Now That's a Surprise

In just a few seconds, Zhou Yi backhanded Qian Xiufang as she lunged at him, sending her flying, then stepped forward and delivered a flying kick that knocked Lü Wenhui to the ground just as he leaped out of the water vat.

Clutching his lower abdomen with one hand, Lü Wenhui struggled to get up.

But the young police officer gave him no chance to fight back. He charged over, straddled him, and unleashed a storm of punches.

Meng Hongwei and Zou Qiang rushed over at the noise. The moment they entered, they saw Zhou Yi beating the fugitive.

While the two stood there stunned, Lü Wenhui-the notorious killer with eight lives on his hands, who had not even spared children-took an iron fist of justice square in the face and collapsed, blood covering his face, unconscious.

Zhou Yi took out his handcuffs, bent down, and secured the killer's wrists with two clicks.

Then he turned and pointed at Qian Xiufang, who sat slumped on the floor as though her mind had gone blank. "Keep an eye on them for me. I need to make a call," he told Meng Hongwei and Zou Qiang.

"Sure, sure!"

Coming to their senses, Meng Hongwei and Zou Qiang nodded repeatedly, their eyes filled with astonishment and admiration as they looked at the young officer.

When Zhang Liping received Zhou Yi's call, he was utterly dumbfounded.

It took him a while to recover. Then he immediately instructed in a grave voice, "Stay right there. I'll bring people over immediately! Also, interrogate Lü Wenhui right away. Find a way to get that son of a bitch to tell you where Feng Wei and Yang Keming are!"

Naturally, Zhou Yi had to carry out the station chief's orders to the letter.

He lit a post-action cigarette and enjoyed a couple of drags, then returned to the kitchen and motioned for Meng Hongwei and Zou Qiang to take Qian Xiufang outside. He wanted to interrogate Lü Wenhui alone.

Lü Wenhui slowly regained consciousness and instinctively shook his head, bewilderment rising within him. Who am I? Where am I?

But he snapped back to reality immediately.

Because Zhou Yi poured a dipper of cold water over his face.

"Tell me, where are Feng Wei and Yang Keming now?"

Zhou Yi took a drag on his cigarette and asked as casually as if they were making small talk.

Leaning against the water vat, Lü Wenhui fixed his vicious eyes on the young officer before him.

He still could not understand why he had been caught so easily.

Had Qian Xiufang sold me out?

Or had I slipped up somewhere?

What infuriated him even more was that this young cop had fought dirty, launching a sneak attack right from the start. All his fighting skills had been useless; he had not even had a chance to draw his knife.

He refused to accept it!

At that thought, Lü Wenhui grinned and taunted him mockingly. "You think you're hot shit, huh? Guess, if you're so capable."

Zhou Yi smiled and nodded, seemingly agreeing with him, then said unhurriedly, "My guess is that you killed them both, tied stones to their bodies, and dumped them in the pond east of the village."

Lü Wenhui was instantly dumbstruck. He stared at Zhou Yi as though he had seen a ghost.

That was right. Every word was right.

But... but how did he know everything so clearly?

This... this made no fucking sense!

Zhou Yi took out his phone and called Zhang Liping again.

"Chief, Lü Wenhui has confessed..."

Lü Wenhui abruptly came to his senses, twisting wildly and shouting, "I haven't said a..."

Before he could get the word "thing" out, Zhou Yi kicked him hard in the face, knocking him unconscious again.

"It's fine, it's fine. The guy was acting up, so I gave him another couple of kicks. Yes, yes, yes, Lü Wenhui confessed himself. The big pond beside the cornfield at the eastern end of Chaoyang Village. Hurry over, Chief."

Zhou Yi put away his phone and gave Lü Wenhui a cold look as he lay on the floor.

Some might ask what gave him the nerve to face a vicious killer single-handedly.

In truth, it came down to three things.

First, the foreknowledge he had gained through rebirth.

Second, the fighting skills he had honed before his rebirth.

Third, a body currently at its physical peak.

In short, he relied on the fact that the killer had no idea how formidable Zhou Yi was!

