Chapter 12 - 8: Making a Scene

’This is bad...’

Xu De’s pupils contracted. Without a moment’s hesitation, while everyone else was still stunned, he reached out.

Before Wang Qiang could react, a hand grabbed his shoulder and spun him around.

Spun around, he pitched forward. Losing his balance, he instinctively stumbled up the steps into the police van.

Li Xiang looked back and saw Wang Qiang was already in the vehicle. He breathed a sigh of relief and started giving orders.

"Call 911 first! Zhang, you drive them away! Qiangzi, Old Li, you’re staying with me!"

Zhang didn’t hesitate. He hadn’t even closed the door.

He slammed his foot on the gas!

VROOOM!

The bulky minibus roared to life and sped into the distance.

In a matter of seconds, the vehicle had left the crowd behind.

Xu De stood at the back of the van, looking through the rear window at Li Xiang in the crowd. Li Xiang still had his gun raised. A few other officers were kneeling on the ground, apparently trying to stop Li Erniu’s bleeding.

As the van bounced along, the figures shrank until they were the size of sesame seeds, then vanished completely.

Tsk.

Xu De looked away and glanced down beside him.

Wang Qiang’s expression was still twisted in fury, the crimson in his eyes yet to fade. But now he was just dazed, frozen in place like a stone statue.

The hands that had held Wang Mei so tightly were covered in blood.

He had killed someone...

He had killed someone!

A life for a life, a debt for a debt. It was an immutable law. He... would have to pay with his life.

’But... ten years. I searched for ten years. I only just found Wang Mei. How... how did it end up like this...’

Wang Qiang’s eyes were vacant. He stared blankly at his hands, his breathing growing more and more ragged. No one knew what he was thinking.

As Xu De watched him,

A sound chimed in his ears, and a pale blue screen of light materialized before him.

[Ding! A criminal ’Human Trafficking Case’ has been detected nearby!]

[Criminal Case Reward: 100% chance to extract one skill from the client, a number of Gratitude Coins.]

[Note: (The quality of the reward increases with the client’s satisfaction level.)]

[Accept?]

’This is...’

’A case has been triggered!?’

Lost in thought for a moment, Xu De raised an eyebrow. An idea struck him, and he accepted the case.

[Congratulations! You have accepted the ’Human Trafficking Case’!]

The next second, Xu De looked up.

"Mr. Wang, it looks like you’ve run into some trouble. So..."

He looked at the vacant-eyed, statue-like Wang Qiang beside him, then extended a hand and said gently,

"Do you need a little... uncommon help?"

’Un... uncommon help?’

In his daze, the statue-like Wang Qiang’s vacant pupils suddenly flickered.

...

...

「The next day.」

October 3rd.

7:00 AM.

Lusen City Police Department.

Early in the morning, before the officers arriving for their shift could even walk into the station lobby, they were greeted by a cacophony of wailing and shrieking.

"Oh, my poor boy! He was only thirty, and you people beat him to death!"

"There’s no justice in this world! How are we supposed to live!"

"Give me back my son’s life! You give me back my son!"

"..."

When a few officers walked into the lobby, they saw...

a crowd of their colleagues gathered in a circle. In the center were two people.

They were a pair of scrawny, elderly people: Li Youcai and Liu Cui.

Liu Cui was sitting on the floor, wailing and pounding on her legs.

The department’s branch captain, Wu Kang, was standing beside her, a pained expression on his face as if he had a toothache.

"Ma’am, please get up. We can talk this out calmly. The station needs to conduct its normal business..."

As he spoke, Wu Kang reached out to help her up.

But seeing this, Li Youcai, who was standing beside her, flared up in anger and shoved him away.

"Not a single one of you is any good!"

"Where have you hidden the man who killed my son!? Hand him over!"

As if on cue, Liu Cui started wailing on the floor again.

"WAAAAH..."

"Is there any justice left in this world!"

"My life is so bitter! The police brought someone to kill my son, and after the murder, they hid the killer away..."

Her voice, sounding as if it would rip her throat raw, echoed through the lobby.

It was also attracting more and more passersby who stopped to watch the commotion.

Seeing this, Wu Kang, the criminal investigation branch captain, turned pale.

