Jing He smiled when he saw the thick stack of letters and happily took them from Qiu Ling’s hands, a smile lighting up his features. “I did read all of them.” It had taken a bit of time because his thoughts tended to wander since his fall and sometimes, he would emerge from them only to find that several days had passed. In that kind of situation, it was difficult to sit down and read letters.

Still, despite the difficulties, he had persisted in reading every single line because these had been written by Qiu Ling for the sake of helping him. And frankly, they had. “I know you must think I am not making any progress at all but … I just need a little more time. One of my fears is that while I take that time, life will pass me by and when I return, nothing will be as it was before.”

He had feared the same when it came to his trial, even though most of his worries had been focused on his relationship with Qiu Ling. He had thought that if he missed just two or three months, there was still a certain possibility that the man who had sworn to love him forever would realize that this wasn’t what he wanted and would find somebody else.

By now, he naturally knew that this worry had been without reason but he still should have been worried about his trial despite that. Clearly, it had been much longer than intended and several years had actually passed in the Nine Heavens. How could things not have changed in such a long time?

Now, there was suddenly a cousin he didn’t know. Qiu Ling had gained a set of parents and was about to have a sibling. A group of half-bloods from the dragon realm was stationed in the Nine Heavens and would sit in the Tower of Wisdom every day to work through what seemed to be every single volume in the building, researching the joined past of their races. The person upon the demon king’s throne had changed twice and there had been a big battle that cost many lives.

Things … just weren’t as they had been before even if they may look the same on the surface.

He hadn’t thought that so much would happen without him. After all, three months were very different from three years. But now, even the people closest to him had experienced big changes in their lives while he was away and it seemed difficult to make up for the lost time.

It was even worse because, after those three years, he hadn’t had the opportunity to even try before he fell and left again. If he indeed needed several months or years to regain his identity as a trueborn god … how much else would happen without him?

Qiu Ling’s letters were the only thing that kept him connected to the Nine Heavens and the people he cared about. Without them, when he returned, he might have difficulty picking up where he left his old life even though he would be a regular trueborn god again. Realizing this made him feel complicated but … at least there was something that he could still do. Naturally, he would cling to that one opportunity.

He smiled at Qiu Ling, his gaze gentle. “Your letters are helping a lot. I feel like … even though I am missing so much, there is at least someone telling me about all of it so that I will be somewhat in the know when I return. I wouldn’t know how else to reconnect to everyone.”

Qiu Ling nodded slowly. He hadn’t necessarily thought of it that way and only wanted to communicate his own feelings to Jing He but his beloved was right. In fact, maybe that function was even more important. After all, chances were that Jing He would not want to talk about anything that had to do with his fall and his subsequent recovery. But then, how would he talk to others?

Just keeping quiet … it didn’t seem like something you could do when all three immortal realms were looking for you. People would have questions. They’d want to know what had happened and where he had been or how he had ‘escaped’ since the official explanation was still that someone had kidnapped him.

Of course, most people wouldn’t have the chance to question him, and the few who would get an opportunity might not want to do so in the first place because they knew Jing He well enough to know how he would react. Some others could probably be told to be quiet as well. That was the unique advantage of having the dragon king as your future husband and the Heavenly Emperor as your father: You could do whatever you wanted as long as those two had your back. The only one they could do nothing about would be the demon king but … it seemed like the new one wasn’t out to make trouble for them.

Qiu Ling thought about quite a few things but those also couldn’t be dealt with for now. They should talk about it whenever Jing He actually made his decision and became a trueborn god again. Then, before returning, they could sit down and deal with all the practical details. Until then, it was better to help Jing He recover both in terms of his identity as well as in regard to his other issues.

Having made up his mind, Qiu Ling grabbed Jing He’s hands again. “I usually just write what comes to mind at the specific moment. What do you want to know more about? I’ll include more of it so you won’t feel left out. And whatever I forget, I will tell you all about it as soon as there is time.”

Jing He’s smile brightened and he nodded. “That would be nice. I … don’t really have anything I urgently have to know. I just … want to know the most important things. That should be enough.”

“Mn, then I’ll make sure to include a little bit of everything.” He smiled as well and leaned forward, kissing Jing He’s cheek. “Alright, I’m afraid the two of us have delayed for a long time again. Do you … want to go back? Right, what about An Xin?”

Jing He blinked his eyes and looked around the room, spotting the little flame heart sitting just a few steps away and looking at them curiously while hugging its tail. Right. The last time, he had accidentally left it behind. Now … he should probably take it along. Although … “Can I take An Xin to the Spring of Fate?” It seemed a bit doubtful but he’d actually like to if he was honest. At the very least, he wouldn’t feel as alone. In fact, if he could, he’d prefer to take Qiu Ling himself along but … that really didn’t seem like it would work.