Chapter 3

A/N: If I'm not mistaken, the image above is the Yashi room where they are reunited. You may correct me if I'm wrong. Enjoy the chapter!

(Continuation of the conversation back in Chapter 1)

Lan Xichen: "Ever since then, we made sure no information of her existence was leaked, and acted as per usual."

Some gasped in surprise, some sighed, and some tensed throughout the entire time when Xichen was telling them this story. They also could feel the warm feeling when Xichen explained how he felt when he had Lady Lan in his arms, some even smiled at the thought. The Grand Master even smiled when Xichen started talking about the expressions he made when he had Zhēn in his arms as well.

Lan Xichen: "The more Lan Zhēn grew, the more we discovered about the diamond cored people and their abilities. Such as their capability to teleport themselves from place to place as a mist, (laugh) we learned that the hard way."

*chuckles/smiles*

Lan Xichen: "She gave us quite the scare when she teleported to the steep roofs when she was 4 years old. It was... *Huff* Frightening really."

*chuckles/smiles*

Lan Xichen: "Back to the point, I truly apologize for not telling you all. At one point, I was actually going to message you all and introduce you to her." (Everyone perks up) "But the first person who knew of her existence, and the first person Zhēn has met that wasn't from the Clan... (Tense) Was Jin Guanyao."

Everyone tenses up.

Nie Huisang: "Gēgē? Are you saying that you already had the invitations sent?"

Lan Xichen: "No, he just came to visit me and I used that opportunity for him to meet her, since he was already there... But when Zhēn ran away from Wangji to come to me and saw A-Yao, she got so scared and uncomfortable. At first, I thought she was just scared because he was, indeed, the first man she's ever met that isn't from the Clan, but she kept avoiding him at all cost despite him showing no signs of threat. Lastly, after A-Yao left, she confessed that she didn't like him and begged me to never let him come back again while hiding behind Uncle. I would constantly ask her why, but she always got disturbed and avoided the subject, until a few hours later, she gave in and told me he had a dark shadow looming over him that scared her. I was confused as to why and how she saw that, seeing how A-Yao was calm and nice to her even when she kept her distance. But after what we all went through a year ago, I finally understood why. She saw he had bad intentions, and felt uneasy by the darkness of his heart." (Everyone nodded) "After A-Yao, I either way intended to invite you all, maybe she would've liked any of you instead; and who knows? Maybe she could've been good friends with Childe Jin."

Xichen said this while smiling at Jin Ling and Jiang Cheng from their closeness, Jiang Cheng smiled and nodded in approval while Jin Ling awkwardly looked away, slightly blushing for no reason(?).

Nie Huisang: "How old was Lady Lan back then?"

Lan Xichen: "She was 5 years old when she met him and, when I thought you all could meet her as well."

Clan Leader Yao: "I'm guessing there's a 'but' to your following words."

Lan Xichen: "Yes, unfortunately you're correct. I had the letters ready to be sent, but I wanted to speak to Lan Zhēn first and hear what she thinks about this. So, we decided to have a father-daughter bonding time and went to have a picnic at the mountains...

~Another story in Third person's POV~

Xichen held Zhēn in the air as she laughed, both of them having the time of their lives. After he wrapped her in his arms and showered her with kisses which made the little girl a laughing mess, a disciple came to them and bowed.

Disciple: "Zewu Jun, my apologies for interrupting your moment with the Princess."

Lan Xichen: "It's alright. Is there something wrong?"

Disciple: "A few of my companions found a strange shifty man in our territory who was disguised as one of us. They have him restrained and are waiting for your orders down the mountain."

Xichen tensed and worriedly looked at his little girl that's playing with his hair, he sighed and nodded.

Xichen: "Stay here with Zhēn and make sure nothing happens to her."

Disciple (bowed): "Yes sir."

Xichen then left to the men who were waiting for him down the mountain, only to find them running towards him mid way; one of them being the same man he left behind with Zhēn, Xichen looked at him up and down, his heart quickly dropped.

Lan Xichen (scared): "What's the meaning of this?"

The real Disciple: "Zewu Jun! There's an impostor within the Clan!"

That's when Xichen suddenly remembered a hint of black on the 'disciple's' hands being covered by the robes, his sudden theory frightening him.

Lan Zhēn: "PapaaAAAA!"

Xichen quickly turned and ran back up the mountain, the three disciples following a suite, but both the imposter and Zhēn were nowhere to be seen.

Lan Xichen (panicked): "ZHĒN!"

He called for his daughter...

"daddyyyyyy"

After hearing her distant voice, he ran towards that direction and was able to catch up to them. After reaching them, he saw a familiar figure on top of a tree branch, his theory was correct.

