…
Late at night, in front of a residential area about ten minutes’ drive away from Z University.
A cab stopped at the entrance.
The cab door opened and someone walked out. He was a balding man in his fifties, and he was quite drunk.
He looked pathetic. His glasses were shattered and his face was swollen and bruised.
“Hey, you haven’t paid up yet!” The cab driver turned around and yelled at him.
“What the hell? Shut up! Do I look like I’m not paying?” He shouted impatiently. “Don’t you know who I am? I’m a dean at Z University, and I’ll be the future vice-chancellor.”
“What the f*ck? Who the hell do you think you are?” The cab driver was furious. “You act like a hooligan, yet you say that you’re from Z University, and the future [vice-chancellor] too? The alcohol must’ve done a good one on your brain!”
“How much is it!” Dean Fu yelled.
“Thirty yuan!”
“Here, take it! Isn’t it only thirty yuan!” Dean Fu took out three ten yuan notes from his wallet and threw them at the cab driver.
Then, he stumbled into the residential area.
“I’ve encountered a lunatic!” The cab driver mumbled, then quickly drove away.
“F*ck y’all! You little bastard, and you dumb b*tch. It’s all your fault!” Dean Fu cursed as he walked.
A hint of resentment crept onto his swollen face.
Things were going so smoothly. His promotion was within his grasp when that kid came to ruin it all. His efforts had all gone to waste.
“You think you’re so great, you little bastard? Do you think that I can’t touch you because you have someone powerful backing you? Don’t forget that I have Young Master Lu! Haha, you’re finished!
“And you too, you filthy b*tch! You’re also dead!” He muttered as he walked into the residential area.
He went into the elevator of an apartment building and rode it to the third floor.
Then, he walked in front of a door and banged it with all his might.
“Are you already asleep, you old hag? Open the door now!” He yelled.
No response came from the house.
He became angry. He banged the door a few more times and also kicked it.
The house was still silent.
“Dammit, you hag! How dare you sleep so early? I’ll teach you a lesson!”
He fumbled and found his keys as he cursed, then with trembling hands, held the keys to the doorknob.
“I’m back, you old hag! Why aren’t you getting up?” He said loudly as he locked the door.
Then, he fumbled around and turned on the light switch.
He was shocked by what he saw.
A figure dressed in black clothes was sitting on a chair in the living room. His gaze was ice-cold as he glared at Dean Fu.
“Ah!” Dean Fu screamed. His soul nearly fled his body.
He fell sitting on the floor. “Why… Why are you here?” He lifted a trembling finger and pointed at the person.
That person was none other than Tang Hao, whom he had cursed multiple times during his walk home.
Chapter 271 - Hu Lingling
Tang Hao stood up and walked toward Dean Fu.
“Don’t… Don’t come any closer! Why are you in my house? Where is my wife? What did you do to her?”
Dean Fu retreated to a corner. He was panicking.
He was furious and cursing at Tang Hao earlier, but he was utterly shocked that the person had appeared in front of him.
“I didn’t know you care so much for her! I’m sure that you often get physical with her after you’re drunk!” Tang Hao said coldly.
Tang Hao had heard everything that Dean Fu said at the door.
If Dean Fu had directed those offensive words at his wife, it meant that they were in an abusive relationship.
That had also infuriated Tang Hao.
Not only Dean Fu was a despicable and perverted man, but he was also violent toward his wife. He was worse than an animal.
How did he even become the dean of a university faculty?
Dean Fu grunted coldly. “That’s none of your business. She’s my wife, and I’ll beat her if I want. Who are you to interfere with my family matters?”
As he spoke loudly, he sounded as though he was in the right.
“Tang kid, don’t think that you can do whatever you want just because you have a powerful background. Let me tell you, you’re breaking the law by intruding into my house. Do you believe if I call the police to arrest you?”
“Call all you want!” Tang Hao said coldly.
“You…”
Dean Fu’s face was red with anger. His eyes were round and wide as they glared at Tang Hao.
“You’d better get lost at this instant! Otherwise…” Dean Fu roared.
“Otherwise, what?”
Tang Hao smirked. He grabbed Dean Fu’s remaining few strands of hair and slammed his head into the wall.
Dean Fu wailed in agony. His body was trembling with fright.
“What… What do you want… Don’t… Don’t kill me…” He was almost in tears.
That brazen attack had scared the wits out of him.
“It’s not your first time doing that today, right?”
“Doing… what?”
Tang Hao pressed his head and prepared to slam it against the wall again.
“Don’t… Don’t! I confess. It’s not the first time. I’ve done it a few times in the past. Maybe five times, maybe six. I can’t exactly remember,” Dean Fu said as he trembled.
“Oh?” Tang Hao glared at him.
“Don’t… please don’t. Let me count. One, two… I remember now. Teacher Jiang is the seventh.”
Tang Hao’s expression changed. The anger in his heart flared at that instant.
He had done that dirty deed seven times.
“It’s all for that Young Master Lu?”
“No… no. It’s not all for him. There were others too,” Dean Fu said timidly, “You can’t blame me for that! All of them want beautiful young female teachers, and so I hooked them up.
