After hearing this, the expressions of many below, which had only just relaxed somewhat, tightened again.
Li Yan also saw that more than a dozen of them showed no surprise. His expression merely grew even graver.
Among cultivators, Li Yan was hardly the only clever one. After the hasty battle just now, quite a few here had already considered all sorts of possibilities.
"Senior, should we continue forward and join up with the hall's experts or the guard army, then turn back and encircle them together?"
"Or should we hide and seek a chance to escape and wipe them out?"
A cultivator offered these suggestions.
"No. We have no idea exactly how far the fighting ahead has reached, but we know very clearly how far the sect is from here and in which direction it lies.
"As for staying here to hide, if the sect can react in time and kill these enemies in the middle region, we may be able to coordinate an ambush or seize a chance to escape.
"But all of that depends on the sect gaining the upper hand. Once the enemy gains the advantage here, we will truly be trapped on all sides, without even a hope of escape.
"Collect the fallen sect disciples into your storage spaces. We will bury them after returning to the sect! Hurry, all of you! We need to leave this place quickly!"
Li Yan swiftly made his arrangements. Before all the enemy's deployments could unfold, he needed to return to the sect as quickly as possible—or at least get close enough to receive reinforcements.
Those already dead did not need to be placed in special living-being storage spaces. They could simply be treated as objects and placed in ordinary storage spaces.
Hearing this, the people below also felt that