Dozens of knights sat around several tables, where they were served with good wine and dishes they had requested, along with pairs of opened chopsticks. These dishes were not extravagant delicacies, but still considered quite abundant—a rare grand meal for those with limited quality of life. Regardless of whether anyone among them swallowed a bit of their saliva, at this moment, they all did the same thing—eagerly picking up the chopsticks without hesitation. In just a few more seconds, those delicious foods would enter their mouths...

At that moment, Wang Xiaole walked over, adhering to the principle of "take action nearby," swiftly approaching one of them.

Smack!

A resounding slap resounded, causing nearby knights to involuntarily cover their half faces, as if they were the ones being slapped. The person who got slapped was completely stunned. Reflexively clutching his burning cheek, he gazed confusedly at Wang Xiaole before him.

In his mind lingered just three questions.

Who is he? Why is he here? And most importantly:

Why was I just slapped?

As he pondered these almost philosophical questions, Wang Xiaole seemed excitedly to reach out his left hand, raising the man's head and then moving his right hand.

Thud!

This time it wasn't a face slap but a head knock, the force so great it seemed as if he was trying to smash that empty head.

Seeing their comrade suffer, several knights nearby were already preparing to draw their weapons. Just as they were about to act, a roaring shout erupted—it was Wang Xiaole's voice:

"What are you freeloaders doing here? Is this how you handle the tasks set by the Lord?!"

As the saying goes, "attack first," depending on the circumstances, this phrase could also imply "speak out first." In the present situation:

Wang Xiaole descended from the second floor with Bai following closely behind. An ominous group of knights surrounding him were ready to strike him down. However, before they could unsheathe their swords, they heard those roaring words, particularly those four words:

"The Lord?" The way one would address oneself most likely meant they were allies;

Because knights knew very well, if it were commoners or enemies of the Lord, the terms used would be: "scoundrel," "fool," "trash," and so on.

Commoners wouldn't have a reason to show such deference to the Lord. Therefore, at this moment, the knights pondered a certain possibility: Could it be that the young man who had just struck someone was an ally, one of them? But that didn't make sense!

If he was one of them, why did he hit that unfortunate fellow just now? Wasn't that striking a friendly fire?

The knights' limited brain capacity and processing speed left them somewhat confused about the situation.

During this dream-like period, Wang Xiaole, casually tossed the man who was hit onto the ground, then with an air of arrogance, placed one hand on his waist, projecting an authoritative air:

"I am the Lord's confidante, dispatched to supervise you loafers, the new commander with direct leadership over you!"

"Co-Commander?" A man dressed as a captain repeated these two words in disbelief.

Wang Xiaole answered the confusion of his fellow comrade:

"Yes, Commander! The lord already anticipated you guys. As soon as you arrive at the inn, all you do is extort money and eat for free. That's why he sent me to supervise your work."

"You say you're the commander, but why should we believe you?"

After the initial surprise, the most intelligent leader in the group naturally questioned; and his disbelief in Wang Xiaole's identity represented the unanimous voice of the rest of the team.

Such questioning did not exceed Wang Xiaole's expectations. As a cunning person, he immediately rebuked the captain:

"Do you see the sword by my side? If I were not your commander but a suspicious person, I would have just slashed you with a sword instead of slapping you!"

That argument was not entirely unreasonable.

Some knights were also thinking:

If the person in front of them was suspicious, the logical thing to do now would be to escape, not to sneak up without being noticed.

This is where Wang Xiaole's cleverness lies.

Ever since he left the room, his only thought was to escape and leave the inn as soon as possible.

Escaping through the window was not realistic.

Imagine you are a member of the knight's squad patrolling outside the inn and suddenly a man carrying a young girl falls from above and lands in front of you;

At this moment, could you only suspect that he wants to escape or would you have other thoughts?

Certainly, you wouldn't believe he was Santa Claus arriving five months early to deliver gifts to the next house by jumping out of a window?

The reason for not leaving through the back door was because there were more guards there, making it easier to cause chaos.

After abandoning the two possible routes mentioned above, Wang Xiaole was left with only the option of escaping through the front.

