Shen An De frowned at Jing Yi's panicked expression. What exactly had the Son of Heaven seen? Hong Ai furrowed her brow just the same but she looked at her husband instead, her gaze saying 'That's what you did. How do you intend to straighten this out?'
Shen An De took a deep breath. "Do you want to talk about it?" He really had no other idea on how he could help him.
Jing Yi lowered his head. That was exactly what Qiu Ling had asked and he hadn't even told his fiance. Now, after the Grandmaster had more or less told him that the person he had been embraced by in that nightmare had been his lover once, he definitely couldn't bring it up with Qiu Ling! But if he didn't speak with him, he shouldn't tell anybody else about it.
In the end, Jing Yi just shook his head. "No. It's alright. I was just … a little worn-out after seeing all that without understanding what is going on."
Shen An De nudged his wife. This needed some capable female hands.
Hong Ai sighed and slid onto the seat next to Jing Yi. She gently patted his arm. "It's perfectly normal to feel overwhelmed after something like this. Especially if the thing you saw isn't something that has to do with your current life. I guess it's a bit terrifying seeing something you don't know anything about."
Jing Yi nodded. "I honestly thought I was possessed. My body … suddenly did things without me willing it and there were thoughts and … feelings that clearly weren't mine but I couldn't do anything." He lifted his hands and hid his face. He definitely never wanted to feel like that again.
Hong Ai hugged him and patted his back. "I'm sorry. We should have warned you." Yes, at this moment, she really regretted not having held her husband back. This was only a young boy. Whoever he had been in his past life he wasn't that person any longer. He didn't deserve to be treated like this.
Jing Yi took a trembling breath and lowered his hands. "I should probably go back. My fiance … He's probably worried."
"Why didn't you bring him over?"
Hong Ai's question made Jing Yi flinch. He felt guilty about that, too. Since they were engaged shouldn't he tell him everything? "Madam Shen … Can I ask you something?"
Hong Ai lifted her brows. "Naturally. What is it?"
"You … You and your husband …" He looked at Grandmaster Shen and felt instantly dumb. Even if he asked, she wouldn't tell him the truth in front of her husband, right?
Shen An De lifted his brows, too. "I … still have some paperwork to do." He smiled at his wife, kissed her cheek and left. Whatever that boy had wanted to know it seemed like he shouldn't hear. Mn, Hong Ai could tell him later.
Meanwhile, his wife turned back to Jing Yi. "What is it?"
"Has there ever been something … you felt you shouldn't tell your husband?"
"Oh." Hong Ai leaned back and poured herself another cup of tea. "I'm not so sure. We've been living together for a good millennium now. A lot has happened. Even if there were things that I wouldn't have told him in the beginning, I probably wouldn't have qualms about telling him now."
"I see." Jing Yi lowered his head. So he should probably go and tell Qiu Ling.
"Did you see something that you feel your fiance can't accept?"
Jing Yi hesitated but finally nodded. He had nobody else to ask and a married woman could probably give him advice. "The person I saw … If what your husband said is true and this is something from a former life, then I feel that he was probably my lover."
"Oh." Hong Ai thoughtfully shook her cup. "That is probably hard to tell your current lover."
"Mn."
Hong Ai furrowed her brow. Judging from what the dragon king had said the last time he had been the boy's lover. But he himself hadn't reincarnated as a mortal so he shouldn't have changed. If the person Jing He saw was really him, then he should have recognized him. So … was this another lover he had had as the Son of Heaven? Or was this someone from yet another life?
She didn't know that much about the gods since she had never gone to the Nine Heavens after meeting Shen An De. The only one who had been there and could tell them more about it was Hong Bao but she couldn't remember anything so that was a hopeless case.
She could imagine, though, that it didn't really count as a new life if a god descended. As far as she knew, they didn't have to die for that, after all. So maybe the last life the Beguiling Night Tree's fruit had evoked was indeed the last real life and that lover really wasn't the dragon king.
Jing Yi observed Hong Ai's expression and gulped. She also didn't look optimistic. "Do you think I should tell him?"
Hong Ai looked up and sighed. "That's hard to tell for an outsider. You know him the best. Would he be able to handle it?"
Jing Yi wanted to nod but hesitated at the last moment. Qiu Ling's moods could be a bit unstable. Most of the time he was overly excited when he was with him, sometimes he could get serious, too, and then there were these rare moments where he made it seem like the world would end the very next moment.
It had been like that back when he had rejected his proposal and it had also been like that when they were in his inner self. Both times it had to do with love. So it was pretty obvious that that was something that could hurt Qiu Ling deeply.
In that case … Telling him that he had seen another man and that he had relived the positive feelings he had had for that person once probably wasn't a good idea.
Jing Yi shook his head. "I'm not sure but I'm afraid he won't."
"Then you already have your answer. But, Jing He, you shouldn't concern yourself with the thing you've seen too much. That was another life. This one is your current life and your current fiance is Qiu Ling. There is no need to be on edge because of something that is long gone."
Jing Yi nodded hesitantly but Hong Ai wasn't finished yet.
"What I want to say is that … It might not be good to tell him right now since you yourself are unsure about what it means. But when you've calmed down and have accepted that it's no odds, then you can tell him, too. He'll probably feel better knowing that you dare to bring it up in front of him."
This time, Jing Yi nodded with a better feeling. Yes, indeed, he shouldn't completely keep it from Qiu Ling but he should take a bit of time to think it through, first. "Thank you, Madam Shen."
"Don't mention it." She waved his concerns away before patting his arm again. "Speaking of your fiance, you should probably hurry back. You've been unconscious for three days. He was really on edge."
"Three days?" Jing Yi paled. He wouldn't even have thought that it had been this long! He would have thought that it had been a few hours at most. Oh no! And he had left Qiu Ling immediately after that. Wouldn't he feel especially bad now? "Thank you for your advice." He stood up, cupped his fists and bowed hurriedly before leaving the room in a haste and running back to his fiance's side.
He really didn't want Qiu Ling to worry. It was more than enough if one of them felt bad about this. Unfortunately, it was too late for that already. A certain someone was already fretting over what his beloved's changed attitude could mean.