Jing Yi still hadn’t really come out of his daze. Being suddenly kissed threw him completely off-guard. He somehow reached out with his hands but he didn’t know what to do. Pulling him closer? Pushing him away? It was a lot more difficult to say now that he requited this man’s feelings.

Qiu Ling made the decision for him. He picked him up from the ground without stopping to kiss him. Jing Yi could only cling to his neck. Qiu Ling carried him over to the tree trunk where he had been sitting before and took a seat once again. He didn’t let Jing Yi out of his arms though.

"Qiu Ling …" Jing Yi finally found his voice again but he only got out Qiu Ling’s name before his lips were once again taken over. In the end, he just closed his eyes. Whatever. They hadn’t seen each other for so long. Why should he make Qiu Ling confront his past immediately? They could certainly take a bit of time to celebrate their reunion. After that … After that, they could still go and find the way out of here.

Convincing himself like this, he grabbed onto Qiu Ling’s shoulders and leaned closer. Qiu Ling still felt like it wasn’t enough though. He reached up and undid the knot in Jing Yi’s hair, letting the black strands fall down his back and over his shoulders, making them form a curtain on both sides of their faces that kept out everything else.

The two of them continued to kiss until both of them were breathless, their hearts beating faster than they had ever before.

"Jing He, I love you." Qiu Ling whispered the same words that he had already said hundredths of times, feeling the same satisfaction he always felt when he managed to steal a hug from Jing He and get as close to him as never before. "You can’t even imagine how much I love you."

Jing Yi smiled. "Then why can you still not remember my name?"

"What are you saying? Of course, I can. You’re Jing He. My Jing He." His hand found its way up Jing Yi’s chest toward his lapel. Right now, he felt like Jing Yi wouldn’t reject him. If he used this opportunity, there would be no going back. They could be officially wedded in the eyes of the dragon race and even the Heavenly Emperor might not say anything after they had already done the deed.

Before he could decide, Jing Yi had already caught his hand though. "I love you too."

Qiu Ling sighed inwardly. He had hesitated a bit too long. Now, he’d have to wait for another opportunity. But, well, it wasn’t that bad. His beloved was right: This wasn’t a good place to get married. It really wasn’t. And his beloved should have the best possible place, the best of everything. Their first time together was supposed to be an unforgettable experience for him. One he would love to think back to.

Qiu Ling smiled and cupped Jing Yi’s cheeks, giving him a small peck on his lips. "Alright. Let’s get out of here."

Jing Yi raised his brows. Just like that? Why had he spent so much time before trying to convince him then? And if it was that easy, shouldn’t Qiu Ling have been able to free himself a long time ago even without needing to come in here? Why had he been in a coma for the last two weeks instead? Was he misunderstanding things right now? "What do you mean?"

Qiu Ling still looked at him with the same faint smile. "I mean we should get out of my inner self. Wasn’t that what you wanted?"

Jing Yi had some trouble to find the right words but finally nodded hesitantly. "Yes, just … how do you want to get out?"

Qiu Ling’s smile widened. "You don’t have to worry about that. Just let me take care of it. You can trust me."

Jing Yi looked into those eyes that had somehow captured his heart. He might not know Qiu Ling for too long but he felt an inexplicable trust towards this man. If Qiu Ling said that he could get them out of here, then he probably could. He would just follow him, no questions asked. Thus, Jing Yi nodded and stood up from Qiu Ling’s lap, looking at him expectantly.

Qiu Ling got up as well and squeezed his hand reassuringly. Truth be told, he had no fucking idea how to get out of his inner self. If he did, wouldn’t he have left long ago to reunite with Jing Yi? But naturally, he couldn’t admit to that in front of Jing Yi. No, he had to bring him out of here.

After all, how would it look like if he was unable to get them out now that he had said this already? Even if he hadn’t, since his beloved depended on him and saw him as a knowledgeable senior right now that could solve every situation possible, he couldn’t let that image collapse. It would be a complete loss of face if that happened! That was not allowed to happen in front of his beloved!

So he had to be pro-active and think hard about how to do this. In fact, it couldn’t be that hard, right? This was his inner self, his own core. How silly would it be not to get out of it?

No, he just had to confront his fears. In this case … he uneasily glanced at the woman that was still sitting on the tree trunk. He had already tried to confess and apologize but neither had worked. That only left one way to deal with this.

He took a deep breath, squared his shoulders, and then made his beloved turn in the other direction. "Don’t look."

Making sure that Jing Yi had really closed his eyes and even covered them with his hands, he took his sword out of his spatial ring. He turned back to her and then went over step by step.

Back then, he had killed her because she had seen something she shouldn’t have. Now, repeating what he had done as a form of confronting it might be the key to get out of here. After all, he really didn’t think that there was anything else left to do.

He had already seen the place where he had been born and the one where he had lived. He had seen the person again that he had valued the most for a long time and even watched the demise of his parents again. What more was there that he could suffer through?

He raised the sword and then cut off her head in one fell swoop, very much how he had done it back then. It fell to the ground with a thump, making Jing Yi’s brows furrow while Qiu Ling just stared at it. Finally, he sheathed his sword, put it back into his spatial ring, and then once again looked up at the sky, hoping that the way out of his inner self would open up. Unfortunately … everything stayed the same.

Qiu Ling turned around and hugged Jing Yi to his chest, prepared to burst into tears. This was the worst day of his life!