Chapter 19: A Crisis

Zhang Lisheng walked around Fuqian Road twice. He thought to himself and figured that the only thing he could do was to find a kind person and ask him or her where the Qingxian Bus Station was.

He would look for a bus that went to Damu Town, and once he arrived at the bus station, he would kindly request if the bus driver could send him to Damu Town without paying first and that he would transfer him the bus fee some other day.

After making up his mind, Zhang Lisheng happened to see a plump middle-aged woman who had a friendly face walking toward him. He immediately stopped her and asked, “Aunty, may I know how do I get to the Qingxian Bus Station?”

“The bus station has moved to Qua Village, it’s very far away.

“Why don’t you cross the road and take bus number five to get to Station 6, or you can get someone to bring you there on a bike. You can get there with four yuan.”

“Aunty, I-I’m asking how do I walk to the bus station.”

The middle-aged woman was stunned. She looked at the young man before her with a tanned, rosy face and asked, “What’s wrong? You only have enough money for the bus?”

Zhang Lisheng held his head low and nodded.

“Are you a little con man?”

“Of-f course not.”

“Aunty, uhh, if you don’t know the place then I’ll just ask someone else. I’ll ask someone else.” Zhang Lisheng’s face flushed red and he wanted to walk away immediately.

“Don’t go.” The middle-aged woman pulled Zhang Lisheng and took out ten yuan from her pocket. “I see that you seem to be a kind kid, you don’t look like the damn kind who would deceive.”

“Take this ten yuan, buy yourself two meat pies and get on the bus after you eat.”

Zhang Lisheng refused immediately, “No, aunty, how can I take your money? I just wanted to ask for directions…”

“Don’t talk anymore. Go home now, don’t let your mother and father worry about you. Go home now.” The middle-aged woman insisted. She shoved the ten yuan into Zhang Lisheng’s pocket and walked away quickly.

“Aunty, where do you live? Tomorrow, I’ll bring the money to you tomorrow.” Zhang Lisheng slotted the ten yuan into his pocket and shouted loudly behind the plump woman with gratitude.

The woman ignored him and walked far away.

With the ten yuan, Zhang Lisheng had solved the difficult situation that he was in. He presumed that the bus fare from Qu County to Damu Town would be five or six yuan at most. He planned to follow what the kind aunty told him, which was to get someone to bring him to the bus station on a bike, then he would take the bus home.

Just as Zhang Lisheng was about to hail a vehicle as he stood by the curb, a police car sped toward him and abruptly came to a stop directly in front of him.

The driver seat window slowly wound down, and Zhang Lisheng came face to face with the driver of the police car, Yang Zhengqi, who looked exhausted.

He stared at Zhang Lisheng with his bloodshot eyes for a moment and spoke in a deep voice, “Get in, I’ll send you home.”

From the moment he saw Yang Zhengqi, Zhang Lisheng’s demeanor changed from being sentimental to being calm. He thought about it then walked around the police car, opened the door, and got into the passenger seat.

The police car began to move and they drove toward Guawo Village.

The both of them did not speak as they drove through the Qu County Town’s streets. It was only until the police car drove out of the city and onto a winding road did Yang Zhengqi speak, “After spending the entire day with you yesterday, I’ve only just gotten to know the identities of the four people that you killed.”

Zhang Lisheng remained silent.

Yang Zhengqi continued, “The one who died at the entrance was Song Lisheng, he’s from Guangzhou, Eastern Guangdong Province, and is an artifact smuggler as well as a grave-robber. He’s been caught a couple of times but was released due to insufficient evidence.

“There’s nothing much about him when you talk about it, but his eldest and second brother…”

“Chief Yang, what exactly are you trying to say?”

“Among the four people that you killed, three of them were not criminals that carried out the robbery in the spur of the moment. They were professional criminals, one of them was even a retired commander from a special force investigation company. This has forced me to increase your risk level by a few degrees.

“The last person was He Qingmiao. He came from the same village as you. According to the records of questions with the villagers, he was the one who brought you to the county hospital when the accident happened to your father a week ago…”

“You guys even asked about such a thing?” Zhang Lisheng smiled although he was baffled.

“Of course we need to ask that, it’s also a clue that could solve the case.”

“He Qingmiao’s reason of death was a poison attack, but his internal and external injuries were very serious too. The forensic report said he would have gone through many unnecessary suffering before he died if he had not experienced the poison attack.”

“Also, he was the one who kneeled when he died. He was begging for mercy, am I right?”

Zhang Lisheng could not tolerate him beating around the bush, so he asked again, “Chief Yang, what exactly ARE you trying to say?”

“I’m trying to say, no matter your reason for committing such a crime, the crime scene proves that you’re an extremely cruel and terrifying criminal. At the same time, you’ve offended the two most popular People’s Congress of the Eastern Guangdong Province.

“In addition, your citizenship is from America. So I figured that for your worthless life, the safety of our up and rising Qu County Society, and for an old police officer’s reputation, it’s better for you to return back to where you came from.”

“What did you say?” Zhang Lisheng was stunned for a moment and asked in confusion.

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“You were born in St. George Hospital, Brooklyn, New York City in New York State. You’re an American citizen.”

“What?” Zhang Lisheng asked repeatedly in shock.

“I’ve said it twice, you’re an American.”

