He realized that the Purple Flower sect was indeed helpless. So he didn't reply to her question. He simply sighed in defeat.
She saw this and said, "Stop beating yourself up. It won't change anything. The fact remains that we are weak. Therefore, we deserve this."
At this point, Green Viper wanted to explode at her. He wanted to even fight her here and now. But the calm, expressionless face that she used to look at him made him calm down.
He could see in her eyes that she didn't like their situation either. He also saw in her eyes that she wasn't going to resist if he decided to hit her.
If he decided to fight, it would be just him smashing his fists against a defenseless comrade. This pulled the fire out of his motivation for a fight.
She said to him, "You might not like it, but this is the way of the world. The strong prey on the weak. The strong deserve all the resources, and we deserve none for being weak. This is why the Blood Skull sect was able to hog so much of the resources of our region for so long."
"The Red and Blue Fire sect became too weak to stay in their ancestral land. So they were sent packing. That's why they want to invade us."
"They are not invading us because they want to or because they gain pleasure from it. In fact, they don't want to invade us and don't like it at all. But they are weak, so they have to invade us."
"We are weaker than them, so even if we don't like that they are invading us, we have to accept it. It is just reasonable that if someone stronger than us can do something they don't like and accept their fate, then we that are weaker than them should be capable of doing the same."
"If it were up to me, we wouldn't resist this invasion at all. I think we will be wasting our time, resources, and manpower fighting a losing war. So if I were the patriarch of the sect, we would just pack up and leave."
"I believe that it is better to join the Blood Skull sect now that we still have something to offer. If we wait until we are desperate and have lost our foundation as a sect, then we might not even have the chance to join the Blood Skull sect or leave the Five Veins region at all."
Green Viper nodded in understanding. He didn't agree with everything she said. Especially about that part about giving up without fighting.
But she made some good points, and he didn't want to argue with her. After all, what they will argue about is how their sect will lose and what they should do after they lose. This isn't a topic that he wants to talk about at all.
So he decided to change the subject. He said jokingly to Pale Shadow, "With the way you keep insisting about joining the Blood Skull sect, one might think that you're a spy for them and have betrayed us."
Pale Shadow said, "First of all, insinuating that I'm a traitor isn't funny."
To this, Green Viper snorted and said, "What would you know about something being funny? You have no sense of humor."
Pale Shadow ignored his scathing claim about her sense of humor and continued with her point, "Secondly, there is very little for me to gain from the Blood Skull sect for me to become their spy."
"Lastly, if they have a technique that is highly compatible with our cultivation technique and can make ours whole, I might consider it. After all, being a spy for the Blood Skull sect is much better than going down with a sinking ship."
Green Viper's face became frosted when he heard the last thing she said.
He scowled and said, "It is not funny to suggest that you would betray us."
She insisted, "You started it."
Green Viper snorted and turned to leave. He didn't want to talk with her anymore.
As she watched him go, she said, "Who doesn't have a good sense of humor now?"
The two of them were chatting in secret so the junior elders beneath them didn't hear what they said. But the patriarch, who is now perpetually surveilling the sect and spying on everyone, heard what they said.
After the event with Purple Vine, the patriarch had taken to keeping tabs on everyone and making sure that she isn't leaving with snakes that will bite her when she turns her back to them.
The patriarch also didn't like what Pale Shadow said. But she didn't get angry or call Pale Shadow over for admonishment.
She only sighed and said, "If only things were so simple."
Pale Shadow painted a bad situation for the Purple Flower sect, but her point of view is more restricted than that of a nascent soul cultivator. If Pale Shadow could see what the patriarch could see, then she would know that their situation is worse than it appears to be.
The fact is that the Purple Flower sect has to fight. This is the only way that they get any chance of survival.
If they don't fight right now and choose to leave, they will be beset upon by the other four sects and the one loose cultivator alliance and be torn apart.
So their enemies aren't just the Red and Blue Fire sects. There are also the four sects, the loose cultivators alliance, and the cultivation families.
These enemies don't want to replace them as a sect. They just want to get some of the benefits that they've acquired over the years. So it is as if they are being watched by wolves.
Because of all of these enemies, they can't just decide to stop being a sect and choose to live in the Five Veins region or choose to leave the Five Veins region at all.