Back in the Yun Zou Sect, Leng Jin Yu leaped up when he heard Jinde yell. His hand went for his sword but he couldn't discover anything. He lowered his weapon and turned to look at Jinde.
"What happened? Are you alright?"
Jinde sighed and brushed his hair back. "I contacted Xin Lan just now. It seems like he got into trouble."
Leng Jin Yu put his sword away and slid closer to Jinde again, pulling him into his embrace. "It's alright. Didn't you say he was strong? I even saw him subdue the current Longjun. Shouldn't he be able to deal with whatever happened?"
Jinde furrowed his brows. It was almost impossible for anyone to get close to Xin Lan without him noticing. And if he hadn't seen wrong, then the person that had managed to do so had carried a black mark between his eyebrows. Wasn't that the distinctive mark of the fallen gods? If so … then even Xin Lan might be helpless.
"What is it? Are you that worried? Maybe I could help? I could go there and —"
"No." Jinde grabbed his lover's hand and leaned his head against his shoulder. "Xin Lan went to the demon realm. That isn't a place you should go."
Leng Jin Yu gently stroked the back of Jinde's head. "I'm not human anymore. Even though I came back here, I've already ascended. Going there wouldn't be too dangerous. If it can help him … He means a lot to you, doesn't he?"
Jinde looked up and cupped Leng Jin Yu's cheeks. "Jin Yu. Regardless of how much Xin Lan means to me, you are the most important person to me. If something happened to Xin Lan, I would be very much heartbroken and I would love to kill whoever hurt him. But if something happened to you … I don't know if I could go on living.
"I held onto my life even after I found out that Chun Yin died just because I couldn't bear to let the memories between us vanish just like that. I wanted to hold onto them until you returned to me so that I could tell you about them or maybe even give them back to you if it's possible."
Leng Jin Yu grabbed his hand and pressed it against his chest. "Don't worry. I'm here. You won't lose me again. I'm not that weak."
Jinde smiled. "Chun Yin wasn't weak either and still …" He sighed. "Anyway, there is nothing you could do now to help Xin Lan. If I saw correctly, then there was a fallen god around. That is nothing any of us can do anything about. And Xin Lan probably knows that best."
Leng Jin Yu's brows drew together. "Fallen god? I think I've heard of them before but I'm not too sure how to imagine them. Are they similar to cultivators suffering from a Qi deviation?"
Jinde looked up and smiled. "Right, Xin Lan said you only ascended a few years ago. You probably haven't heard much about these things." He sighed. "I think your comparison isn't that far off the mark. The fallen gods, they indeed aren't a race of their own but rather former gods that … changed because of something. In the immortal realms, it is often said that demons can't feel, that dragons feel too much and that the gods symbolize something like an equilibrium where they feel but not too deeply. If this equilibrium is broken … a fallen god might emerge."
Leng Jin Yu nodded. "Mn. I think that is what their trials are for, to let them experience these emotions so something like that doesn't happen."
Jinde smiled. "I wouldn't be too sure about that. I don't know much about the gods. The races aren't too close, even though they have been allied with the dragons for a long time already. I have heard that there are trials for them but I don't really know what they are for. Considering the peculiarities of the dragons though …" He shook his head and sighed again, snuggling up against Leng Jin Yu's chest. You don't know about a lot of things yet and I don't even know where to begin with explaining them. What you should know is that all three immortal races are cursed. The reason for that … in a sense, are the fallen gods and that is also why they are feared so much."
"Cursed?"
"Mn. I can tell you more about that later but for now … You've said that Qiu Ling's beloved remembered something about a person called 'Tian', didn't you?"
"Yes. The God of War said that this might be from an old story of the gods that he got mixed up with his own life."
Jinde nodded. "Very likely so. Tian is someone all three immortal races remember even though the only one alive that has actually seen him is Xin Lan."
"Even the Heavenly Emperor called him 'Senior Xin Lan' of the dragon race. I guess that means he is really old?"
Jinde smiled wryly. "I don't like how you're saying 'really'. I'm not old."
Leng Jin Yu chuckled, leaned down and kissed Jinde's temple. "I never thought you were. And even if … you look stunning."
"Mn, not bad. At least you know how to sweet-talk someone."
"For a human, I've also lived long."
Jinde smiled and stroked Leng Jin Yu's arm. "It's true what you said. Xin Lan is the oldest dragon around. Even the oldest immortal. I am … Well, I guess I can't deny that I am fairly old in comparison to a lot of other dragons. In the Nine Heavens, the one who could most likely compare to me in age would be their Senior Yue Xia, the God of Love."
"Ah, I've seen him." Leng Jin Yu furrowed his brows again. Come to think of it … Why had the God of Love asked whether he was married or not? He hadn't managed to ask him but maybe he should have done so. Could it be that this had something to do with Jinde?
He looked at his lover and gently brushed back his hair. Mn, he should really go and ask. Even though … whatever that Senior Yue Xia had to say, it wouldn't change anything about his love for Jinde.