Qi Tongwei’s expression darkened. He pushed past the officers standing in his way, stepped forward slowly, and asked in a low, deep voice, "What is your relationship to Zhao Lichun?"
Sun Da sneered dismissively. "Is my uncle’s name something you can just toss around?"
"Uncle?" Qi Tongwei asked, unsure.
Sun Da admitted it openly and boldly. "I am Zhao Lichun’s own nephew! Do you understand now?" He added, "Don't think that just because you’re the Director of the Public Security Department—even if the Governor were here, he’d still have to bow his head to me!"
Sun Da’s arrogance was palpable. Liu Qiang, Zhong Mao, and the others, who had previously felt suppressed, suddenly straightened their backs.
"What Director of the Public Security Department? He’s nothing special!"
"Besides, don't make things difficult for us. We’re acting in accordance with the law. Just because you call it a forced demolition doesn't mean it isn't standard procedure." The people surrounding Sun Da chimed in from all sides.
In the distance, a layer of dark clouds seemed to gather, gradually blotting out the light.
Watching the hesitant and calculating look on Qi Tongwei’s face, Liang Song felt a sense of dread. This "reinforcement" was clearly just another opportunist. Despite his high rank, he lacked any shred of justice. The only reason he had stepped up earlier was because of the chain reaction triggered by that single phone call. His current hesitation was simply him weighing which of them—himself or Sun Da—would be worse to offend.
It was no wonder Qi Tongwei hesitated; when one climbed this high in the official hierarchy, they naturally developed their own set of survival rules. Zhao Lichun was the former Party Secretary of Handong Province and had since been promoted to a vice-national-level official in the capital. When Zhao Lichun was still in Handong Province, Qi Tongwei had been nothing more than a dog at his side, summoned or dismissed at will, never daring to show a hint of temper.
Qi Tongwei looked at Sun Da, then at Liang Song, wondering how such a small temple could contain two such immovable "great Buddhas."
As things stood, he certainly could not afford to offend Sun Da. As for Liang Song, he didn't know why his mentor insisted on protecting him, but since the boy was still here, things shouldn't fall apart just yet. Qi Tongwei signaled for his men to step back.
The villagers were stunned by this turn of events. "Director, what is the meaning of this?" they cried out. "Are you just going to stand there and watch as these thugs bully us common folk without doing a thing?"
Qi Tongwei had lost his initial aura of justice, turning into a slippery, evasive figure. "You can't put it that way. Haven't they not done anything yet?" he countered. "And why call them thugs? They are just the County Mayor and the Township Mayor. If you can't communicate well with each other, you can't blame me for that, can you?"
Watching Qi Tongwei prepare to stand by and do nothing, Liang Song found it laughable. "To think you are all cut from the same cloth!"
He hadn't named anyone, but Qi Tongwei felt as if an invisible hand had slapped him across the face. He spoke with a sharp, sarcastic edge: "Kid, you're still young. You have a lot to learn."
"Learn what? How to be a dog?" Liang Song retorted, dropping all pretense of politeness.
Qi Tongwei was so angry his face turned green, yet he didn't dare to take rash action. Sun Da, however, became even more emboldened. "Grab those ones who were shouting the loudest! Give them a good beating!" he barked. "Who do they think they are, questioning me?"
Once Sun Da had revealed his true colors, his behavior became even more outrageous. Seeing the thugs reaching out toward the innocent villagers, Liang Song stepped directly in front of them. The thugs, remembering their previous beating, were still somewhat fearful of Liang Song and hesitated to step forward.
Seeing this, Sun Da stormed over, cursing, "You bunch of cowards! What do I pay you for? There are so many of you—are you really afraid of him?"
He shoved his hands into his pockets and stood arrogantly before Liang Song. "You’ve got some connections, huh? Planning to keep calling for reinforcements?" He circled Liang Song as he spoke. "You managed to call the Director of the Public Security Department—I’ll give you that, I underestimated you."
"But even if you can find people, so what?" Sun Da sneered. "Even if the gods themselves came down today, I would still tear your houses down!"
Seeing the defiance in Liang Song’s eyes, Sun Da grew vicious and raised his hand to strike him. But before his hand could land, Liang Song caught it in mid-air.
"Heaven is watching what men do. I advise you not to go too far!"
Sun Da let out a cry and signaled to the thugs. "Get him! If you get hurt, I'll pay your medical bills! Whoever manages to take him down, I’ll reward them handsomely!"
Sun Da was a bandit in every sense of the word. Upon hearing the promise of money, the thugs grew bloodshot, charging forward with renewed vigor as if injected with adrenaline. A massive brawl was about to erupt.
The officers behind Qi Tongwei grew restless. "Director, are we just going to sit here and watch them bully the people so flagrantly?"
Qi Tongwei was in a difficult position. He couldn't afford to offend Sun Da, but he couldn't just stand by and watch forever, either. "County Mayor Sun, wait!"
Sun Da didn't expect Qi Tongwei to have the courage to speak up, so he asked with a cold laugh, "What? Does the Director have some other opinion to share?"
Knowing he couldn't suppress Sun Da, Qi Tongwei had no choice but to use his mentor's name as a shield. "To be honest, the Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee asked me to come and assess the situation. This matter of demolition is hard to define; I should report back to the Secretary first."
Sun Da lost his patience. "Is there no end to this? Whoever comes today, I am going to tear this place down! If you keep spouting nonsense, don't blame me for telling my uncle some things that won't sound very good to your ears. You're a smart man—don't do anything stupid."
Seeing that he couldn't stop Sun Da’s thuggish behavior, Qi Tongwei had no choice but to order his men to report back and notify his mentor.
Watching the cowardly, indifferent behavior of Qi Tongwei and his men, Liang Song’s anger reached a breaking point. "And you call yourselves people's police! Facing the brutal behavior of these thugs and bullies, all you can do is weigh your own interests! Having administrative personnel like you is a disgrace to this country!"
Sun Da interrupted him, tired of the talk. "Stop barking about things that don't matter. Even if you look down on us, so what? Aside from being bullied, what can you do?"
"I could level your homes to the ground! I could bury you all in the ruins! Even if you turned into ghosts, you wouldn't be able to touch a hair on my head!" Sun Da sneered. "Does all that talk of yours actually do anything?"
The sky was thick with dark clouds, offering no glimmer of hope. Qi Tongwei wanted to buy more time, but the moment he took a step forward, Sun Da intimidated him with a glare.
"Men, tear it down!" Sun Da commanded. "Tear down everything you can! As for anyone who gets in the way, beat them to death—I’ll take the blame!"
At his order, the thugs swarmed forward like rats emerging from the shadows. Many villagers, seeing the scene, retreated to the side, their eyes filled with grief. Liang Song picked up a burning log once more.