While talking to A Meng, Hua Jian was also chatting with Xia Hui, using this child to learn about what had happened during her years of imprisonment.
Compared to the Wanhua Valley cultivators who could deceive at any moment, what came out of Xia Hui’s mouth was much more trustworthy.
Unfortunately, the flip side was that she also knew very little.
The Wanhua Valley’s superficial efforts were indeed thorough; they did not abuse Xia Hui, the daughter of a traitor, and even considerately arranged for her to have a roommate of the same age.
But this arrangement couldn’t be said to not be for surveillance.
And like Hua Jian’s mother, Xia Hui’s personal freedom was also softly restricted, only allowing her to move within a very small area.
At first, Xia Hui certainly found it hard to accept this situation. But if she didn’t accept, what else could she do?
If she didn’t accept, would the Wanhua Valley have a change of heart and release her?
After understanding this, Xia Hui stopped worrying, calmed her mindset, and began cultivating.
She even ate and drank heartily every day, just to annoy the Wanhua Valley and eat them into poverty.
Hearing Xia Hui’s muttering, Hua Jian had to admit that this time she definitely wouldn’t be fooled—this was absolutely the real Xia Hui, no counterfeit!
No one else from the Wanhua Valley could say something so silly.
“Miss Hua Jian, what should we do next? Escape secretly?”
A flash of longing for freedom appeared in Xia Hui’s eyes.
“I’m a big star now. I can’t run away, but I might be able to ride the wind and leave from here.” Hua Jian shook her head.
Running away secretly was difficult, but she could leave openly.
“I, the Saintess, can just go out to carry out a mission, right? It’s at the nearby Qian Family’s place, not too far.”
Although she didn’t know if the Wanhua Valley would agree to her request, she couldn’t say discouraging words at this time and firmly believe the Wanhua Valley would reject her.
If they refused, Hua Jian might as well find another way to try to run.
Judging from the Valley Master’s attitude toward her earlier, if she was determined to leave, the other party might not stop her too much.
“I have quite a few empty rooms here. Xia Hui, just pick any room to stay in. Tomorrow I’ll go talk to someone about going out.”
“Alright!”…
Early the next morning, Hua Jian got up to go find someone to talk about leaving the Wanhua Valley. But as soon as she stepped out, she realized a problem.
She didn’t know where to find the person in charge.
Although she had been in the Wanhua Valley for four years, her understanding of it was limited to hearsay and those few individual disciples with the surname Hua.
With only that knowledge, how could she know who to talk to about her matter?
She didn’t even know how to navigate the surrounding area; yesterday, she had to ask for directions all the way back!
Fortunately, there were quite a few kind-hearted people in the Wanhua Valley, such as a certain bleary-eyed Miss Hua Xinrui.
After seeing Hua Jian standing indecisively in the courtyard at the door, she proactively came over and asked Hua Jian what was troubling her.
After hearing that Hua Jian wanted to go out, she immediately said that this matter required finding the Venerable on duty in the Valley Lord’s Hall of the Wanhua Valley.
Other Wanhua Valley cultivators didn’t have as much trouble going out; they could make up any excuse and leave.
Disciples with the surname Hua had a bit more trouble; they had to accept a specific task from the mission area to leave.
And Hua Jian was even more troublesome; her departure at least required approval from a Venerable.
This kind of rule—the lower the rank, the more lenient—was probably a major characteristic of the Magic Path.
After all, the low-level cultivators were just expendable resources; only high-level disciples were the foundation of the Magic Path.
This was completely different from the Saint Sect, which managed strictly regardless of rank.
“But Miss Hua Jian, you just finished your cultivation. Are you sure you don’t want to rest for a while?”
While walking ahead to lead the way, Hua Xinrui occasionally turned her head to look at Hua Jian.
Yesterday, when Hua Jian was changing clothes, she was dizzy and confused. Now was the first time she saw Hua Jian wearing the Saintess uniform.
Now Hua Jian’s appearance perfectly matched all her preconceived impressions of her Saintess: beautiful, mysterious, alluring.
If only she could also be barefoot like the enchantresses in the storybooks she’d read, that would be even better.
Noticing that Hua Xinrui’s gaze occasionally drifted toward her feet, Hua Jian thought the girl was curious about why she wasn’t wearing shoes.
