Not hearing an answer from An Bai, Qiu Ling couldn't help but start to worry again. Could it be that An Bai felt that it was impossible to explain this matter to Jing He? What was he supposed to do then? He definitely couldn't just let things continue like this. He had to make a decision. And he was afraid that the only decision he could make was to treat Jing Yi as well as possible and then explain to Jing He. He didn't think that his heart would be able to take it if he did anything else. If there was no way to explain to Jing He though … then that completely changed everything. Not in a good way though.
An Bai looked up and noticed his king's expression. He gave a faint smile and shook his head. "Don't think too much, Your Majesty. I think that in general, this matter should be doable. It is just that I also have a hard time coming up with a way to explain things on the spot. I guess I just need a bit more time to figure things out."
Qiu Ling heaved a sigh of relief when he heard that. "So it was like this. Well, that shouldn't be the problem. In any case, I don't think that Jing He will be waking up that soon. The gods will have to consider all the options first and then have a talk with us to make sure that it will not cause more troubles on our end. Only after that would they be able to put into action whatever it is that they came up with. Even if they are fast, it should at least take a few days. A few weeks are even more likely."
An Bai nodded at that. "That is what I think too. Speaking of which …" He glanced at Xiang Yong when he remembered their conversation from before. "I hope I didn't do the wrong thing but I volunteered to help the gods out."
Qiu Ling raised his brows but he didn't actually have anything against it. "Don't think too much. The current situation isn't easy. I'm afraid that without working together, this matter will only drag on further. And while I do feel sorry toward Jing Yi, at the heart of the matter, I think both of us also realize that things can't just continue like this. We need some kind of conclusion. It's just like this."
An Bai nodded at that. "I'm afraid that Your Majesty is right in that regard. The longer this drags on, the more difficult it will be to solve. So it would be best if a solution was found soon. I'm just not sure …" His expression became a little complicated, making Qiu Ling raise his brows.
"Just go ahead. In any case, no matter what you say, I won't get angry."
An Bai wasn't used to this side of his king either. He looked at him for a moment but finally nodded. He needed to learn to trust him. There really was no reason why he shouldn't do so. "Well, His Highness's mortal reincarnation likely won't be happy no matter what kind of solution is found. Even if it is a nonviolent one, it still means that he has to give up his life. Whether one is a human or a god, no one wants to die. I think that much is unsurprising."
Qiu Ling couldn't help but sigh when An Bai mentioned that. "Of course. I never held any illusions that this would be easy on that side. But there's nothing I can do, is there? We can find a way that will not implicate me and still allow Jing He to return but it still can't change anything for Jing Yi. But what else am I supposed to do? We can't let him live on either."
An Bai nodded, not quite sure what else to say to that. In any case, the situation had always been like this. The two of them fell quiet, both considering the problem. Finally, it was Xiang Yong who spoke up.
"There's no way to change this fact but there might be a way to make this less difficult."
Qiu Ling glanced over. "What do you mean?" If there was a way to make this any better for Jing Yi, even if it wasn't much, he would definitely do it. No matter how hard it would be to implement whatever Xiang Yong had thought of, he would be willing to give it try.
"Before the trials, the gods drink some of the water from the river of forgetfulness, don't they?" He glanced at An Bai to make sure that he had gotten it right.
The other dragon nodded. "Yes, this is to make them temporarily forget about their lives. It is the reason why they won't be reborn in the mortal world with their memories intact."
Xiang Yong nodded. This was pretty much what he had expected. "Well, in that case, maybe we could make use of that. Just give him some of the water and let him forget. Then after that, we could implement whatever it is the gods want. At that moment, he wouldn't really feel much about it because he wouldn't know what happened beforehand and might not even know enough to realize what is going on."
Qiu Ling slightly furrowed his brows. To be honest, the idea was ingenious. It would allow them to reduce Jing Yi's suffering and make things easier for them as well. It was just … he wasn't quite sure if he could really do such a sneaky thing. Well, he was quite good at doing sneaky things in general but it just felt scummy to do that to his own lover.
Xiang Yong slightly raised his brows, somewhat being able to guess what Qiu Ling was thinking. "You don't have to decide immediately, Your Majesty. Just keep this option at the back of your head. In any case, we still need to wait for the gods to decide on how they're going to solve this matter. Only then would there be a need to make decisions on how exactly to implement it."
Even though he didn't feel good about it, Qiu Ling still nodded. "Let's do it that way then." In any case, maybe they would be able to think of something else. After all, for now, there was still some time.