This Beast-Tamer is a Little Strange

Chapter 867: Chapter 867: Foreign Shores

Kain and Serena ducked into the nearest alley they could find, hearts still pounding from the shock. One moment, they were deep underwater facing a Demigod turtle; the next, they were spat onto a crowded dock under a blazing sun. Fishermen shouted, gulls screamed, and the smell of salt, sweat, and freshly caught fish filled the air. It was chaos—and they stood out like sore thumbs.

Kain grabbed Serena’s wrist. “This way,” he whispered, pulling her toward a narrow gap between two warehouse-like buildings. They slipped past stacked barrels and crates until they found a small storage room near the docks—its door half-hanging, its interior dusty but empty. Only the faint creak of the waves and distant shouts reached them.

Serena leaned against the wall, breathing hard. “That turtle really just threw us here without warning.”

“Better than it throwing us into the sky,” Kain muttered, scanning outside through a cracked plank. “Still, this isn’t ideal. We don’t even know where we are.”

She frowned, brushing wet hair from her face. “And we don’t understand a word they’re saying.”

“No problem,” Kain said. He closed his eyes, extending his senses. “Most of these people are just regular humans—laborers, fishermen, traders. A few are low-level beast tamers, but none would even notice if I meddled a bit.”

Serena gave him a wary glance. “Meddle how?”

Kain smiled faintly and summoned a familiar presence. No visible change occurred, but Serena’s heightened senses could sense an additional presence. “Bea,” he whispered. “Time to work.”

The invisible amoeba flickered once, then spread outward, its Pale Thought Field blooming like an unseen tide. No one on the docks reacted as the psychic net stretched across the entire port. The fishermen kept shouting, the merchants kept haggling—but all their words, gestures, and thoughts were being silently sifted, categorized, and absorbed.

Moments later, information flowed into Kain’s mind. The local language. Their current location. Fragments of recent conversation and gossip. When he opened his eyes again, they glowed faintly with pale light.

He exhaled. “Got it.”

Serena tilted her head. “Well?”

“We’re in a fishing town called Xiayun Port. It’s under the protection of the Wuxing Elemental Sect,” he said, tone even. “Not at the sect itself, but close. This town supplies fish and sea products to them. The villagers rely on the sect for protection—and by the sound of it, they’re a little too confident.”

Serena crossed her arms. “Confident?”

“Yeah. The Abyssal attacks have been happening further north, so the south hasn’t really suffered yet. These people think the sect will easily wipe the invaders out. They believe as long as they keep working and paying tribute, they’ll be safe.” He grimaced faintly. “The kind of confidence that only exists until reality arrives with teeth.”

Serena sighed. “Complacency before the storm. They have no idea what’s coming.”

Kain nodded, his lips curling in a bitter smile. “Exactly.” He reached out mentally, sharing the language and the knowledge Bea gathered directly with her mind. She blinked as the new vocabulary settled naturally, as though she’d always known it.

“…That’s still weird,” she said, rubbing her temple.

“Convenient,” Kain countered. “Now, about our next step—”

He glanced down at their clothes—his soaking wet battle-torn jacket still singed with fire and poison from their abyssal attackers, Serena’s clothes were also soaked and clinging. They looked like refugees that had swum through a warzone. Not exactly inconspicuous.

They slipped back out quietly, keeping to the shadows until they reached a docked merchant ship. Several sets of clothes were in a box, likely to be sold in the market later on. Kain waited until no one was watching, then darted forward, snatching two sets and leaving behind a low grade spiritual weapon as payment. Technically, he’d grossly overpaid for some normal clothing, but the weapon was useless to him right now, whereas the clothes were needed. They returned to their hiding spot, dripping water on the wooden floor.

The local garments were light and flowing, practical yet ornate. The men wore layered tunics of pale blue or gray, bound with sashes and simple embroidery that evoked waves. The women’s clothing was looser, high-collared with flared sleeves and subtle metallic thread along the hems—an echo of traditional Eastern robes, but tailored for humid coastal weather. Kain noted faint energy threads in the fabric—minor enchantments against heat and humidity. Perhaps because they directly served a sect, even commoners here lived amid casual traces of spiritual craftsmanship.

Kain changed quickly and turned to say something, only for the words to die on his tongue.

Serena emerged from behind a stack of crates, her hair loosely tied up and the faint sheen of moisture on her skin catching the light. The sea-blue robe she’d chosen fit her perfectly, the fabric draping along her figure and flowing with each small movement like water.

Kain blinked. “…Despite changing into the local attire, you still manage to draw attention.”

Serena gave him a sidelong glance, her tone dry. “It’s the clothes, not me. You picked an eye-catching set.”

‘No no. It’s definitely you.’ He coughed awkwardly, pulling at his sash. “Let’s just—go.”

With their new disguises and knowledge, they left the storage room and blended into the crowd. The dock’s cacophony no longer sounded alien; the foreign chatter now made perfect sense. Kain exchanged brief words with a vendor to confirm their bearings, then led Serena past the last row of boats toward the open road.

The main route out of Xiayun Port wound through grassy dunes before splitting into several trade paths. One led north, deeper into the continent. Another stretched south—deeper toward the domain of the Wuxing Elemental Sect.

“According to Bea,” Kain said, glancing at the small mental map she’d shared, “we’re only two hours from the sect if we ride the Vespids. Half a day if we walk.”

Kain summoned the Vespid guards, and they both boarded with familiarity.

And with that, they left the port behind—the bustling noise fading into the wind—as the vast unknown of the Eastern Continent stretched before them.