Fairies Are Fierce

Chapter 2: Blood Splatters Five Steps

"Ah--"

"Run, run quickly..."

Chaos erupted on the riverbank.

Zuo Lingquan rushed out of the tavern with his sword, only to see houses collapsing one after another in the distance. Pedestrians on the street scattered and fled, while women and children seeking shelter from the rain cried out in fear.

Under the pouring rain, a nameless beast measuring nearly twenty feet in length suddenly charged out from the riverbank.

The beast resembled a crocodile, covered in black scales. Its short and sturdy limbs churned on the street, crashing through the houses in the pouring rain with unstoppable force.

An old constable ran towards the riverbank with a knife in hand, shouting loudly, trying to attract the attention of the beast and allow the people to evacuate.

"Beast, look here..."

Unfortunately, the giant beast was not lured away. Instead, it pounced directly at the bewildered young constable.

The young constable was already frightened out of his wits, swinging his sword haphazardly. In an instant, the beast caught up to him and bit his legs.

"Ah--"

A scream echoed through the streets and alleys.

The constables from the nearby neighborhood, armed with wooden sticks and hammers, wanted to beat and drive away the beast, but at this moment, how could they get close?

"Old Zhang, Old Zhang!"

"Quick, save him..."

Old Zhang was just an ordinary martial artist. Where could he find a way to save someone? He relied solely on his ferocity, leaping onto the back of the giant beast, grabbing onto its scales with his left hand, and fiercely hacking at its back with his knife.

Clang clang--

The scales on the beast's back were as hard as iron, and sparks flew when the blade struck, showing no signs of damage.

"Poke its eyes! Poke its eyes!"

Seeing this, Old Zhang could only anxiously shout at the young constable.

The young constable's leg bones were shattered, but the desperate will to survive that erupted from him drove him to crazily stab at the beast's crimson eyes with his knife.

Squelch--

The knife went in, but that was all.

Blood flowed profusely from the beast's left eye, completely igniting its ferocity.

With just a swing of its head, the beast tore the young constable into two pieces, and the sound of his agonizing screams spread throughout the entire dock market.

The beast noticed that Old Zhang was lying on its back, so it immediately tilted to the left, preparing to roll over and crush the insignificant bug on its back.

Seeing the enormous body about to crush him, Old Zhang was powerless to escape. He could only muster his last bit of strength, pressing the tip of his knife against the scales, trying to use the beast's weight to stab into its flesh.

With his life hanging by a thread, the neighborhood constable and his men desperately threw their clubs at the beast, but it was all in vain.

Just as the situation was at its most critical, Zuo Lingquan ran madly to the scene, lifting his hands and exerting all his strength to support the scales on the beast's back.

Bang--

The rolling behemoth came to a sudden stop, half-lying on the street.

Fang Zheng and Lifu, who dared not approach, were stunned when they saw the scene. They looked closely and discovered that a drenched young man had appeared next to the behemoth, seemingly out of nowhere.

Under the pouring rain, the young man's forehead veins bulged as he raised his hands and forcefully supported the behemoth's back.

Crack, crack--

The behemoth, weighing more than a thousand jin, rolled over and crushed the young man's boots, shattering the blue bricks beneath the rainwater.

But the young man's arms remained as steady as pillars, not a single tremor.

"Such great strength..."

"Old Zhang, come out quickly!"

In shock, Fang Zheng hurriedly called out to Old Zhang, the veteran catcher trapped beneath the monstrous creature.

Old Zhang, though pinned down by the massive beast, managed to crawl out from underneath when he felt someone lending a hand.

Zuo Lingquan clenched his teeth, quickly retreated upon seeing the situation, and leaped onto the nearby wall. He urgently asked:

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

Old Zhang didn't know either. The Zhan Gang Dao in his hand was forged by a high-ranking expert using a secret method commissioned by the imperial court. The blade was poisonous, and once it pierced the eyes, the victim would either die or lose all combat ability. How could this ferocious beast become more fearless as it was beaten down?

