Chapter 201 - The Exit Portal and the Missing Disciple
While Su Bai was being hunted in the deepest part of the Fallen-Star Sanctuary, the others were already on their way back.
The return journey was not easy, but it was no longer as terrifying as the path inward.
Still, the group was quieter than before.
Liu Meng kept looking back. Each time, her gaze passed through the red mist behind them, as if she hoped to see a familiar dark robe and bone mask appear from the deeper path.
But the mist remained empty.
Tang Ziyan did not look back as often, but her brows stayed furrowed the entire way. Her steps were steady, but anyone who knew her could tell that her silence was not calmness.
Ji Ruyue’s face remained cold. Only the frost gathering around her sword hilt showed that her heart was not as still as her expression.
Qin Baoshan walked at the rear with his shield raised. Han Yuelin moved near the middle, occasionally glancing toward the others, but even he did not make jokes. Chen Feng and Yan Lie were unusually quiet. Zhuge Jing said little unless necessary.
Tang Sisi watched them from the side.
At first, she found their expressions a little amusing. It’s not because their worry was funny, but because it was obvious.
Tang Sisi sighed inwardly.
She hoped she would never become like them.
Worrying this much about another person was dangerous.
It slowed the hand. It shook the heart. It made people look back when they should be looking forward.
As an assassin trained since childhood, Tang Sisi had learned that survival often depended on knowing what could be controlled and what could not. Worrying would not help him. If anything, they should worry about themselves.
That was not selfishness. It was clarity. And Tang Sisi had seen enough of Su Bai to understand one thing.
If Brother Su could come back, he would come back.
If Brother Su could not come back, then none of them would be able to drag him back by worrying harder.
That was why Tang Sisi did not worry much. At least, that was what she told herself.
But as the mist thickened behind them and the path toward the deeper region disappeared from sight completely, Tang Sisi still glanced back once, then she looked away and pretended it had not happened.
The group continued retreating.
No one tried to collect more treasures now. Even Tang Sisi did not pick up anything unless it was directly in front of her foot.
After a long and careful journey, they finally reached Outpost No. 3.
The moment the familiar defensive lines appeared through the mist, several people felt their shoulders loosen slightly.
Thankfully, no new attack had struck the outpost while they were gone.
The cultivators at Outpost No. 3 noticed them quickly.
At first, there was relief, then confusion, then concern.
Someone looked behind the group.
A few faces changed.
"Where is Brother Su?"
The question was not loud, but it spread through the outpost faster than any shout.
The young cultivators had signed the sworn kin oath with Su Bai. Their relationship was not merely gratitude anymore.
It was an oath.
Liu Meng’s eyes reddened at once, but she forced herself to speak clearly.
"Senior Brother Su entered the deeper region alone."
The outpost fell silent.
Tang Sisi added carefully, "He had a way to enter. We did not."
That explanation did not comfort anyone.
If anything, it made the silence heavier.
A cultivator from a smaller sect clenched his fist. "Alone? In that place?"
No one answered.
Because everyone knew the answer was yes.
Zhuge Jing stepped forward before panic could spread. "He ordered us to return because the portal would open soon. We still have to make sure everyone here leaves safely. That is what we can do."
His voice was calm enough to steady people.
The outpost cultivators looked toward the mist beyond the defenses. Some seemed to want to rush out. Some clearly understood how foolish that would be.
The Inner Area was not a place where courage alone could create a path. Even with Su Bai leading them, they had barely reached as far as they did. Without him, going back in blindly would only add more deaths.
So they waited. There was nothing else they could do.
Time passed slowly.
The red mist pressed outside the defensive lines, but for once, no enemies came.
That absence felt strange as if even the monsters were waiting for something.
Liu Meng stood near the edge of the outpost, looking toward the route they had returned from. Tang Ziyan remained a short distance away, arms crossed, brows still furrowed. Tang Sisi leaned against a broken stone pillar and watched the mist with half-lidded eyes.
No one asked whether Su Bai would return. No one wanted to hear the answer they feared.
Just then, the Fallen-Star Sanctuary groaned.
The sound came from everywhere at once.
The ground trembled faintly. The red mist rolled backward as if inhaled by an unseen lung. In the distance, the Boundary Pillars lit up one after another.
All the cultivators in Outpost No. 3 froze.
The Boundary Pillars had finished gathering spiritual energy.
The exit portal was opening.
A circular tear of light slowly formed above the outpost’s central platform. At first, it was only the size of a mirror. Then it widened, layer by layer, until a stable passage appeared within the pale glow. Beyond it, faint outlines of the outside gathering area could be seen.
The way out had returned.
Under normal circumstances, cheers would have erupted.
This time, no one cheered. Because Su Bai was not there.
The cultivators waited.
The portal remained open.
The red mist shifted, but no figure appeared.
Someone whispered, "Maybe Brother Su found another exit deeper inside."
No one answered.
Another cultivator said, "He moves fast. Maybe he already left through a different safe zone."
Still, no one answered.
Those words were not impossible.
That was what made them hurt.
They were possible, but no one could confirm them.
The portal began to narrow.
The pale light around its edge shrank slightly.
Everyone’s heart tightened.
Zhuge Jing’s expression changed. He looked at the portal, then at the outpost, then toward the deeper path. His fingers tightened around his fan so hard that the knuckles paled.
They could not wait forever.
If they missed the portal, everyone here might be trapped.
And Su Bai had not sent them back so they could die waiting for him.
Zhuge Jing closed his eyes for a breath, then he opened them. His fan shifted.
"We leave."
The first cultivators stepped through with pale faces, then more followed.
Those who were injured were supported by their companions. Those whose barriers were already weak went next. The smaller sect disciples moved in groups, looking back until the last possible moment before vanishing into the light.
