"He saved your life? How come?" Hua Lin Yu couldn't help but feel a little strange. Xin Lan was obviously strong. Even if he hadn't known about his position in the dragon race, he still would've been able to guess as much just from his own knowledge as a cultivator. So how come he needed somebody else to save his life? Even if it had been a long time ago, there shouldn't have been a need for that. Especially since Jinde should be younger than him. He couldn't really be more powerful than Xin Lan, could he?
Xin Lan smiled faintly when he saw Hua Lin Yu's confused gaze. He couldn't say that he was surprised by that reaction. "Well, it was a different time."
"But … Why? I mean from what I know, you're pretty strong. How did he save you? He isn't stronger than you, is he?" Even though he was a talent, he didn't have an accurate grasp on the strength of either Jinde or Xin Lan. Clearly, the two of them were far above his own level. He didn't know how Jinde compared to others in the dragon race but he was pretty sure that Xin Lan should be one of the strongest people there. After all, while it was true that he was mostly renowned for not being affected by the same curse as them, age usually translated to more strength. Even if it didn't always translate one to one, it was still true most of the time. So he really had a hard time understanding this.
Xin Lan smiled when Hua Lin Yu looked even more confused. "I think you are thinking in the completely wrong direction. It is not that Jinde is stronger than me. Even though he definitely is strong, it can't quite be compared to my strength. But what is special about him is his ability as a refiner. When it comes to his medical skills, there really isn't anyone that's better out there."
"Oh. So … you were injured and he helped you with that?" This was something that he could already imagine much better. Although he did wonder how exactly all of this had happened. After all, if Jinde had saved his life, then he would've needed to be injured very heavily. Just how had that happened?
Xin Lan gave a hum. "Back then, I wasn't in a good state of mind. Every day was spent alone, even if I had relationships, it always felt a bit … pointless. In any case, one day, they might fall in love with somebody else and things would be over for me or maybe I would lose interest, and then there would be no point in staying either.
"In any case, I was tired. I was tired of everything. And I just didn't have the strength anymore to go on. It's not like I could just lie down and hibernate though. In any case, doing that also wouldn't have changed anything. Even if I woke up a hundred or a thousand years later, I still would have been in the very same situation. As long as I was different from others, was there ever the chance to meet somebody that I was destined for? I didn't think so."
Hua Lin Yu unwittingly felt a pang of pain. He reached out and took Xin Lan's arm, lightly rubbing it. He really wanted to say something but he felt that no matter what kind of words he used, he wouldn't be able to help. In any case, all of that had been a long time ago. Clearly, Xin Lan thought differently now. Thus, he just stayed quiet.
Xin Lan looked at those fair hands and reached out, covering them with his own and giving a sigh. "Well, so, I became reckless at the time. I thought that since things were like this, it wouldn't matter if I wasn't there anymore. I started to throw myself into fights that only got increasingly dangerous as time went on. You might not know but there are some creatures in the immortal realms that even a dragon can't challenge recklessly."
Hua Lin Yu slightly furrowed his brows. "Is that where all your injuries come from?" He might not have been married to Xin Lan but they had already lived together for quite some time and he had seen him take off his robe before. The skin below … it was marred with scars. Clearly, he had gotten injured quite a lot. He hadn't really asked about it in fear that Xin Lan might not feel comfortable talking about it but since he brought up these fights, he couldn't help but think of them and show a bit of curiosity.
Xin Lan smiled faintly and gave a nod. "Yes. They are. Well, my behavior finally brought me to the brink of death. I really thought that that day, things would be over. I didn't really mind either. In any case, I had been looking forward to that. If everything ended … that was a good thing, right?" He shook his head at himself and sighed.
"Well, who could have known that Heaven had other plans for me? That day, Jinde passed by and found me at the side of the road. He picked me up, brought me back to the palace, and started to patch me up. When I woke up, I wasn't in life-threatening danger anymore. I hadn't been completely healed but he had done the best he could. It was astonishing just how much that was. Well, so much for my plan to get myself killed." He gave a hollow laugh and shook his head again as if this was truly just a funny episode of his long life.
On the other hand, Hua Lin Yu was shocked silly. His fiance … had actually tried to kill himself and almost succeeded. Just the thought of that … was unbearable.