"This... Junior Sister, don't get agitated. Look at this fellow's clothing; it seems quite strange, nothing like someone from the Yunmengze area. Perhaps we should take him back to see Master?"

The man was consistently a little calmer than the girl, perhaps because he was filled with curiosity about the man before him. Such a healthy and robust man—what a sight.

"Swish..." The woman in red suddenly drew her long sword and roared, "You... you hurry up and get to your feet and come with us!"

"Hey, hey! What's with me? What exactly is wrong with me? Where is this place?" Ye Xiu was starting to feel that things were seriously amiss. Being inexplicably transported here in the first place was bad enough, now he was in this desolate environment of an unknown location.

The main thing was that these two so-called "Senior Brother and Junior Sister," who spoke fluent Mandarin, were dressed in coarse cloth and carrying long swords. "What are you two doing, filming a historical drama or something?!"

"Insolent! Stop spouting nonsense. If you wish to die, I can send you on your way. Come on!" The woman in red was clearly not one to be trifled with; she was quick to threaten violence over the slightest issue, fierce as she was.

"You want to kill me? You'll have to see if you have the ability! My strength isn't lacking either. Come on then." Ye Xiu had studied some martial arts; how could he surrender so easily? At this moment, he instantly sidestepped and delivered a side kick, sending the woman in red tumbling to the ground.

"Whoa, Junior Sister!" The man beside her was startled by the sight and immediately drew his sword, lunging towards Ye Xiu. Ye Xiu had certainly been a bit of a street punk growing up and had attempted disarming opponents barehanded before, especially today, when he felt the need to vent every bit of bottled-up emotion.

The pain of losing his sister, the regret over losing his lover, and this clichéd drama of being mistaken for a thief by two people dressed up in ancient costume after inexplicably falling off a cliff—all of it could finally be unleashed.

Ye Xiu quickly used small, shuffling steps to create space for the sword's swing. Without hesitation, he drove forward with a straight front kick, making the man land unceremoniously in a face-first sprawl.

"Hey, hey! I'll grant you two are great as extras!" Ye Xiu became instantly smug and began to lecture the man and woman before him. "Miss, look, even your Senior Brother can't protect you. You might as well come with me."

"You brute! How dare you be so rude!" The woman in red was stubbornly defiant. Gathering her strength, she scrambled up from the ground, still brandishing her sword, ready to charge at Ye Xiu again.

"No way, you don't know that the same move is useless against a Gold Saint, do you?" Ye Xiu felt he could toy with this young girl now. He stood perfectly still, waiting for her to stab him.

However, this thrust seemed slightly different in execution. The woman in red suddenly leaped into the air, using her sword like an axe, bringing it down directly aimed at his forehead.

"Whoa! Are you kidding me, jumping that high? Does she really have Qinggong?" Ye Xiu was a little shocked by the height of her jump, but his heart swelled with wicked delight. "It would be great if you were wearing a miniskirt. The higher you jump, the clearer I can see. Awesome."

The woman in red thought her change of tactic had stunned the enemy beyond measure. She inadvertently glanced at Ye Xiu's lecherous eyes and, having no idea what a "miniskirt" was, became instantly furious, yelling, "Damn you! You dare speak such obscenities to me when death is imminent! Give me your life!"

"Wait, seriously? Another move like this?" As he spoke, Ye Xiu subtly slipped his stance again with his feet, causing the woman's downward slash to miss once more. When she exposed an opening, he was about to spring up with a punch, intending to end the fight with one heavy blow, when suddenly, an elder’s voice, resonant like a great bell, boomed from behind him.

"Young hero, please show mercy."

"Young hero? Do you have to be so thorough even when acting?"

Ye Xiu froze. He had finally found a perfect opportunity to teach this foolish girl a lesson, but that single address—Young Hero—truly arrested him.

When Ye Xiu turned around, intending to see which venerable elder possessed such superb acting skills, the woman in red suddenly sprung up and delivered a kick, sending him sprawling onto the ground.

"Damn it!" Ye Xiu let out a scream. He never imagined such seemingly delicate woman could possess such immense strength. That kick was truly life-threatening.

"Woooo..." At that moment, a gust of wind swept past, and a figure darted behind Ye Xiu, grabbing him just in time, preventing his backside from making unceremonious contact with the earth.

"Hong'er, that was improper conduct!" The elder’s gaze was frightening, imbued with solemn authority. A single sentence from him quelled the fiery spirit of the woman in red. "The young hero already held back; Hong'er, you attacked when he was unprepared. There is no chivalry in that."

"But, Father..." Hong'er still felt deeply wronged. "This fellow doesn't look like a good person at all."

"Hey, Miss, get it straight! When did I ever do anything to you?" Ye Xiu could no longer hold back. "And calling him 'Father'! How archaic! Are you two really—!"

"Enough!" The elder used only two words to quell the entire scene. His voice carried an undeniable authority that no one could resist.

Looking back at Ye Xiu, he was utterly bewildered and lost in the fog.

"Young hero, are you alright? May I ask for your esteemed name?" The elder's tone softened, and he even bowed slightly toward Ye Xiu. "The young lady was exceedingly rude just now; please do not take offense."

"N-nothing... Sorry!" Ye Xiu was truly at a loss for appropriate words or gestures, so he frantically bowed back, though a prickle of unease began to creep up his spine. Young Hero my foot, why did they keep calling him that?

"Sorry?" The elder, who seemed quite learned, appeared momentarily confused by Ye Xiu's choice of word, or perhaps he discerned the turmoil in Ye Xiu's thoughts.

"Uh, my surname is Ye!" There was no need to hide his surname. Ye Xiu himself had no idea why he was given that name.

"Father... you aren't planning on inviting him into the Valley, are you?" Hong'er clearly held a strong dislike for Ye Xiu and was very reluctant to be associated with this strangely dressed individual.

"Young hero, please come into the Valley..." With that, the elder instructed the other two to follow and even graciously took Ye Xiu's satchel for him.

Along the way, no one spoke, only the birds chirped and flowers scented the air. Ye Xiu found it particularly strange that the Yunmeng Mountain scenic area had never featured such scenery before. What kind of nonsense was this?

If these inexplicable people weren't filming a prank on him, were they truly living in seclusion here? Had he actually time-traveled?

The journey wasn't short. After dense grass gave way to a winding downhill path, there were several rock caves that looked utterly uninhabited. Ye Xiu didn't think much of it and simply followed the group to the bottom of the valley. Only then did he see a narrow passage between two massive boulders. Upon those two boulders, two large characters written in traditional script had already been carved.