Jing Yi hurriedly averted his gaze but he didn't need to say it anyway. It was way too obvious that he really hadn't thought of Qiu Ling.
"How … How come? You were so much in love with him before …" Leng Jin Yu froze. There was only one possible explanation for this. "You saw part of your past life and got so involved in it that you forgot about him. And you probably … fell in love?"
"I …" Jing Yi turned back to the window and looked at that corridor leading across the lake again. "It's true. I saw him."
Even now that Yu Jin had reminded him of Qiu Ling he still felt that it was natural. Tian was his fiance, he was the person he had sworn to stay true to for his whole life, no, for all his lives. Who else should he think of?
Seeing Jing Yi's tangled expression Leng Jin Yu really didn't know what to do. How come just remembering parts of his past life had led to such a situation? "That was your past life. Qiu Ling is your fiance now and he's still waiting for you out there." Leng Jin Yu stepped forward and leaned against the wall next to Jing Yi. "Don't you miss him?"
Jing Yi looked away. Regarding Qiu Ling … He felt a pang in his heart thinking of him. He had also promised to stay with him but … How could he do so? There was still Tian waiting for him somewhere.
"You don't love him anymore?"
"I … I shouldn't have fallen in love with him in the first place. It's my fault." Yes, how could he have fallen in love so casually? And even promise to marry that person? What would Tian say if he knew?
"But you did and your past life is long over anyway. Why shouldn't you be happy with Qiu Ling now?"
"Senior Martial Brother Yu." Jing Yi smiled at him. "You of all people should understand, shouldn't you? Don't you also want to find that person from your past life? How is that different?"
Leng Jin Yu rubbed his brow. Why did it seem as if the things he had said before would now come back to bite him? "Junior Martial Brother Zhong, what are you talking about? I never was in a relationship my whole life. This person from my past life … maybe it was predestined to meet again. But you already have Senior Martial Brother Qiu. Do you want to throw those feelings away?"
"You think it was predestined for you to be with that person again. But who says that it wasn't predestined for me to meet Tian again? Didn't I find that Fractured Crystal Leaf here even though it is so rare? And I acquired so many memories that had to do with Tian. This has to mean something!
"Yes, sure, to Qiu Ling this isn't fair but … What am I supposed to do? Can I really just ignore the promise I made to Tian? Can I just pretend that this past life of mine didn't happen? Then that wouldn't be fair to him! Whatever I do I would disappoint one of them.
"And … I feel like it shouldn't be Tian. I promised him and if I understood correctly, then I did a lot to make sure that I wouldn't break this promise. Thinking back now …" Jing Yi sighed. "At first, when Qiu Ling and I met there was a sign. When he proposed to me I had the feeling that I should reject him and when he touched me I actually felt … really opposed to it. That was probably my soul warning me that I was about to do something wrong. It's a pity that my resistance faded with Qiu Ling's relentless efforts. Maybe if I had stayed strong and listened to that warning, then nothing would ever have happened."
Leng Jin Yu sighed. There really wasn't anything he could say against this. Well, maybe he shouldn't anyway. Falling in love and then having to leave that lover because of someone from his past life, searching for that person from his memory and probably never finding him … Maybe this was another trial the Fate's Scribe had written for him? Or maybe … Maybe the Fate's Scribe hadn't needed to write anything? Maybe this was what Heaven had destined for the crown prince in the first place?
If that was the case, then he couldn't say anything against it. No, on the contrary, he should probably help with advancing this.
"Alright. If that is what you believe, then you should go ahead with it. Although … while we're still in here you should consider how to tell Senior Martial Brother Qiu. He wasn't here when you regained your memories and the concept is strange. Who knows if he would believe you?"
"Mn. I'll think about it."
Leng Jin Yu nodded. "Alright. Then I'll go back and work on getting us out of here."
"Thank you, Senior Martial Brother Yu. If there is anything I can do to help …"
"No need. You just … rest a bit and think things through."
"Alright." Jing Yi nodded but when Leng Jin Yu left he sighed.
What was there to think through? He had remembered Tian and their promise. There was no way he could just pretend nothing had happened and continue on with Qiu Ling. No, he had to end things with him as soon as he got out of the secret realm and then he would go and find Tian. As for how he would do that … Wasn't it obvious?
The place where his past self and Tian had spent their time had been in the Nine Heavens. So if he wanted to find out what had happened to him in his past life and what had happened to his lover, then the only way was to speed up his cultivation and continue on until he was finally able to ascend.
Only his ascension would allow him to enter that place and search for his lover. He couldn't waste even a single moment.
Thus Jing Yi went to sit down on the bed again and once again cultivated, hoping that he would at least be able to reach the third stage before his Senior Martial Brother figured out a way to leave the secret realm. After all, this place was way more suitable to cultivate than the Yun Zou Sect. He had to make proper use of it.