While the group in the hall returned to their talks, Qiu Ling reached the other room, pulled out a transmission stone, and contacted Jinde. Honestly, there weren’t many places he could think of that Xiang Yu might have gone to. The first one was definitely the dragon realm though. After all, that was where they had wanted to go after the gathering as well and Xiang Yu had seemed really excited about seeing Jinde again and the prospect of him expecting a child. Chances were that things hadn’t worked out well so he had run there to get comforted.

At this moment, Jinde and Leng Jin Yu were standing in their courtyard with Xiang Yu, all of them staring at the shell with a focused gaze. There was nothing wrong but the previous shock had made them more careful. Thus, they all felt that they couldn’t let the shell out of their sight for a single moment.

When the transmission stone pulsed, Jinde was startled. Still, there weren’t many people who would contact him so he naturally picked it up and imbued his spiritual energy. Seeing Qiu Ling’s face, he actually heaved a sigh of relief.

Qiu Ling raised his brows, forgetting about Xiang Yu for a moment. “What happened?”

Jinde sighed again, this time with some pity. “It’s Jin Ling. He turned up in the dragon realm and found out about the child.”

Qiu Ling’s expression fell. “Is the child alright?!”

Jinde nodded. “Yes. I don’t know what exactly he is thinking. He simply left a hair clasp I gifted him once as if he wanted to let me know he was here. He doesn’t seem to have done anything else though.”

Qiu Ling nodded slowly, not sure what to make of this.

Back in the courtyard, Xiang Yu stiffened. When Leng Jin Yu came to get him, he had only said that there was a problem and Jinde had only mentioned a person but no name. It was only now that he found out who this was about. Needless to say, he immediately had a guilty conscience.

He tried to remember if anyone had ever told him that there was a problem between Jinde and the demon king but he couldn’t think of any such time. But then, his whole mind seemed filled with his experiences as Hua Lin Yu so … he might have forgotten. No matter whether he had known or not though, it couldn’t be denied that he was clearly the person who had led Jin Ling here and even told him about the child.

He pursed his lips and wondered if he should just look for Jin Ling, get rid of him, and use that to make amends. But then, he felt like he shouldn’t do that. He had already gotten something wrong once. He should first wait and see what Jinde and his husband thought.

The other three didn’t even think that Xiang Yu might have played a role in this. Either way, with Jinde saying that the child was alright, Qiu Ling was somewhat relieved.

“Well, it’s good that nothing more happened. What do you want to do now? Leave the capital?” This seemed like the obvious choice and even though he would hate not being around for his sibling and also having to say goodbye to Jinde and Leng Jin Yu again, he would understand. Their child’s life naturally came first.

Jinde’s expression turned complicated. “To be honest, we didn’t think about that yet. We just had Xiang Yu put some formations down to make sure we’ll know what is going on here. From now on, Jin Ling won’t be able to sneak in here.”

Qiu Ling’s brows rose. “So Xiang Yu is indeed with you.”

Jinde tilted his head.

“Well, he was suddenly gone and didn’t return so we were a bit worried.”

At that, Xiang Yu crept up behind Jinde and looked around his shoulder at the transmission. “I wanted to go and give Jinde a gift. I’m sorry. Has your gathering ended?”

Qiu Ling shook his head. “It hasn’t but don’t worry about it. With what is going on over there, I think it would be better if you stayed with Jinde. It’ll take some worries off his shoulders.” He suddenly smiled and his eyes curved into crescents. “I’ll trust you with keeping my sibling safe. You better not run off again!”

“Mn! I will do that.” Xiang Yu nodded hurriedly but he still didn’t dare to confess. Instead, he simply looked up at Jinde. Well, Jinde was so nice. He probably wouldn’t mind as long as he was willing to help them out with solving this mess.

Qiu Ling shook his head when he saw Xiang Yu agree this easily and then turned his attention back to Jinde. “Do you want me to return immediately as well?”

Jinde hesitated. To be honest, each person that was here to help would make him feel calmer but then, he was also aware of how little time Qiu Ling and Jing Yi had left together so he shook his head. “No. Anyway, you wanted to return right after that gathering. With the time difference between the realms, I will hardly notice that you don’t. So … take this time, say your goodbye to the mortal realm with Jing Yi, and then come back. It won’t be too late.”

Qiu Ling nodded and glanced at the two of them before looking over his shoulder. “Well, I guess I’ll go back to the others then. We’ll be in the dragon realm in no time, don’t worry. I won’t let Jin Ling do anything whether it’s to your child or to Leng Jin Yu. So don’t worry.”

“I know.” Jinde smiled and nodded at him, finally cutting the connection first. He couldn’t help but look at his husband and then went over to wrap his arms around his waist. “We’ll manage, won’t we?”

Leng Jin Yu nodded and kissed his hair. “We will. Don’t worry.” Anyway, they weren’t alone so what was there to fear?

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