This scoundrel is a bit of a swordsman.

"Young master, young master, wake up, we've arrived."

The shouts startled Xiao Xingchen, who was covered in sweat.

"I'm not dead? Where am I?"

"Young master, are you having a nightmare? We've arrived outside the capital. It's so lively here, and there are so many people gathered over there."

A pageboy dressed as a servant caught Xiao Xingchen's eye. Wasn't this Xiao Jianren's personal attendant when he entered the capital? Could it be...?

"What year is it now?"

"The twenty-third year of the Great Qian Dynasty! Young master, what's wrong?" the page asked anxiously.

"The twenty-third year of the Great Qian Dynasty?" Xiao Xingchen quickly examined his body, and a ridiculous thought made him smile bitterly.

Time travel + rebirth?

Whether he accepts it or not, the fact is that he has returned to Xiao Jianren's fifteen-year-old self, the day he was summoned to the capital.

He smiled wryly and lifted the carriage curtain; in the distance, a massive city gate stood tall.

Yong'an City, the capital of the Great Qian Kingdom

"Truly, life is but a fleeting dream, how many autumns have passed in this world?" Xiao Xingchen couldn't help but sigh.

Now that he's been reborn, he certainly won't repeat the same mistakes. He will absolutely never set foot in Yong'an City again. He's not as naive as Xiao Jianren, who actually had a sword implanted in his body.

He couldn't help but tremble whenever he thought about it; it was too cruel.

As for Emperor Wu's edict, screw it, it's none of my business.

Implicate the Xiao family? That's out of the question. After transmigrating, he'd been constantly on the run and hadn't had time to process Xiao Jianren's memories. With his rebirth, he'd finally finished processing them all.

If Xiao Xingchen initially harbored even a sliver of hatred towards Emperor Wu, he now realizes that, based on his memories, Emperor Wu had actually done more than enough. Any normal person would have chosen to annihilate the Xiao family.

As for the so-called crimes of the Xiao family, it wasn't just something Emperor Wu made up out of thin air. Any family, over time, will become filled with filth and depravity, and the Sword Immortal family is no exception.

In Xiao Jianren's memory, although he was nominally the eldest son, his true identity was merely an orphan he had taken in. It seemed that the Xiao family had long anticipated that one day the Martial Emperor would send the eldest son to the capital as a hostage.

Therefore, taking precautions, Xiao Jianren was born before the true legitimate son was even born. Although he was given the title of legitimate son, he did not have the rights of a legitimate son, and his upbringing was very difficult.

In the Xiao family, his status was even lower than that of a servant. For a period of time when he was a child, he was kept in a pigsty, where being beaten and scolded was commonplace. He was more like an animal than a human being.

Years of bullying led to Xiao Jianren's extreme personality development. After being crowned the Mountain King, he completely opened Pandora's box, becoming a villainous brat hated by both gods and men.

"Sigh, this life is really tough," Xiao Xingchen said speechlessly. All the debuffs from the protagonists in the wish-fulfillment novels he'd read in his past life had been stacked to the max by this guy. Defying fate? Anyway, Xiao Xingchen hadn't even considered that. He knew himself perfectly well; just surviving was enough. Defying fate was something no human could do.

With these lessons learned, if Xiao Xingchen were to repeat the same mistakes, he would truly be letting down the more than twenty years of modern education he had received.

Understanding and integrating into this world is what he wants to achieve most right now. Since he doesn't have a system to rely on, he'll live a low-key life—provided, of course, that he escapes Yong'an City.

However, to successfully escape, certain steps are required.

"Ahem, that pageboy... what's your name again?"

Xiao Xingchen was immediately embarrassed. This Xiao Jianren was truly elusive; he had even forgotten about him, the page who had served him since childhood.

"Young master, what's wrong with you? I'm Xiao Dong, you're the one who gave me this name, have you forgotten?"

"No, no, Xiao Dong, right? We're not in a hurry to get going. We've just arrived in Yong'an, why don't we enjoy the scenery first? I think that mountain over there is quite nice, let's go visit it before heading to the capital."

"Oh? But this will delay the imperial edict..." Xiao Dong said worriedly.

"It's alright. The punishment is on me, it has nothing to do with you. Let's turn around and head up Cangshan Mountain."

"Young master is truly learned and knowledgeable; he even knew this was Cangshan Mountain,"

"No problem, let's get going."

Cangshan, this is the place Xiao Xingchen chose to escape to. It won't be so easy to completely get rid of the Emperor Wu's eyes and ears. Isn't there a big tiger in Cangshan?

He decided to fake his death. In his previous life, the Crown Princess was carried away by a tiger and they couldn't find her. If he were carried away, they certainly wouldn't be able to find him either.

After all, someone like the Crown Princess would definitely go to great lengths, but what about themselves? They wouldn't risk their lives searching for a tiger for a sword immortal's offspring they'd never even met, would they?

The thought of soon shedding her identity as Xiao Jianren and being free to roam the world filled Xiao Xingchen with smugness. He decided to hold on and run away as night fell. He wasn't worried about where he would run to; with his knowledge from his previous life, surviving would be a piece of cake.

At worst, we could treat it as a wilderness survival challenge. With that in mind, the carriage slowly made its way towards Cangshan Mountain, the rolling wheels kicking up dust as it plunged headlong into the mountain.

There are many legends about Cangshan Mountain. In his previous life, after Xiao Jianren went to the capital, Chu He mentioned it repeatedly, saying that there was a white tiger in Cangshan that ate people, and warned him never to go near it.

Among the common people, there are rumors that Cangshan Mountain is not only home to a white tiger, but also to a great terror. Anyone who enters Cangshan Mountain at night will mysteriously disappear, and various booming sounds will be heard. Over time, the rumors have become more and more bizarre, and even the idea of ​​a god descending to earth has emerged. If it is not a god descending to earth, how could there be such a huge booming sound?

However, Xiao Xingchen believed that this was probably a rumor, because no one had ever seen the white tiger. Even if the Crown Princess was eaten by the white tiger, he did not see it with his own eyes. If he did not see it, how did others spread this news?

Now, upon closer reflection, he realized there was definitely something fishy about Cangshan, but none of that mattered to him. Using the White Tiger's reputation to disappear and then change his appearance was enough.

"Xiao Dong, take good care of our travel expenses. If you have the chance, use these to find a place to settle down, get married, and live a good life."

"Young master is too kind. My duty is simply to serve you."

Seeing the smile on the young pageboy's face, Xiao Xingchen felt a pang of pity. In his past life, that bastard Xiao Jianren, after being granted the title of Prince Kao Shan, had this pageboy beaten to death. The reason was simple: the pageboy knew about his shameful past.

"Okay, you handle it. Take all the travel money. If anything happens, remember to run first."

After giving some instructions, Xiao Xingchen closed his eyes to rest. He planned to shake off the pageboy and disappear into the Cangshan Mountains as night fell.

He carried a dagger and a food bag—these were the only things that could be of use to him. As for money and gold, they would be a burden to him in the desolate mountains.

Recalling his knowledge of wilderness survival from his previous life, he was grateful for his similar experience during college, which gave him a lot of confidence. What was there to be afraid of in Cangshan Mountain?