Chang Heng smiled lightly and took his disciple’s hand, patting it lightly. “Don’t worry. I have a plan. Nothing will go wrong here so you shouldn’t think about that either. Just focus on yourself while out there. We’ll meet at the spot we agreed on, no matter the final outcome. I’ll wait for you there.”

Si Yan nodded and grasped his hand for a moment, squeezing it before he let go. “You said it’d be an hour? Then I should make my way over now. It won’t look good if we’re late.”

Chang Heng could only nod. He didn’t say anything else and simply watched as Si Yan left the room and closed the door behind him. He could hear him knock on the doors of the people they had agreed for him to take over there and say a few words as an explanation. Soon, steps sounded and then, the corridor fell silent again. From further away, he could hear disciples of the other sects slowly move out as well, talking in hushed voices about the new developments.

Chang Heng continued to sit at the table, staring at the closed door blankly. He hadn’t said it but whether it was him or Si Yan, they both knew that his situation right now wasn’t optimistic. With how everything was going, it wouldn’t get better either. But no matter what was going on, he would still do his best to do as he had said and make it out of here. If he had to die, then he refused to do it in a war they fought for the Wu Yun Sect’s benefit or even that of Feng Bai Xiao.

He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and turned away from the door, rummaging through his spatial bag instead. He had given one protective spiritual item to Si Yan and he didn’t regret it. He had picked this child up so many years ago and they had stayed together for so long. Just like the Wu Yun Sect’s Elder Shuai, he was also willing to go to extremes to save this one disciple. How to explain it? Some people were just that special to you.

Still, he wouldn’t forget about himself either. Especially since he knew that Si Yan wouldn’t take kindly to it if he heard that he had died here. He didn’t want him to go on a crazy vendetta against the Wu Yun Sect or even the whole demonic faction. Even though this war was likely to weaken them considerably, he alone still wouldn’t be able to do anything but die trying.

Looking through his spatial bag, he quietly readied everything he could use to either fight his way out or withstand the attacks thrown his way. Much of it had been given to his disciples before but as an Elder of his standing in the sect, he had still accumulated a lot so he wasn’t without options.

Having done this, Chang Heng simply leaned back, closed his eyes, and stopped moving. Now, it was time to wait. After Elder Gong and the disciples had moved out of the headquarters and made their way to the underground palace, things would once again start to move. At that time, he ought to move.

People would be busy monitoring the soul lamps or other objects telling them whether the disciples of their sects were still alive and some might even ready themselves to go out and follow along. Maybe the whole group would move over there for the final battle. It was the best opportunity he could hope to get.

Slowly, silence fell over the corridors close by. He didn’t dare to spread his spiritual sense out too far to check the situation in the rest of the building though. After all, the other Elders were there and any move they perceived as threatening or even simply as odd would be discussed fervently, with its intention being dissected piece by piece. Even if they didn’t realize what he wanted to do, who knew what braindead thing they’d come up with by themselves? The demonic faction had always been great at judging others by the most sinister options possible, after all.

Still, even without knowing exactly what was going on, Chang Heng could guess. Now, that group Elder Gong was leading should have moved out. Si Yan would be on his way to the underground palace with everyone else now. They didn’t have to be as hesitant about moving through the border region as the righteous faction was so they’d get there in less than an hour.

By then, chances were that another fierce fight would break out. It could also be that there would be a trap waiting for them, taking out a good part of the group before they even managed to get a glimpse of the people from the righteous faction. Hopefully, Si Yan would be able to stay further behind at that time.

Now that the encounter wasn’t far off, he couldn’t help but worry. He trusted in his disciple’s strength but not in the faith that could be put in others. Neither side was trustworthy in their position and Si Yan’s situation was difficult to foresee.

Opening his eyes and took out the small soul lamp he had personally created for him. It wasn’t the one that was being kept back in their Fei Jian Sect but an additional one he had made much later when he realized that things weren’t looking good. It had been one of the first steps he took to guarantee their lives later on, even before he told Si Yan what he expected to happen. Now, it came in handy.

He stared at the bright flame inside and his heart somewhat calmed down. The fire gave off no heat but as long as it burned, his disciple was alive. Hopefully, it wouldn’t be extinguished tonight and the silence right now that seemed very much like the silence before the storm wasn’t also the silence of impending death.