"Jinde …"
Jinde sighed and lifted his head. "I'm sorry. This isn't what you came here for. Let's talk about that couple you mentioned."
"No." Leng Jin Yu grabbed his shoulder and pulled him back into his embrace. "I can see you're not alright. We should … at least talk this through. We have that much time."
Jinde sighed again. "What is there to talk about? I'm feeling … a little regretful about some things I did in the past. I can't even pretend that I was too young and inexperienced to understand. Maybe I was in the beginning but I wasn't later on. Even though I never intended to do so, I might have led him on or at the very least I never did anything to dissuade his thoughts. I didn't even consider whether there were feelings or not. And now that I have … it's too late to talk about it."
He got up from the chair and fell into Leng Jin Yu's embrace. "It's embarrassing just to think about it. It would be even more embarrassing if we talked about it. We'll just … pretend nothing happened."
Leng Jin Yu raised his brows. "So what happened?"
Jinde froze. Uh … He probably shouldn't have said that. "That …"
"You know you can tell me. I won't mind."
"Ah …" Jinde encircled his neck and smiled. "You know I can even believe that. You're … much more stable than Chun Yin."
"I have the honor to be with you."
"He could have had that too. He just didn't take me up on the offer."
"Are you trying to change the subject?"
Jinde craned his neck and his lips touched Leng Jin Yu's. "How could that be? I'm just … very, very happy that my husband is at my side, paying me this much attention and taking care of me so well. I'm truly the luckiest person in the world." His fingers slipped into Leng Jin Yu's hair and he kissed him again, pushing the thought of Xin Lan away. He couldn't change it so why should he dwell on it?
Leng Jin Yu kissed him back and brushed his hair to the side. It seemed Jinde really didn't want to talk about it. In that case … He pulled back and took a deep breath. "We really are such a happy couple. So we should enjoy it."
"Oh? You're meaning is …" Jinde rubbed his husband's shoulders and smiled.
"That means … we should share our happiness with others. Do you know of a medicinal pill that can create spirit veins?"
Jinde froze just when he wanted to lean closer for another kiss. Ah? "What are you talking about?"
Leng Jin Yu smiled and hugged his husband's waist. "The couple I told you about. He is immortal with a bit of demon blood while his lover is a mortal without spirit veins. Longjun offered to let them live in the dragon realm so they won't be hunted down by the Chun Feng Sect. She won't live long though. The only way to change that would be to provide her with a medicinal pill that can give her spirit veins so that she can cultivate to immortality."
Jinde sighed. It seems there was no way to seduce his husband right now. Well, this was still better than having to talk about Xin Lan. "There are a few. Depending on how good you want the results to be …"
"She is already approaching thirty and she'll need to reach the third stage to stop aging."
"So you want the most powerful pill I can refine."
Leng Jin Yu furrowed his brows. "It would be great if it could be the most powerful pill the Grandelder can refine."
"Oh? You don't want me to do it?"
Leng Jin Yu hesitated but finally nodded. "Your soul … you're still injured. And refining such a pill would take a massive amount of spiritual energy. I don't want you to take such a risk."
"Mn …" Jinde picked up one of the strands hanging from Leng Jin Yu's shoulder and twirled it between his fingers. "I'm afraid you won't be able to do both. That Grandelder is merely human. His spiritual energy is lacking. His knowledge too. If he can create such a pill, then it will be one of the worst quality."
"Then is there somebody you know that could do this? Someone in the dragon realm?"
Jinde sighed. "A lot of them fell in the war against Jian Heng. I don't know who is still alive and it's not like I can go and take a look."
"Then how about writing down the names and having Qiu Ling take a look?"
"And where would he have gotten that list?"
"Xin Lan?"
Jinde took in a deep breath. "How come we're talking about him again?"
"I meant nothing more than that he'd be able to stand in as an explanation. Mn, actually, we could ask him about those people. He probably knows."
"That … I don't know."
"You wouldn't want to evade him from now on, would you? Jinde … I know whatever happened has confused you but Xin Lan is strong. And he's different from other dragons, isn't he? Even if he fell in love with you now, it doesn't have to stay like that. He might fall in love with somebody else soon."
Jinde furrowed his brows. He doubted it. If what he thought was true and Xin Lan had already wanted him back then, then how could he suddenly fall in love with somebody while …
Jinde's brows rose. Wait! Since his death, Xin Lan had lived in the demon realm to take care of Jin Ling. And now that he had returned, Xin Lan would have left if not for him. He was afraid Jin Ling might find out that he wasn't dead so he had stuck around. But how could he fall in love in the demon realm? There were only demons around! And just because Xin Lan wasn't like other dragons and could fall in love more than once, there was no way he would allow himself to fall in love with somebody who couldn't love at all.
Jinde smiled. "You know what? We should help those two as fast as possible. The sooner we do … the sooner all of our troubles will be resolved. Give me a while to think of all the pills that could be used. I'll see what kind of person would be able to refine them."
"Alright. But don't work too hard. You should also rest for a while. I don't want you to overwork yourself."
"Ah, don't worry. This much is doable. As for everything else … with enough time and nurturing, I'll return to my peak condition sooner or later."