Loyal, Brave & True

Chapter 1

Around her neck, there was a necklace made of red and black ceremonial beads with a golden amulet resting above her chest, the letters for dragon carved upon it. Her nails were painted black and were slightly sharp while her black hair was half pulled up and the rest falling until her thighs.

On her left hand, she held a sword which was residing in a black case with engravings and patterns carved on it and then painted with golden dye. She kept her back straight and her eyes locked at the endless stairs in front of them, showing no signs of fear.

Opening his fan, Huaisang leaned towards his friend and covered his mouth behind the object. "She is Léi Zhouan of Gusu"

The two boys blinked and looked at each other before fully turning their attention to their friend. There was one major clan in Gusu and that was the Lan Clan which meant that the Lei was a minor one; it rose the question as to why they were attending sine the Wen Clan truly hated minor clans.

On top of that, they had barely heard of her clan or her. Very little information in their minds despite having to learn almost all the clans for diplomatic reasons.

"The Lei clan of Gusu?" Cheng repeated, indicating that he wanted more information.

Huaisang gave a nod. "300 years ago, the head disciple of the Lan Clan was kicked out after a situation which brought shame to the sect. It is said that he roamed the lands and gathered disciples of his own, before setting on top of the Lei mountain. The Lan clan were not happy and had many times argued about the territory and the past but never made a crucial move to destroy the newly formed sect. 100 years ago when the battle against Wen Mao took place, the Lei fought side by side with the Lan and sacrificed many for the victory. After it, the two sects stayed separate but the feud between them was forgotten. The last 20 years they have started to make a name for themselves thanks to the eldest son, Lei Zhanghu"

Wuxian folded his hands in front of his chest and stole another glance at the woman. He had read about the Lei clan even though not in such detail. Instead, he knew the sect as the 'cursed clan' because of the many females being born.

Apparently, the majority of the children born are females with many of them becoming powerful cultivators. They didn't follow the traditions of forced marriage or having women in the lower position since for 3 generations now, the main clan Leader was a woman.

They were known, though, to be powerful and having created many secretive talismans which gave them an advantage during night hunts. That didn't solve the question as to why she was standing alone there.

"Where is that son now?" Cheng asked him, an eyebrow lifted.

"I do not know. Lady Lei refused to tell me or why she came alone. All I know is that she is tougher than she looks"

Wuxian turned back to his friend. "How do you two know each other?"

"Our brothers fought side by side during many night hunts. He owns his life to Lei Zhanghu...I also have heard that that Lady Lei has been promised to someone else, but no one knows who"

"Interesting" Wuxian commented and looked around again, his small smile dropping once he realised something. Time had passed since their arrival and his friend Wangji along with his clan have yet to appear. Something was odd, he could feel it. He looked at his brother. "Jiang Chen, where are the Lan people of Gusu?" his question was carried by the wind, reaching everyone's ears and their response was to look down or the other way, confirming that something had happened. "Do you think, there is something wrong?"

"It might be good that Lan Wangji doesn't come. Don't you forget that he has the Yin Iron? Chances are Wen Chao failed to find him and he hid away"