This was the time of day when residents came to the station for official business. If he let them continue this tantrum and the public heard what they were saying...

’The people in the public relations department would probably want to kill me with their bare hands!’

"Ma’am, please get up. Get up and we can talk this through."

Wu Kang said, bending over and trying to pull Liu Cui up again.

But she was dead set on causing a scene and simply wouldn’t be lifted.

And that was indeed the truth.

They were there to cause trouble!

Li Erniu was dead. He had bled out before the ambulance could even arrive!

Of course, while their son was dead, and they were somewhat sad, they could hardly be described as grief-stricken.

After all, they had a grandson!

A grandson meant the family line would continue!

As for why they were still making a scene at the police station...

"I don’t care! You find that murderer for me! My son can’t have died for nothing!"

Li Youcai stood there, speaking with great impatience.

Hearing this, Liu Cui stopped crying.

"That’s right! And we need compensation! My son can’t die for nothing! You have to pay up!"

She scrambled to her feet, planted her hands on her hips, and shrieked at the surrounding crowd,

"And where’s that ungrateful wretch, Wang Mei!?"

"Our family raised her for a whole ten years! She can’t just forget our kindness!"

"Now that my son is dead, who’s going to take care of us when we’re old? Make Wang Mei come back with us!"

At these words,

the few officers who knew the whole story gritted their teeth, a nameless fury brewing in their chests.

They clenched their fists but couldn’t do anything.

Just then,

someone in the surrounding crowd couldn’t help but speak up.

"You should be talking to a lawyer about these demands. What’s the use of making a scene at the police station?"

’A lawyer?’

Li Youcai and Liu Cui froze for a second, then their eyes lit up.

’That’s right, a lawyer!’

’We need to get a lawyer!’

’Our son is dead! We have to find a lawyer, sue Wang Qiang until his family is ruined, and make him pay us a huge sum of money!’

’And then we’ll make Wang Mei come back and take care of us in our old age!’

"Right, a lawyer!"

Li Youcai and Liu Cui mulled it over for a moment and immediately made up their minds.

"Hmph! If you won’t serve justice, we’ll go find a lawyer!"

Liu Cui shot a glare at the people around them, snorted coldly, and rushed out with Li Youcai in a great hurry.

In the blink of an eye, they were gone.

Seeing this,

Wu Kang let out a breath of relief, but then the pained feeling returned. He looked at the officers around him and asked,

"Where’s Li Xiang?"

An officer beside him snapped out of it and quickly replied,

"Captain Li went to the holding cell to conduct an interrogation!"

Hearing this, Wu Kang’s face darkened.

"That Li Xiang... dumps this mess on me and finds himself a quiet spot!"

After saying this,

Wu Kang dispersed the crowd of onlookers and headed toward the holding cells.

The police station was equipped with holding cells.

Generally, ’suspects’ in a case are temporarily detained in the station’s holding cells before being convicted.

After the investigation is complete, they are transferred to a detention center to await trial, and only moved to a prison after sentencing.

Therefore, besides the interrogation room, the holding cells were also a common place to question ’suspects’.

Wang Qiang was being held in one such cell.

He had killed someone!

The missing person case had instantly transformed into a homicide, now a high-priority investigation!

Li Xiang was in charge of his interrogation.

...

「Inside the holding cell.」

"How are you feeling? Did you sleep okay last night?"

"It was fine..."

The conditions in the holding cell were basic. Aside from lacking a bed and having a table and chairs, it didn’t look much different from a prison cell.

Li Xiang was currently sitting on one side of the table, smoking a cigarette, a weary look in his eyes.

Wang Qiang sat on the other side, his hands in cuffs. His head was lowered, his expression unreadable, and even the rise and fall of his chest was shallow.

"What about the food? The station’s fare isn’t great, you might not be used to it."

"It was good..."

The two of them exchanged questions and answers, but it didn’t sound like an interrogation.

After he spoke, a sudden silence fell between them.

After a long while, a voice finally broke the quiet.

"Officer Li, Mei..."

Li Xiang paused. He looked up at the thin, haggard man before him, a heavy feeling in his heart. He took a drag from his cigarette and said,

"She’s been taken care of. She and your wife are currently staying in a place provided by the police. Li Youcai and his wife won’t be able to find them."

