Bang! Bang! Bang!
The dull thuds of blows echoed down the street.
"Twenty, nineteen..."
The Black Staff in Lin Jingzhu's hand came crashing down with the weight of a thousand catties. The burly man's clothes tore, his body a bloody mess. Blood splattered across her fair cheek, lending her a sickly, bewitching beauty.
The burly man had gone silent.
He'd realized that the more he cursed, the harder she hit him. She even deliberately miscounted, making him take a few extra blows. So he simply shut his mouth and pretended to be dead.
Chen Mo watched with keen interest.
Her attacks looked vicious, but she controlled her strength perfectly. The man had not a single patch of uninjured flesh across his back, waist, buttocks, or legs. The pain went to the bone, yet his life was never in danger. Whenever he tried to circulate his energy and fight back, her staff would precisely block his meridians, leaving him no choice but to lie there and take the beating.
"Tsk. Now that's what you call professional."
"Lord Chen."
A voice called out beside him.
Chen Mo turned around. At a window on the second floor of the tavern next door, someone was waving at him. It was Shangguan Yunfei, whom he'd met once before.
"Lord Chen, please come up. This humble official has something to discuss with you." Shangguan Yunfei cupped his hands from across the street.
Chen Mo stepped into the Drunken Moon Pavilion and went up to a private room on the second floor. Shangguan Yunfei stood and apologized. "Please don't take offense, Lord Chen. Given what's happening outside, it would be quite inconvenient for me to show my face."
He'd long since grown used to things like this. If he intervened, it wouldn't help; if he didn't, he'd be neglecting his duty. So he simply stayed out of sight.
"I had no idea you were a Hundred-Household Officer, Lord Chen. If I showed you any disrespect before, I hope you'll forgive me."
Shangguan Yunfei knew little about the inner workings of the Heavenly Qilin Guard. Only after asking around did he learn that, although Chen Mo held the rank of Chief Banner Officer, he drew a Hundred-Household Officer's salary and was a Principal Sixth Rank official—one full rank above him, a Patrol Commissioner.
"It's just an honorary title. Nothing worth mentioning."
Chen Mo waved it off, then glanced out the window and asked curiously, "Is she with the Six Gates?"
Shangguan Yunfei nodded. "As it happens, Lord Chen knows her too. She's a Patrol Commissioner in our yamen, Lin Jingzhu."
Chen Mo understood.
Everyone in Heaven Capital City knew the names of the Four Great Constables.
But Lin Jingzhu had another identity as well. Her mother, Lady Jinyun, was the Imperial Empress's cousin, making her a true member of the imperial clan—a noble lady of the capital.
"This Chief Lin is quite... well, unconventional," Chen Mo said with an amused tone.
Shangguan Yunfei could only smile helplessly.
Riding a horse through a crowded street wasn't usually a serious offense. It was unavoidable when urgent business called, and not worth making a big deal over.
But the man had actually whipped a child, and hadn't held back at all. Clearly, he was vicious by nature. No wonder Lin Jingzhu had lost her temper.
Bang!
Bang!
The "flogging" was nearly over.
"...Three, two, one."
That's the last of them.
Lin Jingzhu flicked the blood from her Black Staff. With a twist of her wrist, a mechanism clicked, and both ends swiftly retracted. The five-foot staff shrank to the size of her palm and hung from the leather belt at her waist.
Looking at the battered man on the ground, she said coolly, "You should be grateful that whip didn't land just now. Otherwise, you'd have gotten a lot more than fifty blows."
"..."
The man trembled all over. Gritting his teeth against the pain, he struggled to his feet and glared at Lin Jingzhu. "I'm a military officer of the Imperial Guard! Attacking an officer of the government is a heinous crime!"
"You little brat, you've just made yourself a world of trouble!"
He'd been beaten in front of everyone. If he didn't get even, he'd never be able to show his face in Heaven Capital City again!
The woman was dressed in martial clothes and reeked of alcohol. She was probably a martial artist who'd stuck her nose in because she had a bit of skill. Just you wait—I'll show you what I can do!
"What did you just call me?" Lin Jingzhu narrowed her eyes.
"Hmph! You just wait!"
The man knew he wasn't her match and didn't bother arguing further. He was about to mount his horse when he remembered his backside had been beaten to a pulp. There was no way he could handle the jolting. He had no choice but to lead the horse by the reins and limp away from the street.
