Leng Jin Yu couldn't help but smile. It seemed Jinde had a knack for taking care of children. Even though both the demon and the dragon king had turned out slightly strange, they both seemed to have liked him very much when they were young.
Qiu Ling looked at him and smirked. "I know what you're thinking. You're praising the old geezer in your head." He shook his head and turned back to the front. "I guess you can. He did a good job. Much better than my old man, at the very least.
"You know I never would have guessed there was something between them. Sure, there was the special way my father used to look at him but I didn't think it was strange. Jinde was our king, after all. My father made sure I knew so I just figured he had a special type of respect for him that nobody else deserved. And to be honest, I always thought Jinde was nice to my father because of me." He grinned. Thinking about it now, he naturally understood how ridiculous that thought was. Sure, Jinde had always loved children and tended to treat every child he saw in a special way. But he himself had clearly profited from who his father was.
Jinde might have never said it out loud but he could imagine. Disregarding who his mother was, there was still Chun Yin's blood flowing through his veins. Naturally, Jinde couldn't help but feel a special affection for him too. That was the nature of being a dragon. Once you fell in love, you couldn't escape those feelings anymore and even if you hated the fact that your loved one had a child with somebody else while you thought about it calmly, your heart still couldn't help but melt when the one sharing your beloved's blood stood in front of you.
Ah, just imagining if this was his Jing He … He would also have been devastated if he had had a child with somebody before him. But he only would have gone to kill the guy who dared to make that child with him. How could he bear to kill Jing He's flesh and blood?!
Qiu Ling's expression changed several times in a short amount of time, making Leng Jin Yu's brows raise. He wanted to ask just what was going through his head but he wasn't sure if he really wanted to hear the answer. In the end, he merely waited for Qiu Ling to gather his thoughts again.
Unfortunately, the dragon king wasn't very good at this. His expression grew wistful and he sighed. Ah, his Jing He! His immortal body was in the Nine Heavens, waiting to be woken up again, while his mortal body had been taken to the High Heavens so as to nurture his immortal soul. What a difficult situation! If only the gods didn't need to do those trials …
Qiu Ling blinked and scuttled back to Leng Jin Yu's side, sitting down next to him like a well-behaved child. "Old —" He coughed. "Father, say, what do you think I should do about the matter with Jing He?"
Leng Jin Yu raised his brows. "Which matter are we talking about?"
"His soul! His return!"
"Return?" Leng Jin Yu rubbed his forehead. He wasn't sure if it was because the dragon king sucked at communication or because he was tired but he had no idea what they were talking about.
Qiu Ling tsked. Was his old man listening at all? "If Jing Yi ascends, Jing He won't wake up. What should I do about that? I can't kill Jing Yi and I can't watch him be killed by somebody else either. I thought … I should maybe just wait and see how things go but … Don't you have a better idea? Is there nothing I can do?"
"Ah." Leng Jin Yu lowered his hand and nodded. "So that was what you were talking about."
"Yes. So what can I do?"
Leng Jin Yu sighed. "I'm not too knowledgeable about this but I doubt there is anything you can do. There can only be one of them so for the original to wake up, the reincarnation needs to disappear. That is only natural. Or would you like to have both of them at your side?"
Qiu Ling froze. Uh? Both? That … He blinked. Was something like this really possible? Then … What should he do then? He would need to split his attention between them! But his beloved deserved to have his whole attention … No, wait, his beloved would have his whole attention. After all, both of them were his beloved …
Leng Jin Yu smiled when he saw the dragon king like this. It seemed this situation was really giving him trouble. "Longjun."
"Mn?" Qiu Ling looked up and furrowed his brows. "Why are you still calling me that? I've never liked that title."
"Oh?"
"It's the old geezer's." Qiu Ling didn't bother to explain further and continued to ponder his problem. He could take one of their hands each … But listening to both of them speak would get difficult. Looking at both of them at the same time could work if they stood next to each other though.
"Qiu Ling." Leng Jin Yu only hesitated a moment before he tried to call him by his name. Never mind that he didn't regard himself as Qiu Ling's father, he was still Jinde's husband and Jinde's relationship with Qiu Ling was close. On account of that … he should be able to use that name, shouldn't he?
"What?"
"Weren't you talking about your family just now? You said you liked Jinde and that your relationship with your mother wasn't too good. Did that stay the same when you left the capital?"
Qiu Ling frowned. "Who cares about her?! What about my beloved? How am I going to deal with it if there are two of him at the same time?!"