“It’s fine,” Tang Hao said, “We’ll see if she wants to talk when the ghost comes for her.” He continued his pounding.
Captain Zhao walked next to Tang Hao and sat down, then he turned to speak to Zhao Qingxue. “Go in, Lil Zhao. Wait in the room and keep an eye on her.”
“Me again, Captain?” Zhao Qingxue said, frustrated.
“Hah! You’re the only female here. Who else other than you?” Captain Zhou said matter-of-factly.
Tang Hao lifted his head and glanced at her. Then, he removed the string of jade beads from his hand and tossed it at her. “Wear this. You won’t get hurt even if ten vengeful ghosts attack you!”
“Really?” Zhao Qingxue asked doubtfully when she looked at the string of jade beads.
Her eyes sparkled. “How beautiful!” She exclaimed.
“Of course! This is my Artifact of protection!” Tang Hao replied.
“Whatever. I’ll believe you just this once.” Zhao Qingxue put on the string of beads and entered the hospital room.
Time passed by very fast, and soon it was eight o’clock.
Tang Hao was done with the potion. Currently, he was taking a short rest with his eyes closed.
Suddenly, he opened his eyes and said, “It’s here!”
Captain Zhou was nodding off. He jerked awake and exclaimed, “It’s here? What’s here?”
The next moment, they heard a high-pitched scream from the room.
Tang Hao stood up first, then barged into the room. Before he could see clearly what was going on, someone ran toward him and hugged him tightly.
A warm fragrance soon filled his nose. The soft and bouncy breasts that pressed against his chest caused his focus to waver.
Zhao Qingxue’s body was abnormally sexy. Even Qin Xiangyi was no comparison. No man could withstand such an intense hug from her.
Tang Hao coughed awkwardly. He lifted his head and saw that the window was already open. A red figure appeared at the window, accompanied by gusts of chilly wind.
He took a closer look and saw that it was a young girl in her late teens. Her face might be pale and her expression ghastly, but one could see that she was a very beautiful girl when she was alive.
The dress that she wore was as red as blood. It was a terrifying sight.
Her gaze was terrible, and negative qi gushed from her body. She lifted a hand and the woman on the hospital bed was lifted by an invisible force.
Qian Yifei struggled with all her might and she screamed frantically. “Don’t… Don’t kill me! This has nothing to do with me!”
“You deserve to die! All of you deserve to die!” The female ghost whispered. Her voice was seeping with hatred.
Crack!
The sound of a bone breaking was heard. One of Qian Yifei’s arms was suddenly fractured.
Another sound was heard. The other arm was fractured as well.
Tang Hao’s face darkened. “Stop!” He roared. Then, he shoved Zhao Qingxue aside and walked toward the ghost in big strides.
“You dare stop me? You deserve to die too!” The female ghost roared. She lifted a hand, and an invisible force flew toward Tang Hao.
“You’re just a mere vengeful ghost. You dare flaunt your power in front of me?” Tang Hao roared and his eyes glowed. An intimidating aura burst from his body.
The invisible force dissipated when it came near him.
The female ghost was shocked. She knew that she had met a master cultivator and tried to escape.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
Tang Hao flicked his wrist, and a bottle gourd appeared in his hand. Summoning the power of the winds, he dragged the female ghost toward him and drew it into the gourd.
The name of the gourd was the Gourd of Soul Purification. It was a present from Shabby Taoist Master. Like the peach wood sword, it was a rare item for exorcism.
A ghost captured within could be purified of its grudges and negative qi.
Once the gourd was capped, the negative qi in the room dissipated.
The police officers breathed a sigh of relief. They regarded Tang Hao with respectful gazes.
Zhao Qingxue’s face was bright red. In a panic, she had hugged that guy.
“Oh? Where’s the captain? Where did he go?” The police officers shouted as they searched all over.
A long while later, Captain Zhou appeared from under a long bench along the corridor. “Ahem! I accidentally tripped and fell earlier. It was a bad fall, and I rolled under the bench,” he said as he came near.
“Haha, Brother Tang! You’re too amazing! The case is closed now!”
