Confessions || A WangXian fanfiction (most likely will not be updating, sorry!)

Chapter 22

The pair left off early in the morning. To make sure that there would be no troubles, Sizhui insisted on going with them. Hearing that all three of them were going, Jiang Cheng hastily appointed Jin Ling to go with them so he could have some "time to get closer to Sizhui"

"Just go!" Jiang Cheng insisted. "He's your only friend, so you might as well get closer to him." Jin Ling rolled his eyes.

"Fine." Jin Ling agreed. Sizhui excitedly welcomed him over. Wei Ying and Lan Zhan exchanged a glance. Since they had both experienced it, they both had a decent idea of what kind of relationship was going to blossom.

Lan Zhan carried the baby in its basket, while Wei Ying ran ahead with the juniors. From the back, Lan Zhan smiled ever so slightly. Wei Ying is quite good with children. Just, he teaches them far too mature things... he thought. Wei Ying turned back and waved at Lan Zhan from a distance.

"Lan Zhan! It was around here, wasn't it?" Lan Zhan nodded. "Mhn." Wei Ying pointed towards the direction of the river.

"Sizhui, Jin Ling, stop bickering already. You guys argue like a married couple." he said to the two juniors. Jin Ling had been arguing with Sizhui the entire way, while Sizhui was trying to keep his cool. 

"This is a serious mission," Lan Zhan said from behind them. "You can use this to prove yourself not useless."

 Wei Ying nudged him. "Don't be so harsh to our son and our future son-in-law." he hissed. Lan Zhan nodded. "Mhn," he said. 

"Let's follow the river," Sizhui reasoned. "It will lead us to where the baby first came from." Jin Ling glared at him.

"I was going to say that!" he pouted. Wei Ying stood between them to stop their bickering.

"You two need to stop arguing all the time. We're on an important mission." Wei Ying said to them. Sizhui bowed down.

"Sorry Dad," he said. Wei Ying blushed at the word "dad" and glanced at Lan Zhan, who was awkwardly looking away. 

"Come on. Enough of this. Let's go." Lan Zhan said awkwardly, before walking in the direction opposite of the flow of the river.

As they walked and walked, Wei Ying felt even more uneasy. At first, there were many trees, and their surroundings were completely green, but as they walked and walked, it became more barren.

"Why are all the trees dead here?" Wei Ying whispered, clinging onto Lan Zhan. Jin Ling rolled his eyes.

"Seriously. It's just nature. Trees die. Why are you so scared?" Right after he said that, a long moan came from behind them. 

"Wh-what was that?" Jin Ling whimpered. The four turned around slowly. But there was nothing behind them.

"M-maybe we're all hallucinating." Sizhui said, as they turned back and continued walking forward. "All four of us? No way. There was definitely a moan." Jin Ling said. Suddenly, there was another moan, this time in front of them. Wei Ying shrieked.

"LAN ZHAN! PROTECT US!" he wailed. "I'M TOO YOUNG TO DIE, I HAVEN'T EVEN LOST MY VIRGINITY YET!" Lan Zhan unsheathed Bichen and held it in front of Wei Ying, Sizhui, and Jin Ling.

"Stay behind me. Don't make a sound," he said. They slowly walked onwards. The further they walked, the scarier the sight was. The river water had turned from a beautiful transparent blue-green to a murky brown. There were dead animals and rotten fruits and vegetables scattered around. 

"There's a house," Wei Ying whispered from behind Lan Zhan. "It looks a little bit like Mian Mian's house." Lan Zhan nodded. "We can go investigate."

Sizhui had been carrying the basket holding the baby the entire time. Up till now, the baby had been peacefully sleeping, but suddenly, it woke up and started crying at an utterly high volume. Wei Ying gritted his teeth.

"Shit," he said. "Whatever is alive in this place is going to hear us." And indeed, they were heard. From the corner of his eye, Wei Ying could see a huge creature creeping out. He shivered in fright.

"W-what the hell is that?" he whimpered. The others turned to look at what he was pointing at. The creature made its full appearance, and Wei Ying nearly fainted in horror.

"IT'S A GOD DAMNED GIANT DOG!" he wailed, clinging onto Lan Zhan even tighter. "HE'S GOING TO KILL ME. I'M GOING TO DIE!" he yelled. He took a closer look at the dog, before screaming even louder.

"IT'S THE SAME DOG THAT FUCKING WEN CHAO TRAPPED ME WITH!" he yelled. The giant dog growled at them. Lan Zhan frowned.

"How can it possibly be the same one? How are you so sure?" Lan Zhan questioned. Wei Ying shivered.

"I can just tell...It has the same scraggly black fur, and it has gotten even bigger," While Wei Ying was crying, he didn't notice that Jin Ling and Sizhui were slowly approaching the dog. When he noticed, he started crying.

"SIZHUI, WHAT ARE YOU DOING? I CAN'T LOSE MY ONLY SON. AND JIN LING, I THINK JIANG CHENG STILL WANTS YOU BACK ALIVE." he cried. Sizhui turned around and smiled gently.

"Relax, Dad. He's not attacking us," Sizhui said gently. "There has to be a decent reason he's here." As Jin Ling and Sizhui crept closer, the dog noticed them. When he saw Sizhui, there was no reaction, but when he saw Jin Ling, he roared at him. Now even Jin Ling, who loved dogs, got scared and ran back towards his uncle.

"W-why is he so nice to Sizhui?" he said, hiding behind Wei Ying. "Look at them! One would even think that they're communicating!" Those words lit a lightbulb in Wei Ying's mind.

"That's it...That's why!" he exclaimed. "That's why he's not attacking Sizhui! It all makes sense now! How did I not think of it earlier? We're so stupid! I can't believe-" "JUST STOP TALKING AND TELL US THE REASON ALREADY!" Jin Ling interrupted impatiently. Wei Ying smirked. 

"Well, why didn't you say you wanted to know earlier? Isn't it obvious? Sizhui was originally Wen Yuan. I suppose the dog has some special kind of connection with descendants of the Wen clan and can sense who is and isn't part of it. That's why he had such a vicious attitude towards you, but was so content with Sizhui." They turned towards Sizhui, who was already stroking the dog, and the dog was happily taking it in. He waved them over.

"I told him that you guys are my friends and family! He won't hurt you!" Wei Ying blinked. Although he had assumed that the dog would be friendly towards Sizhui, he never thought that they could actually communicate with each other. Lan Zhan and Jin Ling were equally surprised.

"Y-you can talk to that dog..." Jin Ling stuttered. Sizhui nodded. "But without talking. It's kind of hard to explain. It's like telepathy. We can communicate without sound," Lan Zhan gestured at Jin Ling and Wei Ying.

"If he says it is safe to go, then let's go." he said. Jin Ling, who had always been the dog lover, strode towards the dog without much hesitation. However, when Lan Zhan tried to walk forward to join them, Wei Ying refused to budge. 

"I don't want to go," he whimpered. "You should know what that monster did to me. If not for Wen Ning, I could have died." Lan Zhan crouched down and touched Wei Ying's face.

"Listen to me, Wei Ying. If I'm here, nothing bad will ever happen to you. I swear on my life."

Authors Note: Hi guys :) So recently, I was talking to one of my good friends and we were talking about our chapter lengths...lets just say that her chapters are much much MUCH longer than mine. Not including this note, this chapter was 1257 words. I'm starting doubt myself and my chapter lengths lol, so I would like your input on this. Are my chapters too short? Should I make them longer?