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

280 The One Behind All of It

An Bai gave another nod, his expression indicating that he was happy with Qiu Ling. These days, he had worked closely with the half-bloods from their dragon realm and had become a lot more familiar with them. He had come to realize that their issues were deeper than he had been aware of, deeper than anyone had acknowledged before. Of course, he had had an inkling thanks to Qiu Ling's situation but their king was a special case from beginning to end, both thanks to who his parents and the people closely associated with them had been and also due to how he had found out about his mixed blood. Needless to say, the identity he had later carved out for himself had done its own part in differentiating the problems he faced with those other half-bloods had.

More so than their issues, An Bai had paid more attention to their conduct, although he had to admit that both might be connected. Because of who they were and because of how they were seen, they paid even more attention to how they behaved and they worked even harder to change people's perception of them. Of course, he wanted them to gain the recognition they deserved.

What they had done this time was work that could benefit everyone: the gods, the dragons, and also the half-bloods themselves. Most of them had never been involved in this type of work and yet, they had taken on the challenge and done the best they could. Wasn't that admirable? Shouldn't it be commended?

In the dragon realm, the king's position in the hearts of their people was special due to the fact that he was usually chosen through a series of tests. Nobody doubted that the person finally sitting on the throne was the best possible candidate who would allow their realm to thrive. Even though their own king didn't have the same background, he had proven himself through actions. Thanks to some additional work by his later advisers, his prestige had soared again. By now, was there still a single person in the dragon realm who didn't have strong feelings about their king?

Needless to say, the half-bloods wanted everyone's recognition but they especially wanted that of the dragon king. They wanted to prove that they, too, were part of the dragon race, that even though their blood might be mixed, this was their king as well, and that he could accept them for who they were. So Qiu Ling speaking to them after their task here was done and giving them that recognition ... that was something An Bai wanted to make possible for them.

Qiu Ling's position was naturally the same so he suggested it himself without needing An Bai to say much.

Of course, while two people were in agreement almost immediately, the third person in the room couldn't help himself from making another comment. "So Longjun intends to sneak out despite your previous insistence of staying glued to my side?"

Qiu Ling faintly raised his brows. If this person wasn't Jing He's father, he wouldn't bother with him. Since he was, though ... well, this could only be tolerated. Unfortunately, he also couldn't joke around too much or he could simply ask the Heavenly Emperor whether he'd miss him too much which would certainly disgust him into leaving him alone for three days. It was a pity one of them had to be the mature one. Ah, well, as the older person, he should just be a good example.

"Tianjun can hardly accuse me of sneaking around. Wasn't this plan discussed in front of you? Naturally, Tianjun is warmly invited to join us. My people haven't left the capital city of the Nine Heavens yet so the distance isn't far either."

Rong Su just huffed. "Don't bother." No, even if this person chained himself to his side, he still wouldn't believe that he wasn't somehow involved in Jing He's disappearance. Either he was the cause of it or he at least knew something he wasn't telling them. And instead of telling the truth, he told them such a grand tale. But he wouldn't fall for it no matter what that bastard from the dragon realm tried!

There was just no way his sweet son would ever fall. Anyway, no one had seen it happen. The only thing they knew for sure was that some strange man had taken Jing He away and that person was likely the fallen god. It wasn't impossible, was it? He remembered exactly that something similar had happened before! Yes, at that time, hadn't the current God of Justice, Li Yin, also been kidnapped by a fallen god? So if it could happen to him, the same could be true for Jing He.

In fact, it seemed a lot more likely for it to happen to Jing He. His precious son was great all around. There were naturally a lot of people who had designs on him. It wasn't impossible for one or two to get crazy and try such a drastic thing.

If not for the fact that Qiu Ling was a full-blooded dragon, he might have suspected that the crazy kidnapper was him. Still, even though he couldn't be, he was definitely an accomplice or maybe even the mastermind behind this ridiculous plan. But he'd catch him! Sooner or later, he'd find out exactly what Qiu Ling was plotting. Then, he'd expose him for the vile bastard he was and finally get Jing He back. It was only a question of time.

Rong Su narrowed his eyes and watched as Qiu Ling got up, straightened his sleeves, and followed his adviser out of the study. Waiting for a moment, Rong Su called one of his guards and sent him to observe. He definitely couldn't let Qiu Ling out of his sight! Of course, he couldn't always be around him so letting his personal guards follow was the best he could do under these circumstances. Still, he trusted them and their skills so he didn't have to worry that they'd overlook something important. No, he was getting one step closer to getting his son back every day now.