Emily Foster's smile froze, and she realized she had gotten herself tangled up. Faced with the sudden teasing, she didn't show any sign of displeasure. Instead, she stood up and walked toward the backyard, humming lightly:

"Young master, though not old, you sure have a lot on your mind. Looks like this elder sister misjudged you just now."

Ryan Bennett simply smiled and continued eating and drinking on his own.

Outside the window, the torrential rain beat down noisily. Emily Foster returned to the back room to prepare more food and wine, saying nothing further.

But before the wine in the pot was finished, a sudden loud crash came from outside, as if a house had collapsed—strikingly obvious in the curtain of rain.

Boom——

Emily Foster was so startled she nearly cut her finger, and hurriedly ran out from behind the curtain:

"What happened? Whose house... eh?"

The tavern was empty; the Ryan Bennett who had just been seated had already leapt out the window, leaving only his back in sight.

Before leaving, he hadn't forgotten to leave a government note on the table, with a face value of a full hundred taels.

Emily Foster's eyes lit up. She quickly tucked the banknote into her collar, then leaned out the window, intending to ask if he needed any change.

But the scene she saw made the charming young woman suddenly turn pale as a sheet...

Chapter Two: Blood Spilled Within Five Paces

"Ah—"

"Run, run quickly..."

Chaos erupted along the riverbank.

Ryan Bennett rushed out of the tavern with his sword, only to see houses in the distance collapsing one after another, pedestrians scattering in all directions, and women and children who had been sheltering from the rain screaming and crying.

In the pouring rain, a ferocious beast nearly two zhang long suddenly burst out from the riverbank.

The beast resembled a water crocodile, its body covered in black scales, with short, sturdy limbs thrashing across the street, crashing through houses in the rain, unstoppable in its rampage.

Old Constable ran toward the riverbank with his saber, shouting loudly, trying to draw the beast's attention so the townsfolk could escape:

"Beast, over here..."

Unfortunately, the giant beast was not distracted, but instead lunged straight at the stunned Young Constable.

Young Constable was already petrified with fear, waving his saber wildly, but in an instant the beast caught up and bit down on his legs.

"Ah—"

The scream echoed through the streets.

The head of the riverside ward, along with several strongmen, wielded wooden clubs and mallets, trying to drive the beast away, but at this moment, there was no way to get close.

"Old Brooks, Old Brooks!"

"Save him, hurry..."

Old Brooks was just a martial man, with no real way to save anyone. Relying solely on his ferocity, he leapt onto the beast's back, gripping a scale with his left hand and hacking at its back with his saber.

Clang, clang——

The scales on the beast's back were like cast iron, sparks flying from the blade, showing not the slightest sign of damage.

"Stab the eyes! Stab the eyes!"

Seeing this, Old Brooks could only shout anxiously to Young Constable.

Young Constable's leg bones were crushed, but the desperate will to survive in the face of death made him frantically stab at the beast's crimson eye.

Thud——

The blade went in, but that was all.

Blood gushed from the beast's left eye, completely enraging it.

With a single toss of its head, it tore Young Constable in two, his agonized screams echoing across the entire dockside market.

The beast sensed Old Constable clinging to its back and immediately rolled to the left, trying to crush the human on its back.

Seeing the massive body coming down, Old Brooks was unable to escape, and could only use the last of his strength to brace the tip of his saber against the scales, hoping the beast's weight would drive the blade into its flesh.

With life hanging by a thread, the ward head and strongmen desperately hurled their clubs at the beast, but it was useless.

At this critical moment, Ryan Bennett sprinted up, raising both hands to press with all his might against the beast's scaly back.

Bang——

The rolling beast came to an abrupt halt, slanting to lie half-sideways on the street.

The ward head and strongmen, who hadn't dared approach, were stunned. Looking closer, they saw that beside the beast, at some point, a Young Gentleman drenched from head to toe had appeared.

In the pouring rain, the Young Gentleman's forehead veins bulged as he raised both hands high, forcefully holding up the beast's back.

Crack, crack——

The beast weighed at least a thousand catties, and as it rolled down, the Young Gentleman's boots cracked the rain-soaked blue bricks beneath his feet.

But the Young Gentleman's arms were like jade pillars holding up the sky, unmoving.

"Such strength..."

"Old Brooks, get out of there!"

Shocked, the ward head hurriedly called to the Old Constable beneath the beast.

Old Brooks had been pinned by the massive creature, but not completely crushed. Realizing someone was helping, he quickly crawled out from under the beast.

Ryan Bennett gritted his teeth, and seeing this, quickly retreated, leaping onto the nearby wall and urgently asking:

"Why can't the Zhan Gang Saber kill it?"

Old Brooks didn't know either. The Zhan Gang Saber in his hand had been forged by a master at the court's request, the blade laced with poison. Stabbed through the eye, even if not dead, the beast should have lost all fighting power—so why was this one only getting fiercer?

The situation was dire, with no time to talk.

The wounded beast, seeing someone blocking its way, charged again at the townsfolk wielding clubs on the street.

Ryan Bennett only had an ordinary weapon at his waist, useless against this giant crocodile. Seeing the beast rampaging through the street, he stomped on the eaves and leapt into the air, calling out loudly:

"Give me the saber."

Old Brooks didn't hesitate for a moment, tossing his saber to the airborne Ryan Bennett, then lunged forward to grab the beast's right leg.

The beast, feeling something clinging to its leg, turned and bit at Old Brooks.