"There was one memory that I still hold dear to me. It was winter and I was freezing cold and hid in an alley in the streets of Yunmeng before Jiang Fengmian found me. On one specific day, a young boy came up to me, he was dressed in white, and he gave me a rattle from, a steamed bun, and was even kind enough to buy me a blanket from a nearby vendor. He never even said a word but I am still grateful to this day. Because of him, I gained some hope back."

Lan Wangji was staring at me with a little bit of shock in his eyes. I didn't understand what was wrong. It just seemed like he was trying to comprehend what I just told him.

"Are you okay?" I asked cautiously.

"That boy was you?" Wangji asked.

"What?" I asked.

"I was young, but Shufu and my brother and I were all needed in Yunmeng for a conference meeting. My brother and I were able to look around for a while. I saw a boy down in an ally playing with straw dolls but he looked cold and hungry...I gave him steamed buns, a toy rattle drum, and a blanket...that boy was you..." he said.

Tears were actually starting to form in my eyes. Lan Wangji and I first met long ago. Baoshan said that when Wangji and I first met, was when the our paths were tied. At first she and I thought it was when I first met him during the first time I came here. Now it comes to light that he and I met when we were kids.

I let out a huff and smiled, "so you were the young boy I always called my Angel."

Lan Zhan smiled, "your angel?"

"I was a child, okay," I said flustered, "let's not forget our second first meeting...fighting me like that...made me break a bottle of wine...you still owe me for that!"

Lan Zhan laughed...he actually laughed, "I will compensate."

"Too late for that now," I mumbled.

"Why?" He asked.

"I do not drink alcohol anymore...it was one of Baoshan's conditions that I cannot drink. I do miss it every once in a while but I am actually okay without it. She helped me get into drinking tea and she has a good selection of tea too," I told him.

"I will compensate some other way then," he said, "um?"

"You want to ask me something again?" I asked.

"You said you cannot share what kind of training you went through, but was it worth it? What is it like being Baoshan's disciple?" He asked.

"She is very persistent and very disciplined, believe it or not," I answered and placed a privacy ward around the Jingshi. This way I can talk a little more freely and not have to worry about others listening in, "her training isn't for the faint of heart. It is very intense but it is very rewarding and effective. As much as I did not really like it at first, she basically had me start over from scratch. She dampened my spiritual energy to the point where it was as if I had just formed my golden core for the first time.

How she did it, she had me place my hand on this orb and it absorbs all of a person's energy. She had me learn basic skills again, reading the history of the cultivation world and of my family. I know I said I am not to share but since I placed the barrier, I can trust you won't share this information with anyone else?"

"I will not," he replied, "and you had to basically form your golden core again?"

"Sort of, the reason why I ask you to keep this to yourself is because the Sanren bloodline are known to be Yin and Yang masters. So we can use both spiritual and resentful energy. My father's bloodline was actually more surprising. There used to be a small clan known as the Yiling Wei Clan and it used to be where is now known to be the Burial Mounds. My father's great grandfather and his great uncle both lived after a siege went out to their clan. The Wei Clan were not spiritual cultivators but they used resentment as their primary source of energy. With my father and mother's bloodline, I am now considered a Yin and Yang master, but I still have a long way to go with my training.

So not only did she drain me of my spiritual energy, but I had resentful energy stored in my body. She had me train to balance both energies within my body. It is actually really hard. I spent about three months inside the burial mounds just studying and learning how the resentful energy worked. It took me within those three months to master it. There are some things that I trained to do but I cannot tell you about them. I did get all my energy back to its original state and then some...gaining a silver core in the process."

"Silver core, immortality?" He asked, "and the resentful energy won't harm you?"

"It will not and I will not use it for malicious purposes. I am to use it for good. It is me who has to master everything on my own in the end. Baoshan now is just my guide. You have to promise me that you won't say this information to anyone, not even your Shufu or brother. One day I will be know to the world what I am but that has to be me to share. It has to be me to convince everyone that I am created to protect not to harm," I explained, "after all, a cultivator's main purpose is to protect the people. They come before ourselves."

"I will not say anything about it to anyone," he said.

I then removed the ward from around the Jingshi, "thank you," I said, "I am sure that something good will come your way sometime soon...maybe I can talk to Baoshan about helping you."

"You want to train me?" He asked.

"I am able to take a disciple soon. You may be older than me by a few months but I still would not mind taking you as a disciple. Though, I won't go easy on you. I will probably do similar training that Baoshan put me though, just not the other half as you are not a Sanren descendent," I told him.

"I will have to think about it," he said, "I am sure you also need Baoshan's permission."

"Potentially," I said, "won't you get into trouble with me here?"

"No, this is my house and I invited you in, so you and I will be fine," he said just as someone knocked on the door. He stood up and answered it, "Xiongzhang."

"Wangji, here you are, I was wondering where you were," Lan Xichen said as he entered. I stood up and turned to him, "Wei Gongzi?"

"I invited him here," Lan Zhan said, "he is trying to avoid the main courtyard for most of the week as he does not want to encounter certain people."

"Oh, so you brought him here," Xichen said. I looked down to the floor as to not make eye contact with him. I was still a bit nervous around him as I still felt guilty for stabbing him four years ago, "Wei Gongzi, can you look at me?"

I looked up at him, "huh?" I asked.

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I like doing this to you guys. Cliffhangers are fun. 😂