Black Lotus

23

Lan WangJi, "There are two relationships.

First, one of the people who were connected to it shared a past with your mother."

Wei WuXian stopped in his tracks.
He didn't know what he was feeling at the moment or how his face looked. Pausing for a moment, he spoke, "... Our mother?"

Wei WuXian and Wei Ziyou were the sons of Wei ChangZe, a servant of the YunmengJiang Sect, and ZangSe SanRen, a rogue cultivator. Both Jiang FengMian and his wife, Yu ZiYuan, were quite familiar with their parents. Despite this, Jiang FengMian never reminisced about his old friend in front of the twins and, moreover, Yu ZiYuan never spoke properly to Wei WuXian at all. It was lucky for him if she didn't give the twins a few whips and send them to kneel in the ancestral hall so that theyd keep their distance from Jiang Cheng and Jiang Yanli. Other people told him most of the things he knew about his parents. He really didn't know much more than what everyone else knew.

Lan WangJi also halted, turning around to look at him, "Have you heard of the name 'Xiao XingChen'?"

Wei WuXian searched through his memories, "No."

Lan WangJi, "'No' is correct. He was well-known when he left the mountain twelve years ago. Now, nobody mentions him."

Twelve years ago just happened to be one year after the siege at YiLing's LuanZang Hill, which meant that he only just missed it. Wei WuXian asked, "What's the mountain? Who taught him?"

Lan WangJi, "I do not know which mountain it was. His was taught by a cultivator. Xiao XingChen was a pupil of BaoShan SanRen."
Wei WuXian finally understood why Lan WangJi said that this person shared a past with his mother, "So, that mean's Xiao XingChen is our shishu."

ZangSe SanRen was also a pupil of BaoShan SanRen.

BaoShan SanRen was a cultivator who lived secluded from the rest of the world, rumored to be of the same generation as Wen Mao and Lan An. Most of the heroes from that generation had already returned to dust, yet BaoShan SanRen was said to have still remained unfallen. If it really was so, then she must be hundreds of years old and have quite a high level of cultivation. Back then, with the lead of Wen Mao, the cultivation world focused on the rise of clans instead of sects, and cultivational forces connected by blood ties rose as if they were bamboo shoots after a spring rain.

Without exception, every cultivator who was slightly famous chose to found a sect. Yet, this cultivator decided to retire into solitude, living in a mountain under the cultivational name of BaoShan SanRen. Nobody knows, though, which mountain she was embracing. Speaking of it, it was only called retiring into solitude because nobody knew. If after one retired into solitude, they could still be found easily, it wouldn't be called retiring into solitude anymore.

She lived in an unknown celestial mountain and would often secretly take abandoned children up the mountain to be her pupils. However, all of the pupils had to vow that they would devote their whole lives to cultivation, never leaving the mountain or entering human society. Or else, no matter what the reason was, they were never to go back again. They'd need to depend on themselves to survive in the mortal world, cutting all ties with their teacher.
Everyone spoke highly of BaoShan SanRen for her foresight in setting this rule. This was because, during the few hundreds of years, only three of her pupils left the mountain—YanLing DaoRen, ZangSe SanRen, and Xiao XingChen. Of these three pupils, none died a peaceful death.

Wei WuXian knew about the fates of the first and second pupils ever since he was young, so no further explanations were needed. Thus, Lan WangJi told him the stories of the last pupil, his shishu.

When Xiao XingChen left the mountain, he was only seventeen. Lan WangJi had never met him in person, but he had heard about Xiao XingChen's talent from others.

At that time, the Sunshot Campaign only finished a few years ago and the siege at Yiling's Luanzang Hill had just ended. All of the prominent sects were recruiting qualified cultivators from all around to be part of them. Xiao XingChen left the mountain in hopes of saving the world. With his excellent talent and capable teacher, during his first night-hunt, he held a horsetail whisk in one hand and a long sword in the other, entering the mountain alone and claiming first place—he became famous overnight.

As the sects saw such a bright, gifted cultivator at such a young age, they all invited him to their sects. Yet, Xiao XingChen turned down all of the offers. He said that he didn't want to depend on any sects, but he wanted to build a new sect with a close friend that didn't value a bloodline.

He had a soft personality but a solid heart, gentle on the outside but determined on the inside. Whenever someone had a difficult matter at hand, the first thing they thought of was to find him for help. As a person of moral integrity, he never refused either, which was why people often spoke of him with appraisal.
That was around when the wiping out of the Yueyang Clan happened.