walked past him.

Xiang Yong nodded at the guards and then followed him in, leading the way to his study. After sitting down, he gave Ye Yang an inquisitive look. “So, what happened?”

“Well, you already seem to be aware of what An Bai and I spoke about. I went to tell Jin Ling but his reaction wasn’t what you calculated it to be. He left.”

Xiang Yong continued to stare at him before his brows slowly rose. “Left in which way?”

“Left me standing there and then apparently left the palace. My assumption is he went to the mortal realm’s Yun Zou Sect. I followed him over but when I arrived, he had already left. I was noticed by some human man and then left the sect again, not wanting to impose. I looked around the vicinity but couldn’t find Jin Ling and finally decided to come here. I have no idea where he currently is.”

Xiang Yong didn’t respond for a moment. Not knowing where Jin Ling was … that wasn’t good. Jinde couldn’t be found by him, especially after they had just held the ceremony for their child. It would take another nine months for it to be born and until then, it was best not to move the shell. That was why ample preparation was necessary before having the ceremony.

He finally rubbed his forehead, wondering what he should do now. The shell couldn’t be moved and even if it could, where were they supposed to go? There weren’t many safe places in the dragon realm that they could go to without leaving any traces and he didn’t think that Jinde and Leng Jin Yu would want to leave either for as long as His Majesty was here. But unless they were able to locate Jin Ling and make sure that he hadn’t found out about anything, they had to do something, right?

Ye Yang sighed. “This wasn’t how I imagined things to go either. If I can help, just tell me. I’m not really keen to see Yong Hai on the demon realm’s throne.”

Xiang Yong looked up, not sure what to make of this.

Ye Yang just raised his brows though. “What? We’re not all homicidal maniacs. I know you dragons believe that without love, you can’t be a decent person but that’s simply nonsense. Some of us have a moral compass regardless of that. The war with the dragons …” He shook his head. “It’s pointless.

“Back in the day, maybe it would have made sense to try and subjugate you. But now? We’re already this far apart. Nobody sees the dragons as the same race anymore, not even the supreme ruler himself. Why should we? So I’d rather have a king on the throne who acknowledges that and focuses on leading the demon realm well than one who just wants to have another war to prove himself. Yong Hai will just bring instability to the demon realm. I don’t want to see that. It’s my home as well.”

Xiang Yong could only nod. Even though he felt that Ye Yang was an eyesore, that was mostly because he was bothering An Bai. Apart from that, this guy was one of the more … tolerable demons. “To be honest, I can’t see anything we can do. I mean, you can try to contact him but if he doesn’t want to be found, he simply won’t react. We’d be as lost as we are right now.”

Ye Yang nodded. “Yes. Anyway, I’m afraid we’re out of luck here. Jin Ling is … well, I guess he isn’t all that interested in ruling. I’m not sure what changed between back then and now but he doesn’t seem to care. Otherwise, he wouldn’t leave at this time.”

Xiang Yong could only give a helpless nod. “Well, thank you for telling us anyway. If he doesn’t return, I’m afraid we’ll have to prepare for a battle.”

Ye Yang hesitated for a moment but then leaned forward. “I know you don’t trust me but if there is anything I can do, just tell me. I can give you a warning when I notice any movements in the demon realm, I can … well, try and get you some kind of advantage, whatever you can think of.”

Xiang Yong looked at him deeply. “Is this really just about not wanting a war?”

“Are you thinking that I’m doing this for An Bai?” Ye Yang leaned back, his expression turning thoughtful. “I helped Jin Ling onto the throne because I believed he would do a decent job and I liked him. I do like An Bai as well, I will admit to that. But the fact remains that I don’t want a war. It’s annoying. So … maybe it’s a bit of both. It doesn’t matter though as long as we all get what we hope for.”

Xiang Yong gave a hum but he couldn’t help but think that this would be difficult. The only thing they all agreed on was that they wanted to prevent a war, after all. As for Ye Yang’s wish to be with An Bai … he was afraid that was exactly contrary to An Bai’s wish of wanting to focus everything on his studied and not get caught up in matters like love.

« ToC »