Originally, while the two of them had been busy dealing with Hua Lin Yu’s situation, Qiu Ling had rushed out to find Shen An De. Thus, he found the group with Xiao Yi long before Hua Lin Yu was ready to come out.

As soon as the half-demon saw him, he tried to run away, using the demon’s dark energy to flash away.

Shen An De had no idea what was going on but seeing Qiu Ling appear and Xiao Li try to flee, he figured there was more to this. In the next moment, his own body flashed to the side as well, grabbing Xiao Li by the shoulder and holding him in place. “Running away just makes you look guilty.”

The others who had been distracted from their tour through the sect by Qiu Ling all turned to watch Shen An De and Xiao Li instead, having some thoughts of their own as to what might be going on.

Qiu Ling raised his brows, not sure what to make of this. He did recognize Xiao Li as the guy who had not only been spying on him and Jing Yi back when they originally came to the Hei Dian Sect but also as that good-for-nothing who married Jing Yi’s cousin. Well, he didn’t particularly care about the latter.

Seeing as the situation right now seemed a bit different from his expectation, he first pulled Jing Yi into his arms without a word before he turned to Shen An De. “Grandmaster Shen, what did you do to that youth in your palace?”

Shen An De stared at him, finally realizing that Qiu Ling didn’t seem to be here because of Xiao Li at all. This guy seemed to have just overreacted to seeing the dragon king. He finally let go of him and flashed back to the group, his brows furrowing. “That youth in my palace? You mean Hua Lin Yu?”

Qiu Ling hadn’t really interacted much with him but that seemed to have been his name? Thus, he nodded, absentmindedly brushing through his own beloved’s hair. “Yes, he wasn’t looking so good when I came. Xin Lan is with him now but I figured you might have some insight into why this was happening seeing that it’s your palace and everything.”

Jing Yi looked up at Qiu Ling and couldn’t help but feel that his tone of voice right now was a bit like when they originally lived in the human realm. It sure gave him a feeling of nostalgia. Truth be told, he still wasn’t used to Qiu Ling acting all mature. It might be nice when having a serious discussion but the person he had fallen in love with was that unreasonable person he now had in front of him again. So, as strange as it might sound, that was also the one he liked the most.

Qiu Ling didn’t notice Jing Yi’s gaze at this moment, his own thoughts churning. Actually, come to think of it, when it concerned Shen An De, this situation seemed a bit familiar …

Shen An De thought of the same and faintly cleared his throat. “I … seem to have allowed him to pick a fruit from the beguiling night tree. He said he would be able to take it but it seems that wasn’t so.”

Meanwhile, Fei Bai Mu’s brows had tightly drawn together. “What exactly happened?” She was relieved to hear that Xin Lan was with him — although she had no idea how that had happened in the few minutes they had been gone either — but she still wanted to know about everything else.

Qiu Ling wanted to tell her but then couldn’t help but notice how Xiao Li was once again trying to rush away. “Should we let him get away?”

Fei Bai Mu narrowed her eyes, unsure what to say. If Xiao Li left, she’d be more than happy if that also meant him breaking up with Hua Lin Yu. But then, what if he used this opportunity to just lure Xiao Yu away from the sect? At that time, they couldn’t help him at all anymore. And even if Xin Lan was currently here to take care of Hua Lin Yu, she also knew how things stood between them. His presence simply wasn’t a guarantee to her disciple not following Xiao Li later on.

Shen An De looked over there, pondering if he should catch him again but Xiao Li had done a good job to use the opportunity to his advantage and had gotten out of sight. In the end, the Grandmaster just sighed. “Ah, let him leave. Anyway, he was likely just fleeing from you. After you’re gone, he might come back.”

Fei Bai Mu gave a hum and motioned toward Qiu Ling. “Now, what about my disciple?”

Qiu Ling could only shrug his shoulders though. “I’m not sure. I was originally looking for … my beloved.” He pulled Jing Yi closer in an attempt to cover up, remembering that he couldn’t let Jin Ling find out that he knew he was around in case the bastard was really watching from somewhere close by. Although he had now lost the moment of surprise, he could at least keep him in the dark about what he already knew. “Well, I didn’t find Jing’er but I did find your disciple. He wasn’t looking so good but wouldn’t wake up when I called out to him but I remembered he was Xin Lan’s lover so I called him over to take a look. After he arrived, I immediately came here to ask Grandmaster Shen what he knew.”

Shen An De pretended not to hear the last sentence and focused on another part. “Is he Xin Lan’s lover? I thought he was with that other disciple from your sect?”

Fei Bai Mu could only sigh. “It’s a long story and I’m afraid it might have to do with that An Rong we spoke about before.”

At that, Shen An De didn’t know what to say any longer. Actually, he had just wanted to distract from his involvement in this matter. Now, he felt as if he had stumbled upon a major conspiracy. Well, he always enjoyed a good story so listening to that wouldn’t be too bad either. He was just afraid that they should head back in for that which meant he’d have to forgo scaring the Elders of his sect. Ah, well, he was willing to make that sacrifice.

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