Jiang Nian arrived outside the detention center in a fury. As far as he was concerned, Zhang Junbao was a martial artist of his Limits Dojo, and ordinary police had no authority to handle matters involving martial artists.
The only trouble was that Zhang Junbao had not yet passed the official martial artist assessment. Jiang Nian had learned what happened on his way from the hospital. Although Zhang Lin had told him that the creditors were all hired by Zhang Haobai and that Zhang Junbao had been forced to hit them, there was no evidence out in the open, so the matter would not be easy to resolve.
As an instructor at the local Limits Dojo, Jiang Nian wielded considerable authority. When the police chief saw him arrive, he hurried out to greet him.
"Instructor Jiang, what wind blew you here? It's truly an honor to have you come and guide our work. Please, come inside!"
"Chief Li Bin, you're too polite. How could your work need any guidance from me? I just came by today to catch up with you. Hahahaha..."
Jiang Nian did not like these official pleasantries, but people had to carry one another's flowered sedan chairs. Since Li Bin had shown him such respect, he could hardly act too haughty, especially when he needed a favor.
After they had caught up for a while, Jiang Nian felt the time was about right and said, "Chief Li, actually, there's a small matter I came to ask you to help with today."
"Oh? What could there be that you, Instructor Jiang, can't handle? Just say the word. As long as it's within my power, I won't say no!" Li Bin declared confidently.
As the head of the Limits Dojo in Yi'an District, Jiang Nian was sometimes called on to send people to help the police deal with dangerous individuals. Under normal circumstances, Li Bin would do his best to grant his requests, as long as they were not too excessive.
"Well, did you arrest someone named Zhang Junbao at the hospital this morning? He's an outstanding student at my dojo, and he's taking the martial artist assessment tomorrow.
"He's a genius. Once he passes, our Yibin District will have another martial artist!"
"Ah! There is someone by that name, but according to his records, didn't he just become an advanced student? It's all there in his identity information. Instructor Jiang, you can't fool me!
"My fighting ability can't compare with yours, but even I know there's a long road from advanced student to Quasi-Martial Artist. How could anyone become a Quasi-Martial Artist in such a short time?"
This is bad, Li Bin thought. Jiang Nian had actually come for Zhang Junbao, but he had already agreed to Zhang Zelong's request.
Jiang Nian was not someone he could afford to offend, but Zhang Zelong was also an important source of wealth for him. Neither side was easy to deal with.
"That's why I said he's a genius. Here's his application record!" Seeing Li Bin's predicament, Jiang Nian took out Zhang Junbao's application record, proving that he really was taking the Quasi-Warrior Assessment tomorrow.
"Well... Brother Jiang, I believe Zhang Junbao is a genius. It's not that I won't help you, but according to the rules, he really wasn't a Quasi-Martial Artist when it happened. That makes things difficult.
"The victim's family has already contacted me. They were also furious when they learned what happened. If I let him go now, Zhang Haobai's family will accuse me of favoritism, and I'll be in more trouble than I can handle. I have to act according to the law, so please don't make this difficult for me!"
Li Bin was an old hand and knew full well that neither side was easy to offend. He might as well let them fight it out themselves. As long as he stuck firmly to the rules, no one could fault him.
Even if Zhang Junbao became a martial artist, Li Bin was still the police chief, not someone an ordinary martial artist could touch, so he had no reason to fear Zhang Junbao.
Seeing that Li Bin would not budge, Jiang Nian was at a loss too. The timing was painfully close. If it had been a day later, after Zhang Junbao had passed the Quasi-Warrior Assessment, there would not have been so much trouble.
According to the rules, Quasi-Martial Artists enjoyed the same rights as martial artists, and ordinary police had no authority to handle their cases.
Just then, Jiang Nian's communicator rang. He looked at it and saw that it was a call from Wu Tong.
"Brother Wu, hello. What is it?"
Jiang Nian found an empty communications room and answered the call.
"Xiao Jiang, didn't you say you'd found a genius? My captain happened to come by, looking for a few promising talents to join his team as reserves, so I recommended that Zhang Junbao you mentioned.
"Bring him over now. He's taking the assessment tomorrow anyway, so he can talk with the captain tonight. If the captain takes a liking to him, that'll be tremendous news for Zhang Junbao!"
Wu Tong spoke excitedly. His former captain had come to him looking for people, so Wu Tong had naturally recommended a few geniuses, including Zhang Junbao.
"Well... Brother Wu, I'm afraid I can't bring Zhang Junbao over right now," Jiang Nan said awkwardly.
"Hm? What happened?"
