Long Shu Fen still wasn’t sure if this was the right thing to do but she finally nodded. Anyway, the worry was there and if there was a traitor, it was better if there were some people to keep an eye on things. And, well, neither she nor Zhi Guan were suitable for that. After all, the traitor was likely to recognize her as a threat and if they knew that Zhi Guan had accompanied her, they might have some thoughts about him as well and would try to kill the two of them first.

While that move would give the traitor’s identity away, it might also put a stop to this line of thought. After all, if the person succeeded but nobody was looking for them, then who could say if anyone else would even notice during a chaotic battle? It might be too late by then so she’d rather not take the risk of only keeping this to herself. No, somebody else had to know so the two of them wouldn’t carry this responsibility of their own.

After having made up her mind, Long Shu Fen brought Zhi Guan back to the border region for real. She didn’t directly enter the underground palace though and instead stopped a little outside, taking a careful peek out of her dreamscape. “Well, the building is still standing …”

Zhi Guan also looked out and inclined his head. “Can Senior sense anyone sneaking around?” While his perception was good and he could enter and exit the dreamscape without issue, using spiritual energy or his spiritual sense was still more of an issue. If it was easier to pull people into the dreamscape, this might honestly be the most terrifying part of Blue Butterfly’s ability. Well, at this time, it was tough to say whether it was good or bad that this didn’t seem possible.

Long Shu Fen’s spiritual sense worked without issue even in the dreamscape and the area surrounding it despite the fact that considering what Luo Lin had realized, chances were that even she wasn’t using spiritual energy inside but instead the dimensional energy that was slightly different. Now, she focused on the building they could see outside, quickly checking whether the energies she could notice were likely to be part of the righteous faction or from the demonic faction instead.

After a moment, she pursed her lips. “It doesn’t seem like there is anyone. Most of the people are still concentrated in one spot which should be roughly where we left from. There are only a few scattered further toward the front, moving around. I’d wager they are on the lookout though.”

After all, while the Elders and the older disciples certainly had a spiritual sense strong enough to notice intruders, there were spiritual objects that could hide someone’s cultivation level or even mask their spiritual energy altogether. While it was unlikely that the demonic faction would have enough of such items or even just one that was strong enough to hide a whole group worthy of being taken seriously, you could never be too careful where lives were at stake so sending out scouts who could check not just based on energy but also based on what they were able to see and hear. It would give them a slight warning at least when the other side managed to sneak in through some means.

Zhi Guan hummed. He couldn’t help but wonder if Luo Lin and Shen Lei were among those people. They were the ones who were ultimately supposed to confront the demonic faction’s people and lure them toward the trap they had set but … considering that they didn’t know when that attack would come, they couldn’t always be on the lookout. Especially after such a fight and when their task was fraught with danger, those two needed rest. Quite a bit of it, actually. Otherwise, wouldn’t they simply be throwing their lives away for this?

Of course, he knew that Luo Lin had an ability himself and could create a dreamscape but … he still didn’t think this was without problems. They didn’t know what the demonic faction had figured out about abilities, after all, but they could surmise that it might be more than them. After all, hadn’t they seen them copy one through some kind of means?

Zhi Guan furrowed his brows as he thought of this. As he followed Blue Butterfly through the dreamscape to get back to where everyone else was, he finally couldn’t help but speak up. “Senior …” He wasn’t sure where to start with this and could only give her a complicated look.

Long Shu Fen stopped in her tracks, turning to him in puzzlement. “What’s the matter? Did you notice something?” It shouldn’t be possible but when it came to Zhi Guan, she honestly wasn’t sure anymore what was possible. She never would have thought that anyone could simply step into her dreamscape either, after all.

Zhi Guan tried to sort his thoughts and slowly exhaled. “Do you remember what we said before about the people the first group met in the underground palace? The ones who seemed to have an ability similar to Guardian White Jade?”

Long Shu Fen nodded. She did remember. Since they hadn’t known more about them and couldn’t explain it, they hadn’t pursued this matter further but just the idea that this was possible was bad enough that she had thought of it every now and then while back at the Jian Chu Sect. “What about them?” Somehow, she had a bad feeling now that he brought that thing up.

Zhi Guan shook his head, still not sure where to begin. “I don’t know … but we never figured those things out. I am afraid it might cause issues now that we are nearing the end of this war.”

Long Shu Fen could only sigh in response. “Well, there is nothing we can do, is there? We don’t know what they’ve done and … without that, what is there to prepare for? Either they can do more than we know of and we’re basically doomed or they can’t and we can capitalize on that. I’m afraid there’s nothing much in between.”