"Brother!" Tu Hong stepped forward, cupped his hands in a deep salute, then extended his right hand and slowly placed it atop the head. "This Tu is incapable; I could only bring you this far. Walk the road ahead well on your own!"
As Tu Hong's hand descended, the eyes on the head—still filled with resentment at being unable to die on the battlefield—finally closed.
"Senior Tu... there was no need for this, was there?" The leading Yanjiang Sect disciple said remorsefully. "This fellow Daoist... was only forced here by us!"
"Hmph!" Tu Hong abruptly turned his head, his gaze sweeping across the several disciples. Even the disciple at the mid Foundation Establishment stage was startled, goosebumps rising all over his body as he nearly took half a step back. True essence surged through him at high speed, as though he were guarding against Tu Hong!
Yet Tu Hong made no move. He waved his hand and said, "Take this brother's head away. Bury it together with his remains! Then tell those brothers who wish to go out and recover the brothers' bodies: recovering corpses is a small matter; protecting Quanjin Mountain is the great matter. No matter where our brothers' remains lie, our hearts are the graves that bury them!"
"Yes, this subordinate understands!" Tears welled up in the Qi Cultivation disciple's tiger-like eyes.
"And..." Tu Hong raised his head again. "If this Tu falls here, you must not collect my corpse. Let this Tu's flesh and blood endure between heaven and earth alongside Quanjin Mountain!"
"Yes!" The Qi Cultivation disciple thrust out his chest and shouted, then turned and left.
Watching the Qi Cultivation disciple depart, the Yanjiang Sect disciples looked at one another, at a complete loss. They had considered countless countermeasures and imagined countless possible actions