Yu Jin watched Yuchi Bing Xia’s figure disappear and his brows furrowed. Wearing the robe of an outer sect disciple and settling him in such a courtyard … Either this person didn’t worry about causing internal strife or he wanted people to believe he was a demonic practitioner. Yu Jin sighed and shook his head. Well, there was nothing he could do.

He went and sat down on the bed in the lotus position, closing his eyes and meditating. The house fell quiet and only the breeze that circled through the courtyard could be heard. Yu Jin didn’t seem to notice anything. He was completely immersed in his meditation as if there was nothing else in the world besides it. What Yun Zou Sect? What Master? Right now, there only were only he, the spiritual energy around him, and a deep silence inside of him.

An image flashed before his eyes, startling him awake.

Yu Jin’s eyes flew open and he blinked them in rapid succession. What had he seen just now? A house? Or maybe a courtyard? It hadn’t been the courtyard of this house though. He couldn’t remember having seen it anywhere else either. Just where had that image come from? He pondered but couldn’t find an answer. In fact, now that he thought back he wasn’t sure what exactly he had seen and how it had looked like. Had it only been his imagination?

He furrowed his brows but finally shook his head and pushed the thought aside. Since he couldn’t remember, there was no use in thinking about it. If it was important enough, then he would remember it once again. Maybe at that time, he would be able to keep more details in mind and figure out what this was about.

Yu Jin closed his eyes once more and started meditating again. This time, there was no image disturbing him but somehow, his mind wasn’t as calm as before either. His thoughts couldn’t help but wander. That place … Where had he seen it? What was it? Why did it suddenly flash through his mind? As much as he tried to put the thoughts to rest, they would just start to circle through his head again a few moments later.

In the end, Yu Jin got up and wandered to the courtyard of the house Yuchi Bing Xia had settled him in. Looking at the plum tree, he went over and sat down at its roots, leaning against the trunk.

Yu Jin didn’t close his eyes this time. He just looked at the door leading into the house and watched the petals that the wind blew down to the ground every now and then. Even though he didn’t feel that he should be in this place, he still couldn’t deny that it was beautiful. Being here wasn’t too bad either.

He took out the paper crane again and looked at it with a complicated expression. This kind of thing … It had been a long time since he had seen in. This Yuchi Bing Xia, he had to have a good impression of him if he casually gave him one just like that.

Yu Jin sighed again and put the paper crane away. He didn’t intend to use it. In fact, he didn’t intend to contact Yuchi Bing Xia at all. It was better not to have too much contact. Whether it was him or that Wu Min Huan, it was better to stay away. The more he kept to himself, the better.

Had Yuchi Bing Xia known what Yu Jin was thinking, he might have been devastated. Even though he had taken a liking to this youth almost at first sight, the other side obviously didn’t intend to become his disciple and didn’t even want to think about it. Instead, he actually wanted to keep his distance. Well, the Sect Master wasn’t one to be deterred that fast. Even if he found out, he might just go and try even harder. After all, how often was it that one found a good seedling that could be taken in and nurtured just like this? It certainly wasn’t easy to accomplish. No, things like that depended on fate and he felt that he and Yu Jin had a certain fate with each other. So naturally, he wouldn’t give up because of some small setbacks.

At this moment, Yuchi Bing Xia wasn’t thinking of any setbacks anyway. He had returned to his palace and started to take care of his work with newfound vigor. He had to get through these things fast so that he would be able to concentrate on the matter with the demonic practitioners.

Yu Jin’s Master already couldn’t be saved anymore and while he could take care of this youth, there were still the other missing children. They already knew of two of them and who knew if there were still others? No, they couldn’t just let this be. They had to investigate this as soon as possible.

Although … Should he himself really get involved? As the Sect Master, was this really what he should do? Maybe it would be better to give this task to somebody else. The talents of the sect hadn’t done any larger mission in the last few years anyway.

Maybe this wasn’t too bad. He could make use of it and sent them out to hone their skills. Actually, if he was at it already, he could even use this opportunity to encourage them to take up more missions in the future. Maybe it wouldn’t be too bad to send some outer sect disciples with them either. Even if they wouldn’t be much help against the demonic practitioners, they could at least search for some herbs or something along the way. That shouldn’t be asking too much.

Ah, yes, this was definitely the way to go. The Yun Zou Sect might just be able to regain the financial resources that had been depleted with this year’s recruitment phase!