Jing Yi hurriedly washed up and dressed before heading out with Qiu Ling. In his haste, he didn’t notice how his fiance scattered the petals lying below their windowsill further with his magic.

Well, it wouldn’t have made a difference if he knew there had been more than one message. He wouldn’t have arrived sooner anyway and he already had a bad conscience. Who knew how long that person had waited there already?

Qiu Ling also noticed that Jing Yi might have forgiven him but wasn’t content with the situation. Thus he tried to make up for his earlier … mistake as he reluctantly called it through carrying Jing Yi over to the cave that had been mentioned in the message with the highest possible speed.

When they arrived they saw a pensive looking Qiguan Cheng Da sitting in the mouth of the cave. Xiao Li had already vanished long ago.

Jing Yi instantly felt worse. "Senior martial brother Qiguan!" He hurried over, clasped his hands and bowed. "I’m sorry for only arriving now!"

He knew not explaining himself wouldn’t be polite but he also didn’t want to rat Qiu Ling out. Although he didn’t agree with Qiu Ling’s way of doing things he also understood that he had done it for his benefit. He probably hadn’t been able to resolve himself to wake him up when he saw him deep asleep. After all, Qiu Ling had certainly noticed that he hadn’t slept well for the past two weeks.

"I got your message earlier already but you know I can’t read. I had to wait for Senior martial brother Qiu to read it to me, hence I made you wait. Please forgive me." He didn’t want to tell a lie but under these circumstances, it was the only thing he could do.

Qiguan Cheng Da smiled and nodded. "It’s not a problem. We’re on an evil sect’s territory here. It’s only natural for you to be more careful." His words sounded nice but like always his thoughts were the exact opposite of them.

He looked at Jing Yi and then at Qiu Ling and barely held back a smirk. He knew from Xiao Li that these two lived together so he had his own thoughts about what had held them back. He wouldn’t say any of that in front of Qiu Ling though and as long as Jing Yi hadn’t fallen out of grace in the sect he also wouldn’t show him his true colors.

Jing Yi smiled gratefully while Qiu Ling took a pensive gaze at Qiguan Cheng Da. He felt like this guy looked slightly familiar but he just couldn’t remember where he might have seen him before. Then again that probably wasn’t important. He might just have passed by him when he was in the sect.

"Ah!" Jing Yi noticed that those two had never met and hurriedly motioned at Qiu Ling. "Senior martial brother Qiguan, this is Senior martial brother Qiu, Grandmaster Zhangsun’s disciple. Qiu Ling …" He blushed. He had actually wanted to stay formal in front of Qiguan Cheng Da since he didn’t know him that well even though they had had a good relationship thus far. But he was already so close to Qiu Ling that he had just blurted out his name. Well, he couldn’t change his way of addressing him now.

"This is Senior martial brother Qiguan. Do you remember? I told you about him when we left the Yun Zou Sect. He’s the person from my village who offered to bring the Amethyst Lightning Pill back to the inner sect."

"Oh." Qiu Ling nodded. So he was that person. He could remember that his beloved had said something like that once. He wasn’t too interested in him though so he stopped at that.

A shrewd light glinted in Qiguan Cheng Da’s eyes though. This was the opportunity he had waited for for so long! Forming a relationship with the Sect Master’s favorite disciple Yu Jin had already benefited him. If he now managed to get to know the sole disciple of Grandmaster Zhangsun … Would anyone in the sect still dare to cross him?

He smiled lightly, cupped his fists and bowed, the very image of a sincere cultivator who was living and dying for the righteous cause. One really had to say, even though Qiguan Cheng Da hadn’t been talented in cultivation by nature he really had a knack for acting. Had he become part of a theater he might have become famous already.

"Greetings to Senior martial brother Qiu. Junior martial brother Jing Yi talked a lot about you. I actually feel like we know each other already."

"Mn." Qiu Ling gave a low murmur. He really had no wish to talk with this person. Couldn’t they just get this done with?

Jing Yi gave a strained smile. He could imagine what his fiance was thinking right now. Honestly, couldn’t he at least pretend for a while to be a polite person? What would people say when they returned to the Yun Zou Sect? Then again he was the sole disciple of Grandmaster Zhangsun and might attain the same heights one day. People would probably expect someone like this to be a little aloof, right?

"Ah … The Sect Master send you to get our report on the mission?" He turned to Qiguan Cheng Da to try and resolve the awkward atmosphere.

Qiguan Cheng Da was livid inside. Who knew what that Zhong Jing Yi had whispered into the ears of the Grandmaster’s disciple while in bed for him to treat him this coldly?! But what could he do? Now that the two of them were this close he had to put a good face on the matter until that Qiu Ling understood that Zhong Jing Yi wasn’t any more than a thing to pass a bit of his time with. He definitely couldn’t let them marry! But he had to approach this cautiously.

"Indeed. So … How is it?" He looked at Qiu Ling rather than Jing Yi since he doubted that the boy had done anything. The one who would accomplish this mission would definitely be the Grandmaster’s disciple.

Jing Yi also looked up at Qiu Ling. They hadn’t decided what to report to the sect yet. They hadn’t even talked to Hong Bao about the letter. He really didn’t know what to say.

Being subjected to his beloved’s helpless gaze Qiu Ling’s eyes curved into a smile. Ah, his beloved still thought of him as the most important person! Naturally, he would solve this tricky situation for him!