Honestly, I don't have a plan...

"Do you have a plan?"

"Not exactly."

He had the slightest idea what to do to stop her and his situation got even more complicated as Hua Qiangu decided to have that fight somewhere else.

"Where did they go?" Tom asked worriedly. "She deserved to be kept in chains. How could someone treasure their life so little? Is she that miserable that she would rather perish than keep going? Coward." He uttered full of disappointment and he kicked a bush to relieve his anger on something. "If I found her…" He stopped midway and he noticed Zhu Ran's smirk. "You look like an idiot. Be useful and help me find her."

"You're neither my leader nor my shifu."Zhu Ran vociferated. "Stupid kid."

"Shifu?"

"It's.."

"Forget it. We don't have time for it. We have to find her. Where is she?"

"You were supposed to have a plan."

"And you were supposed to know her." They scolded each other while the few demons left from their army watched them. "Go and find her." Tom commanded, forgetting he had no power over the demons. The demons looked at each other, confused.

"Haven't you heard? Go and find her." Zhu Ran barked. "Faster."

"What are we supposed to do if we find her?" One of the young ones enquired. "We aren't allowed to interfere. She said.." Tom decided to put an end to an unnecessary cascade of words.

"You inform us. Now be gone." The demons didn't wait for him to say it a second time. As long as Zhu Ran and Tom would do the difficult job, they had no reason to be against their plan. The lady had been very kind to them and none of them wanted her to be killed.

"Couldn't they be more stupid than that?" Tom hissed as he was alone with Zhu Ran.

"What do you intend to do when we find her?" He'd hoped Tom had something in mind, but it was enough to see his face to realize how wrong he'd been. "Tell me you have a plan."

"I'll think about something."

"Wonderful. You'll think about something." Zhu Ran sneered. "When do you intend to think about something? We don't have time for you to think about something." He reminded him.

"Why don't you think about something?" Tom retorted.

Bai Zihua took a glimpse of the dead bodies that lay on the field and tried desperately to prevent Hua Qiangu from hurting anyone else. But her heart was as cold as ice.

"Bai Zihua, even if I die, I want you and the whole world to die with me! I want you to watch those people of the world you love die by my hand." Her verdict was cruel and he knew he had to stop her, but all he could do was to call her name, hoping that it would remind her of the girl she once used to be.

"Little Bone!" He pleaded with her. She finally faced him. "If you want to kill, then kill me! Don't give up on your last chance! Turn back."

Hua Qiangu felt her heart break into thousands of pieces, each of them a bleeding mess she didn't know how long she could hide. But she laughed despite the burning pain her heart had to endure.

"I have no teacher. I have no friends. I have no lover. I have no children." She didn't know if she hoped he would kill her there and then to make her stop her or to wish for a miracle and him proving her wrong. Yet she continued, the pain getting stronger and stronger as she remembered how happy she used to be and how much life had taken from her. "Originally, I thought I had the whole world. Only later did I realize that it was all fake. The ones who loved me died for me. The one I loved wants me to die. The one I trusted betrayed me. The one I depended on threw me away. I don't want anything, nor do I ask for anything. I just want to live simply. But…but Heaven forced me. You forced me. Do you think I can still return at this point?"

Tom watched them from beyond. Zhu Ran followed him soon. None knew how to stop the fight.

"What am I doing?" Tom questioned himself. "I should be in my dorm now, commanding the boys to be quiet. I should be organizing meetings and studying magic. Instead, I'm putting my life in danger to save a demon who wants to die. And I don't even know how to stop her. What am I supposed to say? I'm just a stranger. No matter what I say it won't change the way she feels. I could try to knock him down and take the sword, but….she won't be happy and who knows what she might do. No, she won't harm a fly. Gush, how did I end up in this situation?"

"What am I doing? For years I've only cared for those deity devices. I've lived only to kill Mo Yan." Zhu Ran thought. "What can this boy do? Could he make her change her mind? What am I going to do next? If she decides to go on, I'll most certainly continue to serve her. If she dies, I'll be killed by the sects. I won't get a second chance to kill Mo Yan."

