Chapter 386 - His Most Trusted Follower

"Thank you." Jinde reached out and his fingers lightly touched Xin Lan's skin. "I know you never liked Chun Yin and his child. It must be hard doing me this favor. But you know it wasn't entirely his fault. We were both played by Jian Heng."

"It was a set-up, yes, but he jumped into the trap himself. Who asked him to betray you? It was his own decision to sleep with that woman."

Jinde retracted his hand and turned around, slowly sinking back onto the seat in front of the table. Ah, yes, thinking back to all the things that had gone wrong that had always been what hurt the most. The fact that he had willingly slept with her, willingly stayed with her, and in the end … he even willingly chose her over him.

Xin Lan knelt down beside him again. He was tempted to take his hand and plead with him to forget about that man but he knew better than to actually do that. "I shouldn't have brought it up. I'm just afraid that you might expect too much. He didn't stay true to you back then. Who can say if it will be different this time around?"

"Mn. Nobody knows." Jinde sighed. Chun Yin wasn't even a dragon anymore. Heaven alone knew how Chun Yin had been able to live back then when he had already bound his soul to him. Normally, it should have killed him when …

Jinde's lips tightened. No, he didn't want to think back to that.

"Chun Yin wasn't the only one at fault. And even if he repeated the same mistake …" He sighed again. "What would it change? I'm already his. I'll always remain his. Whether in his last life or in this one, nothing will change about that."

"So you don't mind at all?"

"Of course I do. I mind it very, very much. So, this time around I'll be more careful. I'll make sure that there is no way he'll ever go to bed with somebody else!"

There was a mischievous smile on Jinde's lips that made Xin Lan speechless. He somehow felt like he had done something very stupid just now.

Xin Lan hurriedly bowed. "Master, I can see that you're missing him very much. I'll go at once and help Qiu Ling to open that array. Please have a little more patience. It won't be that easy to find a suitable medium so it might still take quite a bit of time."

"It can't be more than I've already waited. Don't worry about it. I'm already very grateful that you're willing to help Qiu Ling. I would also like to do my part. Unfortunately …" He looked back out of the window and sighed. "Jin Ling is somewhere out there. I don't mind that you know that I'm still alive but he can't find out. He can never find out."

"I understand. I will make sure he stays in the dark about this. I'll find some excuse as for why I am doing this and then return to his side. Should you need me …"

"Don't worry." Jinde patted his chest. "I still have it with me."

"Mn." Xin Lan smiled. Honestly, even though he could never take up the place as his lover, it wasn't too bad to be his most trusted follower either. At least he trusted him so much that he had still kept his gift even after he staged his death. That said a lot about how much he meant to him, didn't it?

In a good mood, he directly looked into Jinde's eyes for a moment. "I'm glad you're back. I'll help you to find means to speed up the recovery of your soul while helping Qiu Ling."

Jinde's golden brows drew together. "Xin Lan —"

"Don't worry. I will prioritize freeing your lover."

"That's not what I meant."

Xin Lan slightly tilted his head.

"Don't do anything stupid. After all, I'm a dead man already. You can't always run here to have me stitch you back together as you did back then, can you?"

Xin Lan tried to calm down his madly beating heart and nodded. "Understood. Now, excuse me. I'll better hurry."

"Mn. Take care." Jinde watched him leave and sighed.

Ah, it felt pretty good to see all these people again. First Qiu Ling, now Xin Lan, soon there would also be Chun Yin's reincarnation Yu Jin. For the first time in what seemed to be an eternity, he felt alive again. Yes, he was still injured and yes, he didn't know what would happen in the future but at least he wasn't completely alone anymore. It felt … pretty good.

Xin Lan's mood wasn't any less happy. Unfortunately, his luck was running out way earlier than Jinde's. He had barely taken to the air again when he found himself opposite a person he definitely didn't want to see right now.

"Your Highness."

"Xin Lan." Jin Ling smiled and observed the not so happy expression on the other's face. Well, that was expected. Xin Lan was never happy to see him. "What a surprise to see you here. Well, not really, I could hear you roar even in the capital. I wonder what made you call out that tragically? There wouldn't be anything … interesting in the Yun Zou Sect, would there?"

His gaze slid down and fell onto the array at the foot of the Grandmaster's peak that led to the special dimension. Could it be that he hadn't imagined it? Was Jinde really here? That definitely was something that would be able to make that eternally cool Xin Lan lose his head for a moment.

Xin Lan frowned. How come this brat had come here? He had just talked badly about Qiu Ling for casually revealing his master's secret and now his own behavior had nearly given his master's whereabouts away to the one person who really couldn't be allowed to know about it. He needed to deal with this and fast!