Crusade
The thundering and cursing cultivators at his door forced He Jinglong to come out to meet them despite still in terrible form owing to the injuries sustained last night. He flew up to the sky, where he could overlook all of them, and, trying to maintain his composure, verbalised, “Should we not be united against the common enemy? Why are you rioting, instead?”
“Lord He, you know as well as we do that the elemental demons came for whoever possesses that monstrous energy. We must apprehend them.”
“Yeah, they’re the elemental demons’ target, not us. If we hand them over, we’ll be liberated.”
“You know who they are, don’t you?”
“Yeah, we’re not throwing away the lives of the citizens for one person, are we?”
He Jinglong demanded the shouting cease with a hand gesture. “We need to plan. First, we don’t know who the individual is. Second, if it wasn’t for them, this city would already be hell on earth. Have you forgotten that you owe them?”
“They have the same qi as elemental demons! They’re a conspirator! We only have three days!”
“We have to hand them over if we want to live!”
Are humans such cowards? Mu Yu mused.
He Jinglong roared, “Listen to yourselves! Elemental demons can’t possibly infiltrate without anyone knowing. You also heard the elemental demons mention they’re human, not an elemental demon. A human helped us! We should be thinking about how to ask for their help to fight back, not how to surrender. Our races are enemies. We don’t concede to enemies!”
Flowers that had been in a greenhouse for too long could not weather the harsh side of nature.
“We don’t care! Tell them to explain themselves!”
“You’re the highest-level cultivator here and the lord of the city. You know who they are, don’t you?!”
“I said: I don’t know them! You all know well and truly that the helper is an Ascension Realm cultivator, which means they can fight the three titans. Is this any way to show gratitude? We need to find him to instate as our commander, not to turn in to the enemy!”
“We don’t fight fights that we can’t win!” exclaimed Tian Ziming, flying up to confront He Jinglong. “Do enlighten us: what are the chances of us winning? Irrespective of how strong the individual may be, they’re still human. One human can’t stop three titans. How will the rest of us have any chance?”
“The odd of winning is non-existent if you don’t try. We stopped them once, so we can stop them again!”
“And if you just handed the individual over, nobody would have to be compromised. Who here wants to risk their life? Raise your hand.”
Nobody raised their hand. Instead, they raised their voices, shouting, “We’re no match for them. We want to live!”
He Jinglong clutched his chest as he violently coughed from anger. “They’re an Ascension Realm cultivator. You think they can’t kill you? What makes you think you can defeat an Ascension Realm cultivator when you’re afraid of the titans?”
“Lord He, I know every city lord possesses a seal that connects to the city’s qi. If you combine it with the city’s barrier, it’s potent enough to trap even Ascension Real cultivators. There’s no way they’d be able to break through the city lord seal and city barrier,” exposed Tian Ziming, sneering.
“Those are for combating elemental demons, not humans, you scum! Does it not occur to you that we will be less one Ascension Realm cultivator if we hand them over to those demons?!”
“If they realise that their sacrifice could save the city, they should sacrifice themselves,” answered Tian Ziming, rubbing his chin.
The other cultivators supported Tian Ziming, pressuring He Jinglong.
A cause worth dying for? These are the people I’m supposed to protect? Mu Yu brooded, casting his eyes on Feng Haochen’s statute. “What would you do, Shifu?”
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