Outsiders had all left, leaving only representatives from the five sects looking at each other in bewilderment. They were all part of the same faction, with no outsiders among them.

Shi Chun and Wu Jinliang also hopped to the mountain peak to see them off, and Chu Jingtang immediately approached the two, expressing his doubts, "Didn't we say this would attract people from other sects? How did it end up that only our own people are left, with no one responding to us?"

Shi Chun watched as the figures disappeared into the distance, "What's the rush? The various sects have only just learned about this, and haven't had the time to react. They need to go back and meet with their counterparts, to discuss it in private."

Hearing this, people from the several sects thought it made sense.

"Alright, the rest will just wait here, taking turns keeping watch," Shi Chun said, clapping her hands.

Taking turns on watch duty could be easily arranged, while those off duty dug out caves in the mountain to shelter in...

As soon as Mulan Qingqing returned to the central cave, she had only paced a few steps when Wan Daoyuan and others swiftly entered, all hastening to her side, each one hesitant to speak.

Mulan Qingqing spoke first, "Apart from that Bilan Sect, there hasn't been much reaction from the other sects, right?"

Li Shanshan sighed, "It's not just the Bilan Sect; after you left, a few other sects also stayed behind."

Wan Daoyuan's expression was solemn, "I'm afraid it's not just those few sects we have to worry about. Those were just the decisions made on the spot; others who've returned might have different thoughts."

The group let out a sigh, all bearing an air of resignation.

Mulan Qingqing observed their reactions and asked, "Does Wang Sheng's behavior have a big impact on the others?"

Li Shanshan gave a wry smile, "Mulan, forgive my bluntness, but if it were anyone else, it wouldn't really matter. The biggest trouble is, he's your fiancé. Everyone's engaged in life-and-death battles; with Wang Sheng's actions, to be honest, the impact will be significant."

Mulan Qingqing, "Is there any way to keep the news under wraps?"

The group was left at a loss for words, this woman was usually quite rational, has the matter concerning her man thrown her into confusion?

Wan Daoyuan, "I'm afraid it can't be contained. Have you forgotten? When Guan Wen and the others encountered trouble, it was very difficult to reach them. Afterwards, you insisted on learning from this and established lateral communications between the teams. I'm afraid the news has already been spread by someone. Those bottom-tier sects naturally have a rebellious streak, they'd probably prefer more people to know about this."

Li Shanshan pondered, "It's not easy to contain this. How do we do it? With nearly a thousand people, do we forcefully silence them, or do we forcefully order them not to spread the word? Putting strict restraints on such matters will only make everyone more upset and work against you."

Tang Zhen, "Mulan, we need to find a solution for this."

Mulan Qingqing countered, "Do any of you have a good solution?"

The group exchanged looks, speechless. Of course, there were solutions, but looking at your dilemma, it seems you're unable to take decisive action, or else you wouldn't have returned empty-handed.

Wan Daoyuan suddenly turned to the side and asked, "Mr. Guann, do you have any good ideas?"

Following his cue, Tang Zhen and Li Shanshan turned to look and saw Guann Yingjie in the corner, silent and not speaking, their eyes lit up, all secretly admiring Wan Daoyuan's acuity.

It was clear to the observant that the fact the belle had a suitor had stimulated Mr. Guann not a little, perhaps the best solution might come from him.

But Guann Yingjie said in a muffled voice, "I don't have a solution."

The group was left speechless again.

Li Shanshan simply gave a direct reminder, "Mulan, there's only one best solution, and that is 'the bell-invoker must untie it.'"

Mulan Qingqing nodded slightly, "That's true. Wait here for a bit, I'll go back once more and have another talk with him in private."

With that, she dashed out of the cave and soared into the sky on Wind Scale.

The few people left in the cave looked at each other, speechless. Another talk was not the best solution they had in mind. Where had the woman's usual decisiveness and resolve gone?

Li Shanshan turned and quickly walked over to Guann Yingjie, his voice solemn, "Mr. Guann, don't you see that the biggest issue right now is to stabilize the morale of the troops as soon as possible? Without that person's head falling to the ground, how can we convince everyone? Are we to wait until everything is completely in disarray before we seek a remedy? If the battle for supremacy in Xuan State is disrupted, how shall we explain to the Domain Master?"

Wan Daoyuan also said, "We're not afraid since we don't care, we just follow orders, somebody tall enough will support the sky if it falls. But your Su Yuan Sect should carefully consider how to explain this."

Guann Yingjie sat on a stone stool, his elbows resting on his knees, his head bowed as he spoke in a low voice, "Let sister decide on her own."

His response left someone fuming, turning away to face the wall in silence.

As they waited and waited in the cave, Mulan Qingqing did not return, but Wan Daoyuan and the others received messages from their respective subordinates asking about Mulan Qingqing and Wang Sheng.

Clearly, the worries they held had come to pass; the news had already spread.

Even from inside the cave, the indistinct sounds of bustling discussions from outside could be heard.

After discussing with the others, Wan Daoyuan immediately relayed the information about the spread of the news to Mulan Qingqing, intending to pressure her in dealing with Wang Sheng's situation.

Indeed, Mulan Qingqing was with Wang Sheng, discussing the specifics of the next steps. After seeing the messages from the three, she said her goodbyes to Shi Chun.

She did not return to where Wan Daoyuan and the others were, but instead rode Wind Scale directly to the location of Wan Daoyuan's subordinates.

As she began her activities there, Wan Daoyuan soon received a message from his troops.

After carefully reading the content of the message, Wan Daoyuan was surprised and doubtful, "Mulan has gone to where my stationed troops are."