The situation was urgent, leaving no time for communication.

The injured beast, encountering resistance, rammed into the commoners holding sticks on the side of the street.

With only ordinary weapons at his waist, Zuo Lingquan was powerless against this giant crocodile. Seeing the ferocious beast wreaking havoc on the street, he stomped on the eaves and leaped into the air, loudly declaring:

"Give me the knife."

Without any hesitation, Old Zhang threw his sword into the air towards Zuo Lingquan. Then, he lunged forward, embracing the beast's right leg.

The beast sensed something entangling its leg and turned its head, biting down on Old Zhang.

In that instant, Zuo Lingquan caught the official sword in mid-air, held the hilt with both hands, and accurately stabbed it into the beast's remaining right eye.

Puff--

The hilt went straight into the eye socket and then twisted forcefully.

After a slight sound, the beast's body stiffened, tilted to the side, and fell heavily to the ground.

Zuo Lingquan landed firmly two zhang away, staring fixedly at the beast.

The few laborers who had risked their lives to help were already pale with fear. Seeing that the beast's eyes were motionless with a sword stuck in them, they sat directly on the ground, their eyes filled with lingering terror.

Amidst the pouring rain and thunder, the beast lay on the blood-stained street, seemingly dead.

After a long while, the surrounding people cautiously poked their heads out.

Tang Jingrong had been watching the whole process from a distance near the stone bridge, and she was truly amazed by Zuo Lingquan's martial arts and courage. Now, she carefully walked out from the stone bridge and called out from a distance:

"Young master, Old Zhang, are you both alright?"

Zuo Lingquan didn't dare to be careless. He unsheathed the three-foot green blade from his waist and waved his hand, signaling the surrounding people to step back.

Old Zhang sat in the rain for a while before coming back to his senses. He quickly got up and ran to Zuo Lingquan's side.

"Young hero, you have great martial arts skills. This ferocious beast must be dead," Old Zhang said.

Seeing this, Zuo Lingquan secretly breathed a sigh of relief and turned his gaze to the half body on the street.

Old Zhang also realized what had happened and quickly ran towards the young constable.

Unfortunately, the young constable had been torn apart from the waist down, almost cut in half. He had no strength left to even cry out in pain, lying on the ground with his throat filled with blood foam. Hoarsely, he asked, "Boss... did I stab it in the eye?"

"You stabbed it, you stabbed it! Well done, you're a real man!" Old Zhang replied.

Old Zhang didn't show any fear in the previous situation, but now he panicked. He knelt on the ground, trying to press down on the bloody lower half of the body with his hands, but it had no effect.

The young constable stared with eyes full of the desire to survive. In his helpless convulsions, his eyes gradually lost focus.

Unable to bear watching, Zuo Lingquan walked to the head of the ferocious beast and raised his hand to pull out the young constable's sword.

This sword, like Old Zhang's beheading sword, had a dark blue quenched blade and appeared to be normal.

After examining it for a moment, Zuo Lingquan turned his head and asked, "Why didn't this sword work?"

Kneeling on the ground with blood all over his hands, Old Zhang saw that the young constable's breath was fading away and said with a mournful voice, "Yes, it stabbed into the eye socket, so deep, how could it have no effect? At most, it would have severed two legs..."

Seeing this, Zuo Lingquan frowned, knowing that he wouldn't get any answers by asking further questions, so he didn't say anything more.

The incident caused a commotion and news spread quickly. Soon, reinforcements arrived swiftly, and a large group of constables ran to the scene, dispersing the onlookers.

Zuo Lingquan looked up and saw a carriage parked on the street behind the constable team. A man in brocade clothing got off the carriage.

The magistrate of Linhe Lane looked up and saw that it was Cui Shanying, an official from the Imperial Astronomical Bureau. He quickly ran up and bowed, saying, "Master Cui, you finally arrived. Just now, an unknown ferocious beast appeared here. Thanks to this young hero's intervention, it was killed."

