After being reborn as an ugly cannon fodder, my appearance stats are off the charts!

Half a month later.

A dilapidated temple on the mountain.

Yan'an was meditating in the monks' quarters at the back.

Since their escape, he and Han Tianshuo have been hiding their identities and are currently resting here temporarily.

They didn't ride horses or carriages because they didn't plan to take the official roads or go into the city much. After all, the more people there were, the more likely they were to encounter people from the Hidden Demon Sect and Zhaoyue Manor. Now, with the addition of the Heavenly Mystery Pavilion, once they attracted attention, the news would spread quickly.

In a small town, the closest to the ruined temple but still a day's walk away for an ordinary person, Han Tianshuo was buying some necessary supplies.

The thought that Yan An was waiting for him to return filled Han Tianshuo with boundless energy.

……

A group of bandits emerged from the deep mountains and forests, and as was their custom, they first stopped at a dilapidated temple to rest.

But they found people inside the temple.

The birds on the wall were chirping urgently.

Yan An had already noticed the commotion outside and slowly opened his eyes.

At the same time, the bandit leader raised his large, thick, and unusually thick hands, which were clearly the result of practicing external martial arts. He gestured for everyone to be quiet as he walked inside.

From the shadows, a middle-aged man with graying temples and many wrinkles on his face, yet still with a ruddy and radiant complexion, appeared. As soon as he appeared, he attacked the bandit leader.

The bandit leader, relying on his mastery of the Iron Palm technique, was considered to be virtually invincible in the area, but unexpectedly, he was killed on the spot in just a few moves.

Upon seeing their leader die so quickly, the rest of the men immediately scattered like birds and beasts.

The middle-aged man threw the bandit leader's body into the forest and then disappeared into the shadows.

When Yan An came out, the group of people had vanished without a trace, as if they had never been there.

There was someone in the shadows... Yan An was not surprised by this.

Although he had not sensed the other party's presence nearby before, there were only two possibilities: either the other party had only found them today, or the other party had actually followed them much earlier, but had been following from a distance and had just happened not to enter his perception range.

Furthermore, ever since Yan An got rid of the demonic incense on his body from Wu Xiang, he suspected that Han Tian Shuo might also have something that would help Xie Shi Hong track him down.

Yan An was not surprised that someone was chasing after them.

He only guessed that the other party was most likely Xie Shihong's man.

Yan An's goal was to make contact with Xie Shihong or Zhong Lijun—he couldn't possibly keep running forever.

Strangely, this person suddenly made a move today, which is tantamount to actively revealing his existence.

When Han Tianshuo returned to the temple, Yan An told him about it directly.

Han Tianshuo's heart sank.

He was afraid that the people who came were Xie Shihong and his two companions, and that Yan An would be captured again. But he quickly realized that if the people who came were Xie Shihong, they should just show themselves. Why continue to hide in the shadows?

Now, it seems as if this person in the shadows intentionally allowed themselves to be discovered.

The two of them simply went outside, looked around, and asked the other to show themselves.

That person did not continue to hide.

As soon as the middle-aged man appeared, Han Tianshuo recognized him as one of the guards in Zhaoyue Manor, surnamed Shi. Han Tianshuo had some impression of him and vaguely remembered that the man's martial arts were not outstanding in the manor. He had just mastered the Turtle Breathing Technique to its extreme, and once he hid, he would be difficult to be discovered.

"The lord of the manor does not know your whereabouts. There are only the three of us here now... Young Master, this Holy Son, you need not be wary of me."

The middle-aged man looked at Han Tianshuo and said, "My name is Shi Xin. I came here to secretly protect the young master."

Seeing that Han Tianshuo remained unmoved, Shi Xin sighed and said, "I was not originally a steward of Zhaoyue Manor..."

It turns out that Shi Xin was once a servant of the Han family.

Shi Xin was five years older than Han Tianshuo's father. He was originally arranged by Han Tianshuo's grandparents to take care of his father from a young age, learn martial arts with him, and grow up together... Unexpectedly, things changed, and the Han family later fell apart, leaving only Han Tianshuo's parents. After giving birth to Han Tianshuo, the young master, they died a few years later, and the child was taken to Zhaoyue Manor.