June 5, 4:53 p.m.

Only seven minutes remained before the Investigation and Arrest Operation ended.

Everyone at the Investigation and Arrest Operation command center, including Bureau Chief Zhao Yue, had mentally prepared themselves to take the ridicule without protest.

Liu Ming, deputy director of the provincial Public Security Department and head of its oversight team, sighed inwardly. He had seen every bit of the effort Anping City had poured into this operation.

But failure was failure.

Whatever the circumstances, the outcome mattered more than the process.

"Everyone..."

Deputy Director Liu was about to offer a few words of comfort and encouragement when an urgent ringing interrupted him.

Executive Deputy Bureau Chief Du Jiang, who was closest to the dedicated phone line, reached out and answered it in a flash.

In that instant, everyone's gaze snapped to Deputy Chief Du's face like spotlights.

"Good, good, good!"

Listening to the voice on the receiver, Deputy Chief Du was overjoyed, repeating the word "good" three times in a row.

Then he covered the receiver with one hand and beamed at Zhao Yue. "Lei Ming from the Dongji County bureau reports that fugitive Lü Wenhui has been captured in Chaoyang Village, Qinghe Township. Also, under on-site questioning by officers from the Qinghe Police Station, Lü Wenhui has confessed to murdering his two accomplices!"

Clap, clap, clap...

After a brief silence, the meeting room erupted in enthusiastic applause.

What was a surprise? What the fuck was a surprise? What the fucking hell was a fucking surprise?

Everyone's genuine reaction at that moment vividly illustrated the meaning of the word.

Just when all seemed lost, a way forward had appeared.

After two days and nine hours, the Investigation and Arrest Operation had finally ended in victory.

"By the way, what's the name of the young man who caught the fugitive?"

Just before the meeting adjourned, Deputy Director Liu asked, seemingly quite interested.

"His name is Zhou Yi!" Deputy Chief Du answered promptly.

"Very good, very good." Deputy Director Liu nodded with a broad smile, clearly in an excellent mood.

Bureau Chief Zhao was smiling too, but he had a different opinion.

How could that merely be called good? That was remarkably good, exceptionally good, outstandingly good!

By the time Zhou Yi returned to the township police station, it was already nine that evening.

After washing up, he lay on the bed in the duty room, tossing and turning, unable to sleep.

The county bureau's criminal investigation brigade had escorted Lü Wenhui and Qian Xiufang to the city, and the bodies of the other two fugitives, Feng Wei and Yang Keming, had been recovered from the pond.

As a lowly public-order officer, he did not need to take part in any of that work.

All he needed to do was wait patiently for the honor that belonged to him alone, and with it, the first key to unlock the door to promotion.

In his previous life, he had spent five whole years in Qinghe Township. In the end, he had only been transferred back to the county bureau's legal affairs brigade through the efforts of his old superior, Zhang Liping.

Fall behind one step, and you fell behind at every step. Besides, he had none of the three essentials: money, power, or connections.

The colleagues who had passed the county public security bureau's entrance exam alongside him had long since found their own ways to get ahead.

Some had been assigned to the public-order brigade, some to the vehicle administration office, and others had transferred to the county Party committee's organization department. The most impressive was a female colleague named Jiang Xinting, who had been seconded straight to the municipal bureau's general office.

While he was still an ordinary staff member, they had already risen to deputy section chief rank, or even full section chief rank.

Wasn't that infuriating?

In his previous life, he had had no choice. Now, he only wanted to rise above the rest.

Because he had been reborn, and he had become stronger.

I'll seize fate by the throat, grab opportunity by the tail, spread my...

Ring, ring, ring... A pleasant ringtone interrupted Zhou Yi's thoughts.

Slightly annoyed, he picked up his phone, glanced at the caller ID, and froze.

Li Qian!

His girlfriend-no, his ex-girlfriend.

Almost without thinking, Zhou Yi pressed the reject button.

Where was I? Oh, right. I'll spread the wings of my dreams, reach the pinnacle of life, I'll...

Forget it. Sleep first. Dreams have everything.