Xin Lan stared at the gate and furrowed his brows. Was this guy mocking him? Why wasn't he coming out? He thought about calling out to him once again but thinking of that stupid face he couldn't bring himself to do so.
Obviously, Tian was just playing with him. He didn't intend to come out. He could but he didn't want to. He was basically trying to say that he was the owner of this place and could do whatever he fucking wanted. And most likely, he was also trying to make the point that he didn't welcome him as a guest.
Xin Lan sighed. He didn't have time to play with Tian. Even though he had only promised Xiang Yu to accompany him on the trial because of his Master, he would take this promise seriously now that he had made it. He was a man of his word. So he had to find out just where that fallen god had gone for his trial and he also had to make sure that he found out before Jin Ling noticed anything. He definitely didn't want any demon to mess with that child.
Xin Lan took a deep breath and decided not to give a damn about what Tian thought. He pushed open the gate and stepped into the capital, making his way over to the place where Tian lived.
Inside of Xing's palace, Tian furrowed his brows and got up. He hadn't thought that Xin Lan would be so daring to really come in. At least not this fast. Well, he didn't mind. He would see just what this guy wanted. He took a last look at the coffin in front of him and got up, stepping out of the palace.
Xin Lan also reached the square in front of the building and looked at the sovereign of all realms. "You must not have heard me call from outside. Thankfully, I came over."
Tian didn't say anything. He certainly didn't have anything to chat about with this person.
Xin Lan took a look around before he turned back to Tian. "I swore that I would accompany a fallen god on his trial in the mortal realm. Otherwise, you'd be allowed to strike me down."
"Is there anything holding me back from doing that right now?"
Xin Lan smiled. "Well, I don't think anyone believes you to be a just ruler so I guess not. It certainly wouldn't be your moral compass."
"Is that all you came here for? The pour out your heart? Complain about how unfair you were treated?"
Xin Lan shook his head. "I'm here because of that fallen god. Didn't I say so?"
"You wouldn't be here to search for his immortal body, would you?"
Xin Lan shook his head. "Since you took the time to tell him about your opinion of me and you're also the one that is part of our deal, I think you should help me out a bit. Where did he go? I mean where did his soul go? I don't want to have to search through the whole mortal realm to find out and I'm pretty sure it would raise some eyebrows if I went to ask the fate's scribe, wouldn't it?"
Tian gave a smile. "Look at this. You actually do have a heart. You don't want to make trouble for him."
"This doesn't have anything to do with my heart. I merely am a man of my word. Since I promised him, I will do so. And I don't like playing mind games. Doing what I promise and making trouble for him when he returns? That's not my style. So where is he?"
Tian clasped his hands behind his back and slowly walked over, stopping next to Xin Lan and looking past him. "Xiang Yu is young. He was when he fell and after his fall, his mind and body didn't age. I do not need to tell you how to treat that kind of child, do I?"
"So what do you expect me to do? He was the one who asked me to be his lover while he is on this trial. I certainly could've done without that."
Tian slightly inclined his head. "Are these your true thoughts? Then maybe I shouldn't tell you yet. You can come back here when you learned from your mistake. If I remember correctly, Xiang Yu also told you that there's no need to follow him right now. You can go there after he's grown up. If you don't stay here, that will only be in several years. No need to rush."
Xin Lan furrowed his brows. "How come you're being so amicable?"
"Am I? I think I just told you that your behavior was wrong."
"To you, everybody's behavior is wrong. Everybody but you is wrong. They always are."
"Is it my fault? They don't learn. Neither the gods nor the dragons. They should know better by now but they're still making almost all the same mistakes. And if they don't do the same mistakes, then they do new ones. Who could have known they would still be like this after all this time? That certainly wasn't what I expected."
Xin Lan snorted. "Certainly not." He turned away and then motioned back from where he had come. "There's a demon coming here. How about you at least open the gate back to the mortal realm for me?"
Tian narrowed his eyes. "What's so good about him? So many men falling in love with the same person … Don't you feel it's slightly ridiculous? Well, neither your feelings nor Jian Heng's were ever true."
Xin Lan clenched his hands into fists. "Do not dare to lump us together."
Tian raised his hand and his fingertip lit up, a gate indeed opening in front of him. "Well, he was a demon so he never was capable of love. You're a dragon and even though you're not like the others and are still able to love freely, it doesn't mean that you really ever loved. That kind of feeling … You still don't know what it means."
He motioned at the gate and turned away, walking back to the palace.
Xin Lan watched him walk away and turned to the gate to the mortal realm. "You know a lot, Tian, you certainly know about the secrets of the universe. There is one thing you don't know though. You don't know the heart of the people. You never have. That is why your lover became a fallen god. It wasn't the fault of the others. It was yours. So I don't think that you have the right to judge me." He stepped through the gate, not even looking back to see whether Tian had stopped or not. He merely left those words behind as if he didn't care about it at all.