When he saw his beloved at a loss, Qiu Ling blinked his eyes. It seemed they both had no idea where to go. He glanced at the capital again and pursed his lips, trying to come up with something. Jing Yi had wanted to see his mother again to catch up so maybe …

"How about returning home?"

"Huh?" Hadn’t they just been there?

"I mean your village. We could go and visit the village you grew up in."

Jing Yi blinked his eyes as well. "How do you know about that?" He wasn’t completely sure but he felt that he had only told Qiu Ling about being from the capital, hadn’t he?

Qiu Ling’s gaze darted around. If Jing Yi couldn’t remember, then he could remember even less. The reason he knew about these things was because he had watched over Jing Yi while he grew up, after all. How could he be able to differentiate between these things so easily? He couldn’t tell him that though. Thus he could only try to come up with an excuse. "That … I must have heard it in the Yun Zou Sect when you talked about it with somebody."

Jing Yi wanted to refute but when he thought of what his mother had said about Qiu Ling already seeing him in the capital … Maybe Qiu Ling had actually wanted to approach him before the Gathering of Practitioners and had thus heard some things about him before. He didn’t know why he had never actually spoken to him but, well, now didn’t seem to be the right moment to ask about it. Thus he just nodded his head. "Well, I guess that’s the best idea we have so let’s just go with that."

"Alright, then …" Qiu Ling raised his hand and wanted to wave another cloud over but Jing Yi shook his head.

"No, wait!"

Qiu Ling stopped indeed and looked at him with a puzzled expression. "What’s the matter?"

"Well, we’re here to travel, right? If we just fly there, won’t we miss out on the actual use of this journey? So I think it would be better to go on foot. Maybe we’ll even be able to find some of these … places for fortuitous encounters." He shrugged his shoulders and looked at Qiu Ling for a confirmation. These were just his thoughts but he still felt that Qiu Ling would know better about this then he would. After all, even though he wasn’t a cultivator, he was still a practitioner with several years of experience. He was bound to understand more about these things.

Qiu Ling slowly nodded. "That makes sense. Then … let’s go?" He motioned toward the Long mountain range.

Jing Yi nodded and followed him. His thoughts couldn’t help but travel back to six years ago when he and his family had traveled to the capital. Back then, they had taken the same path. His father had been so happy to come to the capital.

Even though they had still been slightly shocked from that encounter with the bandits and even though he had been hurt, he had been talking excitedly about how they would meet up with his cousin and start a new life. He had even described the good food that his cousin would certainly sell at his stall and how they would be able to get a taste of it every day.

His father … had probably been a fool. He didn’t think much about the circumstances, didn’t look far into the future, and just went with his emotions. Actually, he was a bit like Qiu Ling in this regard.

Jing Yi couldn’t help but look at this senior martial brother of his when he thought of that. Right now, Qiu Ling showed very much the same expression as his father back then. Despite needing to leave the capital because of Guanyu and those other women and despite not knowing where to go, he was completely happy with the situation.

Jing Yi looked in the other direction, wondering if this was a coincidence or not. Could it be … he shared his mother’s taste in men?

Ah, no, he hadn’t accepted Qiu Ling’s proposal yet so rather than saying that they shared the same taste, he should probably say that they had the same ability to attract this kind of fool.

Jing Yi pondered this not only for a short time and couldn’t help but continue to compare Qiu Ling to his father. The longer he looked … Well, he really couldn’t deny the similarities anymore.

It wasn’t obvious at first glance and there were some differences but overall, they really seemed to be the same. Back then, his father had always done what his mother wanted, never even refuting when she said something. At most, he would scratch his head and awkwardly laugh when he didn’t know how to proceed. Qiu Ling wasn’t as awkward but he had the same tendency to do as he suggested and even very happily so. Even when he wasn’t told, he would search for something he could do for him. In short, both Qiu Ling and his father had always put the person they loved first and foremost in everything they did. That was hard to overlook as soon as it was noticed.

Jing Yi couldn’t help but sigh when he finally came to that conclusion, immediately drawing Qiu Ling’s attention.

A certain someone let go of the firewood he had gathered and rushed to his side, looking at him intently. "What is it? Are you not feeling well? Do you want some water? Something to eat? A hot bath maybe? Should I carry you after the break?"

Jing Yi’s brows twitched. As similar as they might be, there also were some differences that were just as obvious. At the very least, he really couldn’t remember that his father had ever been as shameless. He didn’t believe for one moment that the latter two suggestions hadn’t been without any additional thoughts attached to them. "No, don’t worry about it. Why don’t you show me how to make a fire? I should also learn to take over some tasks."

"Ah, how could that be? I’m very happy to do this for you." Qiu Ling instantly reverted to being a happy fool. Look at this! His beloved was worried he might get tired as well so he wanted to sacrifice the little break time he had to help him out! Wasn’t this romantic? Mn, he should give him a reward for that later on …