Essam walked silently beside Lan Zhan, thinking once again how his father, the god of the underworld, suddenly let his demons bring him to him. He thought of how he saw the lifeless body of his beloved little brother lying on his father's lap on his old bed and how he went down on his knees screaming in shock.

And before he could say anything, his father explained what had happened and then said, "You must find his mate Lan Wangji and help him find your little brother's soul! I will put his body in a special glass coffin where it will be preserved."

"Does that mean he can be resurrected? That sword actually destroys the souls of those who wield it, doesn't it?" Asked Essam, immediately gaining hope.

"I was able to intervene just in time. So it wasn't Teremun who had killed that vampire with the sword, but me! I tore his heart from his chest before he drew his last breath."

"But if you killed him, why did Teremun's soul leave his body?"

"The sword still demanded a sacrifice. Teremun had to die, but not his soul. I saw his soul leave his body with his last breath. But I could not hold his soul. Only his mate Lan Wangji would have been able to do that. And only he can find his soul in the afterlife and bring it back to his body."

"Then not everything is lost and he can be saved."

"Yes, he can. But only by his mate. That is their mission of destiny! Lan Wangji will be tested by fate."

"Then I'll be on my way to see him right away."

"I will let you be taken to him. But there is one more thing you must know. Teremun mixed the Potion of Oblivion into the drinks of him, his own sister, and the others in his party. None of them will remember your little brother."

"This potion does not work 100%. At least not with true feelings. Lan Wangji and Yanara will sense that something is wrong and someone is missing."

"That's what we can assume. Your sister will want to accompany you. But you won't let her go with you. She must stay by the side of this Wen Rouhan. For she must also pass a fated quest."

"The love quest?"

"Exactly. She has finally found her mate. But she doesn't really realize that yet. And if I remember correctly, the two of them will even have a baby."

"Then the god of the underworld will become grandpa?"

"Yes. But only if the two of them pass their destiny task. So she has to stay by his side and pass the task with him. And they are assisted in the task by the two human young men who are with them. I believe they are the foster sons of Lan Wangji and Teremun."

"And what about the brother of Wangji?"

"It says in the Book of Fate that the two of them go vampire hunting. They kill vampires who kill humans."

"Uh-huh, okay. So they're going to be vampire hunters."

"They're going to find a boy and train him to be the world's most famous and greatest vampire hunter."

"Wow."

"Now my good Essam, be on your way. My demons are waiting for you and will take you to Lan Wangji."

"Yes father. We will meet again soon."

"Certainly we will."

"See you soon." Said Essam and left Wei Ying's old nursery.

Lan Zhan himself was also lost in thought. He tried to remember things Wei Ying might have told him. He hoped to get his memories back faster this way. Although he was actually sure that pressuring himself wouldn't work.

Without knowing how long they had been following the corridor, because for some reason Lan Zhan lost the sense of time completely, they finally reached a large red gate. It was jewel-less and looked old and fragile. Yet Lan Zhan knew immediately that this gate only gave the impression of being just some old gate.

"Is that it?" Lan Zhan asked, placing a hand on the gate.

"No. This is just one of three gates. This is the red gate. Then comes the green gate. And finally comes the silver gate with golden decorations." Replied Essam.

"I see... Mhhh and now? How do we get the gate open?"

"Simple. We call the gatekeepers."

"And how?"

"Gatekeepers? We would like to enter, please!" Shouted Essam. And suddenly two creatures emerged from the ground. They grew taller and taller. But they were only the gatekeepers' guards. The gatekeepers themselves were no taller than five feet, had thick knobby noses, and wore strange hats.

"You want to pass through our gate?" Both asked synchronously.

"Yes, we do." Replied Essam.

"And what are you both willing to pay?" Again they spoke in sync.

Essam took out four gold coins from his pouch and showed them to the little guards. "I guess these gold coins are enough or?"

"Oh yes, oh yes absolutely. But first we check if the coins are real. And if they are real, we will open the gate for you and you will even get a lantern as a gift from us!" Said the dwarves. Essam handed them the coins, they tested them to see if they were real and quickly dropped them into a big pot when they were done testing.

The little men ordered the giant guards to open the gate. Then one of the little men, handed Lan Zhan a lantern with a very special candle. "It will never burn down! And it will let you see in its light the true face of the creatures you will meet." Explained the little men and disappeared with their pot of gold.

Lan Zhan lit the candle and they entered the passage behind the red gate. They walked a few hundred yards and finally came to a cave room that was full of strange creatures. Again, something that reminded Lan Zhan of his dream. Only this was not a dream and the creatures were as real as Lan Zhan and Essam are.

