Feeling reassured by Leng Jin Yu’s calm behavior, Liu Cheng finally bid his farewell with a few words and left.

After seeing him off, Jing Yi immediately turned to his mother. "Qiu Ling …"

"Yes, I know. I’ll bring you over right away." She first turned to Leng Jin Yu though. "Daoist Yu …"

"Senior martial brother Qiu is your son’s fiance. I’m sure it would be best to let junior martial brother Zhong have a moment alone with him first. If you need me later on, please tell."

Both Madam Zhong and Jing Yi nodded before they went over to the room where Qiu Ling was staying.

Madam Zhong hesitated in front of the door and took a trembling breath, hoping that somehow, a miracle would happen if she just gave it another moment. Qiu Ling, you better wake up. My son has already returned. You wouldn’t want him to suffer because of you, would you? She closed her eyes and then reached out, pushing the door open.

Both of them held their breath when they looked into the room. Nothing could be seen of the two dragons that had been taking care of Qiu Ling up until a moment ago. Instead, there were only the simple furnishings of the room and Qiu Ling on top of that bed.

His complexion seemed pale, maybe even more so because of the black robe he was wearing. And the worst thing was that he didn’t move at all. There was only the faint undulation of his chest that at least proved that he was still alive but other than that, there was nothing.

Qiu Ling was still unconscious.

Madam Zhong sighed when she saw that nothing had changed from when she left this morning. Well, she shouldn’t have expected it. She stepped to the side to let her son go in himself. He didn’t need her for this.

Jing Yi hesitated though. When he saw Qiu Ling lying there, motionless, his heart couldn’t help but thump in fear. "What … What’s with him? Why is he …"

Madam Zhong lowered her head. She also didn’t really understand. "I also don’t know. That Daoist Yu brought him here one day. By that time, Qiu Ling was already unconscious. He hasn’t woken up since."

Jing Yi finally couldn’t hold back anymore. He ran over, fell to his knees in front of the bed, and reached out to take Qiu Ling’s hand. It was cold to the touch. Absolutely not like in the past. "He … He’s not … dead, is he?"

Madam Zhong shook her head. "I don’t think so. He’s breathing and his heart is still beating. But he hasn’t woken up all this time. I don’t know what to do and that Daoist Yu probably doesn’t know either if he hasn’t been able to do anything yet." She sighed, not sure what else to say. She didn’t dare to try and console her son by telling him that everything would turn out well. After all, what if it didn’t? Right now, she felt that there was still a chance that that might actually happen.

Meanwhile, Jing Yi bit his lower lip, trying to hold back tears. He had been right. Why did he have to be right?! He wanted to be wrong. He wanted to be mistaken so badly that it hurt.

He lowered his head until his forehead lay on the bed. The tears silently trickled down his cheeks, unable to be kept back any longer. He felt even more useless at that, wishing that there was something, anything he could do. Unfortunately … he was completely powerless. Even if he had learned how to cultivate by now, it wouldn’t change a thing. He was unable to help Qiu Ling.

Madam Zhong went over and patted his back. "He’s so strong. He’ll certainly wake up again. Just give him some more time. Sooner or later, he’ll come around."

Jing Yi pulled himself together for his mother and nodded. "Yes."

Madam Zhong looked at the two of them for a while longer and finally squeezed Jing Yi’s shoulder. "Alright. I’ll leave you two alone and go back to the teahouse. I’ll be back in the evening."

"Of course. I … I’ll wait here."

Madam Zhong nodded and then quietly left, closing the door behind her. Right now, her son needed some time to calm himself. After that, they could think about what to do in the future. There had to be a way to help Qiu Ling.

Back inside, the room was completely silent, making it feel even more depressing. Jing Yi gripped Qiu Ling’s hand tighter. "Qiu Ling … What has happened to you? Was this really because you tried to stop that wave? Can that be? Was it really that strong? So … this is my fault? Because you wanted to help me … because I urged you … you became like this?" He lifted his head and peered into Qiu Ling’s face.

The man in front of him was still as handsome as ever but with him lying there so motionless this sight wasn’t as moving anymore. Jing Yi’s heart didn’t beat faster like it normally did but tightened instead. It really hurt seeing Qiu Ling like this.

"I wanted to tell you about everything that happened while I was alone. I … I thought so much about you. If you asked me if I wanted to marry you right now … I would probably say yes."

He looked at Qiu Ling’s eyes, half hoping that they would open and that he would say something shameless like 'You’ve promised so you’ll really have to marry me now', but, of course, this was an extravagant hope. Nothing happened. Only silence greeted him.