Like a Ray in My Night (Part 4)

774 The Exception to the Rule?

Long Shu Fen calmed down after thinking of all this and reached up to pat Zhi Guan's shoulder. "Don't worry about it. It's alright. It'll work out one way or another."

Zhi Guan nodded but he wasn't entirely sure if they were talking about the same thing. He had asked because of her odd behavior, not because he feared the Jian Chu Sect wouldn't send anyone. Maybe he would have been doubtful of that before but since the other three great sects had already sent someone, the last one certainly wouldn't dare to behave cowardly and stand back to watch. Not to mention that his impression of the Jian Chu Sect based on the group that had valiantly fought in the underground palace not too long ago was pretty good.

Well, no matter whether they had understood each other or what exactly was going on, he still didn't speak up again. Blue Butterfly was still his senior and knew the sect better. Since she said he shouldn't worry, then no matter what she was talking about, it indeed shouldn't be an issue. As for what she might not have gotten from his question ... since she didn't even think of it, she shouldn't worry about it in the first place so there was no need for him to do so either. He should indeed focus on the matter of gaining the remainder of the possible reinforcements.

With the two of them somehow coming to such an understanding, they reached the center of the sect grounds. The disciples they had met until here naturally hadn't recognized Blue Butterfly and only took another look or two at Zhi Guan because he was wearing the robes of another sect. That certainly wasn't a regular occurrence.

Even though people were watching, they still didn't come over to talk or tried to follow them. At most, they'd hurry over to someone they knew and talk about the two of them with each other. While that might not be the most polite thing to do while they were in earshot, it at least didn't impede their journey.

When they entered the inner ring of the sect grounds where the Elders lived, things naturally changed. Even though most of them still paid more attention to Zhi Guan in his robe from another sect and only glanced at Blue Butterfly quickly, some still took a closer look at this 'disciple' who brought someone from the outside in. When they did ... their reaction was the same as that of the Elders over in the border region or maybe even slightly more over the top. People really didn't seem to expect to ever see her.

Zhi Guan quietly took in their expressions and couldn't help but think of their own sect. Usually, there wasn't anyone who would warrant such an overreaction but then, their guardian never came out either. Still, even disregarding the Black Warrior, when thinking carefully, there had been one person who was treated similarly: Mei Chao Bing.

After his Master's betrayal, quite a few of the Elders had reacted this way and their disciples had followed suit, copying their Masters' behavior and shunning this person who had never done anything to harm anyone, much less them specifically. Just like the Black Warrior and just like Blue Butterfly apparently, he had hardly come out during those years, probably to keep such reactions to a minimum and maybe in the hope that one day, the outrage over the whole incident would calm down and he wouldn't be treated like a flood beast any longer.

Well, looking at Blue Butterfly and also at how the past five years had gone for Mei Chao Bing himself, it was obvious that simply waiting for the matter to be dead and buried ... would mean waiting until he himself was the same. How was that fair to any of them?

Zhi Guan lowered his gaze and resolved to speak up if they didn't treat Blue Butterfly as she deserved. She shouldn't have to bear the brunt of those Elders' anger, no matter what had happened in the past. Of course, he wasn't part of this sect so his opinion might count for little but, at the very least, Blue Butterfly would know that there were people on her side.

For now, it wasn't necessary for him to do anything though. While the Elders were certainly staring at her and the only thing they did better than the disciples was not talking about them while they were in earshot, nobody bothered to come up to them directly to voice their opinion and it didn't seem like they were gathering more people either. Most likely, they'd make it to the Sect Master's palace unhindered.

Zhi Guan's guess was indeed right: They continued walking forward in silence until they finally left the figures of the Elders behind at the foot of an elevated peak. A splendid palace stood on top, obviously the Sect Master's place of residence. Nobody tried to keep them from going there or even questioned what they wanted. They simply watched them approach and remained quietly standing there. They might even hold that position until they couldn't see them any longer.

Long Shu Fen heaved a sigh of relief when they were past the Elders. While she had little contact with them, some of them had been part of the sect during the last war and definitely wouldn't have a good impression of her. Now wasn't the moment to unpack those things though and she also didn't want to suffer the consequences of having this ability and having used it back then at such a moment.

She glanced at Zhi Guan whose expression looked no different from usual and motioned ahead. "That's the Sect Master's palace. He should be in right now and as you've seen, the Elders aren't far. They should be able to decide on this quickly."

Zhi Guan nodded quietly and once again looked at that pompous building. The final battle ... would they go into it with all the reinforcements they could get or would this last sect be the exception to the rule?