City Guard Office

Biodata

Organization and Jurisdiction

• The City Guard Office is responsible for maintaining public order and enforcing the law in Linji Prefecture City; it is described as wielding “supreme authority and prestige” within the city. 39
• Its street-patrolling officers handle arrests, patrol assigned districts, respond to reported cases, and deal with bandits and thieves as circumstances require. 3 33
• The South City Guard Bureau, adjoining South City Prison, is responsible for security across the South District and is heavily guarded by armed sentries and watchmen. 5
• The Ruyi Ward Branch Office is located on Riverside Street in the South District. Its exterior is old, but its grounds contain orderly buildings, gardens, and rockeries. 21 27
• Ruyi Ward has six head constables and six squads, with more than two hundred official runners serving a population of tens of thousands. 57

Personnel and Advancement

Recruitment and Promotion

• Official-runner vacancies arise through retirement, injury, illness, or death. Probationary runners compete in assessments for promotion, with positions operating under fixed quotas. 27
• By law, commoners of clean background may register for recruitment assessments; in practice, registration often requires connections because of official corruption. 27
• Retired runners’ relatives receive priority when probationary positions open, while outsiders are considered only if vacancies remain. 27
• Official runners may exchange merit for medicinal resources, cultivation manuals, secret techniques, and even pills for advancing beyond the Skin-Tempering Realm. 56
• Only official runners may receive regular instruction from teaching constables, including training in the Great Yu Official Blade Art. 56 72

Operations and Enforcement

• In ordinary street patrols, officers may beat, kill, or arrest bandits and thieves depending on the threat; reported cases are also assigned to them. 33
• For common brawls, officers typically beat both sides and close the case; formal arrests usually follow only when serious injuries or deaths occur. 9
• The Office often ignores conflicts between martial-world gangs so long as civilians are not involved, later collecting corpses and clearing the scene. It intervenes when gang violence becomes excessively frequent or disruptive. 21 43
• Street patrols may disperse religious agitators such as the Fire Worship Sect, though the Office is criticized for taking little meaningful action against the sect or gang violence. 21
• City Guard Office personnel receive institutional protection once entered into the roster. Targeting or murdering an officer is considered a grave taboo that can justify the destruction of an offending gang. 39 40

Corruption and Political Influence

• The Office’s enforcement is vulnerable to bribery. In the pursuit of a massacre suspect, Old Master Zhou reportedly paid two hundred taels to secure the cooperation of Ruyi Ward Constable Liu and prison cell boss Jiang Cheng. 3
• Wealthy merchant families seek relationships with City Guard Office officials for protection from gang extortion and commercial disputes. 11
• Important posts are heavily influenced by major families. The inner city’s four great families secretly control key positions across ward branches. 70
• Shen Qingshuang’s leadership gives the Shen Family substantial influence in Ruyi Ward, while the Zhou Family’s influence is chiefly represented by South District Headquarters officer Zhou Xu and Catcher Zhao Yongfeng. 43 70
• Zhao Yongfeng obstructed Liu Yunfeng’s investigation into the Flying Eagle Gang, while Zhou Xu openly backed the gang through Assistant Administrator Zhou Xu’s intervention. 40 41
• Shen Qingshuang and Zhou Xu’s conflict escalated into a direct fight despite internal fighting being forbidden within the Office. 43

Ruyi Ward Branch Office

Leadership

• Shen Qingshuang — Chief Constable of Ruyi Ward; a Shen Family daughter whose cultivation is at least the Tendon Alteration Realm. 28 29
• Liu Yunfeng — Catcher and one of the branch’s most formidable officers; commands the largest number of constables and protects his subordinates aggressively. 39
• Zhao Yongfeng — Catcher opposed to Liu Yunfeng; aligned with the Zhou Family’s interests and willing to shield the Flying Eagle Gang. 40 41
• Su Chenglin — Senior constable who later intends to cultivate Chen Cheng as his successor. 72
• Mu Zhenhai — One-armed training constable whose saber technique once reached perfection; he trains official runners during midday breaks. 72

Facilities

• The Chief Constable’s hall occupies a separate courtyard within the branch grounds. 34
• Each of the branch’s six constables has a separate office. 34
• The branch maintains a training ground where official runners receive daily martial instruction during the midday break. 72
• Administrative offices handle registration, badge exchanges, uniforms, and the issuance of standard sabers to promoted official constables. 33 69

Major Incidents

• The Office pursued a river-and-lake bandit connected to a family massacre; despite its street patrol officers possessing Skin-Tempering Realm strength, it sought assistance from South City Prison personnel. 3
• Officers under Liu Yunfeng transported corpses from the Flying Eagle Gang–Redwater Gang conflict to Mass Grave Mound after declining to intervene in the gangs’ struggle. 21
• Chen Cheng entered the Ruyi Ward Branch Office as a probationary constable after passing its assessment and defeating He Zhiling in a saber match. 33
• Liu Yunfeng assembled nearly forty constables and raided the Flying Eagle Gang’s headquarters after the gang targeted Chen Cheng, a City Guard Office subordinate. 39
• The Flying Eagle Gang incident exposed a conflict between Liu Yunfeng, Zhao Yongfeng, and Zhou Xu over the Office’s authority and the gang’s political protection. 40 41
• After Chen Cheng defeated Zhou Fang and became an official constable, Liu Yunfeng tasked him with secretly investigating Black Lotus Sect activity. 69