Wen Tang Changpu arrives three days later with Wen Qing. They are announced and brought to the Great Hall where they are greeted as the new Wen-Zhongzhu and her heir.
The formalities are endless and Lan Qiren wishes he could have avoided the delay but as a visiting Sect Leader, Wen Tang Changpu must be given the due respect. The GusuLan elders attempt to ask her in a roundabout way the reason for her visit, but she blithely tells them that she was passing by and decided to drop in.
As soon as an acceptable amount of time has gone by, Lan Qiren clears his throat loudly.
"While you're here, how about we go and visit the waterfalls that you mentioned wanting to see the last time we met in Nightless City? It will be dark soon, and I wouldn't want you to miss your chance."
"What a great idea!" Wen Tang Changpu says, playing along while Wen Qing rolls her eyes at both of them.
They walk along the old stone slate paths, admiring the last of the pink and white blossoms fluttering about their feet, and Wen Tang Changpu breathes in deeply, a bittersweet melancholy on her face.
At Lan Qiren's questioning look, she smiles. "I never thought I'd miss this place quite so much as I just realised. Maybe it's the mists, the low sitting clouds by our feet and out there," she carelessly waves a hand to encompass the entire scenery emerging from the tight, freezing winter like a maiden shucking off her coat.
Lan Qiren fills her in on some of the things that have been happening recently, though he's careful about not mentioning anything about the Yin Iron.
"As you know, Cangse Sanren and Wei Changze are staying with us for a while. This is where they're staying." He pushes open the door of the guest house where four children and two adults are anxiously waiting for them.
Wei Ying jumps up from the floor and rushes over to hug Wen Qing while everyone looks on in surprise.
Greetings and introductions are exchanged and then Lan Qiren throws out the silencing talismans to secure the premises. Wen Tang Changpu raises a brow in question but refrains from saying anything yet.
"A-Pu, I think the time has come that we must let you in on a serious secret, one that I was unaware of when we last met," Lan Qiren glances at Wei Changze and Cangse Sanren for permission. They nod, so he continues. "We are about to reveal some highly sensitive information and you know it goes without saying that it remains in our best interests to maintain the secrecy."
"Of course, A-Ren. Anything you choose to tell me will be in the strictest confidence. Is this about the Yin Iron?" She correctly guesses.
"Smart," Cangse Sanren mutters with a smile directed her way.
So Lan Qiren begins the tale of how the children, A-Zhan and A-Ying, time travelled to their past and began changing things. It is a lengthy story, and he leaves nothing out, detailing the Sunshot Campaign and the aftermath, the impact of all that happened to get to where they are now.
This is the first time Xue Yang also gets to have his theories proved correct from what he's pieced together, and he's excited about meeting his Wen Qing-Laoshi once again.
Wen Tang Changpu is obviously shocked, and processing the information is difficult for her. But things come to a head when she finds out about Wen Qing also having come back from the future. She cries when she is told what actually happened to the Dafan Wens, not only in the temple of the Dancing Maiden when her children were left as orphans, but as Wen Ruohan's greed for world dominance grew, how her own family suffered more than anyone else, especially at the end of the Sunshot Campaign, after which not a single one survived.
