Soon, Bennett-Clark both jumped off the vehicle one after another. As soon as they landed, Samuel Bennett took off running straight toward the woods by the roadside, already unfastening his pants as he ran.

Henry Clark burst out laughing at the sight of the other’s back, shouldering his trident and following at a leisurely pace. Seeing Brother Bennett in such a sorry state, he suddenly felt much less humiliated than before.

Though he said he’d keep watch, in reality Henry Clark didn’t stand very close—first, there was no need, and second, even if he stood several yards away, his mind made him feel as if he could still smell the stench.

Just as he was waiting for Samuel Bennett to finish, suddenly, a figure stumbled out from the woods on the other side of the road and fell flat on the ground. Perhaps she was already exhausted from running, for after falling she didn’t even make a sound, just lay there gasping for breath.

Henry Clark took a closer look and saw it was a woman, about twenty years old, dressed like a village girl. She wasn’t exactly striking, but she did have a bit of charm.

As Henry Clark hesitated over whether to go help her up, unexpectedly, a few seconds later, two more figures burst out of the woods behind the village girl—this time, two men in blue shirts and black pants, each wielding a steel blade.

“Hmph... trying to run, are you!” One of them, seeing the village girl lying on the ground, immediately flashed a vicious grin. He strode forward in a few quick steps, reaching out to grab the woman by the hair.

“Hold it!” At that moment, Henry Clark had already crossed over from the other side of the road and rushed to the scene.

He stood tall, trident in hand, and shouted angrily, looking quite imposing.

“In broad daylight, under the open sky, what do you think you’re doing to a defenseless woman?” Henry Clark deliberately raised his voice, mainly to let the distant Samuel Bennett hear him. Even if Samuel Bennett didn’t, if any passersby heard, it would give him more confidence.

“Huh?” The two men with steel blades were just ordinary thugs. Being shouted at by Henry Clark like that, they actually felt a bit intimidated.

Looking up, they saw a young man of about seventeen or eighteen, with four eyebrows and a strange weapon in hand. Their first reaction was... this kid is no ordinary person.

Anyone with some experience in the martial world knows that those who use rare and unusual weapons are almost never weak.

It’s just like how people learning basketball start with the basics of dribbling and passing; those learning weapons usually begin with common ones like sabers, spears, staffs, and sticks. Only after mastering the basics do they move on to special weapons.

“Kid, I advise you not to meddle in other people’s business.” After a brief standoff, one of the thugs delivered the classic line, full of thug bravado: “We’re from ‘Zouma Village’—you’d better not mess with us.”

“Zouma Village?” Henry Clark repeated the three words he’d never heard before, sneering, “Heh... bandits, huh?”

At this point, he could already see from the expressions of the two men that they were a bit shaken, so he seized the opportunity to bluff.

“Is there anyone around Hangzhou that Henry Clark can’t handle?” Henry Clark boasted shamelessly. “Speak! Who’s your chief? How many people in your gang? Where do you operate? Tell me everything! Want to mess with me? You’re all dead!”

===Chapter 7 Nan Yuan Village===

Although Henry Clark wasn’t much of a fighter, his aura had the air of a seasoned underworld boss, completely out of proportion to his age and strength.

His wild words actually stunned the two thugs.

Plus, this was a main road, and it wasn’t dark yet—carriages and travelers could pass by at any time. The two bandits, being the cowards they were, hesitated and lost their nerve.

“Fine... fine, Henry Clark, we’ll meet again! Don’t regret this!” Thugs are thugs—talking tough while already backing away, afraid the other side might get angry and chase after them.

As soon as the words left their mouths, the two bandits retreated into the woods and quickly turned to run.

Seeing them leave, Henry Clark also breathed a sigh of relief. Still, he didn’t immediately go help the woman lying on the ground, because he wasn’t sure if the whole scene had been staged by the two men and the woman to trick him—if this was some kind of scam or setup, and as soon as he got close, the woman pulled out a poisoned needle or a handful of lime powder, he’d be in trouble.

“Miss... are you all right?” Henry Clark cautiously stood more than a meter away and asked.

“Th-thank you, young hero, for saving me.” By now, the woman had mostly caught her breath and slowly sat up from the ground.

At this moment, Samuel Bennett also hurried out from the woods on the other side of the road.

He looked around, quickly spotted what was happening with Henry Clark, and strode over, asking, “Brother Clark, not bad! I just stepped away for five minutes to take a dump, and you couldn’t wait to start abducting village girls?”

“Get lost! I was being a hero!” Henry Clark knew the other was joking and replied with his nose in the air, “You have no idea how brave I was just now. I showed a bit of kingly aura and scared off two burly thugs.”