Yun Bei Fen forced himself to calm down and listen to Sect Master Zhang when he got the confirmation of his Master. He had to make sure he understood everything clearly. He definitely couldn't leave senior martial brother Mei with a bad impression!
The mission turned out to be quite simple to understand anyway. Basically, they would just travel to the border region and set up camp there. After that, it would be their responsibility to patrol the area daily and eliminate every heretic practitioner they happened upon. If they managed to extract information regarding the demonic sects' plans from them, it would be even better.
When Zhang Guan Yu finally finished explaining the mission half the disciples set off immediately while the other half stayed back and discussed some details among themselves.
Baili Chao patted his disciple's head and motioned to the side. "Wait over there for a while. I have to talk to the Sect Master for a bit."
Yun Bei Fen very obediently walked over to the wall and waited for his Master. Well, he very obediently walked over to the wall and happened to look in Mei Chao Bing's direction. Baili Chao's brows twitched when he saw his little disciple behave like that but after all these years he really didn't have any further words and just turned away to go talk to Zhang Guan Yu. What was the harm in letting his disciple look at his senior martial brother a little longer?
Zhang Guan Yu had already vanished into his study when Baili Chao went to look for him. He didn't seem too surprised when the Elder appeared on his doorstep. After all, he had asked him to accompany the disciples on this mission together with two of the other Elders. It was expected for there to be some questions. The other two probably wouldn't let him wait too long either.
"Come on in then."
Baili Chao nodded and stepped in, closing the door behind him.
"Should we wait for the other two to arrive? I wouldn't like to repeat everything three times."
Baili Chao shook his head. "That's not what I'm here for. This is about Fen'er."
Zhang Guan Yu's brows raised in a teasing way. Honestly? This guy was still calling his little disciple that way? "You found yourself a wife?"
Baili Chao's lips twitched. This guy … "I'm talking about my disciple." Not that you didn't know. "I noticed how you looked at him."
"Oh?"
"I'd like to know what this is about."
Zhang Guan Yu smiled noncommittally. "It's about looks, obviously. I wasn't the only one looking, after all. Half the disciples were craning their necks to get a look. Ah, none of our other disciples can hold a candle to him whether it's the male or female ones. You should really pay more attention, Elder Baili, or there'll be some paintings of him circulating in the sect in no time."
Baili Chao refused to let this guy dupe him this easily. He might be afraid of something like this happening but he hadn't come here today because of that. "I'm talking about the way you looked at him and Mei Chao Bing. What's up with that? And don't try to talk your way out of it! You already made such insinuations when I brought Fen'er into the sect and you've always shown special interest in him. I'm his Master. I want the truth and I want it now. So speak up."
Zhang Guan Yu considered spouting some lies but looking at Baili Chao's face he knew he wouldn't get away with that. Not today. He had managed to do so for too long already.
He sighed and poured himself a cup of tea, offering one to Baili Chao too but the old guy refused to even blink. Zhang Guan Yu sighed again. "It's not what you think it is. I just meant what I said back then. I sincerely hope those two could become family."
"Why?"
Zhang Guan Yu smiled apologetically. "Well, fate is strange sometimes. Elder Feng betrayed our Teng Yong Sect. I can't say that I'm completely surprised. We always knew that there were traitors and spies in our sect. There probably are in every sect. I just hadn't thought it would be Elder Feng. He always seemed trustworthy."
"What does this have to do with Fen'er?"
Zhang Guan Yu put the cup down and looked up with uncharacteristic seriousness. "I believed it would be Mei Chao Bing."
"Come again?"
"The traitor. I thought it would be his disciple and not Elder Feng himself."
Baili Chao frowned. Why would the Sect Master say something like this? Had there ever been a hint that Mei Chao Bing might be a traitor?
Zhang Guan Yu sighed. "Don't look at me like this. I know it sounds awful. I wouldn't believe it myself but there were too many signs to ignore. You also know we divine the fate of the sect every few years. Back then, the Black Warrior said that we had reached a turning point. The fate of the sect could branch in two directions, one leading us to the peak of the martial world and one leading to our destruction. We tried to find out what had brought that turning point about but we only found out it would be tied to one person inside the sect."
Baili Chao frowned. It wasn't news that the Black Warrior would keep an eye on the development of the sect and something like this definitely wouldn't escape his attention but … "Why would you think it would be Mei Chao Bing?"
Zhang Guan Yu smiled wryly. "What was I supposed to think? The Elders had been there for a long time. For one of them to suddenly bring such a change about …" He shook his head and picked up his teacup. "It was almost impossible. No, it was much more likely to be one of the disciples we took in shortly before the divination and out of that bunch Mei Chao Bing was the one that attracted the most attention. Ah, that kind of raw talent …" He took a sip of his tea and couldn't help but think back to the day Mei Chao Bing had come and told him that he had already managed to reach the Nascent Soul stage. If the matter wasn't so serious, he would laugh out loud. Who had ever heard of a twenty-eight-year-old cultivator that had reached the Nascent Soul stage? You would even be counted as a great talent if you reached Core Formation at that time. Just take a look at that conceited Yang Wu Huang!
"Anyway, we kept an eye on the matter and that fateful turning point seemed to come closer and closer. The Black Warrior was also able to see more about the future. It turned out that there was a slight chance of influencing this fate in a positive direction."
Baili Chao frowned. If this was what he thought … "Sect Master, you can't want to say that this chance has to do with my disciple, can you?"
Zhang Guan Yu put down his cup of tea, his normally jovial expression especially solemn. "Elder Baili, do you honestly think I would dare to joke about the future of the whole sect? Your Yun Bei Fen might very well be the only reason our sect can escape the fate of complete destruction."