Noticing the fear in Liu Wen's eyes, Chen Zhezhe managed a weak smile. "It's nothing, I was just a little scared!"
"Yeah, Chen Zhezhe! Those guys looked ruthless. I think you shouldn't come to class for the next few days. There's a chance they might come back!" Liu Wen advised with genuine concern.
"Yeah..."
The female police officer walked up to Chen Zhezhe and looked at him with curiosity.
It turned out to be an acquaintance.
She was the same policewoman who had been with Captain Han yesterday!
The policewoman's insignia still had only two bars, so she must have been on the job for a short time—possibly just an intern.
"It's you!"
They pointed at each other simultaneously and then burst into laughter at the same time.
"You know each other?" Liu Wen asked, baffled as to how Chen Zhezhe could possibly know a police officer.
"Yeah, we ran into each other before," Chen Zhezhe answered vaguely, then asked the policewoman, "My name is Chen Zhezhe, what's yours?"
"I'm Xue Qian!"
The policewoman saluted, but immediately realized she seemed to have used her left hand. She playfully stuck out her little pink tongue, scratched her head, lowered her gaze, and smiled. "Sorry! I always mess up this salute. I... I always mix up my left and right."
It wasn't just *like* she mixed them up—she clearly didn't know left from right. Although Chen Zhezhe wasn't a cop, he still knew that salutes were supposed to be done with the right hand.
"Ahem! Since those guys came looking for you in the first place, I figured they might be your enemies."
Xue Qian put on a stern face, but unfortunately, because she was so cute with fair skin and sparkling eyes, even her serious expression made her look like a child who would never grow up. Such a pretty girl in a police uniform failed to show an ounce of authority; instead, it made her appear exceptionally delicate.
Her vulnerability was wrapped in the masculine toughness of her police uniform, and through her stern, indifferent facade shone a deep curiosity and inquisitiveness about Chen Zhezhe.
Good grief! Uniform temptation.
It seemed all those people gathered around earlier weren't rubbernecking at all—they had all come to look at the pretty cop. Just look at the greed in all those pairs of eyes; they were clearly cut from the same cloth as Chen Zhezhe.
Xue Qian seemed to sense that Chen Zhezhe's gaze was making her uncomfortable. Her face flushed red, and she lowered her head. "Can you tell me who you've offended?"
...
Chen Zhezhe found it utterly ridiculous. The policewoman was cute to the absolute extreme, and he kept wanting to reach out and pinch her cheeks, but was she actually capable of handling a case?
"Didn't Captain Han come today?" Chen Zhezhe thought of Han Jun from yesterday and still felt that a police officer should look like that—someone who looked fully capable of catching bad guys.
Xue Qian said helplessly, "He has a bigger case to investigate these days! They said it will take several days before he comes back, so I'm here all by myself. Hey! Hey! Why aren't you answering my question? Do you think I don't look like a real cop?"
Xue Qian felt that Chen Zhezhe's questions clearly showed he didn't believe in her abilities. She straightened her police cap and glared at Chen Zhezhe, imitating Han Jun's slightly ruffian-like stare.
She looked just like a kid playing dress-up as an adult!
"Offended people?" Chen Zhezhe thought about it. "If we're talking about the people I've offended these past few days, there certainly are a lot—more than all the people I offended in the previous twenty years combined. First of all, I'd have to mention..."
Far down the corridor near the stairwell, a male student poked his head out for a split second, then instantly yanked it back.
The distance was great and the boy's movement was lightning-fast, but he couldn't escape Chen Zhezhe's sharp eyes.
"Zhang Zhi? Stop right there!"
Chen Zhezhe brushed past Xue Qian, broke into a sprint, pulled out a set of keys, and tossed them to Qin Xin. "Go home and wait for me. I'm going to beat the living daylights out of this bastard."
