A Shocking Dream

Qin Ruoyu listened to Yuanyuan's every word and couldn't help but realize that she was actually quite intelligent. She could clearly express her thoughts and analyze things with great reasoning. He thought to himself, this little girl usually looks innocent, but I didn't expect her to have such clear thinking and unique insights. It seems she can't be underestimated.

As he was thinking this, he had unknowingly arrived at Wuheng Palace.

There was no one outside the hall. Following Yuanyuan into the Wuheng Hall, the scene inside was not as magnificent as Qin Ruoyu had imagined. The hall was empty, with almost no decorations, only a few candlesticks placed here and there. Qin Ruoyu was full of doubts. Didn't they say...

"Brother, Wuheng Hall is where we used to punish disciples who made mistakes, so there's no need to place anything here," Yuanyuan explained as she reached a wall. Yuanyuan turned the candlestick beside her, and the stone door slowly opened, revealing a bright light.

"Brother, come in quickly."

After following Yuanyuan inside, the stone door closed, leaving only a faint candlelight illuminating the path ahead. It turned out there was a secret passageway. This little girl trusted him so much, bringing him in. Wasn't she afraid of being discovered and punished? Qin Ruoyu felt a surge of worry, but also a bit surprised by Yuanyuan's bravery and trust. Why did she trust him so unconditionally?

"Yuanyuan, these places are only known to you insiders. Aren't you afraid of being discovered and punished by bringing me in?"

"Shh." Yuanyuan made a shushing gesture, signaling Qin Ruoyu to be quiet. Qin Ruoyu understood and stopped asking questions.

After they walked for a distance, Qin Ruoyu vaguely heard voices.

Suddenly, a bright light blazed from the front. Qin Ruoyu, having just emerged from the darkness, felt a sense of discomfort. He instinctively blocked the light with his hand and closed his eyes. Just then, Yuanyuan tugged at his hand. Qin Ruoyu opened his eyes and saw that they had already blended in behind the Su Nu Sect disciples. Qin Ruoyu quickly looked around. They were now in a cave. The strong light of day filtered through several holes in the wall, making the entire cave bright. The cave was spacious, enough to accommodate over a hundred people.

The cave was so high that Qin Ruoyu couldn't see the top when he looked up. It was as if the entire mountain had been hollowed out. A bright light hole in the wall was even fenced, allowing a panoramic view of the scenery inside and outside. Qin Ruoyu was deeply amazed. He wondered how much energy and time had gone into hollowing out the entire mountain to achieve the result he saw.

In front of them lay an unconscious man. Looking at his clothing, Qin Ruoyu felt it was quite familiar, as if he had seen him somewhere before, but for a moment he couldn't place it. Then, Qin Ruoyu saw a familiar figure enter from another entrance. It was Kankan. She held a sword, her expression cold and her gaze wandering, as if searching for something.

"Sister, sister!" Yuanyuan raised her hand and called out to Kankan. Yuanyuan's shouting alerted the Su Nu disciples present to Qin Ruoyu's presence, and everyone's eyes turned to him. Qin Ruoyu had expected a strong reaction, as he was the only man present. However, the reality was not what he expected. The disciples simply stared at him without any particular reaction. What was going on? Why didn't they react at all? Qin Ruoyu was deeply puzzled by the Su Nu disciples' indifference.

Kankan came over with a sword in her hand. She was a little surprised when she saw Qin Ruoyu. Then she looked at Yuanyuan in a scolding tone, "Ayuan, why did you bring him here?" Obviously, Kankan was not aware that Yuanyuan brought Qin Ruoyu here.

"My uncle-master asked me to bring him here, otherwise I wouldn't dare to come here with my identity. Sister, who is that up there? How did the senior sister catch him? Tell me quickly." Yuanyuan approached Kankan, wanting to hear her talk about what was happening outside.

Watching the two converse, Qin Ruoyu suddenly remembered what Yuanyuan had said this morning: she and her sister couldn't be seen on the training grounds. But today, Du Yingmeng had asked Kankan to escort Gu Liangze down the mountain. Yuanyuan hadn't seemed to be carrying a sword the entire time she'd been with him, and she couldn't be here either. Could it be that her identity was different from Kankan's?

