Yuan Fang and Lai Yuhan obviously didn’t return to gather East Arrival Cave’s forces. They were only returning to East Arrival Cave.
There was a change in plans. For the moment, he decided not to head to the capital, and would instead be leaving the Fifth Earthly Branch’s territory on a long journey to the First Earthly Branch. It would be inconvenient for him to thoughtlessly bring East Arrival Cave’s forces across borders with his current status. After all, he was no longer the East Arrival Cave Master in name.
There was another important reason for asking the two of them to return. He didn’t want to make it difficult for Yuan Fang and Lai Yuhan to face their Master Hong Changhai.
