"Junior Brother Wang... letting them go was truly not a wise decision."

Until the figures of the Deserters disappeared, the Profound Moon Sword Sect disciple who had just acted sighed and said, "Once the information leaks out, our situation will only become more and more dangerous."

Although the words were not explicit, Wang Junze could still easily sense the dissatisfaction within them.

Out of respect for Wang Junze, this time they could let these Deserters go, but if it happens again, and Wang Junze tries to stop them, he will likely be directly refused, and certainly face more dissatisfaction from others.

After all, this journey into the Wilderness concerns the life and death of every one of them.

Wang Junze certainly understood the implied meaning and realized that this matter needed to be thoroughly resolved; otherwise, it would only lead to more conflicts.

After thinking for a moment, Wang Junze slowly began to speak, "I understand the concerns of all the senior brothers and sisters, but... I believe that killing all the Deserters we encounter is absolutely not the way to solve the problem!"

"Junior Brother Wang, I've heard that you know Jing Yuan, perhaps that's why you have some sympathy for the Deserters?"

The Profound Moon Sword Sect disciple who had just acted said sternly, "You must know, the feud between us and the Deserters is a mortal one, and next, it's even possible they will march south to wage war. At such times... any compassion will become a fatal weakness."

"Junior Brother Xue, what nonsense are you talking about?"

Before Wang Junze could answer, Luo Qingxuan reprimanded first, "Inside the ruins, Junior Brother Wang nearly died at Jing Yuan's hands several times. How could you suspect him of colluding with the Deserters?"

"Saintess, that's not what I meant."

Chastised by Luo Qingxuan, the Profound Moon Sword Sect disciple could only explain, "I was just worried that Junior Brother Wang might be too soft-hearted!"

"It's not soft-heartedness; rather, I believe that even if war breaks out, we should not involve these ordinary Deserters." With a sigh, Wang Junze slowly shook his head and said, "Deserters are also people, just like these few hunters. They just want to survive and have never previously participated in invasions against our Human Race."

"In my eyes, these ordinary Deserters are no different from the ordinary citizens of our Human Race."

Pausing for a moment, Wang Junze continued, "A year ago, after the battle in the ruins ended, Jing Yuan drove the Great Snow Wolf Riders south to besiege Jubei City, chasing me and Princess Changlin, but even then... Jing Yuan only had the Deserters plunder the surrounding villages and towns for resources, rather than indiscriminately slaughtering the innocent!"

"If we now wantonly slaughter these ordinary Deserters, wouldn't that make us even worse than Jing Yuan?"

Hearing this, everyone couldn't help but pause slightly.

They seemed to have never really focused on these details before; they only knew about the Great Snow Wolf Riders besieging Jubei City, but whether the surrounding villagers were indiscriminately killed or not, they had never really paid attention to.

"It's not indiscriminate killing, but rather to conceal our movements and not be discovered by the Deserters. Ultimately, it's just for self-preservation!"

The disciple surnamed Xue once again defended himself somewhat begrudgingly, "This is the Extreme North Wilderness; if we're too soft-hearted and hesitate, the ones to die in the end might be us."

"Can we really prevent the spread of information by killing all the Deserters we encounter along the way?" Wang Junze questioned in return.

"As long as we want to gather information, as long as we continue to venture deeper into the Extreme North Wilderness, we will surely be detected by the Deserter powerhouses; it's not something that can be resolved by silencing people." Shaking his head, Wang Junze continued, "On the contrary, the more Deserters we kill, the more we will anger them, drawing more powerhouses."

"Don't forget, besides us, there are also people from the Four Symbols Sect. How will they choose when faced with these Deserters?"

"In the end, the Deserters will surely discover both us and the people from the Four Symbols Sect. Then, if they find out that we've been slaughtering Deserters along the way... do you think they would spare no effort to besiege us, or the people from the Four Symbols Sect?"

Taking a deep breath, Wang Junze continued, "I may not know the attitudes of the other Deserters, but I do understand Jing Yuan's character... believe me, he would spare no effort to besiege the side with blood-stained hands of Deserters!"

"..."

Wang Junze's words instantly silenced everyone.

Everyone had to admit there was sense in what Wang Junze said.

Putting oneself in another's shoes, if Deserters infiltrated the Human Race and were discovered, the Human Race would probably hate those who killed more innocent villagers even more.

"Alright, let's handle this matter as Junior Brother Wang suggested."

After several moments of silence, Luo Qingxuan finally made a decision.

This time, Luo Bingyun would only remain hidden in the shadows to ensure they were not attacked by Deserter powerhouses, while all other matters needed to be decided by themselves, as this was their trial.

In this situation, as the Saintess, Luo Qingxuan's decision naturally became the final decision.

Although some of the Profound Moon Sword Sect disciples still sneered at Wang Junze's views, under such circumstances, they couldn't refuse anymore.

In the time that followed, Wang Junze and his group indeed quickly encountered a number of Deserters.

Some were originally residing there, and others, like the Deserters previously released, were forced to flee from the depths of the Extreme North Wilderness. During this time, there were a few battles, resulting in the deaths of some Deserters.

Overall, they still followed Wang Junze's approach, not killing too many Deserters but carefully inquiring for information along the way.

Moreover, as they delved deeper into the Wilderness, everyone could clearly feel the weather getting colder, creating immense survival challenges for ordinary Deserters!

Harvests were drastically reduced, and beasts either froze to death or entered hibernation early, making the Extreme North Wilderness seem increasingly desolate.

Although they did not yet know what the Divine Court's decision would be, they could vaguely guess that if the weather issue was not resolved, the Deserters marching southward would almost inevitably become their only option!

Of course, because Wang Junze and his group did not kill to silence witnesses along the way, the information was similarly transmitted to the Divine Court!

This was unavoidable; having chosen to spare most of the ordinary Deserters, they had to bear the consequence of information leaking faster.

On the fifth day of entering the Extreme North Wilderness, a Deserter powerhouse in the Heaven-Stepping Realm finally sought out Wang Junze and his group, marking that their presence had been completely exposed.

The relatively safe reconnaissance they had previously conducted thus ended, and from here on... the real danger was just beginning!

Faced with these Deserter powerhouses of the Heaven-Stepping Realm, Wang Junze was not as amenable as before, and to show his stance, he chose to take the initiative and attack the Deserter powerhouses.

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