Yuchi Bing Xia only took a moment longer to regret his late realization. Anyway, there were more important things to discuss right now and he might still be able to salvage the situation with Yu Jin later on. After all, his disciple was around every day. He could just go over and try again.

With that option in mind, Yuchi Bing Xia straightened up and cleared his throat, giving Zhangsun Xun Yi an embarrassed smile. "I’m sorry. I just … thought of my disciple and a wrong decision I made and had a lapse in attention."

The Grandmaster raised his brows but didn’t dwell on it. He motioned over to his study and then led the way. "I’m surprised you came. You weren’t even gone for an hour."

"Yes, I had an … interesting discussion with Yu Jin that I would like to discuss with you."

The two of them reached the study and sat down at the table. Zhangsun Xun Yi motioned for the Sect master to explain and listened intently to what he said.

"I see. Your disciple isn’t wrong. There is indeed a high chance for either of that to be true. On the other hand, danger is always an opportunity to grow. I think if we keep these thoughts of his at the back of our minds, we can plan so that an accident occurring is unlikely."

Yuchi Bing Xia nodded. "That would be good. Although I do understand where Yu Jin is coming from, I still feel like this should be dealt with. On the one hand, there is his own history with these people. If that isn’t taken care of, he might very well develop internal demons. On the other hand, these demonic practitioners are also a danger to our Yun Zou Sect. They are too close by. And we don’t know what they are up to. It would be best to find out more."

"Indeed. So my suggestion would be to send a few of our best disciples on a mission not to eradicate the demonic practitioners but to scout the underground hideout. If they find that there are too many dangers there, they should return immediately. For that purpose, we should also supply them with some more materials. Protective talismans, paper cranes to ask for help or send vital information, maybe some reinforced robes. Whatever we have."

Yuchi Bing Xia tightened his lips but still nodded. It hurt to think of the resources that would cost but he didn’t want to lose any of their disciples. "Then who do you think we should send?"

"Well, your own disciples should naturally go."

Yuchi Bing Xia sighed. "I agree. Yu Jin needs to go. Unfortunately, he and Min Huan don’t seem to get along too well. I also don’t know what it is. At first, everything seemed well but the longer Yu Jin has been here, the less they interacted. I haven’t seen them exchange even a single word in the past two years. It’s as if they aren’t even acknowledging each other’s existence." He raked a hand through his hair. This matter was actually even more vexing than just Yu Jin’s reticence. Having a silent disciple was alright but having a disciple that would talk to neither his Master nor his senior martial brother … That was more than a little concerning.

Zhangsun Xun Yi looked at the Sect Master but kept quiet. To be honest, he could imagine what was going on. These youths … they were likely jealous of each other.

Yu Jin had come here after being somebody else’s disciple. Regardless of how well Yuchi Bing Xia treated him, he might always feel estranged and might not be able to have the same relationship with him that he had with his former Master. The fact that there were other disciples above him that he had to share this new Master with while he had likely been the only disciple of his previous Master made this even worse.

On the other hand, Qu Min Huan had long been Yuchi Bing Xia’s head disciple. The Sect Master had even been considering if he should pass on some tasks to him on a regular basis to slowly make him be able to carry the burden a Sect Master would need to bear. But then, from one day to the other, there was a junior martial brother that got the same or maybe even more of his Master’s affection. Naturally, that was hard to bear.

They were unhappy with each other but they were also both talents and old enough not to fight directly so they showed their unhappiness in this way. They didn’t acknowledge each other as if they could also ignore the part of their Master’s goodwill that wasn’t given to them.

Even though the Grandmaster could see this, he wouldn’t say it out loud. These two weren’t his disciples and it wasn’t to the point yet where their problems with each other would implicate others. As long as that didn’t happen, he would let Yuchi Bing Xia figure it out by himself. He was their Master, after all.

"Well, if Wu Min Huan isn’t an option, then how about the head disciples of the other Elders? That should be beneficial for the mission as well, For example, Ma Zhi Wu is a good fighter and he could even take one of the spiritual beasts along to give them some more options in a fight or maybe even make use of the beast when scouting the hideout. And Nian Hong Fang knows about herbs and pills so if they took him, they would have a better chance of identifying these kinds of things and can decide which to take and which to leave. The others also have their own strengths and weaknesses. If they go together, they would be able to make use of all that and should be able to manage."

Yuchi Bing Xia nodded. "That is true. I don’t think we should send everybody though. If something happens, we would lose an entire generation of our best disciples. That is too much of a risk."

"Then how about sending half of them and letting some of the better outer sect disciples tag along? That way, there’ll still be more people to keep an eye on things and the outer sect disciples will likely be happy to be given a chance. We could also let them have some benefits like taking whatever resources they find. If they’re lucky, they might have some fortuitous encounters. Who knows? By the end of this mission, some of them might advance a level and be eligible to enter the inner sect."