In another part of the mortal realm, Leng Jin Yu watched Qiu Ling hack away at the trunk of a tree with his bare claws. This was as much gathering materials for one of the spirit vein creation pills as it was venting his frustration.
Leng Jin Yu just stood to the side and let him do as he liked. Since the moment they had left the Yun Zou Sect the dragon king hadn't said a single word. Who knew what it was that had originally upset him? It seemed like he didn't want to talk about it and Leng Jin Yu didn't feel that he was the right person to prompt him to start speaking.
Qiu Ling exhaled sharply when a large gash finally appeared in the bark and uncovered the wood beneath it. He took out a vial from his spatial ring and held it below the opening he had just created, waiting for some of the resin to collect.
A few minutes passed and he stared at the vial darkly. Why was this taking so long? Then again even if it went faster, it wouldn't change anything. He still wouldn't be able to return to his beloved's side. Maybe he should be happy that the list was so long. At the very least, he had something to do while he waited for his beloved's soul to heal. Unfortunately, he had no idea just how much time he'd need to tide over. Qiu Ling turned to Leng Jin Yu, urging him to prepare for getting the next ingredient.
Leng Jin Yu looked at the vial, then at the list in his hand, and finally up at the sky. They hadn't slept much the last few days and the sky was already turning dark again. In the end, he couldn't help but speak up after all. "Longjun, don't you think it would be better to rest here for the night? I don't think we have enough of the resin yet and we've been moving almost without pause for the last five days. It's time for us to take a break." He waited for the dragon king to refuse but he didn't get an answer at all.
Qiu Ling had narrowed his eyes at the vial. Only the ground had barely been covered with the resin. They would indeed need to wait a while longer to get enough for the pill refinement. And looking back at Leng Jin Yu he also knew that it was time to take a break.
Even he himself couldn't go on without sleep for days. But he had forced himself to stay awake for as long as possible and use the better part of his time to search for at least one more material. He knew it wouldn't bring him closer to Jing Yi but at least, he had something he could work forward to. Wasn't that better than just sitting somewhere, twiddling his thumbs, and waiting for a chance to see his beloved again? And when his mind finally got as tired as his body then maybe it wouldn't hurt as much. Maybe he could pretend to be alright then. Maybe … he would truly be alright even if it was just for one moment or for one night when he finally collapsed.
Well, he couldn't expect Leng Jin Yu to do the same. That guy still had his lover waiting for him. Why would he force himself to go to the extreme? And without him, there was no way to just move from one spot to another, always finding the ingredients in just a matter of minutes.
Qiu Ling sighed and nodded. He pressed the vial against the tree trunk and knelt down beside it, staring at it with a blank look. Ah, who knew how long it'd take to collect enough resin for the pill?
Next to him, Leng Jin Yu sighed just the same. He opened his spatial ring and took out a ribbon, tying it around the tree to secure the vial in place.
Qiu Ling raised his brows. This was …?
Leng Jin Yu smiled lightly. "This way, you won't have to worry about it and can rest easy. We can also make another opening on one of the other trees and collect some more from there. That way we definitely should have enough when we get up tomorrow."
Qiu Ling nodded wordlessly and went to the next tree, repeating the same process. Once again, his thoughts traveled to Jing Yi. Ah, if only he could use his claws to solve this issue. Was there nobody he could go and beat up for his beloved's soul to heal faster?
"Longjun." Leng Jin Yu reached out and grabbed his arm when he saw that Qiu Ling still didn't stop to hack at the tree even though the bark had already been opened. "That should be enough."
Qiu Ling stopped moving and just scowled at the opening in the tree. This thing … it really …
"Longjun?" Leng Jin Yu carefully slipped closer. Never mind that he still hadn't gotten even a single word out of him, the dragon king looked rather pale right now. Was he really alright? "Longjun, you —"
Before he finished, the person in question dropped down like a felled tree. Leng Jin Yu rushed to catch him and carefully lowered him onto the ground before checking his condition. Sure enough, the dragon king was out cold. He sighed, not sure whether he should be relieved or worried. Qiu Ling would finally get some rest this way but … it probably wasn't normal for the dragon king to collapse this way, was it?
He gave another sigh and took a vial out of his spatial ring, securing it below the opening Qiu Ling had made just like the other one. If the dragon king woke up and found out that they still needed to wait, he might go crazy. That wasn't something he wanted to deal with.
Leng Jin Yu sat down next to him and looked up at the sky. Ah, he really would have liked to be with Jinde right now. They didn't even know each other that long but after being separated for several days, he missed him terribly. No wonder the dragon king was like this. For the second time, his beloved had vanished and it wasn't sure when they would see each other again. How was he supposed to take that?