The six people stared at Leng Jin Yu in a daze. His being married to a person of the dragon race would explain why he was here unless he had been sent by the gods as an envoy regarding a matter of the alliance between their races. They could very well believe that both were the case. What they had trouble believing was that this husband had anything to do with Jin Ling though.

The six of them exchanged a glance and Ru Shu couldn’t help but question him. “I’m sorry but I wasn’t aware that he had any living relatives.” To be honest, it seemed unbelievable. Jin Ling might not have been as old as the dragon king but he sure wasn’t young. His father had even been Jian Heng, one of the previous demon kings who had been killed in a battle with the dragons long ago. Where did this relative suddenly come from?

Leng Jin Yu could only smile wryly. Before today, he hadn’t known that this was the case either. He really didn’t want to talk about it with a stranger either. Especially not before he hadn’t spoken to Jinde. But then, he would run the risk of them bothering Jinde at the burial if he didn’t make it clear.

He cleared his throat and then shook his head. “I don’t even know where to begin with this. Were the six of you aware that he was of mixed blood?”

Five of them immediately shook their heads but Jie Mu, the half-blood with the demon blood, hesitated. After a moment, he still piped up. “I had a bit of a hunch. Nobody can say for sure who is a demon or who is a dragon until magic is used and Jin Ling never showed anything in particular that would have proven the idea. But I felt that he might have some dragon blood mixed in or that he might have been close to somebody with mixed blood based on how he treated me.”

Leng Jin Yu nodded. “Well, he was of mixed blood and it wasn’t just a little bit of dragon blood either. In fact, while demon king Jian Heng was his father, his other father was a true-blooded dragon.” He didn’t directly say that his husband was his father. Even though he was more or less sure of this, it just didn’t seem right to do so.

He sighed and leaned back, his expression tensing. “My husband was actually very close to him although it had been a long time since they saw each other. Jin Ling’s death … it has hit him hard. I don’t know when exactly he will be ready for the burial but as I said, I think he would love having other people who cared about him there so I will sincerely invite you.”

The six finally nodded, Ru Shu once again taking the lead. “As you said, he was our spouse. It only seems right to attend. I’m just afraid that not informing the gods right away might be a problem.”

Leng Jin Yu nodded and thought for a moment. “Well, we can contact them for you and explain the situation.” On the one hand, An Bai had some ties to the Court of Justice, and on the other hand, he was rather familiar with the God of War. If they passed a message along and explained for these six, surely, nobody would blame them for staying for their husband’s burial?

Ru Shu turned to look at the god and raised her brows. In the end, he was the one who truly had to go to the Nine Heavens. Yes, they would certainly follow along but the decision should be his.

The god thought for a moment. Compared to the dragons, his situation was different. He knew through them that their curse affected their decision to stay but he didn’t have that excuse. He had originally been young and naive, thinking that it couldn’t be so bad. Since he was in love, he wanted to follow that man to the ends of the world. When he really lived in the demon realm for a while, he had soon enough been disillusioned and regretted his choice.

He had thought about returning but he had been afraid. When he went back, wouldn’t he be seen as a traitor? Would his people still accept him? Or would he have to leave the Nine Heavens as well and then wander alone through the world, with no place to call home any longer?

Not knowing what was ahead of him, he finally chose to stay, finding solace in the company of the others that were in a similar situation. Now, the same worry was still on his mind but at least the others had left with him. Even if he couldn’t return to the Nine Heavens forever, he could still find a new home and wouldn’t be all alone. Of course, that didn’t mean that he wasn’t afraid to go and face one of the titled gods or even the Heavenly Emperor.

He hesitated for a moment but finally nodded. “I would very much appreciate that.” If the gods were prepared that somebody would come and might even know the gist of what had happened, the first wave of anger should have calmed down by the time they arrived, right?

Leng Jin Yu nodded. “Then I will contact them for you. Now …” He turned to An Bai and Xiang Yong. “I should return first. If there is nothing else, I’ll leave the rest to you.”

The two dragons nodded and Leng Jin Yu hurried back to the other side of the corridor, making sure how Jinde was doing. Only when he realized that his husband was still asleep and likely hadn’t even noticed that he was gone did he calm down.

He gently brushed through Jinde’s hair, then went out into the courtyard to see how Xiang Yu was doing. Afterward, he took out a transmission stone and contacted the God of War, not wanting to push this off until later.

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