Wu Tong was puzzled. Could Jiang Nian have lied to him? That did not seem right!
"Here's what happened..."
Jiang Nian explained Zhang Junbao's situation and the problem they now faced.
"That is a little troublesome. We can't openly break the law, but we can't let such a promising talent be ruined either."
"You said Zhang Junbao claimed that Zhang Haobai sent someone to run his father over. That's where it all started. As long as we can prove it's true, there's no need to worry about the other problems."
At that moment, the captain beside Wu Tong cut in with a question.
Wu Tong had not hidden the call from him, so he had heard everything clearly.
"But there's no time to investigate now," Jiang Nian said, voicing his concern.
"Hahaha, I have nothing to do anyway, so I'll go take a look. I can also meet this genius you've been talking about."
"Captain, are you going yourself? That's wonderful," Wu Tong said happily.
Wu Tong knew that his captain was a Spirit Reader, an extremely rare existence among martial artists. That was precisely why Wu Tong had recommended Zhang Junbao when his captain came to the dojo looking for reserves.
If a new martial artist could join a team with a Spirit Reader, his growth would be many times faster than in an ordinary martial artist team, and he would be safer too.
Spirit Readers were a special existence among martial artists. Their Spiritual Force was more than a hundred times stronger than that of ordinary martial artists, and they could use it to control weapons and attack from a distance. Their power surpassed that of martial artists who relied solely on their bodies, and they could sweep aside martial artists of the same level.
What was more, Spirit Readers had all sorts of unexpected, uncanny methods. Illusions, hypnosis, and control were all unique methods available only to Spirit Readers.
With the captain taking action, there would be no need to worry about evidence.
The Limit Hall was not very far from Yibin District. An hour later, Jiang Nian welcomed Wu Tong and his captain.
"Jiang Nian, let me introduce you. This is my captain, Luo Wenchong," Wu Tong said.
"Hello, Captain Luo!" Jiang Nian and Li Bin both came out to greet him. Jiang Nian alone had already been more than Li Bin could handle. He had never expected Wu Tong, or even his captain, to come too, and he was dumbfounded.
"Come on, take me to see that youngster Zhang Junbao, and the one called Zhang Haobai too!"
Luo Wenchong's eyes shone, and his words carried an irresistible authority.
In the interrogation room, Zhang Haobai looked at the people before him, his face somewhat pale. They all radiated a faint pressure, the kind he had only ever felt from his uncle Zhang Zehu. But the pressure these people gave off was even stronger than Zhang Zehu's.
"What do you want? I'm the victim! Why aren't you questioning Zhang Junbao? What are you doing here? Let me out!" Zhang Haobai panicked a little at the sight of so many people.
"Young man, tell me. Did you order someone to run over Zhang Junbao's father?" Luo Wenchong asked, his voice brooking no argument.
"I... no, it wasn't me. It was an accident!"
"Still lying? It seems you won't talk unless I use some methods!" Luo Wenchong's tone carried a hint of anger.
A flash of silver light flickered through his eyes, and Zhang Haobai instantly fell into a daze, utterly unable to resist.
"That's right. I had someone run over Zhang Junbao's father. I also sent people to block the entrances to the hospital and his home so his father couldn't get treatment."
"So young, yet so ruthless!" Luo Wenchong snorted and spoke disdainfully.
"What was the reason?"
"Because he injured me in class. I wanted him and Luo Feng expelled together. Those two paupers actually dared to resist and even injured me. I wanted them to taste suffering!" As he spoke, Zhang Haobai fell into a frenzy, his whole face twisting.
"Who's Luo Feng?" Luo Wenchong asked curiously.
"He's another genius from our dojo, and he's Zhang Junbao's classmate. He'll soon qualify as a Quasi-Martial Artist!" Jiang Nian answered at once.
"Chief Li, the matter is clear now. You should know how to handle it, shouldn't you?" Luo Wenchong glanced at Li Bin and asked calmly.
"Yes, yes, yes. Zhang Haobai hired someone to commit an assault and framed someone else. He'll get at least ten years!" Li Bin hurriedly replied.
Although Li Bin could tell that Luo Wenchong had used some special method, he did not dare say so. With Luo Wenchong's strength, he could wipe him out in minutes, so he naturally would not stoop to using such a method to deceive him.
Besides, Zhang Haobai's answers were logical. A simple investigation would establish the truth.
"A genius martial artist was almost ruined because of scum like this. You'd better put more care into your work from now on!" Luo Wenchong said.
"Yes, yes, yes... We'll do our utmost!"
"We're taking Zhang Junbao with us!"
"No problem!"