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

170 Three Weeks' Worth of Memories

Jing He's cheeks flushed even deeper. "That ..." He wanted to say something but the right words eluded him. In fact, he wasn't even sure which direction to think in. A love token ... he naturally liked having that. He didn't need something to remember Qiu Ling by though. He'd be thinking of him most of the time anyway. But it wasn't like that could be said out loud.

Qiu Ling had a rough guess of what might be going through his mind but he didn't expose him. He simply leaned closer and gently kissed his cheek. "Well, no need to thank me. It's only a small consolation for not being able to meet anyway."

Jing He looked at the jade pendant again and gently picked it up, finally giving another hum. Indeed, he'd rather be with Qiu Ling than just hold something that reminded him of him.

Speaking of love tokens though ... "I didn't know how to get in contact with you since my father was always keeping a close eye on me these days. Today, I handed something to the man he tried to set me up with so that he could give it to you." He raised his head, his cheeks still lightly flushed while admitting to this.

Qiu Ling stared at him, feeling that his beloved was really too cute. It was almost impossible to get him to admit to his feelings blatantly but a hint here or there had been possible for a while. This ... was probably one of the times he was being more direct? Ah, this moment should be treasured! Although ... "So, you handed the love token intended for me to my rival in love?"

The flush on Jing He's cheeks deepened. If he put it that way, it indeed didn't sound so good. He hurriedly shook his head. "No, it's ... well, you also know the person. It is Duan Ming from the idle gods' courtyard. I remembered that we met him during my trial and he didn't seem interested so it felt like a safe choice."

Qiu Ling gave a drawn-out hum in return. That Duan Ming ... "He must have something wrong with his head."

Jing He looked at him in puzzlement.

"I mean, contrary to me, he gets the option to try and woo you served on a silver platter but he doesn't even try and instead wants to hand it over to somebody else? Clearly, this guy has no taste!"

Jing He barely held back a chuckle. Qiu Ling was really ... well, he always knew the right thing to say. He faintly cleared his throat, trying not to get swept up in the moment. "Either way, he should be getting in touch with you soon. After that, I'm afraid I won't see him again so it won't be convenient to deliver messages. Most likely, apart from today, there won't be another chance to see each other soon."

Qiu Ling nodded. "I'm afraid you're right about that. Your father will keep you guarded closely. Especially if he realized that you managed to sneak away today. I mean ... that is what you did today, right?"

Jing He's cheeks reddened once again and he nodded in embarrassment. "I guess you could say it that way. Although ... there were still guards with me so it's not like I really escaped his monitoring. Speaking of which, how did you manage to get in?"

"Uh ..." Qiu Ling hesitated for a moment. Of course, this wasn't difficult to explain but he remembered the gods' attitude toward fallen gods. Jing He would probably feel scandalized if he knew that he was in contact with one of them?

Qiu Ling found himself at a loss but since he had been asked directly he could only give a straightforward answer as well. "I know this will sound out but, actually, we met this fallen god during your trial and he can kind of open portals to ... everywhere, basically."

"Ah, right." Jing He blinked his eyes. He didn't remember yet how they had met but he had seen him appear. His mortal self hadn't felt much about it since he wasn't familiar with the stories. After remembering, Jing He actually felt scared as if he had barely escaped death several times.

Still, it was clear from his memories that Qiu Ling thought differently about this. That fallen god had even been at their wedding, after all! He couldn't say that he understood but if this was how Qiu Ling thought, he wouldn't say anything contrary.

Qiu Ling raised his brows at his reaction but then, it dawned on him. "You already remember Xiang Yu. Well ..." He suddenly felt suffocated when he realized that three weeks was a lot of time. "How much ... else has come back already?"

Jing He pondered. It was always hard to explain since he didn't know everything but as for the last few memories ... "I recalled some scenes from when we were living in what seemed to be a secluded place just this morning. I don't know the specifics but it should have been in the cultivation sect where I finally ascended." He didn't know the beginning, only the ending so he wasn't aware yet that this was a secret dimension created by Leng Jin Yu.

Qiu Ling knew which place he meant though. "Ah, there. That's good." He relaxed somewhat but his expression still held a hint of worry.

Three weeks ago, he had been gathering the courage to tell Jing He about his parentage. Now, so much time had gone by but he still hadn't gotten an opportunity. With how the Heavenly Emperor was currently behaving, it wasn't clear when they see each other again so ... he should probably do it now.

Anyway, he had already asked everyone he could ask about this. Their advice really hadn't been helpful — all of them being some variation of 'just be straightforward but gentle' — but it wasn't like he'd suddenly be given anything better to work with. So really ... he should tell him now.

It was just that his heart seemed to skip a beat even if he just thought about it and he could barely breathe. Yes, he wasn't afraid to admit that, actually, he was scared out of his mind to do this.