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

A city located by the river.

The city is now in a state of panic.

After the members of several sects who were purged fled to this place, Bai Mo Efeng also came here.

The manhunt began after the Lingchun Banquet and has continued for a year and a half.

But the chase itself wasn't actually that serious.

Rather than an angry act of eradication, it's more like a cat toying with and tormenting a mouse.

Since Yan An was kept by E Feng's side, he was naturally here as well.

But he was unwilling to participate in the hunt.

I prefer to stay outside the city.

They kept company with birds and animals on the nearby hilltops.

They would only return to the city before nightfall.

Yan An knew that there were eyes watching him from the shadows, sent by E Feng.

On several occasions, he either swayed or managed to shake off the members of the demonic sect who were watching him, trying to go further and further away in order to test E Feng.

He then discovered that no matter which way he went—whether by boat or land, by light footwork or horseback, whether heading towards bustling places or deep into the mountains and forests—he would suddenly sense E Feng's presence on the same day, within a period of no more than twelve hours. This meant that he would be taken back.

Therefore, Yan An suspected that E Feng had placed something on him that could track and locate him.

He just couldn't detect it.

You can't exactly cut open every inch of your body to examine it, can you?

Each time Efeng found Yan'an, he would take him sightseeing on the way back to where he was.

Yan An became increasingly certain of one thing: this manhunt, which was expected to last for several years, was actually not important to E Feng; it felt like something he was doing casually.

So why did E Feng have to do it himself when he could have just had a disciple from the sect do it?

There must be another reason.

On several occasions, Yan An was coerced by E Feng and forced to watch E Feng kill people.

The Heavenly Demon True Technique's outward manifestations are truly terrifying...

That intense sense of terror made him feel as if he had returned to his childhood.

At the same time, those who were killed and those who were still alive looked at E Feng with immense fear, including Yan An beside E Feng.

Yan An astutely discovered that after each such event, his cultivation level would experience a very slight improvement.

He began to have doubts...

The constant instilling of fear in people, akin to facing an extraterrestrial demon, is perhaps the reason why cultivating the Heavenly Demon True Technique can lead to breakthroughs to the sixteenth level and even higher levels.

That's why E Feng's cruelty—his indifference towards others—was so intense.

He was a true ruthless killer.

Having discovered this possibility, Yan An did everything in his power to refuse to appear in such a scene again.

He wanted to kill E Feng, but he never wanted to become like E Feng.

However, his fear of Efeng only deepened once again.

……

Wangjiang Tower, top floor.

The space here is extremely spacious and open, with almost no obstructions on any side.

Looking out from here, you can see the vast rivers.

But Yan An no longer had the relaxed feeling he had when he traveled around with Guan Xian in his previous life.

No matter how beautiful and magnificent the scenery was, it could not move him.

After descending from Wangjiang Tower, Yan An inadvertently spotted a pair of somewhat familiar eyes across the street. He also noticed that the owner of those eyes had a moon-white ring on her hand.

The man was disheveled and dressed in rags; he looked like a beggar, mingling among groups of three or five people.

When he looked at the other person, the other person was staring intently at him.

But that's not surprising.

It's normal and reasonable that everyone around Yan An was staring at him the moment he appeared.

Yan An did not show any abnormality.

He looked away and continued walking casually as usual.

A bird flew down in front of him, and when he raised his hand, the bird landed on his arm.

I stroked the bird's feathers and released it into the air.

Yan An sensed the Hidden Demon Sect disciples who had been watching him from the shadows.

Suddenly I looked in that direction.

Yan An smiled slightly and said, "I know you've been here all along. Come out and let me see what you look like."

The person in the shadows hesitated for only two seconds before licking their lips and revealing themselves impatiently.

Even knowing that doing this would result in the cult leader slapping him...

But he longed to see Yan'an.

I long to get up close and personal with Yan An.

Besides... to die beneath a peony is to be romantic even as a ghost!

This person thought to himself, "With such beauty as the Holy Son, it would be a waste for whoever he was given to, even if it were the cult leader."

If that's the case, why can't he have some desires for it?

Naturally, this person had completely ignored the bird from before and would never have noticed which direction it was flying in.

This diverted the other party's attention.

Yan An immediately stopped smiling and dismissed the other party with a single sentence.

……

It was nearly dusk.

Yan An put on a mask and entered a gambling den.

These gamblers, even if the sky were to fall, would continue gambling. Even E Feng's arrival in this town couldn't make them think of stopping.

