And it was at that very instant that Ryan Bennett caught the official saber in midair, gripped the hilt with both hands as he landed, and precisely stabbed it into the giant beast’s only remaining right eye.

　　Puff—

　　The hilt sank straight into the eye socket, then twisted sharply.

　　After a faint sound, the beast’s body stiffened, then collapsed limply to the side, crashing onto the ground.

　　Ryan Bennett landed steadily two zhang away, staring intently at the ferocious beast.

　　The few laborers who had risked their lives to help were already pale with fright. Seeing that the beast had knives in both eyes and was no longer moving, they plopped down on the ground, their eyes still filled with lingering terror.

　　Torrential rain mixed with muffled thunder. The beast lay on the blood-stained street, looking dead.

　　After a long while, the surrounding townsfolk began to poke their heads out.

　　Emily Foster, who had been watching from a distance by a stone bridge, was truly shocked by Ryan Bennett’s martial skill and courage. Now, she cautiously stepped out from behind the bridge and called out from afar:

　　“Sir, Old Brooks, are you both alright?”

　　Ryan Bennett didn’t dare let his guard down. He drew the three-foot-long sword at his waist and gestured for the nearby townsfolk to stay back.

　　Old Brooks, sitting in the rainwater, took a long time to recover. He hurriedly got up and ran to Ryan Bennett’s side:

　　“Young hero, your martial skills are impressive. This beast should be well and truly dead.”

　　Seeing this, Ryan Bennett secretly breathed a sigh of relief, then turned to look at the half-torn body by the street.

　　Old Brooks also came to his senses and quickly ran toward the young constable.

　　Unfortunately, the young constable’s entire lower half had been ripped apart, nearly severed at the waist. He didn’t even have the strength to cry out, lying on the ground with barely a thread of life left. Seeing Old Brooks running over, he looked up, blood bubbling in his throat, and rasped:

　　“Chief… Chief, did I stab the eye?”

　　“You did, you did! Good job, you’re a real man!”

　　Even in that earlier situation, Old Brooks hadn’t shown any fear, but now he panicked, kneeling on the ground and trying to press down on the mangled lower body with his hands, but it was useless.

　　The young constable stared wide-eyed, desperate to survive, but as he twitched helplessly, the light in his eyes gradually faded.

　　Ryan Bennett couldn’t bear to watch any longer. He walked over to the beast’s head and pulled out the young constable’s saber.

　　This saber, like the old constable’s Zhan Gang saber, had a dark blue, quenched blade and looked unremarkable.

　　Ryan Bennett examined it for a moment, then turned his head and asked:

　　“Why didn’t this saber work?”

　　Old Brooks, kneeling on the ground with blood-covered hands, saw the young constable’s breath fading and replied mournfully:

　　“Yeah, it was stabbed right into the eye socket, stabbed so deep—how could it have no effect at all? If it worked, at most it would have broken a couple of legs…”

　　Seeing this, Ryan Bennett frowned, knowing he wouldn’t get an answer, and said no more.

　　The commotion quickly spread, and before long, reinforcements arrived. A large group of constables rushed to the street, driving away the onlookers.

　　Ryan Bennett looked up and saw that behind the constable squad was a carriage. After it stopped at the roadside, a man in brocade robes stepped down.

　　The head of Linhe Ward looked up and, seeing it was the Lingtai Official of the Imperial Astronomical Bureau, Grace Carter, hurried over and bowed:

　　“Lord Carter, you’re finally here. Just now, an unknown beast appeared here. Thanks to that young hero, it was slain.”

　　Grace Carter glanced at the beast’s corpse on the ground, nodded slightly, and instructed the constables who had come with him:

　　“As long as casualties aren’t severe, search the area. If there are no other beasts, disperse. Take the corpse back—I’ll study it and report to the department in a few days.”

　　With that, Grace Carter turned and got back into the carriage, apparently preparing to leave.

　　A constable had just died horribly, and Ryan Bennett was quite displeased with Grace Carter’s indifferent attitude. He was about to speak up, but Old Brooks ran over first to block the way and asked:

　　“Lord Carter, the Zhan Gang saber in Xiao Wang’s hand is the new one you just sent over. It was stabbed into the beast’s eye just now, but had no effect at all. What’s going on?”

　　Grace Carter stopped in his tracks and frowned:

　　“Where’s the saber?”

　　Ryan Bennett stepped forward and raised the Zhan Gang saber in his hand:

　　“This one.”

　　Grace Carter glanced at the blade. “It’s indeed the Zhan Gang saber sent by the sect last month. It shouldn’t be useless. The new guy must have missed his mark.”

　　He reached out, intending to take the saber back.

　　Hearing the word ‘sect’, Ryan Bennett realized that this Grace Carter was from the cultivation sect ‘Qihuang Valley’.

　　Qihuang Valley was just outside the capital, and its master was titled National Preceptor, holding a lofty status in the Dan Dynasty.

　　Ryan Bennett yearned for the path of cultivation and had always admired the experts of Qihuang Valley, but Grace Carter’s words and actions truly rubbed him the wrong way.

　　Ryan Bennett didn’t return the saber. Instead, he raised his hand slightly, leaving Grace Carter grasping at air:

　　“The saber was stabbed into the eye socket, more than two feet deep. If that’s considered missing, what counts as a hit?”

　　His gesture and tone were clearly disrespectful.

　　But the facts were plain to see, and the townsfolk chimed in:

　　“This young man is right. That young constable was so brave—even with his leg bitten, he still stabbed the eye. How could that be a miss?”

　　Grace Carter’s expression darkened. With so many townsfolk around, he couldn’t say anything harsh to drive them away, so he could only look at Ryan Bennett:

　　“And who are you?”

　　Ryan Bennett could tell Grace Carter was trying to dodge the issue and shift the topic away from the saber. His voice turned a bit cold:

　　“Who I am is none of your business. I’m asking why this saber was useless?”