The moment the sun set, leaving nothing but darkness in the forest, the five had set up their camp and built a small fire. Meng Yao curled up next to the fire and was asleep immediately. Lan Zhan and Wei Ying were caring for the horses. Yanara cooked herself some rice soup and Lan Xichen sat on the ground next to Meng Yao and watched him sleep.

"You really love him a lot don't you?" Asked Yanara, who saw Lan Xichen looking at his mate.

"Yes I do. And it's only now that we're resting here and I see him lying here like this that I really realize that he almost died today if it weren't for you and Wei Ying." Lan Xichen replied thoughtfully.

"Yes, fortunately we were there. I think who or what attacked him is still here in the forest. Maybe it's another werewolf trying to defend its territory."

"Maybe. If the creature that attacked him, regardless of whether it's a human, vampire or werewolf, crosses my path, I will kill that creature!"

"You should do that. But hey Lan Xichen? Can I ask you something?"

"Sure. And please call me Xichen."

"Thanks Xichen. I was also listening earlier when you told Lan Zhan about your imprisonment. You had been with the Inquisitor for 29 years and only learned about the slaves the Inquisitor used as blood bags a few years before you escaped. But he wasn't the only one feeding on them, was he?"

"No, all the vampires on the island."

"Right. And what I'm wondering is, where did you think all those years all that blood came from? You lived on a small island and then you moved to a bigger island. There were no other islanders. So where did you think the blood was sourced from?"

"Mhhh, you asked the question that my little brother didn't seem to want to ask me."

"That may be. But what's the answer to that?"

"I guess I always suspected where the blood came from. But I didn't give it much thought, especially in the early years. As a young vampire, I was always hungry for the first 4 or 5 years and I didn't care where the blood came from. It was only important to me that my hunger was satisfied. And then I didn't care for a long time, because I always thought only of myself and my problems. I think I had to see it with my own eyes to realize. And when I saw it, I was so shocked that I threw up. It was even worse when I wanted to help the slaves. I freed them and wanted them to run away, but they stayed. It was only a few years later that I understood that there was no point in trying to free them. They would have had nowhere to go. Because we were on an island. And they knew that."

"And now you want revenge for yourself, Lan Zhan, and all those slaves?"

"Yes and no. Mhhh, how am I going to explain this? I guess my revenge is mostly for the children the Inquisitor killed and the girls."

"What was with the girls? I didn't catch that earlier."

"He regularly took girls between the ages of 12 and 16 into his chamber. He would sexually assault them. He beat them so badly that afterwards you couldn't recognize their faces. And if they were still alive after all that, he would suck out every last drop of their blood and throw them on a pile like garbage. And I must say that I only found out about the girls when I was assigned to clean in his house. You can't imagine how much those girls suffered. And there was nothing I could do! I can hear their screams to this day."

"Okay, now I can understand you better too."

"I think it makes me so furious because I had a daughter of my own."

"What?"

"What I'm about to tell you, my brother doesn't know yet. Please keep it to yourself for now until I tell him myself. At that time, after I found out that my wife had cheated on me and my son was not my son at all, I dissolved the marriage and at my parents' insistence, I remarried a month later. At that time it was like that. You did what your parents demanded. Which is probably still the case today. Anyway. So I got married again and shortly after the wedding my wife got pregnant. We had a daughter. Her name was Minya. I was very happy and a proud father. But then my daughter became ill only 4 months after her birth and died. My wife broke down from it and killed herself just two weeks later."

"I'm very sorry to hear that."

"Yeah, me too. Not because of my wife. I never loved her. But because of my beautiful daughter. I loved my daughter very much and mourned her for a long time. And when I saw what the Inquisitor, William, did to those girls, I couldn't stop thinking about my daughter."

"I understand what you're saying."

"Thank you."

"But Xichen? Still, be careful not to let your desire for revenge consume you. Try to enjoy your life as well. As long as Meng Yao is by your side, you should savor your time with him."

"I do. But what do you mean when you say as long as he's by my side?"

"Meng Yao is indeed half vampire and half werewolf. But he's not immortal like you."

"Is he really not? I thought as half vampire he would be immortal too."

"Can't you feel or smell his mortality?"

"No."

"Well, I can."

"I always thought...God I can't lose him too..."

"Then make him immortal."

"Me?"

"Yes."

"But how?"

"With your blood. Bite him, drink his blood until he almost dies, and give him to drink of your blood."

"And that's enough?"

"Well, he's a hybrid. I'm not sure. But it's worth a try."

"And if that doesn't work?"

"Then I'll do this."

"How are you going to make him immortal?"

"With the help of your vampire venom and my blood."

"And that will work?"

"I don't know. But if it's necessary, we'll try it. Or else I'll ask my brother to ask our father."

"What should I ask father?" Asked Wei Ying, who just joined Yanara and Lan Xichen with Lan Zhan and sat down next to his sister.

"Oh hey little brother. I was just saying to Xichen that you could ask our father how to make Meng Yao immortal if Xichen can't or it doesn't work with my blood." Replied Yanara.

"Is he really not immortal?" Lan Xichen asked.

Wei Ying shook his head. "I'm honestly not sure. On the one hand, I can feel and smell his mortality. But on the other hand, he obviously ages much slower than, for example, humans. Moreover, his wounds healed almost instantly with my sister's blood. The blood of demigods usually doesn't cope with simple mortal beings. He is a hybrid and for that reason alone it is difficult to make any predictions. However, our eldest brother Essam brought such a hybrid to our father. Perhaps he has been able to study this hybrid a little."

