The struggle lasted only a fleeting instant.
His responsibility as a father outweighed his loyalty to Great Qin.
He abruptly clasped his hands and dropped to one knee. "I accept! From this day on, I, Wang Wu, will do whatever my benefactor commands!
As long as you can save my daughter, my life belongs to you, Lord. I'll be your shield! Even if it means braving a mountain of blades or plunging into the deepest depths of hell, I won't hesitate!
As long as it's within my authority, I'll protect you with everything I have!"
"Good." Chen Jin nodded and reached out to help him up. "Remember your promise."
He went to the window and pushed it open a crack.
Outside, the sky was still leaden gray, and cold rain beat tirelessly against the eaves.
But beneath that suffocating canopy, Chen Jin felt a sense of "freedom" unlike anything he had ever known.
The invisible shackles had finally loosened.
Wang Wu might not be much of a shield, but he was enough to help Chen Jin pry open a path through the cracks in the rules.
Seven days remained.
Xu Fu's fleet would arrive in Langya.
There wasn't much time—in fact, the deadline was pressing.
But for a Yanfu Walker who no longer needed to hide his identity or tread carefully, and who now had an "inside man" familiar with the local rules...
Seven days were more than enough to stir up a storm.
Chen Jin's otherworldly adventure as an "outlaw" had officially begun.
Chen Jin led Nuonuo into the shadows at the corner of an alley and glanced toward the tall gray walls of the County Magistrate Mansion.
The rain was cold against his face, but he felt a thrill of excitement.
That butler's rotten attitude—and the beast that had dared to bite him—would have to pay.
More importantly, why had the Shark Person princess chosen this place to perform her spell? He needed to investigate further.
"Come on, Nuonuo. We're going to 'investigate the case,'" he said quietly.
The little girl looked up, her cloudy eyes reflecting the rain. She nodded, as if she only half understood.
As dusk fell and the rain grew heavier, Chen Jin slipped over the courtyard wall as silently as a falling leaf. Nuonuo flickered into view in a corner inside the wall, just as soundlessly.
[Impermanence Step]
The moment Chen Jin landed, he heard a muffled growl from the nearby kennel. It was the Ink Jade Qilin Dog.
It had clearly caught his scent. Restless, it paced around its cage, issuing a low, threatening whine.
"Woof, woof!" At last, it couldn't hold back and barked.
"What are you barking at? Keep it up and you won't get any meat tomorrow!" a woman snapped impatiently from the back courtyard. She evidently thought the beast was grumbling about being confined.
Chen Jin grinned silently. Good.
He took Nuonuo's cold little hand, glided through the covered corridor like a ghost, and slipped into the magistrate's private residence.
The study was their first target.
As he opened the door, the scent of aged ink and sandalwood washed over him.
The furnishings were downright extravagant.
[Wolf-Hair Purple Bamboo Brush], valuable item, crafted by Qin artisans, with a keen, sturdy tip and glossy purple bamboo shaft. Exchangeable for 120 Yanfu Points. [Gilded Chi-Dragon Pattern Bronze Ink Dropper], valuable item, exquisitely crafted, with the dragon's head serving as the spout. Exchangeable for 350 Yanfu Points. [Green Jade Cloud Pattern Brush Rest], valuable item, warm, fine jade with flowing, skillful carvings. Exchangeable for 280 Yanfu Points. [Gold and Silver Inlaid Tiger-Shaped Paperweight], valuable item, fierce and lifelike, inlaid with gold and silver wire. Exchangeable for 400 Yanfu Points. [Painted Pottery Figurines], valuable items, a set of four servant-girl figurines with flowing garment patterns and vivid colors. Exchangeable for 600 Yanfu Points.
The bedroom was even more astonishing. The jewelry box stood open, its glittering treasures almost spilling out.
[Millennium Red Coral Necklace], valuable item, with eighteen smooth, lustrous beads. Exchangeable for 500 Yanfu Points. [Gold-Inlaid Jade Chi-Dragon Pendant], valuable item, fine jade and exquisite goldwork. Exchangeable for 300 Yanfu Points. [Openwork Coiled-Dragon Pattern White Jade Disc], valuable item, flawless white jade with exceptionally fine carvings. Exchangeable for 640 Yanfu Points.
Chen Jin showed no mercy. Wherever he went, he swept everything away like a gale scattering fallen leaves.
The twenty cubic meters of space in his Personal Mark was filled to the brim in an instant.
"Tch, I was thinking too small." He muttered to himself, "Ren Tu, exchange it all!"
"You exchanged valuable items and received a total of 3,190 Yanfu Points."
"Your current Yanfu Points: 12,990."
It was a handsome haul, but it still paled beside the ten thousand points' worth of Shark Silk the Shark Person princess had casually spent.
More importantly, he searched every hidden compartment, chest, and basket, but found not a single scrap of writing or token connected to Cen Qing or the Shark People.
"Looks like she just borrowed the place for a while and didn't leave a trace." Chen Jin understood and decided not to linger.
"Nuonuo, let's go."
Nuonuo had been curiously feeling the empty display shelf. At his call, she immediately appeared at his side with a "whoosh."
The two figures, one big and one small, slipped silently into the evening rain, just as they had come.
Not long afterward, the magistrate returned to his residence, dragging his weary body.
As usual, he pushed open the study door and instinctively reached for the jade ornament on the shelf.
His hand grasped empty air.
He froze, blinked, and thought the fading light had made him miss it.
He looked around in confusion. The bookshelves were bare, the desk was spotless, and only years' worth of dust remained on the display shelves...
He stumbled backward, slammed the door shut, and stood in the corridor rubbing his eyes hard. After taking a deep breath, he opened the door again.
It was still just as empty.
He staggered into the bedroom. The jewelry box stood wide open, and it too was completely empty. They hadn't even left him a single copper hairpin.
"Ah—!!!"
A shrill wail abruptly shattered the quiet of the county office's back courtyard, sending crows flapping into the air.
"My things! My treasures! I've been robbed! Someone, come quickly! It's all gone! Every last thing!!!"
His cry was so miserable that anyone who heard it would have wept.
Chen Jin led Nuonuo away from the County Magistrate Mansion and down the streets, which were gradually sinking into twilight.
The rain still hadn't stopped. Shallow puddles dotted the stone road, reflecting the leaden sky and making the streets seem especially desolate.
He didn't deliberately look around, but the instincts honed through years of wandering Yanfu silently tensed every nerve in his body. He was like a bow drawn taut, sensing an uneasy undercurrent seeping in from all directions.
A few scattered vendors still had their stalls set up beneath makeshift awnings, doing business in the rain.
Several customers in coarse clothes browsed their wares, picking things up to examine them and then touching something else. Their gazes kept drifting, but none of them made a purchase.
Farther away, patrols of guards stationed at various points happened to pass through the street entrances from all four directions at once. Their steps were perfectly synchronized, their armor clinking in a dull, steady rhythm beneath the rain.
Just then, a familiar-looking guard approached with a smile and raised a hand in greeting. "Heifu? Getting off early today? Did the sun rise in the west? Captain Wang actually let you slip away ahead of time?"
Chen Jin suppressed his warning instinct and forced his face into the casual, perfunctory smile Heifu usually wore. He gave a vague reply. "Yeah, I'm feeling a little under the weather, so I headed back early."