Wei Ying took a deep breath and counted to three for the tenth time. Okay, on the count of three, I'll knock! I have to do it. I'm doing this for the people. But most of all for my Lan Zhan! he said to himself in his mind to give himself courage. Still, he couldn't bring himself to knock on the door. And in the end he didn't have to. Because suddenly the door opened and someone said, "Teremun! How long are you going to stand outside the door. Come in!"

"I um, okay." Replied Wei Ying. He followed the man into his living area and sat down on a cushioned chair after being asked to do so.

"What gives me the honor? Surely you want something from me don't you?"

"Essam I want to apologize to you. And you are right big brother. I need your help."

"Big brother? You really dare to call me that? How long has it been since you ran away? Three hundred years, right? In that time you've been hiding from me! From me! Your own brother!"

"You know why I ran away! You had me locked up in the in-between world and guarded by ghost demons so I couldn't run away. I wanted my freedom!"

"I know I went too far. I shouldn't have done that. I am very sorry. But I only had good in mind. I wanted to protect you Teremun."

"Wei Ying. I call myself Wei Ying now. And I know you wanted to protect me. But not like this!"

"Wei Ying? All right, then I'll call you that. But for me you will always be Teremun. You know that our father gave you that name and what it means."

"Yes, it means "he is loved by his father." But I now live among the people and there I need a name that suits me. Besides, I haven't seen Father in centuries."

"I know. First, let's talk about the reason you suddenly came to me. So, what brings you to me?"

"As I said before, I need your help. You're the only one who can help me."

"Okay, but with what?"

"It's about a dead ship with possibly hundreds of creatures living on it. A new breed of vampire."

"Hundreds you say?"

"Yes. Lan Zhan and I fought them last night. But we didn't stand a chance. They killed all the humans aboard the ship we were on. And they killed several vampires."

"Lan Zhan?"

"My Lan Zhan. The mate that was foretold to me."

"So you found him?"

"Yes. But that's not the point now. Essam. I need your help. We need to stop the creatures from moving on once their ship is freed from the ice."

"All right. But after that, I want to meet this Lan Zhan."

"Yes, of course. In fact, you have to meet him. He was bitten, without seeming to notice, by one of the creatures. The poison is still in his body. He was going crazy and I had to drive a knife into his chest to get him to calm down. The poison will keep spreading inside him. And since he's a vampire..."

"Yeah I get it little brother. He's going to keep going crazy. If we don't remove the poison from his body, he will die."

"Exactly. So, will you help me?"

"Be glad I love you so much little brother. Actually, I should be mad at you. But I can't."

"Thank you. But you have to promise me something."

"And what?"

"Don't lock me up again. Let me have my freedom. I've proven for 300 years that I can do well in the human world."

"Now that you have found your protector and mate, I see no need in locking you up."

"Thank you."

"So shall we be off then?"

"Yes please." Replied Wei Ying. His brother Essam wrapped him in his arms and hugged him tightly. He told Wei Ying that he loved him very much and missed him a lot. Wei Ying said that he also loved him very much and had missed him. He then teleported himself and his brother close to the black dead ship.

From a safe distance, Wei Ying and his big brother Essam watched the dead ship while Wei Ying told him the whole story around the captain, the ship owner, the missing passengers, the shipwrecked vampires and the old vampire Nagib. And especially when Wei Ying told about Nagib, Essam showed interest. Since Nagib had once been created by Essam.

"I honestly never thought that Nagib had grown so old. Especially after he was rather fearful back then and didn't even dare to go near people. Well, now he's dead and it doesn't matter anymore." Said Essam after Wei Ying was done with his narration.

"Yeah, sure. You better tell me what we should do about the dead ship now." Replied Wei Ying.

"Today is a sunny day and there are no hiding places far and wide. So we do what I do best. We burn the ship! The creatures can't take the sunlight. They'll burn to death."

"And what about the vampires aboard the dead ship?"

"They won't leave the ship. They have to protect their queen."

"What?"

"Can't you sense her? She's here! It's Tari! Our second sister made her and made her queen by marrying her to a king. She turned all the subordinates into vampires and left the land with them."

"Are you sure it's Tari?"

"Yes absolutely. I know her scent. It's her. Do you remember her power? She can manipulate thoughts. She can manipulate people easily."

"Then I assume Nagib was on his way to see her, right?"

"Certainly. The captain and the ship owner were just a means to an end. Nagib could manipulate minds just like Tari. Even if only half as well as Tari. But it was certainly enough to manipulate the captain and the ship owner and make them think it was their idea to bring the passengers here."

"That makes sense. They certainly wouldn't have found the dead ship on their own. And certainly they wouldn't have found out about the existence of the vampires on their own."

"Yes probably it was Nagib. Well, now let's take care of the ship. Let's get everything we need for a nice Greek fire."

"All right. Let's get going." Wei Ying replied cheerfully. Wei Ying teleported himself and his brother to the latter's secret alchemy lab, where they prepared several jars of the mixture for the Greek fire. They then returned to the dead ship, where they distributed the jars around the ship.

