While the two of them looked at each other, Jinde finally got up and took his husband's hand, pulling him out of the hall. He felt that they really shouldn't disturb the reunion of these two lovers. Right now, those two deserved some time to themselves.
Seeing the two of them step out of the palace, the Grandelder rushed over anxiously. "How is he?" Even though Ma Zhi Wu wasn't his own disciple, he still cared about the boy very much. After all, he was a good person and also happened to be his disciple's lover. Naturally, he wouldn't want to see his life be lost.
Jinde nodded vaguely. "He's awake now. He will still need quite a bit of time to get back his strength but he's out of danger. We just thought we should give the two of them some time with each other."
The Grandelder nodded, clearly relieved. "Yes, that's true, that's true. They waited for so long to see each other again. It wouldn't do to go and disturb them right now." He turned to his other disciples and motioned for them to return back to their own dwellings. "All of you have worked very hard today. You should go and take a few days for yourself."
The disciples acquiesced and then left, making the top of the peak feel much less crowded.
Seeing that things were over now, Qiu Ling reached out and hugged Jing Yi's waist. "Well, it seems like your friend is safe now. So how about we just return to our own place?"
Jing Yi turned to look at him, slowly raising his brows. "Well … While senior martial brother Ma is safe now, I still haven't even seen Xiao Dong. And I wasn't able to talk with Shao Hai either."
Qiu Ling pursed his lips, bummed out that his beloved would actually be thinking about other men when he was directly beside him. It was as if he wasn't loved at all! The longer he dwelt on the matter, the more he felt that this wasn't right. His beloved should be thinking of him, right? After all, he had even left for some time to get those stupid herbs. Shouldn't he want to make up for that?
Unhappy, he gave Jing Yi a disappointed look. "My love …"
Jing Yi looked up and raised his brows at him again. "What's the matter?" Somehow, Qiu Ling looked a bit down. He had no idea what this might be about though. Hadn't they just been able to do something great? They had saved a life! That was a reason to be happy, wasn't it?
Qiu Ling continued to look at him unhappily, waiting for his beloved to realize it himself.
Meanwhile, Wu Ya looked from one person to the other, wondering if he was really witnessing this or if he was having some elaborate hallucination. He was actually thinking that it had to be the latter. After all, never mind that this person was the dragon king who would likely show much more mature behavior, this was also Chun Yin's son. Since his looks and his temperament quite aligned with his father's, he felt that the rest should also be close enough. And this definitely wasn't how he could ever imagine Chun Yin to behave.
He rubbed his eyes but things were still the same. Huh. This surely was strange.
Jinde looked at the scene as well and then went over with a sigh, patting Qiu Ling's shoulder. "If you're jealous, then just say so. Your lover isn't able to read your mind." With that, he let go and then turned back toward his dimension, Leng Jin Yu following behind.
Jing Yi followed their departing figures with his gaze, not quite sure what to make of this. Jealous? Why would Qiu Ling … His lips twitched when he realized what he had said before. "You wouldn't be jealous because I mentioned Shao Hai and Xiao Dong, would you?"
Instead of giving him an answer, Qiu Ling pursed his lips. Why wouldn't he be jealous because of that? His beloved made it sound as if that was such a strange thing. He really couldn't understand!
Jing Yi gave him a long look and finally craned his neck, pecking his lips.
Qiu Ling who had just wanted to complain again, immediately kept those words to himself, looking at Jing Yi happily. He wanted to pull him closer but Jing Yi already took his hand.
"Well, I guess the two of them will want to take a short rest as well. We might as well go back to our place first as you suggested."
Qiu Ling nodded eagerly and wanted to leave when Wu Ya stepped into their path.
"What?"
Wu Ya wasn't quite sure how to say what was on his mind but he finally just went ahead with it. "Well, you haven't really told me anything about your father yet. Shouldn't you invite me over?"
Qiu Ling furrowed his brows and then pulled Jing Yi with him to the side and around Wu Ya. "Why would I do that? I don't even know you. Anyway, can't you see that I'm busy with my beloved? Obviously, you're disturbing us." With that, he ushered Jing Yi toward the bamboo hut, not bothering about Wu Ya any longer.
Wu Ya stayed back and just watched him leave, not sure what exactly had just happened. Finally, he turned to Zheng Yin and who was waiting next to him and raised his brows. "What just happened?"
Zheng Yin just shook his head. "Isn't it you who knows his family? I wouldn't be able to tell you."
Wu Ya sighed. Unfortunately, that was true. Well, for the time being, he would just let these two enjoy themselves. After all, a lot seemed to have happened here. They might really need some time to calm down. After that, he could still go there and ask for some more details. He just wanted to know what exactly had happened to Chun Yin and Jinde. He couldn't believe at all that that proud man had already died.