Qiu Ling only indulged in his fantasies for a moment before he turned serious again. Right now was an important moment for his beloved. He couldn’t mess this up! Thus he calmed down and got back to the topic at hand.

"What is it, my love? Just tell me. I’m sure we can work it out together." He couldn’t help but rub his cheek against Jing Yi’s hair, taking in his scent. Mn, they could work through it slowly.

Jing Yi sighed in response. "I think I felt the spiritual energy from you just now. I can’t feel it in myself or in the wind though. It’s as if …" Jing Yi furrowed his brows. "I don’t know. As if there was nothing there and just you …" He hung his head. He had been so sure that it would work! He had never been closer but … it didn’t work. And now he wasn’t even able to tell Qiu Ling about it in an understandable manner. He really was a failure.

"Don’t worry." Qiu Ling turned Jing Yi around to face him again and cupped his cheeks, not caring about the winds surrounding them. "You already felt something. Isn’t that great? You’ve never come so far before. It’s a step in the direction. Maybe you just need to practice a bit more before you’ll be able to sense it everywhere. So let’s just try again. Mn?" He smiled and Jing Yi indeed felt better.

He smiled back unwittingly and nodded. "Alright." Yes, he should not give up so easily. After five years, he finally had a direction to work in. Why was he losing hope so fast? He had already come the farthest he had ever been today. From here on out, he could only go forward but not back. So what was there to fear?

Qiu Ling watched his expression and a special sense of happiness permeated his chest. He had always loved Jing He’s smile and while his mortal reincarnation didn’t look quite like him, his smile was just as enchanting. Seeing him so happy … It made him feel the same. Especially so since he knew that it had been his words that made Jing Yi feel like this. It made him feel like he should put in some more effort to help.

Qiu Ling pondered and then motioned to the top of the mountain. "Originally, I thought of bringing you up there since the winds are stronger there. Do you want me to bring you up after all?"

Jing Yi looked where Qiu Ling’s pointed. The top of the mountain couldn’t be seen from where they had stopped but he believed Qiu Ling when he said that this place might be more suitable to cultivate. He already wanted to nod and tell him to go but then he hesitated.

Qiu Ling would likely pick him up and fly over, traversing the distance almost in the blink of an eye. Then the rest of the day would be spent with him trying to cultivate. While that might help him make progress, it would also mean that there was no way this would turn out to be the day he had wanted to give Qiu Ling. So saying yes … would be incredibly selfish, wouldn’t it?

Jing Yi lowered his head and looked at where Qiu Ling was still holding his hands. All this time, other than asking him to marry him and spend time with him, Qiu Ling had never voiced any requests. Instead, Qiu Ling had always asked what he wanted to do, what his opinion on matters was, and quietly tried to help him wherever he could. On the other hand, what had he ever done for Qiu Ling?

Jing Yi looked back up and smiled. "I’d like to go and give it a try. But —" He tugged at his hand when Qiu Ling wanted to wrap his arms around his waist and bring him up.

Qiu Ling raised his brows. "What is it, my love?"

"Well, since we’ve already come here let’s take our time. This place is really nice. I’d like to see a bit more of it. So why don’t we go up slowly, take a look around, and then stay there for a while to practice?"

"Really?"

"Mn. Really. Wasn’t that what we wanted to do in the first place? Anyway …" Jing Yi grabbed Qiu Ling’s arm again and motioned at the path ahead. "Let’s go. I think before this, we were talking about …" He pondered but his lips just twitched when he remembered. Right, they had talked about his father. A subject he had wanted to distract Qiu Ling from which had led to his discovery in the first place. That was hardly something they could continue to talk about.

Qiu Ling also pondered when Jing Yi brought up what they had talked about previously. It seemed … they had been talking about his heroic deeds before meeting in the Yun Zou Sect? Ah, it seemed it was better if his beloved didn’t remember that. He really didn’t know if he would be able to come up with enough excuses.

He cleared his throat and then motioned at the trees around them. "I found this place when I was searching for the ingredients of the Amethyst Lightning pill. They’re spread over a lot of different places so I got to see quite a lot. I was often thinking that it would have been nice if you were there with me."

Jing Yi smiled but he couldn’t help but feel a tinge of sadness as well. "I’m sorry. You went to such lengths for me and I …" I didn’t appreciate it at all. I even gave the pill back. He sighed and shook his head at himself. How could he have done that? And he hadn’t even told Qiu Ling to his face. That really was the worst.

Qiu Ling wasn’t too bothered about it. "It’s alright. You never asked me to do that. I just did because I wanted to. It’s your right to say no. Anyway, it’s nice that we’ll be able to see a few of these places together now. I’m really looking forward to it."

Jing Yi couldn’t help but smile. "You always think positive, don’t you?"

Qiu Ling turned to look at him, a handsome smile lighting up his face. "I do. But only when I’m with you."

Jing Yi really had nothing to say to that. Qiu Ling … was a little too good at sweet-talking him. His heart seemed to overflow with sweetness.