Chen Hao stood with wide-eyed astonishment, only to see that the one who had dragged him into this alley was a young girl he had never met before.

The girl appeared to be around sixteen or seventeen years old, with bright eyes, white teeth, and a petite and adorable figure. Unlike most people living here, her skin was fair, and her face lacked the redness caused by sun and wind.

"Miss, do we know each other?" Chen Hao asked the girl, looking bewildered.

The girl's bright, pure eyes suddenly widened, and she pressed her lips together and shook her head, explaining, "You don't know me, but I know you! Weren't you the strange person in exotic clothes who was taken away by the soldiers just now?"

Chen Hao's face showed embarrassment as he nodded in admission, thinking to himself, how do I resemble a strange person? After a pause, he asked, "Then, miss, what are you planning to do by sneakily bringing me here?"

Suddenly, the girl's face turned wary, she let go of Chen Hao's hand and took a step back, her expression tense, "You're not a lecher, are you?"

"Ah?" Chen Hao was dumbfounded and murmured helplessly with a grimace, "It was you who brought me into this alley, so if anyone's planning something indecent, shouldn't it be you?"

The girl's brows tightened, and she scrutinized Chen Hao with a judging look. After a moment, she came closer to Chen Hao, grabbed his arm, and said urgently, "Come home with me!"

"Home!" Chen Hao was stunned, thinking that people from this world inside a painting were really too open, weren't they?

Without waiting for Chen Hao to agree, the girl started to pull on his hand and ran towards the deeper part of the alley.

A quarter of an hour later, they arrived in front of a house built with thick clay.

"This is my home," the girl said.

As they reached the doorway, Chen Hao suddenly let go of the girl's hand, thinking that although this was just a world within a painting, no matter what, he must remain pure and faithful to Yuqiao. If Yuqiao found out about this, she might kill him. He certainly needed to maintain his restraint.

"Miss, I'm not the type of person you think I am, and I don't have any money either, so you should look for someone else!" Chen Hao said awkwardly to the girl, "Moreover, miss, you're so young, why degrade yourself, making yourself seem dishonorable?"

The girl's face turned red with anger as she shouted, "That type of person! Money! Degrading oneself! Dishonorable!"

As she spoke, her breathing grew heavier and her face turned from blushing red to a steely blue. Stamping her foot down hard, she lifted her right hand and twisted Chen Hao's left ear while reprimanding him angrily, "You big lecher, what nonsense are you talking about? I've always been clean and chaste, what do you take me for!"

"Ah!" Chen Hao was taken aback. "Well, if that's the case, why did you rush to bring me to your home?"

The girl huffed, kicked her right leg viciously, then pushed Chen Hao into the clay house with all her might as she urged in a whispered rush, "Go inside and you'll see."

Inside the clay house, it was sparsely furnished and somewhat dim.

After pushing Chen Hao toward a stool, the girl crossed her arms and commanded, "Sit down quickly!"

"Ah!" Chen Hao scratched his head, and despite feeling somewhat helpless, he obediently sat down, wondering if she intended to give him a foot massage.

After settling down, the girl still couldn't help but slap Chen Hao's shoulder, scolding him harshly, "You jerk, I'm clearly pure and untainted, yet you see me as that…"

The girl's face turned grim, and she stopped speaking.

"Miss, what's your name? You still haven't told me why you brought me here," Chen Hao asked the girl, still puzzled.

In an instant, the girl's pupils contracted, and she said in a heavy tone, "Today, when you met the City Lord at the main building, did he mention anything about the Sandrock Demon to you?"

Chen Hao nodded.

The girl shook her head and said, "Whatever you do, don't go to the Sandrock Demon!"

"Why?" Chen Hao countered.

"Going there is akin to seeking death!" the girl explained, head bowed low.

Chen Hao was left speechless.

After a moment of silence, the girl lifted her gaze to Chen Hao, saying solemnly, "I know you're not from this world. I also know that you're here to seek the Sandrock Demon, to retrieve something important."

Chen Hao's eyes suddenly widened, and he shook his head repeatedly, explaining, "I didn't come here to find the Sandrock Demon, let alone know what that important thing you're talking about is."

"Then why have you come?"

"For a person!" Chen Hao said, crestfallen, "I am waiting for her to come find me here; if she doesn't, I'll eventually stay here forever."

Seeing Chen Hao speak so emotionally, and not seeming to lie, the girl's eyes sparked with intensity, and she sighed, "Could it really be that you didn't come for that thing?"

"What thing?" Chen Hao asked in confusion, "By the way, how do you know I don't belong to this world?"

"Because my father, like you, is not from this world either!" the girl explained with a distant look in her eyes as she watched Chen Hao.

Chen Hao was dumbstruck.

Then, the girl told Chen Hao her surname was Lin, her given name Huashan, and her father was Lin Mo. Over five hundred years ago, her father Lin Mo came to this so-called painting-like world from the Netherworld, wanting to defeat the Sandrock Demon to obtain something important. Alas, the Sandrock Demon was too powerful, and Lin Mo was no match for it, unable to defeat the demon and thus forced to remain in this world within the painting.

Nineteen years ago, Lin Mo came to Yanluo City and was warmly hosted by the City Lord, Liu Xuan. After Liu Xuan's persuasion, Lin Mo decided to settle down in Yanluo City.

Later, seeing no hope in defeating the Sandrock Demon, after two years, Lin Mo took Liu Xuan's advice and married Mrs. Ren, Huashan's mother. Before long, they had Huashan and from that point forward, he resolved to stay with his wife and daughter.

Who would have known that when Huashan turned thirteen, which was three years ago, Lin Mo went out hunting one day, and Liu Xuan suddenly barged into their home with his men, took Huashan and Mrs. Ren, and used them to threaten Lin Mo into defeating the Sandrock Demon to retrieve that important object. To save his wife and daughter, Lin Mo had no choice but to seek out the Sandrock Demon once again.

After that, Lin Mo never returned, and Mrs. Ren passed away last year in sorrow. Not long after, for some unknown reason, Liu Xuan, who had planned to take Huashan as his concubine, inexplicably released her but ordered that she was forbidden to leave the city.

Having recounted her family's tragic past, Lin Huashan was on the verge of tears.

After a long silence, just as Chen Hao was about to step forward to console Lin Huashan, he suddenly sensed a strong aura of Yin Qi drawing near.

"Who's there?" Chen Hao exclaimed in surprise and immediately activated his Nether Vision Technique, only to see a middle-aged Yin Soul with a cold expression standing before him.

The Yin Soul exuded a heavy presence of Yin Qi, indicating profound spiritual power. Judging from the affectionate gaze he cast upon Huashan, he was likely her birth father—Lin Mo, who, like Chen Hao, came from the so-called real world.

"Shh!" Lin Mo raised his finger to his lips, signaling to Chen Hao.

"What's the matter?" Lin Huashan asked, looking towards Chen Hao with tearful eyes.

Chen Hao blinked at Lin Mo's Yin Soul and explained, "Nothing, just a hallucination!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Chen Hao caught a whiff of an intensely familiar blade aura. Following the scent, his attention once again settled on Lin Mo.

At Lin Mo's waist, Chen Hao saw a knife.

Through the Nether Vision Technique, a second later, his gaze pierced through the scabbard and he saw what was inside.

Dazzling green light radiated, along with a strong blade aura—it was the handiwork of the Great Ancestor of the Nether King!

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