Ye Yang had no idea that the person he was jealous of was unconscious at this point in time. Currently, back in the dragon realm, Jinde was once again taking his pulse, trying to see if he could find any clue regarding when Qiu Ling would wake up. Unfortunately, there was nothing to be had from this kind of check-up.

Qiu Ling’s current situation wasn’t physical. Instead, it concerned his soul. If he really wanted to gain any insights, he’d have to try and check his soul itself. But he didn’t dare to do that. He couldn’t be sure that Qiu Ling would let him, after all. And if he unconsciously fought back, there might be more damage. It wasn’t worth it just to check how he was doing.

Jinde sighed when he thought of this. If the Son of Heaven had been there, all of this wouldn’t have been a problem. He could have gone to the Nine Heavens and invited him over so he could check for them. After all, a soul-bound partner would never be prevented from looking at one’s soul. Unfortunately, Jing He was the reason behind Qiu Ling’s current state and still missing so there was nobody they could ask.

Jinde pulled back his hand and instead grabbed that of his husband who was currently standing behind him. The two of them were taking turns watching over Qiu Ling and their child outside. It was only when he checked on Qiu Ling’s state again that Leng Jin Yu would also stay with them just in case there was news.

Seeing that nothing seemed to have changed, Leng Jin Yu leaned down and kissed the top of Jinde’s head. “Don’t worry. Since nothing is physically wrong, he’ll come to soon.”

Jinde could only smile wryly. He knew better than anyone else how bad an injury to the soul was. Even if Qiu Ling woke up, if his own soul had been damaged in the process of Jing He falling … there was no saying how badly he had been affected.

He sighed again and then got up, turning to face his husband. “I’ll go out for a while then to look after Xiang Ling.”

Leng Jin Yu nodded and took Jinde’s seat at the edge of the bed, looking at Qiu Ling’s face. He couldn’t be sure but it didn’t seem quite as pale as it had in the beginning right after they returned from the Nine Heavens. He wasn’t that reassured by such a small change but right now, he’d take what he could get.

Meanwhile, Jinde walked outside and then slowly over to the shell submerged in the water. These days, he constantly felt anxious and needed to go from inside to outside and back again to make sure that neither of his children was doing worse. He really wasn’t sure how long he could still take this.

Jinde knelt down next to the shell, putting his hands on top and closing his eyes for a moment. “I hope we’re not scaring you.”

Even though the dragon children inside the shells weren’t fully formed, the scholars theorized that they started perceiving part of their surroundings before they were finally born. It wasn’t clear exactly when this started or what exactly they were able to register but with how the atmosphere currently was, he was afraid of negatively impacting Xiang Ling.

He shook his head at himself, thinking that he was really failing as a father. First, he was in a stupor for several weeks, unable to extricate himself until he got help from the supreme sovereign himself, and now, he still wasn’t able to calm down enough to give the child which was about the be born in a few months a comfortable environment to grow up in.

Jinde wasn’t happy but he also knew that he couldn’t change it. He rubbed the shell for a moment and then looked at Xin Lan who was standing a few steps away. The other dragon also looked solemn even though he probably didn’t care too much about Qiu Ling. Looking at him, Jinde’s gaze softened. “How are you holding up?”

Xin Lan raised his gaze faintly, seeming a bit puzzled.

“I mean after what happened to Xiang Yu’s reincarnation. You loved him a lot, didn’t you? Now, he is gone. Even though there is Xiang Yu, it’s probably not the same to you. How are you dealing with that?”

Xin Lan furrowed his brows, his gaze brushing over the otherwise empty courtyard. “It’s alright. I mean … it’s easier if I don’t have to see him.” Although, right now, he wasn’t sure if that was still true.

Xiang Yu … he had left two days ago and not returned. It had seemed like nothing at first and even after some time passed, he had thought it shouldn’t be an issue. After all, that idiotic fallen god was familiar with Tian and even seemed to have a good relationship with him. What could happen if he went to the High Heavens? But then, it had already been two days since then and that … didn’t seem reassuring at all.

He couldn’t help but think of the time he had gone to beg Tian for help with Jinde’s matter. He still didn’t know what that guy had done to him but after asking around for a bit, he realized that he had missed a full week. Being unconscious for so long, it really didn’t inspire any faith in whatever Tian had done.

Originally, he had already worried about that. Now, it seemed as if this process was repeating with Xiang Yu. Just what was the reason for that? Was Tian … trying to do something?

Xin Lan dwelt on that for a while but he couldn’t come up with any idea of what Tian might want to do if there was anything. And, well, even if he could, what was there to do about it? He couldn’t stop him. Otherwise, would he have been among the recipients of this treatment? Thus, he could only quietly take it and wait until Xiang Yu returned to ask a few questions.