Zhangsun Xun Yi gazed at the person opposite him. He didn't know what to say. No cultivator would randomly propose such a thing. But this person was Grandmaster Leng the one who paved his way from a prodigy with the sword to a cultivator that was far out of the reach of all those countless talents the sects had heralded in his youth. Many people had gnashed their teeth in anger at the mere thought of his name and nobody had been able not to envy him.
Ah, he still remembered how Hua Min and he had looked at Hua Min's Master with sparkling eyes when they were young after they found out that he was friends with that legendary figure.
This kind of person wouldn't carelessly say anything. And what he had said made sense. Maybe they had been too rigid in their thinking.
He finally nodded. "Should this be implemented in the future when you take over the sect or …"
"No, I think it would be better to set things in motion now."
"Then I will talk to Sect Master Yuchi. This is a decision he has to make and it will take time to convince the Elders."
Leng Jin Yu nodded. "That is true. We should first work on convincing Elders that took in disciples from the outer sect."
"There shouldn't be too many."
"What about the one that took in Xiao Dong and Shao Hai? They were originally in the outer sect but then rose after some years and are now direct disciples. I also heard that Elder Geng's disciple was part of the outer sect first."
"Mn, that's true. I'll bring that up with the Sect Master."
Leng Jin Yu nodded. "Then … was there something else? Otherwise …" He looked at the house. He didn't have to hurry that much but it was still better to make sure if Jinde knew a way how to help Nie Huang gain spirit veins. After all, they would need to search for another way if he didn't and that might take more time than they had.
"Oh. No. Then I won't keep you any longer." Zhangsun Xun Yi clasped his hands and bowed before hurrying away to the Sect Master's peak.
Leng Jin Yu sighed. He really wasn't used to this. Back in the Jian Yi Sect, he might have had a high status but after reaching that far he had seldom shown himself. And afterward, in the Nine Heavens, he hadn't been more than an idle ascended deity. That was higher than a servant but it still wasn't much of a status. The only ones who would have treated him this way might have been the guards and the servants and since he mostly stayed inside the courtyard of the idle gods …
He shook his head and returned to his own house. Grandmaster Zhangsun was somebody who knew how to behave. He would treat him like this based on seniority alone but he wouldn't dare to do so in front of others. After all, he had to keep his identity hidden. Just imagining what might happen if somebody got behind this … He rubbed his brow and sighed.
"My dear husband." Jinde came out of the study, his golden brows raised. "What happened to make you look like this?" He grabbed Leng Jin Yu's shoulders and then rubbed his chest.
"The Grandmaster got behind my identity. But seeing you I already feel much better." He leaned forward and kissed him.
"Mn. Does this mean you've finished that business with Qiu Ling? Good that you left the bear child behind."
"Not yet."
"Hmph." Jinde let go and wanted to leave but Leng Jin Yu reached out and pulled him back into his arms.
"Would you want to save a tragic couple with me?"
Jinde chuckled in response. "If you're asking like that, I guess there's no way to say no. Come on in then, let's talk about everything slowly." He went forward into the study and sat down behind the desk.
Leng Jin Yu hesitated what to do and finally knelt down beside Jinde. Ah, he had never fallen in love before this and had often frowned at those couples but now, he was just like them. It hadn't even been a day since he left but he already felt that they had been apart for too long. If he could, he would spend every moment of his life with Jinde from now on.
Jinde looked at him and put a finger under his chin, lifting it with a smile. "What is my dear husband thinking about?"
"I was thinking just how lucky I am. Without you …"
Jinde leaned down and kissed him again, his arms circling Leng Jin Yu's neck. "But you met me. You met me twice. I guess we're destined to be."
"Mn. And the timing was quite lucky. If I imagine I might not have been immortal at that time … We could have been separated once again."
"That didn't happen. And now tell me about those star-crossed lovers."
"One of them is that Bai Mu who freed me from the secret realm. The one we wanted to …" Leng Jin Yu stopped. "That … Was Xin Lan here?"
Jinde's lips parted but he didn't speak. Instead, he turned his face away.
"I … met him in the capital. He said he wanted to speak to Bai Mu too. I was surprised."
Jinde nodded. "He was hurt and came here to be treated."
"Then why are you facing away?"
"Because I … finally realized that I might have lived for a long time but I still have the same flaws I had when I was young."
"You're meaning is …"
Jinde sighed. "I fell in love with Chun Yin. You might call it fate but it was because of the things he did for me when we were children. I … grew dependent on him and felt secure. That feeling of security, it somehow blossomed into love and regardless of how I was treated, I couldn't stop loving him. Maybe that was the curse but maybe it was my own stupidity too. Why would I have kept hoping after only receiving empty words all the time?
"Other than him, there was Jian Heng. I … I knew he was a demon but for a time, I trusted him. I should have known it was wrong. What good could come out of that? But I honestly believed that … he meant whatever he said. I truly believed it and then I paid the price.
"As for Xin Lan … I saw how jealous Chun Yin was when Xin Lan was around and I saw how Jian Heng regarded him warily. I also … knew that Xin Lan was someone who appreciated beauty and didn't mind to have shallow relationships for a while. I saw and I knew and I still believed it was just out of his wish of repaying my kindness. That and the friendship that had slowly formed between us."
Leng Jin Yu reached out and took his husband's hand. "So you don't believe that anymore? Do you think he fell in love with you?"
"I don't dare to consider whether it's love or something else but … there is something and I don't know what to do about it."