580: Chapter 580 How can a Holy Maiden debase herself like this? What will other sects think of us?

Lu Yao's heart sank abruptly.

She opened her mouth, wanting to say "I am not a member of the Hehuan Sect," but Sect Leader Qing Fengzi did not give her the chance.

He took a step forward, his voice rising an octave, echoing before the main hall and making the ears of several low-level Disciples ring: "Do you think we don't know? You sold yourself to Xu Ruyu.

You used your body to pay for the Spirit Stones; you are now Xu Ruyu's woman, a person of the Hehuan Sect.

By coming back, do you intend to cast our Taixu Sect into a state of unrighteousness?"

An uproar broke out in front of the main hall.

Disciples whispered among themselves, and Elders huddled together in discussion.

Some shook their heads, some sighed, some sneered, and some looked at Lu Yao with eyes full of contempt.

Lu Yao's face turned from white to red, and from red back to white.

Her hands were shaking, her legs were shaking, her entire being was shaking.

She wanted to explain, to say she hadn't sold herself to Xu Ruyu, to say Xu Ruyu hadn't touched her at all, to say he hadn't even spared her a second glance.

But her lips were as if frozen, unable to utter a single word.

Those words rolled around in her throat several times, finally turning into a grain of sand she couldn't swallow.

"Junior Martial Uncle, I didn't..."

Her voice was very soft, as if drifting from a great distance.

Sect Leader Qing Fengzi didn't listen at all.

His finger almost poked Lu Yao's face, spit flying onto her face: "You didn't? If you didn't, why would he waive your Spirit Stones? Why? Do you think that Xu Ruyu is running a charity?

A young girl like you, going alone to the Hehuan Sect, going alone to see that lecher, and you say you didn't? Who would believe that?"

An Elder nearby also chimed in.

"Exactly, you've completely disgraced the Taixu Sect.

As a Saintess, to commit such a degrading act, what will other Sects think of us?"

Another Elder also spoke up.

"You disregarded all sense of shame and actually sold yourself to Xu Ruyu; such a shameless act makes us ashamed to be in the same Sect as you."

"Get out, get out now! A woman who has willingly fallen into depravity should not come back to defile our Sect."

Within the Taixu Sect, those Senior Brothers and Senior Sisters who used to call her 'Saintess' one after another began to curse her, their words surging like a tide to drown her.

Those people she had called Junior Martial Uncle, Senior Martial Uncle, Senior Brother, or Junior Sister—the very people she had once risked her life to save—now stood before her, attacking her with the most vicious language.

No one spoke a word for her, no one asked "Have you suffered?", and no one even took a step closer to her.

Lu Yao stood there like a stone statue forgotten in the wilderness.

Her ears rang, and her vision darkened in waves.

She remembered the way Xu Ruyu looked at her when she was at the Hehuan Sect—clear, without any stray thoughts.

She remembered Xiao Nianyin's gaze as she sized her up—cold, but without malice.

She remembered what the Grand Elder said when he saw her out— "Young lady, your Sect Head left so abruptly. He didn't even say thank you."

She hadn't cared at the time, thinking the Sect Head was just not good with words, but now she realized it wasn't that he was bad with words; it was that he didn't care.

All they cared about was whether they could return alive; as for how she saved them, they didn't care.

As for what grievances she suffered, they didn't care.

They would even rather she died outside than have her return with the reputation of being a 'Hehuan Sect woman,' defiling their mountain gate.

Lu Yao's tears finally fell.

They weren't tears of grievance, but tears of disappointment. Like a river breaking through a dam, they could not be stopped.

She looked at those familiar faces, those she once respected, admired, and regarded as family, and suddenly felt they were strangers.

Complete strangers.

It was as if she had never known them.

"You all..." Her voice was hoarse, as if she had a mouthful of broken glass, "How can you be like this? Everything I did was to save you.

I almost sold myself to Xu Ruyu; for whom did I do all this?"

No one answered.

Some lowered their heads, some turned their faces away, but even more continued to curse.

A young Disciple rushed out from the crowd, pointing at Lu Yao's nose and shouting: "You did it to save us? You did it for yourself.

Do you think we don't know? You and Xu Ruyu have been involved with each other for a long time.

