Throwing a Tantrum!

"Damn it..."

Xu De's pupils contracted. Without a moment's hesitation, he reached out before anyone else could react.

Wang Qiang had yet to come to his senses when a hand seized his shoulder and spun him around.

He pitched forward, and with his balance gone, he stumbled onto the police bus without anyone having to push him.

Li Xiang looked back. Seeing that Wang Qiang was aboard, he breathed a little easier and called out.

"Call an ambulance first... Old Zhang, drive him out of here! Qiangzi, Old Li, stay with me!"

Old Zhang didn't hesitate. He didn't even close the door.

He slammed his foot on the gas!

Vroom!

The bulky minibus roared away.

Within moments, it had left the crowd behind.

Standing at the rear of the bus, Xu De watched Li Xiang through the window. Li Xiang still had his gun raised, while several other officers crouched on the ground, apparently trying to stop Li Erniu's bleeding.

As the bus jolted along, the figures grew smaller and smaller until they were no bigger than sesame seeds, then vanished.

"Tch."

Xu De looked away and glanced at the man beside him.

Wang Qiang's face was still twisted with rage, and the red had not faded from his eyes. But his gaze was vacant. He stood motionless, like a statue.

The hands that held Wang Mei tight were covered in blood.

He had killed someone...

He had killed someone!

A life for a life, a debt repaid in full. That was an iron law as old as time. He... would have to pay with his life.

But... he had searched for ten years. He had only just found Wang Mei. How had it... how had it come to this?

Wang Qiang stared blankly at his hands, his breathing growing faster. No one knew what he was thinking.

As Xu De watched him,

a sound rang in his ears, and a pale blue screen appeared before his eyes.

[Ding! A criminal "Abduction Case" has been detected nearby!]

[Criminal case reward: One skill drawn from the client with a 100% success rate, plus a number of gratitude coins.]

[Note: Reward quality increases with the client's satisfaction.]

[Accept the case?]

This is...

A case has been triggered!?

Xu De raised his eyebrows. With a thought, he accepted it.

[Congratulations! You have accepted the "Abduction Case"!]

A moment later, Xu De looked up.

"Mr. Wang, it seems you've run into some trouble, so..."

He turned to Wang Qiang, who still sat there with lifeless eyes, as motionless as a stone carving. Then Xu De held out a hand and said gently,

"Would you like a little help of an unusual sort?"

Un... unusual help?

The eyes of the statue-like Wang Qiang suddenly stirred.

The next day.

October 3.

Seven in the morning.

Greenwood City Police Department.

The officers arriving for work had not even entered the station when they heard a string of wails and shrieks.

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

"Where's the justice in that? How are we supposed to live?"

"Give me back my son! Give me back my son!"

"..."

When several officers entered the lobby, they finally saw what was going on...

A crowd of police officers had gathered inside, forming a ring around two people.

They were two gaunt old people: Li Youcai and Zhang Cui.

Zhang Cui sat on the floor, wailing and pounding her legs.

Criminal Investigation Detachment Chief Wu Kang stood beside her, looking as though he had a splitting headache.

"Please get up first. We can talk this through. The station still has work to do..."

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

But Li Youcai, standing beside her, flew into a rage and shoved him away.

"Not 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 sat on the floor and began wailing too.

"Boo-hoo..."

"Is there no justice left in this world?"

"What a miserable life I have! The police brought someone along to kill my son, then hid the murderer away..."

Her cries sounded loud enough to tear her throat raw.

More and more passersby stopped to watch.

At the sight, Wu Kang's face turned green.

This was exactly when residents came to the station on business. If he let them keep rolling around and making a scene, and those residents heard what they were saying...

The public relations office would want his head!

"Please get up. We can talk once you're on your feet."

Wu Kang bent down and tried again to pull Liu Cui up.

But she had come here determined to cause a scene. There was no getting her off the floor.

And that was exactly the truth.

They had come to cause a scene!

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

Of course, though their son was dead and they were somewhat upset, they were hardly beside themselves with grief.

After all, they had a grandson!

A grandson meant the family line would continue!

As for why they had come to make trouble at the station...

"I don't care! Bring me that murderer! My son can't have died for nothing!"

Li Youcai stood over them and spoke impatiently.

At that, Liu Cui stopped crying too.

"That's right! And you owe us money! Our son can't have died for nothing. You have to pay us!!!"

She scrambled to her feet, planted her hands on her hips, and shrieked at everyone around her.

"And where's that ungrateful Wang Mei!?"

"Our family raised her for ten whole years! She can't just forget everything we did for her!"

"Now that my son's dead, who's going to look after me when I'm old? Wang Mei's coming back with me!"

At those words,

several officers who knew the full story clenched their teeth. Anger burned in their chests.

They balled their fists, but they could not lay a hand on her.

Just then,

someone in the crowd could no longer hold back and spoke up.

"You need to take that to a lawyer. What good will making a scene at the police station do?"

A lawyer?

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

Of course. A lawyer!

They needed a lawyer!

Their son was dead. They had to find a lawyer, sue Wang Qiang until his family was ruined, and make him pay them a fortune!

Then they could have Wang Mei come back and take care of them in their old age!

"Right, a lawyer!"

Li Youcai and Liu Cui discussed it briefly and made up their minds on the spot.

"Hmph! If you won't see justice done, I'll find a lawyer!"

Liu Cui glared at everyone around her. With a snort, she and Li Youcai hurried out.

In the blink of an eye, they were gone.

