He looked at Tang Hao's cold, numb and unrepentant look, and the hatred in his heart almost turned into actual flames. He wished he could immediately pounce on him and tear this young sect leader into pieces who had brought disaster to the sect!
Several other elders and disciples who had also lost their close relatives or beloved disciples also gathered around, their eyes filled with tears of anger, condemnation and despair.
For a time, there was a roar of curses, questions, and cries, drowning Tang Hao.
Tang Hao was surrounded by everyone, enduring the sharp arrow-like gazes and the cries of accusations.
His face became even paler, and the wound on his chest began to ooze blood again due to his emotion.
But he pursed his lips tightly, and the cold stubbornness and paranoia in his eyes never disappeared.
Facing the crowd's scolding, he suddenly sneered, his voice hoarse and sharp:
"If I don't do this, how long do you think...Clear Sky Sect's current status can last?"
He looked around at the angry and sad faces around him, and a trace of madness flashed in his eyes:
"Grandpa has been missing for many years, and his life and death are uncertain! Do you really think that those people outside who are looking at you will always be afraid of a person who may be dead?"
"Once the news of grandpa's death really comes out, Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan, and those forces that have long been jealous of our number one in the world... what will they do?!"
Tang Hao's voice suddenly rose, with a cruel clarity that seemed to see through everything:
"They will pounce on us like sharks that smell blood! They will eat us all Clear Sky Sect! By then, it will not be just the people like today who will die! It will be everyone! It will be the complete destruction of the entire Clear Sky Sect! The inheritance will be cut off! No chickens or dogs will be left!!"
"Why did I snatch that Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast? Isn't it just to find new hope and new pillars for the sect when grandpa may not be able to come back?"
He stared hard at the elder who slapped him, his eyes bloodshot:
"As long as I successfully absorb that Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring, with my talent and Clear Sky Hammer, I will have a great chance to break through to Titled Douluo, and even... touch the realm like grandpa!"
"At that time, even if grandpa really doesn't come back, as long as I, Tang Hao, Clear Sky Sect are here, we will still be the number one sect in the world that no one dares to offend! We will still be able to stand strong! Even... repeat our glory!"
"Everything I do is for the future of the sect! In order for the Clear Sky Sect to still be powerful in the mainland even after losing his grandfather!!"
"What do you know? You only see the death in front of you and the temporary humiliation! You can't see the future crisis at all, and you can't see the long-term survival of the sect!!"
Tang Hao's words were not so much a defense as a vent, forcibly instilling his paranoid and gambler-like theory of saving the sect into everyone present.
He seems to want to convince others as well as himself.
He was not wrong, he was making a necessary sacrifice.
It's just a big gamble for the future.
However, his lofty remarks seemed so pale and feeble, so ridiculous and pathetic in the face of the cruel reality of dead bodies everywhere, rivers of blood, and the loss of the essence of the sect.
"Fuck your motherfucker!!"
The elder was so angry that he was shaking all over. He pointed at Tang Hao's nose and yelled, "For the future of the sect? You are forcing the sect to die! Look! Open your dog eyes and see! This is what you call the future? This is fucking hell! It's a grave!!"
"Without people, without people's hearts, without the foundation of inheritance, even if you become Peerless Douluo or a god! Clear Sky Sect would have died long ago! You will die in the hands of a beast like you!!"
"You are not doing it for the sect at all! You are doing it for yourself! For your ridiculous ambition and greed!!"
Other elders and disciples also angrily echoed.
For a time, the square was noisy, filled with despair, anger and complete opposition.
Tang Hao was besieged by everyone, his face became increasingly ugly, his chest was in severe pain, Soul Power was confused, and his spirit was on the verge of collapse.
He wanted to refute, but found that his words were so powerless in the face of the bloody reality.
Just as the quarrel intensified, almost turning into internal strife and violence--
"That's enough..."
A weak, hoarse voice, but filled with endless fatigue and vicissitudes of life, came from behind everyone.
Everyone fell silent instantly and turned their heads to look.
At some point, Tang Zhen, the dying sect leader who had been paralyzed in a pool of blood, slowly stood up with the help of Tang Yuehua
His face was as gray as a sheet, and his eyes were dull and dull.
The sword wound on the chest left by Qian Xunji was still ferocious, and the whole person seemed to have aged dozens of years in an instant. He no longer had half of the majesty and momentum of the previous Clear Sky Sect master, leaving only the appearance of a dying old man.
He raised his cloudy eyes and slowly scanned the quarreling crowd, his two sons with broken arms, the corpses and blood stains on the ground, and the ten blood-stained stone pillars...
Finally, he let out a long, long sigh.
That sigh seemed to drain away the last bit of strength from him, and also drained away the courage of everyone present to argue.
"This is it... what's the use of arguing...?"
Tang Zhen's voice is hoarse and erratic, and every word seems to have been exhausted:
"Wrong has been done... death... cannot be resurrected..."
"The sect's vitality has been severely damaged, its reputation has been ruined, and powerful enemies are waiting around..."
He closed his eyes, and two lines of turbid tears slid silently down his cheeks:
"What I want to think about now... is not who is right or wrong... nor is it quarrels and internal strife..."
"But... next... where should we Clear Sky Sect... these hundreds of dying bodies... go..."
"How to... survive on this ruins..."
After saying that, he seemed to have exhausted all his energy, and his body collapsed again, leaning on Tang Yuehua, coughing violently, and coughing up blood-streaked sputum.
Tang Yuehua burst into tears, holding on to his father tightly, choked with sobs and unable to speak.
The square fell into dead silence again.
It's just that this time of dead silence, there are no longer angry accusations, no more fierce quarrels, only boundless sadness, confusion, and a bottomless despair for the future.
Tang Zhen's words are like the final verdict, bringing an end to this earth-shattering storm that is not satisfactory but cannot be changed.
Clear Sky Sect's disaster has passed for the time being.
But the future of the Clear Sky Sect...
But it seems to be shrouded in a thick and irreversible blood-colored cloud. The future is uncertain and good or bad is unpredictable.
With the support of Tang Yuehua and several loyal disciples, Tang Zhen walked slowly, tremblingly, step by step, towards the dilapidated main hall of the Clear Sky Sect, which seemed to have lost its soul.
His back was rickety, desolate and lonely.
Just like this sect that had just experienced a catastrophe and was once the number one sect in the world.