There were many people here, and Yan An shook off the people who were staring at him.

He left through a hidden door in the gambling den.

With nothing to do, besides meditating and cultivating, he would ride some birds and beasts.

People will be wary of others.

However, they don't really guard against small animals passing by.

Especially sparrows, rats, wild cats, and stray dogs...

Therefore, he also knew about the secret doors that only a very few people in the gambling den knew about.

Soon, the bird from before flew over, circled twice above Yan An's head, and then flew off to another location.

Yan An entered a dilapidated and deserted courtyard.

What I saw was a person who had tidied himself up fairly well, no longer the beggar he had been during the day, except that the moon-white ring was still in his hand.

Yan An removed his mask.

The person then removed the disguise from their face.

The real face that was revealed was Han Tianshuo.

"It's you." Yan An looked at him. "Why is Young Master here? What was the reason for your appearance earlier...?"

Han Tianshuo smiled bitterly, "Holy Son. I am no longer the young master of the manor, so there's no need to address me as such. I am currently being hunted down by Zhaoyue Manor, and I had no choice but to change my name and appearance, fleeing for several months before I finally managed to escape their pursuit..."

Yan An looked surprised and worried.

He was indeed surprised, but at this moment he was thinking that even though Han Tianshuo had been on the run for several months, apart from his inevitably somewhat haggard appearance, he still had a radiant spirit and his eyes were still bright when he looked at him.

Han Tianshuo gripped the ring tightly: "I shouldn't have come, but I really wanted to see the Holy Son again... Now so many people want to know about the Holy Son, and I was fortunate enough to find out some information, so I made a special trip here."

Upon hearing this, Yan An suddenly asked, "How old are you now?"

Although Han Tianshuo was puzzled, he honestly replied, "I'm twenty this year, not even twenty-one yet."

She's not even 21 yet, she's a year older than me.

Yan An glanced at the cannon fodder plot.

In the cannon fodder storyline, Han Tianshuo at this time should still be the young master of Zhaoyue Manor.

It will be at least another six months before he is hunted down by his own senior and junior brothers and sisters, falls off a cliff but survives, and has the extraordinary opportunity to fight against or even kill E Feng and the other two in the future.

But what's happening now is clearly different from the cannon fodder scenario.

After all, Han Tianshuo is currently being hunted down by the entire Zhaoyue Manor.

The cannon fodder plot only involves events that occur from Chu Chen'an's perspective; even when the male lead is mentioned, there won't be any detailed information.

For example, Yan An didn't know why Han Tianshuo was being hunted down by his fellow disciples.

Yan An feigned concern, "What exactly happened?"

Han Tianshuo's expression couldn't help but reveal a hint of gloom. "I always thought that my parents had entrusted their children to Xie Shihong, but a year ago, I discovered that my parents were actually killed by Xie Shihong."

Zhaoyue Manor and the Hidden Demon Sect are indeed quite different.

Most members of the Hidden Demon Sect know that they were captured or picked up by the sect. Some of them had lost their parents or relatives. The sect did not hide this fact. However, perhaps because they were too young and had little memory of their past, or perhaps because the sect's disciples often had to undergo selection, the cruel experiences made them indifferent to past feelings. They cared more about the present and often treated others with even crueler methods.

"I was reluctant to suspect Xie Shihong so easily, but I soon discovered some evidence..." Han Tianshuo recalled, "Half a year ago, my senior brother and junior sister got engaged and held a grand wedding banquet in the manor. I was feeling depressed at the time and didn't know what to do. After drinking a cup of wine, I saw that Xie Shihong was extremely happy and even got drunk. I walked alone to a certain place and suddenly lost all reason. I decided to kill Xie Shihong at this moment."

"I caught up with Xie Shihong and slashed down with my sword, only then did I come to my senses from that sudden impulse..."

"At this moment, the disciples of the manor all jumped out from the shadows and began to chase and kill me."

"I fled Zhaoyue Manor..."

In fact, he had already suffered a near-fatal injury before he escaped, but he still managed to survive.

Along the way, there were several times when he thought he was going to die, but in the end he did not die.

He could feel that his body always seemed to be able to break through some kind of limit.

Perhaps even if God doesn't take him away, He just wants him to continue living well and doing what he wants to do.

He should have gone far away, waited out the limelight, and then talked about other things, whether it was revenge or the Holy Son.

However, he was unwilling to accept it.

He still thought that he should at least come and see the Holy Son one more time.