Qiu Ling watched Tian’s expression which had little ups and downs. It had always been like this, even when he saw him for the first time. He hadn’t thought much about it at that time but … this man was probably incredibly tired.

Just think of it: No matter how you looked at it, life was really exhausting. He himself had felt this when he was younger. It was especially bad when you were all alone. For him, his parents were gone, he didn’t have the face to see Jinde after how they had parted, and he didn’t dare to make new connections because of his demon blood. Every day was spent by himself with no way forward or back.

He had often thought that it would be good if there was just one person to accompany him so he would at least have somebody to talk to. Without even that, the years had seemed long and the future undesirable. But come to think of it, he had actually been young at the time. So what about somebody like Tian?

He stared at him and tried to grasp just how old Tian was. In the end, he couldn’t do it. Among the people of his race, Xin Lan was the oldest and even when it came to him, he had been born shortly after Tian’s curse hit the three immortal races. That was a long time, one that hardly anyone could imagine. It was a length of time that made the events from back then become blurred with details starting to go missing in what was passed on. He didn’t know how Xin Lan was holding up but Tian was even older than that. Most likely, by a large bit as well.

Such a person had finally found somebody to share his life with. His solitude ended, he got comfortable in this new life and looked forward to the future, but then … then, that person was driven to the point where his soul shattered. No wonder Tian had cursed the three immortal races. The rage he must have felt at that time … he couldn’t imagine it either.

Qiu Ling turned to look at Jing He again, trying to compare his own feelings. At first, he hadn’t really understood what caused all of this. If anything, he had thought that the fault lay with him. Now … it seemed that the issue was more complicated and there wasn’t a single person to blame.

Yes, the Heavenly Emperor’s stance had likely contributed more than Bai Fen’s attitude but he himself wasn’t blameless. He could have acted differently to convince Jing He’s father of his qualities or he could have been more patient so Jing He wouldn’t have felt rushed. There would have been many possibilities if only he had stopped to think it through. But he had never guessed how disastrous the consequences would be.

Anyway, because he couldn’t fully blame somebody, he didn’t actually feel angry. He just felt … a bit empty inside thinking of how there might be no future for them and incredibly sad when thinking of how his beloved had suffered. Of course, there was also guilt mixed into all of this because he had played a part in this.

In Tian’s case, things were likely different. He remembered the story Jing He had told him after all and it seemed like there had been people who directly contributed to Xing’s fall. Thinking of this, he couldn’t help but give the supreme sovereign another look. “Jing He once told me … that your lover was part of the imperial family of the Nine Heavens but that his treatment wasn’t very good.”

Tian inclined his head. “Yes, he was the Heavenly Emperor’s son, albeit an unfavored one. At that time, whether it was the gods or the other races, it was normal to have several lovers and a multitude of children. Xing … was just one of many and also one who did not know how to fight for his father’s favor. Because of this, he was mostly overlooked by the Heavenly Emperor.”

Tian turned to look toward the main gate of the palace. In that direction was the place where Xing was currently resting. Thinking of that faraway past, he couldn’t help but wonder if he would indeed ever wake up.

He sighed before turning back to Qiu Ling. “Just because one person can’t notice his excellence, the same isn’t true for others though. Xing was … beautiful, kind, and intelligent. And I am not just saying that because I love him. He wasn’t any worse than other children of the Heavenly Emperor. In fact, maybe he was better than them because he didn’t rely on his father as much and didn’t only focus on what the Heavenly Emperor might want.

“At that time, many people showed interest in him. No matter what, the status was there, the character was pleasant, and the looks left nothing to wish for. How could there not even be a single suitor?”

Qiu Ling blinked his eyes, wondering how exactly Tian was so calm talking about his lover’s other suitors. But then … if you were the supreme sovereign, you probably didn’t put other people in your eyes. Tian should have never thought that he couldn’t win over any of them. No, if there were people vying for Xing’s attention and one of them was Tian, then no matter how many others were there, he should be the one who prevailed. It seemed like a matter of course.

Even though Qiu Ling thought so, he didn’t say any of this out loud. He only knew very little about the story of this couple and he didn’t dare to make any rash judgments. Thus, he simply looked at Tian expectantly, waiting for where he was actually going with this story.

Tian didn’t wait for his reaction either and simply continued with his story. “In fact, there were quite a few of them and each one was excellent. But this kind of attention naturally had its price.”