Lan Zhan ended up spending the whole night outside looking up at the starry sky. Many questions went through his mind about Wei WuXian. But all these questions remained unanswered. However, with the daylight, the questions disappeared and he focused again on Youn, who had woken up and secretly munched away the last strawberries.

He was packing his belongings while Youn was munching on the leftovers from the previous day's meal. The two then set off on their journey to Lan Zhan's house. It took them a week and a half, staying over and over in abandoned houses, sheds, stables, or under the stars. They ate what nature offered them or went to restaurants in villages or towns they passed through.

When they finally reached Lan Zhan's house, it was completed. And the furniture Lan Zhan had ordered from a carpenter had also arrived and been set up. Youn looked around the house and garden with wide eyes in amazement. He cried with joy when Lan Zhan showed him his room, which had a real bed, a closet, a table and two chairs. Lan Zhan had planned this room as a guest room, but now it was to be Youn's room.

Lan Zhan decided to hire a household help to take care of the house and cook for Youn, so that he could fully concentrate on training Youn and giving him a decent education. And he already knew exactly where to find this household help. Because there are also several women in Wen Rouhan's group. And Rouhan had offered to give him one of these women as a household help during his last visit. He immediately wrote a letter to his old mentor asking him to send one of these human women to him.

Just two weeks later, 49-year-old Maya came to them. She was delighted to be hired by Lan Zhan. And she was even more pleased to be able to take care of Youn. She herself never had the luck of having her own family because she cannot have children of her own. Therefore, she always liked to take care of other families' children. But she rarely stayed with a family for more than a year. And she was never allowed to live with the families.

Lan Zhan, however, immediately gave her her own room and told her that he needed her not only for Youn, but for his household, and so he would definitely keep her longer than a few years. As long as she did her job well. And he would pay her well and treat her for free if she needed medical help. For her, this was the absolute jackpot. And for Lan Zhan and Youn, she would be an important confidant very soon.

Maya had become valuable to Lan Zhan and Youn. Especially when Lan Zhan had gone off with Wen Rouhan to break apart a slave-trading ring once again. She watched over Youn while Lan Zhan and Wen Rouhan rescued hundreds of people and brought them to safety. Among them were many children, whom they were able to deliver into the hands of good people or their own families.

That Wen Rouhan joined Lan Zhan was a blessing for him. For one thing, he helped Lan Zhan advance Youn's combat training. And for another, he had a confidant who stood by his side and helped free the slaves. But he also helped Lan Zhan to control his thoughts. Because that way he didn't have to think about Wei WuXian incessantly. For he had not seen him since that night at the farmhouse.

Within two years, Youn had learned the local language and even English. He learned to read, write, calculate, and fight. He even made some friends when some settlers came and started to build a new village. Because Lan Zhan wanted to avoid the new villagers seeing him and realizing that he was not aging, he always stayed away from the village. If he needed something from the village, he sent Maya or Youn. If they could not get it for him, he would ride to the next city and get it himself.

When Youn reached the age of 14, Lan Zhan made the first long trip with him. Together with Maya, they traveled to India, where they traveled around for half a year. They then returned home for a year, only to travel to Italy just 6 months later. This was because Lan Zhan had finally received a letter from the Vatican, which made him very happy.

Finally, after countless letters and requests, Lan Zhan was granted access to the investigation files on an impostor who claimed to be Inquisitor William. In his last request, he pretended to be a city historian who wants to write a book about how the "positive" influence of the church, influenced and improved the lives of the city's residents.

And he justified his interest in the supposed Inquisitor William by claiming that the inhabitants of the city recognized the truth and exposed the swindler as a liar and drove him out of their city. He had claimed to want to include in his book how the Vatican was also looking for the fraudster.

His lies worked well. Because finally he got the desired permission to look at the files. Therefore, he traveled with Youn to Italy shortly after receiving the letter. He used the long sea voyage to teach Youn a little Italian. But as always, Youn learned quickly and was able to communicate well in Italian after only a few weeks.

One evening as the two stood on the deck of the ship, Youn said with a laugh, "You know Lan Zhan, I'm almost 16 years old now and I'm already almost as tall as you. Now no one believes us that you are my uncle. We should probably claim that we are stepbrothers."

"Stepbrothers? You mean that's what people believe us to be?" Asked Lan Zhan.

"Sure. We just claim that my father died and my mother married your father, who was a widower. And so we became stepbrothers."

"As you like. Probably that story is really more believable now than claiming I'm your uncle."

"That's what I'm saying. Hey, do you actually realize what it's going to be like as I get older and older? In the past years, you've been like a father to me. Now at almost 16, you're almost like a big brother. And next, I'll look old enough to be your father. And then your grandfather."

