Chapter 238: Are Reputable Sects All Good People?

Gu Jue’s words were resolute. He was determined to argue the rights and wrongs of the matter with Xie Ningyuan.

For once, Xie Ningyuan found him a little less irritating... ’As expected, he hasn’t disappointed me. If Gu Jue hadn’t asked, this whole affair would have truly ended here.’

He shot Lu Sangjiu a silent look, as if to say, ’See? It’s not that I insist on talking, it’s that he insists on asking.’

Lu Sangjiu’s feelings were also complicated at that moment. As one of the people directly involved, no one knew better than her what had really happened.

What Xie Ningyuan had said... at least so far, was the truth.

’Still, she found it a bit strange. Xie Ningyuan wasn’t present back then, so how could he describe it so clearly?’

Now was clearly not the right time to ask. The out she had originally provided had been shattered by Gu Jue. If this matter wasn’t made clear today, none of them could expect to get a peaceful night’s sleep.

’She... would just have to force herself to be brave this one time.’

’No matter if the final outcome was what she wanted to see or not, for her... it should still be a good thing, right?’

Amidst the silence, Xie Ningyuan let out a soft chuckle. "Mr. Gu, that’s an excellent question. It certainly reveals your innocent heart... I presume you haven’t traveled widely, nor have you been beaten down by the ways of the world, have you?"

At first, it sounded like a compliment, but on second thought, it was clearly mockery.

Gu Jue frowned. "What do you mean?"

"It means... in this world, there are no permanent enemies or permanent friends. There are only interests."

"It’s true they ambushed Hua Jianzhi and Sword Bu Gui with intent to kill, but in the end, no one died. That left room to maneuver."

"As long as the sects behind these people are willing to pay a sufficient price, then this matter can naturally be kept secret, and their reputations can be well-preserved."

The expressions on the faces of Gu Jue, Feng Lin, and Chi Yan all soured. Even the slow-witted Chi Yan now realized Xie Ningyuan’s words were insinuating that their own great Immortal Gates were involved in sordid affairs.

He couldn’t help but interject, "We’re all reputable sects. How could we possibly..."

Xie Ningyuan cut him off. "Reputable sects? Does that mean everything they do is automatically open and honorable?"

"Are you certain there isn’t a single bad person among the reputable sects?"

"We’re not children anymore. Surely you don’t still so firmly believe in this fabricated peace, this facade, do you?"

Never mind anything else, just the incident at the end of the Gold and Silver Gate’s Sword Seizing Conference alone... If he were to show them the true, ugly faces of those people, it would be enough to shatter their entire worldview.

However, that matter was not something to be discussed with outsiders, so Xie Ningyuan could only bring up this past event from several hundred years ago to debate with them.

Xie Ningyuan’s words made everyone deeply uncomfortable. They wanted to refute him, but they didn’t know how.

He was right about one thing: they weren’t children anymore. No one truly believed that all cultivators from the righteous path were good people; most of the time, they simply chose not to think about it too deeply.

After a stretch of silence, Feng Lin took a deep breath. "If it’s truly as you say, then how on earth did Elder Hua and Sword Master Bu Gui survive back then?"

’Without knowing the whole picture, she couldn’t judge whether the story was true or not.’

’Rather than continuing to bicker, it was better to hear the rest of the story first.’

Chi Yan and Gu Jue also looked toward Xie Ningyuan, clearly in agreement with Feng Lin.

Xie Ningyuan smiled. "Because... Gu Huang took action."

To their slightly shocked gazes, he said slowly, "That Phoenix Cry Sword, as luck would have it, was thrown by Sword Bu Gui right in front of Gu Huang, who was secretly watching the spectacle from the shadows."

"So when the people chasing the sword went after it, they had the bad luck of coming face-to-face with Gu Huang."

Just hearing his description made them offer a moment of silent prayer for those people in their hearts... ’That’s just too tragic, isn’t it?’

