Abandon

Wen Xiualan was shaken to hear Fenrir's words but, no matter how much she wanted to convince her that such a course of action was impossible, the words could not reach her lips. It wasn't until Fenrir had turned away from her and was about to disappear that she managed to mutter, "This...isn't what your Master would want..."

As if the previous chill was just an illusion, Wen Xiulan felt as if her entire body was submerged in an impossibly cold bath. It didn't seem to matter that she practiced a cultivation technique that used Ice and Yin Elemental energy, granting her immunity to most cold temperatures...

Without turning fully, Fenrir angled her head toward Wen Xiulan and stated in a cold tone that, if you listened closely, almost sounded like a sob, "Master...isn't here..."

With those three words, Fenrir's figure vanished from the snowy landscape while, high in the sky, the building storm clouds were rapidly dispersing. When she saw this, Wen Xiulan fell to the ground, her legs having lost their feeling as an overwhelming sense of helplessness seized her.

Though it would be possible to convince many that Fenrir was still protecting them, it wouldn't take long for rumors to circulate that she had abandoned them. Without their Guardian, their Sect was all but guaranteed to fade from the world as, if they tried to remain standing, they would be the target of everyone's scorn in the future.

Wen Xiulan resisted the urge to shed tears as she knew there was a very limited amount of time for her to act. Fenrir wasn't the type to just wait around so there was a good chance she was already on her way to the Searing Sword Palace. This was a journey that would take her several days, at the very least, but even that wasn't enough time to smoothly disband a Sect...

Shaking her head, Wen Xiulan muttered, "It was not fair to have burdened her with our problems. I'll just take Jia Cai with me and flee to the south..."

While she felt an obligation to protect and guide the Sect's remaining disciples, Wen Xiulan knew she lacked the power to do so. Even if she led a mass exodus, they would be easily tracked by any of the large Sects. There would even be powerful bandit troupes pestering them along the way so, the only real option was to flee with the people she cared the most about without looking back.

After releasing another profound sigh, Wen Xiulan collected herself before taking to the sky to view the damage to the city. The very least she could do was eliminate what remained of the enemies still within the city. She had a lot of pent up frustrations toward them as, without their interference, there was a chance that Fenrir would have remained their Sect Guardian for several years, at the very least.

If time allowed, Wen Xiulan would have wanted to track her attackers back to their actual origin but, as they would undoubtedly be dealt with by their own enemies after experiencing such a loss, she knew it was unnecessary to do so. All she could really do was vent on what few enemies remained in the city, joining hands with the Mercenary Guild to restore some semblance of order...

(Fenrir's Commentary: 'Master...')