"As for Wang Mei’s son... because we had made preparations, the custody lawsuit was filed last night."

"The prosecutor’s office and the court are taking this case very seriously. A custody ruling should be issued within two weeks at the latest."

"You don’t need to worry about a lawyer either."

"A female lawyer with a powerful background has taken the case pro bono."

At this, Li Xiang paused, looking at him with a complicated expression.

"But as for you..."

Wang Qiang’s situation was a bit complicated.

At a glance, it could be judged as justifiable self-defense, but... looking at the details, he had made the first move!

That’s right. Wang Qiang had pushed Li Erniu down first, which then led to the fight.

This meant it was highly likely he would be convicted of intentional homicide or intentional injury...

"Me?"

Wang Qiang gave a bitter smile. He leaned back in his chair, staring at the ceiling with unfocused eyes, lost in memory.

"It was enough. It was worth it..."

"Officer Li, you don’t know... Mei was snatched away."

"Ten years ago, I took her to the corner store. I turned around to buy a lightbulb, and in that instant... she was forced into a car."

"The car sped away, and I chased after it... Why do cars have to be so fast?"

Wang Qiang murmured, rambling to himself.

Li Xiang was silent.

"I couldn’t catch up. The car was too fast. No matter how hard I ran, I couldn’t catch it."

"Later, you said you caught a human trafficker, and that this trafficker... took his victim and drove over a thousand kilometers to Lusen City in just two days."

"Over a thousand kilometers... It took me ten years to catch up, but his little car made it in two days. Isn’t that just soul-crushing..."

A self-mocking look appeared in Wang Qiang’s eyes, and they began to turn red again.

He continued rambling.

"But I found her... As long as I found her, it’s okay. Her mother cried her voice hoarse, but thank God we found her..."

"From now on, at least the mother and daughter will have each other."

Hearing this,

Li Xiang couldn’t take it anymore and suddenly cut him off.

"What about you? Don’t you want to be reunited with them?"

"There’s a lot of uncertainty in your case. If you get a good lawyer, there’s a chance you could get a lighter sentence!"

"The police can have the court ask the bar association to request legal aid for you."

Wang Qiang was silent for a moment.

After a long pause, he suddenly looked up and hesitantly spoke a name that Li Xiang never expected.

"Officer Li, can..."

"Can you get that Lawyer Xu from before to take my case?"

’Lawyer Xu?’

Li Xiang was taken aback.

’Lawyer Xu? Xu De!?’

Li Xiang frowned. If word got out about this case... plenty of lawyers would be chomping at the bit. For a high-profile case like this, they’d probably even pay for the privilege.

It was hard to say if they’d be more effective, but on the surface, they’d seem far more reliable than a young lawyer.

On a matter of life and death...

"Are you sure?" Li Xiang asked, uncertain.

"I’m sure." Wang Qiang nodded.

Li Xiang’s lips moved for a moment, just as he was about to say something.

Suddenly, a figure appeared at the door of the holding cell.

Li Xiang instinctively looked over and saw Wu Kang standing there, motioning with his eyes for him to come out.

Seeing this,

he changed what he was about to say and could only sigh.

"Alright, but for a specific request like this... it depends on his willingness to accept. I’ll have the bar association contact him."

After he finished speaking,

Li Xiang stood up, hastily ending the interrogation, and opened the door to the holding cell.

Wu Kang was standing right there at the entrance!

He didn’t criticize him. He first glanced at Wang Qiang before his gaze fell on Li Xiang.

"How’s the case going?"

"Sigh. There’s not much to interrogate. The case is very straightforward," Li Xiang sighed.

After he spoke, neither of them said anything more.

The more straightforward a case was, the harder it was to overturn.

"Alright, I’ll hand this case over to someone else to follow up,"

Wu Kang said after a long pause, shaking his head and changing the subject.

"We got a call this morning."

"A blackmail case. The amount is huge. The caller is a man named Zhang Hu. He claims his wife’s lover is blackmailing him for three million."

’Black... blackmail!?’

A look of astonishment appeared on Li Xiang’s face.

’The New Year is almost here. Where the hell did a blackmail case like this come from!?’

’And for three million, no less!’

Wu Kang added,

"The evidence is solid. You go handle this case first."