Jinde naturally noticed his gaze. Thinking of what Xin Lan had said before, he naturally worried. “What? Did you think of something that changed after all?” He reached out and grabbed Xin Lan’s arm, finally turning it around and putting a finger on Xin Lan’s wrist to take his pulse.

He wasn’t sure what he expected. If the supreme sovereign did something, could anyone ever tell if he didn’t want them to? It didn’t seem likely. But then, maybe Tian simply disdained to explain himself but didn’t actually have nefarious intentions. Everything seemed possible if you thought about it.

Checking Xin Lan’s body over, he couldn’t find anything out of the ordinary though. If he hadn’t just heard that he had struck a deal with Tian and didn’t know what it entailed, he really wouldn’t have guessed.

Jinde gave a hum and finally took his hand back. “I can’t find anything physically wrong. That doesn’t need to mean anything but I suppose it’s at least a little reassuring for now.”

Xin Lan nodded. “It’s better than knowing nothing.” Although, truth be told, he felt like he would have known himself if it was physical. This kind of change should be easy enough to detect. He was familiar with the condition of his own body, after all.

Jinde didn’t feel like he could rest assured yet though. “Zheng Yin is still in the palace. You can ask him to check you over as well.”

“Zheng Yin?” Xin Lan thought of the spirit beast he had gotten to know in the mortal realm. This person had helped Jinde with healing the injury to his face so it was obvious that his skills weren’t low but … “I don’t think he is better than you at this so if you can’t find something, how could he?”

Jinde shook his head and patted Xin Lan’s arm. “There is nobody who knows everything. Even after so many years, I still have blind spots. Who knows if one of them isn’t his area of expertise? He is also counted as the most promising refiner among the spirit beasts, after all. Don’t just discount his ability because you’ve been around me for so long.”

Xin Lan finally hummed. “If it’ll make you happy, I’ll do it.”

Jinde smiled but still nodded. “It will. And it will make me the happiest if you don’t push this off and get it done immediately. This matter is important, after all.” Yes, before they didn’t know what was wrong with Xin Lan, they should expend as much effort as they could to figure this out. He didn’t want one issue to get solved only for another one to crop up immediately afterward. Although … maybe it was already too late for that.

Jinde sighed deeply and shook his head, letting go of Xin Lan’s arm and squatting down in front of the shell again. “I also don’t know what it is these days. I actually thought everything was going to settle down and we’d finally all find happiness but, suddenly, everything seems to be going wrong instead. It’s frustrating.”

Xin Lan nodded even though Jinde couldn’t see. Yes, his own thoughts were just like that. Why did everything seem to turn for the worse? Just what was going on? He didn’t mention these thoughts though and instead just sighed. “Well, I’ll go and see Zheng Yin immediately since it’ll put you at ease. I’ll come back right after.”

Jinde looked over his shoulder and nodded. “Let him check thoroughly though. You have to take this seriously.”

“Mn.” Xin Lan didn’t say more and turned around. He walked through Qiu Ling’s room which was now empty and stepped out into the corridor. Zheng Yin’s room wasn’t far away but he didn’t walk there immediately. Instead, he stopped in front of Qiu Ling’s door, looking down the corridor in both directions.

Zheng Yin … they had spent quite a bit of time together while he and Hua Lin Yu were separated. It had been a welcome distraction at the time but now, with Hua Lin Yu gone, he wondered if he had made a mistake. Maybe he should have stayed closer to his side. Maybe then, everything would have gone differently and he wouldn’t have left him that early.

He couldn’t know but the idea was there and once it came up, it was difficult to suppress. If he could return to that time and have another chance … there were so many things he would do differently.

He would treat him more seriously from the very beginning. He wouldn’t take him to the dragon realm where he could accidentally run into Bai Mu at any time. He would take out that half-blood Xiao Li before Hua Lin Yu could run into him. And when it was time to get married, he wouldn’t hesitate at all and take the opportunity.

It was a pity … he would never get a chance to have a do-over. Hua Lin Yu was gone and what was left now was Xiang Yu, the fallen god.

Xin Lan clicked his tongue and finally made his way over to Zheng Yin’s room. He really didn’t want to think about Xiang Yu. There was just so much wrong about even considering this but Jinde’s words had really made him ponder this. Before, he had been clear in his heart that no matter the soul, nobody could replace Hua Lin Yu. But now, he seemed to consider it somewhat.

Was he really so fickle? But clearly, his heart still squeezed painfully when he thought of what he had lost. He wasn’t actually willing to move on. He still wanted what he had had. It was simply that he knew that couldn’t be. Replacing Hua Lin Yu though … surely, he wasn’t actually at that point or anywhere near it.

Standing in front of Zheng Yin’s door and knocking faintly, Xin Lan’s expression changed a little. Actually … his confusion about that fallen god might also come from the shared soul. So as long as he didn’t feel the same way about others, he truly didn’t need to be all tangled up. Most likely, this was something he should examine more closely. Thankfully, it seemed like he had a good opportunity to do so right ahead of him.