Captain Zhou squeezed past the crowd. He stood in front of Tang Hao and smiled heartily.
Tang Hao did not know how to react to that.
“The case isn’t solved yet! You can ask her what’s going on.” As he spoke, he turned around and looked at the woman on the hospital bed.
Qian Yifei’s arms were broken. Her face was pale and her whole body trembled.
She heard Tang Hao speaking and she screamed maniacally. “Quick, go get the doctor! Why are you all standing there? I’ll ask my dad to file a complaint and you all will lose your jobs.”
Tang Hao smirked. “Save the trouble! If you don’t speak soon, I’ll release the ghost again and get her to deal with you. The police can’t do anything about a murder committed by a ghost anyway.” As he spoke, he pretended to pull the cork out of the gourd.
“Don’t! Don’t…” Qian Yifei said in a panic. “I’ll speak. I’ll tell you everything.
“The ghost’s name… is Zhou Lingxue.”
“Zhou Lingxue? Where have I heard that name before?” Captain Zhou was clueless. He thought about it for a while more, then his expression changed drastically. “It’s her!”
“Someone you know, Captain Zhou?” Tang Hao was surprised.
Captain Zhou smiled drily. “Why wouldn’t I? The case of the missing young girl shook the entire district five years ago. I was also involved with the investigation back then.
“We found some leads, but the investigation was called off by my superior not too long after. After that, the case went cold.”
“It’s her!” Some of the more experienced police officers had expressions of realization on their faces.
Captain Zhou smiled bitterly. “She’s a ghost now. As expected, she’s met with a sad fate.”
After that, his face darkened as he asked Qian Yifei sternly, “Did you kill her?”
“No, no, no… It’s not me. Sun Yu killed her, and Cheng Zhijie and the other guys. I was the one who brought Zhou Lingxue to them. They didn’t want to kill her, but she resisted with all her might and wanted to escape. One of their hands slipped and accidentally killed her.
“Then, we buried her!”
“Cheng Zhijie?” Captain Zhou’s expression turned ghastly. The other police officers also looked shocked.
“How could it be him? This isn’t looking good!”
“Who is this… Cheng Zhijie?” Tang Hao asked.
“He’s the son of the district mayor. No wonder the investigation was called off when we’ve finally found a lead! His father wasn’t the district mayor five years ago, but the Cheng family wielded a lot of authority in the district. His uncle also holds a position of leadership in the city.”
“That’s quite troublesome!” Tang Hao mumbled.
“Dammit, this animal! I’ll bring the police to arrest him now,” Captain Zhou said indignantly as he prepared to rush out of the room.
“Wait! What grounds do you have to arrest him? There’s no evidence. How about taking a statement from her so that we find out where they hid the body? I’ll ask Secretary Lin about what to do,” Tang Hao said as he pulled Captain Zhou back.
Captain Zhou sighed again. “It’s one of my biggest regrets that the case is still unsolved. I’ll have to catch that animal this time and bring him to justice, no matter what it takes.
“You, quickly go inform the forensics department. We’ll
immediately head for the location of the corpse once we get the information,” Captain Zhou ordered as he pointed at a police officer.
“You, go get the doctor. She only gets treatment after she tells us where the body is.”
Seeing that Captain Zhou had calmed down, Tang Hao left the room and gave Secretary Lin a call. He briefly described the sequence of events to Secretary Lin.
Secretary Lin was silent for a long while.
“This case… is indeed quite troublesome. You’re right in looking for me first. The Cheng family wields a lot of authority, and they might suppress the investigation if news got out.
“I might be helpless before this, but now that you’ve saved Old Master He’s life, we have the support of the He family, so we don’t have to yield to the Cheng family.
“We’ll crack the case this time. Tell Captain Zhou to not worry. I’ll inform the superintendent now. If the case is solved, even the Cheng family might fall from power. The gag order from before must have been approved by the one in the city. It’s a serious crime to cover up a murder. Justice will prevail.”
Secretary Lin’s tone of voice was cold and harsh.
