546: Chapter 546 Let's hold on, perhaps this is a test for us.

"Xu Ruyu is a person who values relationships and righteousness."

Yun Hezi said, enunciating every word, "A person like that would certainly not stand by and watch us die."

He asked us to guard this place; while he claimed it was for us to make amends, in reality, he is testing us.

He wants to see if we truly want to return, and if we are willing to die for the Hehuan Sect."

Qingfengzi's lips trembled slightly.

Mingyuezi's eyes brightened for a moment, then dimmed again.

"What if he is just taking revenge on us?" Mingyuezi said hoarsely. "What if we die here, and he doesn't even spare us a glance?"

Yun Hezi fell silent; he knew Mingyuezi was speaking the truth.

It was indeed possible that Xu Ruyu was just using them as cannon fodder.

They had betrayed the Hehuan Sect and betrayed Xiao Nianyin; it was only natural for Xu Ruyu to hate them.

If it were himself, he wouldn't easily forgive traitors either.

"Brother Yun Hezi, let's just leave." Qingfengzi's voice carried a hint of pleading. "As long as the green hills remain, there's no need to worry about firewood."

"Let's hide for a while, and once the heat dies down, we can figure something out."

"Hide?" Yun Hezi gave a bitter laugh. "Qingfengzi, where else can we hide? The Spirit Stones are gone, the Medicinal Pills are gone, and the hearts of the Disciples have scattered."

"If we keep hiding, we will truly become like stray dogs."

"Will those Disciples still follow us? Do you think they still listen to us like they did before?"

Qingfengzi's face turned pale and then flushed.

Mingyuezi clenched his fists, recalling the hardships of drifting outside all these days, the resentful glares of the Disciples, and those cold, biting words.

They truly had nowhere to go and no path to retreat.

"Brother Yun Hezi, then what do you suggest we do?" Mingyuezi's voice was hoarse. "We will all listen to you."

Yun Hezi looked at him, then at Qingfengzi, his gaze lingering on their faces for a long time.

Then he turned around, facing the Disciples scattered across the open ground.

"Everyone," his voice was not loud, but very clear, "I know what you are thinking."

"You are wondering why we must guard this place. Is Xu Ruyu sending us to our deaths? When the Righteous Path Alliance arrives, how can we, with so few people, possibly hold them off?"

The Disciples raised their heads one after another, looking at Yun Hezi.

Some stood up, some put down the little trinkets they were toying with, and some scrambled up from the ground.

Everyone's gaze was fixed on him.

Yun Hezi continued, "I do not want to lie to you. The Righteous Path Alliance is indeed coming, and we, with our numbers, truly cannot stop them."

"It is also true that Xu Ruyu might just be taking revenge on us. However—"

He paused, his gaze sweeping over everyone present, as if trying to memorize their faces.

"However, if we leave now, we will never be able to hold our heads high again in this lifetime."

"We will be like stray dogs, chased and beaten, cursed at, and looked down upon."

"Our Disciples will leave us one by one, and those around us will betray us one by one."

"We will become solitary figures, and in the end, no one will know where we die."

The eyes of a few Disciples turned red.

Some lowered their heads, some clenched their fists.

"I know you are afraid." Yun Hezi's voice lowered a fraction. "I am afraid too; everyone fears death."

"But we have already made a mistake once; we cannot make a second one."

"Ever since the Hehuan Sect was destroyed, how much hardship has Xu Ruyu endured while leading them? How much suffering has he gone through? Yet, he has not uttered a single complaint, and not a single Disciple has been lost."

"And what about us? What have we done? We snuck away during the Hehuan Sect's most dangerous moment and even sold the information to the Meiying Sect."

"What face do we have to return? What face do we have to beg for their forgiveness?"

Qingfengzi lowered his head.

Mingyuezi turned his face away, refusing to look at Yun Hezi.

"Xu Ruyu did not kill us, did not lock us away, and did not even scold us."

"He only asked us to guard this place."

"What is this? This is giving us a chance—a chance to prove ourselves."

"If we seize it, when we return to the Hehuan Sect in the future, although we might not be as glorious as before, at least we will have a place to settle down, and we can let the Disciples Cultivate in peace."

"If we fail to seize it, then we will truly have nothing left."

After Yun Hezi finished speaking, he took a deep breath, as if trying to exhale all the stagnant air from his chest.

He did not speak again; he just stood there, looking at those Disciples.

A long silence followed.

A young Disciple walked out from the crowd and stood before Yun Hezi.

His face was still somewhat immature, but the look in his eyes was no longer young.

"Elder Yun Hezi, I will stay." He said, "My parents are dead; the Hehuan Sect is my home. I don't want to drift outside anymore."

Another Disciple walked out: "I will stay too. Since going out means death anyway, it is better to die here; at least there will be a title to it."

"I will stay too."

"I will stay too."

Voices rose one after another, and more and more people stood out.

Qingfengzi and Mingyuezi exchanged a glance, and from each other's eyes, they saw determination.

Qingfengzi was the first to speak.

His voice trembled slightly, but he still said, "Brother Yun Hezi, I will stay too."

"I have done many wrong things in this life; before I die, let me be a good person for once."

Mingyuezi gritted his teeth and nodded: "I will stay too. Damn it, if I die, so be it. I've lived for so many years already; it's enough."

Yun Hezi looked at them, his eyes growing warm.

He knew these people were staying not because they believed in him, but because they had nowhere else to go.

He did not point it out, but merely nodded, his voice slightly choked: "Good. Then we will guard this place and let Xu Ruyu see that we, the people of the Hehuan Sect, are not cowards."

They began to form ranks.

Yun Hezi stood at the very front, with Qingfengzi and Mingyuezi on his left and right.

More than a hundred Disciples, according to their level of Cultivation, arranged themselves into three rows from front to back.

Some held swords, some held blades, and some were empty-handed.

No one spoke; there was only the sound of weapons clashing and the rustling of robes.

Yun Hezi took a bronze mirror from his storage ring and hung it on the stone pillar in front of the mountain gate.

That was his only remaining Magical Artifact; it used to be for sending messages, but now it could only be used as a mirror.

He looked at himself in the mirror; there were a few more strands of white hair at his temples, and the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes had deepened.

He hung the bronze mirror properly, stepped back a few paces, and returned to his position.