Shi Xin was already in his forties at the time and happened to be away from Han Tianshuo's parents. By the time he returned, everything had already been settled.

Afterwards, Shi Xin secretly inquired about the whereabouts of Han Tianshuo before following him into Zhaoyue Manor.

Han Tianshuo showed no outward expression, but his heart was filled with suspicion.

Shi Xin asked, "Where do you and the Holy Son intend to go now?"

Han Tianshuo naturally wouldn't say that he was planning to discuss with Yan An the possibility of taking a ship to the mainland overseas to avoid the sphere of influence of E Feng and the other two.

Shi Xin said in a deep voice, "Young Master, you should go to Yangcheng."

Yan An's eyes flickered upon hearing this.

Yangcheng was where he first met Han Tianshuo.

The town closest to Yangcheng is Ruiyun City, which is the venue for the Lingchun Banquet.

Shi Xin eagerly said, "The so-called divine pills circulating nowadays are all fake. Only there could be a true divine object hidden!"

He began to reminisce about the past.

Back then, Shi Xin was ten years old and had just gone to live with Han Tianshuo's father, who was only five. That same time, E Feng, Xie Shihong, and Zhong Lijun were emerging into the world. Coincidentally, Ruiyun City was also holding its once-every-fifteen-years Lingchun Banquet that year. Even more coincidentally… Han Tianshuo's grandparents were also young at the time, and their age was the same as Xie Shihong and the other two!

"Young Master, do you know why Xie Shihong and the other two have attended the Lingchun Banquet without fail all these years?"

"Some say that they were looked down upon in Ruiyun Sect, and after gaining power, they wanted to both appease their lingering resentment and humiliate and trample on Ruiyun Sect to intimidate other sects in the world." Shi Xin shook his head. "Little did they know that such speculation was unfounded, and there was a hidden secret behind it."

"This secret is known only to me in the world, apart from Xie Shihong and the other two."

Initially, Shi Xin heard about it from Han Tianshuo's parents.

It turns out that Han Tianshuo's grandparents were betrothed since they were children, and could be considered childhood sweethearts. One grew up in Yangcheng, while the other grew up in Ruiyun City.

One year, the grandparents, who were only eight years old, were led by their family members through a mountain forest at the border of Yangcheng and Ruiyun City.

Halfway there, the convoy stopped for some reason. The mischievous convoy was attracted by a small red animal by the roadside and ran into the mountains.

In the mountains, they encountered a red-haired, red-eyed man who was clearly extraordinary and appeared to be very weak, coughing incessantly.

When the red-haired, red-eyed man saw them, he suddenly asked them if they wanted to learn unparalleled martial arts, if they wanted to become the number one in the world, trample everyone under their feet, and turn the world upside down.

The grandparents were still young and had been pampered by their family since childhood. When they saw the red-haired man, they were terrified and did not understand what he was saying. Suddenly, when they heard their parents calling from behind, they instinctively ran back. After running a few steps, when they looked back, the red-haired man had disappeared.

At that time, Ruiyun Sect was still the number one sect in the world, and everyone wanted to curry favor with it.

Since Han Tianshuo's grandparents lived in Ruiyun City and Yang City, which were so close to Ruiyun Gate, they naturally had the experience of being taken to Ruiyun Gate by their parents. When they were thirteen years old, they even attended the Lingchun Banquet, although they could only sit in relatively remote seats at that time.

After the banquet, they met Xie Shihong and the other two. Although they were the same age, their fates were very different. At that time, the three of them could only be described as the lowest-level servants of Ruiyun Gate. Their lives were obviously very difficult. They were almost subject to beatings and insults, as if anyone could step on them.

These things were gradually forgotten by the grandparents.

Until they were twenty-eight years old, another Lingchun Banquet was to be held that year.

Suddenly, Xie Shihong and his two companions appeared, like gods and demons descending to earth, and together they destroyed Ruiyun Sect.

