Lan Xichen's temperament changed in just an hour of meditating and it was even visible on his face, his appearance was more cleaner than that of an eleven year old child and it was more like he was a young man as his height grew inches taller than he was. Lan Qiren was the first to wake up and he saw those changes but not only on Lan Xichen but on Lan Zhan aswell. Lan Xichen woke up second and he was amazed at how he felt, he felt the changes as they happened and even with his eyes closed he felt the movement of his limbs stretching as his legs shifted his pose and his robe's sleeve pull up a little exposing his wrists. He looked at Lan Qiren who was now tilting his head as if he didn't recognise the person infront of him as his nephew, Lan Xichen gave his uncle a polite smile and slowly and lightly nodded as if waking him up from his daze. They shifted their look on Lan Zhan who was still the same but the red glow on his chest had now expanded to his entire chest, he shot his eyes open inhaling deeply like he was starved oxygen and with his quivering lips he said.
" We need to go, we need to go now!" And he stood up to rush outside when Lan Xichen stopped him. " Wanji! Calm down, go freshen up first then we will go. Go ahead uncle and I will wait for you outside okay?.." Lan Zhan looked at his robes and felt for his hair and headband which was slightly tilted to the side , he looked at his uncle who was now standing by the door with his arms folded to his chest and bowed a little " I'm sorry uncle, Xiongzhang..." Then bowed to his brother aswell in apology and went to the wash room to prepare himself for the journey. While he went inside Lan Qiren and Lan Xichen went outside and found six desciples already waiting with a horse carriage and four horses for their journey. They greeted the desciples and went in the enclosed carriage, it had to be closed for their protection and also because no one outside Gusu Lan clan had ever seen Lan Zhan before...it would cause stares for being such a handsome child which would make Lan Zhan uncomfortable.
Lan Zhan never cared for compliments and he didn't like being on the spotlight, the members of the clan used to talk about them so much saying they were the most handsome claiming they had never seen anyone like them anywhere and Lan Xichen saw how it made Lan Zhan more uneasy and he asked them if they could stop calling them like that, it's not like he personally liked it but he didn't know how to stop them from doing it. Lan Qiren was the first to speak in the carriage and he asked " Xichen...did something happen to you in the meditation room? " Lan Xichen smiled looking at this uncle and said " yes uncle, something happened and I feel different but a good different, I was also told and shown how to help and not only Wanji but also his soulmate as well. " " You mean...you know who Wanji's soulmate is..." " Yes and no, uncle... it's difficult to explain" " how so?" " I know who it is but I also don't know who it is or where they are" " Xichen what do you mean by that?" Lan Qiren was confused but there was no other way of explaining to him without exposing the secret he was told to keep by the Gods. " Like I said uncle, it is difficult to explain, and please don't ask more because I'm not supposed to tell anyone".
Lan Xichen had an apologetic smile on his face while Lan Qiren didn't seem impressed since he didn't like to be denied or listen to explanations unless it's something he wanted to know. Now being denied by his own eleven years old nephew was something he would never tolerate, but even though he wanted so bad to know it didn't mean he should know. He knew ways of the Gods more than anyone and it's not like he was angry at Lan Xichen and Lan Zhan for not telling him anything, he was more or less dissapointed for not being told by the Gods and only choose Lan Xichen to tell their messages to. He was worried because he was still a child and those secrets would be too big and difficult for a child to keep. He stroked his short beard and looked like he was thinking for a while until Lan Zhan came out of the house all clean, well dressed with his hair neatly pony tail tied and headband nicely tied in his forehead. His movement oozed elegance and bravery as he placed his right hand to his back taking long strides to the carriage.
He got in and he immediately sensed the off'ish atmosphere between his uncle and brother inside, he glanced at his brother who just smiled lovingly at him and gave a nod and then said " Uncle, Wanji is finished...we can go" He saw that his uncle was overthinking about something then he continued " uncle...you know what the Gods tells us we must not disclose it to another...if the Gods do not tell you then it means you are not supposed to know. Please do not overthink and make brother feel uncomfortable for refusing you, he is doing what is asked of him" Lan Qiren and Lan Xichen were dazed, their mouth agape and eyes bulging out as they looked at each other. Each of them had a similar question, 'how did he know we were talking about this' . Something seemed to have changed in Wanji too but they couldn't quite understand what it was.
Lan Xichen saw that Lan Zhan was tense and somehow sitting uncomfortably, he touched his hand and Lan Zhan winced, this made Lan Xichen worried as he looked at Lan Zhan and said " Wanji...what's wrong? Are you hurt? " Lan Zhan looked at Lan Xichen and seemed to be talking to him with his eyes when Lan Xichen said " No! Wanji...tell me what's wrong or I'm not going to let this slide!" Lan Zhan kept quiet facing the carriage floor when Lan Xichen pulled his robe sleeve and what he saw made both him and Lan Qiren gasp in horror. They couldn't believe what they were seeing and Lan Xichen pulled the robe sleeve further upwards and Lan Qiren shifted from his seat and long gasps filled the carriage that even the desciples outside heard them. Lan Zhan looked at the front and tapped the carriage side and said " We can go now" and the carriage started moving as the occupants exchanged looks back and forth without saying anything.
END OF BOOK1