- Chapter Start –

After Wen Zongyu was killed, Zhao Yuanzhou told Zhuo Yichen to rush back to Bai Jiu's side using the Bi Fang feather, and that they would meet up at the Demon Hunting Bureau. Zhao Yuanzhou himself didn't leave immediately though. He knew he should go make sure that the others were alright, butsomethingkept him from pulling out the Shanhai portal.

It was probably nothing more than desperation at this point, but he preferred to call it instinct. After all, Zhuo Yichen had survived his one word spell to break Wen Zongyu's barrier.

Who could blame Zhao Yuanzhou for wanting another miracle?

Paying no mind to the drying tears on his face, he fell to his knees and started searching the ground around him. The snow here was melted from the phoenix fire, leaving behind a layer of black ash.

All that remained of Wen Zongyu… and Li Lun.

Zhao Yuanzhou bit down on his liphard, shaking with a myriad of emotions that nearly broke his heart. He took a fortifying breath and moved further back where the snow was black grey slush, this time from pagoda ashes alone. Again, Zhao Yuanzhou found himself choking back fresh sobs.

Thatidiot!

Li Lun had destroyed his last chance of survival by cutting short his cultivation to come to their aid. He had given up his demonic energy and Zhao Yuanzhou's Truth Eye. He had even tempted Wen Zongyu into shooting his phoenix flames at him despite suffering the torment of the Ever-burning fire for the past eight years.

"I showed you one final act of mercy and you threw it back in my face," Zhao Yuanzhou muttered. "Idiot!"

Hot tears blurred his vision and his chest heaved, a sob escaping his lips. He wasn't unaware that without Li Lun's help, defeating Wen Zongyu would have been near impossible. It was just that the price was too high. Blinded by tears, his robes getting wet from the snow, Zhao Yuanzhou continued to sweep his hands from side to side in an increasingly feverish search.

Li Lun's true form was a pagoda tree, but he was also the strongest and most determined demon Zhao Yuanzhou knew, one who hated to lose at anything. He might have been burned to death, but it was by phoenix fire and the one thing a phoenix was known for… was rebirth.

Of course, Zhao Yuanzhou knew it was just wishful thinking on his part. It didn't mean that anyone burned by phoenix fire could return. Li Lun's current body didn't even have the Ever-burning fire anymore. Still, Zhao Yuanzhou continued to search.

"Look at me, still trying to delude myself into thinking there's the tiniest chance you might still be-"

His breath caught in his throat when his fingertips brushed against something solid, something more than just a chunk of ice or a piece of bark. With a watery chuckle that almost a sob, he picked up a stick no longer than his pinky. It had the same black and gold pattern as Li Lun's robes and it felt warm. He wrapped his fingers around it and closed his eyes, sensing the tiny pulse of a most familiar energy inside.

"You are coming with me," he said, voice cracking. "This time, I am going to make sure you cultivate properly for a full one hundred years. And don't you ever pull this sort of stunt again.Please,Li Lun.My heart can't take it."

Ignoring the fact that he wouldn't be around to put his words into action, he pulled out the Shanhai portal and activated it, picturing the Demon Hunting Bureau's main hall.

When the shimmering gold energy faded away, he saw the Pei siblings restraining a struggling and snarling Fan Ying by the arms while a tearful Wen Xiao looked on.

"What happened?" Zhao Yuanzhou asked at once. "Wen Xiao, are you alright?"

"I'm fine, but a-die-"

"Fan-daren attacked her," Pei Sijing said without preamble.

"What?"

"A-die didn't mean to!" Wen Xiao cried at once.

"Zhen Mei is dead," Pei Siheng explained. "Xiao Jiu asked us to come back here in case Wen-jiejie needed help,"

"Good thing we did because Fan-daren was about to kill himself," Pei Sijing added grimly. "We were just in time to stop him from removing his demon core."

"Zhao Yuanzhou!" Fan Ying stared at Zhao Yuanzhou, his irises flickering between dark brown and bright blue. "You must kill me now before I attack someone else! I already hurt A-Xiao."

"A-die, please. I'm sure we can cure you," Wen Xiao said.

"You can't. It's too late for me. My demon core has already affected my body, but the people of Tiandu can still be saved. Quickly now!"

They were running out of time. Zhao Yuanzhou looked at Wen Xiao's tearful, imploring gaze and made a decision. Holding his index finger up to his lips, he cast a one word spell.

"Freeze."

Fan Ying went rigid at once.

"This will stop his demon core from merging any further with his body," Zhao Yuanzhou said. "I will unfreeze him once we have a solution."

"Thank you." Wen Xiao gave him a tremulous smile.

"A-Heng and I will take him to his room," Pei Sijing offered. "By the way, where's Zhuo-daren? How did you two defeat Wen Zongyu when he has phoenix power?"

Zhao Yuanzhou forced a smile which didn't reach his eyes.

"We killed him the first – no, second time with the help of a friend, but he came back. When we killed him the third time and he didn't come back, Xiao Zhuo and I suspected that Xiao Jiu must have done something to prevent that. Xiao Zhuo has teleported to his side using a Bi Fang feather. I told him we would wait for them here."

"Who was that friend who helped you two?" Wen Xiao asked curiously.

Zhao Yuanzhou smiled again and this time, it reached his eyes.

"A very dear friend," he said and patted the front of his robes.

- Chapter End –

A/N: Thank you for reading! I was sooo tempted to just toss pinky stick!LL into oven!sundial so that I could get a freshly baked LL in a few minutes, but my beta said that was too easy *pouts*