Like a Ray in My Night (Part 4)

726 Odd Clues

The disciples didn't need to be told twice. Knowing that there were bodies hidden around and that maybe one of them would be one of their seniors, they rushed to take the room apart, looking for all the possible hiding spots. In the end, they only found bodies in one: Right beneath the beds. Clearly, they had been hidden away quickly, with not much time to spare.

Everyone stood around the bodies with a subtle expression until one of the disciples couldn't help but look up at Elder Xing. "This should be done by our seniors, right?"

Elder Xing nodded. There was no doubt about that. The other side wouldn't need to hide bodies like this. Zhi Guan and the others needed to do that though. It had probably been meant to ensure that they wouldn't be caught as easily. How that fit in with everything else that had apparently happened though ... he really couldn't tell.

The disciples all looked at him with eager expressions, hoping that he could shed some light on what had happened and if this might mean that maybe their seniors weren't dead yet.

Elder Xing genuinely couldn't say. He didn't know when this had happened or how. Did the fight come first or this? If it was this and those three hadn't been discovered by then, why would they take such a risk? Or had these demonic practitioners been the first to discover them so they killed them to keep the secret safe but were then surprised when getting rid of the evidence? But then, why were the bodies still stashed away like this?

No matter how he thought about it, he couldn't make any good guesses as to what might have gone down. He couldn't say that outright though. After some thought, he finally cleared his throat. "A lot of things could have possibly happened. Let's not get ahead of ourselves and make any premature judgments. Someone go and inform the other groups! We'll see if they have uncovered more and how those clues fit with what we've found. Maybe the disciples from the Zhen Yan Sect will also have more insight into this."

The Zhen Yan Sect dealt with refinement and medicine much more than they did. Oftentimes, they could look at a body and determine how long ago the person had died. He had seen this himself in the past. Even if the disciples on this mission couldn't do it, the Elders should be able to. That way, they could at least tell a little more about what had likely happened.

The disciples exchanged glances and the fastest rushed off, going to inform the other Elders. Soon enough, everyone had gathered around the room, Elder Fa and two disciples from the Zhen Yan Sect examining the bodies while Baili Chao stood aside with a solemn expression.

Taishu Min, the Zhen Yan Sect's leading disciple, was one of the two looking at the bodies. As she did, she furrowed her brows, making the two Elders from the Teng Yong Sect nervous.

"What's the matter? Is there something wrong?"

Taishu Min hastily sorted out her expression and looked up, shaking her head. "Wrong isn't the right way to describe this. I believe the Elders can also see that these disciples were killed quickly, some of them likely not even putting up a fight. Chances are they were ambushed and killed before they realized what was going on. Their group should have been bigger than the number of people attacking though, which led to the last disciple fighting just slightly longer, having a cut or two more. The disparity couldn't have been that big though, otherwise, there should be even more injuries than that."

The Elders both nodded. This was something that even they could tell.

"There are three people from our side. Fighting against four of theirs should indeed lead to such a situation."

Taishu Min looked at the bodies and hummed faintly but she felt some doubt. "It might have been only two of the Teng Yong Sect's disciples." That would be more in line with her findings but then, that wasn't even the important point. "What is confusing ... or maybe this does explain it, is how this relates to the body we found in the cave system. I checked him and it seems that he should have died around the same time as these people. If the three seniors split up and one of them fought one-on-one with the person in the cave system while the others fought here alone, then it would make sense. Of course, I can only gain a general idea of how long ago either of these deaths have happened so it isn't completely certain."

Elder Baili and Elder Xing both furrowed their brows. Yes, it was indeed a bit odd to have people die in two very different spots. The only explanation was that those three had split up. But then ... their chances of surviving were even worse so this couldn't be considered a good thing.

Baili Chao looked at the wounds on those disciples from the demonic faction. Each of them seemed to be sword wounds. Zhi Guan didn't need to be mentioned, considering how obsessed he was with sword arts, but Liu Bao Ru also seemed to be a sword cultivator while Mu Qing might have focused more on spiritual energy but he wasn't entirely sure.

He turned to look at Elder Xing, his expression uncertain. "It should be Zhi Guan and Liu Bao Ru who stayed together to do this. They are both sword cultivators. The question is whether they split up on their own volition or if they were forced to do so."

Elder Xing inclined his head. "It could be that not all of them were discovered at the same time. These bodies weren't disposed of cleanly but they were still hidden. Maybe Mu Qing was caught while these two got away and had time to deal with this situation calmly. In that case, there might actually be a chance that they made it out. After all, we're not far from the entrance here."

Baili Chao looked up when he was reminded of that and turned in the direction of the underground palace's gate. Yes, they weren't far from there. Maybe ... just maybe, Zhi Guan had indeed made it outside. He could only hope so.