Qiu Ling furrowed his brows. It was all that An Bai's fault! Just why was he coveting his beloved? Couldn't he go find somebody else? Hmph. But this wouldn't stump him! He would find a way to solve this problem too!
"Just call somebody else over!"
"Who?"
"That …" Qiu Ling blanked. Yi Zan was already there, Qiang Wei was supposed to get the note from An Bai who wasn't there. That only left Fu Heng and Fu Min but those two were needed for the last part of his plan. Ah, so difficult! Maybe he could do without either Fu Min or Fu Heng? Or … Qiu Ling straightened up. "You call Fu Min over!"
"To … guard His Highness?" Xiang Yong couldn't help but want to make sure. His king was just too strange today.
"Of …" Qiu Ling stopped and tightened his lips. He couldn't do this, could he? Fu Min was obviously not paying enough attention to be entrusted with this kind of task! No, he couldn't neglect the protection of his beloved's immortal body! "Then … have Fu Min come over there and do Qiang Wei's task!"
Qiang Wei blinked and looked over Xiang Yong's shoulder. "Does this mean I'm not doing anything?"
"Yes! Don't you listen at all? You just guard my beloved! Now tell Fu Min to come over!"
"Of course." Xiang Yong hurriedly intervened before Qiang Wei could respond. It was best to resolve this quickly whatever 'this' actually was. "Then I'll contact Fu Min right now."
"Mn." Qiu Ling didn't mind and very helpfully cut the connection with Xiang Yong on his own. Mn, while the others were organizing things on their end, he should make sure everything here was prepared.
He took one of the brushes An Bai had neatly arranged on his brush holder, not really caring what kind of brush he had picked up, and dipped it into the ink. He picked up a paper scroll next only to find out that there was something written on it already. Hm … This shouldn't be too important, should it? He flipped the scroll and smeared his message on the back before throwing the brush down next to it.
Great! This should be enough. He put the message he had prepared for Qiang Wei next to it and looked around. Now, he only needed a place where he could hide so Fu Min and the spy wouldn't see him. He pondered and finally still jumped onto one of the beams above his head. Ah, this was a good place! Nobody would find him here! Now, he could only wait.
Back in the Nine Heavens, Xiang Yong tried to establish a connection with Fu Min while Yi Zan and Qiang Wei glanced at each other. It hadn't been that long in the immortal realms since they tried the same even though a lot of time had passed in the mortal realm already.
This time Fu Min didn't need long to answer though. The previous experience with their king had been a good reminder to him and Fu Heng that they couldn't just ignore it if someone tried to contact them. Not as long as the crown prince was in the mortal realm, at least. He really was too easy to target as long as he was a mortal!
"Fu Min?"
"Ye—" Fu Min awkwardly stopped when he realized who the person that had tried to reach him was. Oh no. Suddenly, he regretted hanging around Xiang Yong all those years to get Fu Heng to pay him attention. Wouldn't his husband get jealous now? He glanced at him but Fu Heng didn't pay the other person any heed. Obviously, he didn't mind Xiang Yong even half as much as he minded Xin Lan.
Well, it wasn't strange. Xiang Yong had obviously just been someone that was being used as a shield while Xin Lan was someone Fu Min honestly admired. Naturally, he'd be more worried about the latter.
Seeing that his husband didn't mind, Fu Min cleared his throat and turned back to the transmission stone. "What is it? Fu Heng and I are still in the mortal realm."
"Mn, come over to the Nine Heavens. His Majesty gave us some tasks."
"Oh. We'll be there in a bit."
"Ah … His Majesty was only talking about you. I don't think you're supposed to bring Fu Heng."
"Hah?" Fu Min looked at Fu Heng who finally lifted his head. Why weren't they supposed to go together? They were always together! They were a married couple, dammit!
Fu Heng walked over and wrapped his arms around his husband. "Is that really alright? It seems His Highness was kidnapped. The demons are certainly out to do something big. Should we really travel alone?"
Xiang Yong pondered. What Fu Heng said wasn't without cause. The demons had done something big like that. His Highness was imprisoned as was An Bai. This was the perfect chance to take some of them down too. They shouldn't take any chances.
Then again, their king seemed to have a plan and who knew if they wouldn't jeopardize this plan if they arbitrarily decided to change a part of it? Maybe Fu Heng would be needed somewhere else. Furthermore … "I also came to the Nine Heavens just now and I didn't encounter any demons. I don't think it's that dangerous."
Fu Heng frowned and tightened his hold around Fu Min's waist. Ah, he didn't want to let him go but … he also hadn't wanted to react to the transmission stones before and look at what had happened! They hadn't been there when their king needed them the most. He couldn't be willful. As long as there was no definite danger to Fu Min's life, he couldn't hold him back. Furthermore, it wasn't like Fu Min didn't know how to fight. There was a reason why they were their king's aides, after all.
He finally nodded and let go of Fu Min. "Alright, then I'll wait here."
Fu Min also nodded. "Then I'll be there soon, Xiang Yong." He cut the connection and turned to his husband, tiptoeing to kiss him. "Don't worry about me. Nothing will happen. Even if some demon comes along, I'll just scratch out his eyes or knee him in the nuts."
Fu Heng leaned down and kissed his cheek before letting go. "Do the latter. It's safer."
"Mn!" With that, Fu Min took off to the Nine Heavens.