The Grandelder stopped in front of Grandmaster Zhangsun's palace and bowed. "Grandmaster, may I have a moment of your time?"
Zhangsun Xun Yi stopped with his meditation and called out. "Certainly. Please come on in."
The Grandelder went over to the room where the Grandmaster had just gotten up from the meditation platform and followed him to sit down at a table when he motioned over.
"What may be the matter?"
The Grandelder sighed. "I am afraid this isn't anything good. You know about how my disciple's lover and two of Elder Wang's disciples vanished, don't you?"
The Grandmaster nodded. "If I'm not wrong, then you were investigating this recently, weren't you?"
"Indeed. And we found out that the one who is behind these disappearances is one of the demon-hunting sects. We don't know anything more specific and since our relationship with the Chun Feng Sect is rather strained right now, I don't think it would be a wise idea to involve them. But considering that we were never contacted about that demon-hunting sect's suspicions, I'm afraid that's they have the strength to not need to care about us at all. I'm afraid we won't be able to deal with this without outside help. We were thinking maybe the Liu He Alliance would be willing to lend a helping hand?"
"You want me to contact Alliance Head Hua?"
The Grandelder gave a smile and nodded. "If there's nothing that speaks against this from your side, then I would be very grateful for you to do so. My disciple's lover has already been missing for ten years. He is also Elder Geng's direct disciple, even his head disciple. I think it's not wrong to call him one of the pillars of our sect. As for the other two … while they are young, they've also been on several missions, doing a good job so far. I think we should do everything we can to get them back."
Grandmaster Zhangsun nodded. "Even if they weren't, asking Alliance Head Hua for help is nothing. He isn't the kind of person that would ignore this matter. I will write him a letter, asking him for his help and how he thinks we should proceed with this. After all, we still don't know which sect exactly it is. We first have to find out about that."
The Grandelder nodded. "That would be very much appreciated. Then I should not bother you any longer. Maybe we'll be able to find out some more details until the time when we hear back from Alliance Head Hua."
"That would be preferable but even if we don't, I'm sure we can find a way."
The Grandelder nodded once more and the two of them bid farewell.
Zhangsun Xun Yi went over to his study, sitting down at the desk there and preparing the letter. He felt a little apologetic toward Hua Min. The last time he had come over, he had stayed several weeks but that person hadn't come out of the realm even once. Well, it was to be expected. For one, he couldn't have been sure that the Chun Feng Sect would've been gone already and second, there was still that person with him. Naturally, he would want to take care of his husband first. The two of them seemed very close.
Hua Min had said that he understood but the regret on his face had been clearly visible. Well, that person had been a close friend of his Master's. Naturally, he would've liked to meet him once again. Maybe this time, they would have more luck. Anyway, they still needed to try and save the disciples.
Zhangsun Xun Yi only pondered for a moment before he wrote down his message, turned it into a paper crane and sent it off. He watched it leave the palace and then sighed to himself. After not seeing each other for such a long time, they suddenly had so much to do with each other again. He didn't know if he should be happy about that or worried.
At the same time, Wu Min Huan and Nian Hong Fang had already reached Elder Geng's palace and told him what they had found out. The Elder furrowed his brows, his expression grave.
Just like Nian Hong Fang, he also knew about his disciple's heritage. The fact that this had come back to bite him now … It was something he did not want to think too deeply about. If he could, he would have liked to keep it a secret. After all, it had already come out now and when they saved him, that knowledge about him might become even more widespread.
Alas, it couldn't be changed. In fact, he blamed himself a little for not thinking of this sooner. After all, he had known that Zhi Wu might be hunted because of this. But just like Nian Hong Fang, it hadn't even crossed his mind that this might have been the reason for his disappearance.
Maybe that wasn't strange. After all, other than the time they had talked about it back then, Ma Zhi Wu's origin had never played a role for him. But it probably should have. Well, there was nothing he could do.
"I hope the Grandmaster is able to convince Alliance Head Hua to help us out in this matter. It's a pity that the Chun Feng Sect has decided to stand on opposing sides with us. Well, but I guess even if they hadn't before, they definitely wouldn't help us with somebody who was deemed a demon by another demon-hunting sect."
Nian Hong Fang nodded. "I think so as well. At this time, we can only rely on ourselves. In the worst case, we'll just have to investigate the demon-hunting sects without anybody else getting involved."
Elder Geng looked at him and patted his hand. "Zhi Wu would not want you to get into trouble because of him. If we have to investigate, we should send somebody else."
Nian Hong Fang gave him a smile but didn't say anything. They both knew that it would be best if they didn't involve anybody else. As for whether or not he would be able to find anything out, that was a different matter altogether.