While the two of them went to settle down, Zhi Guan quietly left the underground palace with Blue Butterfly … and the bodies of the fallen disciples. There wasn’t anything he could do at first. After all, while he could perceive the dreamscape and thus enter and exit at will, he didn’t actually have a related ability so there was no way to influence it. Short of picking up a body and carrying it around, he could only leave everything else to Blue Butterfly.

Thankfully, there actually wasn’t much carrying around necessary. Long Shu Fen simply shifted the whole dreamscape to where she wanted them to exit, finally arriving at the gates of the Teng Yong Sect.

Seeing nobody guarding it, Long Shu Fen tilted her head and then turned to Zhi Guan. “This is your sect, isn’t it?” She was pretty sure it was. After all, she had only recently come here to pick up people. It sure hadn’t looked like this when she did though!

Zhi Guan furrowed his brows when he saw the empty gate but he didn’t think about the why too much. Instead, he spread out his spiritual sense to check the situation inside the sect grounds. Then … “Nobody seems to be inside either. Well, not anywhere close to the gate at least.” The little bit of feedback that he could feel came from much further inside. Thinking about it more closely … “There might only be the Black Warrior left. At the very least, what I sense seems to come from the forbidden part of the sect.”

Long Shu Fen finally paid closer attention to the specifics. It had been much too long since she went outside for anything that wouldn’t simply be considered an outing. Even the last few trips to the border region hadn’t been much more than that. As a result, the vigilance most cultivators carried was nowhere to be seen from her. Even just checking out the place before going inside was something she might legitimately forget to do. This time, it was all thanks to Zhi Guan’s reminder.

She pursed her lips and then motioned toward the place in question. “I do know where Tong Chen is. Let’s go straight over.”

Zhi Guan naturally had nothing against this and inclined his head at once. His gaze brushed over the empty gate again though, trying to find any signs of what might have happened.

Long Shu Fen moved the dreamscape over and then directly stepped outside when she saw Tong Chen.

Zhi Guan faintly raised his brows but after glancing around, he saw several disciples of their Teng Yong Sect so he followed her as well, inclining his head toward the Black Warrior.

“Shu Fen?” When it came to people suddenly appearing in front of him, there weren’t too many it could be. He hadn’t expected to see her again anytime soon though.

Long Shu Fen hummed. “What happened here? How come your sect is all … empty?” Well, apart from the little ones sitting around him with distraught expressions but that hardly qualified as anyone being there. While they could be considered a big group in and of themselves, compared to the number of disciples one of the four great righteous sects would have, it was really nothing.

Tong Chen quickly brought them up to date but didn’t forget to ask about them either. “Why did you come? Did something happen in the border region?” Even though he could see the future, he would not see everything, and even what he saw couldn’t always be interpreted. This time, their visit had really surprised him.

Long Shu Fen sighed but then didn’t speak after seeing the young disciples around. If times were as usual, leaving the bodies of the fallen disciples here with Tong Chen wouldn’t be an issue but … this? Well, it would be cruel to do.

She looked this way and that, wondering what to say. She needed some explanation at least, didn’t she?

Zhi Guan waited for her to speak up but when she didn’t, he stepped in. “We came to look for reinforcements but it seems it was unnecessary. We should go and see if the other sects can still send somebody to support us in the final battle.” As for delivering the bodies … well, it seemed they’d have to put them somewhere else for now.

Tong Chen kept quiet for a moment. Even though he didn’t know for sure what they had come here for, he was sure that this wasn’t it. Otherwise, why would Long Shu Fen have hesitated to say anything at first? This was obviously just an excuse. “Should I … see you off?” The most likely explanation for their reluctance to speak was the younger disciples. Tong Chen could tell as much.

Even though he offered, the other two immediately rejected the offer. There were no reinforcements to be had here and he couldn’t really help with the bodies of the disciples. Considering that he was currently in charge of the other young disciples gathered around, it was better not to involve him any further.

Tong Chen didn’t push the issue. “Very well. I hope the other sects will also be able to help. Our Teng Yong Sect’s people should soon arrive in the border region but I don’t know if they will manage to find the place where everyone else is.”

Zhi Guan looked at the disciples around and realized that his second junior martial brother wasn’t among them. If that was the case … “My second junior martial brother should be able to lead them there.” Anyway, while he had never gone there himself, with his inventions, it should never be an issue to find the rest of their sect. Of course, some luck might also be necessary. After all, while Yan Hong Min’s inventions were good, their practical use was sometimes held back by his lacking understanding of what was and wasn’t needed. But then, at least that flower map worked well so maybe there was nothing to worry about.