Jing Yi gulped twice before he managed to shift his line of sight to Qiu Ling. "Qiu Ling … That … is that normal?"

"Mn, what? Did you feel something strange?" That couldn’t be, could it? He had done everything the same all the time, hadn’t he? He pondered but couldn’t anything that had been different from before.

"No, I mean …" Jing Yi weakly motioned in the other direction.

Qiu Ling was puzzled but, just in case, he turned around and … grimaced. The water had receded from them quite a bit thanks to his use of his magic, leaving a stretch of wet sand to their feet. Much more important was the huge wave though that was rushing in the other direction.

Uh … It seemed he had completely forgotten to take into consideration what would happen if he continuously pushed the water in one direction, not allowing it to return. This should be pretty bad?

"Qiu Ling!" Jing Yi grabbed his arm, his expression twisting into fear. "Do something!" He wasn’t sure where exactly they were and what was on the other side of this sea but if that kind of wave hit the coast and there were any settlements close by, all those people would be doomed.

Qiu Ling nodded and raised his hand again, waving at the wave. Then … nothing happened.

Qiu Ling’s eyes went wide and he stared at the wave that continued forward, piling up even higher. If not because it had gotten so huge, they probably wouldn’t even be able to see it anymore.

"Qiu Ling?" Jing Yi tugged at his sleeve once again, his hand trembling. "What is it? Why is it still …"

"I … I don’t know." Honestly, he had never before conjured up such a large wave. After all, this kind of wave required a large body of water to be formed. If he got too close, he might need to use his true form. He didn’t want that so he had never taken the risk.

His magic had limits. He had just never tested them before. But now it seemed that this had exceeded them. Either the wave was too far away already or it was too strong. He actually didn’t want to know which one it was. Both of them were really, really troublesome.

Jing Yi could see from his expression that Qiu Ling might not be able to do anything about this. He bit his lower lip and looked at the wave again that was now disappearing in the distance despite its size. "What is on the other side of that sea?" Maybe they were lucky and nobody would get hurt by this?

Qiu Ling furrowed his brows. "That … should be the Long mountain range?" He rubbed his neck.

Jing Yi turned to stare at him with wide eyes. "The Long … Then isn’t that where the capital city is? And the Yun Zou Sect?" Maybe even both since the wave was so large. "Then the people there …"

Qiu Ling pressed his lips together. Yes, those people would drown and whatever was in that wave’s way would get destroyed. When they returned, they would only find a desolate place that would need a long time to regain its vitality.

Jing Yi gripped onto his arm tighter. "Qiu Ling, please … do something about this."

Qiu Ling turned around to him but the words he had wanted to say got stuck in his throat. There were actually tears in his beloved’s eyes. "Jing He …"

"Please, do something. You have to stop it somehow. My … my mother … she’s … still in the capital. And Shao Hai and Xiao Dong are in the Yun Zou Sect. They …" The tears finally flowed over, trickled down his cheeks and dropped to the ground.

These were the most important people in his life. His first two childhood friends and his mother. When he imagined not seeing them ever again … He wouldn’t be able to take it!

Qiu Ling gritted his teeth. Right. He couldn’t let anything happen to Madam Zhong and even though he loathed that Shao Hai, he didn’t want to see his beloved cry so he’d have to save him as well. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

He didn’t know that much about magic since he never had anyone to teach him but there was one thing that he was sure of: Even if he didn’t manage to call back the water when he went closer, if he took on that other form of his, then he definitely would have the power to stop it. He would have more power.

It was just … Jing He was here. And even if it wasn’t like that, there were still other people who might see him. What if they talked about it? A dragon turning up would be a huge sensation. They would definitely talk about it, there was no other possibility. What if Jing He heard? What if some god who coincidentally wandered the human realm heard of it or even saw and then reported to the Heavenly Emperor? What then?

He’d lose Jing He forever! How could he be able to take that? No, he couldn’t do it. This was just a human life. His beloved wouldn’t take it too seriously upon waking up, would he? He could just …

"Qiu Ling!" Jing Yi’s tear-choked voice sounded next to him and his beloved shook his arm. "Please! I beg you! Do something!" He knew that he might be asking too much. Qiu Ling had obviously not felt well when they came here. There might be dark memories holding him back, haunting him. If things were different, he would never ask this of him. But … there were lives on the line now. And even some that meant a lot to him. How could he just watch and not hope that Qiu Ling would solve this crisis somehow?

Qiu Ling gulped. Even if Jing He didn’t blame him later on, he would blame him now. How could he take that? "Alright", he choked out. "Jing He, do me a favor, alright?"

"Just tell me. I’ll do anything if it helps you to save them." He thought of the smile on his mother’s face, of the kind words she had told him just a short while ago when he finally saw her again after five years. How could that be suddenly gone?

Qiu Ling turned around to him and grabbed his shoulders. "Close your eyes. Close your eyes and don’t open them until I come back and tell you to. Do you hear? You have to promise me! You can’t open them no matter what!"

With his frantic voice, Jing Yi didn’t even think to ask for any reason. He just nodded and then closed his eyes, even going as far as covering his face with his hands.

Qiu Ling once again breathed deeply. He bent forward and placed a light kiss on Jing Yi’s forehead. "I’ll try everything to stop it. If I can’t … then I’ll go and at least save your mother. Don’t you worry about her. Nothing will happen to her. She’ll be alright." Right, he couldn’t let his beloved experience this loss. While he had promised not to interfere in his trials, this was his fault this time. He couldn’t let it happen. That was absolutely impossible.