Mei Chao Bing was right that there wasn’t time for anything but Feng Bai Xiao’s plan. In any case, not just the survival of their own sect but that of the other three big righteous sects depended on that. Actually, considering that they still didn’t know what Feng Bai Xiao was trying to achieve as his final goal, there might be even more at stake here. Who knew?
Zhang Guan Yu sighed and rubbed his forehead, wondering what to do. "Well, looking at all this, there seem to be just two things we can do." He motioned at the reports and then got up. "The first one is to gather information about your senior martial brothers and your Master to find more clues as to what your part in his plan could be. The other one would be talking to the black warrior and seeing if he can shed some light on the rest of the issues. After doing both, we might be able to confirm some of the conjectures and maybe get a clearer picture regarding the rest."
Mei Chao Bing inclined his head, feeling that this sounded simple enough. He wasn’t sure if he should trust that they would be able to uncover more but as long as there was even the slightest chance that they could, he would try.
When the Sect Master waved at him, he followed him outside of the palace and stood to the side as Zhang Guan Yu waved over another disciple to have them go and call the Elders.
When the disciple left, Zhang Guan Yu sighed once again and turned back to him. "Do you want to be there when I talk to the Elders?"
Mei Chao Bing smiled faintly in response. "Would me being there discredit your words?"
Zhang Guan Yu shook his head and went back inside, this time waiting in the hallway where he usually spoke to the Elders when something large occurred.
Mei Chao Bing wasn’t quite sure what to do but he still followed him inside. "That question was at least half-serious. If you feel that it will have a negative impact on what can be found out, then I will be happy to stay somewhere else. My personal feelings don’t matter all that much."
Zhang Guan Yu smiled faintly and then waved for him to come closer. "If any of the Elders still dare to hold something back at this point in time, then I guess they weren’t to be trusted in the beginning either way.
"Also, don’t forget that Ao Jing recently returned. You don’t know but he gave a full statement of what he, Di Huan Bo, and Yang Wu Huang did in the border region to frame you. His Master and Elder Ju were both in attendance at that time and the other Elders were informed later on.
"I think this has shed a lot of light on who can be trusted in the sect and who can’t. Clearly, just because an Elder is still in the sect and hasn’t betrayed us, that doesn’t make their disciples sincere. As for the disciple of an Elders who is no longer on our side, clearly, his Master’s actions don’t speak for his integrity either.
"I believe that anyone who deserves their title of Elder of the Teng Yong Sect should have realized that by now. It’s a shame they didn’t do so sooner and that such a tragedy was necessary for that to happen first for them to catch on but it’s still better than nothing."
Saying this, Zhang Guan Yu faintly furrowed his brows and then glanced at the door, checking whether anybody was already there. When he realized that they were still alone, he leaned forward, giving Mei Chao Bing an inquisitive look. "Speaking of which, what those three did violated not just our sect’s rules but any kind of morality. We still haven’t decided on Ao Jing’s punishment though. Any suggestions?"
Mei Chao Bing raised his brows, not quite sure what to make of that. This kind of matter, if the Sect Master didn’t decide it and the Elder Ji who was in charge of the punishment hall didn’t decide it, then Ao Jing’s own Master should be the one to make the decision. Why was he asked for input?
Zhang Guan Yu could see that he was surprised. "See, you’re not just a small disciple anymore. You are at the kind of cultivation level where your yourself could take in disciples. Not just that, but you are a disciple of our sect either way and those three plotted against you. You are the direct victim of what they did. I think that listening to your side is the least we can do. So letting you suggest something that should be done about it is a courtesy we owe you."
Mei Chao Bing lowered his gaze, not quite sure what to say about this. Had they plotted against him? For sure. But he wasn’t the biggest victim of this, was he?
In the end, he shook his head. "If you want my personal opinion, I will tell you. But Sect Master Zhang shouldn’t mix matters together. The sect does owe me, but it owes for the treatment I received after my Master’s betrayal.
"It doesn’t owe me much for those three plotting against me since I was clearly not the one who was impacted the most. What they did to me, personally, was merely trying to create some rumors that would have ruined my already bad reputation further. At the same time, that rumor also would’ve affected Elder Baili’s youngest disciple badly.
"And yet, the two of us are still the ones who got off lightly. If the Sect Master wants suggestions for how this should be treated, then the ones you should ask are the disciples who were kidnapped, injured, and killed when those three originally messed with that array and caused their group to be attacked by the demonic practitioners. They are the ones who were really affected by the actions of those three so they should be the ones who get a say whenever they make it back from the border region."