"Youn, it will be many years before you look that old."

"I realize that. But time goes by faster than you think."

"Not for me. If you're immortal, then it doesn't matter how fast or slow time passes."

"Well, knowing that my time in this world is limited makes me live each day to the fullest. Thanks to you, I can. And thanks to you, I finally realized how important it is to make the most of every day. Because you never know what can happen."

"You mean like it did to me? Because I was robbed of the chance to grow older. To live and die like a normal person?"

"Yes."

"You're lucky to be human, and I hope you never have to suffer what I had to suffer."

"I hope so too Lan Zhan."

"Tell me, you're almost 16 years old now. Just under 8 years of that you've been with me. You are doing well. You feel comfortable with me. What I'm interested in is, do you still think of your parents often and miss them?"

"Mhhh, I think about them from time to time. Do I miss them? Well, my mom maybe I do. But my dad, no. He was an asshole."

"Why was he an asshole?"

"Because he was a cruel man. He couldn't get anything done. He worked as a farm hand and lost that job when he got hurt on the job. After that he couldn't work anymore and my mom had to earn the money for us. She had three jobs. Early in the morning she went cleaning in the house of a rich civil servant and his family. After that she cooked in a restaurant. And in the evening she worked tailoring jobs. On the side she kept our room clean, did the laundry and cooked for us. She never slept more than 3 hours. And whenever she received the pay for her work, my father took it from her right away. The same day he spent half the money on alcohol, gambling, women of a brothel. If he was drunk and lost a lot of money gambling again, he beat up my mom. She lost two children because of him. So no, I don't miss him."

"Okay yeah you're right. Your dad was an asshole. That was a hard life. And you were so young at that."

"You know, with everything that was, what I remember most is the morning I woke up and my parents were dead in their beds. They had been sick and they were in really bad shape. A doctor was there and said that all they had to do was take the medicine he gave them and they would soon be better. But the medicine didn't help and they got worse and worse. Well, and then they died. My mom looked like a sleeping angel. My dad looked more like the devil. His mouth was wide open. His eyes were wide open and milky. His skin looked like it was peeling off his face."

"You must have been very scared."

"Sure. I was only 5 years old, after all. Kind of strange too, isn't it? I was so young, but still I remember it very well."

"And after your parents died, your uncle took you in, right?"

"Yeah right. He was 9 years younger than my mom and just came back to town. He took good care of me until he met and married this woman. She never liked me and let me feel it a lot. My uncle was so in love with her that he didn't notice how she treated me. And then when her baby was born, she persuaded my uncle to get rid of me. She said that they didn't have enough space and money for 4 people. At first my uncle was against it. But then he took me to the next town, bought me something to eat at a stand and told me to wait for him there. He just wanted to get something quickly. I waited and waited, but my uncle never came back. He just left me there."

"Maybe we should make our next trip to Korea. Then we'll look up your uncle and you'll show him what a great strong and educated young man you've become. And you'll have a chance to tell him what you think for the first time."

"Sounds good to me. There's a few things I'd have to say to him."

"Then that's what we'll do. Our next trip will be to Korea and who knows, maybe you'll find a nice girlfriend there too?"

"Mhhh, no thanks. I'd rather prefer a cute boyfriend."

"Oh really? You like boys?"

"Yeah, I guess I do. Um no, actually I do."

"Okay, then maybe you'll find a boyfriend."

"A cute boyfriend Lan Zhan."

"Yeah, whatever you want."

"Say. Have you actually seen that one man you were talking about since then again?"

"You mean Wei WuXian?"

"That's right."

"No, I haven't. And I'm not even sure anymore if he really exists. You said you hadn't seen or heard him. And I haven't seen him since that night either. So maybe he doesn't exist. Maybe I just dreamed it."

"Maybe. But do you really think so?"

"Honestly, no."

"Maybe he was real. It's possible that people can't see or hear him."

"Well then that would at least explain how he was able to follow me since I was 6 years old without me ever seeing him."

"Oh wow, that's a long time. Apparently he really likes you."

"I don't know. I haven't seen him since that night almost 8 years ago."

"Maybe he has reasons for that."

"Mmm. Maybe. We should go back inside now. Soon the doors will be locked. And I don't plan to spend the night out on the deck tonight."

"You're right. Besides, it is pretty cold out here after all. But you won't notice any of that, fortunately."

"Yes, yes, being a vampire has its advantages, too. Now come on." Said Lan Zhan.

They went back to their cabin. Youn went to sleep and Lan Zhan read a bit in a book he had bought before leaving. But he did not read for long. Because he had to think about Wei Ying again after his conversation with Youn.