Outside Red Luan Star Manor.
Azure Luan was still sobbing, her shoulders hitching as she cried without end.
"All right, Luan sis. Master has already agreed to help us, so why are you still crying?"
Fire Phoenix stood beside her, his face full of helpless affection.
Azure Luan sniffled. "Brother Feng, so much time has passed. Why can't Master still let it go?"
"Listen to yourself. When Master was helping His Majesty before, weren't you supporting it with both hands? Why have you changed your tune now?"
Fire Phoenix did not know whether to laugh or cry.
Azure Luan said anxiously, "How can those be the same? His Majesty's promise is like the laws and decrees of Heaven—justified and beyond dispute. But Master is now seeking another path. That is no different from snatching chestnuts from the fire. How dangerous is that!"
Fire Phoenix sighed softly. He glanced back at the hall doors and lowered his voice. "Don't worry. Master's feelings may run deep and true, but Heaven's laws stand stern before us and permit not the slightest transgression. Even if Master wants that Clerk Lu to act as a go-between, how can a mere mortal contend with Heaven? The matter of entering the Netherworld alone is enough to bar him at the gates."
"If he cannot descend, then he naturally cannot carry out all that follows. In that case, unless Master throws everything aside and defies Heaven, this can never succeed so long as He has even the slightest reservation!"
Hearing this, the worry in Azure Luan's eyes eased somewhat. She nodded gently. "That is true. To enter the Netherworld, one must possess an Underworld divine rank. Yet among all living beings in the mortal world, how many can spend their entire lives and obtain such a rank?"
Fire