Self-Defense

"Damn this cursed weather, the rain just won't let up," the guard said, picking up the conversation with practiced ease. He rubbed his own knee as if sharing the same affliction.

"Must be that old injury acting up again, right? My leg is throbbing like crazy too. As it happens, I pulled some strings a few days ago to have an alchemist brew a batch of 'Muscle-Relaxing Pills'—they're incredibly effective! Come on, let's duck into that alleyway over there to get out of the rain, and I'll share a few with you."

His tone was warm and inviting, his arm already draped casually over Chen Jin's shoulders, steering him toward a slightly secluded alley nearby.

Chen Jin signaled for Nuonuo to stay put, his gaze sweeping rapidly across the surroundings. Although the other three patrol squads weren't closing in directly, they had inadvertently shortened the distance, subtly forming a pincer movement.

He sneered inwardly, but his face remained impassive, even feigning a hint of interest. "Oh? Pills from an alchemist? That sounds like good stuff... then I'll have to thank you, brother."

He wanted to see exactly what kind of medicine they were selling in this gourd.

Chen Jin was half-pushed, half-guided by the guards into the alleyway. Rain dripped from the eaves, splashing into tiny ripples on the flagstones.

The guard who had been so warm just a moment ago suddenly dropped his smile.

He gave a nearly imperceptible nod of his chin, and a companion nearby understood immediately, casually adjusting the "Identity Tablet" hanging at his waist—the omnipresent sense of being watched from above receded like a tide from this small, confined area.

The gaze of the Law Eye had been temporarily diverted.

In that very instant, the guard who had been hooked onto Chen Jin's shoulder stumbled backward, his voice suddenly rising to a sharp, piercing pitch that cut through the curtain of rain:

"Heifu! What are you doing?! Stop it! Attacking a comrade—by the code, we are authorized to exercise unlimited self-defense!"

Before the words had even faded, a short dagger appeared in his hand. With a flash of cold light, he didn't hesitate to plunge it deep into his own left arm!

"Ugh!" He let out a pained cry as blood surged forth, staining his dark sleeve.

He staggered back, his eyes fixed on Chen Jin with a look of "grief" and "shock."

The remaining guards immediately roared in coordination, breaking formation in an instant. With a series of metallic clangs, long halberds were drawn, their sharp tips aimed in unison at Chen Jin, who stood surrounded. A murderous aura instantly filled the air.

Chen Jin stood his ground, the rain soaking his hair and sliding down his calm face.

He looked at the bleeding wound on the man's arm and suddenly shook his head gently.

"Staging a little play, are we?"

"I attack you, you are forced to retaliate in self-defense—isn't this script a bit too cliché?"

He saw through it all clearly.

Regardless of who was pulling the strings, the other party clearly had no intention of maintaining a facade of civility anymore. They were tearing off the mask to strike by force.

Such blatant framing was actually rare within the guard system; after all, they all ate from the same imperial trough, and there were internal regulations against such infighting. This kind of tactic was usually reserved for nobodies who wouldn't be missed even if they died.

The identity Chen Jin was currently using was "Heifu." No matter how lowly, he was still a registered guard, not some patsy who could be erased with such amateurish tricks.

These people were either hopelessly stupid, or... they had made up their minds that they would rather face the potential investigation and pressure later than let him leave here alive!

Chen Jin believed it was the latter.

His gaze slowly swept over the faces before him, a nearly cruel curve forming at the corner of his mouth.

"However," he said, his voice dropping low, "since the Law Eye isn't looking here..."

He paused, then added slowly:

"...then if I slaughter you all, no one should know who did it, right?"

The moment Chen Jin's words fell, his aura shifted violently, his body snapping from a relaxed state into the tension of a hunting leopard.

Facing the first halberd thrust toward him, he didn't retreat but stepped forward, cutting into the blind spot of the attack with a sharp side-slide. His left hand struck out like a blade, a crisp "crack" echoing as it slammed into the vulnerable wrist joint of the guard holding the weapon.

The guard screamed, his fingers going numb, and the halberd slipped from his grasp.

Chen Jin's movements were fluid and seamless; his right hand swept up to seize the halberd.

He then hurled it violently at the enemies rushing from the other side, briefly obstructing their advance.

In the blink of an eye, he ducked, avoiding a sweeping halberd shaft, and delivered a fierce low-level sweep kick that slammed into the knee of the guard on the far right.

"Snap!" The sickening sound of bone fracturing was clearly audible. The guard's center of gravity collapsed instantly, and he fell to his knees with a howl of agony.

Using the momentum of his rotation, Chen Jin threw a rear straight punch like a cannonball, slamming it into the face of the guard who had been lunging with a dagger on his left.

A dull thud of a collapsing nasal bridge followed, and the guard fell backward without even a groan.

By now, the guard who had initially self-mutilated to frame him had just managed to pull the dagger from his arm, attempting to lunge again. But he saw Chen Jin closing in like a phantom.

A parry deflected his dagger-wielding right hand, followed immediately by a swift, powerful right uppercut that slammed into the diaphragm beneath his ribs.

"Ugh!" The guard's eyes bulged, his body curling into a shrimp in agony as the dagger fell from his hand once more.

Chen Jin didn't even look; with a nimble flick of his toe, he sent the fallen dagger flying into his own hand.

He didn't stop, delivering a heavy shin kick to the side of the head of the last guard trying to crawl up, knocking him out cold.

The entire process took no more than a few breaths. The several guards who had been so aggressive just moments ago were all lying on the ground, the alley filled only with the sound of rain and suppressed groans of pain.

Only then did Chen Jin walk slowly toward the guard who had initiated the provocation.

The man was curled on the ground, trembling from the excruciating pain in his abdomen.

Chen Jin squatted down, his left hand gripping the man's jaw like an iron vice, forcing his mouth open.

With his right hand, he took the dagger that had once belonged to the guard and shoved the blade, along with the hilt, straight into his mouth.

The metal of the dagger pressed firmly against the man's teeth, the hilt wedged outside, leaving him unable to close his mouth or spit it out. He could only emit a muffled, agonizing whimper, his eyes filled with terror.

Chen Jin watched his struggles with a blank expression, even reaching out to adjust the angle of the dagger to ensure it was wedged more firmly.

Finally, he lightly patted the man's stiff cheek.

"Thanks for the 'elixir,' I appreciate the gesture."

With that, he stood up, beckoned to Nuonuo, and turned to walk into the continuous curtain of rain.

As for the cleanup and negotiations, he would leave that to Wang Wu...

"Hello? Hello? Can you hear me?"

A polite inquiry suddenly rang out from the body of a guard lying on the ground.

"Heifu? Or, should I address you as... Wandering Knight? Please answer."

"...Tsk."

Chen Jin let out an impatient click of his tongue and turned back.

He crouched down, rummaged through the waist of the dead guard for a moment, and pulled out a Mohist Mechanical Cicada, no larger than a thumb and intricately constructed. The voice was coming from it.

"Speak."