Elder Baili took a deep breath before he slowly exhaled, rubbing his eyes. This matter, he had thought that he would never mention it. No, he had thought that it was something that he would one day take with him to his grave. Now though, he believed that no matter what, it was still better to say it. Yes, maybe he would create even more of a mess but then, there was no way of knowing that.

"Before we left for the border region, Sect Master Zhang called me to him. He told me that about twenty years ago the black warrior had a vision of the possible demise of our Teng Yong Sect."

Both Mei Chao Bing and Elder Xing’s expressions changed. They had never heard of that and the demise of their own sect was something that they would naturally take seriously.

"Chao, you wouldn’t want to say that you believe that future is about to come true, would you? Do you really think that they will win? No, there has to be something that we can do!" Elder Xing got up, covering his mouth, and wanting to pace up and down.

Baili Chao just waved at him to sit down again though. "No, that’s not it. You see, it was a possibility, not a certainty. In fact, it wouldn’t be wrong to say that the chances of either happening were about half and half. From what the Sect Master told me, the only thing they knew was that there would be a traitor in our midst and that would be what set this possible future off."

Mei Chao Bing furrowed his brows. "That should refer to my Master."

Elder Baili inclined his head. "Precisely. It is just that the vision occurred around the time that your Master brought you back to the sect. So originally, they were worried that it might be about you instead."

Mei Chao Bing’s expression changed. He had never heard of that story and even in the last few years when he had been in contact with Sect Master Zhang more often, he hadn’t told him anything like that. Was that because he had already realized that they had gotten it wrong? Or was it because he still feared that they might have gotten it right and he would follow his Master sooner or later, bringing even greater trouble?

Baili Chao sighed when he saw his expression. "I can imagine that you aren’t happy knowing this. Of course, this is tough to bear. You were regarded with doubt without any reason even before anything had happened."

Mei Chao Bing hesitated for a moment but finally shook his head. "Well, it’s not like I’m not used to that. I … haven’t necessarily been treated well after what happened with my Master. But it wasn’t my fault. I thought it was for the longest time but I’m starting to realize that it wasn’t. In any case, I was his disciple, he was my Master, what could I have done to stop him?"

Baili Chao nodded. "Indeed, so don’t think too much about it. The reason I’m telling you this is not to make you feel bad. In fact, if not for what we currently suspect he wants to do to reach his goal, I probably would have never mentioned this. But now, this has me thinking: Maybe there is a bit more to this.

"A while ago, you said that you suspected that you or your senior martial brothers were necessary for your Master to fulfill his plan. Now, I’m not sure what kind of requirements there are for letting somebody attain the abilities of the guardians. Maybe it is something that everyone can do or maybe there are only specific people who are able to do so. Also, we still don’t know what the end goal of all of this is unless it’s just to defeat the righteous side once and for all and take over.

"In any case, I was thinking that it could be that he managed to attain the ability to see into the future as well. Maybe he already had it back then. Maybe that was how he chose his disciples. And when he brought you back, he finally had the person that he needed to set his plan in motion. Maybe that was what triggered the black warrior’s vision at that time."

Mei Chao Bing nodded slowly, feeling that this made sense. "Well, it could be. Although, in that case, if I am really vital to the plan, we wouldn’t need to worry anymore now that we know what he is trying to do, would we?"

Elder Baili could only smile wryly. "If we knew what the end goal was, then surely that would be the case. But the problem is that we can’t be sure about that. Right now, we don’t even have a guess. Because I really don’t think that it is as simple as wanting to defeat us.

"No, there has to be something more. Feng Bai Xiao was always an ambitious man, even back when he was at the Teng Yong Sect. I don’t believe for a single moment that he would do all of this just to defeat the righteous side.

"Why would he? He could’ve stayed on our side and would’ve had a lot of resources. In fact, with a bit of scheming, he might’ve been able to take over the sect one day. In any case, we can live forever. What rush is there to do something? And even if he joins the other side, there still would’ve been other options.

"So no, there has to be more. And unless we can figure out what that is, you might accidentally do whatever it is that you need to do for him to succeed. After all, we don’t know how big this issue is or what your part in it is."

Mei Chao Bing hung his head, not sure what to do. He had always known that if the other side won, it would be the end of the righteous side, but with Elder Baili speaking about the demise of the Teng Yong Sect, everything seemed suddenly so much more real. He didn’t know how to deal with that. It really made his heart feel heavy.