Wei Wuxian's PoV

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Lan Xichen's funeral was very sober. He would not have liked too much ceremony. We left in advance. Wen Qing and Ni Bi were waiting for us at Yunshen Buzhi, and the clans were not to discover their presence until it was time for us to leave.

With MingJue's help, we proceeded with the various rituals. After dressing Xichen in the traditional clothes of the Lan clan, we proceeded to bury him.

Lan Zhan and I had carved a burial tablet for him. I entrusted it to MingJue to place in the Memorial Pavilion that had been erected for the Lan Clan members and their followers.

Lan Zhan and I would have liked to place it there ourselves, but we had to leave soon and could not wait the 49 ritual days.

On the morning of our departure, ZiXuan arrived. For him too, his father's funeral ceremony had been held, but unlike Lan Xichen's, his had been held with pomp and circumstance.

He had come to greet us, but above all he had come to say goodbye to his "son".

During our short stay in Jinlintai, I had managed to convince Jin Ling to get to know his "father" better. Of course, he was not his real father, but I thought that they were very similar... only better!

I looked at what had once been the Jingshi of this world. All that remained were burned beams. The stone garden had long since been overgrown with grass. The pebbles of its paths scattered ...

Yunshen Buzhi was only a shadow of his former self and the Lan clan had died out!

At least not totally ... there was still a descendant of Lan An in this world, my little Ni Bi ...

I wondered about the validity of my decision to take her with us, but it was obvious to me that she had no one left here and I didn't want to imagine what the reaction of the clan leaders would be when they discovered her existence! No, it was better for her to accompany us, even if she seemed to be afraid of Lan Zhan!

Knowing my soul mate, I didn't doubt for a moment that he would eventually win her trust and heart.

Ni Bi was not the only problem we had!

I had seen the way Jiang Cheng looked at Wen Qing! He had missed his chance once, I hoped with all my heart that he wouldn't make the same mistake twice!

That's why I had entrusted him with their installation in YunShen Buzhi after meeting them in Yiling!

Wen Qing couldn't stay here anymore either... when it was revealed that she wasn't dead as everyone thought, she might be persecuted, even if she hadn't committed any crime!

Together with Jiang Cheng and Wen Ning, I hoped that they would be able to convince her to join us! Not to mention that when we took Ni Bi away, she would be alone...

I returned to what had been the heart of the Lan cradle, the orchid room. The walls had withstood the fire well. For the funeral, MingJue had reinforced them and added a roof.

Lan Zhan was waiting for me at the entrance with SiZhui. The head of the Nie clan and his right-hand man were with them.

I looked at Meng Yao. He was still standing next to MingJue. I wondered whether or not he would keep the promise he had made to his soul mate. Would he come with us?

If he did, his life might be a little complicated in our world because of his double's negative "notoriety"!

Now ... I too had a dismal and sulphurous reputation! And it was probably going to be even worse when we came back with this little girl who looked so much like me!

Two members of our group were still missing, Jiang Cheng and Wen Ning had gone to Caiyi to bring Wen Qing and Ni Bi back safely. They would return soon.

Whether it was Meng Yao or Wen Qing, what would their decisions be? Unfortunately, neither I nor anyone else could make it for them!

Lan Zhan must have sensed my questioning, because he discreetly took my hand and squeezed it in his as if to communicate his strength.

The time was approaching. Jin Ling arrived with ZiXuan.

We had decided to join Jiang Cheng and Wen Ning at the last moment. We didn't want to give the clan leaders time to react if Wen Qing decided to come with us.

So we went to the small clearing where we had all arrived, even if it was at different times.

Wen Ning was waiting for us. Jiang Sheng had to stay hidden with the little one to come and join us when the passage was opened.

"Your brother is not here, Wei Gongzi?" Ming-Jue asked me.

"Don't worry, he's on his way, he has something important to do.

"I wanted to thank you all, for what you have done for our world. Many have doubted you..."

"But not you!" interrupted Lan Zhan.

"No, my brother warned me at the spirit ceremony. He told me that you had a righteous, thousand-year-old soul and that nothing would stop you from keeping your word, not even Wen Ruohan!"

Lan Zhan looked at me with a slight smile on his lips. I turned my head away and stared at Wen Ning... he was smiling! Wen Qing must have made up his mind to accompany us!

My ghost general was going to find his sister... ! and my brother would find his chosen one, provided of course that he made an effort in terms of his character, since the lady's character was also quite strong! At least if things worked between them, their life would not be monotonous!

A sphere of light appeared in the middle of the clearing. The passage was opening.

Lan Zhan turned to the one who since the end of the war had been appointed as the Chief Patriarch of their world, Nie MingJue, but his gaze slid to his right arm.

"Meng Yao?".

The latter lowered his head, he must have been hesitating. He knew that if he followed us, there would be obstacles to overcome, the biggest of which would be facing his soulmate's double!

"Father!" shouted a small voice behind us.

Jiang Cheng and Wen Qinq were walking towards us. Little Ni Bi was reaching out to me and wiggling in the arms of the Wen's handsome doctor. She finally put her on the ground and the child rushed towards me. I lowered myself just in time to catch her in my arms and lift her up.

She laughed and hugged me tightly.

MingJue was amazed and asked

"Who is this child?

I was about to answer when Lan Zhan did it for me.

"Our daughter!

The clearing was dead silent.

"SiZhui, Jin Ling take your sister and go home.

I moved Ni Bi from my arms to SiZhui's. The little one would not let go of me. The little one wouldn't let go. I looked at her and smiled.

"My little A-Ni, you are going to be very good and go with your brothers, you are going to leave in front. Die and I are coming.

I placed a kiss on her forehead. They turned around and walked through the light passage.

"Jiang Cheng, Wen Ning follow them, take Wen Qing with you!"

Before anyone had time to react to my words, all three of them had disappeared into the light.

"Did you say Wen Qing?".

"One more, one less, what do you care, Clan Chief Nie? You still have enough left! No ? ".

Lan Zhan looked at me and then turned to the light. The passageway was about to close.

"Wei Ying, we have to go!

I looked at Meng Yao.

"You have nothing left here, Meng Yao. In our world, you can start over! Even though facing... Xichen will be difficult for you!".

He seemed to hesitate, I could read it in his eyes. He turned to MingJue and bowed to him.

"Nie Gongzi, please forgive me. I made a promise to your brother by oath Lan Xichen and I must keep it. I will follow them to their world. You don't need me here anymore. I'm sure you will make peace from now on.

"Meng Yao, I still need you, there are a lot of problems to deal with...". MingJue's face had broken down at the announcement of his right hand man.

"You can do it! As for me, I need peace and hope... You always knew how I felt about Xichen. Don't lie...so understand that I can't live here without him!".

"Meng Yao, we have to go!".

The three of us greeted the Nie clan leader one last time and headed towards the light.

Just before we passed it, I took one last look at Nie MingJue. From the expression on his face, I understood why it had been so easy to get him to accept our relationship and why he had silenced the voices that had been raised against us!

Meng Yao had only ever seen Xichen and he hadn't noticed that another person loved him!

I decided not to tell him, he didn't have to suffer any more. He had to look to the future and his future was in our world.

I took my turn to cross the passage, we were going home!

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)