Fated (Wangxian)

#29#

Except for Ying's exuberant cute voice  filling Jingshi with the excitement and thrill of his mischievous secret escape to the back mountains all alone in the night and his dream revelation about his future-self playing unique tunes of flute carrying captivating energy, the Jingshi was otherwise engulfed in the silent worries and concerned glances among the two and a half elders.

Xichen looked at Wangji with a hint of worry reflected in his golden brown eyes, both of them remembering that particular night when they suddenly heard a faint, beautiful but definitely a dark flute melody, similar to the one that Wei Wuxian used to play often to control the violent spirits of the burial mounds.

However, even after searching for its source, they were somehow unable to locate it and finally, having searched for hours and sensing no malicious or manipulative intentions in that eerie melody, they dismissed it as one of the imitation attempts of those young and ignorant followers of Yiling Patriarch who wanted to become as powerful as him.

But now...

"Aying, are you sure you were playing flute at the back mountains the entire night?

How can it be possible?

If I remember clearly then Ayuan and I, even Wangji can confirm that we all heard the sound of flute that night but it was coming from outside.

Outside the barriers of Cloud Recesses then how is it possible that you played it in the back mountains all the time?!

Lying is forbidden, Little Aying," Lan Xichen said, rubbing the bridge of his nose before frowning and looking at Ying, disappointedly, "Tell your gege, did you escape outside Cloud Recesses that night? Breaking the curfew is one thing but how can you even not care about your safety, Aying? This isn't at all acceptable, Aying. Guess, I'll leave it up to your Lan Zhan for giving you the appropriate punishment."

"Pu- punishment?! But Yingying didn't lie to you, Xichen gege! I was really in the back mountains the entire night!" Ying'er exclaimed, panicking but even then, his silver eyes were clear of any hesitation or the fear of lying.

Watching his BunBun so scared with the idea of receiving punishment for no reason and the Hanguang Jun who looked like he'd prefer leaving Cloud Recesses with his Ying than punishing him in front of everyone, even though he himself looked very upset because of his sweet Love's dangerous escape, Ayuan took one deep calming breath and then kneeled in front of BunBun, took his soft hands into his and asked gently, "Can you explain your Ayuan gege what really happened that night little one? Gege believes you, BunBun.

If my BunBun said he was in the back mountains, then he was there only. So how was it that we all heard the flute sound coming from the outside, hmn?

Tell me, won't you, my little Bun?!"

"Ayuan gege!" Ying wrapped his arms around Ayuan's neck, hiding his face in the crook of his neck, not wanting to show anyone including his Zhan ge the silent tears of disappointment and sadness.

"Hey, Little Rabbit! Gege knows you, BunBun. I know when you think it's okay to lie and when not. And this is definitely not of those situations.

The shine in your eyes when you told us about your secret escape and flute playing in the back mountains...it was enough for me to know that none of your words were lies, Little BunBun," Ayuan said, openly glaring at his Baba and Uncle Xichen for not even giving their Ying a chance to explain himself before jumping into conclusions.

"It was because of my new invention, Distraction barrier," Ying'er said in a weak, tear filled voice while clinging to his Ayuan gege's arms.

"Distraction barrier?! Was that which caused us all to think we heard sound from outside the Cloud Recesses?" Lan Zhan asked, too afraid of himself. Just how could he not trust his Love even after everything? I was willing to escape this place to prevent my Ying being punished but why did I not even once think that he might not be lying?! Do I... do I really deserve to be my Ying's soulmate?

Xichen frowned, feeling a bit weirded out and confused, "Aying, Xichen gege apologises, Little one. But can you tell me what is a distraction barrier? And since when did you learn to make and use such barrier?"

Like a child who was given candies to forget all his pains and worries, Ying's eyes sparkled with a bit of mischief, pride and cheerfulness when he said, "Yingying learnt that too on his own, Xichen gege! I accidentally found an ancient scroll that had spell about the silence barrier.

I just made a few changes in the spell strokes and using a talisman, made a distraction barrier. It helps in making the sound coming from one area seem as if it's coming from a far far away in the exact opposite direction.

This might help us all to communicate necessary messages to our disciples or sect spies without compromising our hiding location! Isn’t it cool!

Ying could've used the silence barrier that night but I just wanted everyone to hear the enchanting beauty of that melody. And I didn't even want to be caught so...hihi, sorry for worrying all of you," Ying giggled, nervouly

Severely reminded of his Wei Ying's nervous laughs whenever he made silly mistakes or caused an uproar in Cloud Recesses because of his childish innocent mischief, for a few seconds Lan Zhan forgot all about his gloomy dark thoughts and spoke in his deep, smiling voice, pleasantly surprised by his little Ying’s growing skills and the turn of events that gave him hope of his Wei Ying’s return sooner than he expected, "My Ying'er created a new distraction barrier all on his own that even Xiongzhang and I failed to break or identify the entire night. Zhan gege is so proud of you, Love."

"Really, Lan Zhan?" Yingying asked in sheer disbelief.

"Mn," Lan Zhan nodded affectionately bringing his little Ying’er back into his arms

"Ahh, so this is what BunBun has been doing when he skipped his lectures! And here I thought you were missing baba since every single time I entered our chamber unannounced, you were always sitting near the back window, gazing into the direction of the Jingshi longingly,” Ayuan added in a dramatic thoughtful voice, mischievously

"Ayuan Gege! Stop saying nonsense o-or your BunBun won’t talk to you! Ever!” Yingying yelled out annoyedly, turning red with embarrassment and hiding himself in Lan Zhan’s embrace.

"Zhan gege missed you too, my heart," Lan Zhan whispered with a soft smile on his face, rubbing his Ying’s small back comfortingly.

"Then why didn’t you come to Ying’er even once to explain and tell the truth about Prince Zhan and Price Ying? We could've gotten together and be happy so much earlier, you know?!” Ying'er mumbled, petulantly

“…I’m sorry, Ying’er. Would y-you like to know about it?!” Lan Zhan asked in a trembling, nervous voice.

“Definitely, Baba! It’s already been too long! What exactly happened in your past life?! Why did you- I mean Prince Zhan and Crown Prince behaved with Prince Ying in such a bad way? What was the real reason behind it?” Ayuan asked passionately, unable to hide the  impatience in his transitioning deep voice.

"Ayuan!?!" Lan Xichen’s eyes widened in disbelief at such a show of carefree behavior from his always calm and composed best disciple and the future  sect leader. Instinctively, he pulled his little nephew away from his brother, hiding him partially behind his back while smiling politely at Wangji who was unsurprisingly glaring annoyedly in their direction.

"Yes, Ying wants to know everything, Lan Zhan." Yingying answered in an unrealistically calm and determined voice

.

.

.

"...What do you mean, Zhan ge?! In all my memories, every single person in the entire Xiang Kingdom told me that I was cursed and now, you are saying t-that Prince Ying wasn't?! How is that even possible?!"

*Don't forget to vote!*