The five of them soon reached the edge of the forest. Wu Min Huan motioned for the others to wait and then went to check out the situation ahead by himself. Right now, the demonic practitioners that his Master and he had seen weren’t there. At the very least, they hadn’t gathered on the market square this time. He extended his senses to find out in which of the houses they were. Surprisingly enough, he couldn’t sense anything though. The whole village was left empty.

Wu Min Huan furrowed his brows and went back, pondering what he had just found out. It didn’t seem normal for the whole village to be void of people. Even if there was something they wanted to do, at least a few people should be kept there, shouldn’t they? After all, what if somebody came and discovered something they shouldn’t? Or could it be that there was nothing in this village that couldn’t be seen? It didn’t seem likely but it was the only explanation he could imagine.

Wu Min Huan reached the group and restrained his thoughts. He was the one leading this group. He couldn’t appear too unsure or he would demoralize the others and that could lead to a disaster. "The village is empty. Now would be a good moment to investigate but there is a chance that this might be a trap."

The two disciples that had joined the latest, couldn’t help but look at each other with worry. They also knew that their level was the lowest and that they would be the ones who would be most in trouble if something happened. Qiguan Cheng Da instead just looked at Wu Min Huan attentively as if he was completely focused on the mission. Inwardly, he couldn’t help but scoff at the others though. Did they really think they could get into the inner sect with that kind of performance? This was ridiculous!

Yu Jin, on the other hand, turned in the direction of the village and extended his senses, checking whether there really wasn’t anyone there or not. He also came up without noticing anyone in the village but there was still somebody close by. Apparently, the village wasn’t only what could be seen with the naked eye. He turned and looked at Wu Min Huan.

Wu Min Huan noticed his gaze and his thoughts churned. Right, this might have something to do with each other. He and his Master had stopped in the village for a moment and talked to them. They hadn’t shown that they had found out that the women were demonic practitioners but that didn’t have to mean anything. If they later noticed that Yu Jin’s Master had been buried and that he himself had disappeared despite his spiritual veins being blocked and his body being gravely injured, they might have figured out that they had been exposed. If they really had plans, then they might have given up on the village and moved to another location so as to not give more of it away.

Wu Min Huan smiled at Yu Jin gratefully for reminding him with this look before he turned back to the others. "I don’t think the likelihood of this being a trap isn’t very high, so don’t worry too much. We should go over and take a look at the edges of the village first before we examine the inside. Maybe we’ll be able to find out some more from that."

The disciples nodded and the group continued to move forward.

The village wasn’t big and now that nobody could be seen around, it seemed even smaller. That five of them stayed at the back of the houses and examined everything from the roofs to the ground. There was nothing much to see though. A bit of spiritual grass that had grown behind the houses had been dug out, leaving only some residual spiritual energy.

Wu Min Huan didn’t pay it any mind. Harvesting spiritual herbs around their own village wasn’t unexpected. They had also seen the demonic practitioners work with the herbs before when they came by so this wasn’t a surprise. He motioned for the others to follow him and slowly continued around the houses, finally entering the village.

He turned to Yu Jin first. "Would it be alright if we split up? You can go with Qiguan Cheng Da and I’ll take the other two. That way, we can check the houses faster in case they return."

Yu Jin nodded and turned to Qiguan Cheng Da. The two of them started with the houses to their left-hand while the others started on the other side, looking for clues in every one of them.

Qiguan Cheng Da kept quiet first and concentrated on the task at hand. When they had entered the second house, he couldn’t help but glance at Yu Jin though. He narrowed his eyes in contemplation. This person … He had never heard of him before but Wu Min Huan seemed to be treating him well. Could it be that he was another disciple of the Sect Master? In that case, it would also be beneficial to establish a good relationship with him. "Senior martial brother Yu … Say, you and senior martial brother Wu, are you both disciples of Sect Master Yuchi?"

"Sect Master Yuchi?" Yuchi Bing Xia’s face flashed in front of his eyes and he shook his head. "No, I’m not his disciple."

Qiguan Cheng Da waited for him to say more but Yu Jin had already fallen quiet and was looking through the hut. Naturally, Qiguan Cheng Da wouldn’t give up that soon though. "Then which of the Elders is your Master? Didn’t one of your martial brothers from the same Master come to take part in this mission as well? Why aren’t you with them and instead followed senior martial brother Wu?"

Yu Jin paused and looked at the ground. "My Master wasn’t of the Yun Zou Sect."

Qiguan Cheng Da raised his brows. What did he mean? His Master wasn’t of the Yun Zou Sect? Then wouldn’t that mean that he wasn’t part of the Yun Zou Sect as well? Why was he on this mission then? Could it be there was some inside story? Well, if that was the case, then there might be some benefits to be obtained too.