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

4 A Little While Longer

The battlefield was getting chaotic with everyone's original plans having been disrupted. The chaos could be heard from anywhere in the capital and, of course, Jin Ling had long since noticed as well.

He had hidden away for some time after Xiao Dong passed by but then went back to watch the street with renewed interest. So far, he hadn't seen the person he wanted to see but he was sure that he would soon. He simply needed to wait for the right time.

At the very least, that was what he had thought at first. Then, hours passed by, and suddenly, there was noise throughout the city. He didn't realize what was going on at first and simply thought somebody had made a ruckus somewhere but then he saw the guards all rushing toward the outside of the city.

You didn't need more than a few brain cells to figure out what that meant: There was a grave danger the city needed to be protected against and it should be dire with how many of them had been mobilized. In fact, it looked as if all the available manpower of the capital was on the move.

Jin Ling paled as soon as he realized this. Something to move all soldiers for ... that was the kind of thing you did when you were under direct attack in a war, a fallen god was taking out their wrath on your city, or some mythical being had somehow gotten lost and felt irritated, threatening to destroy the city simply in the hope of freeing up the way it wanted to take.

No matter which situation it was, if Jinde was here, then he couldn't allow for anything to happen to him! Jin Ling rushed to the door, intending to make his way straight over to the palace whether Jinde was ready to see him or not.

As a result, the door wouldn't budge. Jin Ling stared at it in surprise, then tugged at it again. It still wouldn't open though as if an invisible hand was holding it closed tightly.

Jin Ling let go and stepped back, his brows furrowing. What was going on? Surely, this couldn't be a coincidence. Could it be that that brat had told Qiu Ling that he was here and that bastard had found some way to barricade him in so he couldn't get to Jinde? Then at this moment, had Jinde left? Wouldn't he have run right into the danger outside then?!

Jin Ling panicked. He didn't think any further, turned around, and tried to open the window instead but Xiang Yu's array kept that one tightly closed as well. He cursed under his breath and gritted his teeth, trying to simply smash the window. Under his attacks, the wood broke but even after that, he couldn't get out. When he tried, he seemed to touch an invisible barrier.

Jin Ling groaned in pain. Why was this happening?! Why now of all times when he had to go and save Jinde?! He couldn't live with himself if anything happened to him!

He went back to the other side of the room, furiously attacking the door until the wood had splintered but once again, he was greeted by the same barrier on the other side.

The ruckus he caused had alarmed some of the other people close by though.

Jin Ling stared at them, wondering if they were all in on this matter. Then next up ... they should try to attack him?

The others exchanged a glance and finally, somebody shook their head and sighed. "You should calm down. The whole guesthouse is somehow locked down. Nobody can get out."

"Yeah, although everyone else at least managed to make it out of their rooms." One of the others couldn't help but eye the barrier in front of the door to Jin Ling's room suspiciously. If they had stayed inside any longer, would they have also been trapped in their rooms like this?

"Eh, could it be that this is some ploy by the demons?"

Jin Ling's head immediately turned in the direction of the last remark. "Demons?"

"Mn!" The woman nodded. "The demons are attacking. Well, they're not here yet but the warning was given out a while ago. The soldiers have already gone into position and everyone else will form a second line of defense. I guess it's just us being unable to go out." She sighed and shook her head.

Jin Ling stared at her in a daze. Finally, he could only repeat her words. "The demons are attacking?"

The woman nodded again. Seeing as he was trapped in the room, he naturally wouldn't have been able to hear what was going on so she didn't think his surprise was suspicious. "They will, yes! I haven't heard much yet but apparently, that demon king Jin Ling was dethroned. Instead of him, there is some new guy sitting on their throne and he thought it was a good idea to attack us." She scoffed and some of the others joined in.

"His Majesty is already well-prepared. No matter what they do, they won't win!"

"True. I just wish we could be out there."

The dragons sighed collectively while Jin Ling could only furrow his brows.

He felt like kicking himself. Why hadn't he stayed in the demon realm? Even though he wanted to see Jinde again and reconcile with him, right now, the situation over there wasn't stable. He had known that. So why had he still left? If not for that, Jinde wouldn't be in danger now.

Ah, who knew where exactly he currently was? Would that bastard Qiu Ling really make sure that Jinde was kept safe? He didn't believe that. No, Chun Yin hadn't cared enough about Jinde so his son definitely wouldn't either. If he wanted Jinde to be safe, he'd have to do something himself.

Jin Ling reached out, his hand once again hitting the barrier. "Is there no way to get through this?"

The dragons exchanged glances but could only shake their heads. "No, there seems to be some kind of formation drawn around the guesthouse. Nobody has time to care about that right now but when they checked, it seemed to slowly dissolve. We simply have to wait it out until then."

Jin Ling nodded. Well, at the very least, this meant that he could soon join Jinde wherever he was. He simply had to be patient for a little while longer.