557: Chapter 557 The Hehuan Sect members are surrounded again, and Xu Ruyu actually surrenders?

Xu Ruyu thrust his sword directly into the ground and made a gesture of surrender toward Ancestor Xuan Yin opposite him—he actually raised his hands.

The Grand Elder was stunned.

Hua Xunhuan was stunned.

Zhao Yan was stunned.

Leng Ningshuang, Ning Caihe, Qingyan, and those three hundred-plus Disciples were all stunned.

They looked at Xu Ruyu, watching him thrust his sword into the ground, watching his shoulders slump, looking like someone who had held on for too long and finally couldn't hold on anymore.

"I can surrender," Xu Ruyu's voice was very low, so low that only those beside him could hear, "but I have one condition."

Ancestor Xuan Yin's brow twitched slightly.

"What condition?"

Xu Ruyu looked up, looking at the Disciples standing behind him, covered in wounds.

His gaze swept across their faces, very slowly, as if trying to remember the appearance of every single person.

"Let these Disciples go. Do not hurt them. Let them leave."

A silence fell over the Martial Arts Arena.

The Grand Elder's lips were trembling.

He wanted to say something, but his throat felt as if it were blocked by something, and he couldn't utter a single word.

Hua Xunhuan's short sword fell to the ground with a crisp clang; she did not look down to pick it up.

Zhao Yan's fists slowly unclenched, and the flames were completely extinguished.

Leng Ningshuang turned her face away, not letting herself look at Xu Ruyu.

The hand with which Ning Caihe held his sword was trembling; it was the first time in his life that his hand trembled while holding a sword.

Qingyan's tears suddenly gushed out; she didn't cry out loud, but the tears wouldn't stop flowing.

Among the three hundred-plus Disciples, no one spoke.

Many people's eyes turned red, someone bit their lip until it bled, someone clenched their fists and then released them, released them and then clenched them again.

Ancestor Xuan Yin looked at Xu Ruyu and remained silent for a long time.

His gaze swept over those Disciples, as if weighing something.

Then he smiled, a smile that contained triumph, contempt, and an indescribable cruelty.

"Fine. This old man promises you. As long as you allow yourself to be captured without resistance, this old man will let these Disciples go."

Xu Ruyu glanced at him and nodded.

He bent down, pulled the sword he had thrust into the ground out, and placed it by his feet.

He stood up straight, his hands hanging at his sides, without any defensive posture.

"Come."

Several Disciples of the Righteous Path Alliance rushed forward and clumsily bound him.

They used the immortal binding rope and pulled it very tight; the rope bit into his flesh, leaving streaks of blood.

Xu Ruyu did not struggle, nor did he speak.

He just stood there, letting those people tie him up like a zongzi.

The Grand Elder finally couldn't help it; he rushed out from the crowd and shouted loudly, "Sect Master! You can't—"

"Shut up!" Xu Ruyu sharply interrupted him, his gaze as cold as ice. "In my capacity as the Sect Master of Hehuan Sect, I command you to take the Disciples and step aside.

This is an order."

The Grand Elder's legs went weak, and he knelt on the ground.

His old tears finally fell, flowing down the wrinkles on his face and dripping onto the bluestone ground.

Hua Xunhuan walked over and helped him up from the ground.

She didn't cry, but her eyes were as red as a rabbit's. She bit her lip and didn't say a single word.

The Hehuan Sect Disciples stepped aside.

They stood in a corner of the Martial Arts Arena, separated by the people of the Righteous Path Alliance, watching from afar as Xu Ruyu was bound tightly and escorted before Ancestor Xuan Yin.

Ancestor Xuan Yin stood before Xu Ruyu, looking down at him from above.

His gaze was very cold, as if looking at an object that already belonged to him.

"Xu Ruyu, you are indeed a Sect Master with sentiment and righteousness." His voice wasn't loud, but it was very clear. "Unfortunately, people with sentiment and righteousness generally don't live long."

He raised his hand and gave a light wave.

"Kill."

The people of the Righteous Path Alliance moved.

But not toward Xu Ruyu, but toward those Hehuan Sect Disciples who had retreated to the corner.

"Kill! Leave none alive!"

The battle cries of those people were earth-shaking as they pounced toward those unarmed Hehuan Sect Disciples.

Xu Ruyu's eyes suddenly widened.

"You—!"

His voice was full of fury, and his body struggled desperately within the immortal binding rope; the rope tightened further, cutting into his flesh, and blood seeped from the wounds, dripping into a line on the ground.

Ancestor Xuan Yin laughed.

That smile was cruel and triumphant.

"What this old man promised was that this old man himself would not harm these Disciples.

But this old man did not say he wouldn't let others harm them.

They are being killed by the people of those Sects; what does that have to do with this old man?"

He turned around, no longer looking at Xu Ruyu.

Right at that moment, several figures rushed out from among the Hehuan Sect Disciples.

They threw away the Magical Artifacts in their hands, raised their hands high, and rushed in front of the people from the Righteous Path Alliance.

"Don't kill us! Don't kill us! We're on your side!"

Those people shouted as they ran, their voices changing pitch.

The one leading them was a male Disciple in his thirties, with an ordinary appearance and an ordinary build; if he were in a crowd, no one would give him a second look.

His name was Sun Ping, an old Disciple of the Hehuan Sect who had entered the Sect even earlier than Leng Ningshuang.

His Cultivation was not high, only at the Middle Stage of the Golden Core; usually, he didn't speak much and worked steadily, never having made any mistakes.

He knelt on the ground, trembling all over, his voice hoarse: "Sirs, we're on your side!

The ones who sent you information before were us!

We were the ones who told you about the Grand Array's insufficient spiritual power!

We're on the same side! Please don't kill us!"

Four or five people followed behind him, both men and women, all Disciples of the Hehuan Sect.

They also knelt down one after another, kowtowing repeatedly until blood appeared on their foreheads.

"Yes, yes, yes! It was us! We also drew the spiritual power distribution map of the Grand Array! We also marked the locations of those Low-Grade Spirit Stones!"

"We've wanted to join the Righteous Path Alliance for a long time, but we just never had the chance! We beg the sirs to take us in!"

"We were forced by Xu Ruyu! We don't want to die!"

The battle cries on the Martial Arts Arena suddenly halted.

The people of the Righteous Path Alliance stopped in their tracks and looked at each other.

They looked at those few Hehuan Sect Disciples kneeling on the ground, then looked at Ancestor Xuan Yin, not knowing whether they should continue to attack.

The Grand Elder's body swayed, and he almost knelt down again.

Hua Xunhuan supported him, her own lips turning pale.

Zhao Yan clenched his fists, his knuckles cracking.

There was no anger in Leng Ningshuang's eyes, only something indescribable, like a pool of stagnant water.

Tears still hung on Qingyan's face, but she didn't wipe them; she just stared blankly at those few people.

Xu Ruyu didn't look at them.

His eyes were fixed on Ancestor Xuan Yin, on that old man with his back turned to him.

His gaze was very calm, as calm as the surface of the sea before a storm.

He had known it would be like this.

From the moment the Righteous Path Alliance accurately found the Grand Array's weakness, he knew that a traitor had appeared in the Hehuan Sect.

That's why he intentionally kept those people by his side, intentionally leading them to retreat and fight all the way, drawing everyone into the Martial Arts Arena.

What he wanted to fish for was not just the people of the Righteous Path Alliance, but also the traitors hidden within the Hehuan Sect.

Now, the traitors had jumped out themselves.

His plan had succeeded... No one knew that his surrender, that breached Grand Array—all of it was fake.