Lan Xichen: "Xue Yang!"

Xue Yang (grinning): "Aaww, Daddy's back already? (Looking at Zhēn)We barely had time to play (looks back at Xichen teasingly)."

Xue Yang was holding Lan Zhēn from under his left arm on top of a tree branch, and Xichen panicked at the thought of his daughter falling at that height.

Lan Xichen (serious): "What do you want Xue Yang?"

Xue Yang (smiling): "Isn't that obvious? I want her core! With it, I'll have the power to revive any weapon I want."

This made Xichen tense and panic on the inside.

Xue Yang: "Don't worry though! I may be a merciless murderer, but your daughter is far too rare to kill. So, all I want is to take part of her core, she can recover later on and be back to normal. (Smiling)What do you say? Grateful I'm letting your daughter live? You've gotta admit this isn't an everyday offer that I actually willingly give."

Lan Xichen (serious): "You're not getting a single drop of her energy."

Xue Yang: "Well then... (Grins) I'll have her all to myself then!"

Xue Yang started leaping afterwards from branch to branch while Xichen was running on ground, making sure he doesn't loose their sight.

Lan Zhēn: "Papa!"

Lan Xichen: "Zhēn!"

Zhēn huffed and started wiggling to get herself free from her kidnapper's arms, which caused Xue Yang to stop at the top of a branch and practically semi wrestle with the child. Xichen couldn't see well what was going on due to the amount of branches blocking his view, but could somewhat see his daughter's struggles and hear her calls which both worried and alarmed him greatly. At the corner of his eye he saw something sharp pointed upwards, when he turned to see what it was, it was one of his disciples pointing an arrow to them, and he could see the disciple struggling in aiming.

Lan Xichen (panicked): "WAIT!"

He grabbed his disciple's arms and moved them upwards to prevent the arrow to possibly hit Zhēn; but out of shock, the arrow was shot.

Xue Yang: "Gah!"

Lan Zhēn: "*scream*"

Xue Yang was shot, but that made him swing and accidentally toss the child away. Xichen screamed her name in pure horror and ran to catch her...

Sadly, the poor girl kept getting hit by many branches of all sizes and thickness while falling until Xichen finally caught her in his arms mid air, gently laying her on the ground and witness the horror of any parent, seeing their child in such a terrible state. Wangji soon came with many disciples, Xue Yang 'tched' at this and yanked the arrow out of his arm, throwing it away afterwards.

Xue Yang (to Xichen): "Because of your actions, consider that child as mine. I will get that core!" (Teleports away)

(Echo)"Hahahahaha"

Lan Wangji ordered everyone to scatter as to try and arrest the murderer, while all Xichen did was to stay by his wounded daughter's side and console her shaking body.

Gently placing his forehead against hers in reassurence. Which was an action him and his daughter developed in doing to express their affection and reassurance towards one another.

~Back to the conversation~

Lan Xichen: "After that moment, Zhēn stayed in bed completely immobile for a month from body trauma,a dislocated shoulder, bruises everywhere as well as cuts. Xue Yang, suspiciously never returned, but that didn't stop me from keeping our guards up, making a code soon after that only the Clan members would know. The village of Gusu only knew that Xue Yang infiltrated the Clan, but the reason why was never told; except to A-Yao in which I had to lie and told him Zhēn died shortly after the incident. At that time, I thought that the reason why Xue Yang knew of her existence was because maybe one of A-Yao's disciples could've heard A-Yao by accident, thus spreading the news of her existence allowing Xue Yang hear of her... But now that we all know the truth between A-Yao and Xue Yang, it was most likely possible that he ordered Xue Yang to bring Zhēn over and take part of her core without bringing her any harm."

Clan Leader Yao: "Hmp! Jin Guangyao was a menace, but he was still very cunning. Just like Xue Yang, he knew Miss Lan was too rare and precious to harm."

Everyone nodded in agreement.

Lan Xichen: "The letters I intended to send you all were burned after the incident, it was clearly to soon to expose her; especially at that moment where she could've most likely been traumatized from what she went through."

Jiang Cheng: "Don't worry Zewu Jun. All of us understand now, clearer than the water itself as to why you kept her away. I would've done the same with Jin Ling if I was in your situation, and I'm sure everyone else would've done the same as well."

Everyone nodded again in approval.

