“What did you say?”

William Bolton's face immediately turned cold, and he gave Samuel Bennett a hard shove. “You little bastard, are you tired of living?!”

“Senior brother, hit him! Smash his nose!” the other young Daoists shouted loudly from the side, egging him on.

A surge of hatred suddenly flared up in Samuel Bennett's heart. Although William Bolton had beaten his predecessor, the excruciating pain in his memories was unforgettable.

William Bolton had been practicing martial arts for a month and could no longer hold back. Now that a “sparring partner” had delivered himself to the door, he could only blame himself for being so unlucky.

He let out a sinister laugh, clenched his fist, and suddenly punched at Samuel Bennett's face. The punch was extremely fierce—if it landed, the bridge of his nose would surely be broken.

The surrounding Daoist children gasped in shock, their eyes lighting up with excitement. They eagerly anticipated a repeat of the scene from over a month ago.

Samuel Bennett instinctively dodged backward—this was a footwork technique taught by Ethan Clark, just like when he stepped back to chop firewood. The movement was lightning fast. William Bolton's punch missed, and before he could react, Samuel Bennett's fist was already in front of his eyes.

‘Bang!’

The punch landed squarely on William Bolton's nose, just like Samuel Bennett splitting firewood with a precise chop. The strike was incredibly swift.

William Bolton let out a miserable scream, clutched his nose, and fell to the ground on his back, blood spurting from his nose.

Chapter 0006: The Last Straw

The other Daoist children were stunned. Suddenly, someone shouted, “Beat this bastard to death!”

Everyone began swinging their iron swords at Samuel Bennett's head. Although their swords weren’t sharpened, in a chaotic group beating, a life could still be lost.

Hot blood rushed to Samuel Bennett's head. He drew the hatchet from his lower back and, with a loud roar, swung it at the Daoist children.

‘Clang! Clang!’

Several swords in front of him were knocked away by the hatchet. Seeing Samuel Bennett's ferocious face and wild-tiger-like momentum, the Daoist children were all frightened and retreated in panic.

At this moment, a red-robed Daoist who was instructing the children in sword practice shouted angrily from afar, “Who dares to cause trouble in Xuanhu Palace? Hurry up and seize them!”

Several young Daoists who had been watching the commotion immediately rushed at Samuel Bennett.

Just at this critical moment, a gray figure dashed over, scooped up Samuel Bennett, and sprinted away.

It was Ethan Clark. He had just exchanged half a jin of salt with his iron token in the Xuanhu Palace kitchen and came back to find Samuel Bennett, only to see several Daoists coming to seize him.

He was alarmed and rushed over without hesitation.

“Senior brother, I can run by myself!” Samuel Bennett was slung over his shoulder, bouncing uncomfortably.

“Cut the nonsense, you can’t outrun them.”

Ethan Clark was familiar with the route. Like a gust of wind, he charged to the high wall at the back courtyard. Without stopping, he ran a few steps up the wall with Samuel Bennett on his shoulder. As his body rose into the air, he flicked his left hand, and the iron hook on his belt caught the edge of the wall with precision. Using the strength of one arm and the pull of the belt, he leaped up onto the top of the wall.

By now, four Daoists were only a dozen steps behind. One of them raised his hand and shot two stone pellets straight at Ethan Clark's legs.

From Ethan Clark's shoulder, Samuel Bennett saw this clearly and shouted anxiously, “There’s a sneak attack from behind…”

Before he could finish, Ethan Clark's belt had already whipped out, turning into a stick, and with a sweep to both sides, knocked the two stone pellets away.

“Nice move!” Samuel Bennett couldn’t help but cheer.

His body swayed, and Ethan Clark had already jumped down the wall. Samuel Bennett felt dizzy, and by the time he regained his senses, his feet were already on the ground.

“Run!”

Ethan Clark pulled him along, and the two of them sprinted away, disappearing into the woods in the blink of an eye.

The Daoists stood atop the wall. Seeing that they had already run into the woods, they could only curse under their breath and give up the chase.

Ethan Clark dragged Samuel Bennett for two li before finally stopping to catch his breath when he saw that the Daoists were no longer pursuing them.

“That was close! We almost got caught. Those bastards are fiercely protective of their own. If we fell into their hands, we’d be skinned alive even if we didn’t die.”

Samuel Bennett was also gasping for breath and said apologetically, “Today… I’ve dragged… dragged you into this, senior brother!”

“What are you saying? You’re my junior brother. How could I let you fall into their hands?”

Samuel Bennett was moved and gave a heartfelt thumbs-up. “Senior brother, your martial arts are truly amazing!”

Ethan Clark blushed and shook his head like a rattle-drum. “That’s only because you haven’t seen real experts. Before you came, among our master’s four disciples, my skills were just a bit better than the eldest brother’s, but far inferior to the second and third brothers. Especially the second brother—his martial arts are the best. If he were here today, we wouldn’t have had to run so miserably.”

Samuel Bennett sighed, “If only I knew martial arts, I wouldn’t have to suffer such humiliation.”

Ethan Clark laughed, “Do you think Master found you just to teach you Daoist arts? The four of us aren’t talented enough. To inherit Master’s legacy, it’s all up to you!”

The two of them walked onto a small path. Samuel Bennett's breathing finally calmed down. He suddenly thought of something worrying and asked Ethan Clark, “Will they refuse to accept our firewood from now on?”

Ethan Clark raised an eyebrow. “Don’t worry about that. They won’t break the rules over such a trivial matter. If they don’t take the firewood, I’ll just carry it to town and sell it myself—saves us from being exploited by them!”

He carefully took out a cloth bundle from his chest, inside of which was a small paper packet, wrapped in several layers.