"Master!" Qiu Ling barged into Grandmaster Zhangsun's palace like always, not caring that his master was meditating right now.
Zhangsun Xun Yi frowned a little when he noticed that Qiu Ling had brought somebody with him but he didn't even open his eyes. His disciple had probably come again to make a ruckus. He shouldn't entertain him.
"Master!" Qiu Ling cried out again and pulled Jing Yi into his master's room. "Here, my love, sit down." Qiu Ling led him to the place in front of Zhangsun Xun Yi, offering a seat.
"Senior —" Jing Yi wanted to protest but he couldn't get a word out before Qiu Ling had taken a seat himself and pulled him down.
Grandmaster Zhangsun cracked open his eyes. Ah. So it turned out the person his disciple brought was the boy he had proposed to. Well, it was to be expected. He thought of that man's words and opened his eyes completely. "What is it?"
"Master, it's like this: I want to take Jing He out to pl— er … to travel around and temper ourselves!"
Zhangsun Xun Yi pretended he hadn't heard his disciple's slip of the tongue. He turned toward Jing Yi. "Jing He, you don't have a master in the outer sect, is that right?"
Jing Yi nodded and tried to ignore the fact that Grandmaster Zhangsun would also remember his name wrong now thanks to Qiu Ling. He didn't dare to correct him.
Zhangsun Xun Yi saw that Jing Yi seemed unhappy about something but he didn't ask. He wouldn't make things difficult for those two but he also wouldn't needlessly help. "Very well. Then you may go. If you get into trouble …" He once again thought back to that man's words. If even he didn't know if he could teach Qiu Ling anything, then asking him to send him a message if he needed help was idiocy. His disciple wouldn't need it.
The Grandmaster sighed. "Just don't get into trouble. Ah, yes, there is one thing you should remember, though: You better really let that boy learn something. I don't mind you marrying him but there are certain rules in the sect. As my disciple, you won't be able to marry someone from the outer sect without trouble so you better see to it that he gets good enough to be transferred to the inner sect by the time you come back."
"Ah?" Qiu Ling's smile finally broke down. He couldn't marry his beloved if he wasn't a good enough cultivator? Who made such a stupid rule?! That guy needed a thorough beating!
Grandmaster Zhangsun ignored his disciple's expression and turned to Jing Yi again. "You probably also wouldn't want to become an embarrassment to him. Considering my disciple gave you the Amethyst Lightning pill you should have at least reached the root stage if you return one year from now."
"Root stage?" Jing Yi couldn't help but get flustered. The root stage was the second stage of cultivating after the seed stage. He had tried to learn everything he could about cultivation since five years ago but he still hadn't even managed to enter the seed stage. How could he reach the root stage in one year?!
Qiu Ling looked at Jing Yi's troubled expression with bewilderment. He had no idea what this stage was but it couldn't be anything good if his beloved looked like that! He grabbed Jing Yi's hands. "You don't have to reach anything, my love. Just do what you want. I'll always stay with you."
Jing Yi smiled wryly. It wasn't that he didn't want to. He just couldn't believe that he would be able to.
"Remember that you'll have heavenly spirit veins after you take the pill. Thus, cultivating won't take you as much time. A year should be enough."
"Ah. That's true." Jing Yi lowered his head. That was true. It was just … He had already given the pill back through Qiguan Cheng Da. He couldn't ask for it again. And even if he could, he wouldn't want to. What he had said to Qiguan Cheng Da was true: He really believed that he should achieve his goal through his own hard work. Having somebody else gather the materials for him and just taking the pill seemed wrong to him. He didn't want to be that kind of person.
Qiu Ling grew restless. "Is that everything, Master? Can we go now?"
Zhangsun Xun Yi nodded. "Yes, you may go."
Qiu Ling didn't need to be told twice. He pulled Jing Yi to his feet and ran as fast out of his Master's palace as he had run in. "Let's go, my love!" Once again, he wrapped Jing Yi up in his arms and flew up into the air.
Jing Yi clung to his neck. This wasn't fun at all! Did that idiot not know that he couldn't fly? What if his grab loosened and he fell down?! "Qiu Ling!"
"What is it?" Qiu Ling actually halted in mid-air. His beloved's voice had sounded quite urgent.
"Let me down!"
"Hah? Didn't you want to go to the capital? Don't tell me you want to walk? That would take ages!"
"How can we fly like this? What if you drop me!"
Qiu Ling blinked. Oh. So his beloved was afraid. That … probably was the right opportunity to showcase his love?
Qiu Ling slowly descended. They had already left the Yun Zou sect behind and were now on one of the mountains of the Long mountain range that overlooked the forest at its feet. He gently put Jing Yi down. "There is no need to worry. I'd never drop you. I'll never let go of you. I'll hold onto you." He took Jing Yi's hands into his and gently caressed them.
Jing Yi blushed. He suddenly felt uneasy about raising such a fuzz. Qiu Ling was doing all this just for him and he had indeed held him tightly. "It's alright … I'm sorry."
Qiu Ling leaned forward and hugged him just as gently as he had held his hands. "You don't have to be. I'd do anything for you. If you don't like flying that way, then we'll do it another way." He stepped back before Jing Yi could grow uneasy and slightly waved.
The wind picked up and actually blew a cloud down. Jing Yi's eyes nearly popped out.
What … What was going on? Wasn't Qiu Ling a cultivator? "How …"
Qiu Ling smiled and pulled him onto the cloud. Jing Yi grabbed onto his arm, afraid of what might happen, but the cloud below his feet was surprisingly hard. Or, well, it was soft but still firm. The feeling was quite strange.
Qiu Ling stepped onto the cloud and hugged him from behind. "Let's sit down", he murmured, his breath stroking Jing Yi's ear.
Jing Yi felt his legs going weak. Seriously, what was going on with him?! He could only sit down with Qiu Ling's help, still wrapped in his arms. Jing Yi closed his eyes. There was nothing he could say about this. Qiu Ling really had done whatever he could. Jing Yi sighed and leaned back into Qiu Ling's chest. Qiu Ling's breath still gently caressed his cheek and at his back Jing Yi could feel his heartbeat.
Whatever his mother was going to say, he already felt like it wouldn't be too bad to be with Qiu Ling. He hadn't felt that strange repelling feeling from the beginning anymore for quite a while. If it went on like this … Even if he didn't love him now, he would probably do so soon. Qiu Ling just magically attracted him.
The cloud steadily rose back into the sky.
While Qiu Ling and Jing Yi traveled back to the capital like that, a beautiful woman was frowning at a place Qiu Ling had already forgotten. She was deep in thought.
"What is it?" A seductive, slightly husky voice sounded not far from her and the woman looked up with a troubled gaze.
"An De, Darling!" The woman scurried over to him and nestled up against his chest. "I can't stop thinking about what happened that day. Who was that person? He clearly said my sister's name!"
The man nodded. "That is indeed strange. Don't worry, my dear. I'll have our people look into it."
The woman nodded, tiptoed and kissed him on the lips.
The man smiled slightly. "Alright, stop thinking about it. Let's go back inside." He took her hand and the two of them disappeared back into the building behind them.