Jing Yi nodded slowly even though he couldn’t completely understand it. He had never been somebody’s disciple and even though he called the others his senior martial brothers that was only because they were from the same sect. He had never had a senior martial brother of the same Master so he couldn’t comprehend the complex feelings this situation gave Wu Min Huan.

Wu Min Huan didn’t seem to notice. "I mean I’ve been Master’s head disciple for so long. Shouldn’t that account for something? How could I be replaced so easily? Actually, there was talk that my Master might make him his successor. I don’t want to sound conceited but I had always thought … I’m his head disciple. Shouldn’t I be his successor?"

Jing Yi didn’t know how to answer that either. "Well … Those are just rumors, right?"

"Right. They’re just rumors for now but I doubt they won’t become reality. Master has really taken a liking to him. Well, that’s not the problem. Not the one with Nian Hong Fang at least." He sighed again and sipped the tea. "You know Nian Hong Fang has been in love with Elder Geng’s head disciple for quite some time now. I think Ma Zhi Wu also liked him so … everything was going well. But then that accident happened in the Leyuan region and our sect lost a lot of talents."

Jing Yi froze. He hadn’t heard about what had happened at the Leyuan region after he came back. He had seen Qiu Ling again and then even met Qiguan Cheng Da who had been close to him and Yu Jin back then so he had assumed that the explosion hadn’t been as bad as he had originally thought. But it seemed that hadn’t been true.

"That … What exactly happened?"

"You haven’t heard?" Wu Min Huan’s brows raised. "Well, you were still an outer sect disciple by then so it’s not too surprising you don’t know all the details. Back then someone noticed the appearance of a secret realm in the Leyuan region so my Master sent the best talents of the sect over. They were supposed to cultivate in that secret realm and gather some supplies but then an energy disturbance occurred. More than half the disciples died and almost all the others were gravely injured. Only a few came back with just minor injuries."

Jing Yi nodded. So it had been that bad. It seemed he could really count himself lucky that senior martial brother Yu and he had been thrown into the secret realm.

"Some of the Elders were sent to investigate but it couldn’t be ascertained what exactly had caused the energy disturbance. Well, no matter what the reason is it wouldn’t change the fact that we lost a lot of talents. The sect directly dropped to the second rank after the other sects came to know of this issue."

"So something like that actually happened."

"Mn. It was lucky for our sect that there were still a few talents that were either away on missions or in closed-door cultivation. And, well, they couldn’t send everyone in the first place so some disciples just got lucky that they weren’t chosen. Unfortunately, the ones we lost were often the best disciples the Elders had."

"And this Ma Zhi Wu …"

"Ah, right. Ma Zhi Wu was lucky. He didn’t get sent there since he had intended to go on a mission soon and nobody knew when the secret realm would close again. After the sect dropped in rank my Master and the Elders decided that they needed to promote the talents they had left. My Master forced me into closed-door cultivation, for example, while other disciples were allocated new resources or sent on training missions. Ma Zhi Wu …" Wu Min Huan sighed and shook his head. "Before I had to enter closed-door cultivation my Master announced a special training mission and Ma Zhi Wu was one of the few chosen to attempt it. The problem is that not many details were announced to the rest of the sect since the Elders were afraid spies would forward the information to the other sects that would then harm the last talents we had left. So since the day Ma Zhi Wu left, Nian Hong Fang still doesn’t know where exactly he went or how he is doing. For all he knows, Ma Zhi Wu could already be dead."

Jing Yi’s gazed flickered. He might not be able to relate to Wu Min Huan’s feelings in regard to his Master and his junior martial brother Yu Jin but he could relate to Nian Hong Fang’s feeling very well. Not to know what had happened to your lover … It made you feel lost. Lost and stranded. It was a feeling that could make someone hold a grudge. Well, there was one thing he didn’t understand yet though. "Then why is he angry at you? It’s not like you sent Ma Zhi Wu away."

Wu Min Huan nodded. "That’s true but I would have been in the position to ask my Master about information on that mission. You know regardless of how much my Master loved Yu Jin he never hated me or treated me badly. I still got the same resources after junior martial brother Yu became part of the sect, Master still watched over my cultivation and he was still there when I needed something. I was just … not his favorite disciple anymore. So if I had gone and asked him where he had sent Ma Zhi Wu he would have told me. But I didn’t go. So Nian Hong Fang feels I betrayed our friendship."

Jing Yi frowned. He could understand this sentiment too. If somebody knew where Tian was but didn’t tell him, he would also feel betrayed. "Then why didn’t you ask? If you were sure your Master would tell you …"

Wu Min Huan sighed. "I was afraid. Back then junior martial brother Yu got trapped in the secret realm. It wasn’t sure when he would be able to get out of there or if he ever would for that matter. It was obvious my Master was suffering very much. So … I didn’t dare to bring it up. I was afraid it might be a burden to him."