Xin Lan closed his eyes and took a deep breath before opening them again. "Very well. If that is what you think, then maybe I should return to that roadside." He gave a short, derisive laugh. "Ah, I did everything His Majesty asked me to. I tolerated you all those years even though you were being so disrespectful to His Majesty. I looked the other way even when I found out just how deep that disrespect went.
And when His Majesty asked me to go to the demon realm after his death to keep an eye on you so you wouldn't suffer too much I still did it! But if His Highness thinks that the master's dog shouldn't be kept, then it will gladly return to the roadside. It would still be better than having to stay at yours."
Jin Ling snorted. "Then go if you want to go! Don't stay here and waste my time with your words!"
Xin Lan's eyes narrowed. This brat had indeed always been disrespectful. If not because his master loved him so much, he certainly wouldn't have stayed with him for so long.
In the end, he just shook his head, turned around and flew away. The most important thing was that his master wasn't found by him. As for everything else … it wasn't his problem anymore.
His master was already back. Why should he stay with that brat? No, he'd help his master regain what he had lost and then he would stay with him just like before. He would make sure that his master was happy this time around. He wouldn't let him down.
While Xin Lan sped away Jin Ling hovered in the air, lost. Had Xin Lan really just left? He couldn't really imagine it. He had always been with him. After Jinde died and that bastard followed onto his throne, he had immediately come to his side and served him until now. He wouldn't leave his side just because of a few words, would he?
Jin Ling tightened his lips. "Too sentimental. Why would you get all emotional just because I said something like this? Well, thinking about all the years you loyally served me I'll excuse your behavior today. But you'd better come back soon. Mn, I should use the time and go see what that Qiguan Cheng Da is up to. Maybe he survived and I can still use him against Qiu Ling."
He similarly sped away, leaving the sky above the Yun Zou Sect finally empty.
A few minutes passed by until, finally, a golden-haired person stepped out from behind the wall of one of the houses in the Yun Zou Sect. Jinde looked up through the window, shook his head and sighed.
"You couldn't think of anything more hurtful to say to him? Xin Lan's heart is probably bleeding right now. You really haven't changed at all."
With another sigh, he turned away from the window and sat down at the desk again. "Jian Heng, just what did you do to make this out of the cute child I raised? He wasn't like this when he was young."
Thinking back now it seemed as if the little one clinging to him, following every one of his steps and begging to be hugged at every opportunity had been another child. Just when had it stopped to be like that?
"I guess it's all my fault. I should have kept you with me and not sent you back there. Isn't it obvious that you'd become twisted after living there and even under Jian Heng's influence? Mn, he really didn't know how to raise children."
He shook his head again, took an empty scroll of paper and slowly ground some ink. Ah, back then, the smart thing to do would probably have been to sent Xin Lan to deal with Jian Heng. With him and with that wench that had seduced his lover. Then wouldn't Chun Yin have returned to his side? They could have married and raised those two little ones together. Qiu Ling and Jin Ling certainly would have made a cute pair of brothers.
Now, Jian Heng and that wench were dead. Unfortunately, Chun Yin was dead, too. Qiu Ling had suffered so much that his personality had become quirky and Jin Ling had grown accustomed to life in the demon realm and already grown twisted. Oh, and he himself was clinging to his last thread of life, stubbornly hanging on to preserve those memories of Chun Yin he had gathered in his last life, unable to heal his own soul even after several millennia.
What a waste.
The beautiful dream he had had was nothing more than that. A dream, an illusion, something that could never become true. Why was he still sitting here and pondered it? Chun Yin might return to him albeit as someone that had led another life. But these two children … Wasn't the hope for them already lost? The damage had been done, that couldn't be changed anymore.
Well, maybe the Son of Heaven would be able to save at least Qiu Ling. Maybe that child … maybe he could still live a normal life someday. Maybe after marrying the one he loved and finally starting a new family he could get over the pain from that time.
As for Jin Ling, the best thing he could do for him was not to appear again. He wouldn't show himself in front of him ever again. Maybe then someday that child would also be able to live a normal life. Maybe someday he would find someone he could love just like Qiu Ling had done. Maybe then all of this would have been worth it.