Wei Ying took a deep breath and addressed everyone in the Mingshi.

"I've been thinking about how to do this in the fastest possible way, and maybe I have a plan for us, if you all agree."

There were murmurs of encouragement. Lan Zhan squeezed his hand, silently supporting him. They had talked about it the night before, going over every possible scenario in the hope that a better solution would present itself, but in the end, they had agreed that this was best.

"We shouldn't do this blindly. Yao Wang seems to be able to tell whenever someone enters the Nether world. So I was thinking, rather than going in separately, what about teams? We have six keys, and more than enough people to go in twos or threes. That way, we can try and ensure each other's protection. Lan Zhan and I are going together."

"We will also enter together." Daden Yaonu and Daden De Long both replied, holding hands.

"I prefer to go in alone." Hui Gai warned.

"As you wish. Otherwise I was going to suggest Yezi..." Wei Ying said.

Hui Gai made a disgusted face at the girl who wouldn't stop laughing at him.

"Perhaps not. But then, while I know you’re perfectly capable of looking after yourself, I don't want Yezi to go in alone."

"Two of my sisters can accompany her." Hongse spoke up.

"No way!" Yezi frowned at the spiralling conversation. She stared hard at the women dressed in red robes, who were scowling at her reaction.

"You should count yourself lucky to join us, even that we're willing to tolerate you!" Xinghong told her, folding her arms across her chest.

"Lucky?! Lucky??" Yezi exclaimed. "I could say the same for you!"

"We've never been caught." Chihong replied to that.

"Okay, okay, that's enough!" Wei Ying eyed Hongse, willing her to keep the peace.

"Alright, my sisters. Let's show everyone who the adults are." Hongse replied.

Wei Ying sorely wanted to roll his eyes, but he restrained himself.

"How would I be able to face Zhitiao if something happened to you?" He said, instead. "Two are better than one, especially on unknown paths. But I'm going to give you a choice, and I hope you will pick the right one."

Yezi nodded, cautiously.

"Either you learn how to cooperate with the ladies willing to go with you, or you don't come at all. That's final." He added, when she looked like she was going to argue more.

"So our teams are you and your husband, the sea dragons, Yezi and two of my sisters, the demon, the two gold and silver dragons, and myself with my sister. Correct?" Hongse noted.

"Yes that's correct." Wei Ying replied. "I have one more question for Hui Gai."

"What is it, Pengyou?" Hui Gai turned to face him.

"Now that the shards are close together, can you make out what the golden characters say? Are you able to read them at all?"

They came as close as they dared without actually touching them.

"Yes, but I have no clue what it could mean." Hui Gai replied, honestly.

"Tell us? If anything sounds familiar, please say."

"Alright." Hui Gai pointed to their first shard, the long shaped one that Bai Hua had acquired for them. "That one reads 'Umag'."

"Isn't that where Oge said she came from? Where she had spotted Tiaopi De Long?" Wei Ying asked excitedly, looking at Lan Zhan.

"Mn."

"Do you want to take that one?" Wei Ying offered Daden Yaonu and Daden De Long. "Bai Hua told us it was essential to our quest, but she didn't say it was exclusively for us, and you must be anxious to find your brother."

"We are happy to help however we can, and since our objectives are the same, I would prefer to go along with whatever the esteemed Healer of the Heavens had decided. What do you think?" Daden Yaonu asked her husband, who nodded his agreement.

"Alright then, we'll take that one. Next?" Wei Ying asked Hui Gai.

"The second one reads 'Balken'."

"That's the one Nie Huaisang gave to us. Do you think he'll be there? Or would Yao Wang keep him somewhere else?"

"We cannot say until we go there." Lan Zhan decided. "Useless to speculate."

"Okay, let's move on."

"Third one reads 'Janka'."

This was a shorter shard, slightly rounder than the others.

"Fourth one reads 'Gratak'. Fifth one, 'Labod', and the last shard says 'Zlatar'." Hui Gai stepped back.

"Well, I think Lan Zhan is right, apart from the first one, we really have no idea on where we'll end up, especially none of us have been over there. So the best thing to do, is grab the one in front of you and hope for the best." Wei Ying said.

"Um...we have not addressed how any of us are to return." Yezi said, looking to him for guidance.

"That's the thing. Hui Gai can teleport out of there with no trouble, so that's one way, and one we should have no trouble with, if it should come to that. Other than that, I really have no idea." Wei Ying admitted.

"Let's tackle one problem at a time." Hui Gai suggested, looking at him. "We should try and find a point to meet at, and a certain time too, if for nothing else than to check in with progress. I have no trouble speaking to my friend, in our minds. However, we have never actually tested the limits of our connection."

"If Turjak is the capital city, then Umag should be the destination to aim for. These are butterfly talismans so we can communicate once we're there, say if any of us run into trouble and can't meet up on time." Wei Ying handed out six each to all those present. "I'm sorry, I ran out of time, otherwise there would be more of these."

But the way everyone looked at him with awe, made him feel better. Wei Ying smiled at all of them.

"Ready?"

They nodded.

"Then, let's go."

Together, each group held onto their partners and grasped the shard closest to them.

All at once, the twelve bodies vanished.