"These people are so evil! They can't find the entrance and they're actually trying to set the mountain on fire. What's the difference between them and bandits?" Yuanyuan's words interrupted Qin Ruoyu's thoughts. Setting fire to the mountain is an act that violates the imperial law. How dare they be so bold? Qin Ruoyu couldn't help but feel a surge of anger in his heart.

"He's almost awake," a voice echoed from the crowd. At that moment, a sword-wielding woman emerged from the cave entrance. She was as beautiful as a peach, radiating an unparalleled elegance. Her features were delicate, her eyes gleaming like stars, and her gaze seemed to penetrate a person's heart.

"Big brother, that's Wen Ruqing, the eldest senior sister of our Su Nu sect. She is very good at martial arts and is not inferior to our master at all." Yuanyuan introduced excitedly.

"Kan-Kan." Wen Ruqing glanced at the crowd as she spoke, her gaze resting on the man. Kan-Kan stepped out of the crowd and approached.

"Yuanyuan, is your sister's identity different from yours?" Qin Ruoyu asked after being puzzled for a long time.

"My sister passed the assessment and has become a disciple of the Plum Blossom Sect, while I'm still a disciple of the Begonia Sect." This was a fact within their sect, but Yuanyuan didn't elaborate. Qin Ruoyu, an outsider, didn't feel comfortable asking any more questions. However, it seemed that the Plum Blossom Sect was the most prominent of their sects.

"Who are you? Why are you arresting me?" After waking up, the man saw everyone and was wary of danger, so he asked.

"Do I need to tell you why we arrested you? Don't you know better than us?" Wen Ruqing looked at the man closely with sharp eyes.

"You...you..." The man looked flustered, and as he surveyed his surroundings, he was surprised to see only women. As if realizing something, he calmed down. He slowly stood up, brushed off the dirt, and with his hands behind his back, he looked at the crowd with a haughty air. "You women, if you have the decency to, let me go. Otherwise, as soon as my master steps foot through your mountain gate, I'll take you down the mountain one by one and sell you all to brothels."

"Pa!" Before the man could finish his words, a slap hit him hard in the face, and the sound echoed in the cave.

"Hiss!" The slap was brutal. Qin Ruoyu watched the man's left cheek rapidly redden, leaving five distinct slap marks. The man was stunned by the blow, his hands covering his aching face as he stared at Wen Ruqing in disbelief. He pointed at Wen Ruqing with a trembling finger and angrily said, "Don't hit someone in the face. Didn't your master teach you that? Why are you..." His hands trembled as he spoke, clearly furious.

"The slap I gave you was not a big deal. This slap was to let you know what it means to respect others. What's wrong with being a woman? Isn't your mother also a woman?" Wen Ruqing has always been a person who would rather use his hands than his mouth. If he could kill him, slapping him would be considered a bargain for him.

The man covered his face, his eyes downcast, as if he had suffered a great injustice after being slapped. His lips moved slightly, as if he wanted to speak but hesitated, wanting to say something but not daring to.

Wen Ruqing scrutinized the man with a sharp gaze. Her anger surged when he spoke offensively. Her brow furrowed, and with a flick of her wrist, she drew her sword with lightning speed. The blade gleamed coldly in the dim light of the cave. She pointed it directly at the man, her voice as cold as an icy blade. "Stop pretending! Which sect are you from? How many people have you brought with you?" She drew her sword and pointed it at him, demanding, "Stop pretending! Which sect are you from? How many people have you brought with you?"

"I... I'm a disciple of the Seven Stars Sect. Our leader only sent us here to check out the excitement, and he didn't bring many people with him." With the sharp sword pointed directly at him, the man confessed, fearing he would die in the next second. The Seven Stars Sect, primarily focused on feng shui, metaphysics, astrology, and divination, was not a prominent sect in the martial arts world, nor did it have many scholars or literati within its ranks. They were simply a bunch of evildoers.