A Damaged Core

The fallen god took a deep breath and turned back around, gripping Jing Yi's hand while he was at it. "Then come on. We'll go."

"Ah?" Jing Yi blinked. Just like that? He said they would go and then they would do so? He wanted to ask if it would really be this simple but remembering how the other man had looked at him before, he kept quiet. He didn't understand why but he felt that he couldn't provoke this person or things might end even worse than if he continued to stay as the demon king's prisoner.

No, it was better not to risk anything until he was back at Qiu Ling's side. For now, he would just need to follow this man and see how things unfolded. Maybe that man was right and they would indeed be able to leave just like that. If not … Well, after what he had seen on the battleground, he didn't believe that the demon king would do anything to him for now. He obviously wanted to use him against Qiu Ling. Even if he caught him while he tried to escape, nothing should happen. At the worst, he would just be guarded more strongly, making it more difficult for Qiu Ling to rescue him. But his fiance would certainly still try and find a way.

With that in mind, Jing Yi followed the fallen god through the corridors of the demon king's palace. To his surprise, they didn't encounter anyone. It was as if the whole palace was deserted.

He frowned. This certainly wasn't normal. Could it be the demons were still out there, facing off against the gods and dragons? But as long as he was with the demon king, the other races probably wouldn't dare to do anything. After all, the demon king's threats had sounded quite ominous. Come to think of it …

Jing Yi looked up at the person holding his hand. "Say, do you know about the gods?"

The fallen god faced him, his expression as gloomy as ever. "The gods?" His eyes flashed for a moment and he looked away again. "A little."

"Then … do you know something about their souls? And …" He wanted to continue asking but stopped himself at the last moment. What was he doing here? It wasn't important. Whether that Jing He was still alive somewhere or not, it wouldn't change anything. Qiu Ling was his fiance now. Whatever had happened before and whatever was happening somewhere else, he didn't believe that he would leave him for the person he had been in his past life.

Then again … He still remembered clearly how Qiu Ling had looked back in his inner self when they saw Jing He. The happiness upon being able to see him again, the pain and grief when he had to admit to himself that this would be the last time, that their time was already over. He had clearly loved him very much and his heart still yearned for him.

If Jing He hadn't died … If they were different people and could live at the same time, he couldn't be too sure that Qiu Ling would choose him. After all, Jing He had been everything to him. He was the one that had healed him from everything that had gone wrong in his life until then. He, on the other hand, he had only been able to heal him from losing Jing He. In a way, he was nothing more than a replacement.

The fallen god stopped and turned around, his gaze incredulous. This person … He reached out and once again touched the spot between his brows, spreading out his senses. Souls or at least the souls of the gods weren't fixed and could instead extend through their bodies. Their core was at this place though. And the core was the most important part of a god's soul. The fringe could be disturbed or even erased without lasting effects. The core though …

The fallen god stared at Jing Yi's face while his senses focused on this core. He had taken a short glance before but now that he looked carefully, his own brows knitted together tightly. What was it with this person? He had engraved the core of his soul! Didn't he know how dangerous that was?! Did he want to kill himself? Although the content …

The fallen god's expression softened. Ah, he had been in love. The dragon he gifted his heart to had been special enough for him to try to do what the dragons did. He couldn't give part of his soul to him so instead, he had made sure that his own soul would remember so that he would never betray him. That was … certainly what should be done.

Unfortunately, he hadn't done so well enough. The cracks around the engraving were minimal but since it was on the soul's core, it had still left damage. Damage that couldn't be healed easily. If it was left like this …

The fallen god lowered his hand and examined Jing Yi's face. He was young. He still had several decades in this mortal lifetime. Who knew if there wouldn't happen anything? If the circumstances were bad … He might end up the same as him. A fallen god.

He couldn't let that happen.

The fallen god grabbed Jing Yi's shoulder and his feet left the ground. He pulled him with him, not out of the demon king's palace but instead down into the dungeons and then even further down into a corridor below the palace that was left entirely in darkness.