Xin Lan furrowed his brows. This stupid fallen god! Did he have to word it like this? Did he have to say anything anyway? Couldn’t he have just kept silent? He wanted to explain to his Master so he wouldn’t get the wrong impression but stopped himself at the last moment. His lips curved into a slight smile. "Would you mind if I did?"

Jinde smiled back at him. "What are you saying? Mind? I’d be very happy for you. He’s such an adorable child. Maybe the best person you can find."

Xin Lan’s lips twitched. He had almost forgotten how cold his Master could be. Well, whatever. He went to sit down behind him and reached out to massage his shoulders. "He suddenly wanted to go on a second trial. I don’t know what gave him the idea. But he helped us a lot so … I’m going to do him a favor and play his lover for a while. He won’t remember his past there anyway. And when he comes back …" He shook his head and didn’t say anything further. They both knew that he certainly wouldn’t change the target of his feelings this fast. Even though he was able to fall in love more than once contrary to the other dragons, that didn’t mean that he could fall in love at random. Time and the person still needed to be right.

As for Xiang Yu … Well, he was pretty enough to get some of his attention but not really his type and he didn’t want to take the trouble of trying to figure out how to have a relationship with a fallen god either.

And the time certainly wasn’t the best right now. He had only just found his Master again and cleared things up with him. Falling in love with somebody else right now was nigh impossible. No, if anything, then he would need some time. Get over his love for Jinde and then slowly look for somebody else that he might be able to love. If it happened, then it would happen. If it didn’t … Well, he had been alone for a long time already. Adding some more years wouldn’t be trouble. He was already used to it. Right now, he was still too hung up over his Master.

Speaking of that … "Do you really just want to wait until your husband returns?"

Jinde hummed. "What else should I do? Sure, I can try to contact him but if they haven’t found all the ingredients yet, then it won’t do to call them back either. No, I should just wait that bit. Jin Yu will return as soon as he’s finished. Everything else can be taken care of afterward."

Xin Lan nodded. This might really be for the best. After all, the dimension still depended on that Bai Mu. Come to think of it … His brows furrowed and his hands stopped moving. That fallen god … Had he seen Bai Mu’s face? If he had, then he hadn’t had any reaction. Not that he had noticed at least. How strange. Could it be he had been wrong? Was there no connection between that Bai Mu and the fallen god’s husband?

Jinde glanced over his shoulder and raised his brows. Whatever Xin Lan was thinking about, it seemed to be rather troubling. What a novel sight! He reached over and gently put his hand on Xin Lan’s arm. "What are you pondering?"

Xin Lan glanced at him, his heart leaping when he met with those golden eyes. He didn’t want to say it but he couldn’t stay quiet either. "That fallen god … I think he fell because of a love trial."

Jinde nodded. "That husband he mentioned?"

Xin Lan raised his brows. Indeed. That Xiang Yu had mentioned his husband today. If he remembered correctly this should have been the first time he did that. "I don’t know anything about that. It’s just that … I think that his husband might be related to the person that is supposed to help with the realm where you’re supposed to stay. That Bai Mu."

"Then it might be a good thing after all that he went on his trial already. If they met …"

Xin Lan nodded. "True. It’s just that I thought that they had already seen each other in the capital of the human country. I’m not sure though. Maybe he didn’t see him anyway. Or maybe I’m overthinking this. Maybe there was nothing with his husband other than him not being treated as well as he thought he deserved."

Jinde leaned closer and reached up, his hand covering the masked part of Xin Lan’s face. "Xin Lan, when you go and accompany him on the trial, then try to remember that he deserves to be treated in the best possible way. Not because you promised anything or because he’s a fallen god. No, just imagine this was you. Wouldn’t you also want to be treated in the best way? So you should do the same for him. Who knows? Maybe it will work out."

Xin Lan had held his breath at first, completely entranced by the earnest look in his Master’s eyes. When Jinde finished though, he pulled out of his grasp and shook his head, slightly irritated. "I do not like him." Was it really that hard to understand?

Jinde just smiled. Sure, Xin Lan didn’t like him now but who knew how that would look after a trial spent together? Falling in love was something that could happen fast sometimes. If Xin Lan spent some time with somebody else while he was not around and even played that person’s lover, then who knew if he would really be able to still be this cold to that person in the end?

Those pretend feelings might just become real over the course of time. And a fallen god … Even though it could be tricky, this was also a person that was strong enough to stand at Xin Lan’s side. Maybe he was even the only person that would be able to do so. Why shouldn’t he hope for that?