They also threw several of the jars onto the upper deck before Essam lit the first jar and then the others. Quickly the fire, which could not be extinguished, spread. Black smoke rose to the sky. They heard creatures screaming. "I bet the vampires will try to escape with their queen. But we won't let Tari or any of her followers get away." Said Essam.

Wei Ying nodded. "None will survive!" He replied. It wasn't long before the first vampires came out of the lower deck. A few of them were on fire and screaming. But Essam put them out of their misery by striking their heads with his sword.

Essam raged like berserk through the vampires, slaughtering them all. He left none of them alive. And when Tari came out accompanied by 8 vampires, Essam roared loudly up to the sky and pounced on the vampires. At last he grabbed Tari by the throat. She was so shocked that she froze.

"I'm impressed how long you survived. And I'm even more impressed that you still had so many of your subordinates with you. Well, now they are all dead. And you're about to follow them." Said Essam with a grin.

"Please my lord. Don't!" Gargled Tari.

"You know, I actually wouldn't care if you lived or died. But last night my little brother and his mate were almost killed by your creatures and vampires. And you remember how much my little brother means to me. You can be glad that he was not hurt. Because that way I can guarantee you a quick death. But if he had gotten even a scratch, I would have killed you in the most agonizing way." Said Essam and cut off her head with his sword.

Wei Ying and Essam stayed with the ship of the dead until the next morning. They waited until it had burned down completely, making sure that none of the creatures or vampires survived. They used the time to talk. Wei Ying told his brother how and when he first saw Lan Zhan and when Lan Zhan became a vampire.

"Lan Zhan is trying to find the Inquisitor because he wants to take revenge on him. But no one knows his true identity." Said Wei Ying.

"But you have a guess, right?"

"Not really. I mean, I think that he is very old and maybe belongs to one of the first vampires. Maybe he was once a high priest."

"Well, back then we turned three high priests into vampires. It could be."

"Mhm. Two of them were killed. But the one was and remained missing. As I said, I'm not sure. At the time he turned Lan Zhan into a vampire, I wasn't in the country. I didn't find out until many years later."

"If you had been there, you would have saved him wouldn't you?"

"I would have tried. But I'm not sure I would have been able to do it. After all, Lan Zhan's path was predetermined. From the day he was born, it was clear what his fate would be."

"Since you already knew who he was when he was a little kid and you watched him all the time, I'm surprised you were gone for many years and left him alone."

"Why are you surprised?"

"Well, his fate was determined beforehand, but you were not with him at the time he needed you, of all times. Could it be that you just didn't want to see his human life end?"

"I um, no. Well, that wasn't intentional. You got pretty close to me at the time and I was afraid you'd find me and lock me up again. I went into hiding for years. When I came back, Lan Zhan was already a vampire. I didn't know where he was. I only found him again by chance. And by then, about 150 years had passed."

"How did you know he became a vampire? Just because of his predestination?"

"I could feel it. From the day the Inquisitor turned him, I could feel it deep inside me. But I didn't know for sure then. I only suspected it. And then when I returned and saw the remains of the former village, at first I thought he was dead. But then I looked around his old house and saw that all his documents were gone. And who else but him benefited from those documents? From then on, I just knew."

"I see."

"Um, Essam?"

"Mhm?"

"Do you think it will be enough to remove the poison from his body? Will he be back to his old self then?"

"You do know that the poison can't just be removed from his body, right?"

"Yes, I do. But I know you have an antidote."

"Yes, my blood."

"And you would be willing to give him some of your blood to save him?"

"I'm willing to do that for you. Because for you, I would do anything little brother. But before we save your mate, there's something I need to tell you."

"Okay and what?"

"Do you still remember our uncle? Father's brother?"

"Yes, of course. What about him?"

"He died and so did his wife. The two of them were killed by a god. That's what I was told."

"Oh..."

"I found out through their children. His daughter and son. The two call themselves Jiang Yanli and Jiang Cheng. They found me and asked me for help."

"I remember the two of them. Yanli is almost the same age as you. And Cheng is a little younger than me. But what do they need your help for?"

"They are looking for a home. They want to settle down with the humans."

"I see, I thought you were supposed to find the god who killed their parents."

"No. Our father found him and killed him. They could have lived with our father. But they didn't want to. Likewise, they don't want to live with me. They were looking for you because they want to live with you."

"Well I don't know how to help them with that. I don't have a house. Lan Zhan has a house. But with his two foster sons Youn and Ali and their housekeeper, the house is full."

"Can't you still help them? Find them a place to stay near you."

"Why with me of all people?"

"Because they have always felt very attached to you."

"But that was many centuries ago."

"That doesn't change the fact that they love you best."

"All right. But first, let's save my Lan Zhan, and then I'll talk to him about it."

"All right, it's a deal. Now take me to your Lan Zhan." Said Essam.

Wei Ying nodded and teleported to Lan Zhan. But the latter was not in his room.