After the call ended, Tang Hao relayed the Secretary’s message to Captain Zhou.
Captain Zhou was ecstatic.
Meanwhile, Qian Yifei had confessed the location of the body. Captain Zhou brought a squad of police officers and hurried there.
He also got people to track down Cheng Zhiwei. He was in a karaoke establishment near First High.
Tang Hao and Captain Zhou, along with several police officers, headed there.
They obtained the room information from the reception, then rushed toward the private room Cheng Zhijie was in.
Just as they arrived at the door, they heard a woman calling for help from within.
Chapter 118 - More Arrogant Than You
Tang Hao and Captain Zhou were immediately on alert when they heard someone calling for help.
Captain Zhou stepped forward and rammed down the door, then everyone rushed into the room.
The room was shrouded in a heavy fog of cigarette smoke. Seven or eight young men and women were seated all around. One of the men was sitting on top of a girl in her late teens. His hands were all over the place, his perverse intentions clearly seen by everyone.
The young girl was in a panic. She struggled with all her might and kept on calling for help.
Meanwhile, the people seated all around them acted as though they were watching a movie. Some of them laughed when they saw the scene, and some even took out their phones to take photos and videos.
“Stop!” Captain Zhou’s eyes were almost bursting out of their sockets when they saw that.
The man instinctively stopped moving when he heard the command. He sat up and turned around to look, then smirked disdainfully. “Oh, it’s the police! Is something the matter?
“If there’s nothing, then get lost! You’re distracting me!”
After he said that, the man bent over again and continued with his exploration of the girl’s body.
“Save me!” The girl was struggling with all her might.
“Stop moving, you filthy b*tch! I’ll slap you if you keep moving! Hmph! What a piece of trash. You’re already out here enjoying with us yet you don’t want to let loose? I’m sure you’ve slept with many men before!” The man cursed ferociously.
He then turned to glance at Captain Zhou. “Why are you still here? It’s none of your business that I’m f*cking my girl. Don’t you know who I am? Do you believe if I say that I can end your career if I make a phone call now?”
Captain Zhou’s face darkened completely. His body was trembling slightly.
His anger was at his limit. In his years of being a police officer, he had never seen such a brazen, shameless person. No, he did not deserve to be called a person!
“You’re under arrest, Cheng Zhijie!” Captain Zhou said each syllable through gritted teeth.
The room went silent after he said that.
Then, the people burst out in laughter.
“Hahaha! Mr. Officer, you know that his name is Cheng Zhijie, right? Then you should know who his father is! Do you think you can arrest him? What a joke!”
Cheng Zhijie was momentarily stunned, after which he broke into laughter.
He sat up, straightened his clothes, and looked at Captain Zhou with a sinister gaze.
“What’s your name?” He regarded Captain Zhou coldly.
“My name is Zhou Bin, a squad captain of the Criminal Division!” Captain Zhou replied coldly.
“Oh, a squad captain, too!” Cheng Zhijie smiled. “Unfortunately, a squad captain like you is just a small fry in my eyes. I don’t think you’d dare lay a finger on me.”
As he was speaking, the young girl next to her abruptly ran away from him.
“Stupid b*tch, still trying to escape?”
Cheng Zhijie’s eyes flashed with malice. He lunged forward and attempted to grab the girl.
Tang Hao saw that. With a big step, he stepped forward and hugged the girl, then reached out with his left hand to grab Cheng Zhijie’s wrist.
“You… Who the hell are you? How dare you stop me? Are you sick of living?”
Cheng Zhijie’s eyes were bulging and his face displayed a vicious expression.
Tang Hao narrowed his eyes. “You’re worse than an animal!” He said coldly.
Cheng Zhijie was furious. “F*ck you, do you want to die so much? Do you know who I am? My dad is the district mayor. Do you know what the district mayor is? He can crush a lowly peasant like you with a finger.
“And you too, you filthy b*tch. It’s an honor to be f*cked by me. You don’t know what’s good for you.” Cheng Zhijie pointed a finger at the girl and yelled at her.
The young girl was trembling as she clung to Tang Hao’s arm.