At the time, there were rumors that the three were just servants of Ruiyun Sect, but most people did not believe it. Only the grandparents saw it and immediately recalled the fragments of their memories and believed the news.

After that, the grandparents pondered deeply and remembered the incident that happened when they were eight years old.

They speculated that Xie Shihong and the other two, at such a young age and with such low status, had achieved great skill and dominated the martial arts world, must have had some extraordinary encounter.

The serendipitous encounter came from that strange red-haired, red-eyed man.

The grandparents suspected that the strange man might still be in the vicinity of Yangcheng or Ruiyun City.

They found the mountain forest where they first met the red-haired man.

But they still came up empty-handed.

Upon venturing deeper, they discovered a crevice resembling an abyss, known as the Hidden Dragon Abyss. Legend has it that two earth dragons once fought fiercely within it, causing the earth to crack open, revealing a bottomless abyss. No matter what was thrown in, it made no sound, and it was like a giant maw that devoured everything.

It was so dark down there that you couldn't see anything, and there was a poisonous mist and deathly aura in the middle. Even flying insects and beasts dared not approach. If someone tried to climb down, they would find that they were starting to lose blood and their internal energy would be sealed, making them unable to move.

Even though they were on the verge of death, they were still able to be pulled back by the chains that had been fastened to their bodies beforehand.

Those who went down unprepared and could not be pulled back were naturally fed into the abyss.

Such a perilous place could perhaps only be attempted by Xie Shihong and his two companions, but they probably never actually went down there.

After all, even if they manage to get down there alive, they might not necessarily come back alive.

In Shi Xin's view, if they had really succeeded in going down and coming out again, they probably wouldn't have needed to attend the Lingchun Banquet all these years.

The grandparents believed that the red-haired man was an extraordinary person, and if he were still alive, he would only be in an extraordinary place—only in the Hidden Dragon Abyss.

Unfortunately, that was a turbulent time.

Because of the sudden emergence of Xie Shihong and his two companions, Ruiyun Sect collapsed, plunging many forces in the martial arts world into chaos and strife.

The Han family was soon forced to flee in all directions.

Ten years later, Han Tianshuo's grandparents were killed by their enemies.

More than twenty years later, Han Tianshuo's parents also died at the hands of Xie Shihong, when Han Tianshuo was only six years old.

Shi Xin paused here, waiting for Han Tianshuo to process what he had said.

As a former servant, Shi Xin knew that the Han family's bloodline was extraordinary.

Even if they suffer severe injuries, as long as they can keep their bodies intact and have a breath left, they can continue to persevere.

Of course, even if you cut off your head, you will still die just like a normal person.

Greed was hidden deep in Shi Xin's eyes.

At this age, he increasingly believes that in this world, human life is not constant, and there is a predetermined fate.

Some people are destined to achieve great things.

Han Tianshuo's special bloodline, the extraordinary encounter that allowed him to escape from his grandparents, his background of recognizing a thief as his master, his dramatic and turbulent life from being the young master of Zhaoyue Manor to becoming a traitor to his sect who was being hunted down in the blink of an eye...

Of course, the most important piece of evidence is this holy son.

Shi Xin cautiously shifted his gaze to one side, but dared not look any further.

How could such a person be born in this world? Even if one gathered all the essence of heaven and earth into one's body, it would be impossible to create such an existence.

He feared that if he looked at the other person even once more, he would lose his composure.

Such a person... He's lived half his life, yet he's still afraid to even glance at him!

It's because he's not young anymore.

He hated it! Now, bathed in the other person's gaze, he hated it so much that he wanted to bite his own teeth off.

By a careful calculation, he was actually eighteen years younger than Xie Shihong and E Feng! But in terms of appearance, the three of them were still young and handsome, looking like they were in their early twenties, while he had already grown white hair and had a lot of wrinkles!

Holy Son, Holy Son.

Shi Xin almost burst into tears...

Such a transcendent and beautiful being should forever remain high above, floating in the clouds, looking down upon all living beings equally, without giving anyone a second glance, much less showing any favoritism towards anyone.

But the Holy Son treated Han Tianshuo differently.