Chapter 423 — What to Do

A couple of casual pats, and the man had turned mute?

Uncle Yan could scarcely believe it either. He had never seen Wei Zhao use such a technique before. Acupoint-striking? Impossible. He was a man of the martial world himself, and he had never heard of anyone who could do that; it was the stuff of television dramas, with no counterpart in real life. So he doubted Wei Zhao's words, and was just about to open his mouth to prove he was not mute, when he discovered in horror that no sound would come out!

Qiu Lingshan stared, lost for words, at Yan Qiyuan going 'aaah, mmm' over there. The man really had been struck mute by Wei Zhao — terrifying! Just a few casual pats, and he could not speak?

"Oh, right, he can still write. Want me to turn him into an idiot instead?" Wei Zhao suddenly thought of this.

"Mmm... mmm..." At Wei Zhao's words, Yan Qiyuan shook his head frantically. Are you joking? Turn me into an idiot? Then what would be the point of living? I still have to pass word back to the family. As for who had captured him, he had no intention of telling the police anything more — dead was dead, and saying too much would only waste his breath.

"See? He says he will not talk. Good, then we are done here. I am off." Wei Zhao naturally could not turn Yan Qiyuan into an idiot right under Qiu Lingshan's nose. He shrugged, took Tang Yun by the hand, and got into the car.

Qiu Lingshan gave Wei Zhao a long look heavy with tangled feelings, then put Yan Qiyuan into the police car as well and drove swiftly back to the station.

Escorting Yan Qiyuan into the station, Qiu Lingshan happened to run into Zou Tiandi and his son walking out, fresh from being dealt with by the criminal investigation squad.

The sight of Yan Qiyuan in Qiu Lingshan's custody gave Zou Tiandi such a fright that he jumped, a flicker of horror and dread crossing his eyes! How had Uncle Yan been hauled back by Qiu Lingshan? Hadn't he ordered Zou Ruoming to take the man and intercept Wei Zhao?

"Why, does Mr. Zou know this fugitive wanted for murder and robbery?" Qiu Lingshan glanced at the stunned Zou Tiandi. She knew perfectly well that Yan Qiyuan had been brought in by him, though she supposed that on a matter with no proof, Zou Tiandi would never admit it.

"No... I do not know him..." Zou Tiandi shook his head hastily and strode off, pulling Zou Ruoguang along. He did not dare have any connection with a murderer — even though they plainly did.

Qiu Lingshan watched the retreating backs of Zou Tiandi and Zou Ruoguang with a cold laugh; but the moment she turned her head, she came face to face with Liu Wangli.

"Captain Song, you caught someone? Such an old man — what has he done?" Liu Wangli glanced at the prisoner in her hands and asked.

"Yan Qiyuan, a fugitive wanted for murder and robbery." Qiu Lingshan told Liu Wangli coolly, "He is yours to handle."

"Captain Song, you... you brought Yan Qiyuan in?" Liu Wangli's eyes went wide, his admiration for Qiu Lingshan complete. Over this stretch of time she had cracked one major case after another, her standing in the station and the ** squad soaring by the day; she had all but become Yang Huaijun's worthy successor!

The earlier, dissenting voices saying that Qiu Lingshan could only charge ahead and could not solve cases had all faded away — it seemed everyone now acknowledged her. Liu Wangli had felt ill at ease when others gossip about his own superior, and now that all he heard was praise, he was delighted too. This time she had even brought back a wanted criminal, and Liu Wangli felt his own face light up with reflected glory.

Only in Qiu Lingshan's heart was the matter murky: what exactly was she to Wei Zhao? Partners, or opponents? Honestly, it was hard to say...

Back in the car, Zou Tiandi clutched his heart, shaken half to death: "Ruoguang, I did not see wrong, did I? That was Uncle Yan?"

"It was Uncle Yan!" Zou Ruoguang nodded. "How did Qiu Lingshan catch him? Wasn't he an early-stage Huang-rank expert?"

"I do not know either. Let me call Ruoming and ask!" Zou Tiandi was desperate to find out the truth.

"Hello? Ruoming? What did you do? How did the criminal police end up arresting Uncle Yan?" Zou Tiandi rang Zou Ruoming, and before the boy could get a word in, fired his questions off like a machine gun.

"Dad, something terrible has happened!" Zou Ruoming was badly frightened too, and was hiding at home now, not daring even to go to school: "That kid is called Wei Zhao. He goes to our school, and he is an expert! One slap sent Uncle Yan sprawling, and a few kicks knocked him senseless..."

"What! He is that strong?" At Ruoming's words Zou Tiandi was stunned. But what stunned him most of all was that Zou Ruoming actually knew Wei Zhao!

"He is the school bully — nobody dares cross him now..." Ruoming's voice had gone tearful: "He already had it in for me, and today I took Uncle Yan along to make trouble for him. Dad, you have finished me! I do not even dare go to school anymore..."

Zou Tiandi's face turned ashen on the spot. He knew Uncle Yan's strength only too well — whoever could put him down so easily, what sort of strength must that be? How had he gone and provoke such a man?

The more Zou Tiandi thought about it, the more cold sweat he broke into. If Wei Zhao truly wanted him dead, it would be no harder than pinching an ant. Last time he had even fought the man over a hospital room — really... just imagining where it might have led was enough to curdle the blood.

The worst-looking face was not Zou Tiandi's but Zou Ruoguang's. He had heard the voice on the phone too, and felt an even greater dread: "Dad, I told you we could not afford to provoke this man, but you simply had to go and provoke him. Now we are finished... Taking us out would be as easy as child's play for him. What do we do now! Last time you even told me to take some people and teach him a lesson — thank heavens I did not go, or you would be burning paper offerings for me by now!"

"Enough, Ruoguang, do not be afraid. Wei Zhao is formidable, true — but has he not left us entirely unharmed? He handed Uncle Yan over and let Ruoming go; that proves he cannot be bothered to hold grudges against ordinary folk like us. We simply must not provoke him again. We will find some chance to slip him a red envelope, throw a banquet and apologize — I dare say he will not keep pressing the matter." Zou Tiandi was, after all, a man of the world, and worked out a countermeasure on the spot.

"It is the only way!" Zou Ruoguang nodded. "Last time I was blind with foolishness and tried to flirt with that girl at his side... Sigh, it still makes my blood run cold just thinking about it."

"Indeed — and this time I made sure to fix his face in my memory, even snapping a picture to keep on my phone. From now on, when we see him, we give him a wide berth; if we cannot avoid him, we bow and scrape. As the saying goes, nobody strikes a man who smiles at him. If we are obsequious enough, a man of his caliber should not hold it against us," Zou Tiandi said.

"It is the only comfort I can give myself!" Zou Ruoguang still wore a long, sour face. More speed, greater safety! di

BA

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