The portal continued to shrink.
Liu Meng still stood there.
Ji Ruyue reached out and held her wrist.
Liu Meng’s lips trembled. "Senior Sister Ji..."
Ji Ruyue did not speak gently.
"Go."
That single word left no room for refusal.
Liu Meng looked toward the mist one last time. Her eyes were wet, but she did not cry aloud. In the end, she let Ji Ruyue pull her toward the portal.
Tang Ziyan also did not move. Tang Sisi walked over and took her cousin’s sleeve.
"Cousin, if Brother Su comes back and finds that you trapped yourself here waiting for him, he will probably say something very annoying."
Tang Ziyan’s expression shifted.
Tang Sisi continued seriously, "And worse, he might be right."
Tang Ziyan closed her eyes for a moment, then she allowed Tang Sisi to pull her toward the portal.
Lin Weiyang remained until near the end.
A small bronze mechanism crawled from her sleeve and embedded itself beside the outpost’s inner wall. Its surface lit faintly, then disappeared into the stone. She had already left markers along the route. This last mechanism would remain here, recording changes as long as it could and guiding anyone who returned through the outpost.
Whether Su Bai would see it, she did not know. But leaving nothing felt worse.
Bai Zhi stood before the portal and pressed her palms together. Pale lotus light gathered briefly around her fingers.
She did not chant loudly. She only lowered her head.
"May the path remember him."
Soon, she stepped through.
Zhuge Jing remained last among the young cultivators.
He looked toward the deeper mist one final time.
He did not know what Su Bai had encountered. He did not know whether Su Bai had found another exit. He did not know whether the deeper region had trapped him, delayed him, or thrown him into something beyond all of their expectations.
But after traveling with Su Bai for so long, Zhuge Jing knew one thing.
Brother Su was not someone who died easily.
He cupped his hands toward the red mist.
"Until outside, Brother Su."
And then, Zhuge Jing turned and stepped into the portal.
The outpost became empty.
The portal narrowed again.
The pale light trembled.
For a few breaths, it seemed to hesitate, then the exit portal closed.
Su Bai did not come out.
...
Outside the Fallen-Star Sanctuary, the gathering area had already become a storm of voices.
One by one, young cultivators emerged from the exit platforms.
Elders, peak masters, clan protectors, and sect representatives rushed forward.
Names were called. Disciples answered.
Some elders nearly wept when they saw their people alive. Some maintained their dignity for three breaths before grabbing their disciples by the shoulders and checking them from head to toe. Some scolded first, then hugged after. Some laughed too loudly because the alternative was crying.
Not every reunion was joyful.
For every group that returned with full numbers, another returned with gaps.
Some disciples never appeared. Some names were called again and again with no answer.
Some elders stood before the closing light with faces that slowly lost color. Some sect representatives accepted storage rings and reports with trembling hands, not because the treasures were too many, but because the disciples who should have delivered them were gone.
The Fallen-Star Sanctuary had always taken people.
This time was no different.
Only the scale of what had happened inside had yet to be understood.
Those who had followed Su Bai returned with far more than most. Their storage rings were heavy. Their records were shocking. Their faces, however, did not look like the faces of people celebrating a great harvest.
On the Radiant Sky Sect’s side, Lu Canghai stood with his hands behind his back.
At first, his expression was calm.
Liu Meng, Qin Baoshan, Han Yuelin, and Ji Ruyue finally appeared.
Lu Canghai’s eyes moved past them.
He did not see Su Bai.
His expression changed.
Li Xuanzong, who had been watching the returning platforms from a distance, slowly narrowed his eyes.
On another side, Jian Wuchen of Myriad Swords Sect and Yan Zhaolie of Scorching Sun Valley had also noticed the returning disciples.
Under normal circumstances, seeing Lu Canghai’s disciple absent while their own disciples returned alive would have been a perfect chance to speak.
Respectfully, of course.
The kind of respectful mockery that elders of rival forces had refined over many years.
But before either of them could say anything, Chen Feng and Yan Lie moved almost at the same time.
"Master."
Their voices were sharp enough to cut off the words before they formed.
Jian Wuchen looked at Chen Feng.
Yan Zhaolie looked at Yan Lie.
Both elders paused.
Chen Feng cupped his hands toward Jian Wuchen. His expression was serious in a way his master rarely saw.
"Su Bai saved many people inside. Please do not speak lightly."
Yan Lie also lowered his head toward Yan Zhaolie.
"Master, this time... we owe him."
The words were simple, but they carried weight.
Chen Feng and Yan Lie had their pride, but they were not ungrateful people.
If he had not returned, the least they could do was stop their elders from saying something that would become shame later.
Jian Wuchen’s gaze changed.
Yan Zhaolie’s face also became solemn.
Neither spoke the mockery they had been about to use.
At the Radiant Sky Sect’s platform, Liu Meng walked toward Lu Canghai with moist eyes. Qin Baoshan’s head was bowed. Han Yuelin’s usual liveliness was gone. Ji Ruyue looked almost the same as always, except for the faint furrow between her brows.
Lu Canghai did not ask.
He did not need to.
Su Bai had not returned.
For a moment, the old man stood there without moving.
The noise of reunion, grief, relief, and confusion continued around him. But around the Radiant Sky Sect, the air seemed strangely still.
Lu Canghai looked at the exit platform.
The light there had already faded.
His disciple was not among those who returned.
Liu Meng lowered her head.
"Sect Master, Martial Uncle... Senior Brother Su went deeper alone."
Lu Canghai remained silent.
A long time passed before he finally spoke.
His voice was very calm.
"Tell me everything."
No one dared delay.
The young cultivators lowered their heads.
Behind them, the Fallen-Star Sanctuary’s exit light disappeared completely.
And Su Bai was still inside.