Cui Shanying glanced at the corpse of the ferocious beast on the ground, nodded slightly, and instructed the constables who had followed him, "As long as the casualties are not significant, search the area and disperse if there are no other ferocious beasts. Bring the body back, I will study it and report to the ministry in a few days."

After finishing his words, Cui Shanying turned and got on the carriage, preparing to leave.

Just as a constable had died a tragic death, Zuo Lingquan was dissatisfied with Cui Shanying's indifferent attitude. He was about to speak up, but Old Zhang, who was beside him, ran up first and stopped him, asking, "Master Cui, the beheading sword in Xiao Wang's hand, the new sword you just sent, it stabbed into the beast's eye, but there was no reaction at all. What's going on?"

Cui Shanying paused and furrowed his brow. "Where is the sword?" he asked.

Zuo Lingquan walked up and raised the beheading sword in his hand. "It's this one," he said.

Cui Shanying glanced at the blade and said, "It is indeed the Zhan Gang Dao that the sect sent last month. It couldn't be useless. It must have been misused by someone new."

As she spoke, she prepared to take the knife back.

Zuo Lingquan heard the term "sect" and knew that Cui Shanying was a member of the cultivation sect "Qihuang Valley."

Qihuang Valley was located outside the capital city, and the Valley Master held the position of National Teacher, with a superior status in the Great Dan Dynasty.

Zuo Lingquan admired the path of cultivation and had a certain admiration for the experts of Qihuang Valley. However, Cui Shanying's words and actions truly displeased him.

Instead of returning the knife, Zuo Lingquan raised his hand slightly, leaving Cui Shanying empty-handed.

"If the knife pierced the eye socket and went two feet into the flesh, and that's considered a misplacement, then what would be considered accurate?" he said.

His actions and tone were clearly disrespectful.

But the fact was right in front of them, and the people in the neighborhood also chimed in:

"What this young man said makes sense. That little constable was very brave. Even though he was bitten on the leg, he still managed to stab the eye. Why wouldn't that be considered accurate?"

Cui Shanying's face turned slightly ugly. With many people around, it was not appropriate to speak harshly and drive him away, so she could only look at Zuo Lingquan and ask, "Who are you?"

Zuo Lingquan could tell that Cui Shanying was trying to divert the topic from the knife. His voice turned cold, "What does it matter who I am? I'm asking why this knife didn't work."

Old Zhang, seeing Zuo Lingquan's aggressive tone, was afraid that his youthful enthusiasm would cause trouble, so he quickly intervened, "Young hero, this is a matter for our apprehension office. Thank you for your help this time..."

Cui Shanying was dissatisfied with Zuo Lingquan's attitude and raised her hand to stop Old Zhang's words. She said coldly, "What do you know, you little yellow-haired brat? Before this knife was sent, I personally inspected it. There was absolutely no problem. It must have been misused..."

Crack!

Cui Shanying's words were cut off as a flash of light appeared in the pouring rain.

Over a dozen constables nearby sensed that something was wrong but couldn't stop it in time.

Zuo Lingquan was five steps away. He stomped heavily on the ground, and his figure shot up, arriving in front of Cui Shanying in the blink of an eye. The single knife in his hand moved like a swimming dragon, piercing through the raindrops and aiming directly at Cui Shanying's waist and abdomen.

Cui Shanying's face changed drastically, and she took half a step back, reaching for the hilt of her sword at her waist.

Clang!

The long sword was unsheathed, shattering the curtain of rain.

This sword was extremely powerful, causing the constables around to retreat several steps in shock.

Unfortunately, Zuo Lingquan had already retreated five steps away, unharmed. The single knife in his hand pointed diagonally at the street.

On the bright blade, droplets of blood slid down and fell onto the old blue stone tiles...

——

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(End of this chapter)