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

Chapter 23

Wei Ying gulped. "I'm entrusting you with my life, Lan Zhan." he said. Lan Zhan looked at him with a serious expression. "My life is also in my own hands," he said. "You are my life." 

Wei Ying looked at him awkwardly. He could feel his cheeks getting hotter and hotter, and eventually, out of embarrassment, he ran directly towards the dog. Lan Zhan scratched his head. Where did that go wrong?

When they were all by the dog, Sizhui cleared his throat. "Ahem. Okay. This dog said his name is...actually...it's better not to mention its name for now. Anyways. He said there was a village nearby with a lot of ordinary villagers. He escaped from the Wen Sect and came across it. Everyone panicked at first and tried attacking him but one brave woman tried to coax him first," Sizhui paused and glanced at Wei Ying. "I'm guessing that woman is Lady Luo. Anyways, afterward, the people were much more comfortable with the dog. He lived around their village, and was really friendly towards them. Almost like a guard dog. Then...something bad happened. I am yet to find out what it was." Sizhui concluded. Wei Ying, Lan Zhan, and Jin Ling were all equally dumbfounded.

"Is he trying to play a prank on us?" Wei Ying whispered quietly into Lan Zhan's ear. Lan Zhan blinked. "I do not know." he replied. Wei Ying sighed and confronted him.

"Sizhui! What is this nonsense? It's like we're 5 years old and you're telling us some children's fairy tales for bedtime. Can you be serious?" he said, with a slight edge to his voice. Sizhui pouted and put his hands on his hips.

"Who said I was lying? It's not like you guys can understand him." he shot back. "How do we know if you can actually understand him or not?" Wei Ying said. Jin Ling frowned and stood between Sizhui and his uncle.

"Yiling Patriarch, I'm sure Sizhui wouldn't lie to us. Especially since you and Hanguang-Jun are here. Can't you just give him an opportunity to explain himself?" Jin Ling said, trying to reason with Wei Ying. Wei Ying raised an eyebrow. It was rare for Jin Ling to try to resolve things with logic and without rash thinking, much less for someone else. He smiled and chuckled.

"My my Jin Ling, aren't you so bold, standing up for Sizhui? Very well. Let's see if Sizhui can prove himself," Wei Ying said. "I'm not trying to accuse him of anything, but I would just like some decent evidence." he added. Sizhui bit his lip.

"I-I don't know how to prove myself. But he knows where the village is. If you guys believe me, we can follow him to the village. I guess, that will prove that I do know how to communicate with him." he stated. Wei Ying raised an eyebrow.

"But how would we know that you're not just following where he goes?" he asked. Jin Ling glared at Wei Ying. "Just let him do his things!" he retorted hotly. Amused, Wei Ying let out a small chuckle and wrapped his arm around Lan Zhan's waist. "All right, all right. Let's go."

The group followed the big black dog, with Jin Ling and Sizhui next to it and Wei Ying hiding behind Lan Zhan's back 6 feet away. Lan Zhan looked back at his husband and sighed.

"It will not hurt you. I will not let it hurt you either." he said. Wei Ying grinned sheepishly. "Hehehe, I know...but its good to be safe you know?" he said awkwardly. Lan Zhan sighed. They were slowly falling behind. With every second, their distance with the juniors was elongating, because Wei Ying kept clinging onto Lan Zhan and taking baby steps. Finally, unable to bear with it, Lan Zhan swiftly picked Wei Ying up into his arms and promptly carried him bridal-style. He quickly and confidently sauntered faster towards the juniors until he was next to them. Wei Ying blushed.

"L-Lan Zhan! There are kids here!" he whimpered. Lan Zhan looked straight ahead. "You are too slow," he said. "This way is more efficient. Sizhui looked at his parents with fascination. 

"I wanna try!" he said, swiftly lifting Jin Ling into his arms. Jin Ling yelped in retaliation but didn't protest.

The four of them continued following the dog this way, with the Lan Sect members carrying another. Finally, just as Sizhui said, the dog actually led them to a deserted village. Surprised, Wei Ying quickly and lightly leaped out of Lan Zhan's arms, while Sizhui accidentally dropped Jin Ling, letting him tumble in the dry dirt.

"It's deserted," he commented, picking at the crops. "But while most of the crops have dried out, some of these crops are still alive. That means it was deserted quite recently." he concluded. Jin Ling got up from the ground and dusted himself off.

"I agree. Some of these crops are still green. Can we take a further look?" he asked. Lan Zhan nodded. "Yes."

The four of them and the huge dog slowly crept forward. There were blood stains everywhere on the ground. Wei Wuxian squatted down and touched the stains.

"Most of them are dried, but some of them still have a slightly moist feel. And look at the color. This was definitely recent." he said. Lan Zhan kneeled down beside him.

"Observe the patterns of these stains. Look at the way these blood stains are. They're long. That means someone shot an arrow at whatever was here and took them out afterward. But look at these ones. There was a large puddle. That means whatever was here had a severe bleeding. Or else, this puddle wouldn't have been so big. But this one is only semi-dry." Lan Zhan said. Wei ying nodded.

"Sizhui, Jin Ling, are you guys listening? This is important information you could use in the future!" Wei Ying called. There was no response. Wei Ying wrinkled his brows, and turned around, to see Sizhui and Jin ling a couple of feet away, looking at something at the ground. He stood up and joined them.

"What are you guys looking at?" he called out. Sizhui waved him over.

"Look. Bodies..."