He's fairly sure he's mumbled Lan Zhan, I'm fine at least seven times by now, but it's possible it was all in his head. And it is difficult to argue that point effectively when he can barely stand upright.

He lost the paper the Ninth gave him somewhere along the way. How could he have been so foolish as to drop it? What if she needs it again? They weren't done yet. If he could have just --

(If he could have just taken some of the resentful energy without fear of disrupting the ceremony -- )

The warding talisman shimmers as it lets them inside. The flicker of new energy across his skin makes him shudder, like a palmful of water dashed across his face.