The night came and went by in the human realm and the disciples of the Yun Zou Sect got up again. Jing Yi was one of them. He looked at the robe and the jade pendant on the table and sighed. So all of that had really happened. He hadn't accidentally fallen asleep while cultivating and dreamed of it. In that case, he had to make a trip to the Sect Master.
Jing Yi freshened up, took the things and left his room. He didn't see any of the disciples he knew from his childhood as if there were only new faces around. It made him feel as if he had missed out on many years. Well, he had just that he had spent them cultivating at another place. It wasn't too bad. It just … felt a little strange. Maybe that would have been different if at least Shao Hai and Xiao Dong had still been around but as things stood it would take a long time until he could see them again.
Jing Yi made his way over to the array dividing the inner and the outer sect from each other. He looked at it and frowned. It should suffice to hold the jade pendant over it, shouldn't it? He tried it but instead of opening the array, even the pendant was repelled. Jing Yi blinked and lifted the jade pendant to take a closer look at it. It certainly looked like the ones he had seen on some of the senior martial brothers. So why didn't it work?
Jing Yi pondered. The first explanation he found … It couldn't be that Qiu Ling hadn't actually talked to his Master and the Sect Master and instead just given him some similar looking pendant, could it?! Or maybe he had gotten the real one originally but figured that it wasn't good enough and thus somehow got his hands on one that looked the same but didn't have the same features? It was entirely possible. That sounded like something his fiance would do.
Not far from him Qiu Ling was hidden behind a tree and observed how his beloved waited at the border to the inner sect. What was his beloved doing there? Why was he looking at the jade pendant like that? Could it be … Had he thought about his suggestion and decided that he wanted to have another one?!
Qiu Ling jumped out of his hiding place and ran over, grabbing Jing Yi around the wait. "My love, I just knew you would consider your future husband's words! Tell me what kind of jade pendant you want instead and I'll get it for you immediately! Actually, I have a few here …"
Qiu Ling wanted to search for them but Jing Yi put a hand on his arm, stilling his movement. Qiu Ling didn't mind. Ah, look at this! His beloved was finally willing to talk to him again and even touch him! This was such a great day! In celebration, Qiu Ling hugged him closer against his chest. "What did you decide on, my love?"
Jing Yi tried to ignore Qiu Ling's shameless behavior and held the jade pendant in front of his face. "This is the pendant you got from the Sect Master for me?"
Qiu Ling looked at it and nodded very honestly. "Yes. They didn't have better ones."
Jing Yi closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Are you sure it's this one? You didn't exchange it for another one or change anything about it? It's really the same one and exactly like it was when you got it?"
Qiu Ling nodded again. "Yes. It's the same, ugly thing I got from the Sect Master. What do you want to change? If you like the jade, we could just tie a nicer ribbon to it."
Jing Yi's brows twitched. Just why was Qiu Ling always harping on how ugly it was? It wasn't that bad, was it? He took a closer look at it before he jerked. What was he doing here?! He was supposed to enter the inner sect grounds and give this back to the Sect Master! He didn't even have to consider whether it was pretty or ugly. That was completely irrelevant! Ah, he shouldn't listen to Qiu Ling.
Jing Yi took another deep breath and pointed at the array on the ground. "This is the array that separates the inner and the outer sect, isn't it?"
Qiu Ling looked at it. Uh … That was an array alright. What a crude one! He could hardly tell what it was meant to do. "Seems like it?"
"Then why can't I step past it even though I have the jade pendant already?"
Qiu Ling blinked. So his beloved hadn't been waiting for something, he just hadn't been able to cross this stupid array. He didn't know what the reason was though. "Maybe it's broken?"
"Could we stay serious for a moment? This is the array the Yun Zou Sect has used for thousands of years to divide the inner and outer sect. Why would it break down now of all times?"
Qiu Ling pursed his lips. "Well, if they've used it for that long, it's pretty old already."
Jing Yi just sighed. He felt like speaking to Qiu Ling wouldn't help at all. On the contrary, it would make things more difficult. No, it would still be better to go and ask one of the Elders. "Alright, then I'll go and —"
"Ah, no, no, no, no!" Qiu Ling hurriedly gripped him tighter. He definitely couldn't let this prime opportunity slip by! They were finally spending time together again and even so harmoniously. He had to use this to his advantage.
Thus Qiu Ling lifted one of his hands and waved it in the direction of the array, sending a powerful burst of spiritual energy with it. The array flared and finally became dull while Qiu Ling's face lit up. "I think it's alright now. Try to go over." He took Jing Yi's hand and led him over the array.
Indeed. This time there was no invisible boundary that Jing Yi encountered. He wasn't too happy about it though.
"Qiu Ling, what did you just do? Won't this cause problems?"
Qiu Ling blinked at him very innocently. "No. Why should it? So, where did you want to go?"
Jing Yi had nothing else to say and just sighed. "The Sect Master."
"Then let's go!" Qiu Ling very cheerfully led him in the right direction. Mn. How nice. His beloved wasn't even trying to shake him off.
At the same time, Sect Master Yuchi leaped to his feet inside his palace. What was this? Had he just heard the alarm that one of their arrays had been broken?!