"Your Majesty." The demon that Qiu Ling had let go cleared his throat and pulled Jin Ling out of his thoughts.
The demon king opened his eyes and smiled, part charming, part melancholic. Ah, why was he still thinking of him? Jinde … Their time together … That was long past. Now, there was nothing left of it but regrets and reproach.
"What is it?"
"Uh …" The demon gulped. Somehow, his king's face didn't look right. Furthermore … Excuse him, but had his king missed the spectacle over there? Wasn't it obvious that the dragons were on their way over? "The dragon king …
"What's with him?"
"He invaded our territories and started slaughtering our people. We tried holding him back but … he's terribly enraged and we couldn't even scratch him up till now. He said to deliver a message to you."
"Oh?" Jin Ling turned around to the man and his half-smile turned back into the charming one the demons knew him with.
The demon hurriedly nodded. "Yes, he said that if something happened to his beloved, then he would flatten our whole realm."
"Mn. I wonder if he has that ability." Jin Ling turned back to watch the dragons roaring in the sky.
Actually, it didn't sound too bad. Flattening a kingdom to take revenge for your beloved, that was. Unfortunately, the one who had killed the person he loved had been his own father and he had already been killed by that person in return. Who was he supposed to take revenge on now?
The only one that was still there was Qiu Ling so … he would make sure he didn't have a good life. That man's child, the proof that he had betrayed Jinde and broken his heart, something like that couldn't be allowed to exist in this world. He had to vent Jinde's anger for him, slowly torture him and then kill him off. That would be his revenge for Jinde. Maybe then … he would forgive him for falling in love with him.
Jin Ling chuckled lightly. "Well, then I guess we should go and talk to him. Negotiations are very important in this kind of situation."
He said so but instead of hurrying to the battleground, he turned around and went back into the palace.
The demon that had delivered Qiu Ling's message stood there dumbly. What now? Could his task be considered to be done? So … Should he go back? But that crazy dragon king would certainly kill him if he did. Then should he follow his own king? Ah, but his king also seemed strange today.
In the end, he still returned to the battlefield. Maybe he would be able to impress his king when he displayed his willingness to put his life on the line in the fight against the dragon king.
Unfortunately, when he arrived, he wasn't faced with Qiu Ling's handsome face but instead got greeted by the claw of a dragon that pierced right through his shoulder. He screamed and staggered back, eying the bloody wound on his shoulder suspiciously. How had this happened?!
Looking around him, he finally realized that the dragon king wasn't alone anymore. The warriors of his race had caught up to him and joined him in the fight, rapidly decimating the number of the demons who hadn't had any time to prepare.
While his subjects were already fighting for their lives, Jin Ling leisurely walked back to the room holding his most valuable asset. Opening the door, he found the mortal sitting on the bed, his eyes closed and the spiritual energy circling around him.
Jin Ling chuckled. "It seems you've already grown used to the thought of living in the demon realm."
Jing Yi's eyes sprang open and he scrambled back on the bed, widening the distance between Jin Ling and himself at least a bit.
Jin Ling looked at him and continued to smile. "It's good that you are. You can tell your ex-fiance in a bit."
"What are you talking about?"
Jin Ling didn't answer. He strode over to the bed and grabbed Jing Yi's wrist. "He was faster than I thought. I had expected he would first inform everyone and then plan how to proceed before bringing the joined armies over here to confront me but … your ex-fiance is a little rash. He actually seems to have come over here by himself. Well, the news spread soon enough so at least the dragons are here now. I don't know whether they've found him yet but I guess it is likely. So … I guess we're at war again. That will be pretty dangerous. Who knows if your ex-fiance will live to see its end?"
Jing Yi frowned. "Why are you calling him my ex-fiance all the time?"
Jin Ling stopped walking. "Isn't that obvious?"
"No." Jing Yi furrowed his brow even further. He didn't understand this man anyway but this didn't make sense to him. Hadn't he already told him that he and Qiu Ling were a couple and that he wouldn't reconsider that? "We made up already. We're engaged and we'll marry as soon as I get out of here."
"Ah, but you don't want to get out of here."
"I —"
"Or at least that is what you will tell him. Otherwise …" Jin Ling leaned down and his eyes curved up. "Do you believe Qiu Ling would kill himself to save you? That would be a pretty tragic end. Ah, just thinking of his blood spilling onto the demon realm's ground … It makes me unbelievably happy. Almost happy enough to light some incense sticks for my deceased father's soul. Just in case he actually had one.
"You know, the only thing that could make me even happier and might make me drop the idea to kill him would be to see him suffer while he is alive. So … I guess I'll leave it up to you what it should be."