Gentlemen, it's time to enter the Banner of Ten Thousand Souls.

Chapter 98 A Shared Hatred Quells Public Anger

Chang Shou originally harbored doubts about Chen Ye. Even though Chen Ye had saved his life and was usually righteous and generous, Chang Shou still found it hard to let go of the fact that Chen Ye had close ties with the Qinghe Sword Sect.

Chen Ye may say he'd live and die with her, but when it really comes down to it, all he has to do is shrink back and hide in the Qinghe Sword Sect's territory, and the impending battle will have nothing to do with him.

In Chang Shou's view, the so-called "two grasshoppers on the same rope" means that one is tightly bound and unable to break free, while the other is only temporarily on the rope and can spread its wings and fly away at any time.

In such circumstances, who would believe that they would live and die together?

But when Chen Ye appeared with Wei Changsheng, he had already proven himself.

As Chen Ye said before, hatred needs a specific target.

The rogue cultivator before them was separated from the lofty righteous sects by an insurmountable chasm, and they rarely interacted on a daily basis.

Until Wei Changsheng appeared, he locked the rogue cultivators in cages, not only verbally abusing them but also arbitrarily depriving them of their freedom and subjecting them to severe torture.

His ugly face became the embodiment of the five major sects, and naturally became the focus of hatred for the rogue cultivators.

Therefore, Chen Ye presented this person as a gift, and even the other independent cultivators acknowledged Chen Ye's sincerity.

Because when he brings up Wei Changsheng, the Fenxiang Sect will not let Chen Ye go, and the Qinghe Sword Sect probably won't make enemies with the Fenxiang Sect for the sake of a rogue cultivator.

This is Changshou's idea, and also the idea of ​​most independent cultivators.

The rogue cultivators are insignificant; no one cares about their lives or deaths. That's why they ignited their golden flames and chose to die together here.

Once Chen Ye was accepted by this group of rogue cultivators, things became much easier.

Chen Ye asked first, "Brother Chang, how long can your golden flames last? Doesn't it consume spiritual energy?"

Chang Shou shook his head and said, "I can't explain it either, but this golden flame is really powerful. Not only does it not consume spiritual energy, but it can also enhance the power of our spells and magic weapons."

Chen Ye sensed something was off. This sounded like a Buddhist supernatural power, borrowing the Buddha's power.

Could the giant serpent in the dream be an evil Buddha?
Chen Ye thought to himself, "It might also be related to the Nirvana Sect."

The Nirvana Sect and the Crimson Serpent Demon Sect have joined forces; no wonder they were able to cause such a commotion. The Nirvana Sect is a demonic sect that wasn't wiped out even a thousand years ago; their ability to cause trouble in secret must be extremely formidable.

Chang Shou asked impatiently, "Brother Chen, you said you want to make the five righteous sects bow their heads and admit their mistakes. How exactly do you plan to do that? Are you going to threaten them with Wei Changsheng's life? Would they agree to that?"

Chen Ye shook his head and said, "It's not that simple. What is Wei Changsheng? Let alone the fact that he's not the chief of the Longevity Hall, even if he were, his death would only be a blow to the reputation of the Incense Burning Sect. It wouldn't have any impact on the other sects. Trying to make the five major sects bow down by threatening them with death is useless. On the contrary, it will only put us at a disadvantage because they don't care about the lives of rogue cultivators at all."

"You can't use something that others don't care about as a means of threat, don't you think?"

Although Chang Shou sensed something was amiss, he couldn't refute Chen Ye's words.

Chen Ye pressed on, "The Mirage Sect said they sent disciples to persuade us to surrender. What conditions did they offer?"

Upon hearing Chen Ye mention this, not only was Chang Shou enraged, but the nearby rogue cultivators also couldn't help but roar.

"They've gone too far!"

"They're not treating us like human beings at all!"

……

After a chaotic and angry outburst, Chen Ye finally managed to figure out what was going on.

The Mirage Faction sent people to "negotiate" three times, but the result was only to add fuel to the fire.

The first time, the envoy from the Mirage Sect took a hard line, directly threatening them with force, claiming that killing all the rogue cultivators present would be a piece of cake, and demanding that they surrender immediately.

Upon hearing this, tensions instantly escalated, and the two sides immediately began to fight. The Mirage Sect disciples, relying on their expertise in illusion techniques, managed to escape after two of them were seriously injured, while several members of the independent cultivators also sustained minor injuries.

When they came to negotiate for the second time, the Mirage Sect seemed to realize that the rogue cultivators were indignant, so they stopped using the threat of murder and instead said, "You have been bewitched by the demon. As long as you hand over the ringleader, the rest of you will be forgiven." They still demanded that Chang Shou and the others surrender.

Such conditions were naturally unacceptable to the rogue cultivators, and the two sides clashed again. Subsequently, the Mirage Sect activated its mountain-protecting formation, trapping these rogue cultivators in a dense fog.

The third so-called negotiation was more like an outburst of anger and frustration.

The envoy launched into a long speech of "reasoning," accusing the rogue cultivators of their deliberate attack on the Mirage Sect's stronghold, yet feigning magnanimity by offering forgiveness, but only on the condition that the rogue cultivators cease their resistance. This was hardly a negotiation; it was clearly a condescending act of charity.

