Qiu Ling didn’t dare to leave directly. Yesterday, Xiang Yu had helped him to get into Jing He’s study directly so he wasn’t sure what the situation outside was. He had simply been lucky that there weren’t any guards on this side of the palace.

After jumping out of the window, he went up to the roof instead, lying down flat and peering over the edge to get a view of the situation. He really couldn’t see anyone on this side of the palace. Either nobody had been left here or they were patrolling and doing a shit job at it.

He pursed his lips, feeling that he should have let Qiang Wei and Yi Zan stay here. These heavenly guards obviously weren’t doing a good job when it came to protecting his beloved. If somebody broke in from here, who knew what would happen? Thankfully, nobody but him had used the opportunity to sneak in yet.

He shook his head and then slowly inched his way to the other side that was facing the garden. This time, he found two unfamiliar guards in front of the door. They didn’t notice him but they were at least keeping their eyes peeled when it came to the direction of the garden.

He nodded to himself and then crept toward the front of the palace. This time, he moved even slower than before and made sure to stay out of sight. If Jing He’s father came over, it would be from this direction, and he definitely couldn’t be spotted by him. If he was … well, it would be even more difficult to see Jing He in the future.

He sighed to himself and wondered if he should ask Xiang Yu for more help in the future. Getting to Jing He at a convenient time was great but getting away without being seen was even more important. Maybe Xiang Yu could also help with that?

Qiu Ling couldn’t ask right now so he simply checked the situation in front of the palace. In fact, there was only one guard there and it was one of the two that usually stayed around Jing He.

Seeing this, Qiu Ling felt somewhat reassured. It seemed that because he hadn’t turned up much, the Heavenly Emperor hadn’t taken the situation too seriously. While he was always keeping an eye on Jing He or had somebody do so when he couldn’t do it himself, that was all there was to it. He wasn’t having him guarded tightly.

Qiu Ling finally left the roof of the palace and sneaked out of the capital city of the Nine Heavens before returning to the dragon realm. Right now, there wasn’t anything he could do over there. Instead, it was better to focus his attention on his own realm.

The matters that had come up in the aftermath of the battle with that short-lived demon king had been solved and everything else was running smoothly. In that case … he should probably gather his advisers and have them do their job of advising him. As for what he wanted advice on … well, that seemed pretty clear.

Walking into the palace, Qiu Ling directly went to the corridor where everyone was living. He didn’t gather everyone immediately though and instead went to his own room. Anyway, whatever plan his advisers could come up with, it would take time to implement. Thus, he should first go and enlist Xiang Yu’s help so he could see Jing He. Clearly, his beloved needed more reassurance until they could finally hold their wedding.

Stepping out into the courtyard, Qiu Ling stopped on the spot and stared at the two people that were lying on the ground next to the shell in a daze. He wasn’t imagining things, was he? No, that over there was clearly Jinde, and if he was there …

Qiu Ling rushed over, directly pulling the person out of Leng Jin Yu’s arms and staring at him intently.

Jinde’s golden eyes opened at once and he stared at the person that was peering back at him. He hadn’t seen Qiu Ling since the battle and knowing how badly he had done for the first week after that and how he had only survived thanks to the help of the supreme ruler, he felt some heartache. He almost would have lost this child as well and he hadn’t even realized.

He stared at him for a moment and finally reached out, rapping him on the head. “What are you doing, bear child? Can’t you see your father and I were sleeping? You should let us while we still have the time. Do you know how much work a newborn is?”

Qiu Ling smiled. He didn’t bother to give him a response and just hugged him tightly. There had never been many people in his life and of those, he had already lost too many. Regaining Jinde, and even in the same way he had been back then, had been one of the things he was happiest about in his life. He couldn’t imagine losing him again. To see him up again and clearly having gotten out of that devastated state … how couldn’t he be happy?

Before he knew it, his eyes already teared up. He squeezed Jinde more tightly and closed his eyes, not wanting either of these two to see him like this. They all had their own problems. He didn’t need to add to theirs.

Jinde kept quiet and just reached up, patting Qiu Ling’s back. He might not be able to see his expression but this hug alone spoke leagues about his feelings. It reminded him of the far past when Chun Yin had taken his family and left. At that time, Qiu Ling had hugged him the same, almost refusing to let go.

Seeing him like that had broken his heart back then and it still felt like it was breaking now when almost the same scene repeated. This child hadn’t had a good life. While he had abandoned Jin Ling when he became an adult, he hadn’t been able to be there for Qiu Ling when he was still a child, forcing him to go through all of those painful things alone.

Now, he was all grown up but he’d always see him as that child who had been as naughty as his father when they were young. To see that child care about him like this … it was a bittersweet feeling. But either way, they were both alright and that was the only thing that mattered.