Qiu Ling only needed a moment to find back to himself. The fact that Jing Yi was there also made it a little easier. "Well, in any case, all that I wanted to say was that I can understand why the two of them would be like this. As for the others … from what I know, the God of Justice is somebody who takes his job quite seriously and I think he had a son that he loves just as much as the Heavenly couple loves Jing He. Maybe he sees himself in them a little bit. If it was his son, he would probably want to get him back as well. So I guess that is why the three of them are so adamant about this."
Jing Yi nodded. "I know. It's not that I can't understand it. But it still hurts to be rejected just for who I am. I haven't done anything. It is like I committed some kind of crime that I am being hunted for now. But just because of the fact that my soul was somebody else's before I am suddenly in this type of situation. It just seems unfair, you know?"
Qiu Ling gave a hum in response. "I do understand that. It is unfair to you. The whole situation is. Not just since we returned to the Nine Heavens but even before that. You … you grew up having to do these trials just because it is something that the gods have to do. So there are things in your life that you went through that normal humans might not have needed to suffer. And even now that you've returned, things are being made difficult for you just based on that fact. Where is the fairness in that?
"At the same time, it isn't fair to Jing He either. Believe me, he never would have wanted to go on this trial if it hadn't been a necessity. To him, while he doesn't have a problem with doing it in general, the time was really … unfortunate." He faintly raised his brows, thinking of the day when Jing He had told him. Clearly, his beloved had had a guilty conscience.
In any case, just the day before, they had promised each other to get married. He had offered to go to the Heavenly Emperor but Jing He had asked him not to and said that he wanted to tell his father alone. He had probably hoped that this way, the Heavenly Emperor would be more likely to agree because he wouldn't be able to bear scolding Jing He too much.
But then, things had turned out differently because right at that time, the Heavenly Emperor told him first that it was time for his trial. The courage that Jing He had built up had all been for naught. Suddenly, things were completely different from what they had expected. Thus, the next day, he had only been able to confess to him, hoping that he would be more understanding. At the same time, he had clearly worried about it as well. Who wouldn't? In any case, this had dashed all hopes that they had held before. The promise they had made, suddenly, it wasn't worth anything. Even though officially, this was just pushing things back a little, after everything that they had gone through before that, it easily could've been interpreted as a new refusal. Why shouldn't Jing He worry about that?
Jing Yi actually wasn't quite sure about what kind of timing Qiu Ling meant but seeing his gaze, he wasn't sure if he should ask about it either. In any case, while he was willing to take a step back for Qiu Ling and would not make a fuss about it when hearing about Jing He every now and then, he definitely didn't want to hear his praises all the time. Especially not if it was in connection with Jing He's relationship with Qiu Ling. It just hurt too much.
Qiu Ling realized that most likely, what he had just said wasn't nice either. He winced inwardly but forced himself to keep a calm look on the outside. In any case, the two of them needed to learn to speak about this. Otherwise, they really wouldn't be able to continue being a couple going forward. Because no matter what, Jing He would always be a part of their life. For Jing Yi because he couldn't escape the fact that his soul had been Jing He's originally and for him because he would never stop loving Jing He. That was just a fact. Thus, as hard as it was, they slowly needed to work toward being able to have at least this much of a conversation about the topic.
Qiu Ling didn't want to overdo it right away though so he could only return to the previous topic. "Well, you've read about Tian. I can't say that I fault him. There were things that were wrong between the three immortal races. And after driving his lover crazy, I can also understand why he had this wish for revenge.
"But that doesn't change the fact that this has been going on for hundreds of thousands of years. And now, I can't help but wonder if maybe it is time to take a step back. Maybe we've paid enough. Is it really alright to punish also subsequent generations of a race for something that their forefathers did? Save for one person, nobody else from that time is alive anymore as far as we are aware. And even he hadn't actually been born at that time. So maybe this is overdoing it."
Jing Yi nodded. Being punished for something somebody else had done … he could understand that sentiment right now. Thus, he didn't even need to think before he nodded. "I guess it would be good if the curse is lifted. But I guess it was never intended to be. So from that day forth, it was just a new reality for the immortal races. I guess it won't change anymore."
Qiu Ling nodded, feeling that this was indeed the case. "Yes, I'm afraid that's true. We will just have to go forward like this. Unfortunately, that also means that situations like this will crop up again in the future. While it's not good, nothing can be done about it. Well, maybe this case will at least help with learning how to deal with it better. That would be a good outcome considering the circumstances."