Over there, when Zhang Zhi heard Chen Zhezhe call out to him—the voice carrying clearly across such a distance right into his ears—he shuddered in fright and turned to run.
What the hell, he's actually running?
Originally, Chen Zhezhe wasn't entirely certain, but with him acting this guilty, it had to be him. He remembered hearing before that Zhang Zhi was tight with street thugs.
The more he thought about it, the more convinced he became. Chen Zhezhe picked up his pace, chasing after Zhang Zhi with everything he had.
Zhang Zhi was a sports major. Aside from basketball, he also practiced sprinting, and he thought to himself, *There's no way I can't outrun you, right?*
Unfortunately for him, he couldn't necessarily outrun Chen Zhezhe now that his body was surging with True Essence.
The distance between them was too great; by the time Chen Zhezhe reached the spot, Zhang Zhi had already bolted down the stairs.
Still, heading downward was the right direction.
A few steps down, several girls carrying books were walking up the stairs and gasped in alarm. Just as Chen Zhezhe was about to collide with them, he pressed his hand against the handrail, flew horizontally across, landed on the opposite side of the stairs, and after a few more strides, pressed his hand down again to drop down another flight.
He left several girls frozen in shock. One of them, wearing glasses, took them off and wiped them repeatedly. "Are my eyes acting up again?"
He ran out of the teaching building and caught sight of a tall figure far ahead.
Damn it, let's see where you can run. Today, if I don't beat the crap out of him, it won't be a clean job.
He pushed off the ground with one foot and shot forward a huge distance.
Zhang Zhi was running at full tilt. Thinking he had shaken Chen Zhezhe far behind, he glanced back and saw that the distance seemed to have closed in.
Startled, he tripped over a railing, stumbled for a few steps, and kept running.
Ahead was the female dormitory building, with the prominent characters "MEN FORBIDDEN" glaringly clear.
A middle-aged woman reached out and pointed at Zhang Zhi. "Hey! Hey! You can't go in there! Why are you still walking forward? I'm talking to you!"
Zhang Zhi didn't dare stop for a second. He rushed right past the woman, nearly knocking her over.
She pointed at Zhang Zhi's back. "You dare break into the women's dorm? This old lady has memorized your face. Just wait to be publicly disciplined!"
She cursed as she turned around, only to see yet another young man darting in like a gust of wind from the side...
Another one?
The middle-aged woman flew into a rage. Was this total contempt for her?
She swung the broom she was holding around, but by the time she was delayed, both of their shadows had vanished.
Chen Zhezhe had eyes only for Zhang Zhi. Thinking of the vast amount of blood in the corridor earlier, the fury in his heart blazed hotter the harder he ran.
Normally, his body wasn't all that athletic, but having run this far while completely out of breath, the True Essence within him began to circulate in accordance with his practice over the past few days. His body grew lighter and lighter, and the faster he ran, the more he felt like he could actually fly.
It was morning, and some girls who only had one morning class had just woken up. All the way along, they shrieked and hurriedly covered whatever skin their clothes had left exposed.
Zhang Zhi rushed up to the second floor, found an open window, jumped onto the windowsill, and leaped down.
He was quite experienced; after his feet hit the ground, he absorbed the impact first, used the momentum to roll across the ground, and scrambled right back up.
A lightly dressed girl stared in utter astonishment. "So handsome!"
When Chen Zhezhe saw Zhang Zhi jump out of that window, he didn't bother stepping onto the windowsill. Instead, he leaped while still a good distance away from the window—
And with a swoosh, he sailed right through the window. Below was a patch of grass.
"Oh my god, is this suicide?"
The female students crowded over to the windows, only to find that Chen Zhezhe was already running far away.
Ahead was the gymnasium.
Zhang Zhi had run too hard and felt a burning heat in his lungs. His chest heaved like a broken bellows, wheezing in and out. When he looked back again, he saw that Chen Zhezhe had caught up to a close distance—close enough that he could see the fury burning in Chen Zhezhe's eyes.
