The Past of Li Hongdou

But Li Hongdou’s adoptive parents had always believed that she wasn’t a monster—she was merely deformed, like someone born with a disability.

So they moved to another village. To avoid being criticized again, they could only disguise Li Hongdou.

For example, in every photograph from her childhood, she wore a hat that covered the space between her brows.

She always had bangs as well, concealing the same area.

As she grew older, Li Hongdou gradually learned to control the four eyes between her brows.

Whenever she had no other choice, she would usually keep all four eyes closed.

But she also knew that she would always be different from everyone else.

Later, she was discovered by the Environmental Sanitation Office. There, she learned about her race.

Even so, she remained deeply grateful to her adoptive parents and her older brother. If they hadn’t taken her in back then, Li Hongdou might have died long ago.

Her parents, in particular, had never regarded her as a monster. But in their later years, they did ask why Li Hongdou had stopped aging after reaching adulthood.

That was when Li Hongdou realized she had made a mistake.

The so-called martial artists, the Inner World and Outer World—it all seemed far too complicated. She hadn’t wanted to tell her family, lest they worry.

Afterward, she learned this formation, which gradually made her appearance grow older.

After seeing her parents off, she still had her older brother.

Li Hongdou remembered it very clearly. When her brother was around ten years old, he had told people at the entrance of the village that his sister had six eyes, and their parents had beaten him severely.

After that, her brother never mentioned the matter in front of outsiders again.

Even on his deathbed, he had still been concerned about Li Hongdou finding a husband.

The son and daughter her brother left behind had also done quite well with Li Hongdou’s help.

Li Hongdou had grown accustomed to this appearance as well. After experiencing the deaths of one family member after another, she felt as though her own mindset had aged into that of an old woman.

So she simply kept the formation covering her body.

Xu Mu nodded inwardly as he listened. Li Hongdou’s life had been fairly fortunate, to say the least.

Compared with the painful experiences he had heard about before, hers was much better. She had several family members who truly loved her.

“Senior Hongdou, your family sounds wonderful,” Lin Ruoshi said after listening, wiping away her tears.

“They were indeed the people closest to me in this world. After they passed away, I regretted it somewhat. If I had known, I would have told them about martial artists. With the help of heavenly treasures, perhaps they could have lived for several more decades.”

Li Hongdou sighed softly.

“Hongdou, I hope you can pull yourself together. Ever since your family passed away, your heart has grown old, and you’ve had no motivation to do anything. If you lived in the Inner World, you’d still be at the age when people date and fall in love.”

Hu Qingyun smiled as he spoke.

Xu Mu nodded slightly. That was indeed the case. Because she had lived in an ordinary family and watched her parents and relatives pass away one after another, she had instinctively come to feel old herself.

The environment one lived in was incredibly important.

Take Shui Shu of the Water Spirit Clan, for example. Despite being so old, she still relied on her beauty to make the simps pursuing her spend money.

Compared with her, the Li Hongdou before them was even younger and more beautiful.

“When my six eyes open, my strength will surge, and I’ll also gain access to the special abilities of our race. Believe me—even a ninth-tier expert would have to think twice before trying to kill me.”

Li Hongdou stood up and walked over to Xu Mu. “Can I go with you now?”

“Of course.”

Xu Mu looked at Li Hongdou’s face. At first, he had found it extremely difficult to get used to, but after looking at her a few more times, he realized he could accept it.

People with unusual tastes—or those who had grown tired of conventional beauty—might even prefer a face like Li Hongdou’s.

The fact that Hat Bro had already taken her into his harem was enough to show that he didn’t care about appearances.

“Good. In that case, let’s set off now.”

Li Hongdou placed a hand against the space between her brows, then used a localized formation to seal away her eyes.

“Senior Hu, Ruoshi, the three of us are heading back.”

Xu Mu addressed them.

“Be careful on the way,” Lin Ruoshi said with a slight nod.

“Be careful, especially you, Xu Mu. Your life is worth a great deal of money,” Hu Qingyun said with a smile.

“Don’t worry.”

Xu Mu waved dismissively.

…

The three of them passed through the junction between the Inner and Outer Worlds and returned to the Inner World.

After leaving the ruins, Chen Xuan glanced back and asked, “Senior, what do we usually do with a junction like this after it’s discovered?”

“We immediately send top-tier formation masters to inscribe formations in the Outer World area. Then we station people there to keep watch. Transfer formations are also inscribed all around the area so that, if anything happens, other experts nearby can be transferred over as quickly as possible.”

Li Hongdou explained.

Chen Xuan nodded. “I see.”

Xu Mu took out his phone and checked the map. They needed to head west, and they would reach a town along the way.

If there were flying vehicles there, they could shorten their travel time even further.

“Let’s go. It’ll take a little over two hours to reach a town.”

Xu Mu pointed in a direction.

“I’ll take you there.”

Li Hongdou grabbed Xu Mu and Chen Xuan by the shoulders and flew off into the distance with them.

After traveling for roughly an hour and a half, they saw a town in the distance.

It wasn’t very large, and it was about the same size as an ordinary village.

According to the map, the area was under the control of a hybrid organization.

Xu Mu spread out his perception, which was just about enough to cover the entire town.

“Hm?”

His gaze suddenly locked onto one particular spot. In an inn, he had unexpectedly spotted Tian Yunchu.

Xia Jiang was staying in the room next door.

He didn’t see Dorothea. It seemed that after the two sides had fought over the treasure, they had gone their separate ways.

“Brother Mu, what’s wrong?”

Chen Xuan looked at Xu Mu.

Xu Mu took out his phone and opened the map. Then he asked, “Look at the map. There’s a branch of the Celestial Clan not far from this address. Do you think we should make use of them?”

Chen Xuan and Li Hongdou looked at the phone screen at the same time. To reach their destination from the town, they would have to pass through the Celestial Clan’s territory. They would only need to make a slight detour to the left, which would hardly cost them any time.

“That makes sense. If we really run into a ninth-tier guardian, there’s a high chance we’ll be in danger,” Chen Xuan said thoughtfully. “Last time, if that woman hadn’t happened to be weakened, we might have died.”

“What do you think, Senior Hongdou?”

Xu Mu looked at her.

“I’ll follow your lead,” Li Hongdou said indifferently. Unless something happened that she considered unreasonable, she would usually offer no objections.

“Good.”

Xu Mu led them toward the inn where Tian Yunchu was staying.

The moment they stepped inside, Li Hongdou frowned. “Be careful. There’s an expert here.”

“It should be someone from the Celestial Clan.”

As Xu Mu spoke, he noticed Xia Jiang opening the door of his room and standing by the railing on the second floor.

“Senior, let’s talk.”

Xu Mu waved at him.

When Xia Jiang saw Xu Mu beneath his black cloak, he walked down the stairs and approached them.

“What do you want?”

“The Battlefield of the Gods. I wonder if Senior might be interested?”

Xu Mu gave a mischievous grin.