While Emperor Rui was trying to muster up a plan to get to Qilin Kai, Qilin Luse was venting his anger at a bamboo forest that had done absolutely nothing to him.
Long streams of high-pressure flames came from his clenched fists as he did a series of martial arts attack moves leaving the forest bald and crispy. While he was venting out all is anger Hei Ying was watching while sitting on a rock a bit further from the action.
He knew in times like this it was best he left Qilin Luse alone until he let it all out. They say heavy is the head that wears the crown but the crown was starting to look lighter right now when compared with Qilin Luse's problems. He was stuck between a rock and a hard place.
He failed to kill Qilin Kai which would have been the best solution for his problems. If he had succeeded he wouldn't have to worry about Qilin Hao finding out about his existence and preventing future problems.
But since he had failed he couldn't tell Qilin Hao about Qilin Kai otherwise she will be overruled by her emotions and do something that would cost her her life. She wouldn't allow anyone to deal with Qilin Kai apart from herself which wasn't a good idea in her current state.
Now, given that Qilin Hao is in isolation she would never find out about this hot potato. If he doesn't tell her and Hei Ying doesn't mention it either she would never know unless if maybe Ji Yao comes to hand over the keystones.
He knew the little prince would take some time to find all the keystones and when he finally does and hand delivers them to him, he would take the opportunity to finish what he started with Qilin Kai. This plan was perfect and he was willing to accept the consequences of going against Qilin Hao acting on his own accord to kill Qilin Kai.
But now another problem had sprung up and that problem was that man named Rui. If for any reason Emperor Rui decides to tell Qilin Hao then it's game over. He also couldn't kill him because Qilin Hao was adamant about it.
Until now he couldn't understand the reason why Qilin Hao was keeping him alive and he couldn't question her either. Thus this venting session deforested a thousand-year-old forest.
Hei Ying who was sitting with his elbows on his thighs and his hands propping up his head asked, "I really don't understand. Why couldn't we just off him? I know he would be difficult to handle especially when he has plenty of cards up his sleeve but it's not impossible."
Qilin Luse was now standing there with his chest heaving deeply as he tried to catch his breath after such rigorous exercise. His entire body was covered in so much sweat that he even had armpit stains. He looked down at his trembling hands before clenching them tightly.
He walked over to Hei Ying and sat down beside him his face downcast. His anger had subsided but he was evidently still in a bad mood. While sulking having not heard Hei Ying's question he felt a weird sensation at the back of his head as four fingers slipped into his hair.
His first instinct was to dodge. He even flinched but he still let Hei Ying do as he pleased. Hei Ying massaged his scalp as he spoke in a low voice, "You didn't have to burn the entire forest to vent out your anger..... You are so pent up and I am willing to sort it out for you." His words were spoken in a hesitant tone for a reason. It was a taboo subject between them.
For years and years, they had both worked for Qilin Hao in Niuq but didn't cross paths until they set off to open the portal to merge the two worlds. Even when they explored this strange place alongside Qilin Hao they weren't close. Qilin Luse was like a peerless immortal walking around with a face like he was owed millions.
But that all changed one day when he accidentally bumped into Qilin Luse that the man finally noticed him. It was because like other Qilin, Qilin Luse didn't have anyone compatible with himself neither did he bother looking. He wholly devoted himself to serving Qilin Hao that nothing else mattered.
That day Qilin Luse suddenly found out something very important. He had significantly high compatibility with Hei Ying and he didn't even know it all these years. Despite knowing this he didn't even take the initiative to get close to him because to him relationships were a trivial or rather troublesome matter.
For more than forty years he kept it to himself and beside the casual glances in Hei Ying's direction whenever he saw him, which was rare, nothing else changed. It was all fine and dandy until one time when he had no choice but to take in a drunk Hei Ying after one of his drunken escapades.
That is to say when Hei Ying wasn't watching Ji Yao and Ji Wen he spent his time trying fun things you would think he is human. He had been tired of watching Ji Yao who was a toddler then. The kid did nothing all day apart from drawing messy scribbles all over the house.
So he brought along a bottle of serpent poison and drank while watching the kid. Yes, he was a terrible babysitting bird. Atop a tree in his human form, he watched him at the dead of the night drinking himself silly. Finding himself drunk he fell out of the tree but managed to change into a bird before hitting the ground.
Unfortunately, this grabbed the attention of the young Ji Yao who ran over and picked up the bird. It wasn't hurt and it even struggled to get out of his grasp but Ji Yao wouldn't let go. Let's just say this infant had no concept of animal cruelty. He began to pluck those feathers before trying to eat them.
This bird squawked and squawked but the drunk heartbroken Ji Wen who was meant to watch his son only woke up and told Ji Yao to keep it down before going back to sleep. Hei Ying still had lingering fears from that experience because Ji Yao bit him trying to nibble on this bird that look plump and juicy.
He could have transformed but he would scare this little brat and possibly leave a psychological shadow so he could only endure it.. Lucky for him Qilin Luse had been constantly checking in on the pair of father and son that had been abandoned rescuing this bird before it lost all its feathers.