In the High Heavens, Tian had just wanted to follow Qiu Ling but stopped in his tracks, his head tilting faintly. His mind wandered to the dragon realm and his brows raised faintly. He hadn’t expected Xin Lan to return home that soon. This truly was making things a bit awkward. Originally, he had wanted to wait for a good time and at least send over a message. This was supposed to be an opportunity for Xiang Yu, after all, not some additional torture for Xin Lan.

He thought for a moment and then glanced at the person at the side of the bed. Well, it didn’t seem like the dragon king would even realize if he was gone for a moment. He might as well deal with this before getting back to the task at hand.

Making up his mind, Tian simply opened a portal, stepped through, and appeared behind Xin Lan. His expression had already returned to the usual look which wouldn’t change even in ten millennia. “He’s on a trial in the mortal realm.” He didn’t explain further. The fact that Xiang Yu wasn’t dead should be obvious with this.

Xin Lan froze and then turned around, staring blankly at the person behind him. Of course, he recognized him. Tian really wasn’t a person you could mistake. It wasn’t that his looks were that otherworldly although he could be considered a very handsome man. No, it was simply the feeling he gave off. Everyone whose senses weren’t completely dull would realize that this man was dangerous and shouldn’t be taken lightly.

Despite this and despite the fact that he had met him several times already, Xin Lan couldn’t believe that Tian was indeed standing behind him. He wondered if this was a hallucination brought about by the grief he apparently felt or if there was actually a person daring enough to try and impersonate Tian. He couldn’t explain this any other way. After all, in all these years of his long life, he had never seen Tian outside of the High Heavens or heard of him leaving that place. So really, he couldn’t be here.

Tian requited his gaze, not saying anything else about Xiang Yu’s situation. Why the fallen god had left on a trial, where he had gone, when he would return … he knew all these things but he didn’t intend to say much about it, and certainly not when Xin Lan wasn’t even asking. He did wonder how long it would take for Xin Lan to pull himself together though. He wasn’t intent on wasting much time here, after all.

Finally, Xin Lan’s lips twitched. Even if he couldn’t believe it, he had to: Tian was indeed outside the High Heavens right now. More than that, he had somehow come to the dragon realm and ended up in his house. Lots of people would be jealous if they knew but he could only wonder if fate was playing some kind of joke on him. This kind of guest, he really couldn’t accommodate him!

Well, since the supreme sovereign was already there, he could hardly ask him to leave again. Not to mention that he seemed to know what was going on with Xiang Yu. “What happened?”

Tian simply looked at him. He had already told him that Xiang Yu had gone on another trial so it was obvious what was going on. Well, apart from how this trial had suddenly come about but he wouldn’t expose that. Thinking for a bit, he finally was gracious enough to tell Xin Lan some new information. “He started his trial two days ago. Taking the time difference between the mortal realm and immortal realms into consideration, you should hurry if you intend to spend that trial with him.”

Xin Lan stared at him in a daze. “Spend the trial with him?” For a moment, he wondered if this was a joke. Why would he … But then, he thought of his reaction to finding Xiang Yu’s seemingly lifeless body just now and realized that Tian might have a point. Yes, maybe he did want to spend that time together and be it just to see if he could fall in love with another one of Xiang Yu’s reincarnations again. The answer to that question would certainly give him a clearer picture of what he should do with Xiang Yu himself.

Making up his mind, Xin Lan slowly got to his feet. “Then where exactly is he?” A new trial meant a new identity. Back then, he had followed Xiang Yu’s soul with Tian’s help and checked first where he was reborn for the trial before leaving for a while and then returning when he was old enough to get married. This time, he had missed the moment when the reincarnation happened so he wouldn’t know where to find him.

Tian looked at him quietly and then at the body behind him. “I’m sure you will be able to find him. Don’t wait too long or you might not like the consequences.” He didn’t explain what he meant and just turned back to Xin Lan. “Right. I figured you might be curious about what happened the last time we saw each other.”

Xin Lan raised a brow. Just thinking about how he had asked a clear question but hadn’t gotten much of an answer pissed him off but … that matter was also important. He certainly couldn’t curse Tian out if he was about to reveal something. Also, maybe he would get more information later. He gritted his teeth and counted to ten in his mind to calm down before responding in an even tone. “I am indeed.”

“Then you should hurry to the mortal realm as well. You’ll find out if you manage to find Xiang Yu’s incarnation there.” With that, he raised a hand, opened a portal back to the High Heavens, and stepped through, the portal closing right behind him.

Xin Lan stared at the empty spot in front with a flabbergasted expression and then cursed violently. That fucking bastard was even worse than usual! What the fuck was any of that even supposed to mean?!

~~~

Little Theater

Xin Lan: Why can’t you just tell me directly?!

Tian: Half of it is that I don’t want to expose my plans. The other half is that I simply despise you.