Oh. My. Fate?! (BL, Volume 11, Part 1)

1 Not a Benevolent Man

Author's Note: Time for the next installment in the OMF series! If you've somehow landed up here without knowing what this is about, I'll warn you that there are another ten volumes before this and you should definitely check them out before attempting to read the last two volumes of the series. For everyone else: Happy reading! I guess most of you have been waiting for Jing He's return for a while so let's see if it'll be what you expected 😊

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Tian, the supreme ruler of both the immortal and mortal realms, stared at the crystal wall on the other side of the palace. "This isn't good. If things continue like this ..." His brows furrowed and he retracted his gaze, turning it toward the person lying in the jade coffin in front of him instead.

Xing had not yet woken up and he knew that it would still take time until he did. But then, it might be soon if what he had surmised would come true. Of course, that was under the assumption that nothing went wrong.

He brushed over the lid of the coffin, his hand coming to rest where Xing's hands were folded quietly over his body. He had waited so long until the passage of time had become surreal and he couldn't tell any longer how many millennia it really had been. Sometimes, he even wondered if it had all been a dream and if the person lying beneath the jade lid was simply a creation of his that he had fiddled with while idle.

But then, how could he become this attached to something which had never been alive? No, he needed to believe that every moment of it had been true. The good and the bad, all of it was part of his past, of the life he had once led. If not for that, he didn't know what he should live for. Even now, there was only the diffuse hope of reconnecting in the future.

Tian looked up at the crystal glass once again. What he saw wasn't reassuring: The war between the dragons and demons had been brewing for a long time and he was not surprised that another battle had ensued. Unfortunately, the people involved could not escape unscathed and the damage they received might be too much to bear.

In most cases, he would not care. The immortal races called him the supreme ruler and they even bothered to hope for help from him even though they knew full well that he had cursed all of them. Their optimism was beyond his understanding. Clearly, he was no benevolent man. He had never been and he was even less so since Xing's fall.

When it came to others, he simply did not care about their life or death and especially not about their well-being if they could preserve the former. No, unless the person was his lover or served his plans, he could not care less about their fate.

Well, he might also take pity on some of them but then, everybody had a weak spot. He wasn't an exception to that. His weak spot had always been Xing and with him being in this state, he could not help but see his shadow in a person every now and then, his heart aching, and the feeling arising that he should make up to them what he couldn't give to Xing right now.

Either way, in this case, his plans seemed about to be ruined and there wasn't much he could do. The immortal races might believe that he was the one creating the intricate fate of their races and of the world they lived in, but that simply wasn't true.

He could influence fate, yes, but then, so could they. It was merely a matter of insight and power. The former often came with time so the humans tended to gain some as cultivators and even more so if they finally ascended. The ones who had been born immortal passed some of it down and discovered more as they aged. As for him ... his life had been longer than any of theirs might ever be. Of course, his ability to influence fate was the strongest as well.

But creating fate ... that was something that was above even his power. If it was any different, why would he have lost his lover and child to such a cruel fate? If he could indeed bend the rules of the world that easily, would he not have saved their son? Would he not have prevented Xing's fall or even given him a better life before he even appeared in front of him? No, fate was out of his hands, and right now, he once again felt a sense of helplessness wash over him as he watched his hopes about to be dashed once again.

Tian got to his feet and walked around the jade coffin, only stopping when he was directly in front of the crystal glass. He looked at the lifeless body of Zhong Jing Yi and the dragon king clutching him with tears streaming down his cheeks.

Another pair of star-crossed lovers, just like him and Xing. But then, that was what made them so suitable for his intentions. In fact, the more similar they were, the more likely for this to succeed. It was just that ...

"If this continues ..." Once again, Tian did not finish his words but his brows furrowed deeper and his thoughts churned.

Both of them had been dancing on a knife's edge for quite some time now, pulling back one moment and getting dangerously close to falling into the abyss the next. Now though, it might be too late for the dragon king to save himself again. At the very least, it would be difficult and he did not believe that his advisers were equipped to handle this in the amount of time they would have at their disposal.

Well, he wasn't above getting involved in what happened in the lower realms. Wasn't that why he had helped Zhong Jing Yi back then? But clearly, that alone hadn't been able to prevent a mishap. No, it seemed that he would have to do more if he wanted to see his plan come to fruition.

But then, this should not be a difficult matter. He simply needed to find a good time. After all, simply appearing in front of a bunch of people of the immortal races was out of the question. He would not do that without good cause and even though the situation wasn't good, it was not yet hopeless. He would give it a little more time and then do what he had to before it was too late.