"Ah?"

"What does she mean? What is she doing?"

Wan Daoyuan frowned and said, "She's currently communicating with my men, asking about their views on the matter concerning Wang Sheng."

"..."

Tang and Li were rendered speechless.

Afterward, without any prior arrangement, the three of them decided to go and see what was happening with Mulan Qingqing, only to realize one person was missing when they reached the cave entrance.

Tang Zhen looked back and called out, "Mr. Guann, aren't you coming?"

For Guann Yingjie, who already knew the outcome, he really wasn't interested in making such a pretentious trip, worried that he couldn't keep up the act, and shook his head, "It's not good for no one to watch over here, so I won't go. You guys go ahead."

Well then, the three did not insist and exited the cave riding the same Wind Scale, swiftly taking to the sky.

It wasn't until they arrived at the location of Wan Daoyuan's troops that they realized they were one step too late; Mulan Qingqing had already left, and the local people didn't know where she went, nor did Mulan Qingqing have any obligation to inform them.

The three had no choice but to contact Mulan Qingqing directly, and it was only after asking that they knew she had gone to where Chao Zhilin's troops were.

The three again rode Wind Scale and rushed over, and eventually, they saw Mulan Qingqing, who was among the various sects' personnel, interacting with everyone.

The three listened in for a bit and discovered that the topics of discussion were not only about Wang Sheng. Mulan Qingqing mainly took Wang Sheng's complaints to inquire about the attitudes of the various sects.

She was willing to be open and frank, not pursuing responsibility, and by bringing up her fiancé as a starting point, the words of others were relatively sincere.

When the communication ended, the sky was already dark, and the three finally got a chance to have a private conversation with Mulan Qingqing.

A few of them arrived at a mountain peak from where the afterglow of the sunset could be seen sinking.

With no one else around, Tang Zhen asked directly, "Mulan, has Wang Sheng sent a reply?"

Plainly speaking, they didn't care about the gibberish of others; they were only concerned about Wang Sheng's stance. As long as Wang Sheng was strictly managed, they could naturally control the people from the other sects.

Mulan Qingqing shook her head slightly, "He refuses to come back, and he complained quite a bit about his reasons for not returning. Basically, he thinks it's one thing to risk his life for the success of Xuan State, but why should he do the same for our bigger sects? He says no matter how hard they fight, the benefits will be monopolized by us, the larger sects. He asked us in return what benefits we could offer them, questioning that if he helps us, what can we give them in return? Without resolving this issue, he won't come back."

After exchanging looks with each other for a while, Li Shanshan said seriously, "Forgive my bluntness, Mulan, but you've been too indulgent with him. I'm not talking about now, but if this continues, it will do you no good in the future. Such men should not be indulged!"

Mulan Qingqing countered, "Are you suggesting that I should just kill him?"

Li Shanshan pursed her lips and fell silent, which amounted to silent agreement.

Mulan Qingqing remained silent as well, staring at Li Shanshan with a chilling gaze, filled with malice, as if waiting for him to spit out an answer.

The moment she asserted herself, the atmosphere on site immediately turned awkward.

Li Shanshan was stricken silent, not daring to be rash anymore, cursing in his heart that this wretched woman was merciless when making an example out of others, but overly protective when it came to her own man, to a frustrating degree.

At the same time, he cursed himself for a slip of the tongue, knowing some things shouldn't be said, as everyone was holding back and not speaking up, why did he have to be the one to speak out.

Wan Daoyuan and Tang Zhen were also instantly on edge, not daring to continue Li Shanshan's topic. No helping it, they had all witnessed how formidable this woman Mulan could be when showing her might—if the three of them teamed up, they would probably not match up to this woman either.

Thinking about how Wang Sheng publicly humiliated Mulan Qingqing, yet Mulan Qingqing had to swallow her anger, and how they just said one wrong thing behind her back and touched a raw nerve, the disparity in treatment left the three of them feeling sour, truly not understanding what kind of luck that scumbag Wang Sheng had to have won this woman's affection.

Continuing the awkwardness wouldn't do, so Wan Daoyuan changed the subject, "Mulan, what do you mean by running around and speaking to those people?"

The shift in topic was timely, and Mulan Qingqing finally withdrew her sword-like gaze, but her answer was somewhat off-topic, "Before Chao Zhilin's disappearance, someone saw him meet with Hu Yan and his group. Now that both sides have disappeared, regardless of what happened to them, these two groups of troops, more than two thousand people, what should we do? Do we have to appoint two new sects to take command again?"

The three were extra cautious and did not answer.

Tang Zhen tentatively countered, "What do you suggest?"

Mulan Qingqing stated, "The reason I've been running around asking for their opinions is also because of Wang Sheng. You said the news has spread, so I took the opportunity to ask for their views on the matter involving Wang Sheng and had an open and honest talk with them. I've found that many sects indeed share the same thoughts as Wang Sheng; the difference being that Wang Sheng dares to resist because of his relationship with me.

They all think that they work hard without receiving due benefits and believe that we, the larger sects, have monopolized those benefits. Many even think that some large sects are overly cautious and assign tasks to the lower sects without considering their lives and deaths, with some even treating people's lives like grass, killing them over personal likes and dislikes.

If it weren't for Wang Sheng's case, I wouldn't have known that the resentment was so great amongst everyone. It can be said that complaints are everywhere.

So, I'm considering whether we can truly hold onto these good rankings that were acquired in such a manner. Since the issue started because of Wang Sheng and also involves me, I must face it seriously. Should I block it or let it flow? After thinking it over, perhaps blocking it is not as good as letting it flow!"

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