You are not the mud, you are the brightest star in my eyes.

Qin Hao crouched down and formed a hand seal, casting a spell to cleanse the filth from Liu Ruyan's body. Then, he reached out his hand, wanting to comfort her:

"It is not your fault. You do not need to apologize to me."

Facing Qin Hao's outstretched hand, Liu Ruyan only shrank back nervously. She was a jinx. This man was the only person besides her grandparents who had ever shown her kindness; she could not drag him down with her.

Seeing Liu Ruyan's terrified and evasive demeanor, Qin Hao felt as if a cold hand had fiercely gripped his heart, squeezing it with a tight ache.

What exactly had she gone through before this to develop such bone-deep inferiority and fear?

Only now did Qin Hao realize that she was never pleading for those people. She was simply used to taking all the blame upon herself, even believing that her very existence was a mistake, a filthy stain that needed to be cleaned up.

Under long-term torment, she subconsciously believed she only deserved such treatment, becoming so desperate and numb that she lacked even the strength to feel hatred.

Qin Hao's killing intent receded like the tide, leaving only a deeper, more profound pity and resolve toward Liu Ruyan. Maintaining his half-crouching posture, he held her shoulders with both hands:

"Liu Ruyan, listen to me! You are not wrong. You have never done anything wrong!"

"It is they who are ignorant, they who are cowardly. They needed to find an excuse to cover up their own incompetence and mediocrity, so they blamed all their misfortunes on you. You were just... unfortunately chosen to be that excuse."

Hearing this, Liu Ruyan's hollow eyes shifted slightly, like an imperceptible breeze skimming over a pool of stagnant water. She stared blankly at Qin Hao, her face full of bewilderment.

It was not that she did not understand Qin Hao's words, but rather that she did not dare to believe them.

After freezing for a moment, Liu Ruyan suddenly realized: "You, you know my name?"

Qin Hao smiled gently and reached out to rub Liu Ruyan's hair: "Of course. I came here for you. Didn't you choose me to be your rented Dao Companion to come and help you?"

Rented Dao Companion? The message from that jade pendant was real; he really came. Liu Ruyan was a bit surprised, but soon, she shook her head again and resisted, moving a little further away from Qin Hao.

She lowered her head: "I am sorry, please go. I have nothing and cannot afford the rent. Besides, a person like me does not deserve to be your Dao Companion, not even a temporary one."

Hearing Liu Ruyan's reply, an unprovoked wave of anger surged in Qin Hao's heart. He pulled Liu Ruyan into his arms, cupping her face and forcing her to look at him:

"What do you mean a person like you? What is wrong with a person like you? Can you stop denying yourself before anything has even happened?"

Liu Ruyan's eyelashes drooped; she did not dare to look directly into Qin Hao's eyes at all. "I am a jinx. Nothing good will happen if you get involved with me."

"What a load of absolute bullshit!"

"I have said it before! You are not at fault at all! They are the ones who are wrong. Stop blaming yourself for all the misfortune! You have never been a jinx. In my eyes, you are the brightest star of them all!"

As he spoke, Qin Hao took out a jade hairpin from his storage bag. This was the exact hairpin he had obtained from Liu Ruyan's phantom in the Primordial Fate-Plundering Stele.

With gentle movements, Qin Hao used the hairpin to pin up Liu Ruyan's hair.

Feeling Qin Hao's almost reverent gentleness as he passed the subtly glowing jade hairpin through her messy, bitter hair, Liu Ruyan completely stiffened.

She had never been treated like this before. In the very few surviving memories that still held some warmth, her grandparents had only stroked the top of her head with rough but warm hands, or tied her hair with the simplest wooden hairpin.

As for others, pulling, beating, and smearing filth on her head were the norm.

Qin Hao's meticulous, intimate, and almost ritualistic actions felt as distant to Liu Ruyan as a dream that did not belong to her.

Liu Ruyan instinctively wanted to dodge. Her subconscious still felt that she did not deserve such treatment.

However, Qin Hao's warm palms seemed to possess a magical power that could soothe her agitation and unease. Carrying an undeniable tenderness, it made her quietly accept all of this.

Qin Hao scrutinized Liu Ruyan's face. Her peerless beauty was no longer concealed. It was a strikingly impactful beauty, neither demonic nor seductive, but purely and utterly breathtaking, carrying the fragility of melting ice and snow, and the awe-inspiring dignity of jade on the verge of shattering.

Liu Ruyan was like a piece of peerless beautiful jade abandoned in the mud and covered in dust for ten thousand years. Now, she was carefully picked up by Qin Hao, the dust wiped away to reveal the soul-stirring brilliance within.

Qin Hao could not help but reach out, rubbing his thumb against Liu Ruyan's pale but flawless cheek:

"Do not belittle yourself anymore in the future. In my eyes, all the myriad things in the world cannot compare to even a fraction of your beauty."

"Remember, your value has never existed in the evaluations of others, much less in the stigmas forced upon you. Your value lies in the fact that you are you!"

"They are all human thoughts; if objective excellence is excellence, is subjective excellence not excellence? Believe in yourself, do not give up on yourself. You can absolutely become an outstanding person."

Qin Hao's words were like a raging fire, burning down the ice prison built of fear, inferiority, and despair in Liu Ruyan's heart.

She did not know if she would become the outstanding person Qin Hao spoke of in the future, but at this moment, the warmth of his palm, the light in his eyes, the certainty in his words... were so real.

Qin Hao looked at the blank-faced girl with hollow eyes in front of him and sighed softly. It seemed that pulling her completely out of the quagmire could not be done with just a few words.

Qin Hao reached out his hand to Liu Ruyan: "Come with me."

Liu Ruyan glanced at his outstretched hand and subconsciously hid her own hands behind her back. Her hands were dirty and ugly, covered in calluses and scars. The inferiority in her bones made her afraid to take the hand Qin Hao offered.

Just as Liu Ruyan hesitated, Qin Hao had already grabbed the wrist she subconsciously wanted to hide behind her back.

Qin Hao's grip was very firm but not rough. It carried a warm current that instantly enveloped her cold skin.

Liu Ruyan trembled all over. She tilted her head up and looked at Qin Hao's extraordinarily handsome side profile. An unprecedented emotion spread in her heart. Liu Ruyan did not know what this feeling was; her cheeks were very hot, and she even felt a bit afraid to keep looking at Qin Hao.

Qin Hao led Liu Ruyan down the sacrificial altar. Glancing at the abusers who had slumped to the ground in terror, Qin Hao asked:

"How do you want to deal with these people who bullied you?"

Liu Ruyan subconsciously shook her head. She had never thought about this question at all. All along, she had played the role of someone at the mercy of others. Asking her to consider how to punish others was something she did not dare to imagine.