Zhi Guan really was in a dilemma. He couldn’t accurately judge the risk since he didn’t know what awaited him inside. In fact, don’t even mention whether the other disciples had put on veils, what if there was a room full of guards behind this door?

He gave a huff and turned back in the other direction, deliberating whether he should try and get in through the main entrance after all. He could hear a ruckus out front as if the disciples had really gotten busy with their search. The sounds weren’t that close though and even seemed to be fading. Most likely, the disciples were following the route of the patrols to try and find more clues.

Zhi Guan sighed. He should have taken another person along. Then, they could have pretended to be a group of two and mixed in with everyone. If he cooperated with somebody like Shen Lei who he had a mutual understanding with, it would have been easy to make everyone believe that they were legit demonic practitioners out on patrol.

Well, you couldn’t have everything. And with how Shen Lei had almost died recently, even though he was now healed, it was better to let him stay behind. Not to mention that he was also worried about his two juniors. No, thinking of them, it was good that he had gone alone. Shen Lei would keep his third junior safe and Mei Chao Bing would keep their little junior safe. That was how it should be. As for himself …

Zhi Guan finally got up and walked up to the two disciples at the side entrance. He might not have any idea what was behind that door or how he would get inside but then, not everything in life could be planned. Since he had gotten this far pretty easily, he should now take a risk for the rest of the plan to work.

Getting closer, he simply nodded at the two of them, his demeanor especially calm compared to earlier. Then, he continued to walk, intending to simply walk past them and go inside. If they didn’t stop him, all would be well. If they did … well, then he’d need to improvise.

The two disciples watched him approach. Actually, they weren’t forbidden from roaming outside alone but with the time for their plan to be executed getting closer, most naturally wouldn’t do so.

The one on the left gave him a dissatisfied look. “If you still have time to run around outside, you might as well double your effort to reach a higher level before the ceremony.”

Zhi Guan actually stopped in his tracks. He turned to look at the disciple, his gaze deep. What ceremony? Was the demonic side planning something nefarious sometime soon? Unfortunately, that kind of question couldn’t be asked directly so he could only scoff. “Mind your own business.” Saying so, he simply passed by them, opened the door himself, and closed it as soon as he had passed the threshold.

He heard the disciple outside grumble and held back a sigh of relief. There had been no password and there were no guards behind the door either. In fact, he couldn’t see a single person. It seemed that everyone else would be busy with something else.

Zhi Guan didn’t stay in the same spot and started to walk forward. He pulled out the flower map again since nobody was around and hastily took a look at where Yang Wu Huang was. It seemed he was still quite a bit away but as long as he went mostly straight ahead, he would get close enough.

According to when he went to save Kui Min, this seemed to indicate that Yang Wu Huang was locked up in the dungeon as well. It figured. Where else would they put a captured disciple from the other side, after all? Surely, he wouldn’t get any good treatment.

Zhi Guan didn’t think too much about it. He put the map away and walked forward at a brisk pace to make it seem like he was going somewhere with a purpose. So far, his acting had managed to get him to where he needed to be and solve any issues he would encounter. If he continued this way, he could indeed make it. At the same time, he naturally used the opportunity to look around though.

Mei Chao Bing would soon come here to infiltrate the other side. Or if not him, then Xi Ju Hai would instead. Either way, one of their disciples would have to come here and somehow integrate into the headquarters of the demonic faction. If they had some information beforehand, that would surely be easier. Even if he couldn’t find out much, he could give them a general description at least.

Zhi Guan indeed couldn’t find much that he hadn’t already seen the last time. These headquarters were rather nondescript. There was nothing about them that screamed ‘this is the place of a demonic sect’ but also nothing that spoke against that notion. In a sense, this building almost seemed like it was only meant to be a temporary hideout.

He couldn’t help but think of the gigantic palace they had found before. The comparison sure was unflattering. It also made him remember how they had wondered before if the other side might have switched the place of their headquarters or was going to.

Zhi Guan’s eyes narrowed. That palace … that was where they had found those murals on the wall. In one of the halls, there had also been something that looked like an array but that they couldn’t place at all. If there was any kind of place to hold a ceremony at … it should be that palace?

He pursed his lips behind the veil and decided to bring this up to the others when he returned. It might be a valuable clue that Mei Chao Bing could pay attention to when he came here. For now though, he should first get Yang Wu Huang so the plan could be set in motion.