The disciples went to investigate the right side of the building but they couldn’t find any bigger clues there either. There were some weapons, some more rooms for people to rest in, as well as a kitchen. For all intents and purposes, this place looked less like a hideout of demonic practitioners and more like some building that had been left behind from an earlier era where there might’ve been a human settlement here.

Xi Ju Hai couldn’t help but bring this matter up. "Senior martial brother Zhi, what if we’re mistaken? What if this place wasn’t built by the demonic practitioners at all?"

Zhi Guan furrowed his brows. To be honest, this was something he had been worried about as well after they hadn’t found anything that could be linked to them.

The other disciples were also unsure but Song Mu couldn’t help but point out why they had come here in the first place. "I think no matter where this place originally came from, we shouldn’t doubt that it has to do with the demonic practitioners now. Otherwise, why would they have a transportation array that leads to this place?"

Shen Lei rubbed his chin and gave a faint nod. "That’s true. They definitely have some kind of plan with this. Maybe they aren’t using it right now but it could be meant as a stronghold for the future. It might be far enough out of the way that it is something that we wouldn’t be able to easily find. Then, it would be a good place for them to regroup and recuperate their strength in case we dealt them a heavy blow. Maybe that is all that there is to this."

Xi Ju Hai couldn’t help but still be doubtful though. "What you say makes sense but this place is still too small. We haven’t seen the other floors yet but I really doubt that it will make that much of a difference."

Mei Chao Bing looked from one person to the other. He had something to say but after everything, he still couldn’t help but hesitate in this kind of situation.

Shen Lei noticed his gaze and raised his brows. "Any ideas, junior martial brother Mei?"

Since he was already pointed out, Mei Chao Bing didn’t need to hold back anymore. "I think it is difficult to say what exactly the meaning of this place is. Senior martial sister Xi is right in that this place doesn’t quite fit what we believed it to be at first. On the other hand, it is also clear that there is at least some kind of connection to the demonic practitioners.

"Right now, we can’t be sure of anything. Even though it might be unlikely that the other floors will yield more information, I think it still can’t hurt to take a look. In the worst case, we wasted some time but at the very least, we could be sure that we didn’t miss any clues.

"Also, there is still that one door at the end of the room opposite the entrance. Maybe rather than that being the exit, it really leads even deeper into this building. I think we should at the very least check out that place even if we ignore the other floors. That way, we can be sure of that at least."

Shen Lei nodded, feeling that this suggestion was quite good. "Should we send somebody back with the information we’ve got so far?"

With every step they took, the chance of running into trouble was getting bigger even if it did not look like that. So sending information back from time to time was vital. But it also meant that it would be more difficult for them since they would lack one more person. And reuniting with that person later on when they didn’t know how long it would take to bring back the information and then get here was also difficult.

Since it was Shen Lei who had brought it up, Mei Chao Bing didn’t feel as much pressure. "How about using a jade slip to record the information we currently have? Then we could send one person back while the rest waits in the hall. The person wouldn’t need to say anything as everything is recorded so they can return immediately. It should only take a minute.

"The next time, we could return to the hall together as well and then send another jade slip back, exchanging it for the first one. I think that missing one person is not a good decision in this case. After all, we don’t know what is still to come. It might be better to be more careful."

Shen Lei glanced at Zhi Guan, faintly raising his brows while waiting for his decision.

Zhi Guan gave a hum and then looked at Shen Lei. He definitely wasn’t the type of person to carry something extraneous like a jade slip. To him, just having his sword and whatever else was needed to take care of it was the extent of the things he carried.

Shen Lei sighed and took one out, even going so far as to record the information himself. He only handed the slip back to Zhi Guan to verify once it was finished.

Zhi Guan looked it over and then nodded, pondering for a moment who to give that information to bring it back.

The disciple leading the ones from the Zhen Yan Sect finally reached out. "Give that to my people. They can also make a copy for themselves and have it sent back to our sect."

Zhi Guan nodded, handed it to her, and then watched her hand it over while she instructed the other disciple. Considering that they had sent the information back before there weren’t that many disciples left from the Zhen Yan Sect with them.

Looking at the overall situation, they definitely had to make sure that nothing happened to them. In this case, maybe it would have been better not to take this person along. But in any case, they had already decided on their course of action now. And he wouldn’t take back what had seemed like the best decision just because it involved disciples of another sect. In this fight, they didn’t have that kind of luxury.