WangXian Forever 4

Chapter 66 Persuasion

Jin Ling hurried past the gates of Cloud Recesses, and on his way to the Hanshi, he walked past the stables and saw a familiar figure.

He stopped to watch JingYi, who looked quite upset. He was kicking around the loose soil, keeping his eyes on the ground and sighing every now and then. His shoulders seemed to be hunched into himself...and was that a...tear?

"JingYi?" Jin Ling called, hurrying over.

The boy quickly wiped his face, but he couldn't hide the red, puffy eyes.

"What?" He asked, sullenly.

That was also new, because normal JingYi was happy and carefree, not this stranger who looked like him.

"What's wrong?" Jin Ling knew he would say.

Their friendship had sprouted from a young age, and even now, he felt just as close to him as he did with SiZhui. Of course, that name managed to wipe his face of any joviality, too.

"I...I...don't know." JingYi tried to explain, but it was too much. Nobody asked him that question nowadays. The people who did, weren't here.

He burst into tears.

Jin Ling put an arm around his shoulders and offered him a handkerchief, his own eyes red from the pressure of trying not to cry.

It was much like throwing up, he thought. You saw one person do it, and then it happened to you too, even if you didn't want to.

"There, there." He patted his back. "I miss them too, especially SiZhui."

This made the boy cry even more.

"It's not just SiZhui!" He wailed. "It's Senior Wei. I know he makes me do things I don't want to, and sometimes I don't get any time to myself when he's around, but it feels like he's the only one who cares! And I know Hanguang-Jun doesn't talk, but that's okay...because...because he's here, and I'm not alone...and I miss my babies...and I know everyone is busy with their own lives, but-" He grabbed Jin Ling's robes and with a face full of fury, yanked him closer. "Promise me, Jin Rulan, Jin Ling, my BEST friend with SiZhui, that your relationship with him won't change anything between us!"

His face was red and he was panting from his rant without breathing.

Jin Ling understood.

"I love you too!" He shouted, clamping his arms around his friend, and then suddenly they were laughing as they realised what they looked like, and jumped apart.

"Just as friends, right?" JingYi bent down, clutching his knees, still laughing.

Jin Ling went even redder. "Absolutely, no doubt in my mind, just bros, nothing else...friends..."

"Do you know, I could really do with seeing SiZhui, like right now..." JingYi sobered up at the thought.

"Why don't we?"

"What?"

"Why don't we go?" Excitement grew on Jin Ling's face as the idea formed, took root and became a solid possibility.

"We can't. You can't! You've got that cultivation conference in around ten days. You said your elders wouldn't let you go anywhere..." JingYi was protesting with his mouth but his eyes were saying something else.

Jin Ling knew when to push his advantage.

"But JingYi, what would Uncle Wei say, if he were here?"

"I wouldn't ask him." JingYi groaned. "He'd tell us to do what we want and face the consequences later."