However, even if he wanted to escape, he had to first deal with the knights blocking the door;

In this situation, a straightforward person would directly challenge the group and knock them all down singlehandedly.

However, this simple and crude approach could lead to some undesirable consequences:

Once the knights blocking the main entrance are attacked, it will inevitably alert their allies guarding elsewhere;

And those allies, through their communication means, would gather more reinforcements;

As a result, knocking down a hundred people would bring about nearly a thousand;

Then defeating this nearly one thousand would attract tens of thousands of enemies...

Wang Xiaole did not want to continue this way mainly because of the trouble it would cause;

And engaging in a prolonged battle like this could easily lead to unforeseen problems;

Therefore, the option of forcing his way through was directly abandoned by Wang Xiaole.

Thus, the only choice left before him was the possibility of bluffing his way through.

Wang Xiaole wasn't worried about being identified as a fake.

After all, the knights' organization, plus the reserve troops, numbered over ten thousand;

There were less than a hundred knights present, expecting them to recognize the remaining nine thousand nine hundred and something comrades seemed a bit far-fetched.

In other words:

Wang Xiaole found this loophole, seizing the opponents' difficulty in distinguishing friend from foe, attempting to escape from the inn in one fell swoop.

Even though previously the captain had raised reasonable doubts, he only received a reply that twisted the cause and effect.

The captain demanded Wang Xiaole to prove his identity on the spot, to show that he was truly the lord's confidant, not a suspicious outsider.

But Wang Xiaole's reply served to prove the opposite:

"I have done nothing suspicious, so I am not a doubtful outsider, therefore I truly am one of you, I have 'proven myself'!"

Some of the knights believed him, while others remained steadfast in their skepticism.

Someone asked, "If you are one of us, why aren't you dressed as we are? And why hasn't the lord mentioned you when assigning tasks?"

"Fool!"

Wang Xiaole roared, then scolded harshly, "I was sent to supervise you all, naturally I cannot wear similar military attire as you, nor can you be aware of my presence, otherwise my supervision would be in vain!"

Such an explanation did have some merit;

The person who had spoken earlier perhaps realized that continuing to dwell on this question was not very meaningful, so they simply fell silent.

The leader among the doubters, the unfortunate one who had been punched, raised a point worth probing:

"Why does this so-called 'superior,' have a beastkin from the cat tribe following behind him?"

Upon this person's pointing it out, quickly, the majority of the knights' gazes locked onto White.

Swishing tail and prominent cat ears confirmed her beastkin identity, also sparking a few doubtful voices among the knight group.

Determined to carry on with the deception for those wavering doubters, Wang Xiaole boldly declared, "Her? She's a visiting beastkin staying at this inn, just unlucky enough to be caught by me;

Speaking of misfortune, your commander, me, searched through all the rooms on the second and third floors, only to catch this one prey."

"Just one beastkin? Innkeeper, is what he said true?"

The captain shifted his gaze to the innkeeper;

Being well-versed, the innkeeper knew talk was cheap and handed over the guest registry for the captain to peruse.

Recorded within were the guests' information from the past month, and it was true that only one beastkin, namely White, had been noted down.

Thanks to this convenient asymmetry of information, even if the captain's eyes swept over the three words "Wang Xiaole," it was still impossible for him to know:

The individual represented by those three words was now standing across from him!

As White was affirmed as the sole beastkin residing in the inn, Wang Xiaole spoke with more confidence;

In order to completely dispel any doubts about these "human roadblocks," he went on to further explain:

"I know: you all are used to being lazy, and getting you to do actual work is even harder than frying in hot oil;

However, in consideration that we are all on the same side, I won't press you too much;

I will take charge of delivering this sole beastkin prey to the lord, when the time comes to claim credit and rewards, I will also emphasize your contributions."

Wang Xiaole wasted no time in saying these words, mainly to reassure the knights and let them know:

Although I just gave someone among you a beating, my attitude towards this group is generally friendly;

and considering the simplicity of the escort mission, I won't trouble any of you to lend a hand, I'll personally take care of this troublesome matter;

As for the rest of you present, just continue with what you were supposed to be doing, and rest assured there will be rewards for you afterwards!