Jinde turned to look at his husband who, in turn, gave Qiu Ling a questioning look. Unfortunately, the two of them didn’t get a response.

Leng Jin Yu blinked his eyes in surprise and then shifted slightly so Jinde could see Qiu Ling as well. Experience told him that his husband was likely better at dealing with this than he was. Considering the circumstances, it seemed best to deal with this right now.

Jinde examined Qiu Ling’s expression and felt that he should have thought of something. “Qiu Ling, what’s the matter? Did you find any clues in the Nine Heavens?” He could only imagine that if Qiu Ling was anxious to see Xiang Yu but he still felt it odd. They had looked around there and so had the God of War and the people from his palace. What exactly had Qiu Ling found?

Being addressed directly finally pulled Qiu Ling out of his thoughts. He turned to look at Jinde, his gaze complicated. “If you wanted to hide a fallen god, where would you do it?”

Jinde raised his brows. Actually, he had been hiding Xiang Yu in his courtyard and even taken him out for a stroll just two days ago after dressing him up nicely so … that was a bit difficult to answer. “What do you mean?”

Qiu Ling kept quiet for a moment, still wondering if he was just thinking too much or if he had really gleaned a part of the truth. “Leng Jin Yu just told me that all of the Nine Heavens and all of the dragon realm are looking for him and that we could get both the demon realm and the mortal realm to join in the search. But I’ve been thinking … Jing He told me the story of Tian and Xing once and he said that Tian failed to find him for a long time.

“That is the ruler of all realms, somebody with abilities we can’t even begin to imagine. He was the one to curse the immortal races so they would have had reason to please him, right? If that is the case, how come they were unable to find his lover for him? Surely, they could have done what we are doing now. It’s not like they didn’t know what Xing looked like, right? So how come … he stayed missing despite all that?”

Jinde’s expression turned solemn. He did have an answer for that but … it wasn’t a good one. He hesitated for a while but finally, he could only sigh and speak up. Anyway, if they wanted to find Jing He, they shouldn’t hold anything back. “Could it be he didn’t want to be found?”

“That, sure, but … where to go to achieve that? I just thought about it and … it seems there are only the High Heavens which nobody would check.”

Jinde raised his brows and then turned to look at his husband again. What Qiu Ling was saying right now made sense. Sure, there were also a few more secretive places in the immortal realms or the mortal realm but … the easiest place to hide away would be the High Heavens.

It was just … if this was the case, then Qiu Ling would want to go there. Since he had just woken up, Jinde really didn’t know what to think about that. Thus, he naturally wanted to hear from his husband first how the child was holding up.

Leng Jin Yu wasn’t sure what to say. Looking at his husband and then looking at Qiu Ling, he could only sigh. “Do you want to go over immediately?” Even if he said that he thought Qiu Ling wasn’t up to the task, there was no way to keep him from going. You couldn’t separate a dragon from their lover in such a situation. Even if you tried, they would absolutely find a way to get around you.

Qiu Ling didn’t answer. He stared at the destroyed garden in front of him, his thoughts seeming to wander in all directions.

“Qiu Ling?” Leng Jin Yu felt more worried when he saw him like this. If they truly let Qiu Ling travel to the High Heavens, would he even make it there? He didn’t seem to be in a good condition.

Qiu Ling was finally pulled out of his thoughts and rubbed his face. “I can’t get the feeling from that day out of my mind. He … must have suffered so much. Maybe he is still suffering now.” He clenched his hands into fists, his brows furrowing tightly.

His beloved should not be in such a situation. He should be at home, leisurely drinking tea in his palace or sitting in the pavilion overlooking his garden, enjoying the light breeze. He should be safe from such pain and from all the worries that had followed him. Why was that not the case?

He sighed and finally straightened up. “I have to go there. No matter what, it seems like the most likely place to find him. How could I ignore it?”

Leng Jin Yu nodded and got to his feet as well. “I’ll accompany you.” Right now, he really didn’t dare to leave Qiu Ling alone. Not if it seemed like his mind might wander off at any moment. That would be too dangerous.

Qiu Ling shook his head though. “You can’t. If Jing He fell, he wouldn’t want anyone to see him like that. It’ll already be a wonder if he is alright with me seeing him like that.” Of this, he was sure. After all, while he didn’t need to worry about things like falling, his blood had always been tainted.

Since the day he found out, he had never been comfortable taking on his dragon form in front of others. Only now, thousands of years later, did he slowly manage to open up. And even then, this was only the case in front of the people who were closest to him.

If Jing He had truly fallen just two days ago … he would certainly not be willing to expose that new side of his yet. Thus, he had to be especially careful. Otherwise, this might turn into a game of hide and seek faster than he could imagine and there was a chance that he might not be able to find him again if he failed even once.