Qiu Ling closed his eyes at that thought and took a deep breath. Even though he longed to see Jing He again — and not just as he was silently lying down, his body cold and without a soul, but as the person he had spent ten years wooing — he still hated that he needed to let Jing Yi put down his life for that to happen. He would have wished him that he could live it to the fullest, until the last possible moment. Unfortunately, that wasn’t possible anymore.

He opened his eyes again and pushed the thought off, instead making his way through the sect and toward the estate of their Grandmaster. He couldn’t change how things were with Jing He and Jing Yi so he could only continue onward and try to do the best for now.

Qiu Ling didn’t bother to walk through the gate. Since he didn’t want Jin Ling to know that he was there, he simply sneaked in and made his way through the halls.

This estate was the place where he suspected Jing Yi to have gone. After all, they had come here together and met both Shen An De and his wife. If he wanted to meet people at the Hei Dian Sect, these two were the most likely candidates, right?

He vaguely remembered Niu Hai and Yue Lin as well but the former had been beaten up by him and the latter had always been busy so they really weren’t far up the list of people he thought Jing Yi might want to see.

Shen An De’s palace was very quiet. While there were some servants, they usually stayed out of the way until he actually called for them. Including the guards at the gate, there likely weren’t more than half a dozen people in the whole palace anyway.

Qiu Ling checked on everyone he could perceive though, making sure that he wasn’t getting things right. As expected, Jin Ling wasn’t among them. There was somebody else though.

Qiu Ling tilted his head, looking at the youth that was kneeling on the ground, his face pale. That person … he had met him before. Wasn’t he Xin Lan’s lover?

He usually didn’t care about Xin Lan and he also knew that Xin Lan wasn’t like other dragons in regard to his lovers but … he still wouldn’t just watch on while this youth was clearly suffering. He glanced around, making sure that nobody was around, and then lightly jumped to the ground, crouching down in front of him silently.

Looking at Hua Lin Yu from up close, it was even more obvious that something was wrong. His brows were drawn together, his skin pale, and sweat was beading his forehead. His breathing was also disordered. Clearly, he was struggling severely.

Qiu Ling hesitated for a moment but then reached out, gently grabbing his shoulder. “Hey!” Actually, he wasn’t sure anymore what the youth was called so he couldn’t really address him but he hoped that he could shake him out of whatever was happening.

Hua Lin Yu faintly heard a voice coming from outside but it couldn’t break the vision he currently had. He was still in there, holding that severed head. Blood was wetting his fingers while the man’s body fell down with a dull thud. He didn’t look up though and only registered the sound as if it came from just as far away as that sound from outside the vision. He was fully focused on the head in his hands.

Something about it bothered him.

He continued to stare, his thoughts strangely slow. “You … shouldn’t look at me like this.” Yes, it was the eyes. They were wrong.

Hua Lin Yu didn’t know the situation but this time, the thoughts were very clear. They managed to make their way through the mess in that person’s mind, taking center stage. With them came a flurry of emotions: confusion that was likely directed at why these eyes looked like this, some warmth that he really couldn’t understand, but also some helplessness.

He figured that the person in the vision would simply close the eyes. Even if you killed somebody, this was what you did with the dead, no? But clearly, he didn’t understand the state of mind of that person.

The next moment, he had to watch in horror as he held the head with one hand and then plucked the eyes out with his fingers, finally throwing them aside.

Outside the vision, his body shivered in Qiu Ling’s grasp. He had been raised in the safety of the Hua family and the Jian Yi Sect. He had heard about the viciousness of the world but he had never seen it. People had hardly dared to say a harsh word to him. But now … now he was forced to watch such a thing. How could he deal with it?

Qiu Ling furrowed his brows. He didn’t know what was going on but even after shaking that youth a little and calling out again, he didn’t react. It didn’t look like he could just leave him alone though.

He gritted his teeth and finally pulled out a transmission stone. As soon as the connection was established, he spoke up. “Is Xin Lan still in the palace?”

Jinde raised his brows. “He should be, why?”

“Something is wrong with his lover.”

Jinde stared blankly but then glanced at Leng Jin Yu next to him. “You go and get Xin Lan.” He knew those two weren’t together anymore but Xin Lan would want to know. In fact, he would want to go even if he wasn’t wanted there. That was just how being in love was, curse or no curse.

Leng Jin Yu didn’t waste any time either. He rushed out and over to the room Xin Lan and Zheng Yin had been given for the time so that the former could heal from his injuries. He roughly knocked on the door but didn’t even wait for a response before he opened it. “Xin Lan! Come with me.”

Xin Lan had just wanted to scold him for bothering them but seeing Leng Jin Yu’s expression, he kept the words to himself, got up, and rushed after him. Something told him that matters were grave if Leng Jin Yu behaved like this and whatever he was told or saw next, he likely wouldn’t like it.

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