Chapter 36: Battle in the Rain

"You beast!"

The straw-cloaked knight wielding an axe had eyes burning red with fury. He let out a war cry and charged toward Jiang Shi, hurling his hand-axe as he ran. "He still owes me a year's worth of gambling debts!"

Though he appeared reckless in appearance, his combat style was sinister and cunning. After throwing the axe, he didn't just draw a short sword; his left hand reached into his belt and tossed a small sphere.

Yan Qing, perfectly parrying the flying axe, saw the projectile and instinctively slashed at it. However, the moment the sphere was struck, it exploded into a cloud of white powder. Jiang Shi, unable to dodge in time, took the hit directly in her right eye.

Yan Qing, currently inhabiting the body of the thief Jiang Shi, froze as she noticed a status effect appear above her health bar: [Right Eye Blinded], temporary 40% reduction in hit rate.

Though this was her first time experiencing it, Yan Qing had seen such tropes in countless works of fiction and immediately recognized the tool.

"Get her! Her eyes are blinded by the lime!" the Lime Knight shouted. "It’s raining, so her eyes will start burning soon!"

Despite his words, he slowed his pace. Instead of rushing to engage Jiang Shi, he positioned himself in front of the carriage. His recklessness was merely a facade; even with the advantage, he remained cautious, preparing for intervention from the Baiyun Qian family before he had even captured his prey.

As the Lime Knight stepped forward, his companions—who had already flanked her—charged in at his command, leaving Jiang Shi no room to breathe. To protect her eye, Jiang Shi had to cover it with her left hand and fight one-handed. Even with her exquisite technique, she could only defend herself, and within a few short breaths, she had already skirted death multiple times.

The young lady in the carriage only now regained her senses. She had been stunned by Jiang Shi’s sudden, violent eruption of force rather than boarding the carriage. Nevertheless, she was anxious for Jiang Shi’s plight and braced herself against the carriage frame, ready to jump out.

"Are you planning to harbor this criminal!?"

The Lime Knight, who had remained out of the fray to monitor them, spoke up loudly. "Does the Baiyun Qian clan intend to protect this Taihu renegade who murdered our brothers? If so, we shall withdraw immediately and report this matter to the magistrate for judgment!"

The Lime Knight emphasized the words "murdered our brothers," causing the girl to hesitate.

Previously, she could have claimed the guards were slandering them, but Jiang Shi had undeniably killed men. Even if she wasn't a renegade, she was a murderer; that logic held up anywhere.

Seeing the girl and the coachman remain still, the Lime Knight breathed a sigh of relief. If Jiang Shi had been someone ordinary, he would have yielded to the Baiyun Qian family’s face. Although the Baiyun Qian clan was merely a Blue-Band noble family, he himself was nothing more than a Black-Band bailiff using the magistrate’s office to throw his weight around. Moreover, these two from the Baiyun Qian clan seemed to be Messengers; a single breath from them could wipe everyone here out.

However, the magistrate—from the Zhanhe Huang clan—was his only path to advancement, and the magistrate had a weakness for beautiful women. The moment he saw Jiang Shi, the Lime Knight knew that if he presented her to the magistrate, he would surely gain his favor, and this year’s quota for tokens would be within his grasp.

There were seven or eight others in the yamen like him—Messengers who had changed classes but lacked tokens—not to mention the fierce local braves who had also changed classes. The only way for them to obtain tokens was to wait for the prefecture's quota. A bailiff like him, with no status or wealth, would never see a token in his lifetime, forever serving as a tool for the powerful.

Only by seizing this rare opportunity could he rise! Even if it meant offending a Blue-Band noble family, it was a risk he was willing to take!

He had bet correctly.

There were plenty of noble scions who ignored the law to kill as they pleased. But Blue-Band nobles like the Baiyun Qian clan weren't powerful enough to dare offend a county office that represented imperial authority!

"Big brother! Big brother—"

A panicked cry echoed through the rain. The Lime Knight turned, puzzled. Two bailiffs fighting one semi-blind woman—why hadn't they finished her off yet? Could they really be losing?

A bailiff with a severed right arm scrambled out of the alley, his face twisted in horror, his footsteps frantic as if he were being pursued by a demon.

*Tap.*

Jiang Shi walked out of the alley with a measured, unhurried gait. She still covered one eye, her right hand gripping her blade. Compared to moments ago, her coarse linen clothes were stained black-red with blood, the scent of which even the rain could not wash away. She was merely walking, yet she moved faster than the fleeing bailiff.

When did they move their fight into the alley?

The bailiff, hearing the footsteps behind him, tripped and fell, landing face-to-face with the devilish woman. He shrieked in total despair: "No, big brother, save me! Please, don't—"

*Clang!*

A sharp, mournful flash of steel cut through the rain. The Lime Knight squinted. The fallen bailiff instinctively raised his remaining left hand to block, but the result was his left wrist and head being severed simultaneously. His head, still bearing a look of terror, rolled away, while his body twitched on the ground like a poorly gutted fish.

The rain grew heavier, limiting visibility to less than ten paces.

But the Lime Knight saw clearly: Jiang Shi had used no power from any tokens to kill them. She had decapitated the bailiff with a single-handed sword strike. It sounded simple, but beheading was no easy task; even professional executioners sometimes failed to sever the head, their blades getting stuck in the cervical vertebrae or snapping entirely.

To behead someone in the heat of combat was difficult enough, let alone one-handed.

Most terrifying of all, despite having killed three men—and though one had yet to emerge from the alley, no one believed he was alive—Jiang Shi remained expressionless. Her face, as perfect as a heavenly maiden’s, was cold and indifferent.

