Leng Jin Yu sighed deeply. Even in death, Zhong Jing Yi still was this unlucky. Well, maybe he’d be happy to know that Qiu Ling’s first action at least hadn’t been running to Jing He’s side but going to take revenge for him.

He shook his head and carefully moved the coffin so it stood right next to the shell.

Xiang Yu looked up questioningly.

“Can you keep an eye on this as well? Just until Qiu Ling comes back so we can hold a proper burial for him.”

Xiang Yu nodded without hesitation. “Sure.” He didn’t forget to reach out and pat the shell in front of him though to reassure the child inside that he wouldn’t forget about them. Anyway, he knew how it felt to be abandoned. He didn’t want the little one to feel the same way.

Leng Jin Yu gave a hum. After hesitating for a moment, he even reached out and patted his head. “Thank you. These days, we’re really asking a lot of you.”

Xiang Yu beamed. “It’s nothing!” Anyway, he had put arrays around the whole courtyard so it wasn’t like he’d need to pay attention all the time. Not to mention that he liked being useful. Just seeing Jinde and Leng Jin Yu put trust in him made him feel a lot better about his own situation.

Leng Jin Yu sighed. “It’s good if you can see it that way. After a few days, when Qiu Ling gets back and things become more … normal again, I’ll make it up to you.” To be honest, he wasn’t sure how Jinde would be at that time but he couldn’t always ask Xiang Yu to stay here in the courtyard and be vigilant. It just didn’t seem right. Come to think of it …

Leng Jin Yu crouched down next to him and intently scrutinized Xiang Yu’s face. He had been hanging around since rushing over from the mortal realm with his gift for Jinde so he had been seeing him quite a lot. Now, comparing his face to that time … he actually couldn’t see a difference.

Xiang Yu blinked his eyes in confusion and then leaned closer. “What’s the matter?” His voice sank to a whisper as if he was expecting to get secret instructions the next moment.

Leng Jin Yu faintly raised his brows, his own voice unconsciously lowering as well. “Xiang Yu, say, are you tired?”

Xiang Yu’s eyes which had slightly widened while staring at Leng Jin Yu blinked once again and then returned to normal. “Tired? No, not really. Why do you ask?”

Leng Jin Yu gave a thoughtful hum. “I was just thinking … you’ve been so busy, doing so much for us, and before that, you were even rushing around the mortal realm. It’s been a lot, hasn’t it?”

Xiang Yu hesitated when he heard that. It seemed … that this was indeed the case? In the end, he shook his head though. “Well, I’m a fallen god. We’re not like others. There isn’t really a reason to sleep or anything. We just … tend to do it because life is boring anyway.”

Leng Jin Yu nodded. “Alright. If it gets too much, you can tell me though. This … is my child with Jinde. Naturally, we should be responsible. It’s just that I feel like he might need a few days to grieve first and I’d like to accompany him through that.”

Xiang Yu nodded. “It’s really alright. Anyway, Xin Lan hasn’t come back yet so I have nothing better to do.” Sure, he could go to the Jian Yi Sect. His first senior martial sister clearly didn’t mind him, after all. But then, it didn’t sound appealing right now. He’d rather stay here and help out. Whether it was Jinde and Leng Jin Yu or Qiu Ling, they had been nice to him and he was somebody who liked repaying kindness with kindness.

“Alright. If you change your mind, you can always tell me though. Don’t forget that, yes?” He gave Xiang Yu a deep look, trying to make sure that he wouldn’t just stay quiet even while suffering.

He wasn’t sure why he was so insistent. Maybe it was because Xiang Yu looked incredibly young and he couldn’t help but treat him like a child sometimes. Maybe it was because his family had just suffered two tragic losses and he wanted to make sure that the suffering didn’t spill over to even more people. Either way, he wanted to make sure that Xiang Yu understood that he wasn’t forced to do this. As soon as he disliked the idea, he could leave and nobody would blame him.

Xiang Yu smiled brightly. “I know! You should go to Jinde now.” He knew that if it was him, he’d want to be comforted by his lover after something bad happened. Thus, he really didn’t feel like Leng Jin Yu should stay out here with him.

Leng Jin Yu nodded and reached out, once again rubbing Xiang Yu’s head. “I’ll do that.” He got up and then returned to the room, first going to take a look at his husband.

At this moment, Jinde was sleeping but he was clearly restless, his brows tightly furrowed and his lips quivering as if whimpering in his sleep.

Leng Jin Yu’s own brows furrowed as well when he saw his husband like this. He also knew that there was no way for Jinde to get over this soon or maybe even ever but he loathed to see him like this. He carefully brushed back his hair and kissed his temple.

“I’ll be back in a moment to accompany you.” He whispered the words into his ear, hoping that he would subconsciously recognize his voice but not be forced to wake up. After all, right now, being awake would probably be more painful than whatever bad dreams he had.

Afterward, Leng Jin Yu straightened up and then went to pick up Jin Ling’s body. He still felt odd seeing the somewhat familiar face but he forced himself not to think about it. Bringing him back outside, he opened the second coffin and carefully placed the body inside. Then, he closed the lid with another sigh and returned inside, climbing into bed next to Jinde and holding his husband tightly. For now, there was nothing else to do.

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