Back at the place opposite the Grandmaster’s palace where Qiu Ling had found Jing Yi and Nian Hai, Jing Yi was still looking in the direction that Nian Hai had left in and finally sighed. "Did you really have to accept that challenge?"

Qiu Ling blinked his eyes and played dumb. "Why not? You don’t have to be afraid. I’ll definitely win!" He conveniently picked Jing Yi up, pulled him over to the bench, and onto his lap.

Jing Yi wanted to chastise him but decided against it in the end. This guy, he wouldn’t stop doing these things just because he asked. Hadn’t he experienced that often enough in the past? "That’s not it." He looked around but nobody could be seen. It should be safe talking here, shouldn’t it? Just in case, he leaned a little closer until his lips were right next to Qiu Ling’s ear. "You haven’t forgotten why we’re here, have you?"

Qiu Ling stared ahead. Don’t ask him what his beloved had just said. He only knew that Jing He was really, really close to him right now and that he had initiated this by himself. So … was his beloved giving him some signs? Did he want to continue what they had been doing this morning?

He seriously pondered this question and finally decided that it was most probably the case. "I love you too!" He hugged his waist and wanted to kiss him but the familiar feeling of a palm on his face stopped him. "Ugh. Why are you doing this to me?"

"Did you even listen to me?" Jing Yi tried to wriggle out of Qiu Ling’s grasp but his fiance naturally held him tightly.

"I did! You … You were saying you wanted to continue where we left off this morning!"

Jing Yi sighed and leaned his head against Qiu Ling’s shoulder. "What am I going to do with you? You’re … you’re doing whatever you want. Don’t you feel ashamed at all?"

"No. Why should I?" Qiu Ling tilted his head and tried to look into his face.

"You’re shameless."

"Mn." Qiu Ling pursed his lips. He didn’t think that he was shameless at all. Well, maybe a bit … "You know, my love, as long as I can get you that way, I don’t mind being shameless at all."

"So now you’re a flirt too." Jing Yi said so but his lips unwittingly curved into a smile. No matter how shameless Qiu Ling behaved, this was still the man he had fallen in love with. This side of him … he loved it as much as he loved his serious side. After all, it just showed how much he cared about him.

Qiu Ling stopped talking. He felt like he wouldn’t give a good impression if he continued. In any case, it was also good to just hold his beloved in his arms.

Jing Yi kept quiet for a while and even closed his eyes for a moment but, in the end, he couldn’t bring himself to just abandon the previous thought. "I was asking you if you had forgotten why we’ve come here."

"I came here because you weren’t in the house anymore."

"I mean why we came to the Hei Dian Sect. We have a mission. If you duel someone in front of the whole sect, that isn’t exactly low-profile. Even if it doesn’t impede the mission, what would you do after returning home? If you make yourself known as a disciple of the Hei Dian Sect, it’ll be hard to shake that impression."

Qiu Ling looked up at the sky. His beloved wasn’t completely wrong with that. He couldn’t ruin his image. After all, it would ruin the image of his fiance too. "Then what do we do? It’s not like I can just opt out of the duel." He frowned. Damn, he should have thought about that earlier.

"I also don’t know." Jing Yi fell quiet for a moment but then raised his head in a sudden motion. "Ah, right! I already found out from that Nian Hai just now that one of the missing disciples is the wife of Grandmaster Shen. You were just called to him. Were you able to find out anything?"

Qiu Ling looked away. "Not really." He certainly couldn’t tell his beloved that he had run away twice because of him and fought with the Grandmaster in the meantime. Wouldn’t Jing He be angry with him when he found out?

Jing Yi naturally would. But even though Qiu Ling didn’t tell him, he sighed. "I’m afraid I’ve already given us away anyway. I called you by your name while that Elder Shan was standing outside this morning. What if he figures it out?"

Qiu Ling slowly stroked his back. "Don’t worry about that." He narrowed his eyes and stared at one of the buildings opposite them. He hadn’t been the dragon king all this time for nothing. If he wanted to, he could be pretty shrewd. And paired with the shamelessness he had developed to pursue Jing He … hmph. Such a small problem wouldn’t stump him. "Just leave it to me. I’ll find a satisfactory explanation. For the time being, just try to get used to calling me Long Jun. If you slip up a few times, it won’t be a problem. In fact, it’ll probably make it more believable."

"Just what are you planning?"

Qiu Ling smiled, bent down, and gave him a peck on the lips. "Don’t you worry about that. I’ll take care of it. You’ll be impressed!" Qiu Ling’s smile grew even wider. "My love … when you’re impressed, how about rewarding me then?"

"Remind me when it’s time."

"Mn. I will." I definitely will. Over and over, if he got the chance.