Lin Ruoyu had been a police officer, so he had plenty of experience catching fugitives.
Conversely, Lin Ruoyu also had extraordinary skills and mental fortitude when it came to evading law enforcement, along with a unique advantage in... disguise.
At first, Lin Ruoyu sprinted away. Once he was well clear of the villa where the ambush had taken place, he slowed down, straightened his slightly disheveled clothes, and walked briskly along the cobblestone sidewalk at a measured pace, his head high and chest out.
As he walked, Lin Ruoyu deliberately chose stretches beneath streetlamps rather than those in shadow.
Naturally, the guards inside the houses along the road saw him, with his utterly composed demeanor and neatly arranged noble attire.
Although it was a little strange for a noble to walk outside alone without attendants at a time like this, this was Noble City. Odd things happening here from time to time were nothing unusual.
So the guards did not meddle by sounding the alarm, much less stick their matchlock muskets outside and fire at Lin Ruoyu for no reason.
As he walked, Lin Ruoyu's keen hearing picked up a rapid clatter of hooves ahead. Judging by the sound, at least three cavalrymen were galloping toward him at full speed.
There was a patch of shrubbery right beside Lin Ruoyu. If he hid in it, he stood a good chance of escaping the cavalrymen's search.
From the sound of things, the cavalrymen were in a hurry and would not have the leisure to examine the bushes that lined the road.
But Lin Ruoyu did not do that. Instead, he quickened his pace and stopped outside a villa with its gate firmly shut.
First, Lin Ruoyu brought his feet together and adopted something resembling a parade-rest stance, his head high and chest out, his left hand behind his back and his right hand across his midsection.
The pose made Lin Ruoyu look alert and haughty.
Just as Lin Ruoyu settled into position, three light cavalrymen in black cloaks, carrying hurricane lanterns in their left hands and holding their reins in their right, spotted him with their sharp eyes from over fifty meters away. He had deliberately placed himself beneath a streetlamp.
How long did a cavalryman need to cover fifty meters?
Only a few breaths.
"Whoa, whoa..."
Three tall horses reared up before Lin Ruoyu, and the three cavalrymen fixed their eyes on him.
Before the cavalrymen could speak, Lin Ruoyu raised his chin, looking down his nose at them, and took the initiative to ask a question.
"What happened?"
One look at Lin Ruoyu's clothes and bearing, along with his tone, immediately dispelled the cavalrymen's slightest suspicions. They instinctively assumed he was a young noble who had heard the commotion outside and come to his gate to see what was happening.
The cavalry patrol leader hurriedly dismounted and took off his hat to salute Lin Ruoyu.
"My lord, there was gunfire. Someone fired a gun in the Noble District. The captain ordered us to step up patrols."
"Nothing serious?"
"Nothing serious."
Lin Ruoyu waved a hand at the patrol leader, who immediately mounted his horse and left with his subordinates.
The patrol leader and the two cavalrymen had not suspected Lin Ruoyu, not merely because of his clothes, but even more because of his arrogance. That was something commoners could not possess.
After the cavalrymen left, Lin Ruoyu remained where he was and glanced around a few times. Once he was certain no one was watching him, he resumed his measured pace toward his destination.
This was experience Lin Ruoyu had gained from his work offline.
First, after committing a crime, the most important thing was not figuring out how to destroy evidence or conceal your presence, but staying calm and composed.
Often, police caught criminals not because they had secured any evidence, but because, upon meeting a suspect, they noticed the person's guilty conscience and panic, which helped them identify their target.
The police would make an arrest, bring the person back to the station, and use a psychological bluff to expose the problem.
This was also why police officers patrolling the streets would stop someone without apparent cause and ask for their ID.
When traffic police were checking for drunk drivers, if you drove straight toward them, rolled down your window, and stuck your head out as though you could not wait to take a breathalyzer test...
The traffic police would wave you away and tell you to get lost. They knew there was nothing wrong with you and that you merely wanted to satisfy your curiosity. Stopping your car would only waste their time.
Second, when someone committed a crime and wanted to leave the scene, they could not act in haste. They needed a strategy.
Their clothes had to be neat, and their expression had to be composed. When encountering law enforcement, they needed to learn to think in reverse and take the initiative... yes, just as Lin Ruoyu was doing now.
And so, after half an hour, Lin Ruoyu successfully returned to the house with the secret passage. But as he stood outside the gate, before he could climb over the wall to enter, his heart tightened.
The gate was unlocked!
When he had left earlier, the gate had been firmly shut. Now it was open, which meant the owner had returned!
Even so, Lin Ruoyu did not panic in the slightest. Calm and composed, he gently pushed the gate open and slipped sideways inside.
There was no one in the courtyard, only a dim yellow streetlamp illuminating the lawn.
After closing the gate, Lin Ruoyu lightly crossed the intervening distance and reached the house's wooden door. He pushed it open carefully, then slipped sideways inside.
An old man in a tailcoat stood behind the door, apparently the house's butler. He was quite startled by Lin Ruoyu slipping inside and, for a moment, failed to grasp what was happening.
Before the butler could cry out, Lin Ruoyu lunged in front of him in a single step and gently drove the dagger in his raised right hand into the side of his waist.
Lin Ruoyu had not chosen to stab the old butler in the heart. For one thing, the heart was protected by the ribs, and even an experienced hand could easily get the blade caught on bone.
For another, there were rare cases of people whose hearts were on the right. A stab to the left might not be fatal, and the butler could very well cry out or even fight back against Lin Ruoyu.
To be safe, Lin Ruoyu chose to strike his enemy in the kidney. The dense concentration of nerves there left the old butler in too much pain to remain standing. Even with his mouth open, he could not make a sound.
Lin Ruoyu supported the old butler with his left hand and lowered him to the floor. Then he pulled out the dagger and drove it into the heart area of the man's chest with a wet puncturing sound, twisting his wrist to turn the blade half a rotation.
With that, the old butler went still.
Lin Ruoyu stood up and looked into the brightly lit house. His eyes instantly turned cold.
What a perfect opportunity. It looked like that depraved scumbag of a noble had come back.
Whatever had brought him back, now that they had crossed paths, he deserved to be killed.
With that thought in mind, Lin Ruoyu was no longer in a hurry to escape. Holding the dagger in a reverse grip, he padded soundlessly deeper into the house like the Grim Reaper.
PS: The contents of this chapter are the author's invention. Seriously, do not try any of this in real life.