Lin Jingzhu looked at the shattered sugar figurine on the ground. She went to the nearby stall, tossed down a piece of silver, plucked a fresh sugar figurine from the straw stand, and walked over to the mother and daughter.
"Here."
Lin Jingzhu bent down and handed the sugar figurine to the little girl.
"Thank you, big sister."
The little girl's eyes shone brightly.
Seeing the blood on Lin Jingzhu's cheek, she pulled a small handkerchief from her clothes and carefully wiped it clean.
Lin Jingzhu smiled and rubbed the little girl's head, where her hair was tied in little buns. Then she stood and said to the woman, "You'd better hurry along. That man will probably come back. Be careful not to get dragged into trouble."
"Th-thank you, miss."
The woman's face was pale. She didn't dare linger. Picking up the girl, she hurried away.
Rumble—
Thunder rolled overhead, wringing moisture from the clouds. Fat raindrops came crashing down, washing the remaining blood from the paving stones.
Lin Jingzhu leapt through the window and straight into the private room on the second floor.
"Getting my muscles moving felt pretty good. At this rate, they'll be deducting my salary until the year after next... Hm? You?"
Lin Jingzhu froze. The man who'd just stepped in to save someone was sitting at the table.
Shangguan Yunfei introduced him. "This is Lord Chen Mo, a Hundred-Household Officer of the Heavenly Qilin Guard."
"You're Chen Mo?"
Lin Jingzhu looked taken aback. She'd just been talking about him. What a coincidence to run into him here.
She studied him closely. He had a clear, handsome face, utterly flawless, like a piece of fine jade. Shangguan Yunfei was decent-looking too, but beside Chen Mo, they seemed to belong in entirely different paintings. She'd never seen a man this handsome before.
At the same time, Chen Mo was sizing her up as well.
[Capital Noble Lady · Skin Like Snow, Bones Like Jade · Lin Jingzhu]
[Realm: Sixth-Grade Martial Artist]
[Techniques: Nine-Turn Ice Soul Technique]
[Martial Skills: Azure Heaven Force, Flying Phoenix Feather, Spirit Void Wind-Riding Step]
[Affection: 0/100 (Locked)]
She wore a plain white martial robe, with a leather belt cinched around her slender waist. Her lustrous black hair was tied simply with a red string. Her skin was as fair as porcelain; her eyes were deep-set and clear as autumn waters; her nose was high-bridged, and her jawline was clean and flowing.
Beauty lay in the bones, not the skin. Lin Jingzhu was a classic example of a woman with exquisite bone structure.
Though she was of noble birth, she had none of a noblewoman's airs. Instead, her every movement carried the easygoing freedom of a martial wanderer.
"Chief Lin trained under Martial Chief Xue for many years, so it's only natural that she picked up a bit of the martial world's manner," Shangguan Yunfei said quietly.
Lin Jingzhu shot him a look. "Could you stop whispering right in front of me? I'm not deaf."
"..."
Shangguan Yunfei cleared his throat and adopted a serious expression. "Since Lord Chen is here, we might as well discuss the case. The murders by the Demon Race have caused a terrible stir. Our superiors have given us a strict order: solve it within half a month!"
"Lord Chen, you're leading this case. Where do you think we should go next?"
Shangguan Yunfei looked at Chen Mo expectantly.
From the Barbarian Slave Case to the Heavenly Demon case, and now this string of murders by the Demon Race, Chen Mo had shown himself to be meticulous and perceptive—a natural investigator!
And he was exceptionally sensitive to demonic aura...
Whether they solved this case depended on Lord Chen!
Lin Jingzhu looked curious. She wanted to know what he would suggest next.
Chen Mo thought for a moment, then said, "I suggest we go to the Music Bureau."
Shangguan Yunfei's eyes lit up. "You mean the Demon Race might be hiding in the Music Bureau? That makes sense! It's a den of vice, full of all sorts of people—the perfect place to hide!"
"And its patrons come from all walks of life, making it easy to pick out prey..."
The more he analyzed it, the more convinced he became. He couldn't help admiring Chen Mo. Lord Chen truly was a guiding light!
Chen Mo shook his head. "I mean, just drinking isn't much fun. We could go to the Music Bureau and enjoy ourselves."
Shangguan Yunfei: "..."
Before you continue