"Heh~" Taoran's mouth twisted, as if to say: What can you do about it?
Just then, Dan Heng spoke up:
"Elder, you've been spouting lofty rhetoric all this way, making yourself sound concerned for the nation and its people, speaking with such conviction. Yet when it came down to it, you still used a little girl as a talisman to save your own life. How laughable."
"I've already said that seeking survival is never a crime. You are all Vidyadhara, just like me. You should understand my painstaking efforts. As a Vidyadhara myself, I have also left you all a dignified path of harmony despite differences." Having said that, Taoran once again put on an expression as though he were acting for their sake, gesturing toward the Scalegorge Waterscape exit behind him.
"All of you may leave the Scalegorge Waterscape now and submit a petition to the Alliance's upper ranks. Let the Six Lords jointly try and sentence me, subjecting me to the Molting Rebirth penalty and allowing me to be reborn."
At this point, the players immediately understood.
This Taoran was most likely a scapegoat pushed forward by the Vidyadhara.
With Molting Rebirth, all matters from one's previous life would be wiped clean.
But... the Vidyadhara had a method that allowed those reborn through molting to retain memories of their past lives!
By then, Taoran would still be Taoran.
And wouldn't the so-called Molting Rebirth penalty simply become Taoran's excuse for escaping responsibility?
That was why Jing Yuan would exile Dan Heng if Lingsha had allowed him to retain his memories before.
No, rather, Jing Yuan had deliberately exiled Lingsha because her original intentions had been good, hoping to preserve her life.
And because Dan Heng retained some memories from his previous life, even though he did not acknowledge