"Say something," Tom said out of the blue as he realized Bai Zihua was stupis enough to believe she was capable of hurting someone. They'd arrived just before she made her former shifu believe she wanted the entire world to perish with her. However, neither Tom nor Zhu Ran took her words for granted.

"Does he really believe she is going to kill everyone as she's threatened him?" It was useless to ask as he already knew the answer.

"The cold Bai Zihua won't take any risks. Deep down he is probably aware she is the same kind-hearted girl. I'm curious to see how much he is willing to sacrifice for the world he loves so much."

"He's going to kill her." Tom cried. "I have to stop him."

"How are you going to do that?"

"You're asking that for hours. Why don't you try to find something?"

"Because you were the one who said that would save her."

"Idiot." Tom took his wand from his pocket and holding it tight in his hand he watched the red goddess. He listened to her confession, wondering how someone so strong as her would need any of those things. But he didn't have time for questions as he noticed Bai Zihua pulling the sword from thin air. He had the slightest idea if that sword could kill the demon's leader, but Tom wasn't willing to take risks.

"Acio sword." He commanded, hoping his magic would be strong enough to take the sword from his hands.

Bai Zihua looked shocked at his empty hands, the sword lying now at the feet of that European boy.

"What have you done?" Hu Qiangu's voice thundered.

"Saving your life. Isn't it obvious? Zhu Ran asked me to save you because…" he looked at Zhu Ran who watched him with a worried expression on his face. "Because….he loves you." Tom continued. Zhu Ran's expression was precious.

"In fact, it's Tom who loves you. He came with this plan of saving you." Zhu Ran explained.

"Wrap it up! I don't need you to love me." Hu Qiangu cried.

"You said you don't have a lover…" Tom muttered.

"Give me the sword."

"Bai Zihua. Honorable Superior," came the voices of the Chang Liu sect. They'd noticed Bai Zihua alone in the sky and hurried to him.

"Where…" Bai Zihua muttered as the dead bodies disappeared from the field and he realized his people were safe and sound. Since the sword had flown from his hands he'd stood there staring without a purpose. He was lost and confused. He'd got the courage to kill her, but he didn't know if he could gather that courage back again. So, he watched the dead bodies thinking how wrong events had unfolded. Then, those bodies evaporated as if there were just an illusion.

"Actually..you've never trusted me." Hu Qiangu said as she returned to him. Her eyes were full of tears. "You only trusted your own eyes."

"You purposely made a trick to let me personally kill you."

"I've said that you will regret it. But, as my plan failed, I regret it more than you. You would have killed me. I wish they hadn't stopped you. Then, everything would have ended for me and you could have finally gone back to the world you love so much without me bothering you. I wanted it to end. I wanted to be you who wielded the sword. But…Heaven was on your side. Zhu Ran, Tom, let's go." She decided to put an end to her conversation with Bai Zihua and leave the place. "Yes, I want to die." She added as her eyes stopped on the confused face of Mo Yan. "But it won't be at your hand. Bai Zihua had the chance to destroy this power, but he was stopped before he could. I would have never expected that one day he would want me dead. Do not look for troubles, Mo Yan! I don't desire any harm to your people, but you should stop harassing mine. Farewell, Bai Zihua."

"What are you intending to do?" Bai Zihua asked, worried.

"That's not your problem. But since you've asked… I'm going to forget you or die trying to forget you." She walked a few steps closer to him and extended her hand. She uttered in an imposing goddess voice "Bai Zihua, I curse you as a god. In this life and world, in any life that is to follow, you won't grow old or die. You'll never be destroyed. Bai Zihua," she continued, looking into his scared face " in this life, I've never regretted anything before, but…if I could start over again, I will not fall in love with you again."

"Why doesn't she curse me?I don't mind if I never get old or die." Tom spoke in a low tone, but loud enough for Zhu Ran to hear him.

"You should keep your mouth shut before she decides to turn you into a stone. At least you won't die or get old." Zhu Ran laughed.