City Guard Office

Biodata

Organization and Ranks

Martial cultivation determines eligibility for service and promotion. The office has only a few dozen constables, most at the qi-blood third stage; a handful have reached that stage’s perfection 3 5 8.

Known Personnel

• Lin Yanqiu — Chief Constable who rose from temporary White Runner within a few years. Secured Li Feng’s appointment and commanded the team she protected during the failed nighttime operation 2 3.
• Li Feng — Temporary White Runner whose initially unqualified appointment was arranged through Lin. Later formally registered at the qi-blood first stage 2 3 6.
• An Hongye — Archery and horsemanship instructor at the outer training grounds 1.
• Clerk Wang — Keeps cultivation records and administers strength tests at the Martial Testing Hall 6.
• Chief Constable Chen — Oversees a district bordering Lin’s and maintains reasonably good relations with her 6.
• Wang Meng — Lin’s subordinate; alerts Li Feng to her injury and proposes pooling money for her treatment 2 3.
• Wang Bei — Constable who takes an interest in the wealthy runner Sun Yan’s prospects 8.
• Zhang San and Chen Song — Low-ranking runners who patrol South City with Li Feng 7 8.
• Sun Yan — Unpaid runner whose family finances his enrollment at an inner-city martial arts school 7 8.

Duties and Operational Limits

• Casework and patrols: Temporary runners handle cases, patrol streets, and deal with the aftermath of incidents 1.
• Market protection: South City patrols discourage daytime violence around restaurants and busy markets, whose businesses make monthly payments to the office 8.
• “Washing the streets”: Runners remove wreckage and bodies after gang clashes, then transport corpses to a mass grave outside the city 4 5.
• Armed operations: Constable captains and heavy crossbowmen support dangerous criminal encounters 3.
• Protective deployments: Shadow Guards are posted around Spring Renewal Hall after the incident involving the escaped inner-city convict 3.

The office often lacks the strength to impose order throughout the outer city. Unless firm orders arrive from above, it generally leaves gang bloodshed alone. Low-ranking runners are not responsible for stopping pitched battles between gangs 7 8.

Facilities and Training

• Outer training grounds: Provide archery and horsemanship instruction. Archery is optional rather than a required runner skill; Li Feng obtains access through Lin’s privileges and connections 1.
• Front courtyard: Used for reporting for duty, resting during breaks, and changing shifts 4 7 8.
• Martial Testing Hall: Registers constables’ strength and updates their cultivation records 6.
• Rear courtyard: Contains stone weights used for strength testing 6.
• Notice board: Displays operational orders, including instructions concerning the South City gang conflict 8.

Recruitment and Advancement

• Auxiliary constables must have entered the martial path and reached the qi-blood first stage. Lin bypasses this rule when arranging Li Feng’s initial appointment 3.
• Strength testing provides formal recognition of cultivation. Li Feng qualifies by lifting a 300-jin stone weight and holding it for several minutes 6.
• Reaching the qi-blood second stage offers temporary runners a route to regular appointment 7 8.
• Cultivation methods issued to regular runners cannot be privately lent or shared without permission 1 7.
• Li Feng regards continued service as his most practical route to stronger cultivation methods because martial-school fees are unaffordable 10.

Institutional Practices

• Patronage: Connections influence hiring and access to training. Lin uses the goodwill accumulated by Li Feng’s late father to begin her career, then later arranges Li Feng’s post 1 2.
• Payments to superiors: Much of Lin’s income goes toward greasing palms within the office and supporting her martial training 1.
• Unequal revenue distribution: Most business payments go to senior officers, with the remainder divided among constables; unpaid runners receive none 8.
• Tolerated corpse-looting: Superiors tacitly permit temporary runners to take valuables from bodies as an additional “allowance” 4.
• Injury compensation: The law requires generous compensation for injuries sustained on duty. Wang Meng hopes it will help fund Lin’s medicine, while Li Feng doubts much will survive deductions by successive superiors 3.
• Dependence on backing: Colleagues distance themselves from Li Feng after Lin’s injury threatens her position 7.

History

Nighttime Operation and Lin Yanqiu’s Injury

During a secret nighttime operation, office personnel encounter a powerful convict escaped from the inner city’s death-row prison. Lin Yanqiu takes a blow while protecting her subordinates, severely damaging the bones and meridians of her right arm. Other captains and heavy crossbowmen help prevent her death 2 3.

Lin expects a replacement captain to take over her district within two days. Fearing that the newcomer will use Li Feng’s unqualified appointment to establish authority, she orders him to resign. Shadow Guards subsequently secure Spring Renewal Hall, where she receives treatment 3.

Li Feng’s Formal Qualification

While clearing bodies after a gang clash in Changle Ward, Li Feng acquires the Water-Cutting Saber Art manual. He uses it to reach the qi-blood first stage, then passes the office’s strength test and has his auxiliary-constable record amended 4 5 6.

Once Lin verifies his cultivation, she accepts his decision to remain in service, though she warns him to stay inconspicuous and avoid compromising sources of income 10.

South City Gang Conflict

As the Green Bamboo Gang gains ground against the Black Tiger Gang, the office posts explicit orders forbidding interference in their conflict while requiring prompt reports of unusual developments. Li Feng interprets the policy as letting the rivals weaken one another 8.

He later suspects that senior officials have already reached an understanding with the Green Bamboo Gang. This remains his inference rather than a confirmed agreement 9.