The Elders might not have an explanation right now but they both felt that they were getting closer and closer. Just a few more answers and they might be able to put this puzzle together. Then, they would have one worry less. If they knew the other side’s plan, they could make a counter plan accordingly. On the other hand, as long as they were just blindly guessing, there was nothing of worth they could do.
Elder Xing continued to stare at the map while Elder Baili looked out of the window behind the desk, staring up at the sky. Don’t mention the places in the border region, there were more clues that they had. "I was never close to Elder Feng. Nobody was. That’s a bit of a pity now. I’m afraid that this whole thing might have his handwriting."
Elder Xing turned around to look at him and nodded. "That is what Mei Chao Bing believes as well, isn’t it? He probably has the best grasp on his Master’s mind among everyone from the Teng Yong Sect. We should probably trust in his intuition with this quite a lot."
Baili Chao gave a hum but he still couldn’t help but be worried. "He surely is the one who knows the most but at the same time, he is also blind to other things. He feels betrayed. Not just by Elder Feng but probably also by the rest of the Teng Yong Sect. It’s a volatile situation. And I’m afraid that depending on what happens, it could tip him in one direction or the other."
Elder Xing lowered the brush and returned to the table. "You don’t think he would betray the Teng Yong Sect, do you?" To be honest, from what he had seen so far, he didn’t have any doubts about Mei Chao Bing’s loyalty. Sure, he probably had suffered a bit in the last few years but he also seemed quite happy. At the very least, he always did when around Yun Bei Fen and he didn’t think that Elder Baili’s disciple would leave the sect.
Baili Chao continued to keep quiet for a moment, thinking back to what the Sect Master had told him. "Betraying the sect … no. But just like with how he knows Elder Feng, Elder Feng also knows him. He knows of Mei Chao Bing’s potential and talent and he was the one who taught him so he is also quite clear on his skills and the way he goes about solving problems.
"It has only been a couple of years since then. Even though Mei Chao Bing got stronger, it isn’t to the point where he can completely subvert whatever Elder Feng knows about him. So while we can make use of Mei Chao Bing’s knowledge, the other side has probably even more of a chance to make use of what Elder Feng knows. Both in regard to Mei Chao Bing and in regard to the sect. They might be actively using that to make us think in the wrong direction."
The two Elders simultaneously turned to the wall, looking at the few places that were marked.
"At least one of them should be a feint."
Elder Baili nodded. "That is what I’m thinking. The spiritual energy-gathering array makes sense. Whether it is for transporting their people or powering some kind of other spell, it is useful.
"The cavern with the transportation arrays is as well even though it would be a bit stupid to make it this easily accessible for the other side. Why put an array right out there in the open? Why not just connect the places that are inside their own territory?
"For example, that underground palace that our disciples found? That’s a great place to connect to the cavern with an array. Their headquarters? That’s another one. Maybe even that abandoned city if it was established beforehand but they forgot to erase the array. But right in the open? That doesn’t make much sense. That looks as if they wanted us to find it."
Elder Xing sighed. "That begs the question of why they would want to do that. What exactly do they want us to find? Or maybe they let us find this to make us wonder about precisely that while there is something much more obvious that we overlook because we are preoccupied with this kind of obvious question."
"That could be. In any case, that is what I’m mostly worrying about."
They both fell silent and then Elder Baili shook his head. "Well, no matter what, we can’t solve it right now. Let’s send the information. There’s no use in waiting any longer."
Elder Xing motioned at the letters and gave a faint smile. "You should be closer to young Shen. You give them to him."
Elder Baili huffed and grabbed the letters before standing up. "Sure I will. In any case, I guess I’ll have to see if those two already sat down and started writing their reports. I wouldn’t be surprised if they didn’t get around to it yet."
In any case, Mei Chao Bing had gone to see his little disciple. Yun Bei Fen would probably be all over him so it was likely that he wouldn’t have gotten too far in. And whether he had started in the first place … that was also difficult to say.
He left the room and then decided to go and find Shen Lei first. That guy might have said that he would take a look at the camp first but he didn’t think that he would really spend much time on that. In any case, at his level, it also wasn’t a problem to just use his spiritual sense to get an idea of this place. So taking a look around might as well be a matter of seconds.
The question was just where had he gone? He didn’t have any room in the camp right now. But considering where Shen Lei usually lived … he was probably somewhere in his own courtyard. Thus, Elder Baili checked the place, soon finding not only Shen Lei but the other two as well.
