Chapter 515 - But He Was a Demon …

Jing Yi and Qiu Ling walked through the forest in silence, one in the front and one in the back. Qiu Ling kept quiet because he thought it might seem more mature than any subject he could come up with right now. Actually, the subjects he could come up with right now … Mn, his beloved's hair looked very lovely with the patches of sunlight that were shining down through the tree branches. How about letting him brush it for a while?

While Qiu Ling indulged in his flights of fancy Jing Yi couldn't help but think back to their conversation right now. Qiu Ling had been so different it had shocked him. It wasn't that he had never heard Qiu Ling say anything serious before but it was something that happened seldom and normally, he'd revert back to his usual silly and excited self in a matter of seconds. This time though … He had been like another person.

Jing Yi raised a hand and touched his chest. If he didn't know any better, he really could have made himself believe that Qiu Ling was actually Tian and that there might have been some reason that had made it necessary for him to use another name, either back then or now.

The two of them were really too similar. He had already thought so when he started to remember Tian. The way they wanted to protect those they loved and the care and gentleness they showed to them … It was the same. And Tian had also had those moments where he was a little shameless like when he had presented him with the flower that he had plucked from his garden. It was just that Tian had this kind of moment much less than Qiu Ling and mostly showed a more mature side of himself.

Jing Yi sighed. Wasn't it normal for people to have similarities? And maybe he had fallen in love with Qiu Ling because of his love for Tian. Maybe he had been able to get into this relationship with Qiu Ling so easily because he unconsciously reminded him of Tian. Couldn't that be?

At least it sounded more plausible than his other thought. Qiu Ling and Tian … they couldn't be the same person, right? Wouldn't that be … too big of a coincidence? Just because he'd like to prevent having to decide between them, it wouldn't just happen. Life wasn't like that.

And he knew, didn't he? He knew that it was impossible. There were so many things speaking against it. The most important that Tian was the demon king, part of a race that Qiu Ling hated. So how could they be one and the same? No, it was impossible.

Then again Qiu Ling's mother had been a demon. So maybe it wasn't completely impossible? Ah, but even then he wouldn't have been their king. After all, his father had been a dragon, right?

Jing Yi sighed again. He really didn't know what to do. Ah, why was he only in the third stage of his cultivation? Why couldn't he already be of a higher stage and ascend soon? He wanted to know what had happened back then and how he had come to be a mortal!

Qiu Ling finally pulled himself out of his thoughts when he heard his beloved sigh for the second time. He sped up his steps until he was walking next to him and used the opportunity to peek at his face. Mn, he looked better than before. His eyes weren't the least bit red anymore. "Is something the matter?"

Jing Yi looked up and his heart jolted again. There it was again, that look … He actually didn't know how Tian had looked at him back then since his past self hadn't dared to look into his eyes but he felt that Tian should have had the same expression that Qiu Ling had right now. He couldn't help but stare.

Qiu Ling didn't look away either. He tried to appear as calm as possible even though his hands were sweating. Could it be his beloved was doubting his previous judgment very much already? Would he ask him if he was Tian now? Would he melt into his embrace and kiss him in a mixture of bliss and regret over missing out on some time with him?!

Unfortunately, Jing Yi did none of that. His gaze flickered and he finally turned away. "No, it's nothing. I just … I wondered how we'll proceed with the mission. Ah, right." He took out the list of ingredients for the array and handed it to Qiu Ling. "There are some herbs on the list that I've heard about in the Hei Dian Sect so I wanted to search for them first. I know the kind of place they would grow. For one of them, the deepest part of the forest would be suitable so I thought about looking there first."

Qiu Ling stared at the list of ingredients and knitted his brows. Ah, this was difficult. He hated plants. Not just that the old geezer had liked them, Jing He had also always liked those stupid plants more than him. Even Jing Yi had suddenly shown interest in them. But now he was trying to act mature. As a mature person, wasn't he supposed to be knowledgeable? So shouldn't he know where exactly to find those herbs? But unfortunately, he hadn't even heard of them.

Qiu Ling finally nodded. Jing He had known that he didn't know much about plants so maybe this was also a good opportunity to make Jing Yi realize the truth. "Let's do what you said. I'm afraid I myself don't know about plants." This was more or less the same thing he had told Jing He back then. He observed Jing Yi's expression but the words didn't seem to spark anything. It was as if he had just heard a random fact.

Qiu Ling smiled wryly. Well, it would have been too much of a coincidence if the first thing he mentioned already made Jing Yi realize his mistake, wouldn't it?