A chill ran down the Lime Knight’s spine; fear drowned his world like the rain.

If Jiang Shi had shown anger, cursing, disgust, or even bloodlust, he wouldn't have been afraid. Having risen from the bottom to become a Messenger, he had seen plenty of enemies. But Jiang Shi, covered in filth and blood, standing amidst corpses and severed heads, stared at him with calm, beautiful eyes, completely unfazed.

If the magistrate were to be looked at this way by such a beauty, he might be bewitched, unable to resist throwing himself at her.

Yet, the Lime Knight only trembled, wishing he could run as far as possible.

He felt that in her eyes, he wasn't an enemy, or even a human—he was merely a fish.

A fish struggling in its final throes!

*Tap!*

Jiang Shi stepped through the rain, her blade carving a semicircle in the air, appearing to strike from the right. But as the Lime Knight shifted his shoulder to defend against her exposed left side, her blade tip suddenly flickered downward, transforming from a slash into a thrust!

*Clang! Clang! Clang!*

After just three exchanges, the Lime Knight understood how his men had died. Her swordplay was so skilled she could feint and change direction at will, making her attack path impossible to predict. At the same time, she was a master of "tendon-cutting counter-strikes," striking the muscles of her opponent's weapon trajectory to shatter their offense before countering.

These two techniques could be described in a few lines, but few ordinary people could execute them. Even among bailiffs, those who could keep their hands steady while swinging were considered elites; if they tried to feint, they’d likely just drop their blades. Tendon-cutting was an even higher art, for failure meant standing still like a target, whereas retreating was safer. Most people never considered it.

And that was why they were dead.

With their mediocre skills, facing a master who could fluently use feints and tendon-cutting, all their attacks were dismantled, and the opponent would follow up by striking where they could not defend. How were they any different from straw scarecrows with legs?

That was the nature of battle: whether you were exquisite jade or worthless mud, you had to collide with a stone forged in the fires of experience.

If you shattered, you died.

The Lime Knight knew his opponent’s terror.

Because he, too, was proficient in feints and tendon-cutting.

His body temperature dropped, but his blood boiled. Though he had lime bombs on his belt, he had no opening to throw them. He was forced to fight Jiang Shi blow for blow with his short sword!

Just like when he was twenty-two, boarding a Da Jiang Gang ship with his colleagues, the only one left standing at the doorway to face a dozen gang blades!

Just like when he was twenty-five, traveling by night and encountering a tiger, fighting it to the death with only an axe and a short sword!

Just like when he was twenty-nine...

*Clang!*

The glorious memories in his mind dissipated. The searing pain in the web of his hand and the cold rain dragged him back to reality.

The Lime Knight’s lips trembled as he stared at Jiang Shi, as if looking at a monster.

Her swordsmanship was still improving, and her vitality continued to climb throughout the battle. The vitality advantage he had relied upon was gone. Her disadvantages—being semi-blind and one-handed—were masked by her sheer skill.

Could I be...

Impossible!

The Lime Knight’s eyes widened, and he roared as he charged at Jiang Shi.

I am a Messenger! A Martial Messenger proficient in the arts! My skills were earned through bitter training; I have survived dozens of life-or-death battles! How could I lose in a place like this—

*Clang!*

His short sword flew high into the air, spinning.

The Lime Knight stared at his empty hands, unable to believe he couldn't even hold his weapon. Being disarmed in a frontal clash proved only one thing: his vitality was inferior to hers.

So that’s it. Ever since I became a squad leader, I’ve spent my days scheming to get token quotas, always at banquets or on my way to them. I haven't tempered my strength, and I no longer face combat on the front lines...

No matter how well-forged a stone is, it will be worn away by the daily drip of water. Others didn't notice, and I deceived myself, thinking the stone remained as it was.

Until it collided with another stone—one that was currently undergoing its own transformation.

*Zheng!*

Jiang Shi swung her blade, tearing through the rain as if tearing through a painting, and the person within the rain was torn apart along with it.

A head flew high; the short sword spun and landed.

Jiang Shi turned, wiping her blade with her sleeve before sheathing it. The corpse behind her seemed to only then realize it was dead, collapsing heavily into the puddles.

Walking to the first bailiff who had died, Jiang Shi knelt to remove his boots and coat. As she prepared to put them on, the four-horse carriage pulled up before her.

"There are clothes and shoes that fit you in the carriage, as well as vegetable oil to remove the lime."

The young lady peeked out, her eyes filled with awe and fear, and perhaps a flicker of admiration. She extended her hand once more, her tone solemn. "Are you coming up?"

Jiang Shi did not speak. She simply extended a blood-stained right hand toward her.

...

...

Yan Qing studied the screen, thinking that the option "Extend a blood-stained right hand toward her" was truly exquisite.

After all, 'Jiang Shi' had just killed four bailiffs; boarding the carriage would undoubtedly implicate the girl. Extending her hand was a silent question.

*My hands are covered in blood. Do you really want to touch them?*

If the girl was willing to grasp this blood-stained hand, it meant she did not care about 'Jiang Shi’s' crimes.

Even while stained with blood, to still offer a hand of support—what a scene of chivalrous tenderness!

However...

Yan Qing watched the girl in the carriage pause, then realize her intent. She reached into her bodice, pulled out a handkerchief, helped 'Jiang Shi' wipe her palm clean, and then took 'Jiang Shi’s' hand to pull her onto the carriage.

*I asked if you were willing to associate with a criminal, not if you were a germaphobe...*