He hesitated for a moment, then once again reached out his right hand and swiped through the air. A window of a different shape appeared out of thin air, following the movement of his palm. This time, however, it was no longer a knife rack inside, but a plate of sliced ham. There was even a tiny figure of a woman moving around inside. He unceremoniously brought the whole plate over, then squatted down in front of the young girl.

"Did I just time travel?"

He picked up a slice of ham with his right hand, put it in his mouth, and said this with utmost seriousness.

The girl looked confused; it was obvious she couldn't see the dragon.

"Alright, what year is it now?"

He kindly picked up another slice of ham and held it to the girl's mouth. She looked absolutely famished, and after a brief hesitation, immediately bit down.

"The... the thirty-ninth year of Kangxi."

The girl swallowed the ham and replied.

Eric Bennett fell into a moment of gloom.

This really was a case of disaster striking from the blue while sitting peacefully at home. He had only been playing games for too long, got a bit hypoxic, and fainted—only to wake up in the year 1700. This was the prime of the pockmarked emperor's reign: the Three Feudatories had been eliminated, the Zheng family dealt with, Galdan killed, even Yaksa had been fought over, and now the common people were starting to gnaw on sweet potatoes and eat bran gruel in this so-called golden age.

In such an era, am I supposed to rebel? Or rebel?

Wait a minute, did that guy just shout "Commander of the Nine Gates"?

"Is this Beijing?"

Glancing at the lump of fat on the ground with a kitchen knife stuck in its forehead, he hurriedly asked.

The girl nodded.

"Damn, run!"

Eric Bennett tossed the plate aside, grabbed the girl off the ground, and only then realized he had no idea which way to run.

"Sir, I know a place to hide!"

The girl said.

"Then what are you waiting for!"

Eric Bennett dragged her for a couple of steps, but couldn't stand her slow pace. He turned around, picked her up, and slung her over his shoulder. Under her guidance, they dashed through who knows how many muddy, stinking alleys, dodged countless patrolling Qing soldiers, and finally arrived at a ruin overgrown with wild trees and weeds, where they immediately slipped inside.

"Let's rest for a bit!"

Eric Bennett, a little out of breath, lay down on a relatively dry patch of ground. Not far away, a cute little animal stared at him with wide eyes. The girl silently knelt beside him and gently massaged his legs.

Eric Bennett glanced at his coiled-dragon bracelet, then casually swiped through the air again. The strange window appeared once more, but this time its contents had changed to a supermarket shelf. Clearly, this was a parallel space, and his right hand—or rather, the golden dragon on his right hand—could connect to this space. Whether this thing was sci-fi or fantasy, he still wasn't sure. He vaguely remembered a strange flash of light outside the window before he fainted, but he didn't know if that had been a hallucination.

He reached his right hand inside, but when his whole forearm was almost in, he couldn't go any further. Apparently, only the front half could access this ability.

He shook his head, casually grabbed two bottles of juice, opened one and handed it to the girl. Then he tried putting the bottle cap inside, and it actually went in. He gave a wry smile—well, this counted as a perk of time travel. At least he wouldn't have to worry about food and clothing anymore. He could probably grab some gold or silver from there and easily become a rich man. But the problem now was, he had just killed someone, and it might even have been a bannerman.

"What's your name?"

He asked the girl.

"My name is Little Grace."

The girl replied softly and timidly.

Very soon, Eric Bennett learned her background. Her name was Little Grace, surname Lin. Orphaned at a young age, she was sold by her uncle to the household of a middling officer of the Plain Yellow Banner to be a maid. Later, the young master—that lump of fat—wanted to take her as a concubine. She refused and ran away, only to bump into the suddenly-appearing Eric Bennett.

The situation was now clear: they had to leave Beijing as quickly as possible, or they'd be found sooner or later. A Han Chinese had killed a bannerman, and not just any bannerman, but the son of an officer from the Upper Three Banners. This was serious. The constables of Shuntian Prefecture were probably already on the move. If those who escaped exaggerated the story, even the Commander of the Nine Gates' troops might be mobilized. The pockmarked emperor was very wary of opponents of "demonic" caliber. The Qing soldiers at this time weren't completely rotten yet, and with the city being so small, how long could they really hide?

But how to get out of the city required careful planning.

By tomorrow morning, his portrait would probably be posted at every city gate, and with this little girl by his side, the fat man's family would surely have people waiting at every exit.

In short, sneaking out would be very difficult. This was Beijing's inner city; those towering walls were nearly impossible to climb, and with his meager fighting skills, there was no way he could cut a bloody path out. In short, he was truly facing mortal danger now—unless he abandoned Little Grace. But if she was caught, it would be a death sentence for her. Such a delicate young girl—he really couldn't bring himself to be that ruthless.

Thinking of this, he glanced at Little Grace again. Though a bit young, she was clearly a beauty in the making. Luckily she hadn't fallen into the fat man's hands—with her frail little body, that two-hundred-pounder would have crushed her for sure.

"Sir, are you an immortal?"

Little Grace asked shyly as she continued to massage his legs.

"No, I'm a demon."