I traveled through the Cretaceous period and farmed with the ever-changing dog egg.

"I don't know! He suddenly begged me to let him go, so he must have something urgent to do..." In such a hurry, he must be either making an excuse to pee or using the toilet as a cover. I have to say, Lin Chaoyan is right.

"Oh, right! You can wear a veil next time, I want one too. I'm tired of wearing veils..." At this stage, a curtain should cover the whole body, but Lin Chaoyan plans to use a light veil instead. A veil that partially obscures the view will allow her to see the road ahead, so she won't be called a fool.

The three cultivators used their divine powers to investigate several nearby villages, only to discover that the underwater passages were interconnected, and the water monkey had long since disappeared.

August arrived in the blink of an eye. At midday, cicadas clung to the branches, chirping incessantly, disturbing everyone's peace. A sharp cry shattered the village's silence; a young grandson of an official in Yongcheng had fallen into the river and drowned.

This man's wife had passed away long ago, and his son and daughter-in-law had also died a couple of years ago. He and his grandson, Xiaobao, depended on each other for survival, and he regarded his grandson as his lifeblood. When the city guards arrived at the riverbank, Old Zhang was holding Xiaobao's body and wailing, his voice hoarse, like the howl of an old wolf.

Beside him, a boy hid behind his father, wiping away tears. He was the boy who had gone down to the river with Xiao Bao.

They were also sons of high-ranking officials in the city.

He sobbed as he said, "Zixing said it was too hot and dragged me to the river to swim. He wanted to go to the middle of the river, but I couldn't hold him back. After a while, I saw that only his head was sticking out of the water, bobbing up and down, so I quickly called for help. But when Uncle Tianyi pulled Zixing out, we found that he was already dead."

The young man in front of the boy was named Wang Tianyi, the Uncle Tianyi that Xiao Guo had mentioned, and his bodyguard. His face was grim as he told the crowd, "Something was pulling Young Master Zhang into the water. When I went down to rescue him, I saw something underwater that looked like a monkey, but it had webbed front paws and a hand on its tail. That hand on its tail grabbed Xiao Bao's ankle and pulled him to the bottom. It took a lot of effort to get it to let go of Xiao Bao, but by the time I got ashore, Xiao Bao had already drowned."

Upon hearing this, Master Zhang gritted his teeth and glared, turning to plunge into the river to fight the monster that had killed Xiao Bao. The crowd pulled and tugged at him, stopping him from entering.

Lin Chaoyan, wearing a cone-shaped hat, hid on a rooftop not far away and witnessed the incident unfold.

It's the nobles who will get into trouble; I refuse to believe the authorities won't step in and resolve this.

As Lin Chaoyan turned to leave, she was followed by a sharp-eyed man.

The man followed the person until they reached a bamboo grove, at which point he realized he had lost them. His expression turned serious, and he warily surveyed his surroundings.

At this moment, Lin Chaoyan was holding a bamboo stalk, standing on a branch and watching the man who had been following her. Judging from his attire, he was skilled in martial arts, and the sword at his waist indicated that he came from a wealthy and powerful family.

"Why are you following me?"

Upon hearing her voice, the man cautiously looked around, and seeing no one, he continued talking to Lin Chaoyan with a deep gaze.

"And why are you lurking around the city so suspiciously? What's the point of hiding like this?"

"Which eye of yours saw me sneaking around? As for hiding my head and tail—I'm as beautiful as an angel, and I'm afraid that someone like you might see me and have your soul stolen. That would be a sin." This guy is quite amusing, like a noob who loses a game and insists on a one-on-one match offline.

…The man remained silent for a moment, then blushed and angrily said, “You woman, you have absolutely no sense of shame…”

After saying that, he drew his sword and attacked Lin Chaoyan. Good heavens, this person was originally listening to the sound, deliberately delaying.

Above the bamboo forest, the two tumbled through the air, their figures as swift as the wind, creating a dramatic scene.

Every time he made a move, the woman not far away easily dodged it with a bamboo stick. The man became angry, his rough hands gripping the bronze sword tightly, and he put it to the ground.

A cold, indifferent voice came from the other side, "Look, you can't beat me anyway. You'd be better off going back and catching that thing. Surely you'll take action now that the nobles who died are dead!" It turned out that Lin Chaoyan was already standing on a bamboo branch on the other side, her expression quite calm and composed.

Upon hearing this, the man was greatly alarmed: "This woman's internal strength and martial arts skills are definitely superior to mine." In an instant, both shocked and annoyed, he retorted: "What do you know? Who said we didn't interfere?"

