While Tong Chen was worrying by himself, not sure how to deal with the young disciples around him, Long Shu Fen and Zhi Guan finally left for the border region after all. At first, both of them were silent and Long Shu Fen simply navigated back toward the underground palace swiftly. After a while though, she couldn’t take it any longer.

“I know that there is most likely a traitor among the Elders of my sect.” She knew Tong Chen had wanted to spare her feelings but she couldn’t overlook what was happening right in front of her. And while she might not expose this in front of her friend, she somehow felt better saying it in front of Zhi Guan. Maybe it was because his own sect had gone through the same and he was also just a disciple of the sect, looking up to those people in the same way she always had. After all, she had never felt like much of an actual guardian.

Zhi Guan glanced at her and nodded. Even though the Black Warrior had mentioned another possibility, it seemed obvious that this was more likely.

Long Shu Fen pursed her lips again. This disciple really was too serious. In such a situation, shouldn’t you say a few comforting words? Tong Chen at least tried to lie to her so she wouldn’t feel worse … After a moment, she simply sighed though. Tong Chen was her friend, someone of the same generation she had known for centuries. With this Zhi Guan, what was she expecting? As someone from the younger generation, he might not feel comfortable actually saying anything. And even if he did say something, she wouldn’t really believe it, would she?

She continued to navigate the dreamscape in silence but after a few moments, she couldn’t help herself and spoke up again. “One of the Elders of your Teng Yong Sect also turned out to be a traitor. That must have been difficult to deal with. I guess nobody expected it. I wouldn’t for anyone in the Jian Chu Sect either.”

Zhi Guan thought back to the Elder Feng he had known and … well, to put it politely … “He wasn’t very well-liked.”

Long Shu Fen almost choked. “I’m sorry. What did you say?” She turned to look at him and raised her brows. Surely, he hadn’t just said that people disliked that Elder anyway, right?

Zhi Guan wouldn’t do her the favor of saying that though. “He wasn’t popular in the sect. Most disciples were afraid of him because he was standoffish at best and didn’t bother covering up how much he looked down on them at worst. The other Elders also kept their distance. Even though nobody would have thought he was a traitor, looking back, he wasn’t much of a part of the sect in the first place.”

Yes, Feng Bai Xiao had kept to himself, only dealing with his disciples most of the time. Even then, the youngest ones who were taken in were trained by his older disciples and only those who showed any kind of promise would be ‘promoted’ to being cared for by him. He clearly didn’t have much interest in whoever he considered a waste of space. And frankly, for Feng Bai Xiao, that seemed to be almost anyone.

Thinking back now, he had seen him participate in matters of the sect sometimes but judging by the jokes Sect Master Zhang made from the side, he had been forced to do so every single time. That clearly wasn’t a person who cared for their sect so being a traitor actually explained a lot.

Long Shu Fen continued to look at him oddly before stiffly moving her gaze away. Alright … maybe she was thinking too much. “Maybe … we also have an Elder like this.” Anyway, she didn’t really know them. If there was a universally disliked person in the sect, how was she to know?

Zhi Guan glanced at her and thought of the two Elders currently in the border region. Neither of them had given him a bad feeling. So maybe … “Senior could ask Elder Cai and Elder Meng for more information. They should be familiar with the other Elders and might be able to think of some clues.”

Long Shu Fen hesitated. “Yes, but … the battle is imminent.” Was this really the time to bring such a thing up? Especially since they didn’t have anything more concrete than ‘intuition’ to back up their words that there might be a traitor. She didn’t think that would be enough.

Zhi Guan hummed but didn’t think there was an issue. “If there is someone who is suspicious, wouldn’t it be best to take care of that first? We don’t have to mention that it is specifically the Jian Chu Sect either. We can just say that we contacted all four sects and reinforcements should arrive soon. Then, just ask all of the Elders to think deeply about whether anyone could be an issue just in case since we all know what happened with Elder Feng.”

Long Shu Fen hummed. “I guess that might work?” She was still worried about destabilizing everyone’s morale but … if they were suddenly attacked from behind by their own people while they were fighting for their lives, then that would be even worse, right?

Zhi Guan simply nodded, not saying more. In the end, this wasn’t his sect and he was pretty sure that no traitors had slipped through their Teng Yong Sect’s investigation back then. Thus, what to do or not to do was really not for him to consider. Blue Butterfly would have to do that on her own. Although then again … “The disciples don’t have to know. It could stay simply between you and the two Elders. They don’t have to tell anyone upon arrival of our reinforcements either. In a way, you would just be looking for a second opinion on what to do.” Of course, even that could have a negative influence but it still seemed like the best choice overall.