Seeing this,

Wu Kang breathed a sigh of relief, only for his headache to return. He turned to the officers nearby and asked,

"Where's Li Xiang?"

An officer beside him snapped to attention and answered at once.

"Captain Li went to the Detention Room to question someone!"

Wu Kang's face darkened.

"That Li Xiang. He dumps this mess on me while he gets some peace and quiet!"

With that,

Wu Kang dispersed the onlookers and headed toward the Detention Room.

The police station had a Detention Room.

Generally, before a suspect was convicted, they were held temporarily in the station's Detention Room.

Once the case was settled, they were transferred to a detention center to await trial. Only after sentencing were they sent to prison.

So besides an interrogation room, the Detention Room was another place where suspects were normally questioned.

Wang Qiang was being held there.

He had killed someone!

In an instant, the missing-person case had become a homicide and the focus of intense attention!

Li Xiang was handling Wang Qiang's questioning.

Inside the Detention Room.

"How are you feeling? Did you sleep all right last night?"

"Well enough..."

The Detention Room was basic. Apart from the lack of a bed and the addition of a table and chairs, it looked much like a prison cell.

Li Xiang sat on one side of the table, smoking. Weariness showed in his eyes.

Wang Qiang sat opposite him, his wrists locked in handcuffs. His head hung low, revealing nothing of what he felt. Even his breathing was barely visible.

"And the food? The station doesn't have much to offer. You might not be used to it."

"It's fine..."

Question and answer passed between them. It hardly sounded like an interrogation.

Then silence fell.

A long while passed before another voice broke it.

"Detective Li, Xiao Mei..."

Li Xiang paused and looked up at the thin, worn man before him. His chest felt heavy. He took a drag on his cigarette before answering.

"She's taken care of. She's staying with your wife in a place the police provided. Li Youcai and his wife can't find them."

"As for Wang Mei's son... We'd made preparations, so a custody suit was filed last night."

"The Procuratorate and the court are taking this case very seriously. There should be a custody ruling within half a month at the latest."

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

"A female lawyer with powerful connections has taken the case for free."

Li Xiang stopped and looked at him, his expression complicated.

"But you..."

Wang Qiang's situation was more complicated.

At a glance, his actions could be ruled self-defense. But the details showed that he had struck first!

Wang Qiang had pushed Li Erniu down first, and the fight between them had followed.

That meant he could very well be convicted of intentional homicide or Intentional Injury...

"Me?"

Wang Qiang gave a bleak smile. He leaned back in his chair and stared at the ceiling, his unfocused eyes lost in memory.

"It was worth it. I got what I came for..."

"Detective Li, you don't know this, but Xiao Mei was taken by force."

"Ten years ago, I took her to a little shop. I turned away to buy a light bulb, and in that moment... someone forced her into a car."

"The car sped ahead, and I chased after it... Tell me, how could a car go so fast?"

Wang Qiang murmured, muttering under his breath.

Li Xiang said nothing.

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

"Then you said you'd caught a child trafficker. You said that after he took my child... he reached Greenwood City, over a thousand kilometers away, in just two days."

"Over a thousand kilometers... It took me ten years to catch up, and his little car got there in two days. How's anyone supposed to live with that..."

Self-mockery flickered in Wang Qiang's eyes, and they reddened again.

He went on muttering.

"But we found her... Finding her is what matters. Her mother cried until she lost her voice, but at least we found her..."

"Now the two of them will have each other to lean on."

At that, Li Xiang couldn't hold back. He cut Wang Qiang off.

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

"There's a lot of uncertainty in your case. With a good lawyer, you might get a lighter sentence!"

"The police can ask the court to arrange legal aid through the Lawyers Association."

Wang Qiang fell silent for a moment.

After a long pause, he looked up and hesitantly named someone Li Xiang had never expected.

"Detective Li, could..."

"Could that lawyer Xu from before take my case?"

Lawyer Xu?

Li Xiang froze.

Lawyer Xu? Xu De!?

Li Xiang frowned. If word of this case got out, plenty of lawyers would be watching it, eager to take it on even if they had to pay for the chance.

Whether they could help was another matter, but at least on the surface, they would seem far more reliable than a young lawyer.

With his life hanging in the balance...

"Are you sure?" Li Xiang asked.

"I'm sure." Wang Qiang nodded.

Li Xiang's lips moved. Just as he was about to speak, a figure appeared at the Detention Room door.

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

Seeing that, Li Xiang changed what he had been about to say. He could only sigh.

"All right. But a request for a specific lawyer depends on whether he's willing to take the case. I'll have the Lawyers Association speak with him."

With that, Li Xiang stood and brought the interrogation to a hasty end. He opened the Detention Room door.

Wu Kang was standing right outside!

Wu Kang did not criticize him. He glanced at Wang Qiang first, then turned his attention to Li Xiang.

"How's the case going?"

"Not much left to question him about. The case is straightforward," Li Xiang said with a sigh.

Neither of them spoke after that.

The simpler the case, the harder it was to overturn.

"All right. I'll assign the follow-up to someone else."

After a long while, Wu Kang shook his head and changed the subject.

"We got a call this morning."

"An extortion case, involving a huge sum. The caller was a man named Zhang Hu. He claimed his wife's lover had extorted a full three million from him."

An... extortion case!?

Li Xiang stared at him in disbelief.

It was almost New Year's. Where had an extortion case come from now!?

And for a full three million!!!

Wu Kang went on:

"The evidence is solid. Go handle this case first."