Shen An De was naturally apprehensive about the idea of a fallen god running around in the mortal realm and even possibly meeting them. His brows furrowed tightly but he could only shake his head. “You know, maybe it would be better if we didn’t go to that gathering.”

“We have to warn him though.”

Shen An De inclined his head. “Yes, we do. But we can still leave right afterward, can’t we?” He realized that this was important to Jing Yi but he didn’t think that he had really intended to invite him and Hong Ai anyway. Rather than that, it was more appropriate to say that they had invited themselves. In that case, it shouldn’t matter if they left beforehand, right?

The only problem was Hong Bao. Not only had she been directly been invited by Jing Yi, but she was also the type to insist on going even if she knew the danger. In fact, with the changes she had gone through in the past years, she might insist even more now. Just thinking of that, Shen An De felt a headache.

Hong Ai also knew her sister well enough to know that it wouldn’t be that easy. “Unless Jing Yi says that it is alright, I’m afraid Xiao Bao won’t agree.”

Shen An De shook his head. “I know. Well, let’s think about that when the time comes. For now, we need to wait until we hear back from them. Then, we can go and have a chat with the dragon king. Looking at the current situation, he might also be willing to cooperate with us. He isn’t the unreasonable kind.”

He might have seemed like it at first but Shen An De had long realized that there was more to it. When the guy wanted, he could switch to being a dependable person you could rely on in times of need in a heartbeat.

It was odd to watch but then, as a half-demon in the mortal realm, Shen An De understood that kind of pretension all too well. Not that he got why the king of the dragon race would …

Shen An De suddenly paused, his expression freezing over.

Hong Ai had been looking at him so she naturally noticed at once. “What’s the matter? Did you think of something else?”

Shen An De hesitated but then shook his head. “I did think of something but it’s … it’s unrelated.” And not something that should be said out loud. Ever. Not even in front of his wife.

He had wondered why exactly Qiu Ling had been so interested when he talked about how demons conceived children but if his guess was right, then … it made sense. After all, how awkward would it be if something happened without him even knowing what was up? So when he suddenly heard about that, he had naturally freaked out but couldn’t explain it so he just pretended to be worried because of the roots of the dragon race.

Shen An De sighed deeply and wished that he could somehow purge that knowledge from his mind. That really wasn’t something he wanted to know about. Some secrets … they were better left unsaid.

“Anyway …” He focused on his wife again and gave a faint smile. “Don’t worry too much. Xiao Bao might be a bit reckless but she isn’t an idiot. When the situation turns for the worse, she will also know what to do. Don’t forget that she’s been learning to fight in both the Chun Feng Sect back then and now in the Ye Zhong Order. She isn’t clueless any longer.”

Hong Ai nodded. “I know. I’m just … she is my little sister after all.”

Shen An De reached over and took her hand. “I know. And don’t worry. I’ll do everything I can to make sure that she will get out of this unharmed. I promise you.”

Hong Ai nodded but she didn’t feel much better. She was worried about Hong Bao’s safety, yes, but it would be a lie to say that she didn’t also worry about her husband. If Shen An De protected Hong Bao only to end up injured himself … she wasn’t sure if she could forgive herself.

She sighed and then leaned forward, wrapping her arms around his shoulders. “Let’s see to it that we all make it through this. Anyway, Ah Mu might be able to keep him from going overboard or maybe the gods will deal with it. We might just be worrying too much.”

Shen An De gave a hum while he hugged her back but he wasn’t all that sure that his wife was right. In fact, he was almost sure that she was wrong if she assumed that the gods would be able to deal with this.

The fallen gods … they were unpredictable. And unfortunately, they were also immeasurably strong. In the past, they had wiped out entire cities or even kingdoms in the mortal realm before the immortal races managed to stop them. And how they stopped them … well, from what he had heard, a lot of those times, it hadn’t been due to being strong enough to do so. Instead, they had used some tricks against them after gathering enough information.

When it came to this Xiang Yu, maybe they did have that information. But then, they probably wouldn’t have enough time to gather any if not. And they certainly couldn’t wait until things were dealt with. Not if their own family was involved.

Shen An De kept quiet but his mind kept churning. Things he could do to help … he was afraid that contacting the demon realm might be the only way. Considering that right now, they were looking at starting a civil war, there might be a chance to actually convince Jin Ling to help him out if he promised him something in return. But then, he would never want to do that if it wasn’t the absolute last option they had.

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