“It’s not all bad for the girls involved. Some of them were quite eager. It’s only Teacher Jiang and another one before this who were especially stubborn.”
Tang Hao produced a paper and pen and threw them on the floor.
“Write it all down. Who they are, and when that happened.”
Dean Fu hesitated for a while. He looked at Tang Hao and trembled. He took the pen and started writing.
When he was done, Tang Hao took a look at the paper.
On it was written the names of six women. According to Dean Fu, five of those women were eager to please his connections.
Tang Hao did not know if they were truly eager, or perhaps they had resigned to their fates.
However, he should not be able to find any leads from those five women.
“Who was the one you said was especially stubborn?”
“It’s the one named Hu Lingling. That was two years ago. She was broken after the incident, and she also threatened to report me to the authorities. Then, Young Master Lu did something to shut her up.
“She resigned from her job after that… I’ve heard that she returned to her hometown.”
“She’s the one I’m looking for!” Tang Hao mumbled. He knocked out Dean Fu, then carried him, leaped down the balcony, and stuffed him into the trunk of his car.
He did not want Dean Fu to tattle on him, so he had to lock him up for now.
Then, he gave a call to Old Master Lu and found Hu Lingling’s home address. It was in a distant county seat three or four hours away from Provincial City.
He immediately drove there.
He arrived at Hu Lingling’s house early the next morning.
He rang the doorbell. A short while later, a woman in her fifties opened the door. She looked haggard.
“You are…?”
She examined Tang Hao’s face but did not
know who he was.
“Good morning, Ma’am. I’m here to look for Hu Lingling. Is she in?”
Mrs. Hu’s expression dropped and she immediately looked sad. “Don’t you know, Lingling isn’t around with us anymore?”
“She’s not around?” Tang Hao was surprised. He was further shocked when he noticed the sadness on Mrs. Hu’s face. “How could this be?”
“She left us two years ago. She jumped off the bridge over there…” Mrs. Hu said with much difficulty.
Her body trembled slightly as tears welled up in her eyes.
Tang Hao covered his mouth. He felt sorry for her.
“Right, you are…”
“Oh! I’m a student at Z University. My current teacher used to be colleagues with Teacher Hu, and she asked me to pay a visit on her behalf,” Tang Hao said.
“Is that so! I’m sorry that your trip is in vain,” Mrs. Hu said apologetically.
“What actually happened, Auntie? How did Teacher Hu…”
Mrs. Hu sighed. “It’s better that you don’t know about it. There’s no point in knowing anyway. There are some things in the world that you’re helpless against.”
Mrs. Hu’s gaze became hollow and full of despair as she said that.
Tang Hao felt sorry for her when he saw her expression.
Then, he slowly clenched his fists.
Hu Lingling must have taken her own life because she had been violated by that Young Master Lu.
A young, hopeful individual, gone just like that!
Furthermore, the culprit was unrepentant.
Mrs. Hu knew about what happened, but she remained silent because the culprit was too powerful. There was no chance for her to seek justice.
Tang Hao left a while later.
He went on top of the bridge and stood there for a long time.
He did not expect the situation to have taken such a bleak turn.
Fires of anger were burning in his heart. He almost could not hold it back anymore.
Lu Bin, like that Cheng Zhijie earlier, were human scum and worse than animals. Lu Bin was far more dangerous and harmful because his father was much more powerful.
He could not let him off scot-free no matter what!
The anger in Tang Hao’s heart was reflected on his face.
He stood there for a little while longer, then sighed and prepared to leave.
While under the bridge, he sensed an unnatural presence of qi.
He channeled qi to open his third eye, then scanned the place. He noticed that hiding in the shadows of the bridge was a beautiful figure in a white dress.
The figure was slightly transparent and was evidently a ghost.
Chapter 272 - Confrontation
Tang Hao was shocked.
Who was that figure in front of him if not for Hu Lingling?
While at her house, Mrs. Hu had shown him her photo.
‘Why is she still there though? Usually, someone who commits suicide would not have any lingering grudges, and so they won’t turn into ghosts.’
However, she did not look like she turned into a malicious ghost.
He walked over toward her.
“You… can see me?”
The female ghost realized that Tang Hao was staring intently at her. “Are you here to exorcise me?”
Tang Hao noticed that she was looking at the direction of her house.
Tang Hao sighed. If she had lingering regrets, then she should not have committed suicide in the first place.
“I’m here to look for you!” Tang Hao said.
“Why are you looking for me?”
“Do you want to see Lu Bin receive his just desserts?”
She was shocked. She took a long while before she remembered that name.
“I’ve almost forgotten about him… But is there any use though, even if I want to see him punished?” She smiled bitterly. “You should know who Lu Bin is, right? He’s the son of the Province Secretary and the Crown Prince of Province Z. What chance do you stand against him?
“I wouldn’t have jumped if not that I was in the pits of despair and could not see any hope out of this.”
Tang Hao was silent for a long time.
“There’s always a ray of light no matter how dark it might be… If you are willing to follow me, I’ll be sure that he pays the price!” Tang Hao said seriously, “I will seek justice for you and your parents.”
