Qiu Ling sighed deeply and then turned back to Jing He. Tian had said he shouldn’t stay around but he had also said it would be another week until Jing He woke up. So … in other words, it was absolutely alright to stay here for that week as long as he left before Jing He opened his eyes.

Qiu Ling’s lips twitched as soon as he thought of that. He had rushed all the way to this city, thinking that he had to be there when Jing He woke up so his beloved wouldn’t feel scared. Now, he was basically being kicked out to prevent him from being there at that very moment. It really made his heart hurt.

He shook his head, sighed again, and then patted Jing He’s hand. “Don’t worry. Even if I can’t be there when you wake up and even if I can’t accompany you in the first time after that, I will absolutely never forget about you. I’ll wait however long it takes for you to make up your mind and become a trueborn god again. When you have, I’ll be there, ready to get married immediately.”

He raised Jing He’s hand and pressed a kiss on his knuckles, closing his eyes. To be honest, he was promising now that he would stay away but … it would be hard. He knew from the past just how difficult it was for him to truly stay away. In part, this was just his nature as a dragon or … well, Tian’s curse on their race which bound them more tightly to their lovers than it was the case in any other race. The other part was his own personality, shaped by the years of loneliness. In this regard, he might not be too different from Tian.

Qiu Ling opened his eyes and smiled faintly, reaching out to brush Jing He’s cheek with his fingers. “You were already so surprised when I told you a few weeks ago that I saw Tian and that he healed me when I was about to go insane because of your mortal self’s death. If I told you that he saved you and then helped spell things out for me and even told me about his lover, who knew what you’d say? You always loved that story of theirs … You’d probably be happy to know that he is still waiting for him.”

His smile had only been faint to begin with and when Qiu Ling spoke until here, it dimmed even further until it had vanished completely. “I … hope we won’t be like them. I mean, of course, I will wait for you. I just hope it won’t be eons. Just a few years would be bad enough although I suppose I could manage that.”

He retracted his hand and raked it through his hair, sighing again. “A few years without you … I wonder how that would go.” It … shouldn’t be a good feeling. If he really couldn’t see Jing He all that time, he’d probably go crazy again. Or if not that, then chances were he’d lose any strength he had. He had seen that happen with his father, after all, when he left the capital and refused to stay close to Jinde.

Speaking of which … Qiu Ling pulled out a transmission stone and weighed it in his hand. He should contact Jinde and Leng Jin Yu. Also, his mother-in-law and — even if he hated him — his father-in-law. Ah, his uncle-in-law would also want to know. These people all had to be kept in the loop and he shouldn’t wait too long until he did this. The question was how to go about this.

Turning to look at Jing He again, his brows furrowed. Jing He’s mother was distraught after losing her son. His father would also be worried but there was no telling what he would do when the news came from the man he hated. If he found out that the conflict over who Jing He should marry had been the reason for his fall … things might worsen even further between them.

Qiu Ling clicked his tongue and finally imbued some spiritual energy into the transmission stone. Anyway, he’d contact Jinde first and ask for some advice while he was at it.

At this time, Leng Jin Yu had already returned to the dragon realm and was waiting together with Jinde when they would get news from Qiu Ling. As soon as the transmission stone lit up, they scrambled to answer, both putting their heads together to stare at Qiu Ling to see whether he looked alright.

Qiu Ling watched the image in front of him with a blank expression and then slowly raised his brows. “Are you trying to show off in front of me?” He curled his lips and glanced at Jing He who was still quietly lying next to him, clearly not even close to waking up. Ah, he hadn’t felt this way when he saw Tian who was obviously also treated badly by fate but seeing the happy couple that had not just gotten married but was even waiting for the birth of their first child, he suddenly felt salty. Was it asking too much for the two of them to be lovey-dovey somewhere else where he couldn’t see them?

Jinde just smiled though. “If you can complain like that, I assume you have found him? How is he?”

Qiu Ling pulled back his thoughts that had wandered elsewhere and sighed. “Well, it’s as we feared. He is indeed a fallen god now.”

Jinde’s expression sank. “Does he … seem normal?” His perception of fallen gods had certainly changed after meeting Xiang Yu so he felt like it wasn’t necessarily a given that Jing He had gone crazy. He might still be somewhat normal.

Qiu Ling sighed and tilted the transmission stone so they could see Jing He. “I have no idea. He isn’t awake yet. Also, Tian said he wouldn’t wake up for yet another week so … I won’t find out for a while either.” In fact, even then, he wouldn’t find out but he felt like he should probably get the general idea out of the way before he gave them the details. This much was probably shocking enough as an opener.