Qiu Ling stared at Shen An De and blinked. Somehow … he felt mocked. Was Heaven trying to torture him or something? Hadn't he already suffered enough? He was already without his beloved for so long! Please, how long were they supposed to stay separated?! No, he wouldn't accept this!
"You have to open it!"
Shen An De sighed. Why was he looking at him like this? There was nothing he could do about this either! "Well, we can try to work something out and try it but …"
"Then let's do that!"
That should at least be faster than having An Bai and those gods research everything from scratch, right? Wait! Were the gods even still working with them? After all, his in-laws had cruelly abandoned their son and left him to fend for himself. Ah, now it really was only him who cared for Jing He …
Shen An De frowned. He felt like he was getting a headache trying to talk to this guy. "It's not that easy! Right now, your fiance is inside. If something goes wrong and we accidentally damage the array, he might be trapped in there forever. The realm won't even open on its own anymore."
Qiu Ling was petrified. What? His beloved might be … trapped forever?!
Shen An De sighed. "I'm sorry but I'd suggest for you to wait until the realm opens on its own again. Sooner or later that is bound to happen. It might take a lot of time but at least there is no risk involved. I'm sure you also wouldn't want to damn your fiance to a life in the secret realm, would you?"
"No, but …" Qiu Ling furrowed his brows. He felt lost right now.
Argh, why had he never made an effort to study these things after he became king? Then he wouldn't be standing around now without knowing how to help Jing He!
"I will look for the description Huan Yin left of the array. You can send someone to get it. Maybe your people will be able to find out something more."
"Mn. Alright. Thanks."
Shen An De looked at Qiu Ling. To think that he would actually hear a thank you from him, even if it had sounded perfunctory … The news must have been really hard on him.
Shen An De turned around and wanted to go back to the Hei Dian Sect but Qiu Ling suddenly remembered something.
"Eh? Wait! So, how long will it take for the realm to open again on its own?"
Shen An De just looked at him. Honestly, what was he supposed to say? The truth? He might as well ask his wife for the demon-banishing sword and cut the dragon king a few times. Most likely, it would hurt him less.
He averted his gaze and sighed. "Who knows? Even we in the Hei Dian Sect didn't know about the realm. Its opening was probably only found coincidentally. It would be best to always have someone monitor it at all times. With the manpower of the dragon realm, that shouldn't be a problem. I can lend you some of our disciples, too."
"Mn … No need." Qiu Ling thought about it but finally shook his head. "I'll do it on my own. I'll … wait here for him."
Shen An De raised his brows. "On your own? But … you know that this might take several years?" Or rather several thousand years.
Qiu Ling nodded. "It's alright. I … I want to be here when he gets out of there. Maybe … Maybe we're lucky and it opens really fast?"
Shen An De wanted to deny that possibility but refrained from saying anything when he saw how Qiu Ling looked at the array. Maybe it was better if he didn't know how long it would really take for the secret realm to open again. This way he could look at the future with hope.
"You'll see." He didn't dare to stay any longer and hurriedly turned away, returning to the Hei Dian Sect.
Qiu Ling continued to stand in front of the spot where the secret realm would open. He stared at the array with narrowed eyes while his mood sank.
Alright, how long could it take for this dumb thing to open again? A week? Well, that was probably too short. Maybe a month? Or … a year?! Oh, Heavens! He wouldn't be able to take that!
Just when Qiu Ling felt desperate Qiang Wei cleared his throat. "Your Majesty …"
"What?!" Qiu Ling definitely wasn't in the mood for any nonsense.
"Previously, you cut me off before I could report to you what Fu Heng said."
"Fu Heng?" Qiu Ling wasn't impressed. "Is that really important?"
"I'd say it is …"
"Then let's get it over with."
Qiang Wei smiled wryly. Well, at least he was going to listen. That was already more than he had hoped. "He and Fu Min met Senior Xin in the demon realm."
"Senior Xin?" Qiu Ling blinked, his bad mood forgotten for the moment.
"Mn. He said he was there on the previous king's command and he told them about the demon king's plan regarding His Highness. Fu Heng found it a little strange. They themselves weren't able to find any information so … He thought we'd better inform you."
Qiu Ling's gaze flitted about. "Is Senior Xin still in the demon realm right now?"
"Uh … probably? I didn't ask. Fu Min and Fu Heng are definitely still there."
"Mn. I'll take care of it You've done well. Guard the entrance to the secret realm for me." With a flurry of his sleeves, Qiu Ling hurried away.
Qiang Wei blankly looked at the figure diminishing in the distance. "Was I … Was I praised just now?" He blinked before slowly returning to reality. "Wait! Where is His Majesty?" His eyes widened and he started to run after him before he remembered that somebody had to watch over the Yun Zou Sect's disciples. "Your Majesty! Stop! You wouldn't want to go to the demon realm, would you?! Please keep in mind that you're the king of the dragon race, ah!"
Unfortunately, Qiu Ling couldn't hear him anymore. Well, it might be for the best. Otherwise, Qiang Wei would have had to see just how little his king cared for his opinion because a certain someone definitely would have still gone through with his plan.
After all, this was probably the last opportunity he had to get his Jing He out of that damnable secret realm before it opened on its own someday in the future.