When I looked back for the umpteenth time, I saw that Ye Ziyun and Xiao Liang were on the verge of collapsing. Their stamina has run out and all that they could do was rest. As for Luo Zehn, he took it upon himself to drag the two instead of leaving them behind. It was obvious that Luo Zehn was doing all he could to bear his own weight and yet he even added Ye Zhiyun and Xiao Liang to himself just so they won't die on the way.
"If he weren't that stupid, he would've been an outstanding disciple and the hope for my Sect," I told myself but deep inside. I was proud of him. Even in a life and death situation, he never his own selfishness get the better of him.
Still, I should say that Ye Zhiyun and Xiao Liang are so weak!
So weak!
But since I'm the Sect Master and they're my precious disciples, I wouldn't just leave them here to die! (Trust me, I badly and definitely want to abandon them here and skitter the way out of here but I can't... If there's a slight possibility that my Sect was to live, then I'll take it! I wouldn't think twice about it!)
Luo Zhen forced a smile on her face as he continued half-carrying and half-dragging Ye Zhiyun and Xiao Liang. He didn't want to burden me even further so he urged me to keep on clearing our path. "Master, I can manage." He assured me.
That was the final turning point in my mind as I stopped running. I hastily retraced my footsteps and shook Xiao Liang and Ye Zhiyun to consciousness. To my relief, they managed to wake up even for just a little bit. Without wasting a second, I shouted at the top of my lungs. "Zhiyun! I want you to hop on my back! Hurry! There's no time!"
Silence awkwardly befell the trio as they stared at me with teary eyes.
"Master?" Luo Zhen muttered, grabbing the hem of my robe.
"Master?" Xiao Liang repeated as he grabbed the other end of my robe.
For some reason, two of my male disciples started crying as I knelt in front of Ye Zhiyun. And when she snuggly climbed on my back like a koala, Luo Zhen and Xiao Liang started bawling their eyes out like newborn babies. Right now, I don't even know what's going on. They wouldn't even tell me why they were acting like so, they just wept and slumped on the ground as if they lost all the hope in the world.
So much for wishing my Sect to live on... you know what? Why don't I just leave them here?
No, I've made it this far. No can do.
"Don't leave us... master." The two of them muttered as they grabbed both of my feet. "Please, master!"
They were acting as if I would ditch them and fly off with Ye Zhiyun. How could they think so lowly of their Sect Master? Sigh~ These two are hopeless.
"The two of you, if you press on just like what you're doing right now, I would be more than willing to indulge in leaving you behind. In fact, it would serve me better if I just leave all of you and escape from here." I set in front of them. "In Tang Sect, there's one unwritten rule that each disciple needs to uphold. That's right! Bravery! We do not tolerate cowardice in the Sect! If you want to live and if you want me to not leave you behind, then wipe your snots right now! Or else I wouldn't think twice about leaving you here."
As soon as I said that, the unknown substance in my veins finally reached my brain, invading it. The virus finally got there and there was nothing I could do to resolve it. No matter how much I used my healing element to myself, I was unable to reverse the damage it did to my body and brain. Even my Condensed Qi Core that I've continually cultivated in my entire life was irreparably damaged.
I regret coming out of the cave instead of resuming my cultivation. If I had reached the Transcendence Realm, this whole ordeal would've been a piece of cake since it's more or less impossible for me to die at that stage.
But then again, I just let Natalia bite me in the neck and claw me on the back a couple of times before I realized that something was wrong. How stupid of me.
Luo Zhen and Xiao Liang did not hesitate to wipe the liquid on their face as they got up. For a moment back there, they lost their path but now they're on the right track, upholding the unwritten rule of our Sect.
Without wasting a single second, I picked both of them up on each of my arms and ran like a madman to escape the place. With every step I took, I could feel my Condensed Qi Core gradually shrinking and escaping my body as something else was trying to take over my brain. I started to feel groggy and utterly exhausted but regardless of all that, I kept on sprinting. Even at my dying breath, I would at least bring my disciples to a safe place so their survival would increase. After that, it's up to them if they want to survive or not.
"It is an unwritten rule for a Sect Master to be heroic!" I steeled my resolve, remembering the cultivation novels where the Sect Master rescues his disciples from danger whilst ignoring the life-threatening risks it brought. "Because if I didn't manage to save my disciples, then that would just be lame!"
Well, in other cultivation novels, the Sect Masters are absolute assholes that like watching their disciples suffer. There's also that one end of the scale, I guess.
Wait! What am I thinking?
Shaking my head, I tried to focus on the task at hand but it was getting more difficult by the second. It's as if my brain was already a different entity and it just won't listen to me! And after that, my body was beginning to do this weird dance that Rong did when he turned into a rabid human.
What was it called, epileptic frenzy or something? No, it doesn't have that cool of a name.
In my seizure dance, I almost dropped Luo Zhen and Xiao Liang. It felt weird and impulsive and certainly uncomfortable!
It's just too bad I didn't 'accidentally' drop Luo Zhen and Xiao Liang. That would've been much easier.