A couple of creatures walked past the two. At first glance, they looked like ordinary people. But when Yibo turned the light of the candle in the lantern on them, their true nature became apparent to them. For example, there was a creature with a red head. And it had small white spikes on its head instead of hair and two small greenish horns on its forehead.

When a beautiful woman passed them, Lan Zhan turned the candlelight on her too and got goosebumps when he saw her true self. Her face was green, she had a long pointed nose and hairy warts on her face. Her black-gray hair was thin and full of holes, so that parts of her scalp could be seen. And when she smiled, Lan Zhan could see that she had only three rotten black teeth left in her mouth.

But there were other strange creatures with rat faces, big fish eyes, and wide mouths full of pointed long teeth. There was a woman with two faces that were both grotesquely disfigured, wrinkled and ugly as nightmares. And one of these creatures had neither eyes nor a nose. But a mouth that reached from ear to ear and was full of shark teeth.

"Damn. They look horrible." Lan Zhan muttered.

"To you, maybe. But they think of themselves as being really beautiful. To them, we're the ugly ones." Replied Essam with a wink.

They crossed the cave room and came to another cave room where there was some kind of market or bazaar. More ugly creatures were there, buying things like eyeballs, brains, fingers, or bloody innards. At another stall they bought clothes made from skin and hair.

One stall offered refreshments. Green snot with mold. Or even shame hair tea with a blob of sperm. Lan Zhan choked at the very sight of these disgusting drinks.

As quickly as they could, they left the marketplace of horror behind and came to another long corridor and then to a cavernous room with water and mist. And in this water lived a real water dragon with his little family. A female water dragon and two baby water dragons. Lan Zhan could hardly believe it, even though he saw it right in front of him.

At this water, a kind of deep river, there was also a forge where a giant, with the appearance of a cyclops with only one big eye on his forehead, was forging a long sword. He was wearing a dirty leather apron and a shirt made of linen. And next to him in the forge was a woman. She was a human and about 40-50 years old. "Why is there a human with him?" Lan Zhan wanted to know.

"I suppose she is his wife. He probably kidnapped her when she was young in the human world and then made her his wife here." Explained Essam.

"How is that possible? He's so huge. Almost 10 feet tall, I'm sure. And..."

"Lan Zhan, it's better we don't question anything here. At least nothing regarding the marriage bed."

"How did you know what I was getting at?"

"Because it was obvious. Now, keep coming. There's the next aisle over there."

"Okay." Said Lan Zhan and followed Essam to the cave passage. And this cave passage ended in front of a green gate. The guards there seemed to be the same as at the red gate. But that was only his first impression. Because the two little men guarding the gate there wore hats in the color of the gate. Just as the other little men before, also wore hats in the same red as the gate.

This time it cost Essam not just four gold coins, but eight! Also this time they got a gift. In that case it was two magic balls in which they can lock souls. Now Lan Zhan also knew where Essam got the 4 soul balls, which he plans to use as payment to be able to pay the gatekeepers of the last silver gate with. But first they have to reach the silver gate!

As they stepped through the gate, Lan Zhan looked back as it closed behind them. Then he followed Essam through the cave passage to a cave room. "There are vacant rooms here. We should rest for a few hours before moving on."

"Mhm. I feel like we've been on the road non-stop for days anyway." Replied Lan Zhan.

"Almost right. Not several days. But two days have passed since we entered the entrance."

"How is that possible?"

"Each gate means a day. Time runs differently here than it does for humans."

"I see."

"Come. I already know where we can get two good rooms. They cost a gold piece each. But the rooms are worth it." Said Essam and went ahead.

Lan Zhan followed Essam to a demon with four arms and paid him for two rooms. When Lan Zhan saw his room, he understood what Essam meant when he said the rooms are worth it. Because in the room there was a real bed, everything was clean and there was even a bathtub that had been promptly filled with hot water by two women.

While Lan Zhan was taking a long hot bath, a pitcher of fresh blood was brought to his room and a change of clothes. Essam had arranged this for him.

Freshly bathed, with clean clothes and full, Lan Zhan lay down to sleep. As soon as he lay on the bed, he fell asleep and had confused dreams about the demons and creatures he had seen down here. And again and again images of Wei Ying flashed up. And in this dream, he kept hearing a soft, warm voice. "Come and find me. I'm waiting for you." Said the voice that made his heart beat faster.

And Lan Zhan promised, "I will find you. No matter how far I have to go and how long I have to look for you. I will find you my dearest. We will be reunited again. I miss you and I love you."

When Lan Zhan woke up, he couldn't wait to finally move on. But Essam was still asleep and so he had no choice but to go back to his room and wait. And while he waited, his subconscious released a memory. The memory of the first meeting with Wei Ying.