Otherwise, why would he release us?"

Lu Yao looked at that Disciple and suddenly laughed.

It wasn't a laugh of joy, but the laugh of someone who had been stabbed and was looking at their own blood on the hilt.

"Zhao Hu," she called out his name, "when you first entered the Sect, who taught you sword techniques? When you were injured by a Yao Beast, who carried you on her back for thirty miles of mountain roads to find a doctor? Now that you say such things, where is your conscience?"

The Disciple named Zhao Hu's face reddened for a moment, but he quickly regained his self-righteous expression.

"One thing has nothing to do with the other. You did me a favor, and I remember it.

But you have disgraced the Sect; those are two different things."

Lu Yao didn't look at him again.

She shifted her gaze back to Sect Leader Qing Fengzi.

"Junior Martial Uncle, tell me, what should I do?" Her voice was as calm as a pool of stagnant water. "If you drive me out, where else can I go?"

Sect Leader Qing Fengzi's face remained cold.

"That is your business. From today onwards, you are no longer a Disciple of the Taixu Sect.

Your name will be struck from the Sect register, I will have someone clean out your quarters, and your belongings... we will burn them all to ashes."

Lu Yao closed her eyes.

She remembered the day she entered the Sect, when her Master, Master Qingxu, patted her head and said with a smile: "This child has good Aptitude; with proper training, she will surely become a pillar of our Taixu Sect."

She remembered the first time she practiced the sword, when the skin on her hand was worn raw by the hilt, and her Master used ointment to rub it for her.

She remembered the day she achieved a Breakthrough to the Golden Core, when her Master gave her a Medicinal Pill, saying it was a treasure he had kept for many years.

Those memories were real, but the people before her were also real.

She couldn't tell which was real and which was fake.

She opened her eyes and gave a deep bow.

Not to Sect Leader Qing Fengzi, but to the mountain gate of the Taixu Sect.

That mountain gate she had entered and exited for twenty years; she would never enter it again.

"I'm leaving."

She said.

She turned around and walked out of the Taixu Sect's mountain gate step by step.

Behind her, the cursing continued; someone spat, and someone said "How unlucky."

No one saw her off, and no one asked her to stay.

She reached the outside of the mountain gate, paused for a moment, and looked back at the faded plaque.

The three words "Taixu Sect" were still there, but in her heart, this former Sect was already dead.

The evening wind blew, lifting her long hair.

She raised her hand to wipe away the tear stains on her face.

Flying on her sword, she took off.

She didn't know where she was going, but she knew she would never come here again.

Hehuan Sect, Ningyin Hall.

Xu Ruyu was tinkering with his new blueprints.

He had been drawing for several days, creating a bunch of things others couldn't understand.

Ballistic calculations, rifling twist rate, gunpowder ratios—all were crafts from another world.

The table was piled with parchment made of beast skin, covered in dense numbers and lines.

He was engrossed when the Grand Elder pushed the door open and entered, his expression a bit more solemn than usual, the wrinkles between his brows deepening.

"Sect Master, that Lu Yao Fairy has returned."

Xu Ruyu looked up and put down his charcoal pen.

"Returned again? What do you mean? The Taixu Sect wouldn't take her back?"

The Grand Elder didn't answer directly. After a moment of silence, he spoke slowly, his voice kept very low: "It's not that they wouldn't take her; she was driven out.

They said she is your person, Sect Master, that she is self-degrading, and that she has disgraced her Sect.

Sect Leader Qing Fengzi drove her out in front of the entire Sect.

Now she is standing outside the mountain gate, with nowhere to go."

After the Grand Elder finished speaking, he let out a long sigh.

The pen in Xu Ruyu's hand dropped onto the table, ink splashing onto his hand, but he didn't wipe it off.

He stood up, walked to the window, and looked at the light screen outside.

The light screen flowed slowly, the golden-red light reflecting on his face, flickering.

"There's actually such a Sect in this world?"

His voice was very soft, as if talking to himself.

The Grand Elder didn't respond.

He knew it wasn't a question, but an exclamation.

A moment later, Xu Ruyu said, "Let her in. I'll wait for her in Ningyin Hall."