She couldn’t explain that, because she couldn’t tell Hua Xinrui that she searched for a long time and couldn’t find a single pair of wearable shoes in the room.
Weaving a pair of shoes from her own flower vines was probably the most feasible solution, but the problem was that Hua Jian wasn’t a designer; she didn’t know how to weave shoes.
She couldn’t really go out wearing straw sandals, right? That would be worse than just wearing long stockings and floating in the air like now.
At least the latter was more ethereal, right?
“Do you like looking at my feet that much?”
Hearing Hua Jian’s faint question, Hua Xinrui’s head, which had just turned back, immediately turned away again.
‘Oh no, I got caught looking too often by Saintess!’
As a girl from the Wanhua Valley, Hua Xinrui’s skin was actually very thick.
She had spent a long time in the Smoke Willow District and knew everything about matters between men and women.
At this moment, she turned her head not out of shyness, but because Hua Jian was someone of higher status than her, and her sneaking a look like this was an overstepping of boundaries.
In her heart, Hua Jian wasn’t asking this because the peeping made her shy, but because the act of peeping itself displeased her greatly.
“I’m sorry, I was wrong. I shouldn’t have doubted Saintess’s taste!”
‘So she was doubting my taste?’ While Hua Jian wasn’t looking back, a very strained expression appeared on her face.
Hua Xinrui was a pretty honest kid; she probably wouldn’t lie about this. So what exactly made Hua Xinrui doubt her taste? Hua Jian was very puzzled.
Floating over to Hua Xinrui’s side, Hua Jian stared seriously at her profile and asked her question.
Then she got an answer that made her even more strained.
It turned out that Hua Xinrui felt that as a Saintess, she shouldn’t wear socks; she should be barefoot to have the enchantress vibe of the Wanhua Valley.
Yes, Hua Jian admitted that did have a very enchantress vibe, but these onlookers had no idea how tormenting it was for her!
It looked good, but who would compensate her for the suffering?
‘You people watching the show?!’
“Take off your shoes right now, and also your socks, and walk all the way to the Valley Lord’s Hall on your bare feet.”
Holding her arms across her chest, Hua Jian looked at Hua Xinrui with a gaze like she was looking at an insect, scaring the girl so much that her neck almost disappeared.
And she didn’t dare treat Hua Jian’s words as a joke. Without a moment’s hesitation, she took off her shoes and socks and stepped barefoot onto the ground.
After walking a bit further like this, Hua Xinrui’s expression gradually became pained.
Good, now she understood why Hua Jian floated, and also knew what it meant to be admired from afar but not touched.
“Beauty comes at a price.” Hua Jian patted the child’s shoulder and said earnestly.
Hua Xinrui nodded with tears in her eyes. She would no longer have any complaints about the Saintess’s attire from now on.
“Put them on. When we see the Venerable, she’ll think I’m bullying you.”
“Mm-hmm!”
Cultivators at the Ling Wang Realm didn’t need to worry much about body hygiene; with a gentle vibration of spiritual energy, they could easily shake off the dirt on their feet.
Then, after putting on shoes and socks again, it was as if nothing had happened.
At this point, they weren’t far from the Valley Lord’s Hall. After Hua Xinrui adjusted her clothes, a hall located on a highland soon appeared in both their sights.
The Valley Lord’s Hall of the Wanhua Valley was quite quiet; along the way, almost no one was seen.
Only after entering the hall could Hua Jian see a few Wanhua Valley cultivators busy inside.
Hua Xinrui whispered in Hua Jian’s ear, introducing these people.
Don’t be fooled by their worker-like appearance; they were all disciples with the surname Hua, with higher status in the valley than Hua Xinrui herself.
Speaking of which, the Wanhua Valley didn’t have many experts. Aside from the Valley Master, a great expert, there were only two or three Venerables.
And currently, the one handling official duties on behalf of the Valley Master in the Valley Lord’s Hall was exactly the Venerable Yanghong whom Hua Jian had met yesterday.
No wonder this Venerable had a sour face yesterday. Could anyone be in a good mood being sent to do these tasks?
Going straight to where Venerable Yanghong was, before Hua Jian could even state her purpose, Venerable Yanghong directly said she knew what Hua Jian was here for.
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