Fate's voice echoed in his ears, "Donghua Dijun... Would you still say 'It does not matter'?"

He bowed respectfully and shook his head. "I see now how foolish those words were."

"And yet you have returned to make another deal with me?"

She appeared before him in her faded physical form. Stars danced through her pale skin, and her amber eyes seemed to look straight past him.

Donghua hesitated. He did not want to make another deal lightly. Part of him feared he would only worsen Jiu'er's fate, but after seeing Wenchang take her away, he knew something must be done. And this was something only Fate had the power to change.

"Yes."

"... What do you wish for. And what are you willing to pay?"

"Do I need to say it? Is there anything you do not already know?" No longer was he that young brash god who confidently asked for peace. Even he could hear the desperation in his own words. "Above all else, I wish for Jiu'er's happiness. No matter whose name is with hers. I would pay any price."

Fate gently lifted him from his bow. She looked up at the endless universes spinning around her realm, and he wondered what future she was reading to make her brows furrow in frustration.

"I owe Wenchang Dijun a great debt. To repay this, I exchanged Bai Fengjiu's marriage fate. It as a virtuous pairing then. She, innocent and playful, would remind Wenchang how life is worth living. In turn, Wenchang's passionate and loyal soul would mend her broken heart." Fate sighed, "I failed to foresee how misguided he had become. It is not often I am wrong in my predictions..."

His hand shook in anger, though whether he was more angry at Fate or himself he did not know.

"What kind of debt do you owe to continue supporting such an obvious villain?"

Her gaze seemed to cut straight through him, "The debt to Wenchang is something owed not just by me, but by you as well."

"What do you mean?" He blinked in surprise.

"I warned you then that a balance must be kept. Donghua Dijun, where do you think all of that hostility and bloodlust went? The calamities which were fated to befall this realm instead befell another. "

His blood ran cold as he remembered the war-crazed look in Wenchang's eyes.

"Wenchang Dijun suffered through a hundred thousand years of bloody conflict because you took the easy way out of war. In this war, just how many lives do you think were lost? Do you see now why I had you erase your name from my rock and exchanged your fate for his? Bai Fengjiu's name was a small price to pay in comparison to the suffering which he has endured in your stead."

Donghua fell into a stony silence, his face pale in shock. It was his fault.

Once again, Fengjiu was paying the price for his past choices.

"Why? Why did you choose her for me?" He bowed his head in regret. His voice was barely a whisper now, but she still heard his words. "I wish you'd chosen a better man."

Fate closed her eyes in reminiscence. She could clearly remember the dawn in which she had chosen Donghua Dijun's eventual fated partner.

"As soon as I felt her bright soul, I knew she was meant for you. A curious little fox with a mischievous smile and a naivety that could only be matched with your tired soul. I knew she would bring you happiness in a way no other would dare... You would have been so happy."

Donghua flinched, a regretful tear falling from his cheek.

"That was my vision, but it did not come to pass. Instead, you unexpectedly made that deal with me. When you erased your name, I knew you would someday break your own heart. I was unsurprised when you tried to trick me with your little trip to the mortal realm. Though it pained me to do so, I had to be just. I could no longer continue to favor you, Donghua."

The former god of heavens and earth lowered himself to his knees and kowtowed.

"Fate, please. I do not dare ask to rewrite my name where it once was. If there is some other price I can pay, I will pay it. Just let me save Jiu'er."

"You do not need to bow. The error is shared between us. I miscalculated the state of Wenchang's broken soul. I fear if he has his way, Bai Fengjiu as we know her will cease to exist. And there is the matter of the children he has stolen... many fates will be destroyed if he is not stopped." With a wave of her hand, a swirling portal was opened, "Go. Save them, but do not kill him. Instead, send him here. This will be my final mercy to Wenchang Dijun, whose fate we did destroy."

Donghua rose and turned to leave. Watching his back, Fate was reminded of the past. Regret made her guiltier.

She wondered aloud, "If I had taught you such trials earlier in life, would you not have been so careless?" Then she shook her head, answering her own question. She remembered all to well the tired emperor who had made a deal with her so long ago. "No. I think, no matter the circumstances, you would have given up Fengjiu to save the world."

Donghua paused as he stepped into the doorway back to his realm.

The world swirled around him. Hundreds of memories flashed through his head. Though brief, the ones with Jiu'er shone the brightest.

Smiling, he replied, "No. I am no longer as selfless as I once believed myself to be."