Xin Lan took a deep breath and got to his feet, carefully cradling Hua Lin Yu in his arms. At this point, he finally bothered to check who the person next to him was. Seeing the dark robe, the gloomy expression, and the black mark between his brows, he froze.

Xiang Yu … His heart leaped when he thought of which soul was contained in his body. For just a heartbeat, he had the crazy idea to try and kill this fallen god. If he grabbed the soul fast enough, maybe Hua Lin Yu could be revived?

As soon as the thought flashed past, he closed his eyes and forced himself to calm down. Don’t mention how absolutely impossible it was to revive a person that was already dead, Xiang Yu was back to being a fallen god. And he had had the bad luck of having to fight him off before so he was self-aware enough that he couldn’t simply kill him even if he wanted to.

He gritted his teeth, not wanting to deal with him but he also knew that this guy couldn’t be sent away that easily. “What do you want? Didn’t I fulfill your wish? Since it’s done now, there is no need for the two of us to interact any longer.”

Xiang Yu stared at him blankly. No reason to interact? But … they were a couple. Well, maybe not in the regular sense of the word but considering that Xin Lan and Hua Lin Yu had been a couple, then Xin Lan and he should count as one too, right? After all, he was Hua Lin Yu’s original self …

Xiang Yu pondered for a while but couldn’t quite come to a conclusion. Back when he had his first trial, he had been reborn as a mortal called Mo Qing. At that time, he met Yan Xia and fell in love, unable to turn back. Then, after returning to the Nine Heavens and waking up as himself, he went to find Yan Xia just as that man had intended it. They got married once again and on the day after, he fell.

Mo Qing … that person had been just like him, even more so than Hua Lin Yu had. He had been naive enough to believe that this demon truly loved him despite everyone’s insistence that he was being led astray.

In the end, it had seemed like he had been right and that Yan Xia had truly loved him. After all, he had stayed with him until he closed his eyes, never leaving his side as if he was content being with this mortal.

But then, that was simply because he hadn’t known the depths of Yan Xia’s scheming. He hadn’t understood that that one mortal lifetime of bliss he received had simply been the bait that demon had cast out to lure in the one he truly wanted: a trueborn god naive enough to believe in his love.

And yes, he had succeeded in that. Because of that mortal lifetime, he had never doubted Yan Xia afterward and had rushed to the demon realm to find him and be with him, only regretting it when it had been much too late.

Knowing all this, did it even matter whether he and Hua Lin Yu could count as the same person? No, it didn’t. The care Xin Lan showed him as Hua Lin Yu would not translate to him who was Xiang Yu. They were not a couple, Xin Lan was not his lover. He was … he was alone again.

Xiang Yu felt as if he had been punched in the gut when he suddenly realized this. He didn’t want to be alone. He wanted to … he wanted to be with somebody whoever that person was. Even if it couldn’t be a lover, it would still be alright. Just … someone.

He looked at Xin Lan and even though it hurt after receiving so much care and pampering from him, he wasn’t willing to bother him. He turned away, not even responding to what Xin Lan had said before, and opened a gate through space, intending to return to the Hei Dian Sect. Anyway, even though Xin Lan might not want him, his Master would surely do!

“Wait!” Seeing the gate open, Xin Lan suddenly spoke up.

Xiang Yu stopped as well, turning to look at him again. He wasn’t sure why but he felt somewhat hopeful as if Xin Lan’s next words would be important. He focused his whole attention on him, his eyes glittering with anticipation.

Xin Lan didn’t look too closely and only motioned at the gate. “Can you … open one to the dragon realm for me?” He furrowed his brows, feeling that he shouldn’t ask this right after telling Xiang Yu that they didn’t have a reason to be in contact any longer. With how unreasonable this guy was, who knew if he wouldn’t make a fuss?

He didn’t want to see something like that happen with Hua Lin Yu’s body still in his arms, so he hurriedly cleared his throat. “That … I know it’s not your problem but this was the body you used in your trial, after all. I don’t want to carry it around everywhere.”

Xiang Yu didn’t understand what he meant, he only felt a vague sense of disappointment. He gave a hum and opened another gate before turning away. “Go then.” He pursed his lips and lowered his head, not even looking at Xin Lan.

The dragon glanced at him but didn’t want to deal with his temper so he simply nodded and stepped through the gate, heaving a sigh of relief when he returned to his homeland.

He looked at Hua Lin Yu’s body and then lowered his head, gently kissing his forehead. “Let’s go home. Even though we can’t live together, I’ll bury you next to the estate so you can always be at my side.”

« ToC »