Heavy Casualties

If not for the old man's reminder, Li Mu would have nearly forgotten that the "traitor" who had led the enemy up the mountain still hadn't been dealt with.

The sect had dared to send everyone out because it had something to rely on. Mount Hua's terrain was steep, and there were several checkpoints along the way. If an enemy had invaded, a warning should have been raised at the foot of the mountain long ago.

If they had received the news early, the outcome of this battle would have been entirely different. They would only have needed to set ambushes at strategic passes, use rolling boulders, arrows, and fire oil to buy time, and hold their ground until reinforcements arrived.

Without the advantage of the terrain, the Five Mountains Sword Sects, scattered across the land, would have been picked off one by one by the Demonic Cult long ago.

The Demonic Cult's men had made it all the way up the mountain before being discovered. Clearly, someone had worked with them from within and dealt with the sect's hidden sentries in advance.

At the thought of catching the "traitor," Li Mu could only groan inwardly. He had no leads and no capable subordinates. How was he supposed to investigate?

Besides, anyone bold enough to betray the sect wouldn't have gone in unprepared. For all he knew, the traitor had already fled down the mountain and was living the high life.

And yet Li Mu couldn't dodge the matter now. The only senior sect member still able to draw breath on the mountain was the old man lying here.

The few surviving senior brothers were all injured, and Li Mu was the only one without a scratch. No matter how much he tried to pass the buck, he couldn't dump it on the junior brothers and sisters.

Fortunately, a relief force made up of retired disciples arrived. They took on the task of treating the wounded and collecting the dead, or Li Mu would have been even more distressed.

He couldn't ask for too much. They had already left the martial world, and rushing over with swords in hand at the first opportunity was generous enough.

The matter of the traitor could wait. First, he had to report the upheaval at the mountain gate to the senior figures at the front.

After making a rough tally of the casualties, Li Mu found that the Mount Hua Sect had lost 317 people in the battle: six elders of the sect, 137 inner disciples, 93 outer disciples, and the rest servants.

The relief force had also lost eleven people after clashing with the Demonic Cult.

Li Mu simply didn't bother counting the wounded. Aside from himself, the only ones without so much as a scratch were a group of newly initiated disciples who weren't capable of fighting.

Compared to the devastating casualties, their battle record was shameful. They had killed six or seven first-rate Demonic Cult fighters, but the two most important Demonic Cult elders had both escaped. As for the other rabble, they weren't even worth mentioning.

Li Mu picked up his brush several times, but had no idea how to put the report into words.

As for the outer disciples, so long as they had been raised by the sect from childhood, their deaths were a considerable loss. The others, recruited halfway through life, could be lost in far greater numbers and still be endured.

The inner disciples were different. Each one had been cultivated at great expense by the sect, and now so many had been laid to waste before they could even be put to use. The sect had suffered a grievous blow.

There were no secrets in this world. With the Mount Hua Sect's disciples suffering such heavy losses, Guanzhong would surely be shaken. The next recruitment drive would most likely be affected as well.

By custom, new disciples would be recruited later than planned after an unforeseen disaster like this. The process would resume only after the fear in everyone's hearts had faded.

The loss of the sect's elders was even more permanent, with no chance of making up for it. This battle had been the patriarchs' final curtain call.

If they hadn't fought to the death just now and preserved some of the sect's strength, the Mount Hua Sect would have had nothing left but grief.

After something this serious, someone had to take responsibility. The first to bear the blame would naturally have been Senior Brother Bai, who had been in charge of security on the mountain. But he had already died a heroic death in the earlier battle defending the Mount Hua Sect.

Not only was the man chiefly responsible gone, but the disciples guarding every checkpoint had also been wiped out.

The dead didn't need to take responsibility. Whatever their failings or stains, they had washed them away with their blood in battle.

With the person directly responsible gone, they would have to start with those of higher rank and choose a scapegoat who might have been involved.

Unfortunately, the highest-ranking people at the mountain gate had been the seven elders. Now six were dead and one was injured. Even Sect Leader Ning probably wouldn't dare say a word about pinning the blame on his elders.

Everyone else who could be dragged into it was lying in a coffin. The rest had no connection to the matter whatsoever. Even if someone tried to force the blame onto them, they had no standing to take the fall.

Among the survivors, Li Mu was the one with the highest status. It wouldn't do for him to step forward and take the blame himself, would it? That would certainly save the sect some trouble and spare the senior figures a headache, but Li Mu had no such spirit of self-sacrifice.

The main issue was that this "black pot" was far too big. Whoever took it on would lose a layer of skin at the very least.

After hesitating for a long time, Li Mu still couldn't decide how to characterize the Demonic Cult's sneak attack, so he simply resorted to a tactful, history-book style of writing.

In summary: the Mount Hua disciples had all been brave and heroic, and it was all the fault of the Demonic Cult's cunning villains.

He then attached the battle record and casualty report, and sent them off with a messenger riding at full speed.

After that, Li Mu stopped worrying about it. As long as he wasn't made to take the blame, he didn't care how the sect chose to characterize the incident.

Having finished all that, Li Mu didn't get a moment's rest. If anything, he became even busier.

The missing servants needed replacing, damaged buildings and infrastructure needed repairing, the wounded needed treatment, and the shaken junior brothers and sisters needed comforting.

The deceased fellow disciples also needed a proper explanation. Compensation could be put off for the time being, but the funeral arrangements had to be put on the agenda.

The sect's strategy had reached a critical point, and they wouldn't give up unless they had no other choice. If the matter wasn't resolved soon, Li Mu would have to handle everything that followed himself.

Without a doubt, it was a miserable job. Doing right by his fellow disciples after their deaths was only what he was supposed to do; if he did it poorly, he'd be sure to catch hell for it.

After changing into mourning clothes, Li Mu stepped outside and nearly collided with Ning Zhongze, who came running toward him. If he hadn't grabbed her in time, they would have both ended up sprawling on the ground.

"Ning Shimei, why are you running so fast?"

It had nothing to do with the original story's plot. He wasn't interested in a little girl of only eleven or twelve.

The main thing was that the sect leader's daughter was safe, which was certainly something worth celebrating. At least he wouldn't have to worry about getting bullied later.

Patting her chest as she caught her breath, Ning Zhongze said anxiously, "Senior Sister Liu is about to die! Senior Brother, hurry and go see her!"

Even after seeing life and death every day these past two days, even after growing numb to death, Li Mu still felt a pang of sadness at the news.

"Lead the way."

The only elder left on the mountain was in seclusion, healing his injuries. As the one overseeing the mountain's affairs, Li Mu had naturally become everyone's mainstay.

This was especially true in the eyes of the junior brothers and sisters, where the Demon King Li held a special place. Before the battle, they had hated him just as fiercely as they now admired him.

This Demonic Cult sneak attack had certainly taught everyone a hard lesson. They had all grown much more mature, though the tuition fee had been a little too high.