The people in question were currently in a conundrum. Zhi Guan, Liu Bao Ru, and Mu Qing had returned to the small town in the border region where the Teng Yong Sect was stationed. As soon as they came closer, they realized that nobody was there though. The three exchanged a glance and then walked up to the houses where everyone stayed to check whether this was due to an attack or if there were other reasons.

Zhi Guan first made his way to the courtyard house where his Master had stayed. He checked the rooms and then carefully put Yun Bei Fen’s body down in the room where he had stayed before when he was sure that nothing was amiss. Then, he returned back outside, helping the others check the other houses.

They soon realized that no attack seemed to have happened. Instead, everything seemed to have been neatly put away. Liu Bao Ru had noticed traces of someone refining in one of the houses so they could roughly guess what this was about.

Zhi Guan furrowed his brows. “When they arrive, they won’t have the support they expect from inside. This isn’t good. Should we return to the underground palace?”

Mu Qing didn’t dare to make any suggestions since he didn’t know the situation of the Teng Yong Sect’s group here in the border region in detail. His Master had always had one of the others investigate since he likely didn’t trust the words he brought back. Thus, he only had a rough idea but he was naturally aware that things weren’t good. He just didn’t dare to try and make decisions.

Liu Bao Ru’s expression wasn’t good either. They hadn’t expected things to go awry at the last moment. Now, they had put everyone else in danger. “Elder Feng clearly wasn’t there any longer or we wouldn’t have made it out alive. So it’s just that bunch of disciples they’d have to deal with.

“Senior martial brother Mu took out Lu Wei who was among the strongest of them. We also managed to deal with another ten of them so there aren’t as many remaining. With both Elders there and strong disciples like senior martial brother Shen in the mix, they should be able to handle themselves. Adding the three of us won’t make too much of a difference.”

Zhi Guan hesitated but finally nodded. Indeed. How many people could the three of them take on? If there was already a fight and everyone was warned ahead of time, their previous way of jumping people and catching them unawares for a quick kill was impossible. Thus, they’d likely only be able to take on one person at a time or maybe assist in two fights. Anything more than that and their hands would be tied too. So the actual benefit of returning would be small. In fact, there was a chance they’d derail everything by being a distraction. He’d rather not risk that.

“Then wait here for them to return? But it’s not certain they will. If they deal with the people in the underground palace, the demonic faction might realize what has happened and send others. Then, depending on the numbers on either side, they might be like sitting ducks, trapped in a place they don’t know well and unable to escape.” Not to mention that he wasn’t sure the others would take the opportunity to escape. No, with the current situation, they might fight with everything they had, hoping to take down just one more demonic practitioner so everyone else had a better chance later on. It was a possibility for sure.

Liu Bao Ru had to admit that he was right. Knowing the Elders and what everyone believed of the current situation … yes, they might indeed wait there to put up a fight. “If we go though, what can we add? We should try to come up with a plan.” She turned to Mu Qing, faintly raising her brows. “You know the place best. Is there anything we could do to receive the people from the demonic faction and make a difference? If we need the help of the others, it’s alright as well. We don’t have to do everything ourselves. I just feel that we shouldn’t simply rush back. We won’t help anyone if we do.”

Mu Qing pondered. The underground palace actually didn’t have much. Apart from the arrays, the only thing that could be used a little were the winding corridors but … the demonic faction was more or less familiar with them. Even if not everyone was, some of them certainly were and that would be enough to lead everyone else. So how could one take advantage of being there first?

He hesitated for a moment and his expression turned subtle. He had also lived with the Wu Yun Sect for a while and even though a lot of the demonic practitioners wouldn’t be accepted by the righteous faction for valid reasons, there were also some who had joined simply because they wanted to cultivate and the sect was the only one they knew of. When they realized that there were two factions and that they might have joined the wrong one, it was already too late. They were considered a demonic practitioner and wouldn’t easily be accepted by righteous sects, not without constantly being scrutinized, at least.

When it came to those people, Mu Qing had always felt conflicted. He couldn’t hate them in the way he did with others from their side. On the contrary, he felt that they deserved sympathy for the life they had accidentally slipped into. Thus, any plan that hurt those people made him feel that it was wrong. But then, what other choice did they have?

He closed his eyes and sighed. Anyway, he couldn’t change that there were two factions and could only live with the consequences. “Well, how about … disabling all but one array and then … bringing down the building with just enough time for us to escape?”