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

291 A Dire Situation

In his first vision, Jing He had experienced his own life as if it were real. But clearly, things were very different when it came to finding out about somebody else's future. And clearly ... he wasn't a part of this future.

The room he was currently in was very familiar to him. Back when he was still Zhong Jing Yi, his mortal reincarnation who had later turned into an ascended deity, he had lived here with Qiu Ling. Yes, this was the dragon king's palace and it was even the room the dragon king himself occupied. But being familiar with it didn't make the current situation any less scary.

Jing He stared at the person quietly lying on the bed with wide eyes. Thanks to his trial, he had seen Qiu Ling in a lot of situations but even when he was trapped in his own inner self, he hadn't seemed this ... bad. He just didn't know what else to call this state.

He wanted to walk over, to hold his hand and ask what was going on but he couldn't actually move. Furrowing his brows or ... trying to, Jing He looked down and found that he actually had no body in this vision at all. It was as if his consciousness had traveled here without the corresponding body, letting him witness what he shouldn't be aware of. It truly couldn't be compared to the previous vision at all. Even more so because this time around, he actually remembered that this was only a vision.

Jing He felt panic creep up inside of him but he knew he couldn't focus on himself now. No matter how odd the situation felt, he had to focus on Qiu Ling. He had to find out what had happened to turn him into this state.

Looking back up, his gaze brushed over all the people present: There were Jinde and Leng Jin Yu, as well as a young man who bore a certain resemblance to the two of them. A little further away, all six of Qiu Ling's advisers had gathered, their expressions grave. Obviously, the situation was dire.

Jing He wasn't there in person so even though he wanted to ask, he couldn't. He had to continue observing without a word, relying on the little he could hear and see to make a judgment about what might be going on. Thankfully, fate seemed to be on his side for once.

Jinde sat down on the edge of the bed and reached out, taking Qiu Ling's hand. In comparison to the others, his expression didn't seem as grave at first glance. It was ... an odd mixture of simply being blank and a hint of tiredness between his brows as if he had already suffered too much and could barely take this on as well.

"Child ..." Jinde only spoke up for a moment but didn't go on as if the words had suddenly left him. But yes, maybe there really was nothing left to say. It certainly looked as if all words might be too late.

Qiu Ling slowly opened his eyes but it didn't make any of this look better. He seemed ... tired. Even more tired than Jinde as if even the simple act of opening his eyes had taken too much from him.

Jinde gulped and his hand holding Qiu Ling's seemed to tighten as if to reassure the person who was lying down powerlessly or maybe to reassure himself that he was even still there. "You know, I'm not above sneaking into the Nine Heavens and kidnapping their crown prince. Forget sneaking, I can even rush in and do it openly if it helps."

Qiu Ling gave a hum that could have meant anything.

Jinde closed his eyes and took a deep breath before exhaling slowly. "I know. You don't want me to. If you did, you would have done it yourself long ago."

This time, Qiu Ling didn't even bother humming. He just looked at Jinde quietly.

Jing He watched them just as silently. If he had still had a body in this vision, he likely would have trembled. He wasn't sure what had happened but ... obviously, Qiu Ling hadn't found the happiness he had imagined for him. Instead, this was the bad outcome he hadn't dared to think of before. Somehow, he seemed to have lost all strength, even to the point of ...

He didn't dare to think about it further. He even wanted to close his eyes just like Jinde had a moment before but ... he couldn't. He could look around but it seemed that in this body-less state, he could not actually stop seeing what was happening in front. He was forced to watch, no matter how much it hurt. But then, that seemed appropriate. After all, this was likely the result of his own actions.

On the bed, Qiu Ling finally sighed. "Just ... leave him be." His voice was barely audible, despite the fact that everyone else was silent, filling the room with a deathly stillness.

Jinde's brows furrowed but smoothed out after just a moment. When he opened his eyes, he even gave a faint smile. "I know, I know. I won't cause any diplomatic incidents."

Qiu Ling continued to look at Jinde, his own pale lips curving up as well. "Don't ... tell him either. It's best ... if he doesn't know. He'd just ... blame himself."

Jinde pursed his lips and refused to speak but still nodded in the end.

Qiu Ling looked at him and then turned his head. The movement was excruciatingly slow as if it took all of his strength.

Seeing him like this, Jing He wished even more that he could rush forward. He also wanted to hold his hand to reassure himself that he was still there and he wanted to ask what had happened and what he could do to help. He just ... couldn't watch this happening without doing anything at all but that was exactly what he was forced to do. And then, he even had to listen as Qiu Ling considered his position and wanted to keep his awful state from him. How ... could he bear this?