After saying that, he attacked Lin Chaoyan again with his sword. This time, Lin Chaoyan did not dodge but met the attack head-on. The bamboo branch in her hand swung faster and faster, with increasing force, forcing the man to retreat step by step.

Soon the man was panting heavily and half-kneeling on the ground. His entire arm was numb and he had completely lost feeling in it.

At this moment, the man realized that the woman in front of him was a true master of seclusion, and that she had never taken him seriously from the beginning.

"I, Chen Lian, thank you for your guidance, sir..." And it really was guidance! All the flaws in his swordsmanship had been exposed. He'd give him a good beating!

"I have a favor to ask, could you please help me catch that thing?" Chen Lian and his men were all trying to catch it, but unfortunately, it was too fast underwater, and several of his brothers were killed in the process.

"...Are you sure?" The bait has arrived; it's time to use it as bait. Lin Chaoyan, hidden behind the veil, couldn't help but smile.

"I am certain! I humbly request a wise person to lend a helping hand..."

Such a powerful expert, if he encounters that thing, will surely be able to expose it.

"Sure! But you have to be the bait to lure that thing out..." Once it comes out, I can catch it myself; once it's out of the water, anyone can kill it.

"it is good!"

Chen Lian accepted Lin Chaoyan's suggestion almost without hesitation and agreed to meet at the center of the lake that evening.

"My name is Lin Chaoyan, Lin as in forest and Chaoyan as in morning sun..." Lin Chaoyan lifted her conical hat and carefully looked at the brave man in front of her, secretly vowing in her heart that she would not let him die a heroic death.

Chen Lian stared blankly at Lin Chaoyan's face, not snapping out of his daze until she disappeared. When he finally came to his senses, his ears flushed red, and the image of that breathtakingly beautiful face kept flashing through his mind.

"This... Miss Lin is truly as beautiful as a fairy!..." After saying that, he almost wanted to find a crack in the ground to crawl into.

In the pitch-black night, the bright moon was reflected on the lake. As the boats arrived, the ripples on the water broke the tranquility.

"Sir, can the expert you mentioned really deal with that thing?" This man was Chen Lian's deputy. Because he had lost many brothers in the past, he was somewhat uneasy about this operation.

"Instead of relying on some expert, we should rely on ourselves..." Wang Tianyi, the child's bodyguard from earlier that day, interjected. Because of the child's death, he had been sent by his master to assist him.

"Everyone tie the rope around your waist, and I don't believe it can pull the boat and its people away together..." Chen Lian felt that he still had a brain, relying entirely on the woman from earlier that day.

"You guys are pretty clever, that's a good method!"

A woman's indifferent voice suddenly came from behind, causing the already slightly chilly temperature to drop even further.

Everyone turned to look at the source of the voice, and saw a stunningly beautiful woman in blue standing on the ship's roof, flanked by two men in white. One had white hair and wore a hat, obscuring his features, while the other was equally breathtakingly handsome.

The three of them, their robes fluttering, looked like immortals descending to earth.

"Miss Lin, you've arrived..."

Seeing that Lin Chaoyan had brought helpers, Chen Lian was moved to tears, and wondered if their sect only accepted good-looking disciples.

"What?! The expert the adults were talking about is actually just a little girl... Isn't this sending us to our deaths?!"

"..."

Those below had some reservations about Lin Chaoyan, who looked delicate and frail.

The three people at the bow of the ship showed more respect, after all, their ability to appear silently meant their strength was far superior to their own.

"Miss Lin, do you know what that thing is? According to those who saw it, it looked like a monkey when I was underwater." Wang Tianyi was very puzzled by the monster he had seen during the day.

After he asked that question, everyone else turned their attention to Lin Chaoyan.

"Water monkeys live in rivers or lakes with lots of silt. They usually don't attack people unless provoked, but the children they found during the day were the sixteenth. On the ankles of each corpse, you could clearly see the drag marks left by their fingers." Lin Chaoyan had heard of this creature before, but had never seen it before, and didn't even know what it looked like.

"Wasn't the person dragged away by it? How did the body get up here?" Chen Lian recalled the bodies that had been found before.

"I don't know about that. These things like to hide in deep mud and sand where no one lives. Also, there are records saying that water monkeys live in groups, so you'd better pray that it's the lone one." A group of water monkeys... With the network of waterways below, Lin Chaoyan felt that this city would be wiped out.