From beginning to end, not a single member of the Mirage Sect was willing to listen to Chang Shou and the others' pleas. They believed from the bottom of their hearts that the rogue cultivators had been "bewitched" by the demon, and directly listed them as uncommunicative individuals. Moreover, they always blamed the rogue cultivators for everything, and were unwilling to even inquire why things had developed to this point.

No wonder Chang Shou and his group's anger has not been appeased. From the beginning until now, no one has been willing to listen to a single word they have to say, nor has anyone been willing to speak up for them.

Their anger was thus amplified until now everyone is ready to fight to the death.

The worst thing you can do to calm things down is to first accuse one side of something. That's not appeasement; it's pushing people to extremes.

Now that we've identified the root of the problem, things will be much easier.

Seeing Chang Shou's angry gaze, Chen Ye followed up with a curse: "The Mirage Sect is a bunch of idiots who don't eat meat porridge. They can't possibly understand our suffering."

Chang Shou immediately felt much better; this Brother Chen was indeed on his side.

"But no matter how stupid the Mirage Faction is, they can still kill us all. If we die in this maze, what will happen to us is up to them. Outsiders will have no way of knowing the truth, and we will only be accused and die without knowing why."

Chang Shou said, "Then what do you think, Brother Chen? We would rather die than surrender."

"It's very simple. The five major sects are not a monolithic entity. Now that we've blocked the Mirage Sect from entering, forcing them to kill, they'll definitely do it to save face if they have no other choice. But what if we attract other sects? All five major sects care about their reputation and no one wants to be accused of slaughtering innocent people. The more sects involved, the less likely they are to act."

“If we are lambs, then let’s drive the tigers to devour the wolves, force the five major sects to fight amongst themselves, and once that ugly spectacle is revealed, we will have gotten our revenge.”

Chang Shou felt there was some truth to it, since they really had no power to resist and had no trump cards to play except for being reckless.

Chen Ye pressed his advantage, saying, "I have a plan. We'll use Wei Changsheng as leverage to demand that the Mirage Sect unravel the mystery. As long as we don't attack the Mirage Sect's stronghold, they'll definitely be eager to get rid of this hot potato. But with the Incense Burning Sect disciples in our hands, the Incense Burning Sect will surely intervene."

"At that time, we can say that the Mirage Sect is threatening our lives, and we can only use the Incense Burning Sect disciples as hostages to save our own lives. Let the two sects fight it out among themselves. Does the Incense Burning Sect want Wei Changsheng's life? Does the Mirage Sect want to admit to the crime of persecuting the innocent? We can just watch their performance quietly."

"Not only that, after we escape the maze, we should also send people to tell the other rogue cultivators about this, so that they know the ugly faces of the five major sects. That way, even if we have to die to prove our innocence, at least someone will speak up for us. I don't believe that the five major sects can wipe out all the rogue cultivators in Hundred Seas Valley."

Chang Shou was a little confused, but it seemed to make some sense.

Ultimately, the rogue cultivators went to extremes simply because they were filled with rage. They had not carefully studied what kind of oppression they were under, nor did they know who they should wield their swords against.

Just like many peasant uprisings in history, if they have no goal or program, they will eventually disappear quickly.

This chaos came about in a very strange way, entirely caused by that red-striped serpent.

Although the five major sects were arrogant, they did not truly treat rogue cultivators as slaves to exploit; at most, they only discriminated against and ridiculed them.

The conflict between righteous cultivators and rogue cultivators is far from reaching a point where life and death are at stake.

Arrogance is always the key to starting conflicts. The five righteous sects were too arrogant this time, thinking they could control everything and that rogue cultivators were not a threat, which is why they have reaped the bitter fruit they have now.

If anyone could stand in the shoes of the rogue cultivators and think about their situation, their anger could be quelled.

Chen Ye's suggestion made a lot of sense. Although some of the rogue cultivators still had doubts, they had no better solution. They couldn't just keep crashing into this maze and dying.

Chen Ye promised them again, "If you trust me, keep Wei Changsheng alive. I will speak with the Mirage Sect and ask them to unravel the illusion. If anything goes wrong, you can kill Wei Changsheng as a sacrifice to the heavens and fight the Mirage Sect to the death. What do you say?"

After discussing with the group of independent cultivators for a while, Chang Shou finally nodded and said to Chen Ye, "Brother Chen, our lives are now in your hands."

Chen Ye finally breathed a sigh of relief.

This finally put the rogue cultivators at ease, thus solving half the problem. The remaining half depends on just how much face the five righteous sects care about.

As everyone watched, Chen Ye walked into the mist. A passage quickly appeared in the white expanse and brought Chen Ye out.

When Chen Ye met Master Ziyan and Su Chun again, he immediately put on a relieved expression and said to them, "I have successfully completed my mission. I persuaded them to stop attacking the Mirage Sect's base. Please open the passage, Master, and they will naturally retreat."

Master Ziyan asked in surprise, "Really?"

Master Ziyan felt he had underestimated Chen Ye. How long had he been inside, yet he had so easily persuaded that group of rogue cultivators?
Previously, they were all fearless and seemed ready to perish together with the Mirage Sect.

Master Ziyan even had some doubts. Could this young man be the mastermind behind everything, or was he actually the Lord of the Crimson Serpent Demon Sect in disguise?

(End of this chapter)