On the shaded side of West Mountain, within the dense forest.
Of those in the Wan Qing Court willing to leave together, only a small half remained. The rest silently made their way down the mountain.
With medicine applied to her back, Wan Ling endured the pain and watched gloomily as some of them departed.
The Wanqing Sect had once possessed dozens, even hundreds of people, no matter how poorly it had fared. Yet now, only a dozen or so were willing to stay.
Even Yao Hansheng...
"I'm sorry, Master, I..." Yao Hansheng was indeed a loyal and righteous man, but he still had family in Xuanjing City—his wife, children, and parents. No matter how willing he was to stand by his comrades through fire and water, he ultimately could not flee alongside the Wanqing Sect.
"Have you thought it through? If you do not leave with us now, and the Chijing Army comes looking for you..." Wan Ling said softly.
"I have. I can't abandon my family. My son is only five." Yao Hansheng lowered his head guiltily. Even if he surrendered and was dragged off to join the army, he would accept it.
Many others were the same as him. This was the sorrow of a sect.
When they prospered, they relied on the networks and connections of these local middle-ranking disciples, spreading like a spider's web, roots and branches intertwined, to form a powerful faction.
But once they encountered suppression from a higher level,
those networks and connections would instead become shackles that bound and entangled them,
causing everything to crumble overnight.
"...I understand." Wan Ling's hand clenched gently within her long sleeve, then loosened again in helplessness.
Her gaze involuntarily shifted to Wei He, who stood silently nearby.
That scene in the woods earlier surfaced in