"This is …?"

"Third junior martial brother used this to find Shen Lei and the others."

"Alright?" Elder Baili wasn’t quite sure why exactly his first disciple had suddenly brought it over there. Hadn’t they said that they wanted to clear this up after the conversation about what had happened with Qu Yijun?

"What if that is something similar?" He pointed at the jade slip, his expression ugly.

The others all turned to look at it as well, and suddenly, they felt that this idea wasn’t too strange.

"Some kind of tracking rune?" Mei Chao Bing couldn’t help but frown. In fact, this didn’t seem too far-fetched. With that, his Master would know exactly where he was. If he had some kind of plan with him, that would definitely be preferable to him. After all, even if he didn’t come to them himself, maybe him helping out wasn’t actually required. Maybe just knowing where he was would be enough if they could ambush and kidnap him. It really depended on what exactly their plan was. Unfortunately, he still had no idea.

Elder Baili picked up the jade slip and closed his eyes, using his spiritual sense to investigate. Layers of colors sprang up around it, like flowers suddenly starting to bloom. But looking at them, none of them seemed to do what Zhi Guan had suggested. No, this was indeed just something that could identify one as a disciple of the Wu Yun Sect. So unless there was something about this arrangement that he didn’t understand, he was afraid that this idea was wrong.

He opened his eyes again and put down the jade slip, looking at the other three and shaking his head. "Nothing I can detect at least."

Next to him, Elder Xing furrowed his brows. So far, that had been their best idea. Although even then, they still wouldn’t know what it was for. He thought for a bit and then couldn’t help but take out the jade talismans that the Teng Yong Sect used. Staring at it, he probed it as well, but couldn’t find anything.

Elder Baili gave him a questioning look.

"It’s nothing much. I just thought that with his identity, Feng Bai Xiao probably could’ve messed with our talismans as well. He would’ve had more than enough opportunities to allow for something like that. There doesn’t seem to be anything there though."

Elder Baili nodded but then turned to the two disciples. "You take yours out." While Elder Xing’s idea wasn’t bad, what he had looked at was the talisman of somebody of Elder Feng’s own generation. Most likely, he wouldn’t have had the chance to do something to those talismans. But it might be a different thing for the disciples that had come after them. So if they were on the right path, then maybe they would find something on the ones that Mei Chao Bing and Zhi Guan carried around. Especially Mei Chao Bing.

The two disciples handed over their talismans, and the Elders investigated them. But once again, they came back with the same result: Nothing seemed to be off about them.

The four of them frowned while the two disciples put the jade slips away again, and all stared at the black box and the jade slip of the Wu Yun Sect.

Right now, they really didn’t know what to do. No matter what they found, they always seemed to run into a dead-end right after. They had something, some kind of hint, but it just didn’t make sense whether it was taken alone or combined with everything else that they already seemed to know. This whole matter was a big mystery and right now, that wasn’t a good thing for them. They really needed to figure this out or they would be doomed.

Mei Chao Bing stared at the jade slip, his brows drawing together further and further. He realized how dire the situation was. Two disciples were dead again thanks to this most recent ambush, lost forever. A third one might still come back but that wasn’t necessarily a given. On the other hand, they still hadn’t been able to figure anything out. So it was probably safe to say that something needed to happen soon or there was a chance that they would soon have to bury a lot more disciples.

"What if … What if I really went?" He looked from Elder Baili to Elder Xing and back again, his gaze turning determined. "If I took that jade slip and went to the Wu Yun Sect and just pretended that I was willing to join their side, then maybe I could find out some information."

The two Elders didn’t seem to be on board. Elder Baili immediately shook his head while Elder Xing furrowed his brows again.

"Mei Chao Bing, think of the position you have in the sect right now: If you suddenly vanish and somebody sees you on the other side, what would they think? You might not be able to explain that away later on."

Mei Chao Bing gave the Elder a wry smile, feeling that Elder Xing was really thinking in his best interest here. "I know. But the thing is that this is something that only I can do. The one my Master wants out of some strange reason is me. We can’t send somebody else. Even with me, it might be risky. He might not believe it. But there’s a chance that he actually needs me for something. So maybe this could work."

Elder Baili shook his head again, jumping in. "And what if not? Don’t forget that you just killed your senior martial brother, a person who might’ve been vital for the other side. I don’t think your Master would look kindly upon you.

"Also, you’ve held steadfast for so long. Is there really any reason you would suddenly betray us? Even if your senior martial brother had managed to sow some doubt in your heart when you met him, you killed him. I don’t think that right now, Elder Feng would actually believe that you changed sides. No, this is too dangerous."