I couldn't believe what Baochen had just revealed to us. He and Wei Ying had the same blood, they were the same family! I understood better why he had so often made me think of my love and why I had always felt good and confident at his side!

"But, my mother always said that Baoshan SanRen was her Master!"

"And that was the truth! Well, part of it, anyway. It was easier to make people believe that half truth, than to reveal our true 'age'!"

"What do you mean," I asked him.

"It's simple, Baoshan SanRen was born about 800 years ago and I was born about 600 years ago.

The reactions in the room were mostly amazement! Me in particular! As for Wei Ying, let's not even talk about it.

"You're 600 years old!" exclaimed Wei Ying in disbelief.

"You can call me by my first name, we are related! To answer your question, I'm not 600 years old but I was born, 600 years ago."

"Isn't that the same thing?" I asked.

"I am 49 years old, I understand that it disturbs you. But you have already experienced this phenomenon! Wangji, Wei Ying when you met Lan Yi, how long did you stay in the cave with her?"

"About an hour, maybe less and it took us another hour to find the exit after the seal holding the power of the Iron Ying disappeared.". i answered him.

"That's 2 hours" then turning to Jiang Cheng.

"Jiang Clan Chief, how long did you search for Lan Wangji and your brother?

"A whole day and a night!" replied Jiang Cheng.

I think I understood what he meant. I asked.

"So the seal slows down time?

"Let's say it alters it. There is a place where our family is the guardian. Our Sanctuary. In this place are kept very dangerous spiritual objects. Each of them is sealed and the Sanctuary is protected by a shield like the one I used last night to keep you from approaching me."

"My mother ...."

"Your mother was my younger sister by 1 year, but 20 years in the outside world. Wei Ying, I am explaining this to you so that you understand why, after your parents died, we did not look for you. We didn't find out until much later! Baoshan felt bad that he wasn't there for you when you needed him. You were barely four years old. We later learned that you had survived for two years on the streets. When we found you, you had been taken in by Jiang FengMian. You were happy. You had a brother with whom you were close and a sister who loved you dearly. So we did not intervene. But from that moment on, we watched you from a distance. We often crossed paths without you knowing who we were".

I grabbed my soul mate's hand. I could feel him upset. I was as disturbed as he was. Baochen continued.

"We saw you befriend Lan Wangji. You were opposites of each other and yet you were in perfect harmony at the level of your souls. Do you know that it is very rare to find your soul mate so young? This was your case. I must admit that I had a lot of fun watching you both! And then one day you disappeared. When you reappeared, we immediately felt the dark energy emanating from you! We understood where you had spent those 3 months. There were not many places that prevented a soul from communicating! We went to the Burial Ground to find out what had happened to you. Baoshan knew this place well, she had fought there during the time of Xue Chonghai and it was also where she had lost her husband. When we saw what you had done with it...the spirits you had mastered, we were afraid for you. So we got closer without you knowing it by joining minor Sects. We saw you fighting with the Yin Hufu and its terrible power. Then we saw you give life to your "Ghost General" to avenge the injustice he had suffered. You took charge of the surviving Wen and brought them to Yiling, where you lived in peace for a year. I was there on the way to Qiongqi, I heard the second flute, but it was too late for me to intervene. I searched and found the flute player. I wounded him. As you can imagine, he used a teleportation talisman to escape me. That's when we realized that there was someone behind this and that this person wanted to hurt you. We knew he wouldn't stop there. So we redoubled our vigilance and stood ready to intervene. We had gotten to know you. We knew your justice-loving heart. When the Wen surrendered and were executed, we knew you would lose control of your emotions... and of the Yin Hufu. We went to Qishan to save you from the worst. We saw you falling into the void. Baoshan ordered me to pick you up and take you to the Sanctuary. Lan Wangji caught you at the last moment and gave me just enough time to get there a fraction of a second before your body fell to the bottom of the abyss. But you were seriously injured because you had touched the wall several times during your fall. So with a tiny spark of life, I evacuated you to the Sanctuary. Meanwhile, Baoshan tried to recover the Yin Hufu. But she only managed to get a piece. From that moment on, we had to do everything to protect you. The easiest way was to make everyone believe that you were dead. The big problem we had was your physical condition. As a doctor, I knew that it would take you several months to recover, maybe even a year. But several months in the Sanctuary meant several years in the outside world, and during that time, any summoner could summon your spirit and discover that you were still alive. So we resolved to do something, that one day I hope you will forgive us and yourself Lan Wangji. We separated your body and mind. We locked it in a Qiankun pocket and put a seal on it so that no one could come in contact with you. That's why you have no memory of the last 16 years!

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