Xiang Yu watched the two of them and felt even guiltier. Clearly, they were distraught. And why wouldn’t they be? Their child was in danger and so were they. And all of that only because he had indiscriminately told the demon king what he knew. As he had always thought, demons couldn’t be trusted! There were no exceptions. He shouldn’t even have entertained the idea.

Xiang Yu waited for the two of them to hug and then tugged at Jinde’s sleeve. “How about I go and kill him? Then you won’t have to worry anymore.”

Jinde blanked. Xiang Yu clearly looked like an innocent youth so how come every tenth sentence or so seemed to be ‘how about I kill them’? Was this really how a child his age should act? Ah, well, that wasn’t the problem right now.

He rubbed his forehead, wondering how to make clear to Xiang Yu that this wasn’t what he wanted. With his hate for the demon race, it might be difficult to get it through to him.

Leng Jin Yu looked at his husband’s expression and sighed. Then, he reached out and rubbed Xiang Yu’s head. “It’s kind of you to offer but I don’t think that is the solution.

“For one, he is the demon king and not a bad one. Over the years, the war between the demon and dragons has cooled down considerably under his rule. If he were to be killed, it would be a disaster for the dragon race and our place here wouldn’t be safe any longer. Definitely not safe enough to raise a child in.”

“Oh.” Xiang Yu’s eyes widened. He hadn’t thought about that but yes, there should be some consequences if you killed a king. And considering how bad the demons were, the next one … well, maybe there were some exceptions after all. That Jin Ling might not be bad through and through but was only half-bad. It could be. He was only a half-demon as well, after all.

Leng Jin Yu nodded and then gave a kind smile. “That isn’t even all though. Do you know who raised Jin Ling?”

Xiang Yu shook his head. “His parents, probably?” He had been raised by his parents, at least, and that was both in his life as Xiang Yu and in his lives as Mo Qing and Hua Lin Yu.

Leng Jin Yu almost wanted to laugh. He probably should have expected that response. “Well, the one who raised him was Jinde. And even though he had to banish him from the dragon realm later on, the feelings from that time are still there. So, you can imagine that Jinde would be distraught if you killed the one he considers his child.”

Xiang Yu blinked his eyes and then turned to look at Jinde. Well, somehow, he could imagine him raising Jin Ling. They seemed similar, now that he thought about it. Maybe that was also why he had always considered Jin Ling to not be as bad. Yes, Jinde’s efforts must have shone through at that time! Just as expected of him, he could even raise a half-demon into a half-decent person. Not just anybody would be able to do that.

Jinde sighed and turned to look at the shell again. “If there was one wish I could have fulfilled, it’d be for all our children to get along. Unfortunately …” He shook his head. He also knew that it was impossible in this life.

If not for Jian Heng’s influence on Jin Ling, he probably would have managed to raise him into a well-adjusted person. He wouldn’t have needed to banish him from the dragon realm and Jin Ling never would have become the demon king. Later on, no matter what happened to him, Jin Ling and Qiu Ling might not have gotten into that stupid rivalry. And now that he returned, they could have been one family. But alas, this wouldn’t be possible.

He took out the hair clasp he had put away in-between and looked at it in a daze. The problem was still that demon blood in Jin Ling’s veins. Even though he would love for it to be different, that side of his was dominating. After so much time, he had no doubt that his original obsession with him would have intensified. So even though Jin Ling knew that he was here and about to have another child, he could never let him back into his life.

Jinde closed his eyes and tried not to dwell on it. He had his lover back, Qiu Ling was also in their lives, and there was another one on the way. It was a good life they had created together. That had to be enough.

Leng Jin Yu and Xiang Yu looked at his back which seemed desolate at this moment and then exchanged a glance.

Xiang Yu pursed his lips in turn and then tugged at Leng Jin Yu’s sleeve instead. “So, if killing him won’t help, what else can I do? I don’t … I don’t want you to be sad or worried.”

Leng Jin Yu sighed. “Well, I’m afraid this is something that can’t be solved easily. You’ve already helped a great deal with laying down the formations. Other than that, I currently can’t think of anything.

“For now, let’s just wait until Qiu Ling returns. There is still a wedding to be held and then, the Son of Heaven will return which will likely cause some problems as well. Let’s take care of these things first and then, we can come back to this. With everyone here together, we will have an easier time coming up with solutions.”

And solutions would have to be found. After all, they couldn’t rely on Xiang Yu forever. While he didn’t think that the fallen god would mind staying with them and neither of them would have a problem with that, he didn’t want their child to grow up in constant fear of Jin Ling. That just wasn’t allowed to happen.

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