Everyone was ready, and they moved all together towards the portal that would lead them to the Palace.

Hong's feelings were undescribable, a mess of conflicting emotions. She was going to help her love rival, she was about to try save the Envoy, she was going back to Dixing, the world that she had tried to escape because of its cruel laws, but that she had loved in her own way.
It had been the only place she knew growing up, the place where her parents had lived and died, where she had buried them.

She loved living in Haixing, but Dixing would always have a nostalgic place in her heart. She looked around her at her team, a bunch of weird people, she thought, she wondered what could they possibly do against the king, they weren't really made for combat, specially two of them.

"Why Wang?" She asked first, she didn't like the idea of her gentle friend in a brutal battle, but Yunlan sighed and replied slowly, "I don't know, she will stay back and keep us together like she always does I guess"

She was startled for a moment, it was the first time Yunlan ever admitted not being sure of something, but she understood. Wang was much more than the secretary someone thought she was.

"Why Guo?" she couldn't help ask next, in a low voice so that Guo couldn't hear her, she didn't want to hurt the kind soul but there was no denying that he was not what you'd expect to find there.

Yunlan's answer was quick and sure this time, "he's always been good luck to me, and we're gonna need a miracle where we're going"

She regretted asking.

As they arrived at the right place, where Hong had seen Wei disappear, Yunlan reminded them that if the king's staff worked on willpower, they needed to be swift, distract him in any way possible and hopefully take the damn thing off his hands.

They walked thru the portal and found themselves into a small dark room with no doors, they could see a long corridor in front of them and they went that way.
Yezun was the only one who had ever been inside the Palace, so they relied on him to show them the way.

~~~
Chu and Sang had been keeping a close eye on Shen Wei; they refused to believe that there was nothing they could do, killing him was out of the question, they respected him too much, so when they saw the envoy crossing over to Dixing, they followed him quickly.

They stopped him before anyone could see him and asked him what was going on.

Wei didn't expect to see them there, but a part of him was glad. They had been the closest thing to a friend he ever had.

"This is the only solution I could think of " he said.

The three men stared at each other for a long while then Wei said "go home and warn your families. You'd better take them to Haixing, in case things go wrong.."

The others frowned, they knew what that meant. A showdown between the king and the Envoy could only end with one of them dead. Things going wrong clearly meant Wei dead and them in trouble.

Sang moved closer and put a hand on Wei's arm, "I will come with you. I can pretend that I'm bringing you back to him, this way we might have the advantage of surprise".

Chu didn't say a word but walked to the other side to grab Wei's other arm.
For a moment Wei thought of sending them back, but Sang read his thoughts, "I'm not leaving. This is my world too".
Chu simply held his arm stronger.

Wei nodded and they walked together towards the big hall where they would probably find the king.

There he was, firmly holding a sceptre that was as tall as he was.
Seeing the Envoy held between the two men, he felt victorious, his cunning plan had worked, those two wouldn't dare disobey him and the Envoy hadn't fought them off as he might have had he sent someone else.

He laughed eerily at Shen Wei, "you really let them catch you! I knew you wouldn't kill them, you've always been a weak good-for-nothing"

Wei didn't reply, he didn't care what he thought of him.

"It's such a pity though, who will I play with after your death? Maybe I'll make him the next Envoy" he pointed his sceptre at Chu, "I'm looking forward to hear him scream"

Neither of them said anything, too used to him to let his words get to them, and simply kept walking. The surprise was their best weapon, if only they could get close enough...

"Stop!" Came the king's order, "leave him to me"

Chu and Sang left his arms but stayed close. Wei moved a step forward but couldn't get far, the king moved his sceptre and Wei's clothes tore apart as if cut by a sword.

Seeing his blood, both his companions rushed in front of him and Sang tried to stop the king's fury "wait, he came back willingly, he never betrayed you, he.."

"Shut up" bellowed the king, "you think you all can do what you want, coming and going as you please? I am your king, I decide what you do!"

Another gesture of his hand and they were thrown away, and Wei was hit again by his power, even stronger than before.

They rushed again in front of him, desperately wondering what could they do now.

~~~

Yunlan and his team kept moving until they started hearing noises coming from not far ahead.
Yezun shared a glance with Yunlan and they started running, all the others following quickly.

They arrived at a room so big that all their apartments could fit in there.
They saw a middle-aged man standing with a ferocious look on his face, holding a blue sceptre with blue stones mounted on it.

They also saw Shen Wei, and Yunlan's heart almost stopped.

He was on the floor bleeding, with two men standing in front of him. They didn't look like a threat to him though, it actually looked like they were shielding him.

"You dare take his side against me?" boomed the unpleasant voice of the king.

The smaller of the two men replied, "nobody betrayed you, the Envoy was following your orders and tracking down some traitors, he..." but his feeble attempt was stopped by Wei's faint voice, "go away you fools, it's useless to try and reason with someone who has lost his reason a long time ago"

The bigger man didn't even wait for the last word to reach the king's ears and he threw his weight against his two companions, successfully shoving them away so that the sceptre's energy missed their bodies and hit the wall far behind them.

Yunlan gestured to his team to take advantage of the ongoing battle to mess things up, and they all prepared themselves.

Yunlan was in front of them all, nobody had yet noticed the newly arrived group, so he hoped to put an end to it quickly.

He took his gun and aimed for the king's heart.

The three men stood up again but couldn't even move that a new wave of energy hit them. Sang yelled and Wei fell down spitting blood.

Worried as he was after seeing Wei bleeding on his knees, Yunlan's hand shook a little and he tried his best to focus his attention on that hideous man who was now smiling horribly enjoying the sight in front of him.

Yunlan was the best shot of them all, so the first move was up to him. The others stayed behind, watching as he aimed and finally pressed the trigger.