Oh. My. Fate?! (BL, Volume 12, Part 1)

44 He Had to Be Safe and Sound

Of course, there were many things left to say but nobody tried to stop Qiu Ling. Even without his explaining, they all knew how important this was to him. Thus, they wouldn't keep him.

Jinde patted his arm and stepped back, glancing at his husband before turning back. "Jin Yu can tell you more on the way to the Nine Heavens. If there is anything else you want us to do ..."

Qiu Ling shook his head. "No, not right now. I just ... I need to see it first. I will think about everything else after that."

"Good. Then we'll wait here for you to come back."

Qiu Ling nodded and got to his feet. He glanced at Xiang Yong and hesitated for a moment. "Everything else still has time, right? There is nothing urgent?" He didn't want to deal with anything else but ... he had decided to take his role more seriously in the future. Both because he owed that to his advisers and his subjects and also because Jing He deserved to have the kind of husband who was able to work past his issues and become the one he saw him as. He couldn't completely neglect that even now.

Xiang Yong shook his head. "Right now, finding the Son of Heaven is the most important. Maybe your connection to him can give you some additional insight that will allow everyone to make a breakthrough in their search for him."

Qiu Ling nodded but, to be honest, he doubted it. Binding your soul to your partner indeed connected you but it naturally had its limitations as well. For example, he couldn't actually tell where Jing He was just based on that. If it was possible, why would he have needed to put a mark on him when he reincarnated for his trial?

He also couldn't know for sure what was happening on the other side. Some things would be passed on to him thanks to the fragment of his soul that was with Jing He but others wouldn't be. Honestly, other than giving a dragon in love some peace of mind that they were now closer to the one they cherished, it didn't have much practical use.

Previously, he had never cared about that. Anyway, it had been a spontaneous decision to bind his soul to Jing He's and it was only done because he truly couldn't resist any longer. He wanted that connection whether it was a smart decision or not or whether it brought any actual benefits or not. Only now that he could use some insight did he hate how useless this urge to bind one's soul actually was.

He sighed but didn't mention any of this. Instead, he just glanced at Leng Jin Yu and then followed him outside. His gaze rested on the shell for a moment but he currently wasn't in a good mood so he finally didn't go over and also kept quiet.

The two of them left directly from the courtyard, rushing straight to the capital city of the Nine Heavens.

Leng Jin Yu indeed used the opportunity to tell Qiu Ling a little more about what had happened. He still didn't mention all the details though. Somehow, he didn't think that Qiu Ling currently cared or even listened to him that deeply.

It really wasn't odd. If he imagined that the person in question was Jinde ... He also wouldn't be able to pretend that everything was alright and quietly listen to people analyze the situation. Not unless he felt that it would allow them to get any closer to answering the questions surrounding his husband's disappearance. And he wasn't even a dragon who had bound his soul in this life. So for Qiu Ling, it had to be even worse.

Leng Jin Yu glanced at Qiu Ling and then sighed quietly. Their relationship would always be a little odd but he still hoped to see him happy and healthy. Right now, it didn't seem like that was possible though. After all, if your soul was bound, then being apart from your partner for a long time would have a detrimental effect on you. Right now, he still wasn't in danger but if they couldn't find Jing He ... how long would it take until the effects showed themselves?

He thought back to his past life, to the time after he left the capital city with Qiu Ling and Biao Han and his brows furrowed. It had been years for him and it had only become worse when Jinde moved on from him. Still, the drain on his strength had been palpable. If this was what awaited Qiu Ling ...

The two of them soon reached the gates of the capital of the Nine Heavens. The guards were more than familiar with Qiu Ling's appearance and Leng Jin Yu had also been here before so they got in quickly.

Qiu Ling didn't waste any time and directly rushed to the garden behind Jing He's palace from where he usually entered. What he found this time wasn't the well-kept garden he remembered though. Instead, there was only chaos. Many of the plants had been snapped off by the wind, some spots even charred black from being hit by lightning. Seeing all of this, Qiu Ling stood rooted to the spot as soon as he landed.

Leng Jin Yu followed and also looked over the garden, sighing again. "The Heavenly Empress has started to clean it up from what I know but she also can't work miracles. It'll probably be a long time before it'll look as it did before."

Qiu Ling didn't respond. He only continued to stare at the devastated garden, his mind trying to conjure up the picture of what had transpired here. Jing He ... he had been out here at the time, hadn't he? He had suffered through this the same way the garden had. Was he ... was he really alright wherever he currently was?

Just thinking about this made his heart squeeze in pain. Hopefully, he was just thinking too much and Jing He was still safe and sound wherever he may be. He just ... just had to be or he really didn't think he could take it.