Wei Ying and his brother immediately went to search for Lan Zhan. However, they did not have to search for long. Because the fighting sounds from the courtyard were unmistakable. They rushed outside, where they saw several of Wen Rouhan's men trying to get Lan Zhan under control. But against Lan Zhan, who was raging with rage, they all stood no chance.

Wei Ying shouted to the men to retreat and wanted to go to Lan Zhan. However, Essam held Wei Ying back. "No little brother. I'll do that." Said Essam. He took off his outer clothing so that his upper body was naked and spread his arms. Two narrow long wounds appeared on his shoulder blades. Essam clenched his fists and tried to suppress the pain.

"Essam... please..." Stuttered Wei Ying. He was worried about his brother. For he knew that his transformation was very painful.

"Don't worry my little brother. Just don't look." Replied Essam with a smile. But his smile could not hide the truth. He was in great pain. But for his little brother, he would endure everything.

Essam gritted his teeth and groaned in pain as something black came out of the wounds. "Oh my god. Brother... please..." Whined Wei Ying as he saw the tears in Essam's eyes.

"Uahhhh..." Roared Essam as the small black things emerged from his wounds and became two beautiful large, albeit black, wings. His eyes turned black and his fingernails became deadly sharp claws. He looked like a dark angel. Demonic and beautiful at the same time.

Essam spread his black wings and arms, walked towards Lan Zhan, who stood in the middle of the square and looked at him growling, but at the same time confused. When Essam reached him, Lan Zhan wanted to attack him immediately. But Essam was stronger than him. He wrapped his arms and black wings around him and literally enveloped him.

Lan Zhan tried to fight back as hard as he could. He even transformed himself. But he simply had no chance. In his rage, the angry vampire could only think of one thing, to bite. And that was exactly what Essam had intended to do. Lan Zhan drove his fangs into Essam's neck and drank from his blood.

As the hot blood slowly ran down his throat, Lan Zhan felt how powerful it was. It was only a few sips that he took, but they were enough to bring Lan Zhan to the brink of unconsciousness. He felt himself slowly losing consciousness and finally fell into a deep faint. And while Lan Zhan slumped unconscious in Essam's arms, he began to dream.

But they were not really dreams. They were visions from Essam's life, and Lan Zhan saw them as if he had been there. He saw young Essam playing with his siblings until someone called Essam. Lan Zhan did not know from where, but he knew that this someone was the father of Essam and his siblings.

"Essam my boy. Take your siblings and come with me. Your mother is giving birth to your baby brother right now." Said the god of the underworld.

"Yes father." Replied Essam and called his siblings to him. They accompanied their father inside the castle and through many corridors until they came to a locked door and stopped there. They heard their mother moaning in pain. This frightened Essam's youngest sister Thalia and she clung to him. "It's okay little one. Mother is fine." He whispered, stroking her golden hair.

"Mother has, however..." Began the little girl and stopped when a baby's cry was heard. Wide-eyed, she looked questioningly at her big brother Essam. He nodded. The baby is here. The little brother is born.

The god of the underworld was the first to enter the room. Minutes passed, then he called his 5 children into the room. The mother of the children was lying in bed. And despite the difficult birth, she still looked like the most beautiful woman in the world. She smiled and held a small bundle in her arms. "Say hello to your little brother Teremun." She said.

Essam approached the bed and climbed on it. He sat down next to his mother and she placed his little brother in his arms. Since he already had 4 younger siblings, Essam initially didn't think that this time would be any different than the four times before. But when he looked at his little brother, his heart suddenly beat faster and everything inside him tingled.

He kissed Teremun on the forehead and whispered, "I love you little brother. And I swear I will always protect you." Then he kissed him again and wanted most of all not to let him go. But his other siblings also wanted to hold and greet the youngest brother. And they all felt the same way as Essam. They immediately loved their little brother more than anything else.

The next vision showed little Teremun when he was about 4 years old. Lan Zhan could already recognize Wei Ying in him. The little boy was sitting under a tree playing with some ants when some boys came and started teasing him. They told him that with his cute appearance, he didn't fit in the underworld at all.

One of the boys stepped on the ants and laughed while rubbing them under his feet. Teremun began to cry, at which the bad boys laughed even harder. But only until Essam and his siblings appeared. They pounced on the boys like beasts, scratching, punching and kicking them. They stopped only when their father came and applauded them. "You did well." He said and chased the bad boys away.

Essam, by now a strong muscular youth, lifted his little brother high in his arms, kissed his cheek and said, "Now don't cry anymore. I'll get you some new ants."

"Yes?" Teremun asked excitedly.

