Oh. My. Fate?! (BL, Volume 12, Part 2)

267 Returning to the Nine Heavens

Jing He stared at the city ahead in a daze. He could understand getting the direction a little wrong and passing by the Tian Shan without even noticing but ... how had he ended up here? It just didn't make any sense. He had started from the other side, after all, and he certainly wouldn't have walked in such a large circle, would he?

No matter how he thought, he couldn't figure it out. Now, the question was what to do. He felt embarrassed beyond belief that he couldn't even leave the High Heavens and find his way back to the capital city of the Nine Heavens. In fact, it didn't even need to be the capital city. Just setting foot on the land of his father's realm should be enough.

As long as he found a settlement of gods, he could ask for the way to the nearest city or have someone accompany him there. Then, he could go to one of the palaces there and ask for help. With his identity, this would be easy. Even if he didn't want to expose who he was, he could simply ask for further directions. But the prerequisite to all of that was still finding his way out of the High Heavens first and ... it didn't look like that would happen anytime soon if he tried to find the exit himself.

He didn't like the idea much but with how things were going, he should probably enter the city again and ask Tian to send him to the top of the mountain. It just seemed like he had little other choice. After all, what if he continuously missed it while searching? When would he make his way back to the Nine Heavens?

In a way, it might not be important. After all, what was there waiting for him? The wedding he had been looking forward to would never happen. The man he loved wouldn't be there to welcome him back. The only thing he could expect were an empty palace and his father's likely infuriating theories about how Qiu Ling was behind his prolonged disappearance. The only good thing he could find was that he would be able to put his mother's and his uncle's mind at peace. Otherwise, being there or being gone didn't seem to affect much.

He sighed to himself but still went back into the city, walking up to the palace where Tian lived. It felt humiliating to do so but ... going back earlier would mean letting everything else transpire earlier as well. Surely, Tian would be in favor of that.

When he stopped in front of the gate, Jing He was once again at a loss, unsure if he should just call out or wait for Tian to realize that he had come back. He didn't know whether the Supreme Sovereign was still paying attention to him now that he was on his way back and should be leaving the High Heavens soon if it hadn't happened already. Anyway, the time for his son to be reborn was still far off. Surely, he had no interest in finding out what else was happening in between.

Before Jing He could ponder further, the gate of the palace opened, revealing Tian's figure right behind the threshold. "You have not left yet?"

His expression was as bland as ever, making Jing He tremble. He would never get used to the idea of speaking to the Supreme Sovereign. Before, it had still been alright because Tian wanted something from him and would patiently advise him. Now though, it was only a question of time, and ... the outcome Tian desired still rested on him doing as he had promised. Clearly, the situation wasn't favorable so seeing this kind of expression on his face, he immediately felt scared.

"I ... I can't seem to find my way home." He lowered his head, not daring to look at Tian any longer. If he didn't have to see the way he looked at him, being in his presence would be easier to bear even if it didn't objectively change anything.

Tian didn't respond but the next moment, the air next to him flashed.

Jing He flinched and looked up after all, finding a newly-opened portal right next to him. He turned back to the palace, wanting to thank Tian, but the person had already disappeared, the gate closing behind him silently.

Jing He stared at it in a daze but then simply bowed in thanks, not wanting to disturb him further. Tian had likely been annoyed at being bothered again after he had sent him off. Maybe inwardly, he had noted how useless he was and had started to worry about the future of his son's reincarnation and whether it would impact them to be born by a person such as him. Well, no matter what, at least he had opened a portal for him so he could leave here after all.

He didn't know how long the portal would stay open so he stepped through without looking too closely where it led. If he accidentally missed the time, it would be worse than whatever else might happen. Stepping out on the other side, Jing He glanced around him, trying to figure out where he was.

He found ragged stones all around him and saw tall mountain peaks towering into the sky not too far away. If he had to guess ... he should be at the foot of the Tian Shan and what was around him was the mountain range south of the Shan Dian Trench. From here, to the east lay the Nine Heavens, to the west the demon realm and to the south the dragon realm. As long as he picked the right direction, he basically couldn't go wrong.

As for how to choose ... the Shan Dian Trench in the north separated the Nine Heavens and the demon realm and the mountains extended further toward it than they extended into the dragon realm. So ... most likely, he should follow the line of mountains for a while and when he saw the sea ahead, then he only had to go right. When he reached the first settlement, he could finally make sure that he had found the right spot.

Making up his mind, he finally set out again, certain that this time, he would definitely get it right.