"I see. So it's true, he is much older than he looks. Maybe I shouldn't get so crazy about him. Besides, if anything, we should talk to him about it. After all, he should have the opportunity to express himself. I don't want to decide over him either. He should be able to say what he wants himself." Said Lan Xichen.

Lan Zhan lightly patted his brother on the shoulder. "Don't worry about it. We'll work something out if we have to."

Wei Ying leaned on Lan Zhan and said, "I think it would be good if we follow Meng Yao now and do as he does. We should rest and gather strength for the next day."

"Well, I don't mind." Lan Zhan replied with a grin. He pulled Wei Ying into his arms and kissed him. "What do you say if we find a place to sleep a little away from the campsite?"

"That sounds brilliant my super handsome vampire." Wei Ying blew him a kiss.

"Awww, you two are so cute. But unfortunately, I have to remind you that there is an unknown danger here in the forest, so we should all stay together." Said Yanara.

"Oh yeah, I forgot about that already. In that case, we really should stay here." Replied Lan Zhan. Wei Ying nodded and agreed with his Lan Zhan. But he didn't look happy about it.

Wei Ying said telepathically to Lan Zhan, "I'm really sick of this. When are we going to have time for the two of us again?"

Lan Zhan kissed Wei Ying and replied telepathically; "Hopefully soon. Because I can hardly stand it anymore myself. We've never had to go this long without making sexual love." Wei Ying nodded silently, but did not reply, as Lan Zhan's brother said he thought it would be safer if they took turns keeping watch at night. Thereupon, they divided the guards.

After the night, during which all but Meng Yao slept little, they cleaned up the camp in the morning and set out again. However, they did not have to ride far. For after only an hour, they reached the cliffs Lan Xichen had told them about. They stood there for a little while, gazing silently out at the sea.

When they looked at the path that should lead to the harbor, they quickly understood that the Inquisitor and his soldiers could not have ridden through the forest. For the path had clearly not been used for quite a while. Tall grass and weeds grew on it. Nor were there any other tracks to indicate that anyone had walked or ridden along it.

Lan Xichen sighed. "I don't understand this. I was so sure that they would take this path. Because this way is shorter than the other. Besides, he should realize that half the country will be after him."

"I doubt that half the country is after him. And I suppose he took another path because the forest path was too unsuitable for him and his soldiers. Besides, he can't stand the sunlight and travels in a small carriage or sedan chair. And neither of them are made for the forest path." Meng Yao replied.

"If you already guessed this, why didn't you say anything before?" Lan Xichen wanted to know.

"Because I wasn't sure before. But maybe we should have noticed it before. Because there were hardly any tracks in the forest either." Said Meng Yao.

Lan Zhan suddenly became quite restless. "Wei Ying! We have to hurry up! If they took the other path and are slow, Wen Rouhan might catch up!"

"Damn! I think it's better if I teleport us!" Replied Wei Ying. Lan Zhan nodded.

"But it's daytime and there might be uninvolved people there. However, it's about Youn, Ali, and Rouhan. We can't let anything happen to them."

"Exactly!" Said Wei Ying and asked everyone to come close together. Wei Ying concentrated on sensing Rouhan. After half a minute, he succeeded and could sense where Rouhan was. Wei Ying then teleported them all, including the horses, to Rouhan.

Wen Rouhan almost fell off the carriage in shock when they all suddenly appeared in front of him. Yanara, happy that Rouhan was all right, immediately ran to him and hugged him in relief. Lan Zhan immediately saw that Youn and Ali were fine. And Wei Ying noted with relief that no one else saw them appear out of nowhere.

"Maybe you'll bring them all back home in your own special way? Then my little brother would be less worried and the three of them can be guaranteed not to fall into the hands of the Inquisitor." Lan Xichen whispered to Wei Ying.

"And it's best if I take my sister with me right now too, and then stay there with everyone, right?" Asked Wei Ying.

"Well I didn't say it like that."

"But that's what you meant. Because you think Lan Zhan is distracted because of me and that's why I'm holding you guys up."

"Wei Ying, I know you love each other very much. And I'm happy for you guys. I really like you, especially because you make my little brother so happy. But right now, it seems to me that loving you is distracting him too much from his goal. Now he is closer than ever to his goal of taking revenge on the Inquisitor. And no one knows if such an opportunity will present itself again. But all he can think about is you and are the others of your group. And I think if you really love him, then return to your home with the others and let my little brother focus entirely on his revenge."

"Do you seriously think I'm distracting him too much? Or is it rather that you feel disturbed by me and my sister?"

"For me, it's just unusual that you guys are around. But that's just because A-Yao and I have always been alone for a long time. But you guys don't bother me to such an extent that I want to get rid of you. As I said, I like you and I'm glad that you make my little brother happy. But I also see that he is completely focused on you and only does what you agree with. And I've noticed that you're not really convinced about hunting the Inquisitor. Probably just out of concern for Wangji. Which is understandable. But it makes me wonder how much more time you're stalling?"

"I'm stalling?"

"Oh, yes. We haven't known each other long. But I've been watching you since we met, and I've clearly seen that you're slowing Wangji down. But I don't understand why?"

Wei Ying put his hand on Lan Xichen's shoulder and suddenly the two of them were vanished! Lan Zhan and Yanara stared at each other in dismay.