As soon as Zishu moved to leave, quite a few figures stood up, all declaring their willingness to join.
Anyone could tell that Zishu had come for Chen Lin. That meant Chen Lin, the man who had qualified for the first chair, was extremely important and might well be the key to leaving this place.
So no matter how distasteful the Awakeners were, they had to follow for the sake of their own lives.
The old woman with the dragon-headed cane followed as well. She even sent Chen Lin a voice transmission, making one final attempt to persuade him.
"Since you have the strength, fellow Daoist, why not form a group yourself? I believe many practitioners would join the moment you put out the call. Wouldn't that be far better than letting these Awakeners order you around?"
Without pausing, she continued, "These Awakeners may be powerful, but their schemes run far too deep. Following them simply isn't safe. I urge you to give it some serious thought."
Unmoved, Chen Lin explained through a voice transmission, "What good would forming a group do? Our goal is to leave this place alive. Surely you don't think sheer numbers will help? If numbers were any use, so many people wouldn't have died aboard the ship!"
The old woman could find no argument against that. She said no more and followed behind Chen Lin, leaning on her cane.
Zhao Mengru and Grass also stayed close behind him.
Of the roughly hundred practitioners present, more than half immediately followed.
Spirit Demon Ancestor, seated toward the back, wore an ugly expression.
He actually wanted to place himself under Zishu's protection too, but with Chen Lin there, joining would probably end badly for him. After all, the two of them had had some friction aboard the ship.