Lan Xichen: "Thank you all for your understanding. Due to the scare of almost loosing Zhēn, I was forced to train her in an early age right after she healed completely. At first, I thought I was being a terrible father figure for her by not letting her enjoy her childhood; but then I get the thought of being absent and not being by her side if something as terrible or worst were to happen. Who would save her then? What if Uncle and Wangji aren't there either? She never complained though, it's as if she understood what I was doing... No (turns to Zhēn), she knew what I was doing (she smiles) (he smiles back), and she either way didn't complain." (He turns to everyone) "I've trained her with every weapon I could find, I gave her multiple puzzles, taught her how to make the easiest medicines and trained her with easy hand in hand combats that could help her escape from a kidnapper."

Everyone nodded at this; Xichen continued.

Lan Xichen: "One day though, she suddenly disappeared which was a big scare for all of us; Shizui on the other hand, was the last person she spoke to and even ordered him to give me her goodbye letter. Before he came though, I already had everything planned on what her next training could've been, only for Shizui to come and hand me her letter; I stopped what I was doing and began to search for her before it was too late, everyone soon joining and looking for her. Until I reached the cave near the Cold Spring, where I entered and could only find her clothes. As a father, my mind started playing games with me in multiple ways, but was stopped by a gentle cold breeze; I looked up and saw mist taking the form of Zhēn smiling at me. Placing her forehead against mine made me remember that it was time to let her go, this was her destiny, and I was only trying to postpone it. After that, I reunited everyone and told them that everything was going to be alright; and as days turned to weeks, weeks turning to months, I came to realize she would reveal herself every once a month for 3-5 minutes, if she didn't come on the same day she would normally reveal herself, she would come at the next one, and it's been this way for 8 years."

Everyone listened carefully at his words in awe.

Lan Xichen: "To be frank, I panicked when she didn't do it this month, but later on heard from Wangji after he took Young Master Wei to her as to meet, he told me she whispered him that she will come back home very soon."

Lan Xichen smiled and laughed a bit, shaking his head.

Lan Xichen (smiling): "In all honesty, you all have no clue as to how happy I was when he told me this. Me and Uncle would sometimes smile for no reason because of it at the most random times; I still remember how he scared the students when he smiled during the exams."

Everyone chuckled/laughed at this, including Lan Qiren himself, Wangji only smiled.

Lan Xichen: "It was was quite unfortunate that Young Master Wei left 2 days before her arrival. He needed to go along with a few disciples to receive a few scrolls for me at a village a bit away, but I'm sure he'll be back soon." (Everyone nodded) "*sigh* I was so happy when I got to meet my daughter again after 8 years being apart. We stayed the entire time together, talking about the many things she learned during her training and just, everything."

Xichen smiled at this, remembering those precious moments, his smile warming everyone's hearts.

Lan Zhēn: "Well! (Gets everyone's attention) Before my father starts talking again over how much he loves me and may I say, I love him back  if not even more."

Everyone chuckled, including Lan Xichen. Lan Zhēn then stood from her seat and walked to where his father was standing. Wen Ning stood up as well and moved, but stayed in the shadows.

Lan Zhēn (noticing everyone's confusion): "In case you're wondering, my father placed Wen Ning in charge of my safety, so he's keeping an eye on me during most of the time." (Everyone 'oh' in response) "Now, (looks at Clan Leader Yao) back to the land that was generously given to me by Clan Leader Yao."

Clan Leader Yao nodded, and took everyone's attention.

Lan Zhēn: "Once I become the Clan Leader, my first order will be creating a special training ground for the highest leveled disciples in which, depending on their clans, they will be trained according to their elements. And example could be..." (Turns to Jiang Cheng) "Clan Leader Jiang, may I take your Clan as an example?" (He nodded) "Let's take the Jiang Clan, since it's one of the great 5 Clans, that means they represent an element. The element being Water, their movements are swift, calm and serene, which explains as to why they wear their famous silver bells, to calm their minds when fighting; allowing their movements to be as swift as the water itself. They aim for, in a way to say it... Waves, no angry movements; otherwise, like the waters, they'll create strong currents that could affect the person, making them fail when using their weapons."

Everyone 'oh's at this, even Jiang Cheng didn't know this and was surprised.

Lan Zhēn: "Their weapons though, they weren't always swords. Their traditional weapons were actually spears, the kind of spear represents the level of expertise on the person, to whether the spear had sharp double ends or no sharpness at all, as in, just a wooden or silver staff. They also carry a small dagger which is mainly used in case of emergencies such as if their weapon were to be taken away, or if they were taken hostage."

Lan Xichen smiled at his daughter, admiring her knowledge while everyone else were just in awe. Childe Ouyang then raised his hand.

Ouyang Zizhen: "What about those Clans that aren't from the 5 great Clans?"

