On the other hand, Liu Cheng's Master, Xian Xun, was everything but happy when he saw his disciple return with obvious wounds. Liu Cheng was his best disciple. He had reached the highest level and had the most experience. For him to return like this … And especially since he had gone to the Yun Zou Sect with the others. What could have happened?
Liu Cheng bowed to his Master and then sat down at his cue. "Things didn't go quite as planned."
"Did the Yun Zou Sect get into trouble?"
"Not the kind of trouble we imagined." Liu Cheng sighed and then started to summarize what had happened while he and the other disciples were visiting.
Xian Xun stayed silent for a while before he sighed. "So they are likely harboring two demons and are refusing to let us investigate."
"Yes. And even the Liu He Alliance's people interfered. I can't understand what that is about. This doesn't concern them."
"Indeed. But you said that one of the demons was the same person that had traveled from the Yun Zou Sect to the Liu He Alliance previously. Maybe they made some kind of deal or that creature managed to bewitch Alliance Head Hua. It's not impossible. Even a high level doesn't make one immune to this kind of thing."
"Well, that would be one possibility. But what should we do now? We have always had a good relationship with the Yun Zou Sect. I don't think …" He trailed off, looking at his Master with his brows furrowed.
He didn't want to have to fight against somebody who was their friend. Even if they had sheltered that demon, they might have done so unknowingly. And if somebody got caught in a demon's lies, it was hard to get out of them again. So it was better to somehow get to these demons and take them away without implicating the Yun Zou Sect. Unfortunately, doing this kind of thing also wasn't easy.
Xian Xun leaned back and crossed his arms in front of his chest, silently pondering. Since Liu Cheng hadn't been able to enter the array, there had to be some trick as to how to get in. But if Yuchi Bing Xia and Zhangsun Xun Yi weren't willing to cooperate with them, there was no way for their people to got in and take care of this matter quietly. To do so, they would need to get some information about that array first.
"I guess we'll have to take a chance this time."
Liu Cheng raised his brows. "What do you mean, Master?"
"We will have to ask somebody about that array first but I'm afraid that the disciples of the Yun Zou Sect won't be willing to tell us anything. Since the Sect Master and the Grandmaster have already been bewitched by these demons, they will have instructed them not to speak about it either. We can only use somebody who doesn't know about the situation yet and might be willing to give up some information."
"A disciple that was out on a mission? I'm sure there should be some but how will we know where they currently are and if they haven't been contacted by their Masters?"
Xian Xun shook his head. "There's no way to know. But isn't there still another person that might have some information?" He looked at his disciple intently but Liu Cheng's gaze darkened.
"But how can we be sure that he will tell us the truth? He also isn't … completely human. Lying is second nature to them."
His Master nodded but still got up. "Indeed but I'm sure there are some things that he wants. We will get the information from him in exchange and make sure that he has said the truth. If he hasn't … Well, a liar shouldn't be given any benefits, should he? Anyway, this is our best bet."
Liu Cheng nodded and also got up, following his Master out of the study and over to the entrance of the dungeons. By now, they had strengthened the guard around the parameters. They still weren't sure how that Bai Mu had been able to escape but they certainly wouldn't allow another person to get out of here. Thus, there were more disciples standing guard now and some more things that could repel demons. They had even added some traps that only a few select people knew about to make sure that nobody would be able to go in or out if they didn't know the way. In the worst case, even if somebody managed to get halfway, it was still likely for them to die. These demons couldn't be let out ever again or it would be the innocent humans suffering again.
The two of them made their way over to the place where Bai Mu had been imprisoned before. The demons looked up, their gazes not too happy to see these two people. Even if they didn't know too much about the Chun Feng Sect, they still knew about these two. After all, Xian Xun and Liu Cheng would make sure that everything was in order in the dungeons every now and then. More than once the attempts of one of these demons to break out had been found by either one of them. Naturally, they weren't happy to see them now.
The Sect Master's gaze swept over the demons before it fell on a man weakly leaning against the wall in the corner of the cell. "It's probably your lucky day. There are some things we'll have to talk about."
The man didn't react, very much like the time when Qiu Ling and the others had gone to get Bai Mu out. It was as if he couldn't even hear what was going on around him.
The demons next to him exchanged some glances as if trying to find out whether this 'lucky day' was indeed something serious or if this was just that Sect Master being sarcastic. Unfortunately, they couldn't really figure out what he meant so they didn't know for sure whether it would be a good idea to try and make use of the situation.
Liu Cheng took out a key and opened the door to the cell. He motioned at two disciples standing guard and had them drag the man out of the cell. The demons watched the process, exchanging glances once again. In the end, they quietly stayed where they were. Now that they were in this kind of place with their strength already waning, they definitely wouldn't be able to get out with these people around. It seemed that they would need to wait even longer for their chance to come.
Meanwhile, the two disciples dragged the other man out of the room and into a small chamber not far from them, trying him to a chair.
Liu Cheng and the Sect Master sat down opposite him and gave him a look. Xian Xun even smiled. "I'm sure you will be happy to hear about what we're going to talk about."
The man still didn't react as if he was already dead to the world.
Xian Xun didn't mind. He just continued to smile immediately. "What is it? You don't want to hear about it? Ah, but this actually has to do with the Yun Zou Sect. Wouldn't you like to hear about that, Zhi Wu?"