At another place in the Hei Dian Sect — namely the hut where Qiu Ling and Jing Yi were living together — another conversation was currently taking place.
Qiu Ling was holding onto Jing Yi's hands, looking at him with an expression as if he loathed to separate from him. Well, actually, he did loath to separate from him but there was no way around it. He had to do it as much as he disliked the thought. "Don't worry, my love. I'll soon be back to reunite with you. You won't be alone for long. I promise I will hurry as fast as I can. I might be back before you can even notice that I've left."
Jing Yi nodded along, not worrying too much. It wasn't as if he hadn't lived without Qiu Ling before. They had spent quite some time without each other as well. He would be able to take it for a few hours or maybe some days. That wasn't too much to bear. And anyway, now that they had made things clear regarding the matter with Jing He, he also wasn't afraid what separating would mean. "Don't worry. I'll just continue to read in the manual and spend my time that way. I'll hardly notice that you're gone."
Qiu Ling pouted when he heard that. To you think he was this easily replaceable! It broke his heart thinking about it. "Well, thankfully, I've already beaten up the person who wouldn't leave you alone. Now, you won't have to worry that somebody will come and bother you while you're busy. You're probably really happy with me, aren't you?"
Jing Yi reached up and cupped Qiu Ling's cheeks, giving him a bright smile. "I feel like you're fishing for compliments. But you really did well. I'm especially happy that you held back a bit. There's no need to be too horrible to somebody we know."
Qiu Ling didn't care too much what exactly it was his beloved was happy about. Anyway, he was happy about something he had done for him. So he definitely made the right call. Just as expected!
He pulled Jing Yi closer, his eyes curving up into little crescents. "You know, I'm pretty sure that I could stay here for a little while longer. Then we could spend the day together and maybe I could just go over to the dragon realm tomorrow morning. Doesn't that sound like a fantastic idea?"
Jing Yi smiled back at him but finally shook his head and stepped back. "I think it would be better if you left right now."
Qiu Ling deflated, trying to grab Jing Yi but his beloved was once again stepping back. "My love! What did I do for you to treat me like this?"
Jing Yi couldn't help but laugh at his exaggerated expression. "The sooner you leave, the sooner you'll be back. Don't push it off forever. Anyway, don't you want to go to the Chun Feng Sect to free the others? It won't get done if you don't go to the dragon realm."
Qiu Ling pursed his lips but finally had to nod. "Alright. Then I'll do that. But after I come back …"
Jing Yi nodded and this time, he really took Qiu Ling's hand. "After you come back, we'll spend every minute of the day together. Is that alright with you?"
Qiu Ling nodded and pulled him into his arms for the last time, pecking his lips. "Then I'll be going now! Don't miss me too much, my love!" He let go of him, flashed him another smile, and then took off to the dragon realm.
Jing Yi shook his head at his behavior and then went to sit down at the table, pulling out the manual of alchemy once again, and continued to eat. By now, he had already finished the part that he had worked on back then. It wasn't much of a surprise considering that he had only started out learning alchemy back then and had needed to rely on Qiu Ling to read him the manual.
So far, he had only managed to read up on it though and hadn't been able to test whether he was still able to use the knowledge. It was probably time that he tested it out. Unfortunately, he didn't have any herbs.
He wondered if he would be able to get some from Yue Lin or maybe there was a place he could turn to for this. Unfortunately, he didn't know. It had been so long since all the rules of the Hei Dian Sect had been explained to him. He could hardly remember anything. He would probably only be able to go and ask about it.
Ah, he should really think things through this time. If there were some other questions that he remembered shortly after this, then he would be running over to Yue Ling way more often than he should. After all, senior martial brother Yue also had his own tasks. He couldn't always take care of him. And he had also promised already to help him find somebody who could teach him. That was more than enough already.
Speaking of which … Maybe he should just wait until Yue Lin had sound found that person. After all, a person who taught him would likely also be able to tell him where he would get something in the sect. He could just ask that person for details and wouldn't need to bother Yue Lin again. Yes, that would probably be for the best.
Jing Yi nodded to himself and then turned back to the manual. He should just give it some more time and continue to read on in the meantime. Even though he couldn't try it, it probably couldn't hurt to read a bit further and try to remember things. That way, he wouldn't have to start at the very beginning and waste the time of the person who had agreed to teach him. That would certainly be for the best.