Lan Zhēn: "That depends on which Clan they are closest to. From my understanding, the Baling Ouyang Sect is closer to Yunmeng Jiang Sect (A/N: This is MY theory.), which means that your Clan's element is also water."

Childe Zizhen nodded in understanding. Everyone was pleased with the idea of a training camp for their future generation and started looking up to the Princess, but there was one thing one of the Clan Leaders couldn't help but doubt on something.

Clan Leader Yao: "Clan Leader Lan, do you approve of the idea of your daughter becoming the next Clan Leader? After all, being a Clan Leader is not an easy job."

Everyone went silent, some even tensed by the man's somewhat unnecessary question, the question triggering Zhēn greatly, but Xichen thought quicker and spoke.

Lan Xichen: "Clan Leader Yao, there's no need to worry. My daughter is strong, independent, wise, and completely capable of having such responsibility; as a matter of fact, she knows more about any kind of subject than I ever could. She's actually much stronger than all of us combined. You see, even if we had hundreds of fighters on our side, greatest fighters specifically, the chances of victory for us could be at least a 30 to 40 percent chance. Her fighting against us, alone."

Everyone gasped at this in shock. Huisang stood up and spoke.

Nie Huisang: "Let me remind you all that a diamond core consist of 3 or more golden cores combined into one. If it weren't for their natural pacific nature... Miss Lan might've rebelled against Gēgē and taken over our Clans individually in less than a day, if not, even less."

Some gasped, some tensed, and some nodded in understanding.

Nie Huisang: "Let's all be grateful over the fact that the people with diamond cores never goes for revenge or in search of more power. It's literally in their nature to be calm, patient and fair, only look for peace and justice. Although, just like us, they experience rage and thirst for the blood of the enemy; then again, unlike us, they never go towards the path of evil or darkness. An example of how they deal with their enemies could be letting them live and be punished for many years, the amount depends on what type of crime they did, rather than killing them instantly like we mainly do. The reason is because they see instant kill as freedom for the guilty, that's why they would rather punish them first and then decide whether they can give the enemy another chance and free them, or they kill them after suffering the consencuences of their actions."

Everyone nodded and listened to his words carefully, Clan Leader Yao understood his mistake and apologised to Lan Zhēn after listening. Lan Xichen on the other hand, was impressed by Huisang's knowledge about the people with diamond cores, since the scrolls that contained this kind of information were very old and barely readable.

Lan Xichen: "Huisang. Do you also have documents about the people with diamond cores?"

Nie Huisang: "Ah! A-ahh. Well, (scratches head with fan) I don't remember, maybe I read a bit when I was young and thought it was a story of some kind. I really don't remember."

After that being said, Xichen nodded and Huisang sat back down.

Jin Ling: "Zewu Jun?... Did those men ever come back?"

Jiang Cheng: "Jin Ling is right. If the news of you coming back to the Clan reached all of us that time; wouldn't it have reached them too?"

Xichen and Zhēn looked down. Lan Qiren cleared his throat capturing everyone's attention.

Lan Qiren: "You're right. Which is why we always have guards everywhere, both visible and hidden, both in Gusu and within the Clan; and it's been like this since Xichen decided to keep Lan Zhēn. Another reason as to why we reunited you all here is to speak a little more about the enemy, in case you were to encounter them in the near future or incase you've already encountered them."

Everyone nodded in understanding.

Lan Xichen: "Unfortunately, there's not much to speak about them except a few small facts. The first thing is that the gang has powerful and agile people working with them. One of which caught my attention the most, being those large sized men; they could most likely be 7 feet or more on height and they are muscular."

Jiang Cheng: "Anything else that might help us identify them?"

Lan Xichen: "Their robes are black and bone-white colored, maybe even the color grey and specks of red. By specks, I mean red threads on their clothes, red belts and red ribbons. They also cover their features, the eyes being the only thing exposed; unlike the Captain of the gang in which I've previously spoke about, he didn't cover his face. The Captain, as I said before, had a vertical scar across an eye which he covers with a black eye patch. Lastly, if I remembered correctly, the handles of their swords have a snake symbol on them; the swords of those big men had snakes as well, but unlike the other's, the snake is wrapped around the handle of their swords, as if the snakes were the handles. For now, that's all the information there is about them."

Everyone nodded, making sure they will remember these details. After that, they only spoke to the Princess to know her better as well as telling her about each of their Clans with their cultures and such, this stayed like this after dinner was over.

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Wen Ning: "Ng..."

"The Untamed" series as well as their characters belong to their rightful owner, I only own the made up characters and the plot.

Thank you for reading!❤