Fanfan and his men turned around and leave with a snort. It wasn't the time yet to bare their full fangs to the enemy. Unless the ancestor said so, they would remain idle and provoke them at the surface level.

Elder Sihun neared the bullied disciple and said, "You little... I told you to fight back. With your cultivation, those kids aren't a match for you. Look, you're wounded again."

His words carried sincerity and warmth. It felt like it was more than an elder and a disciple relationship.

"If I fight back, they will just keep on doing this by bringing someone stronger. They won't stop unless I break." The disciple shook his head, "But if I don't fight back, they will just target me, and me only. That's already good for the pain I suffered."

The disciple had the power to defend against himself but he refused to do so, thinking about the other disciples behind his back. For sure, once he fought back, they would find a weaker target to earn their anger and frustration. And that's what he wanted to avoid to happen the most.

It was okay for him to be hurt, but it's a different story when others were hurt because of him.

"You think they will stop if you do this?" Elder Sihun sighed, "They have been eyeing for the sect now and with how they acted, it's more or less they are prepared to attack us all in. If Firegate loses you, it will lead to a detrimental effect to the sect."

"With you and the other elders holding the fort, it won't be an easy battle for them." The disciple said.

"You cannot say for sure." Elder Sihun shook his head, "The Heavenly Shadow has grown stronger over time, and it's not surprising if they can destroy us now."

"It's not good to be that pessimistic, Elder." The disciple said, "We must believe that there is hope even amidst of a despairing situation. We cannot lose easily."

It's not that Elder Sihun was being pessimistic. He was just looking at all the possibilities for them to prepare for it.

"Xiaolei, you are the brightest disciple of Firegate, if ever the time comes that it's really the end of us, you need to flee and survive." Elder Sihun said, "That way, we can say that we really have hope in a despairing situation."

"What a good drama." And just when the two were having their moment, someone voiced out with a slow clap, "I want to tear up, but I'm not easy to cry, so I'm applauding you."

Jin Rou slowly showed himself. Elder Sihun creased his brows and asked, "Who might you be, Fellow Daoist?"

"No need to be so tense. I'm not here to do anything like those shadow insects." Jin Rou laughed, "I just want to ask that disciple something."

"Feel free to ask." Sensing that there was no killing intent coming from Jin Rou, Xiaolei responded.

"Are you a hero or a hypocrite?" Jin Rou asked.

Hearing this, Xiaolei's expression changed. What was this deep and sudden question? Still, he responded, "I will never claim to be a hero."

"So you're a hypocrite?" Jin Rou smirked.

"I..." Xiaolei didn't know what to say. Was he a hypocrite? Only he knew deep inside.

"There are two types of people in this world who want to do good in this world. A hero and a hypocrite." Jin Rou explained, "Since you claim you are not a hero, then you are a hypocrite. Someone who do good for his own personal gains."

"..." Xiaolei was speechless. The other party had already turned his escape paths useless and was driven into a corner. In all honesty, he didn't know what to say.

Was he really a hypocrite, just like this man said?

Seeing this, Elder Sihun defended Xiaolei, "Fellow Daoist, there are no sufficient reasons as to why people create good deeds. And the categories you just said are mere concept of the people itself."

"That's why people have brains to use. Just like rules, it's all a thing which created by the mind." Jin Rou said, "And it doesn't change the fact that this man here is nothing but a hypocrite who thinks that doing good deeds will repay him tenfold in the future."

historical

"I just believe in karma, Brother." Xiaolei felt suffocated while talking to Jin Rou.

"You believe what you believe in, but just like I said, it doesn't change the fact that you are a hypocrite." Jin Rou emphasized the word 'hypocrite' many times now to slap it into Xiaolei's face, "Although I never said that there's something wrong in being one."

"If you're here to attack about our beliefs, you can see yourself out of this place." Elder Sihun raised his voice, "It's better than to be shooed away, right?"

Jin Rou chuckled after hearing this, "No wonder Firegate is currently in a downslide decline, with descendants like you two, it will surely fail to reach the expectations. It's a shame that your forefather has loved you all dearly."

"An outsider is speaking ill of our sect, this is outrageous." Elder Sihun was provoked. It's one thing that Heavenly Shadows were on their throat right now, yet another one was trying to provoke them, and a complete stranger at that?

"This is not speaking ill of your sect. If you just tweak that brain of yours a little, you will reach a conclusion that what I'm saying is nothing but truth." Jin Rou smirked.

"Let's go, Elder. We don't need to waste time arguing with him." Feeling that Elder Sihun was about to explode, Xiaolei wanted to calm him down and move on. Words of a stranger shouldn't affect them the least, but for some reason, they were greatly affected.

Elder Sihun took deep breaths many times. It's not worthy exploding for a mere provocation of an unknown person. He was about to walk away when Jin Rou talked again, "You can walk away now but you will lose the opportunity to rise again forever."