At that time, Jinde was facing a crisis of his own. His newly-wedded husband had actually put down the chair and sat on top of it, looking at him with a gaze that said he wouldn't tolerate any nonsense now. The worst thing was that he had positioned the chair so that even if Jinde leaned over the edge of the tub closest to him and reached out, he still wouldn't be able to touch even the hem of his robe.
Ah, how evil! He certainly hadn't imagined his marital life to be like this!
Jinde sighed, put one foot on the edge of the tub and crossed his legs at his ankles. If he couldn't touch Leng Jin Yu, he'd at least tease him a bit with what he could show. He couldn't let his husband get bored now that they were married, could he?
Leng Jin Yu looked at those two dainty feet and suppressed a sigh. He wasn't sure if Jinde was doing this on purpose or if this was just part of who he was but it was effective anyway. Half his displeasure had already dissipated. Well, there probably wasn't any way he could be displeased while looking at Jinde, was there?
He still sighed in the end and also crossed his legs. "So do you want to know who the people at the door were?"
Jinde put his elbow on the rim of the tub and propped his chin upon his hand. "Not particularly."
"They were from the dragon race."
"Well, they're already gone, aren't they? So why don't we continue where we left off before?"
"Xin Lan sent them."
"Really?" Jinde's golden brows lifted. "How strange! But maybe he didn't know that Qiu Ling isn't here. Don't worry too much about it. They'll probably find him later on and tell him whatever their visit was about."
"Jinde."
"Mn?"
"He sent them to me so that message was certainly meant for you."
"Oh?" Jinde smiled. He had no idea what this was about but the way Leng Jin Yu looked at him told him that he had to deny everything for as long as possible. Maybe there would be an opportunity to honey-trap his husband later on and make him forget about it? Even if there wasn't, he had to try at least!
"Don't you want to know what the message is?"
"Mn, well, it's probably very important if he sends someone to tell us. But actually … I'd much rather spend my time with you now and don't worry about anything else."
"They said the demon king was being provided with information from someone here in the Yun Zou Sect."
Jinde's smile got a little strained. Ah, that bear child Jin Ling! He wouldn't be able to ruin his day with his husband even without knowing that he was still alive, would he? "That … sounds grave. Do we know who that person is?"
"We do. I'm just wondering why Xin Lan would want you to know about this."
"Uh, well … Maybe it doesn't have to do with me? He sent those two to you, after all."
"He can't tell them about you, can he?"
"No but … maybe you're over-analyzing this. Sure, Xin Lan does a lot for me but he is of the dragon race, after all. If it concerns Qiu Ling and the Son of Heaven, he also wouldn't want Jin Ling's plans to succeed. So maybe he had them tell you so you could inform the gods or something."
Leng Jin Yu folded his hands in his lap and stared at his husband.
Jinde took his feet from the edge of the tub and sat up straighter. "What? Did I say something wrong?"
"Jin Ling?" Leng Jin Yu raised his brows. "That's an awfully familiar way of referring to the demon king, isn't it?"
Jinde's eyes narrowed and he gave a hollow laugh. Ah, how maddening! He had worried so much about what that bear child might do that he had finally busted himself. Well, it wasn't all over yet. "Well, as much as I hate to admit it … I have witnessed the reign of three demon kings so … I tend to refer to them by their names. I've done the same with Jian Heng, you remember?"
Leng Jin Yu's brows drew together. Well, that wasn't wrong but something told him that even if Jinde wasn't lying, he wasn't saying the whole truth either. But why?
Jinde shifted on the spot and finally patted the rim of the tub. "So … Any chance that you'll get back in? The water is getting a little cold too."
Leng Jin Yu sighed, got up and went over. He didn't take off his clothes though and just reached down to heat up the water a little. When Jinde reached out to grab onto his arm, he evaded him and stepped back to the chair, finally sitting down again.
"That should feel better now."
"It doesn't!" Jinde shifted over to the other side of the tub, looking at Leng Jin Yu with a complicated gaze. "Jin Yu, seriously, why are you so hung up over this? Someone delivered a message, so? Let's ignore this. We've married just yesterday. Do you really want to spend our time arguing?"
Leng Jin Yu's gaze softened. "I don't want to argue with you. I just want to understand. You've said you can't leave the Yun Zou Sect out of fear of being discovered. But Longjun already knows. So who are you running away from? The current demon king? Is there something about him I should know?"
Jinde lowered his head, unable to look Leng Jin Yu in the eye. Telling him about his relationship with Jin Ling … It was asking way too much of him. If he could, he would just indulge in the happy things and forget all about the life back then. All those dark years he had suffered, that short time of happiness Jin Ling had brought him … He would have liked to deny all of it.