She was shocked when she heard that.
She could sense the determination in Tang Hao’s tone of voice.
“But… I can’t leave!” She looked at her surroundings and was confused.
She did not expect that her act of taking her life at that spot had bound her there.
“I can bring you there!” As Tang Hao spoke, he retrieved a gourd, opened it, and drew her inside.
Hu Lingling was an earth-bound spirit. Her being was restricted to the place and she could not leave.
He kept the gourd and returned to his car.
A ghost would not be much use to achieve what he wanted. He needed humans to defeat Lu Bin.
It meant that he needed more help.
Tang Hao thought for a while and decided on what to do.
His phone suddenly started ringing. The call was from Secretary Qian.
“Hey, Lil Bro Tang, did you cross some big shot? I’ve got a call from upstairs the first thing in the morning to run an investigation on your company.
“That person has a lot of authority. I can’t afford to offend him!”
Secretary Qian sounded like he was stuck in a tough spot.
He could not afford to offend that person, and he also could not afford Tang Hao who had the He family backing him. That was why he gave a call to Tang Hao to reach a compromise.
“Run the investigation then. I’ll get my staff to cooperate,” Tang Hao said.
Secretary Qian was surprised. “Really?”
“Go ahead! If you don’t run the investigation, they’ll find someone else to cause trouble anyway,” Tang Hao said.
After the call ended, Tang Hao gave a call to Liu Yan to tell her about the investigation, so that the staff would be prepared.
Then, he gave a call to Vice Governor He.
“Divine Doctor Tang! I was just about to call you,” Vice Governor He said once he picked up the call.
“I’ve heard a little about your incident. How did you cross the Crown Prince?”
Tang Hao relayed the story to Vice Governor He.
Vice Governor He was silent for a long time.
Then, he sighed.
“Sigh! I knew that Lu Bin isn’t a moral character, but I didn’t expect things to be so serious! It would be great if you could find evidence, but now that the person is dead, where could you find the evidence?
“Without evidence, you won’t be able to touch him!”
“I have a way,” Tang Hao said, “But I’ll need to trouble you, Vice Governor He!”
“Oh?” Vice Governor He was surprised.
“I’d like you to contact the Lu family on my behalf. Tell them that I’d like to talk to them. Tonight, at Fragrant Cloud Restaurant. ”
“Well…” Vice Governor He hesitated but eventually agreed to it.
Tang Hao prepared to start the car once the call ended.
Suddenly, he heard a disturbance from the car trunk.
Tang Hao was surprised. He got out of the car, opened the trunk, then knocked out Dean Fu with a karate chop.
“Sorry, I have to keep you for one more day!”
Tang Hao muttered, then drove the car back to Provincial City.
Night soon came.
Tang Hao arrived at Fragrant Cloud Restaurant very early and reserved a private room. At seven o’clock, a black car arrived at the entrance of the restaurant.
The car door opened. Vice Governor He came out first, then he helped an old man get out of the car.
The old man was dressed in a classic Chinese suit and held a walking stick. He was none other than Old Mast
er He, He Weiguo.
“Why are you here, Old Master He?” Tang Hao urgently walked over to greet Old Master He.
Old Master He glanced at Tang Hao and smiled. “Long time no see, Divine Doctor Tang! You look even more handsome than ever!”
Tang Hao smiled politely.
Old Master He smiled, then his expression turned serious.
“Hmph! I knew that Lu kid will eventually get himself into trouble. If my grandchildren ever had his attitude, I’d bludgeon them to death with my walking stick.”
He Yifei came out of the passenger seat. He was a little embarrassed as he scratched his head.
“Why are you here too?” Tang Hao was surprised.
“Heheh! How can I miss out on this interesting drama?” He Yifei said with a smile.
Tang Hao had no reply to that.
Three generations of the He family came to help him. It was a grand spectacle.
He was quite moved by the gesture.
Even Old Master He came. That meant unconditional support for him from the He family.
“Heheh, you’re amazing, Brother Tang! You’ve crossed that Lu Bin guy. Even I’d walk the other way when I see him,” He Yifei said.
“Right, Brother Tang, do you even treat me as your friend? You didn’t bring me along when you had fun with the Xu family.”
Tang Hao rolled his eyes. ‘I wasn’t having fun!’
“What are you saying, Yifei?” Vice Governor He chided him. “Divine Doctor Tang isn’t a normal person. What’s the point of you tagging along?”
He Yifei shut up immediately and did not say another word.
“Alright, let’s go up! The people from the Lu family will arrive soon,” Old Master He said as he knocked his walking stick for attention.
“Yes, yes! Let’s go upstairs, Grandpa!” He Yifei quickly went over to Old Master He’s side and supported him.
They sat in the private room and waited. Half an hour later, they heard footsteps in the corridor.
A while later, four people entered the room.
Two of them were middle-aged men. Another was a middle-aged woman, and the last person was none other than Lu Bin.
The middle-aged woman scanned the room as she stepped in, and was shocked when she saw the four people sitting there.
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