Elder Bai and the other elders fell silent and pondered.
They were worried that once the Sect Leader came out of isolated cultivation to hunt Zhe Ying down, he would not show him mercy. It was very likely that Zhe Ying would not even make it back to the sect as the Sect Leader would simply kill him!
On the other hand, if the elders were to capture Zhe Ying, they would capture him alive and subsequently weaken his martial arts skills before locking him up. In other words, Zhe Ying would still live. Even if he lost his martial arts skills by being heavily punished, he could still live as an ordinary man.
In fact, from the very beginning, the elders never hoped that Zhe Ying would become a top-notch master in the world. They only wanted him to live a peaceful, healthy life and stay in the ravine.