Qiu Ling naturally didn’t need to ask about this. He had gotten familiar with Jing He’s reclusive lifestyle early on. Apart from those guards Qiang Yan had just mentioned, there were basically only his family members around him and even those couldn’t always be seen.

After everything he had heard and when trying to imagine a few more instances of what might have happened during those two thousand years of Jing He growing up, he couldn’t say he was surprised. Every new person around him and every new situation he found himself in were another risk. Why invite more of that if you were already followed by bad luck everywhere?

Qiu Ling didn’t really know what to do with all of this. He knew he had asked and he had to say that this indeed helped him understand Jing He even better but … he also felt really bad. Just thinking of all the bad things Jing He had gone through and how much this had influenced the person he finally became … he felt irritated.

He knew why Tian had cursed the three immortal races and the bloodline of the Heavenly Emperor. To a degree, he understood. If somebody dared to torture his beloved the way those people had made Xing collapse, he would also want to rain his fury down on them. And compared to him, Tian had a lot more options to actually do that. It was just … not everyone involved was guilty, were they?

The Heavenly Emperor and the Heavenly Empress of that time sure had been. Their children likely had been as well. All those titled gods and goddesses and ascended deities who stood aside and watched silently, they were all partly at fault for how things had turned out. But what about the children born to them? Those who hadn’t even been alive when Xing fell? And what about the hundreds of thousands of common people who were suddenly struck with a curse without even knowing what had happened in the capital city of the Nine Heavens? How did they deserve this?

Qiu Ling had grown up at a time when the curse was a part of everyone’s reality. Nobody grappled with whether it was fair or not any longer because the curse being there was simply an established fact. But … they still didn’t deserve to have to suffer through this. None of them did. Whether it was Jing He specifically or the common people among the dragons and gods and, yes, even among the demons in general, they shouldn’t have to live like this.

They were simply suffering because Tian wanted them to and because there was nobody who could stop him. Nothing would change about that so they could only hope that they found ways to coexist somewhat peacefully.

Qiu Ling sighed deeply and shook his head. “This is such a mess.”

Qiang Yan could only smile wryly in response. “It was but it is a thing of the past. Jing He has come of age already so this won’t continue.” He had no idea that Qiu Ling’s thoughts had been on an almost entirely different issue and simply tried to comfort him.

Bai Fen next to him nodded but her thoughts went a little further. “Of course, the same can’t be said about any child you might have in the future. This is also why I want you to know exactly what happened. I wasn’t prepared back then and I should have been. I don’t want you to go through the same.”

Qiu Ling immediately forgot about Tian and the curse and his expression became solemn. Right. Jing He was safe now but the next generation wouldn’t be. Their child would also be in mortal danger and … that was dangerous in more than just one way.

On the one hand, there was naturally the danger to their child. Originally, he might not have felt much about that, after all, having a child was a rather vague notion that seemed to be far in the future. But he had recently accompanied Jinde and Leng Jin Yu to prepare for their child. He had watched their happiness at their child growing silently in their shell but he had also watched Leng Jin Yu’s distress after Jinde pulled back and their child almost didn’t make it. To go through such a thing and not just once but over and over again … it would indeed be hard to bear.

On the other hand, there was also Jing He’s state. No matter how he looked at it, his beloved seemed incredibly fragile. Tian had said that the same issue popping up again wouldn’t be a danger to his soul but the same wasn’t true for a different matter causing him distress. If they were to have a child and he’d have to go through almost losing their little one … he wasn’t sure if Jing He could take that.

Qiu Ling suddenly felt a headache. He had thought things would be better one day. He had thought so when he met Jing He but his advances weren’t requited. And, well, it was true: Jing He had also fallen in love with him and they had slowly cultivated their feelings. But then, there had been the issue with his father. He told himself again that time would solve this issue but it had been years at this point and things only seemed to get worse.

Then, the trial happened and he could once again only wait for a far-away future in which Jing He would have returned to his side as his true self and they could get married and enjoy their life together. Now, the trial was done but Jing He had fallen and once again, he could only wait for him to return.

After that, that should have been it. What else could there be after a trueborn god fell and then recovered? Surely, there was nothing worse out there! But … it seemed he was looking at this too simply. In this life, there was always something worse out there. He wasn’t sure whose curse this was but it sure felt like it couldn’t just be a regular occurrence in his life. No, he’d rather believe that someone was doing them dirty instead of this just being their fate. Otherwise … it just seemed too cruel.