Qiu Ling tried to be as slow as he could about bringing Xin Lan to the Leyuan region. He still hoped that maybe his mother-in-law would try to contact him again and that the gods might get involved then and that he would have time to warn the old geezer while still not having to endanger Jing He's life.
Well, he certainly wouldn't have delayed like this had he known that he was, in fact, already racing against time. Now, it really was questionable if he would be able to free Jing Yi from the secret realm in time to prevent what could only be called a disaster.
Since the time in the demon realm flowed differently from that in the human and the secret realm a few weeks had already gone by when Qiu Ling returned. Never mind the injured disciples that had already been taken back to the Yun Zou Sect, naturally, this was also enough time for Jing Yi and Leng Jin Yu in the secret realm to put their plan into action.
By the time Qiu Ling and Xin Lan arrived at the array that marked the point where the secret realm would open Jing Yi had long entered his inner self. In fact, he had already stumbled upon the place he was searching for.
Jing Yi looked up at the gates of the palace and couldn't help but frown. This place looked slightly familiar although he was sure that he had never been here in this life. Most likely this should be a place he had frequented a lot in his past life.
"This probably is the place where I can find my memories …" He slowly walked toward the gates.
He didn't know how long exactly he had been in his inner self now but it was probably about two weeks. Thanks to the time he had spent in Qiu Ling's inner self back then he had felt that the inner self was a scary place where you'd need to watch every step you took.
Surprisingly, his inner self had turned out to be completely different: There was the hut he had lived in when he was a child, the teahouse in the capital and the streets where he had played with Xiao Dong, even the Yun Zou Sect and that house in the Hei Dian Sect where he had lived with Qiu Ling were there.
Nothing of this was scary. Quite the contrary, he felt happy when he saw these things. All these were memories he was fond of. It really spoke volumes about how different the life he had led was from Qiu Ling's. It turned out … his fiance hadn't really had any memories he wanted to remember.
Well, nothing besides that one person he had dearly loved.
Jing Yi shook his head. He himself had obviously been very much in love with another man in a previous life. It wasn't exactly the same as the situation with Qiu Ling and that Jing He but it could probably be compared now that he remembered.
So, he didn't have to worry. That person could only be regarded as a fond memory. Nothing more, nothing less.
Jing Yi took a deep breath and finally pushed the gates open. The first thing he saw was an intricate folding screen. He paused and took a longer look even though just a short glance was enough to tell him that this was something he had already seen in previous memories. It was obviously the folding screen that stood in front of one of the doors of the room he had lived in.
Jing Yi's heart thumped. This really was the right place. If nothing went wrong, then he would finally find the rest of the memories from his past life here.
Jing Yi stepped past the screen and took in the room behind it. This really was the one he had seen previously. He went over to the desk where he had placed the painting in the memory he acquired previously but this time the desk was empty. There was no scroll so he couldn't take a closer look. This was just … an empty room.
Jing Yi frowned. Yu Jin hadn't explained too much and just told him that he might go into his inner self and explore his memories. As for how exactly he would do that and how he would know that he had remembered everything he could … he didn't know anything about that. So, it seemed he could only go and look around and hope that his memories would come back sooner or later. Maybe something he saw would trigger them.
Jing Yi turned away from the desk and went to the other door he had seen in his memories. He opened it and found the familiar garden in front of him. In his previous life, he seemed to have spent a lot of time here. Most likely some memories would be tied to this place.
He slowly walked over and took a closer look. These plants … he had never seen them before. Well, if he had understood correctly, then he was in the Nine Heavens right now. It was to be expected that things would be different. These were probably plants that only grew in the realms of the immortals.
Jing Yi reached out to touch one of them but somebody else was faster. A hand bypassed his, grabbed the flower and cleanly plucked it off.
"Your Highness, I came to see you again. Here, this is for you." The flower was stuffed into his hands.
Jing Yi's past self turned around with a smile while his current self couldn't help but stare dumbfounded at the flower in his hands. This … Had this guy just plucked one of his flowers and then gifted it to him? What kind of nonsense was this?!
"Mn … It suits you so well. You're looking … especially lovely today."
Jing Yi's heart fluttered a little and the resentment over the man's shamelessness was replaced by a sudden sweetness. His past self paused when he noticed and hurriedly pressed the sentiment down. It seemed he didn't want to feel like this for the man in front of him.
Jing Yi couldn't help but be curious. How come the person he had remembered to love so deeply was suddenly treated like this? Or was this somebody else? He wanted to look up at him but as soon as he moved the memory dissolved. The man behind him vanished, the flower in his hands disappeared. There was only him at the edge of the garden.