She lifted her head and looked at Tang Hao, then suddenly said, “I… I know you. You’re Yan’er’s boyfriend.”
Tang Hao was a little taken aback. He looked at her with surprise.
“I’m Yan’er’s classmate. A very good friend,” the young girl said, “I saw you at school back then!”
Cheng Zhijie smiled. “Oh, so you’re the boyfriend of that innocent and pure beauty queen! I’ve seen her before. She’s pretty. It must feel nice to f*ck her.”
Perversion flashed in his eyes as he spoke.
Tang Hao’s face darkened. His eyes flashed with extreme coldness and he increased the grip strength on his left hand.
Cheng Zhijie screamed in pain. “Dammit, why aren’t you letting go? I’ll kill you! And that chick… Motherf*cker! Let go of me!”
Cheng Zhijie was furious even though he was screaming in pain.
He had been the bully in Westridge District. Never had he been on the receiving end of bullying.
Viciousness flashed across his face. He picked up a beer bottle from the table and smashed it on Tang Hao’s head.
Tang Hao did not bother to dodge.
Smash!
The beer bottle landed squarely on his head. Glass shards flew everywhere.
The young girl shrieked, and so did Captain Zhou. “Are you OK, Brother Tang?”
“Haha, serves you right for meddling!” Cheng Zhijie laughed maniacally.
Tang Hao did not even flinch. In fact, he did not feel any pain at all. With his current level of cultivation, the glass bottle did not hurt him one bit.
He turned around to face Captain Zhou and the police officers and said, “See that? He’s the one who struck first!”
“So I did. What can you possibly do to me? I’ll kill you today!” Cheng Zhijie roared with brazen anger. He lifted the broken beer bottle and stabbed it toward Tang Hao.
Tang Hao dodged the attack with a sidestep and kicked.
Bam!
His leg connected with Cheng Zhijie’s stomach. Cheng Zhijie’s body folded inward and his face was contorted. Then, his body flew backward like a cannonball and landed heavily on the wall.
The room instantly descended into a deathly silence.
The people sitting around the room were dumbfounded. Their eyes bulged with fear.
Even Captain Zhou was dumbstruck.
Cheng Zhijie slid down the wall and onto the floor. He was curled in the fetal position, clutching his stomach and moaning in pain.
“You bastard, how dare you kick me…” Cheng Zhijie cursed loudly. His eyes were full of hatred as he lifted his head and looked at Tang Hao.
Tang Hao’s face was vacant. He stepped forward and delivered another kick to his stomach. “I’m kicking you again. What are you going to do about it? Aren’t you arrogant? I’ll be more arrogant than you,” he said coldly.
He then crouched down in front of Cheng Zhijie, grabbed his hair, then delivered several punches onto his face.
Cheng Zhijie’s handsome face was already swollen black and blue. Blood oozed out of his nostrils and mouth. He looked especially pathetic.
“You’re… You’re dead meat! My dad won’t forgive you. You’re dead meat, I tell you!” Cheng Zhijie roared.
“Is that so?” Tang Hao smirked. He grabbed his head by the hair and slammed it onto the floor.
Everyone around them looked on with fear in their eyes. They could not believe that someone would treat Cheng Zhijie like that in Westridge District.
“Haha! You’re dead meat! And all you police officers too!” Someone started laughing.
Captain Zhou frowned. He turned to order the police officers at his left and right. “Arrest that guy, and all these other people too. Bring them back to the police station.”
“Yes, Captain Zhou!”
The police officers were already raring to make their move. Once they received their orders, they pounced onto the young men and women like tigers and wolves and cuffed up each one of them.
“You… You can’t do that to us. Do you know who we are? You all are just small fry and you dare cuff us?” Someone shouted.
“Shut up! I don’t care who you are now. You might be the king of heaven, and I’ll still cuff you up. When we came into the room, all of you were witnesses to a rape scene and you did nothing to stop it. To a certain extent, you all are accomplices.” Captain Zhou roared.
The Mightiest Little Peasant c1-799 Page 57