“Want to go out?”
Hua Jian nodded.
“Go back and finish eating your fruit pit, then I’ll let you go out. Mid-next month, a squad will depart for the Qian Family. Miss this chance and it’s gone.”
After a question and answer, Hua Jian was kicked out of the Valley Lord’s Hall by Venerable Yanghong.
Her status as Saintess was still somewhat awkward.
Especially in the eyes of elders like the Venerable who knew the truth, she seemed more like an unstable element that could be lured away by the Saint Sect at any time.
So the treatment Hua Jian received wasn’t much better than her mother’s.
It was just that she was more respected by the Wanhua Valley cultivators who didn’t know the truth, and she had a larger range of activity.
Fortunately, her request to go out wasn’t completely rejected. As long as she ate the fruit pit before mid-next month, she could depart with the squad…
Thinking of this, Hua Jian realized she seemed to still not know how many days until mid-next month.
And also, that fruit pit was actually edible?
No wonder that after she left the fruit pit, those few people who had come in and out of her house didn’t take the pit away. So it was because they knew she had to eat that thing?
“Oh, right. You just came out of the fruit pit yesterday, so you don’t know what day it is.” Hearing Hua Jian’s question, Hua Xinrui slapped her palm.
“Today is just the beginning of the month, Miss Hua Jian. If you want to know the exact date, I can bring you the calendar I’m using.”
The calendars here didn’t require cultivators to flip pages. Placed there, they would automatically advance the date according to the passage of time.
As long as the surrounding spirit energy environment was stable, it could keep running.
This wasn’t exactly high-tech. Almost any cultivator could buy one, and even mortals could save up for a month or two and purchase this kind of life gadget from shops run by cultivators in the city.
Unfortunately, Hua Jian had nothing on her now, and her understanding of the Wanhua Valley was pitifully small.
She really couldn’t find a place to buy these things.
Thinking of this, Hua Jian came up with a good idea. Since she was already out today, she would have Hua Xinrui take her to familiarize herself with the Wanhua Valley environment.
That way, she wouldn’t need to trouble anyone to guide her when going out later.
“Great! It’s my honor to guide Miss Hua Jian!” Hua Xinrui agreed excitedly. In her view, this was a good chance to get close to Hua Jian.
The Saintess’s request wasn’t a request, but a stage for her to display her own worth.
If she could successfully show the Saintess her value, then she, Hua Xinrui, could latch onto the Saintess’s leg and rise to the top!
In Hua Xinrui’s heart, Hua Jian would undoubtedly be the number one successor of the Wanhua Valley in the future.
The position of Valley Master was practically openly destined to fall on Hua Jian.
At that time, she, Hua Xinrui, would be the Valley Master’s trusted confidante. Getting a high-ranking elder position would be no problem!
And now was the perfect time for her to show her value!
Driven by beautiful expectations for the future, Hua Xinrui erupted with 120% enthusiasm and focus.
In just half a day, she took Hua Jian on a tour of the entire core area of the Wanhua Valley.
Among them were important places like the Pill Refining Pavilion and the Sacred Library Pavilion.
Hua Jian memorized these locations; she could come and look around when she had time later.
Somewhat surprising to her, the Flower Valley where her mother was under house arrest was also within the core area of the Wanhua Valley, and it was even a well-known nursery in the valley.
Even Hua Xinrui, a disciple who had just joined not long ago, knew of Hua Xinjie’s existence, and even had a very strange view of her.
“That Senior Xinjie gives off a very gentle feeling, but her gaze toward me is very cold. I don’t know what I did to upset her.”
‘She’s just indifferent to everyone in the Wanhua Valley,’ Hua Jian answered silently in her heart.
To be honest, she also couldn’t understand why her mother disliked the Wanhua Valley so much but still became a member of the Flower Valley.
It couldn’t be that she was a masochist, deliberately making herself uncomfortable, right?
“I heard she committed a huge mistake, so the Valley Master ordered her not to leave the Flower Valley even half a step. But if it really was a big mistake, why is she only under house arrest?” Hua Xinrui muttered softly.
“Oh, what’s strange about that?”
