[Vajra Temple, an Expelled Disciple]

The man's face was gaunt, his eye sockets deeply sunken. Perhaps because he had not seen sunlight for a long time, his complexion was terribly pale.

Though his appearance was almost unrecognizable, that haggard face still bore features strikingly similar to Pavilion Master Yang's.

They could not possibly be twins. Seeing the state he was in, some answers were already ready to leap out.

Clearly, this man was the true master of the Golden Rainbow Martial Arts School, Yang Jinhong.

As for the "Pavilion Master Yang" whose behavior Shen Xiu had found strange, who knew what sort of person he was or what method he had used to disguise himself as Pavilion Master Yang before infiltrating Taixi City.

At a time when Taixi City was hunting the Crimson Fire Bandits with unprecedented force, he had still dared to lurk alone in the city. This fellow truly had the audacity to wrap the heavens in his palm.

Regarding Yang Jinhong, the master of their martial arts school, Shen Xiu had made countless guesses. For instance, perhaps he had cultivated some demonic art and dragged these people away to refine them with it.

At most, he had thought Yang Jinhong might have colluded with the Crimson Fire Bandits. Never had he imagined a scene like this.

The sound of Shen Xiu setting down his bowl and chopsticks apparently woke the sleeping man. His limbs twitched instinctively before he slowly raised his head, as though sensing something.

Seeing Shen Xiu still standing nearby and catching sight of that unfamiliar face, he froze slightly. A dry, sand-choked voice rasped from his throat.

"Cough, cough... You've come to send me on my way, have you... I just wonder, young man, why would someone so fair choose to become a thief..."

Seeing that the other party had taken him for an accomplice of the Crimson Fire Bandits, Shen Xiu was not surprised. "May I ask whether you are Yang Jinhong, master of the Golden Rainbow Martial Arts School?"

The man gave a dry cough, painfully tugging his lips into a sneer. "Haven't you always known? Why ask a question when you already know the answer?"

"I came from outside the stronghold. I am a disciple of the Golden Rainbow Martial Arts School," Shen Xiu said in a low voice, directly revealing his identity.

His words made Yang Jinhong freeze. At first, he found it impossible to believe. He abruptly lifted his head, disbelief blazing in his eyes.

But then he felt it was too absurd to be true, and his gaze gradually dimmed again.

"Since you can't get the martial art on me, you're trying a different trick now..."

Ever since he had been imprisoned in Crimson Fire Stronghold, they had tried every possible method to pry the martial art from him—threats, temptations, savage beatings, brutal torture.

Using this method now could indeed be considered another route.

Seeing that Yang Jinhong did not seem to believe him, Shen Xiu was not surprised.

After thinking for a moment, he said, "A few days ago, our Pavilion Master Yang mobilized most of the elite disciples in the school and planned to set out at the hour of the tiger to attack Crimson Fire Stronghold. I got separated from the group and stumbled in here by accident."

Yang Jinhong was stunned upon hearing this, his eyes fixed intently on Shen Xiu's face.

He seemed to be judging whether Shen Xiu's words were true.

Yet Shen Xiu did not care whether Yang Jinhong believed him. He lightly exerted force with one hand and snapped open the refined iron shackles around Yang Jinhong with his bare hands.

"I don't have time to stay here. They are already on their way here under that fake Yang Jinhong's lead. I need to find a way to warn them. As for you, Pavilion Master Yang, you'll have to fend for yourself!"

The chains on the wooden rack fell to the ground with a clatter. Yang Jinhong sat there speechless, staring blankly at his suddenly freed hands and feet.

This sudden freedom made everything feel like a dream, as though it could not possibly be real.

The events of the past surged into his heart. Thinking of them all, his expression turned bleak, and grief overwhelmed him.

His face instantly flushed red, veins bulging across his forehead. With a savage expression, he slammed a fist into the ground. "That Wang Yuehu deserves to die, deserves to die! He actually ruined the foundation I built over so many years!"

"Wang Yuehu?"

"That Pavilion Master Yang who disguised himself as me is the Second Boss among Crimson Fire Stronghold's Dragon, Tiger, and Leopard. That brat excels at disguises and poison. Back then, I fell into his trap!"

At the mention of this man, Yang Jinhong's face twisted with fury, and he bit down especially hard on the words "Second Boss."

Remembering the inhuman suffering he had endured for so long, he wished he could eat Wang Yuehu's flesh and swallow his bones.

"Little brother, since you are a disciple of my martial arts school, could you do me a favor now?"

"What favor?"

"If it is something within my power, I can do it. But if you want me to help you take revenge, forget it." After considering it, Shen Xiu spoke frankly.

Yang Long, the Boss of the Crimson Fire Bandits, was a Fourth Realm Martial Cultivator of the Gui Cang Realm.

And Wang Yuehu, the fake school master who had replaced Yang Jinhong, might also possess Fourth Realm Return to Hiding cultivation.

At Fourth Realm Return to Hiding, one's five internal organs were nourished by vital energy, forming protective membranes that greatly increased the resilience and recovery ability of the internal organs.

With two such powerful Fourth Realm Martial Cultivators together, not to mention the Crimson Fire Bandits in the stronghold swarming like hornets, he would have to be out of his mind to charge in.

"It's nothing major. Just help me pull out a few nails from my body."

As he spoke, Yang Jinhong removed his shirt, revealing a body covered in wounds. More than a dozen gleaming black nails had been driven directly into his chest, abdomen, and back.

Because his body rejected the foreign objects, the edges of the wounds could never heal. They were covered in dark-red blood scabs, layer upon layer of fresh blood seeping over them, making the sight especially terrifying.

Even the pipa bones at both shoulders had been pierced by long nails that extended backward and pinned him to the solid ground.

Such an incomparably cruel method left Shen Xiu utterly aghast. He could not help raising his head to look at him.

It was hard to imagine that within that thin, bony body, drifting like duckweed in the wind, lay such unyielding strength of will.

"To keep me from escaping, Yang Long pierced my pipa bones, shattered my Dantian and meridians, and sealed all my cultivation."

As Shen Xiu pulled the nails from his body one by one, Yang Jinhong explained bit by bit.

The agony of the nails being pulled tugged at the corners of his mouth, yet after the fury in his voice had faded, he spoke calmly, as though those miserable, inhuman experiences had not happened to him at all.

Just as Shen Xiu finished pulling out every nail and was preparing to take him away along the route he had entered from, Yang Jinhong suddenly called out to him.

"You're Little Brother Shen, right? Leave first. I have some things I need to do." Leaning against the wall, Yang Jinhong gave Shen Xiu a faint smile.

Shen Xiu frowned. His pipa bones had been pierced, his cultivation destroyed. He was no different from an ordinary person now—was he still going to act on impulse?

"Do you know why Yang Long imprisoned me like this?" Yang Jinhong suddenly asked out of nowhere.

Shen Xiu considered it. "The Seven Luminaries Gate Breaking Saber on you!"

Yang Jinhong shook his head. Rather than explain directly, he gave a bleak smile.

"I have another identity: an expelled disciple of Yunzhou's foremost sect, Vajra Temple."

"I also carry a cultivation art..."

"Its grade is Dao Grade."

His tone was calm, but the words struck like thunder in their ears.