"Ugh, this awful weather. It's been raining for days," the guard replied, as naturally as could be. He rubbed his own knee in sympathy.
"Must be an old injury acting up, huh? My leg's killing me too. What a coincidence—I just pulled some strings a few days ago to get an Alchemist to brew a bottle of Muscle-Relaxing Pills. They really work! Come on, let's get out of the rain in that alley over there. I'll share a few with you to try."
His tone was warm, and he casually draped an arm over Chen Jin's shoulder, steering him toward a relatively secluded alley nearby.
Chen Jin signaled for Nuonuo to stay where she was, while his gaze quickly swept over the surroundings. The other three patrol teams hadn't approached directly, but they had quietly closed the distance, vaguely forming a pincer around him.
He sneered inwardly, but kept his expression calm, even putting on a mildly interested look. "Oh? Pills brewed by an Alchemist? Those must be good stuff... Then I appreciate it, brother."
He wanted to see what exactly they were up to.
The guards half-guided, half-shoved Chen Jin into the alley. Rain dripped from the eaves, splashing in tiny bursts against the bluestone paving.
The guard who had just been all smiles abruptly dropped his grin.
He raised his chin almost imperceptibly. One of his companions immediately understood and seemed to casually adjust the Identity Tablet hanging at his waist. The ever-present sensation of being watched from above receded from this small area like the ebbing tide.
The Law Eye's gaze had been diverted, at least for the moment.
At that very instant, the guard who had been draping an arm over Chen Jin's shoulder suddenly staggered backward. His voice rose sharply, cutting through the rain:
"Heifu! What are you doing?! Stop at once! Attacking a fellow guard gives us the right to use unlimited self-defense under the law!"
Before he had even finished speaking, a short dagger appeared in his hand. With a flash of cold light, he viciously stabbed it into his own left arm without hesitation.
"Argh!" he cried out in pain. Blood gushed from the wound, staining his dark robe red.
He staggered backward, looking at Chen Jin with "grief" and "shock" in his eyes.
The other guards immediately joined in with furious shouts. They scattered into position, and with a clatter, their long halberds were in their hands, sharp points aimed at Chen Jin, surrounded at the center. Killing intent instantly filled the alley.
Chen Jin stood where he was, rain soaking his hair and running down his calm face.
He looked at the bleeding wound on the other man's arm and gently shook his head.
"So you're putting on a little show?"
"I attack you, and you reluctantly fight back in self-defense—isn't that trick a little too old-fashioned?"
He saw through it clearly.
Whoever was behind this, they had evidently stopped bothering to keep up appearances. They were going to tear off the mask and make their move by force.
Such blatant framing was actually uncommon within the guards' ranks. After all, they all drew their pay from the imperial treasury, and there were rules to prevent infighting. This sort of tactic was usually reserved for nobodies whose deaths wouldn't matter.
The identity Chen Jin was using now was "Heifu." As disreputable as he might be, he was still a registered guard—not some scapegoat who could be erased with a clumsy trick like this.
These men were either beyond hope of being saved from their own stupidity, or... they had already decided that they would kill him here, even if they had to face an investigation and the consequences afterward.
Chen Jin believed it was the latter.
His gaze slowly swept over the faces before him, and a nearly cruel curve appeared at the corner of his mouth.
"Still..." His voice dropped. "Since the Law Eye isn't looking this way..."
He paused, then slowly added:
"...if I kill you, no one should know who did it, right?"
The instant Chen Jin finished speaking, his aura changed. His seemingly relaxed body tensed like a hunting leopard.
He didn't retreat from the first halberd thrusting toward him. Instead, he stepped in with a sharp sidestep, slipping into the attack's blind spot. His left hand shot out in a knife-hand strike, cracking against the weak point of the guard's wrist.
The guard screamed. His fingers went numb, and the halberd fell from his grasp.
Chen Jin moved as smoothly as flowing water, snatching the halberd with his right hand.
He immediately hurled it toward an enemy charging in from the other side, briefly disrupting his stride.
In the blink of an eye, Chen Jin ducked beneath a sweeping halberd shaft and viciously swept his leg low, striking the knee of the rightmost guard's planted leg.
"Crack!" The sickening sound of breaking bone rang out. The guard's balance gave way at once, and he fell forward with a scream, landing on his knees.
Chen Jin used the momentum of his turn to drive a straight right punch like a cannonball into the face of the guard on his left, who was lunging at him with a dagger.
The dull thud of a crushed nose sounded. The guard fell flat on his back without even a groan.
By then, the guard who had first stabbed himself to frame Chen Jin had only just managed to pull the dagger from his arm, trying to charge again. But Chen Jin was already upon him like a ghost.
He slapped the man's dagger hand aside, then drove a swift right uppercut beneath his diaphragm.
"Ugh!" The guard's eyes bulged, and his body curled painfully like a shrimp. The dagger slipped from his hand and hit the ground again.
Chen Jin didn't even look. He deftly flicked the dagger up with his toe, and it landed in his hand.
Without pausing, he delivered a heavy shin kick to the side of the head of the last guard trying to get up, knocking him out completely.
The whole thing had taken no more than a few breaths. The guards who had just been so aggressive were now all sprawled on the ground, leaving only the sound of rain and their muffled groans in the alley.
Only then did Chen Jin stroll over to the guard who had started the provocation.
The man was curled up on the ground, trembling all over with pain in his abdomen.
Chen Jin crouched down and clamped his left hand around the man's jaw like an iron vise, forcing his mouth open.
With his right hand, he gripped the dagger that had belonged to the man and shoved it into his mouth, blade and handle alike.
The metal blade pressed hard against his teeth, while the handle stuck out. He couldn't close his mouth or spit it out, and could only make muffled, pained whimpers, his eyes filled with terror.
Chen Jin watched him struggle without expression. He even adjusted the dagger's angle for him, wedging it more firmly into place.
Finally, he gently patted the man's stiff cheek.
"Thanks for the 'pills.' I appreciate the thought."
Then he stood up, called for Nuonuo, and turned to walk out into the endless rain.
Wang Wu could deal with the aftermath and negotiations...
"Hello? Hello? Can you hear me?"
A polite voice suddenly rang out from the body of a guard lying on the ground.
"Heifu? Or should I call you... the Wandering Knight? Please respond."
"...Tsk."
Chen Jin clicked his tongue impatiently and went back.
He crouched down and searched the dead guard's waist for a moment, finding a small, exquisitely made Mohist Mechanical Cicada, no bigger than his thumb. The voice was coming from inside it.
"Go ahead?"