Even as Miejue's personal disciple, Zhou Zhiruo had entered Emei far too recently. This was even her first time descending the mountain with Miejue, so how could she know what Miejue, as the sect leader, did outside?
But since Gu Shao'an had asked, Zhou Zhiruo's delicate brows furrowed slightly as she pondered seriously.
"It should be... very difficult."
"There are over a thousand Emei disciples. Eldest Senior Sister once said that fourteen years ago, they happened to encounter a devil of the martial world. An appointment was made to battle at Mount Hua, and one hundred and eight experts from eight major sects, including Kongtong, Shaolin, and Mount Hua, attended."
"At the time, more than a dozen of Emei's strongest elders went to honor the appointment, yet not a single one returned."
"Upon receiving the news, Grandmaster Fengling Shita was so overcome by grief and rage that, before passing away, she passed the position of sect leader to Master."
"But with all the experts within the sect lost, the surrounding forces saw that Emei had weakened. Master had only just succeeded as sect leader, and they began to entertain other thoughts."
"Eldest Senior Sister said that during those years, Master had to lead the entire sect, maintain order from top to bottom, and deal with other sects. She was practically so busy that her feet never touched the ground."
"Having only just finished handling all the large and small matters within Emei, she then had to immediately travel everywhere, suppressing the surrounding forces that wished to rebel and the martial artists causing trouble within Emei's sphere of influence."
Gu Shao'an nodded, his gaze turning toward the unfathomable night sky, as though he could pierce the darkness and see the deeper rise and fall of sects, as well as the burdens borne by a sect leader.
"It was more than difficult. It was practically walking a tightrope above a bottomless abyss."
Gu Shao'an's voice lowered slightly. "Fourth Senior Sister, look at our Emei. We have stood for a century, our sword light gleaming and our might shaking the southwest. But have you ever considered what it takes to preserve this foundation, to let a thousand disciples practice martial arts in peace, and to make martial artists within Emei's territory dare not sow chaos?"
Zhou Zhiruo thought for a moment before answering uncertainly, "By relying on Master and the others' formidable martial arts?"
Gu Shao'an shook his head. "That is only one aspect."
After a pause, Gu Shao'an continued, "In any force, experts are the sharp blades that protect the sect's safety. But rules are the sinews and bones that keep such a vast system running without cease. They are the foundation that can be passed down."
"Without rules, no circle can be drawn; without standards, no square can be formed. Once the rules are broken, people's hearts scatter, and a thousand-mile dike may collapse because of an ant hole."
He paused, and his tone grew even more solemn. "What Senior Sister Ding did today was no longer simply a matter of angering Master. She deliberately plotted to harm fellow disciples, and she did so after Master had explicitly given her orders, at a time when a powerful enemy was before us."
"The Hidden Weapons she sent at us did not merely threaten your life and mine. They also struck at Emei's ironclad rules, forged over a hundred years, and at the foundation Master, as sect leader, was duty-bound to defend to the death."
Zhou Zhiruo's small mouth parted slightly, and she unconsciously sat up straighter. Gu Shao'an's words were like heavy hammers striking her heart.
Gu Shao'an turned around and looked at Zhou Zhiruo gravely. "Fourth Senior Sister, imagine this. If Master today, out of consideration for Senior Sister Ding's twenty years of ties to the sect, the effort she had put into nurturing her, or the few merits she had earned—"
"—were to tolerate and indulge such a grave crime of openly stabbing fellow disciples in the back and disregarding Master's orders, reducing a major matter to a minor one, merely imprisoning her or expelling her from the sect, what would the consequences be?"
He did not need Zhou Zhiruo to answer immediately before continuing his analysis. "First, law enforcement would be unfair, and the rules unclear."
"Once there are exceptions to the rules, their restraining force will vanish entirely. Master's authority as sect leader will be greatly diminished."
"If Ding Minjun, who deliberately tried to harm fellow disciples, could be spared today, how could other disciples who made mistakes be punished tomorrow?"
"When the other disciples saw this, what would they think? They would think that rules could be bent depending on the person. They would think that twenty years of affection and so-called merits could offset betrayal."
"Second, fellow disciples would become divided, and suspicion would arise. You, me, and every shijie who witnessed what happened today would forever have a thorn lodged in our hearts: harming fellow disciples did not require paying a painful price."
"As long as one had sufficient 'reasons' and sufficient 'capital,' one could trample the sect rules without bearing the harshest consequences."
"If this continued, where would the bond between shijie remain? Could we still entrust our backs to one another? Would Emei still be a sect united from top to bottom? It would be nothing more than a place of contention that looked glorious on the surface while everyone within harbored their own schemes."
There was a trace of icy coldness in Gu Shao'an's voice as he described that dreadful future.
Merely imagining the scenes Gu Shao'an had described made Zhou Zhiruo feel chilled to the bone.
"Today, someone can harm fellow disciples for selfish gain. Tomorrow, she can betray all of Emei for greater benefit."
"If such a spark is not extinguished at once with thunderous measures, then once it spreads into a prairie fire, regret will come too late. A century of foundations will completely collapse amid generation after generation of 'mercy outside the law,' amid repeated erosion of ironclad rules."
"As Emei's sect leader, Master bears Emei upon her shoulders. Would she dare let Emei decline in her hands? If you were the sect leader, Senior Sister, knowing such risks existed, would you still dare show mercy to Second Senior Sister?"
Zhou Zhiruo's face had turned slightly pale. She had already begun to vaguely understand the gravity of the matter.
Taking in Zhou Zhiruo's expression, Gu Shao'an's tone grew several degrees heavier.
"So what Master did today was by no means merely a question of whether she could bear to do it."
"She was fulfilling the inescapable responsibility of a sect leader: removing a malignant tumor capable of destroying the sect, no matter who that tumor might be."
Miejue was not a heartless person.
At least before matters involving the Ming Cult were concerned, Miejue's moral boundaries were quite high.
Otherwise, despite clearly knowing Ding Minjun's character, she would not have allowed Ding Minjun to throw her weight around within Emei Sect.
Having personally killed the disciple she had nurtured for over twenty years and lived alongside day and night, Miejue's pain was something Gu Shao'an could clearly sense as well.
But in Miejue's heart, even she herself was far less important than Emei's century-old foundation.
Much less a disciple.
Miejue had killed Ding Minjun with a wave of her palm. It seemed ruthless, but in truth, she had been carrying out the highest duty of a sect leader: upholding the sect rules to establish Emei's standing and eliminating internal threats to strengthen it.
The position of sect leader had never been one a tender-hearted person could occupy. Those who sat in that position sometimes needed the sharpest resolve and the harshest face.
Those who cared only for personal feelings were merely chieftains caught up in the grudges, enmities, and passions of the martial world.
It was already difficult enough for one person to make a living in the martial world. How could it be easy for a sect leader to lead an entire group through it?
Founding a sect naturally earned one respect and reliance, but only the person herself knew how much suffering lay behind it.
Hadn't even an expert like Zhang Sanfeng been burdened by Wudang, unable to descend the mountain freely these past years?
At last, Gu Shao'an's tone grew solemn.
"One attends to the affairs of the office one holds. As Emei Sect's leader, Master is destined to set an example for Emei. Many things are beyond her control, yet they are also things she has no choice but to do."
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