Seeing that Yang Zhengqi did not look like he was joking and knowing that it was impossible that he would joke with him, Zhang Lisheng took a moment of silence and was riled up all of a sudden. “What nonsense are you talking about? I’m Chinese, all of my ancestors have been setting foot on the Western Sichuan Miaowei Land for generations…”

Looking at Zhang Lisheng getting extraordinarily pissed, Yang Zhengqi had a hazy happiness that grew in him. He smiled and said, “Don’t be all worked up. Speaking from your lineage, you’re indeed a Chinese like us, but legally, you’re an American.”

“Haven’t you heard of the term American-Chinese?”

“I’m not an American Chinese,” Zhang Lisheng said boldly. As a Rank 1 Wizard, he was considered to be a direct descendant of a Chinese God. How could it be possible that he was a foreigner?

“I’ve told you, you’re a Chinese in lineage and American in your nationality. That’s the truth, it’s not contradictory.

“You’re 16 and not 18 yet. You’re currently going through nine years of compulsory education so you’re considered to not have the ability to work. Following the legal requirement, I’ve already contacted the US ambassador consulate in Chengdu and consigned them to look for your mother who’s far away in America.

“As soon as we manage to contact her, she’ll naturally be your legal guardian, and she should bring you away from China.”

“M-Mother, my mother, the US consulate is l-looking for my mother…” Zhang Lisheng was upset at the moment. He held his head down and said, “I won’t go to America even if I found my mother, my ancestors are all here…”

“You need to go to America, you must go to America.”

“I’m telling you, you’re the root cause of our problems, and although I can’t declare you as guilty because of your age and your American citizenship, I’m one hundred percent able to remove you from our jurisdiction,” Yang Zhengqi said coldly while looking at Zhang Lisheng with a straight face.

If he did not see it with his own eyes, Zhang Lisheng would not have believed that this criminal police chief, who was having such an emotional moment now, was the same person that had spent an entire day interrogating him with a straight face.

Zhang Lisheng was stunned, and as his mouth hung open, he knew that there was nothing he could say. Although he had already become a wizard, he was still a young man, with little to no exposure to the world. As such, he could not handle matters of jurisdiction or human rights.

Moreover, although he was stubborn, deep in his heart, he actually had a faint desperation to meet his birth mother.

After that conversation, the both of them were silent throughout the journey. It was only until the police car stopped at the Guawo Village entrance when Zhang Lisheng asked all of a sudden, “Also, what does it mean when you said I’ve offended the People’s Congress of the Eastern Guangdong Province?”

“Song Lihai is the Eastern Guangdong Yuehai Group’s president, while Song Litao is the group’s chairman. They’re the eldest and second brother of Song Lisheng, whom you’ve killed. They’re also the People’s Congress of Eastern Guangdong Province for three consecutive years.”

“I believe you’ve heard of the Yuehai Group?”

“Y-Yes, I’ve heard of them. Don’t they have a basketball team!

“If this Song Lisheng has such powerful brothers, why did he rob my house? Isn’t that akin to carrying gold bricks while breaking into a hut?”

“I’ve seen people at luxury stores who can purchase an entire building with the gold card in their bag and yet they steal a floral scarf. They’re just crazy, and they’re going after excitement and thrill. There are many cases like that nowadays.”

“It was just your luck that you encountered one. The Double Songs’ of the Yuehai Group are not just a simple part of the People’s Congress or your usual philanthropists.” Yang Zhengqi’s tone was filled with a warning tone as he spoke.

However, Zhang Lisheng, who could not catch the warning in Yang Zhengqi’s statement, asked dumbly, “Why aren’t they simple?”

Yang Zhengqi had since stopped talking, and he gestured Zhang Lisheng to get off the car.

The topic of the gory murder that happened two days back continued to boil in the mountain village at the moment.

Most of the local Chinese tourists had left the mountain village, however, at the same time, there were some young, foreign tourists who were en-route from other Western Sichuan attractions to Guawo Village in excitement.

Their holy grail of sightseeing was the Zhang family’s old house which seemed to still have the stench of blood.

Such events were actually not strange at all. It had nothing to do with courage but, instead, could be attributed to the difference between cultures.

In traditional Chinese culture, people naturally had an attitude toward gods and demons— to keep a distance.

However, to the westerners who worshipped the Holy Trinity of Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit, they loved to explore such supernatural events.

As soon as Zhang Lisheng got off the police car, he attracted some villagers and foreign tourists’ attention. The difference was that the Guawo Villagers all had fear in their eyes when they looked at him, while the foreign tourists’ had an expression that was of extreme curiosity.

As Zhang Lisheng got off the police car, Yang Zhengyi also got off at the same time on purpose. He watched Zhang Lisheng as the latter slowly walked up the mountain village stone roads toward his old house.

Some villagers who saw them began to discuss softly, “Isn’t that police officer the chief of something? Why is he sending him back personally, pooh! He sent Father Lisheng back to the village personally?”

“What’s wrong with the chief? Maybe he thought that psychics are just normal people, but we shouldn’t say things like this now, lest we get our tongue eaten by the worm.”

“Damn it why would you say something so scary?”

“Alright, let’s not talk about that anymore. I’ll ask you this. About Ermu’s funeral, do you think…”

“Wow, you’re not afraid to die, aren’t you? How dare you talk about this now.”

“Ermu broke into Zhang family’s house, he ended up kneeling with his organs all over the ground. Don’t you see that his family won’t dare to have a funeral for him? Naturally, we’ll have to pretend to be wary.”