Elder Baili, his youngest and his oldest disciple, as well as Mei Chao Bing, left the room after having made sure that Luo Lin was alright. After this night, for sure, he and Shen Lei would want to spend some more time with just the two of them together. They didn’t want to bother them at such a time even though there were a lot of things they would have liked to say.

Outside, Elder Baili turned to look at his disciples and then sighed. "Well, that is over now. The two of you have been up the whole night. You should go and take a rest." He glanced at Mei Chao Bing after that and gave a faint smile. "You as well."

Mei Chao Bing inclined his head, even though he didn’t feel like sleeping. Yun Bei Fen looked as if he was about to fall over though so he put an arm around his waist and motioned to the door to their room. "Let’s go then."

Yun Bei Fen nodded and then wobbled over to the door, half leaning on Mei Chao Bing.

Zhi Guan watched the two of them leave before he turned back to his Master. "I will stay close by in case second junior martial brother needs more help. Shen Lei still isn’t doing so well himself. It would be best to have somebody else on call."

Baili Chao looked at his oldest disciple, not sure what to say. Zhi Guan was surely more tenacious than Yun Bei Fen but even he had his limits. And in the border region, pushing those limits when you didn’t absolutely have to was seldom a good idea. Still, he understood why Zhi Guan didn’t want to leave yet.

Right now, it was just much too soon. Luo Lin had only consistently done better in the last few hours and just woken up. No matter what, it seemed wrong to leave him and Shen Lei to their own devices. If something happened, it was best to be close by.

He sighed and then patted Zhi Guan’s shoulder, still motioning over to his door. "Your room isn’t that far away and you’re a light sleeper. Shen Lei has also proven tonight that he is very well able to alarm everyone. So just trust in the fact that he will realize if something is going on and do so once again. I’m sure you will be here in no time."

Zhi Guan frowned, clearly not agreeing with his Master but then, he also knew that it was best to rest while you had the time. Lest he might get his junior martial brothers into danger or not be able to get them out of it because he lacked the focus and strength when he needed them even more than now. Looking at it that way, he finally nodded. "I will come over to check on him every few hours."

Elder Baili didn’t argue against that and just nodded before watching his disciple leave. As for himself … He looked to Luo Lin’s door and then left his courtyard to go and inform Elder Xing of what had happened before he took his own advice and got some rest.

Anyway, whether it was his oldest disciple or himself, they were both at the nascent soul stage even if at different parts of the stage. As such, they didn’t need as much sleep as the younger disciples but it was better to get some rest while you could.

Meanwhile, Mei Chao Bing went to lie down with Yun Bei Fen, but he himself couldn’t find any peace. In his mind, he couldn’t help but go through what had happened tonight over and over again. And even though he didn’t want to, he couldn’t help but also think of what Xi Ju Hai had told him yesterday: There wasn’t always a later time.

Yes, Shen Lei had almost died. Now, they might have lost Luo Lin if not for Taishu Min being willing to tell them what she knew about the red priest’s blood and Tan Xin coming up with a plan to solve the resulting problem. So really, it was safe to say that no matter what you did, your life could end at any time and so could those of the people around you.

He frowned and turned to Yun Bei Fen, brushing back his hair, and kissing his forehead. Then, he got up again, motioning for Da Hei to stay around before he left the courtyard, and went to look for Song Mu.

He wasn’t sure if he really cared. In any case, no matter what the explanation was, it couldn’t change that Song Mu’s behavior had hurt him. But maybe what Xi Ju Hai had said was the truth after all. Maybe whatever Song Mu had to say about what had happened back then would indeed make a difference.

He didn’t know yet but he should better find out. Because if he one day decided that he really wanted to know but Song Mu wasn’t there to ask anymore, then he might regret not doing so before when he still had the time.

Yes, he could go to others to inquire about this matter but it wouldn’t be the same. No, if he were to find out, then he wanted to do so while he looked into Song Mu’s eyes while he heard it from the lips of his best friend himself. That was what he needed to somewhat make his peace with it.

And maybe … just maybe it would indeed change something between them if those conditions were met. He didn’t think that the friendship they had originally shared could ever be brought back but maybe their relationship could get better than it was right now. He wasn’t sure about that but he would leave any options open for now.

Anyway, there was nothing more he had to lose, right? With this, he could only win, right? Or maybe it wouldn’t change anything but in the grand scheme of things, that didn’t matter at all, did it?

So yes, he should go for it. In the future, he might be happy that he had done so. No matter what the outcome was.