This is a picturesque valley, with mountains and flowing rivers, lush and verdant.
In the woods are countless demonic beasts, stronger than those in other places, with the weakest being Second Grade Flying Wing Tigers.
"What is this place? How come Iâve never heard of it?"
Mo Xiaolan looked at the images in the light curtain, involuntarily glancing at Jian Yue and Qiu Zhihe, whose knowledge should be the widest.
But Jian Yue and Qiu Zhihe both shook their heads: "Iâve never seen this place."
While Liu Su was using the Mist Spirit Eye, she didnât forget to point at the light curtain and exclaim: "Look, you all!"
Only to see, amid the woods inhabited by countless demonic beasts, a little girl about five or six years old. She was wearing simple clothes made from animal skins, dirt-covered all over, and was devouring a piece of freshly cut demonic beast meat.
The demonic beast meat was flowing with fresh blood, clearly freshly killed, and not cooked, yet the little girl was gnawing on the raw meat.
From her appearance, she seemed extremely hungry.
"Is this Wei Wan?"
The little girlâs brows and eyes were very similar to Wei Wan, basically a smaller version of Wei Wan, clearly her younger self.
"Why was Wei Wan in this deserted valley as a child? Where were her parents?"
Everyone looked toward Jian Yue; she was Wei Wanâs senior sister and should have known some details.
Jian Yue shook her head and giggled: "Master, three Madams, Wei Wan entered the Zhenyang Sect at twenty; her earlier days are not known to this servant."
Then the image shifted, and little Wei Wan had already grown taller, looking about eight years old.
The valley still had only her, hunting demonic beasts daily, picking wild fruits, and had learned to start a fire to cook the meat. After eating, she bathed in a spring at night.
The little girl stood before the spring, took off her simple animal skin clothes, revealing her bare little bottom.
Qiu Zhihe immediately raised her hand to cover Qin Gengyunâs eyes, Qin Gengyun looked a bit awkward and glared at Liu Su.
Liu Su shouted: "Hey, son-in-law, why blame me? I have already managed to extract these images from Wei Wanâs Sea of Consciousness with Restriction. Isnât that good enough?"
"Thereâs a Restriction in Wei Wanâs Sea of Consciousness?"
Everyone was startled, and as Qin Gengyun was about to ask more, the image changed again, this time showing another person.
This was a man, his age indiscernible, as his face was shrouded in darkness.
"Susu, why canât the face be seen?"
Qiu Zhihe furrowed her brow and asked.
Liu Su helplessly replied: "Miss, itâs the Restriction, thereâs nothing I can do."
At this point, the man spoke to the eight-year-old Wei Wan: "Daughter, I let you hide in the valley alone to protect you; you wouldnât blame your father, right?"
Wei Wan blinked her big eyes, looking delighted: "Of course not, Iâm just glad you came, Dad!"
The man smiled: "Good girl, once youâve grown, no one outside can hurt you anymore. Then Dad will take you out."
Mo Xiaolan slightly frowned: "Putting such a small child in a valley full of demonic beasts, is this protection?"
Qin Gengyun and Qiu Zhihe also felt something was wrong. Jian Yue chuckled: "This man is obviously deceiving Wei Wan. No wonder my junior sister always seems a bit dazed; she has grown up alone since childhood."
The image changed again, now Wei Wan was twenty years old, still in simple animal skin clothes, her long hair tied up, holding a homemade wooden sword. There was an evident heroic air to her, starkly different from her gentle and soft current demeanor.
The man, whose face was obscured by dark mist, appeared again.
"Daughter, now Iâll take you out. Remember, your lifeâs purpose is to obey your father, understood?"
"Okay, Iâll obey Dad. What do you want me to do?"
"When you go out, first enter the Zhenyang Sect and quickly become a Commanding Disciple. You must change your personality; people outside like gentle and quiet fairies."
"How do I change?"
"Dad will help you."
Then, the man took Wei Wan out of the valley to Spirit Corpse Mountain, where Wei Wan met her younger brother, Mo Sha.
The man told Wei Wan that he and Mo Sha were her closest kin, and she must protect her brother well.
Then the man began teaching Wei Wan how to become gentle.
Wei Wan started from scratch, learning the supposedly gentle demeanor of a fairy. Any mistake resulted in the manâs whip, often leaving her battered, forcing her into complete transformation.
Finally, following her fatherâs instructions, the wild child who grew up in the valley was forcibly transformed into a gentle and beautiful fairy.
Then Wei Wan went to Zhenyang Sect, quickly becoming an Inner Sect Disciple and Steward Disciple, and two years later, a Commanding Disciple.
The name of Immortal Wei from Xiyue Peak gradually spread throughout the Eastern Cultivator.
At Xiyue Peak, Wei Wan regularly followed the manâs orders, leading many loose cultivators who sought her teachings to Tang Mountain outside Zhenyang City, only to leave shortly after.
Those loose cultivators never appeared again.
Wei Wan once felt curious and even fearful, questioning the man, but was met only with whipping and scolding.
Years later, the man instructed Wei Wan to use the pretext of going on a journey, to come to Spirit Corpse Mountain, don a mask, dress in black, and act as her brother Mo Shaâs maid, to ensure his safety.
Wei Wan cherished the affection from her father and brother, but what she didnât expect was that the brother was more cruel.
Mo Sha loved capturing female cultivators and refining them into spirit corpses. The refining process was horrifying, leaving those women in unbearable pain.
Wei Wan couldnât bear it, trying to stop him, only to be whipped by Mo Sha.
Even worsening the situation, he applied poison to the God-piercing Whip, which caused the wounds to rot and never heal.
From then on, the scars on Wei Wanâs body could never heal.
And the wounds inside her heart gradually began to fester.
At the end of the light curtainâs image, Wei Wan was questioning her father about whether she was truly his daughter, then being harshly whipped.
Swish.
The light disappeared.
Liu Su was sweating profusely, panting heavily: "I canât break through the Restriction, only those were visible."
She attempted to extract all memories from Wei Wanâs Sea of Consciousness, to ascertain the identity of the man who kept her captive.
But the Restriction blocked the Mist Spirit Eyeâs investigation, nearly causing it to backfire on Liu Su, forcing her to stop.
But what was seen earlier was already shocking enough.
"Wei Wan is indeed Ling!"
Mo Xiaolan gritted her teeth, angrily staring at the unconscious Wei Wan.
The thousands of lives on Cloud Bamboo Mountain, Ling is considered one of the culprits.
But thinking of her tragic past, resentment was hard to sustain.
Qin Gengyun furrowed his brows: "So, itâs still uncertain if Wei Wan was the one who opened the Cloud Bamboo Array?"
Jian Yue raised an eyebrow, squatted down, and lifted Wei Wanâs chin with her hand: "Second junior sister, I never knew your life was this tragic, huhuhuhu, Iâm so happy!"
Qiu Zhihe was silent for a moment, suddenly grabbing Wei Wanâs hand and pulling up her sleeve.
"Wow?!"
Liu Su covered her mouth in shock, Mo Xiaolanâs expression was horrified, even Jian Yue widened her eyes.
Only to see that the slender arm was covered with terrifying whip scars, the originally fair arm now seemed to be full of crawling creatures, terrifying and hideous.