134: Chapter 134 The Little Girl in Embroidered Shoes: Little brat, where did you learn this kung fu technique?

Inside the Ancient Hall of Love and Heaven, the air seemed to have frozen.

Xu Ruyu's gaze was firmly locked onto the pair of embroidered shoes that had suddenly appeared—pink silk uppers embroidered with delicate lotus patterns, the toes slightly upturned, and no larger than a palm; they looked just like the size for a six or seven-year-old girl in the mortal world.

The shoes sat quietly on the bluestone floor, no more than three feet from where he was sitting cross-legged.

There were no footsteps, no spatial fluctuations, not even a ripple of Spiritual Qi.

They were as if they had been there all along, and Xu Ruyu had simply failed to notice them before.

But Xu Ruyu knew that was impossible.

He had sat withered in this Ancient Hall of Love and Heaven for six days, and he had swept every inch of the floor with his Divine Sense no less than a hundred times. Not to mention a pair of shoes, he knew the location of every speck of dust by heart.

These shoes had just appeared.

Right at the moment he closed his eyes to regulate his breath, and that childish "Eh?" sounded in his ears.

Xu Ruyu slowly raised his head, his gaze moving upward from the embroidered shoes—

A white skirt hem embroidered with light cyan cloud patterns, the material as thin and light as smoke.

Further up, slender calves wrapped in white long stockings.

Then, he saw a face.

A... delicate, jade-like little face with picturesque features.

The Little Girl was around eight or nine years old, wearing two pigtails—though they were tied crookedly, with several stray hairs scattered across her cheeks, making her look quite messy.

Her skin was so fair it was almost translucent, her cheeks flushed with a healthy glow, and her large, black-and-white eyes were currently blinking as she stared at Xu Ruyu, her gaze full of curiosity.

She wore a white dress that reached her knees, with a pale pink silk sash tied around her waist. She was very short; even standing straight, she only reached Xu Ruyu's chest.

She was the very picture of a delicate, jade-like Little Girl from next door.

Xu Ruyu's heart skipped a beat.

This is... the "Little Girl" that Lady Qingli mentioned?

Thirteen or fourteen years old?

The one in front of him was at most eight or nine!

Could such a little thing be the big shot that Lady Qingli claimed "no one in the Hehuan Sect would dare say no to"?

Xu Ruyu's first reaction was—did Auntie Qing make a mistake?

Or... did more than one "Little Girl" live in this Ancient Hall of Love and Heaven? Was this one just the youngest among them?

While he was lost in thought, the Little Girl spoke first.

"Little brat—"

The voice was crisp and bright, like jade beads falling onto a plate, carrying the unique childishness of a child, yet also revealing an indescribable air of old-fashioned maturity:

"Where did you learn that Cultivation Technique? It seems quite fun, doesn't it?"

She tilted her head, blinked her large eyes, and a sly smile curled the corners of her mouth:

"Won't you teach me?"

Xu Ruyu was stunned.

Little... brat?

He looked down at himself—a sixteen or seventeen-year-old youth's stature; although not tall, he was certainly upright.

Then he looked up at the little thing in front of him who hadn't even reached his chest...

Who exactly is the little brat here?!

Xu Ruyu's eye twitched, and an inexplicable sense of frustration welled up in his heart.

But remembering Lady Qingli's instructions, he took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the urge to "pick this Little Girl up and ask her who the real little brat is."

Cannot be impulsive.

Auntie Qing said, find her, make her like you, and in the future, no one in the Hehuan Sect will dare say no to you.

Although the person before him didn't look like any kind of "big shot" no matter how he looked at it, but... what if?

What if she just liked to pretend to be young?

Xu Ruyu tried hard to squeeze out a gentle smile, trying to make his voice sound as friendly as possible:

"This... Little Girl, this Cultivation Technique was something I cobbled together myself, I'm afraid..."

Before he could finish, the Little Girl interrupted him.

"You cobbled it together yourself?"

She widened her eyes, her little face filled with disbelief as if to say, "Do you take me for a three-year-old?":

"Don't tell me that the battle techniques you just demonstrated, and those messy array diagrams you drew on the ground, were all cobbled together by yourself!"

The Little Girl stood with her hands on her hips; despite being a tiny tot, she struck a pose as if to say, "I've eaten more salt than you've eaten rice":

"Since when did my Hehuan Sect produce such a 'badass' Disciple like you?"

When she said the word "badass," she specifically emphasized the tone, which, paired with her childish voice, created an indescribable sense of dissonance.

Xu Ruyu opened his mouth, unsure of how to respond for a moment.

The tone and vocabulary of this Little Girl were completely unlike those of an eight or nine-year-old child.

Especially with a slightly vulgar word like "badass," hearing it come from her mouth gave an inexplicable... air of old-fashioned maturity.

"What? Can't say anything?"

Seeing him silent, the Little Girl thought he was feeling guilty and triumphantly lifted her little chin:

"I knew it! Those Cultivation Techniques and battle techniques don't look like proper methods at all! Speak, did you steal the secret transmissions of another Sect? Or..."

Her eyes rolled, and she suddenly stepped closer, tiptoeing until she was almost touching Xu Ruyu's face:

"Or are you not a Disciple of the Hehuan Sect at all, but a spy sent by another School?!"

Xu Ruyu instinctively took a half-step back and smiled bitterly:

"Little Girl, I really am a Disciple of the Hehuan Sect. My name is Xu Ruyu, and I am the new Personal Disciple accepted by the Sect Master."

"Sect Master? Which Sect Master?" The Little Girl frowned.

"Sect Leader Xiao, Xiao Nianyin."

"Xiao Nianyin?" A flash of confusion crossed the Little Girl's eyes, followed by a sudden realization, "Oh—you mean Xiao Yinzi!"

Xiao... Yinzi?

Xu Ruyu's mouth twitched again.

Xiao Nianyin, Sect Master of Hehuan Sect, Saint Realm Expert, pure and jade-like, high and unattainable—in this Little Girl's mouth, she had become "Xiao Yinzi"?

"That's not right." The Little Girl suddenly frowned again, "Although I haven't appeared for many years, I have heard that that girl, Xiao Yinzi, has always looked down on men, hasn't she?

Back then, I told her Revered Master to tell her that the harmony of Yin and Yang is the Righteous Path, and she argued with her Revered Master for three days and three nights, finally getting so angry that she smashed her Revered Master's favorite glazed cup—how could she accept a male Disciple?"

She looked Xu Ruyu up and down, her eyes full of suspicion:

"You wouldn't happen to be... lying to me, would you?"

Xu Ruyu, helpless, had no choice but to take the ice-blue jade token from his robes and hand it to the Little Girl:

"This is the Sect Masters Personal Disciple token; you may verify it, Miss."

The Little Girl took the jade token, glanced at it, and curled her lip:

"It really is Xiao Yinzi's token. When did this girl change her nature?"