’Joyfully chasing an Immortal Artifact, only to look up and see a Tribulation Crossing Demon Cultivator master. Their minds must have shattered, right?’

"Of course, although Gu Huang had no interest in the Immortal Artifact, she wouldn’t just stand by and do nothing when it landed right in front of her."

"So Gu Huang took the Phoenix Cry Sword, cut down a few who had come to offer up their lives, and then... headed in the direction that Sword Bu Gui and his companion had fled."

Chi Yan was startled. "She was going to wipe them out completely?"

It wasn’t just him; Gu Jue and Feng Lin thought the same.

After all, the name Gu Huang was deeply ingrained in their minds as a Great Demon. Since she was a Great Demon, it was only natural that all her actions would be evil.

But Xie Ningyuan just chuckled. "Wrong."

"When Sword Bu Gui and Hua Jianzhi were forced into a dead end, Gu Huang arrived with the Phoenix Cry Sword in hand. With a single swing, she repelled all of the pursuing Divinity Transformation Stage Cultivators."

"Gu Huang’s famous name was far more intimidating back then than it is now. She didn’t even need to say a single word; the moment those people saw who she was, they couldn’t care about anything else and fled in droves."

Feng Lin was confused. "They could escape from a Transcendance Tribulation Stage Great Power?"

Xie Ningyuan raised an eyebrow. "If Gu Huang had been determined to kill them, they naturally couldn’t have escaped."

Feng Lin was even more baffled. "But the Immortal Demon War was raging at the time. Wouldn’t Gu Huang have wanted to seize the opportunity to wipe them out completely?"

This time, Xie Ningyuan didn’t give a direct answer, just smiled and said, "Who knows? Perhaps... it’s because she’s kind by nature and unwilling to commit needless slaughter?"

The three of them: "..."

To them, it sounded like Xie Ningyuan was telling a complete joke.

’A Female Demon, kind by nature, unwilling to commit needless slaughter?’

’How much bad wine would you have to drink to spout that kind of nonsense?’

Even Lu Sangjiu, listening from the side, started to feel a bit embarrassed... *Ahem*. ’Does Xie Ningyuan see me through some kind of weird, idealized filter?’

’While she wasn’t the type to enjoy killing, it was by no means as exaggerated as Xie Ningyuan was making it out to be.’

’The reason she had left a way out for them was because of an unwritten, mutual understanding during the Immortal Demon War.’

’Specifically, that cultivators at the Transcendance Tribulation Stage and even the Body Integration Realm were not to interfere casually.’

’Otherwise, while they, the Tribulation Crossing cultivators, might not be able to do much to each other, they were more than capable of wiping out the opposing side’s low-level cultivators.’

’At that point, both sides would be left as generals without an army. How could the war even continue then?’

’So, even though it wasn’t technically the Immortal Demon Battlefield, Lu Sangjiu couldn’t just kill too many people in one go. Breaking that unwritten agreement would surely invite retaliation from the Tribulation Crossing cultivators in the Cultivator camp.’

’Yep, that was the simple, unpretentious reason. It really had nothing to do with whether she was kind or not.’

Seeing Feng Lin and the other two speechless with priceless expressions on their faces, Lu Sangjiu coughed in slight embarrassment and prompted Xie Ningyuan, "What happened next? Didn’t Sword Master Bu Gui and Elder Hua take the opportunity to escape?"

Xie Ningyuan finally obliged and continued, "The two of them were severely injured at the time and were in no condition to flee."

"Besides... even though they were on high alert around Gu Huang, they had to admit that her one sword strike had saved them."

"Never mind the fact that they didn’t have the strength to escape then. Even if they had, given the character of those two, they would have been incapable of immediately turning and fleeing in panic from the person who had just saved them, even if that person was a Great Demon whose name alone inspired terror."

After a pause, Xie Ningyuan glanced at Gu Jue and the others, adding, "In that respect, they were better than most Cultivators."