At that moment, Grandmaster Zhangsun had just arrived at the Yun Zou Sect again. His steps first led him to the special dimension to make sure that that person hadn't returned yet. Indeed. The place where he normally rested was empty and nobody seemed to have been there since he encountered that Jin Ling.
Zhangsun Xun Yi couldn't help but worry. That man had been injured in the first place when he found him back then and he had later expanded a great deal of power for their sake when the Yun Zou Sect was in a tight situation. It certainly hadn't helped the condition of his body and soul. Now that he couldn't rely on the spiritual energy of the lake anymore … Who knew how his situation was?
Zhangsun Xun Yi left the dimension and flew to his own palace. Nothing had changed in regards to the general layout of the Yun Zou Sect so that person should at least know which of the palaces on the peaks was his palace and which one was that of the Sect Master even if he couldn't remember which Elder was responsible for the other peaks respectively. Maybe that man had gone to his palace since he was the only one he had had contact to for the last few thousand years?
He looked through every room of the palace but couldn't find him anywhere. Zhangsun Xun Yi frowned. Thanks to his injuries that man didn't exude even the slightest presence. If you didn't know he was there, you wouldn't notice him. And even if you knew that he had to be around somewhere, it was difficult to find him. At least there was no possibility to detect him using spiritual energy. No, the only possibility was to look for him the traditional way.
If he hadn't missed him through sheer coincidence, then that could only mean that he wasn't on this peak. Considering how long that person hadn't left the special dimension before he wouldn't know anything about the Yun Zou Sect of this day. Thus, the only other place where he'd likely go besides his palace was the Sect Master's peak. After all, he was a cautious person who didn't want to be found. He wouldn't go in a random direction.
Zhangsun Xun Yi hurriedly flew over to the neighboring peak and entered the sect master's palace.
At that moment, Yuchi Bing Xia was sitting in his study and going over some documents. Ah, he really missed Yu Jin … His little disciple had relieved him of quite a bit of work previously. Now that he had gone out to participate in the mission to enter the secret realm in the Leyuan region everything had once again to be done by himself alone. Ah, he really wanted to take a break!
Just when Yuchi Bing Xia searched for a reason to take one, steps sounded from outside. He instantly perked up. Could it be that somebody was coming to report?! Ah, this was just like a summer rain after a long period of drought! He really wanted to hug the person who was liberating him from these documents!
Yuchi Bing Xia played with the brush in his hands and tried not to look too eager. When the person stepped through the door the brush fell down on the papers he had just been looking through, staining them with black ink.
"Grand … Grandmaster?" Why had the Grandmaster come?! Wasn't he leading the disciples to the Leyuan region?
Ah, no! He shouldn't be thinking about that now!
He hurriedly leaped to his feet and smiled. "Grandmaster, it's good that you're back! I hadn't thought that the secret realm would open so soon. Did any of the other sects notice?"
Zhangsun Xun Yi who had just stepped into the room immediately halted. He closed his eyes for a moment and took a deep breath. He really shouldn't have trusted that disciple of his to deliver the message to the sect master! Thinking about it now he worried a little for the other disciples he had left in his care. Would they really be alright when he came back?
Seeing that the Grandmaster didn't answer Yuchi Bing Xia couldn't help but wonder what was going on. Then, it finally dawned on him! He hadn't invited him to sit! He hadn't offered him any tea! He was simply being a bad host!
He hurriedly motioned to the seat opposite him. "Grandmaster, excuse me for getting ahead of myself. Please, have a seat first. We can slowly talk about everything."
Zhangsun Xun Yi nodded and sat down. There was no use in crying over spilled milk. He could only hope that Qiu Ling would at least treat the lives of the other disciples with care.
Yuchi Bing Xia hurried to pour him a cup of tea before calmly waiting for him to speak. Before a Grandmaster, the sect master was a negligible existence. Paying attention to his every word and gesture was a matter of course. Unfortunately, this time he had to notice that Zhangsun Xun Yi didn't touch the tea. His facial expression didn't look good either, making Yuchi Bing Xia worry. Maybe he had forgotten something else? He furrowed his brows and pondered but couldn't think of anything.
Finally, Zhangsun Xun Yi sighed and looked up. "An accident happened."
The sect master's lips parted but he didn't say anything. For the Grandmaster to say it like that … it sounded more than ominous.
"When we reached the Leyuan region there was another energy disturbance. The cause was likely a creature that was once known as a Jade Gathering Beast. I thought they had all been killed but … who knows how it ended up there? I'm afraid … we lost a third of our disciples in the resulting explosion."
"A third …" Yuchi Bing Xia didn't know what to say. That had been the elite of their disciples that they sent there! Losing a third of these disciples was more or less the death sentence for the Yun Zou Sect.
He closed his eyes and just like Zhangsun Xun Yi before took a deep breath. It seemed the last bit of hope he had held for this sect had been blasted into smithereens alongside the disciples.