That Kind Of Love

Jing Yi's journey through Qiu Ling's inner self didn't get any better. He hadn't walked far when he found the body of a woman that was most likely Qiu Ling's mother. At least, they had a vague resemblance, even though it wasn't as obvious as with his father. She, too, had been killed and her death was even more gruesome than her husband's. She hadn't even been left with an intact corpse.

Jing Yi knelt down beside her, too. "I'm sorry, auntie. You probably felt very bad having to leave your only child behind like that. But you don't have to worry. Even though the things that happened back here left a shadow in his heart, he has still grown into a good man. You would certainly be proud when you could see him right now." Well, she would probably feel better if Qiu Ling hadn't been imprisoned in his own inner self because of the things he had had to endure as a child but still. It wasn't wrong what he said.

"You know …", he started to tell her more while picking up her head and slowly closing her eyes. "Qiu Ling has become a really handsome man. He looks a lot like your husband. And even though I never had the chance to get to know his father, I still think that the two are very similar inside, too.

Your husband tried to save the two of you, didn't he? He even gave his life for that. Qiu Ling is just the same. He does things for those he holds dear without thinking of the dangers. If I told you of all the things he already did for me, even though we don't know each other that long …"

He sighed and brushed her hair back before putting her head back where it belonged. "You would probably worry. But you don't have to. You really don't have to. In the future, I'll make sure Qiu Ling won't do anything too dangerous. And if there ever comes danger our way, then I'll help him. I'll become strong for that. He won't have to go through things alone anymore. He'll always have somebody by his side. So you don't have to worry about him anymore. You can journey to the Yellow Springs in peace and meet up with your husband. Maybe you'll even see my father there."

Jing Yi looked at Qiu Ling's mother and sighed once more. He picked up the rest of her limbs that had been chopped off. Really, who could do something like this? Killing a defenseless woman like this … It was too cruel.

"I'd like to bring you to your husband but, unfortunately, I'm just a mortal. I won't be able to carry you there. Maybe I'll return with Qiu Ling. Then he can bring you over and we'll bury you side by side. You certainly would have wanted that. Being together in life and death … How nice to have that kind of love."

Jing Yi smiled slightly. Love … He felt like, now that he hadn't seen Qiu Ling for a while, he suddenly understood. Loving someone would mean to be happy when that person was with you and it meant being sad when that person wasn't there. It meant worrying for that person's safety when you knew they were doing something dangerous and wanting to get stronger for their sake so that you could be at their side when they attempted something like that again. And if something happened to that person, then you wanted to be at their side. And you also wanted them to be there when you couldn't go on. Just like he had regretted not knowing what had happened to Qiu Ling when he thought that he might die. His seemingly last thoughts had been directed at Qiu Ling.

Yes, without knowing, he had fallen in love with that person who had pestered him for so long. It seemed like all defense was futile in front of his persistence.

Mn, he really wanted to see him soon to make sure he was alright. It was time to go and find him.

Jing Yi stood up and took one last look at Qiu Ling's mother. Letting him into his inner self should also mean that Qiu Ling was alright with him seeing these things. He felt honored. It should be hard showing these emotional scars to anyone. Maybe it was even harder to show them to a person you cared about.

Jing Yi continued on. He hadn't gone far, though, when he happened upon quite the peculiar scene: There was a small stream running through the meadow, a forest towering behind it while two hollow tree trunks were lying in front of it.

Two people were sitting on them, one on each trunk. On the trunk to the left sat a young woman. She had blazing red hair and a pair of dark eyes, the dress she wore was simple but neat. She was quite cute but her expression was blank as if she was deep in thought and didn't know what to make of all this.

The person on the other trunk … It was a handsome man with long black hair and equally black eyes. He wore a dark robe with some golden embroidery on the edges that made him look especially elegant. Unfortunately, he stared gloomily at his hands as if he was discontent with the rings there.

That person was none other than the man he had searched for. It was actually Qiu Ling.