“Because the Wanhua Valley actually doesn’t have house arrest as a punishment. For Senior Xinjie to be under house arrest for such a long time, her mistake must have been huge…”
Swallowing a mouthful of saliva, Hua Xinrui seemed to recall something very scary; her pupils contracted slightly.
“Such a big mistake, shouldn’t she have been directly…”
She raised her right hand, formed it into a knife shape, and made a heavy slashing motion in front of her neck.
“Directly cut off, right!”
“There’s probably a reason we don’t know.” Hua Jian couldn’t tell Hua Xinrui that Hua Xinjie was alive because she had given birth to a daughter named Hua Jian.
If not for the Wanhua Valley thinking of using the family card to move her, Hua Xinjie would probably really have been directly disposed of, just as Hua Xinrui said.
“Why are you so scared? Cold sweat is beading on your forehead.”
“When I first arrived, I saw senior fellow disciples punishing a traitor. That person was found to have stolen sect pills and sold them at low prices to people from Tianmomen…”
Recalling the long-lasting wails and screams from the execution pillar that day, Hua Xinrui dared not have any other schemes.
“We’re in the valley now. Going in that direction, we can leave this valley and reach the places where the outer sect disciples live and cultivate.”
Hua Xinrui pointed in a direction and explained.
The Wanhua Valley naturally also divided into core members and peripheral members.
Core members were the disciples with the surname Hua, the true foundation of the Wanhua Valley.
The quality of those peripheral members was much lower. Many had only taken up cultivation later, or even came solely for the Wanhua Valley’s secret cultivation techniques.
To this, the Wanhua Valley welcomed all comers. Expendables, after all, the more the better.
“At the boundary inside and outside the valley, several execution pillars are erected. Those who violate the valley’s laws are tied to the pillars for punishment. The most terrifying among them is the Heart-Eating Punishment.”
Hua Xinrui gestured with her hands, trying hard to describe the terrifying scene to Hua Jian.
“So many terrifying vines grow out from the execution pillar, little by little slashing open the flesh and blood, cutting people down to just a skeleton. In the end, they even eat the sinner’s heart, making the punished person die in agony!”
This name made Hua Jian think of the Heart-Eating Vine. It was the Wanhua Valley’s method for controlling disciples with the surname Hua.
Now it seemed that the outer sect disciples didn’t even get to enjoy this treatment.
They could only be eaten by the Heart-Eating Vine on the pillar, not one-on-one with a master.
“I see… Aren’t you afraid of being eaten too?” Hua Jian didn’t understand why Hua Xinrui, knowing the cruelty of the Wanhua Valley, would still join here.
It wasn’t that Hua Xinrui had no way back; she could sense that Hua Xinrui approved of the Wanhua Valley’s practices and had a high sense of identity with the sect.
In other words, Hua Xinrui was a die-hard loyalist of the Wanhua Valley, but she clearly had not grown up in the Wanhua Valley.
“You have to be cruel to traitors, right? And although it looks terrifying, as long as I don’t betray the Wanhua Valley, it’s fine!” Hua Xinrui chuckled. “Senior Xin Yuan told me that if I cultivate diligently, even someone like me with poor talent can become a great expert like the Ling Emperor or Spirit Lord!”
‘Well, looks like she’s been gaslit by the Flower Queen Sister,’ Hua Jian stopped talking. Since Hua Xinrui was happy staying, there was no need to ruin her mood.
She couldn’t even manage herself well. Besides, who knew if staying here was a good thing for Hua Xinrui? She wasn’t the type of saint who liked to act out of misplaced kindness.
If she took Hua Xinrui out of the Wanhua Valley, maybe the child would even resent her. What was the point?
“Your talent is not bad either. You’re already a Ling Wang at such a young age.” Hua Jian glanced at Hua Xinrui; this girl was now also a Ling Wang.
It’s just that her aura was even more unsteady than Xia Hui’s. One look and it was clear she had broken through not long ago.
“I can’t compare to Miss Hua Jian! You’re the true great genius! Over the years, many people have doubted your strength. Now that you’re out, you must teach them a lesson!”
“Oh… Huh?” Hua Jian responded before realizing something was off.
‘Why would she need to teach them a lesson?’