"Yes, of course. I would do anything for you." Replied Essam with a smile.

And again, a new vision. This time he saw Teremun as a teenager. He was sitting in a room with his mother. They were both laughing while she combed his hair. "Mom?"

"Yes my dear?"

"Why do my siblings have wings and I don't?"

"Because you are more like me and your siblings are more like their father."

"But I want to have wings too."

"You know that every transformation is very painful for your siblings. Do you want to be in pain every time you transform?"

"Well mom, I've never transformed before. I don't even know if I can transform at all. Even Dad doesn't know why I've never turned before."

"You've talked to your father about it?"

"Mhm. Yesterday he was with me in the in-between world. We went to visit one of his friends. And while we were there, the subject came up. Father said that it's unusual that I haven't turned yet. He has a theory, though. He thinks it could be that I take after you in this. And father's friend thought so, too."

"Yes that could be. Is that a bad thing?"

"No of course not. I love you mom. And I like being like you."

"And if that means you can never turn?"

"Then that's just the way it is. Yeah well, I'd like to be able to turn too. But if I can't, then that's just the way it is."

"What else did you talk about with your father?"

"Just again about the visions he and Essam had of me and my future."

"You had those visions, too."

"But with me they were more like dreams. And they were never as accurate as father's and Essam's."

"I know. And what did your father say?"

"Well, the same as usual. That he's convinced that this man from the visions is my destiny."

"I honestly believe that too. You've been dreaming about him on and off for years. And even your father and brother, have visions of him and you and your future. I don't think you can do anything about your destiny."

"Oh you misunderstand me. I don't want to do anything about it. Honestly, I can't wait until the time comes and I meet him. But that will probably take many more centuries. Because the dreams and visions show a very distant future indeed."

"Ah I see. So you like him already."

"Mhm. I think I'm in love with him. Or no, I know I am."

"That's why you can't wait to finally meet him."

"Exactly. But unfortunately, he hasn't even been born yet. Even his parents' parents haven't been born yet."

"I suppose you've already done some research?"

"Yes. Once I dreamed about him and learned his name. Lan Wangji. So I did some research. But there will have to be a few more generations of the Wang's, his ancestors, before he is born."

"Then you will have to be very patient."

"True enough mom. But I think he is worth waiting for."

"I'm sure he is." Said his mom smiling and kissed his cheek.

The next moment, Lan Zhan woke up. He looked around in confusion and frowned when he saw Essam. He couldn't remember what happened when he had that fit of rage. But he didn't have to in order to know that Essam was Wei Ying's big brother. After all, he just saw him in the dream visions and had already seen his statue in the temple bath.

"What happened?" Lan Zhan asked as he slowly sat up.

"Nothing much. The poison of a vampire brood robbed you of your senses for a moment." Essam replied. He sat down next to Lan Zhan, touched his forehead and smiled. "Yes, you are better again. Then I can let my little brother see you again, too."

"Wei Ying is here?"

"Yes, he's waiting outside. I told him that I wanted to check how you were doing now first."

"I see. Did I hurt him?"

"No you didn't."

"Oh thank God."

"Don't worry about it. You can't hurt him. He'd rather kill you."

"I actually think he would. He stabbed me in the chest with a knife."

"To stop you. Not to kill you."

"I know."

"Anyway. Lan Wangji?"

"Lan Zhan."

"Well, that's what you call yourself now. But your parents gave you the name Wangji."

"Yes, my father."

"Don't look at me so anxiously. I don't want to harm you."

"But you want to take Wei Ying away from me. Don't you?"

"No."

"No?"

"No Wangji. My little brother is in good hands with you. You are his protector now. To be honest, I wanted to do you a favor."

"Oh um... thank you. What kind of favor?"

"I know you have an unanswered question, the answer to which probably no one else but me can give you."

"What question?"

"What happened to your family after you left them."

"How do you know I want to know that?"

"One of my abilities is to be able to see deep into the subconscious of others and find their most secret desires and dreams."

"Oh... so you've seen into my subconscious?"

"Yes. But rather unintentionally. Well, anyway, I'm able to show you what happened to your family."

"Really? Can you go back in time and look?"

"Sort of. Explaining to you how that works would be too complicated and take too long. But instead, I'm offering to show you. All you have to do is lie down on the bed, close your eyes, and go with it."

"Okay. And can Wei Ying be there?"

"No. It's just the two of us. It won't take long. Although it may seem that way to you."

"Ah, okay."

"So you're ready?"

"Yes, I am." Replied Lan Zhan. He lay back on the bed, closed his eyes, and felt Essam join him, placing his hands on Lan Zhan's temples and quietly whispering something unintelligible.