Oh. My. Fate?! (Bl, Volume 10, Part 1)

137 Back to Normal

She Fen had to admit that he wouldn't get any further with the little black fox since he couldn't force him to take on his human form no matter whether he was a spiritual or demonic beast or a demon itself. As such, he could only go back to watching over the other disciples.

Back in the immortal realms, things were going much better: Everyone was looking at Qiu Ling, trying to figure out if there were any side effects from what they had done but they couldn't spot anything. At first, it made their mood surge but then, they also couldn't help but worry because this was a matter that couldn't be deduced at just a glance.

"Really, how do you feel? Are you uncomfortable anyway? Anything else you ... think might be missing?" Jinde had done his best to only wrap that specific memory but he couldn't be sure that there wouldn't have been accidents. What if part of the energy had managed to wrap around another one while he wasn't looking?

Qiu Ling faintly furrowed his brows but then shook his head. "No, everything else seems to be alright. It's ... It's also not like I completely forgot about it. I still know that it happened. Just not ... not like I was actually there."

The others exchanged a glance and Xin Lan finally let go of his shoulders.

"It's no wonder it's like this. Anyway, that memory was tied to others. Since those weren't covered up as well, you will naturally know that it happened. As long as it's only theoretical knowledge, I see no problem with that.

"So unless the gods say otherwise, we can stop making a fuss about this matter." Xin Lan turned to look at Qiang Yan and then his gaze stopped on Li Yin. In his eyes, the God of Justice was the better person to ask about this.

Li Yin gave a hum, while his gaze was resting on Qiu Ling. He saw this the same way as Xin Lan did so he wasn't too worried right now. There were quite a few things going through his mind though. He thought for a while longer and then turned to Jinde. "Thank you for helping out. This matter, it is good that the dragons had somebody handy to deal with this."

Jinde gave a noncommittal smile in return. "Thank you for your praise, God of Justice. I don't think it's necessary though. I am in a lucky position to be a substitute to adviser An Bai right now and it is a great honor to me to have been allowed to take over such a task.

"In the dragon realm, I am the one more familiar with the study of the souls so I know I am suitable but my area of expertise doesn't come up often. So having this opportunity to prove my studies worthwhile is something I will be eternally grateful for. Seeing as I didn't make any mistake as far as we know and was even able to help my king, I am not just satisfied. I am ... oh, I don't even have words to describe it." He shook his head with a faint smile but then turned serious again and looked at Xin Lan instead. "Speaking of my work, there is still the matter that I'm supposed to do for senior Xin Lan."

Jinde's smile turned a bit brighter at that. "So far, the progress has been fast. I think that we should be able to finally start with the procedure at the very latest in another day. It could also be that it will be earlier but that depends on whether we manage to make a breakthrough."

Xin Lan caught his drift and then merely gave a curt nod. "That will be soon enough. If you need anything from me, just tell me."

Jinde inclined his head and then stepped back to his husband's side, grabbing onto his arm. "Well, there might indeed be something. Zheng Yin and I discussed earlier and it seems that there are two ways to go about the procedure. We would like your input on which one you'd prefer. But we can talk that through in detail after we've gone through the rest of the research."

Xin Lan nodded but didn't say anything else, not wanting to draw more attention to Jinde. Clearly, that Li Yin was already being suspicious of him. Dispelling that doubt wouldn't be easy at all. In fact, he wasn't sure if it would be possible at all. He definitely didn't need to make it worse.

Jinde naturally realized the same so he turned to look at Leng Jin Yu and then leaned over, pecking his lips. "Well, I'll get back to work then. See you later."

Leng Jin Yu gave him a quick hug and then watched him leave, a bit reluctant that he had to stay behind.

They had already made sure that Qiu Ling was alright but who had made sure that Jinde was? Surely, from the way he had looked, he had also needed to expend quite a bit of energy. Especially since he was supposed to do something for Xin Lan in a short amount of time, that wasn't a good thing.

He'd love to be at his side right now to make sure that he hadn't drained himself too much this time and could hold on. If not, he could interfere and try to help. If he wasn't there though, what could he do?

Qiu Ling noticed his gaze and smiled wryly. "You know, instead of standing there with that kind of expression, you might as well follow him and make sure he's alright. He did me a favor just now. I definitely won't slight him in the aftermath. I don't think that there's anything you can do here either way."

Leng Jin Yu glanced at him and then just nodded even though there were a lot of other things he wanted to say. "If you do need any help, you can say that. I'll come back over right away."

Qiu Ling just waved at him and then turned to the side, reaching out to Jing Yi who still hadn't dared to come any closer. "I'm better and definitely not dangerous anymore so you might as well come here." Right now, he still couldn't quite believe it but it did seem like things were indeed better. In that case, he definitely wouldn't hold back from indulging a bit even if it was for only a moment.

Jing Yi was relieved when Qiu Ling finally said so and went over, embracing him. "I'm glad you're alright. I mean you are really back to normal now, aren't you?"

Qiu Ling gave a drawn-out hum, not quite sure how to say this. "Well, I'd say there's a chance that this is the case. I wouldn't bet my life on it though. I think for at least the next few days, we should keep someone close by to keep an eye on me. If things stay as they are right now, I guess we can declare me healed. But there is a good chance that this will happen."

Jing Yi heaved another sigh of relief and then sat on Qiu Ling's lap, closing his eyes. "It'd definitely be great if that could be the case."

Qiu Ling reached up and brushed through his hair, and then glanced at the other people in the room. "Well, I think that since this matter has now been solved, there's really no reason to crowd around."

Qiang Yan gave a hum and turned to look at Li Yin, motioning at the door. "Let's go back to the Nine Heavens?"

Li Yin continued to look at Qiu Ling and Jing Yi before glancing over to his friend. "No need to accompany me. I'll go back on my own. Since you're already here, I guess you'd want to spend some time with your son and his fiancee. I'd do the same if it was my son so no need to explain." With that, he walked out of the door, leaving the other people looking at his back.

Well, it seemed that slowly, things were really going back to normal.

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Author's Note: Speaking of surprises, did you know that I uploaded a (very late *ahem*) OMF Halloween special over on my website recently? If you have missed seeing Shun Tao have a breakdown, you should go and check that out. It has the ominous title "It's that woman again". I'd link it for you but I vaguely remember that Wattpad doesn't support links ... Eh, I guess I'll go and put it on my profile. It should work over there 😶