After Mei Chao Bing left, Elder Baili immediately went to Elder Xing to talk things over.

Listening to everything that had gone down, Elder Xing furrowed his brows. "To be honest, I think exactly like you: It would be best to send all three of them back to the Teng Yong Sect but we likely won’t be able to do that. Yang Wu Huang is a given. Di Huan Bo can also be argued at least since he was actively encouraging Yang Wu Huang’s decisions.

"Ao Jing just stayed silent like the rest of the disciples did though. If we told the Sect Master that we want to send him back, we’d also have to send everybody from that group but Yuan Lei and Kui Min back. I don’t think that is what you want. So, I’d say let’s just send Yang Wu Huang and Di Huan Bo. They truly made trouble this time. Nobody can say that we were being biased in this decision."

Baili Chao nodded at that. "True. Let’s do it that way then. We should probably also include a detailed report for the Sect Master, detailing the things that have happened before. Mei Chao Bing and Shen Lei will definitely only write down what has happened this time. But everything else also points in the direction that Yang Wu Huang just isn’t trustworthy enough."

Elder Xing nodded and immediately picked up a scroll of paper and a brush, handing another set to Baili Chao. "Let’s write it down then. Also, we can use this opportunity to send back the information that we gathered."

Elder Baili slightly furrowed his brows. "I’m just wondering about how to do it. Last time, I sent Zhi Guan. This time, he isn’t here."

"Isn’t Shen Lei though? His level isn’t any lower than your oldest disciple’s. Also, he is quite trustworthy. If you said you wanted to send Mei Chao Bing, I might have some reservations about whether the others would be able to trust what he sends but with Shen Lei, I don’t see a problem. He can send the information, then we can wait for what the Sect Master says, and then we can send these two off. The question would be if they need to be escorted. With the behavior Yang Wu Huang has shown so far, I’m not sure if he would really go back to the sect or will find some kind of reason to pretend that he couldn’t."

Baili Chao who had already started to write the letter to the Sect Master nodded absentmindedly. "That is something that could happen." He wasn’t too worried about that yet though. For now, the most important was to send back the information. Everything else could come after that. "Just include that question in your letter if you think this might need some more scrutiny. Sect Master Zhang can cudgel his brain for an answer."

Elder Xing laughed at that, feeling that the Sect Master really had it rough. Among the Elders, there were quite a few who never gave him face, Elder Baili probably being the one at the top. Then again, it wasn’t a wonder considering how the Sect Master often treated them. He would just joke around all day, never looking serious until shit truly hit the fan. He probably couldn’t expect things to be any different.

Soon enough, the two Elders finished writing their letters and folded them up.

Elder Baili didn’t get up though and just threw his letter on top of Elder Xing’s before leaning back. "Now, after Shen Lei returns, do you think we should keep up the investigation as it is? From what these two told me, it looks like this matter is bigger than we thought. Maybe it isn’t that wise to send the younger disciples anymore. It might be better if we send them back to the sect grounds as well."

Elder Xing gave a hum. "It might indeed be for the best. But we also need information. I’m not quite sure if the older disciples will be enough to find out what we need."

"Considering that one of the arrays led to the same building that the younger disciples discovered in the south, those caverns might be the most important place though. This is where everything leads. So maybe solving this mystery will also rely on that. At least that’s what I hope."

Elder Xing nodded, his gaze turning thoughtful. "If that is the case … then there should probably be an array there for each of the places that we have discovered so far. Maybe we should send groups out to check for that. If it is true, then I would agree that it might be best to send the younger disciples back and just have the older ones investigate from there. Also, the more places we discover, the more we will be able to get a glimpse at their plan."

He got up and went over to the wall on the other side of the room, taking out a map of the border region and pinning it down on the wall. "So far, there are only a handful of places that we know of." He went to mark them down, his brows slightly furrowed. "These caverns … we’re not quite sure where they are actually located. From the information we got so far, we can have a rough guess but it is hard to say in detail. Considering that Shen Lei and Mei Chao Bing said that the building they found was attached to the mountains, it could be that the caverns are in the very same mountains just further up in the north."

Baili Chao nodded. "The mountains are a good place to defend. Their stronghold should probably also be somewhere in them. When Mei Chao Bing and Shen Lei go back, we should tell them to ask Zhi Guan about it or maybe Kui Min also saw something while she was held captive."

Elder Xing nodded but still continued to stare at the map. "The time Kui Min was held captive … there might be more to that. The question is what."