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

111 An Easy Way to Find Him

Qiu Ling hurried out of the room and down the path into the garden before either Bai Fen or Xin Lan could react. Only then did he heave a sigh of relief and raise the transmission stone again. "Phew! You're lucky I'm a quick thinker! What happened with Xiang Yu?"

Apart from the people in the dragon realm, nobody knew yet that Xiang Yu was a fallen god and he didn't think they should let them find out. Especially not in the current situation where everyone's nerves were high-strung. Even though he trusted Bai Fen a lot more compared to the Heavenly Emperor even she shouldn't be trusted with this for now. The fear of fallen gods was simply too strong among the trueborn gods.

Xin Lan had been wondering what was up but as soon as the Heavenly Empress was mentioned by name, he also realized what the issue was. He didn't dwell on what Qiu Ling had made up to excuse himself and simply told Qiu Ling about Xiang Yu's situation in a few sentences.

Qiu Ling slowly raised his brows. How to say it? This was a bit ... coincidental. He hesitated for a while, looked around, and finally entered one of the buildings in the back at random so nobody could overhear them. "You know, it feels odd to hear you say this. I'm not sure if you have heard from Jinde but something happened on our side." He took a few minutes to get Xin Lan up to date as well, making the other dragon fall silent for a while.

Xin Lan quietly looked at Xiang Yu, a bad feeling in his heart. "That means Tian volunteered this information twice in just a matter of days. That's ... awfully kind of him." His eyes narrowed, trying to figure out what he had overlooked.

Tian wasn't kind. He was a bastard out for revenge who enjoyed seeing the people in the immortal realms squirm. There was no way he'd ever voluntarily help them out. No, he might lend a helping hand but only if he got something in return. He wouldn't believe anything else.

Qiu Ling was well aware of how much Xin Lan detested Tian. He wasn't sure who to believe either. He knew who he wanted to believe though. "He doesn't seem to have a reason to play me. On the other hand, maybe he has a soft spot for fallen gods because of his lover. It would explain why he did this for both Xiang Yu and Jing He. He wants them to find happiness again."

Xin Lan raised his gaze back to the apparition above the transmission stone. "You're a fool if you believe that. If he wanted to, would he need to give such vague explanations?"

Qiu Ling pursed his lips. "Well, that might actually have to do with you ..." After all, Tian's explanations when he told him about Jing He's situation could even be called drawn out. He had made the core of the issue perfectly clear and even the full backstory had been included. Where was any of that vague?

"Frankly, I think he might just want to help those two. In Jing He's case, doing so requires telling me so he did. He doesn't mind me either so he had no issues doing it. In Xiang Yu's case, you are kind of ... expendable?" He furrowed his brows, feeling that maybe this wasn't the best word. "I mean, I could theoretically do this trial without you, couldn't he? So telling you what he did could already be considered as Tian doing you a favor. More than that ... well, he certainly could have but since he dislikes you, he might indeed want to watch you squirm."

Qiu Ling tsked, feeling that he should count himself lucky that Tian apparently liked him. Or, well, even if he didn't like him, he at least didn't find his presence distasteful. That sure had come in handy today. Well, right now wasn't the moment to gloat though. "Even if he didn't tell you anything else, it shouldn't be difficult to find him though. In fact, you might not even need to mention Xiang Yu at all."

Xin Lan raised his brows. "How else am I going to find him then?"

Qiu Ling leaned against the door and narrowed his eyes. All of this was new to him as well so he couldn't say for sure but ... "If I understood Tian right, then the way to undo the impact of the fall is to confront its cause. In Xiang Yu's case, the trial is precisely for that purpose.

"I probably know a lot less about him than you do but seeing how his previous trial went and the behavior he has shown so far, isn't this about his feelings? So instead of finding him, why not try to find the person that started all of this? Surely, he'll meet that person sooner or later on his trial and as long as you look for some clues, you should be able to tell that it is him. Anyway, you do know his age." He shrugged, feeling that this should be a sure thing.

Xin Lan paused but then slowly nodded. "You're not wrong."

In fact, after hearing what Qiu Ling proposed, he felt that he should have thought of this before. During the first trial, hadn't Hua Lin Yu fallen in love with Bai Mu and Xiao Li because they looked like his late husband? Then this time around, it was likely that something similar would happen. And since this was about his remaining obsession, he might indeed meet Yan Xia's reincarnation this time around in the mortal realm.

Xin Lan's thoughts churned and he finally hummed. "I've got it. I will go and inquire right now. Who knows when exactly he will appear around him?"

Qiu Ling nodded. "Alright. Good luck then. If you need any further help ..." He hesitated, not sure if he should offer at all. His relationship with Xin Lan really wasn't close but ... he kind of felt that they were in the same boat or, well, at least they were in very similar boats, drifting about on the same sea. "If I can help, I'll do it. Don't worry. He'll be alright. They will both be. They'll come out of this more at ease and happier than before. We should look forward to that."

Xin Lan didn't say anything and simply hummed, finally cutting the connection. Yes, if both people could make it through this and see a turn for the better, he would also feel relieved.