Qiu Ling felt Jing Yi's gentle gaze and smiled even more sweetly. Mn, it seemed like helping him had made his beloved look with other eyes at him. Qiu Ling bent forward and stretched his neck to make it easier for his beloved to reward him.
Jing Yi laughed and cupped his cheeks. "You've really helped me a lot." He also leaned forward but before he could kiss Qiu Ling, he suddenly froze. His face went pale. "Qiu Ling … Isn't that … the direction of the capital?"
"Mn, why? You wouldn't need to take the direction into consideration, would you?"
Qiu Ling was puzzled. Just in case, he turned around and … grimaced. There was actually a gigantic whirlwind rushing toward the capital. Uh … It seemed he had completely forgotten to disperse the winds and had waved them away as the tempest they had formed?
"Qiu Ling!" Jing Yi grabbed onto his arms. "Do something!"
Qiu Ling nodded and lifted his hand, waving at the whirlwind. Then, nothing happened. Qiu Ling's eyes went wide and he stared at the whirlwind that continued forward and destroyed everything in its wake.
"Qiu Ling?" Jing Yi grabbed onto his sleeve even harder. "What is it? Why is it still …"
"I … I don't know." Honestly, he had never before conjured such a large storm up. Sure, he had called for smaller ones with some dark clouds and maybe a bit of lightning and lots of rain but he had never even thought of doing something like this! And now this thing was getting further and further away and slipped out of his grasp.
Most likely … his magic had limits. He had just never tested them before. But now it seemed that this had somehow exceeded them. Either the storm was too far away or it was too strong. He actually didn't want to know which one it was. Both of them were really, really troublesome.
Qiu Ling stood up and stepped forward to the edge of the summit. Damn. The whirlwind had left a swath of destruction. It ruined everything in its way but that didn't seem to slow it down. Instead, it even seemed to get faster.
Jing Yi leaped to his feet, too, and gripped his arm once again. "Qiu Ling, please …"
Qiu Ling turned around to him but the words he had wanted to say got stuck in his throat. There were actually tears in his beloved's eyes. "Jing He …"
"Please, do something. You have to stop it somehow. My … my mother … she's … still in the capital." The tears finally flowed over, trickled down his cheeks and dropped to the ground.
He hadn't seen her for five years and had only returned today to spend some short hours with her. When he imagined not seeing her ever again … He wouldn't be able to take it!
Qiu Ling gritted his teeth. Right. He couldn't let anything happen to Madam Zhong. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
He didn't know that much about magic since he never had anyone to teach him but there was one thing that he was sure of: Even if he didn't manage to call back the winds when he went closer, if he took on that other form of his, then he definitely would have the power to stop it. He would have more power.
It was just … Jing He was there. And even if it wasn't like that, there were still other people who might see him. What if they talked about it? A dragon turning up would be a huge sensation. They would definitely talk about it, there was no other possibility. What if Jing He heard? What if some god who coincidentally wandered the human realm heard of it or even saw and then reported to the Heavenly Emperor? What then?
He'd lose Jing He forever! How could he be able to take that? No, he couldn't do it. This was just a human life. His beloved wouldn't take it too seriously upon waking up, would he? He could just …
"Qiu Ling!" Jing Yi's tear-choked voice sounded next to him and his beloved shook his arm. "Please! I beg you! Do something!"
Qiu Ling gulped. Even if Jing He didn't blame him later on, he would blame him now. How could he take that?
"Alright", he choked out. "Jing He, do me a favor, alright?"
"Just tell me. I'll do anything if it helps you to save her." Jing Yi wasn't thinking of all those people in the capital right now. He only thought of the smile on his mother's face, of the kind words she had told him just some hours ago. How could that be suddenly gone?
Qiu Ling turned around to him and grabbed his shoulders. "Close your eyes. Close your eyes and don't open them until I come back and tell you to. Do you hear? You have to promise me! You can't open them no matter what!"
With his frantic voice, Jing Yi didn't even think to ask for any reason. He just hurriedly nodded and then closed his eyes, even going as far as covering his face with his hands.
Qiu Ling once again breathed deeply. He bent forward and placed a light kiss on Jing Yi's forehead. "I'll try everything to stop it. If I can't … then I'll save at least your mother. Don't you worry about her. Nothing will happen to her. She'll be alright." Right, he couldn't let his beloved experience another loss.
Qiu Ling rose into the air. He only hesitated a bit, then he changed his form. A large, black dragon with red markings on its scales and, of course, a crimson eye appeared in the air. It remained there for a moment and looked at Jing Yi's small form. His beloved really hadn't looked. He was someone who honored promises, so … it should be safe.
The black dragon sighed, turned around and sped toward the capital. He was still afraid, his heart beating madly, but he could do it for this person. If his beloved wanted him to do it, then he could do everything. Even if it was taking on this accursed form.
Maybe the people would be too preoccupied with their fear of the whirlwind to notice him? Even if they did, nobody would know that it was him. After all, he wasn't the only dragon in the mortal realm and nobody that was still alive had ever seen his true form. There really was nothing to be afraid of.
Trying to boost his confidence with these thoughts, Qiu Ling rushed toward the whirlwind. All of this was his fault. He had been too careless. He had to save the people from the capital and if that was impossible, then he'd have to save at least Madam Zhong.