It was now!
Using the smoke as cover, Chen Jin carried Nuonuo on his back and pushed his speed to the limit, hurtling toward the breach.
Only after he had completely escaped the smoke and left the still-churning patch of gray-black behind did it seem that the mechs had finally begun to react.
He had escaped.
Temporarily free of the densest part of the encirclement, he found a maze of ruins and narrow alleys ahead, offering him cover.
Chen Jin continued deeper into the area, using the complicated terrain to try to shake off his pursuers for good.
However, just as he rounded a half-collapsed earthen wall and managed to put a little distance between himself and the chaos behind, Nuonuo, who had been lying quietly on his back, lifted her head.
"Uncle... Daddy... Daddy's been taken away..."
The figure sprinting at full speed abruptly slowed. He pressed himself against a broken wall and quickly looked in the direction Nuonuo was watching—
About two hundred paces away stood a stone platform built as a lookout.
His "umbrella," Squad Leader Wang Wu, along with Ju and Ji, were tightly bound with ropes and kneeling on the rain-soaked platform.
Standing behind them were three Xuanhu-type Mechanical Garrison Warriors.
The thick crossbow bolts, powerful enough to pierce bronze armor plates, were now pressed firmly against the backs of Wang Wu, Ju, and Ji's heads.
At the same time, Wang Wu saw him, too.
"Go—! Heifu! Don't come over! It's a trap! Hurry and go!! Don't worry about us!!!"
"Tsk..."
When Yanfu Walkers ventured among different Fruits, most did as they pleased, leaving Ren Tu to deal with the aftermath. Few ever lowered their heads to ask how many joys and sorrows of the mortal world their footsteps had trampled.
Some particularly unscrupulous ones would even take out huge loans from the Fruits' natives before leaving, seeking to maximize their profits.
But Chen Jin had never done that.
In the final days of his life, his grandfather, Old Master Chen, had held his hand tightly and told him:
"Jin'er, remember this: look up, and have nothing to be ashamed of before Heaven; look down, and have nothing to be ashamed of before others. Your grandfather hopes that wherever you go, you'll be an upright, decent person. Use your strength to make the land beneath your feet... a little better than it was when you arrived."
"Boom!!"
With a heavy thud, Chen Jin crashed onto the platform like a demon god descending from the heavens!
The impact of his landing seemed to shake the entire stone platform, sending water spraying in every direction.
He bent one knee to absorb the impact, landed steadily, then sprang upright.
Wang Wu stared at Chen Jin, who had returned and appeared before him like a divine soldier descending from the heavens. He opened his mouth, as if he wanted to say something, but not a word came out.
The air on the platform froze.
It was as though even the sound of the rain had been shut out.
In the dead silence, a rhythmic "click-clack" came from a shadowy corner of the platform.
The sound was like a delicate mechanism tapping softly.
Chen Jin's icy gaze swept toward its source.
A beautifully crafted wooden puppet emerged slowly from the shadows, clapping its hands, which were made of tiny wooden blocks, over and over.
Its face was carved with lifelike precision, wearing an eerie smile. Its joints made faint clicking sounds as they moved.
Its movements were far too smooth for an ordinary creation. It walked to the center of the platform and stopped.
Then a voice, tinged with admiration and amusement, came from inside the puppet:
"You turned back for a few 'comrades' you'd known for only a few days, willingly walking into this deadly trap... You truly have the bearing of a knight. I'm... impressed."
"To be honest, I never expected these few baits to be of any use."
"Wandering Knight, with so many spectators down there, why not introduce yourself?"
Chen Jin looked around. The so-called "spectators" were obviously not the people of Langya City.
The curfew was about to begin. The commotion had already plunged this vast city into silence, and the streets were empty save for cold rain and metal.
The "spectators" were the Xuanhu and Vermilion Bird units, gathering below once more like a rising tide. They stood in silence, their densely packed crimson spirit-stone compound eyes trained on the platform, forming a forest of steel that made one's heart tremble.
Chen Jin could feel the Identity Tablet belonging to Fu at his waist growing faintly hot. He didn't need to look to know that this identity had been invalidated.
Curfew was about to begin. Once the drums sounded, his current status as an "undocumented person" would immediately bring down the merciless lash of the Qin Law.
The puppet's pointless chatter was clearly meant to stall for time. Once curfew began and the Qin Law came down on him, he would be at an even greater disadvantage.
And yet, the time had come.
Not to announce himself to his enemies, but to give an explanation to everyone who had been dragged into this because of him—and to sever the last of his ties to the name "Heifu."
With all eyes on him, Chen Jin slowly raised a hand and covered his face.
His fingers pressed gently. The muscles and bones of his face began to shift; his skin grew fairer, and the features that belonged to "Heifu" rippled like water, reshaping themselves...
In the space of a single breath, he lowered his hand.
A completely different face appeared before everyone.
Handsome features, with a touch of boyishness still lingering—he looked like the boy next door.
This was Chen Jin's own face.
"Look closely."
"I never change my name, no matter where I go."
"—Chen Jin."
The heavy evening drums rolled across the sky above Langya City, like the heartbeat of a prehistoric beast, deep and solemn.
Boom—! Boom—! Boom—!
Curfew had officially begun!
The instant the final drumbeat faded, the delicate puppet raised its wooden arm and pointed at Chen Jin. Its voice held not a trace of emotion.
"Kill."
The command rang out, and the slaughter began!
The three Xuanhu units that had been holding their crossbows to the backs of Wang Wu and the others' heads pulled their triggers without hesitation!
Almost the instant the word "Kill" was spoken, Chen Jin moved.
His body became a drawn bow, twisting at incredible speed, powered by his tremendous core strength!
Symphony of Myriad Phenomena spun with him, forming two rings of death.
Flames burst from the muzzles in a wild torrent, joining together in an instant, as if two blazing wings had unfurled around him.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
Gunshots merged into a deafening, nearly unbroken roar.
The tremendous sound briefly drowned out the mechs' metallic clatter, battering the ears of everyone on the platform.
"Clang! Clang! Clang! Crunch!"
Sparks exploded everywhere!
Wang Wu, Ju, and Ji felt the icy killing intent at the backs of their heads vanish. A moment later, deafening gunfire and the sound of shattering metal erupted around them. Waves of scorching air and flying fragments grazed their skin, filling them with a shuddering fear—and the relief of having survived.
Chen Jin kept spinning! A storm of bullets swept across the entire platform!