Background
It's always strange to think that, after an incredible story finishes, the lives of its characters go on while the readers aren't looking. The great book on the
Yílíng Patriarch had been closed, but that didn't mean that it wasn't possible to write a new one about the following years. More specifically, about the next 70 years. During that time, the always respected
Lán Xīchén had been able to have a son, named Lán Rènzǔ. He became one of the most long-lived chiefs that had ever ruled in the history of the Gūsū Lán sect. Once he became old, he chose to marry a woman named Lài Shūlián. Together, they had three offspring: the eldest child, Lán Wàngshū, the middle one, Lán Hángxiè, and the youngest, Lán Xuěyīng.
As direct relatives of the Gūsū Lán clan, it was required for the three of them to have an exceptional level of cultivation. A level that, as future headmen, Wàngshū and Hángxiè reached effortlessly. But the same didn't happen with Lán Xuěyīng. A lustrum after his birth, in winter, he suffered from life-threatening pneumonia. He never healed properly. His stamina ended up limited as a result; running a few meters left him panting, thinking too hard caused him discomfort, he was constantly dizzy, he never slept well, etc. He could only watch his siblings train outside and stay by Lài Shūlián's side. Then, one October afternoon, he went to visit her to her chambers. And there he discovered, lying on her bed, the old and lifeless body of his mother. That was his first time witnessing the death of a loved one. But it wouldn't be the last.
It wasn't until much later that Lán Rènzǔ noticed that his son was unusually weak, and thus, he called in a doctor. That was how they found out the truth: Lán Xuěyīng suffered from
chronic fatigue. There was no cure and no treatment. The news left the young boy heartbroken. He was afraid he could never become a cultivator and that, in consequence, he would dishonor his father. Because of that, he promised himself to obtain a golden core no matter how much his disease wouldn't allow him to. Sadly, Lán Rènzǔ died soon after during one of his missions. He had turned insane after being exposed to resentful energy and had cannibalized the Niè's patron. Lán Wàngshū had no choice but to become the next Gūsū Lán's leader. And Lán Xuěyīng kept a rose's thorn in his heart for all eternity, knowing he could never show his worth to his predecessor.
But life went on, and so did the days. Lán Wàngshū and Lán Hángxiè managed to met disciples from the Qīnghé Niè sect named Zhū Tiānqiū and Zhū Xizháo, and they both married each. They were happy times for the fourth of them. To celebrate their honeymoon, Lán Hángxiè and his wife traveled through the country for a while. Sometimes they sent letters to their family about the things they saw. The writings were full of poetry and flowers. But, one day, an epistle arrived announcing the death of the second Lán heir. The young man had died while protecting his spouse from a powerful monster, it said. Shortly after, Zhū Xizháo stopped writing. When they all went to look for her at that cabin where she was supposedly staying, they didn't find anyone. And so, they knew that she, too, had passed away.
Lán Xuěyīng mourned deeply for a decade. To distract himself, he became a teacher at Gūsū Lán and even traveled to some places despite his terrible physical condition. Around that time, he taught an exchange student,
Xià Huìfēn, everything she had to know about cultivation and music. The girl ended up falling for him. Before going back to her own sect, she asked for his hand in marriage; however, Lán Xuěyīng chose to ignore her proposal. That was a mistake. After arriving at her home, Xià Huìfēn learnt demonic cultivation and committed genocide around the provice. She forced Lán Xuěyīng to fight her and send her to prison. For years, Lán Xuěyīng had to fight the excruciating feelings left after hurting someone who once had been his student and his friend.
Luckily for him, a miracle was about to happen. Eight years after his brother's death, a cultivator he had never heard of appeared at the Cloud Recesses with a kid. The infant was wearing the characteristic jade earrings that had once belonged to Zhū Xizháo. He was her son,
Lán Qiūyǔ. Lán Xuěyīng wanted to yell at that stranger for not bringing the little boy back earlier, but getting back Hángxiè's only legacy was more important than allowing any anger posses him. He preferred to keep his opinions to himself. He only cared about making up for lost time with Lán Qiūyǔ, thus raising him as he had always wanted to do.
But the problems didn't end there. One fateful afternoon, Lán Wàngshū invited everyone on a seemingly simple night-hunt. But Lán Xuěyīng, due to lack of habit, made the mistake of forgetting his Clarity Bell, thus having to use Lán Wàngshū's. And it was that that allowed a nearby ghost to take control of the older man. Everything happened quickly. When Lán Wàngshū came to his senses, the first thing he saw was his wife's corpse. He had killed her with his own hands. Despite being in charge of Gūsū Lán and despite being so strong, he had let a weak phantom take over his body and use it to murder the person he loved most. How humiliating. The Niè also believed it was the greatest dishonor they had ever seen, and so they demanded Lán Wàngshū go into seclusion until the end of time. So it happened.
With no one to take over the reins of Gūsū Lán, Lán Xuěyīng felt obliged to accept the position. For three years, he did his best to fight his syndrome and not only keep his sect afloat, but raise his three nephews and take care of his now isolated brother. It was a lot of work. Way more than he could handle. In the end, seeing that his health was deteriorating worryingly, he had no choice but to pass the torch to
Lán Wénliàng, despite him being only 15 years old. Being just a child in his eyes, Lán Xuěyīng tried his best to distribute the tasks evenly. The habit of helping never went away. Even if he was now a capable adult, Lán Xuěyīng never left his side. He had too many worries. Would he think ill of his father? Would he think he was a burden? Did he like being a leader? Was he happy?
All he wanted was a quiet life.
One closes their eyes once and ten years go by.
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