With a frightened howl, Zhang Zhi bolted through the side door of the gymnasium and ran up the stairs again.
"Damn it, you run pretty fast, huh?"
The voice came from not far behind. Zhang Zhi had already been exhausted to the limit, but the stimulus of that voice instantly catalyzed an endless surge of strength.
Ahead were some colorful banners the school had used for a basketball game not long ago. A row of them hung on three-meter-long bamboo poles against the wall. Zhang Zhi gave them a swipe as he passed, knocking the banners down one after another so they crashed toward Chen Zhezhe.
Zhang Zhi thought that would surely stall him for a few seconds!
When he looked back, Chen Zhezhe threw a punch and swept his arm, smashing the bamboo poles into several splintered pieces.
Oh, sweet mother of God.
Zhang Zhi was terrified out of his wits. Seeing a shape ahead, he scrambled up using both hands and feet, shoved open the hatch to the roof, and climbed out.
This was the roof of the gymnasium, and Chen Zhezhe followed right behind him, leaping up.
Devoid of even the slightest will to fight back, Zhang Zhi backed away step by step. Any further back, and he would likely tumble off a drop equivalent to three stories high.
"Don't come any nearer! Come any closer and I'll jump! The police won't let you off if you do this!" Zhang Zhi cried, tears streaming down his face in terror.
Seeing him looking this terrified, the anger in Chen Zhezhe's heart subsided slightly. He sneered and said, "Go ahead and jump. I was actually thinking of pushing you off anyway."
Push him off?
Seeing the look in Chen Zhezhe's eyes, he realized it wasn't a bluff, and Zhang Zhi instantly caved.
He dropped to his knees, tears and snot mingling together as he pleaded, "Don't come after me, please. It wasn't me!"
Wasn't him?
Even if it wasn't him personally, he probably knew what was going on.
Chen Zhezhe's arms filled with strength. He grabbed Zhang Zhi by the collar of his basketball T-shirt and hauled him to his feet. "If it wasn't you, then who was it?"
"I really don't know!" Zhang Zhi begged, looking up at Chen Zhezhe imploringly. "You're the boss, you're the big boss. I, Zhang Zhi, was blind that day and tried to shake you down for money, but I really have no idea what happened to Liu Yi!"
Seeing his eyes darting frantically while he spoke, Chen Zhezhe grew certain. Gritting his teeth, he dragged Zhang Zhi toward the edge of the roof.
Zhang Zhi was scared out of his wits; he forgot to beg, and there were even signs of incontinence.
It seemed this guy only knew how to bully people who had no money, no power, and weren't as tall as him—he was a total coward at heart.
Chen Zhezhe shoved him against the parapet wall, extending one arm so that half of Zhang Zhi's body was dangling out over the edge.
As a breeze blew past, for a split second Zhang Zhi even suspected he had already fallen.
Feeling nothing beneath him anymore, Zhang Zhi suddenly snapped back to his senses. He grabbed Chen Zhezhe's arm and trembled violently. "I'm begging you, please... I'll talk, I'll talk! Just pull me back first, I'll really die if I fall! This is the third floor!"
Chen Zhezhe pulled him back slightly.
"Spill it!"
"That day... that day I really did call Brother Hu and asked him to help teach you a lesson."
"Oh?" Chen Zhezhe raised an eyebrow. "Who is Brother Hu?"
"A big-time thug. Around our campus area, his word is absolute law. If you ask around at any of the karaoke bars or places like that, everyone knows Brother Hu..."
"What's his family name? What's his full name? Were his men the ones who came today?"
"His name is Zhao Hu. He runs security for several discos around here, and he usually drives a Toyota SUV with the license plate number XXXXX. The ones who came today were his younger brother, Zhao Lei—everyone calls him Zhao Sanpao."
Zhang Zhi was truly terrified out of his wits and spilled everything, absolutely everything.