Chapter 249 - 158: Perspective! Get Ready... to Make the Arrest!!

Amid the daze, a faint, pained muttering could be heard.

Zhang Liang froze, looking at the dog meat restaurant owner in disbelief.

The man was staring at the table, his eyes filled with distress, his lips moving in a quiet mutter.

"What did you say?"

Zhang Liang asked, stunned and incredulous.

"A table worth several hundred... you have to pay me back..." the owner said after a moment, his voice a quiet inquiry.

"I’ll pay you, my ass!"

Zhang Liang suddenly flew into a rage, his expression utterly ferocious.

The people around them jumped in fright. Zhao Gang, who was beside him, reacted instantly and held him back.

"Boss, calm down! You can’t hit him. If you do, you’re done for..."

"Calm down, calm down, you have to stay calm..."

Zhao Gang pleaded as he held him back.

"Calm down? Fuck ’calm down’! Get off me! Get the fuck off me!"

Zhang Liang thrashed wildly. He was incredibly strong, and even though he wasn’t trying to hurt him, Zhao Gang ended up with a few scrapes and bruises from the struggle.

His savage expression terrified the owner, who shuddered and staggered back two steps in shock.

Li Jianye weakly gestured for someone to escort the owner away.

Only after the owner had disappeared from view did Zhang Liang gradually settle down.

Once calm, he plopped down onto a chair, closed his eyes, and gasped for breath.

"What do we do now?"

Zhao Gang asked, looking helplessly at the dog pelt hanging on the wall.

"Should we just say the dog never came back?"

Zhao Shui thought for a long moment. It seemed like their only option.

’Are we supposed to tell him, "We found your beloved, loyal dog. It was butchered, turned into meat, and its pelt is hanging on the wall. And now, you’re supposed to give us a clue to protect these people?"’

To be honest, Zhao Shui felt that if he were in that position, flying into a rage and cursing them out would be a perfectly normal reaction.

They needed information, but the dog was dead...

Then they’d have to lie!

’Say his dog never arrived?’

But...

As he felt the dog pelt in his hands, Zhao Shui’s heart grew incredibly heavy.

Li Jianye also wanted to suggest that option.

Without a doubt, it was the best option for the greater good of the case.

But for Li Jianye personally...

He recalled what the man had told him back in the interrogation room.

But now, Li Jianye couldn’t bring himself to utter the words.

So... what now?

The only clue, the simplest clue, the most effective clue, the most direct clue...

Had been slaughtered and eaten.

"Lying is the only way..."

Zhao Shui said tentatively.

Xu Huo remained silent, and the others were lost in their own agonizing choices.

Until...

"Boss, there’s a critical report from Sun Qiang at the prison. He said it couldn’t be communicated over the phone or in a report—it had to be delivered face-to-face!"

Just as the atmosphere reached a deadlock, a voice suddenly broke the silence.

Everyone looked up.

It was a young Police Officer. He seemed a little scared of the group in the dog meat restaurant, unable to comprehend the tense atmosphere.

But he spoke with forced resolve.

"What is it?"

Li Jianye said, taking a deep breath.

"He gave me a note to deliver. He said I wasn’t to inform anyone else, or... some case would be jeopardized," the young officer said cautiously.

"Let me see it."

Li Jianye said.

The young officer handed over a piece of paper torn from a notebook.

Li Jianye smoothed it out and looked at it.

BANG!

Suddenly, Li Jianye slammed his hand on the table. He closed his eyes and took several sharp breaths, his composure clearly shaken.

"What’s it say?"

Zhang Liang leaned in to look, then immediately fell silent.

So did Zhao Gang.

What was on the paper?

Not much.

A drawing.

What kind of drawing?

A smiley face.

A deeply mocking smiley face.

It was a simple stick-figure smiley face, beaming at Zhang Liang, Li Jianye, and the others. It smiled so happily, so completely, and also...

So mockingly.

A drawing of just a few simple strokes.

It was incredibly jarring to look at.

Xu Huo took a deep breath and slowly started walking out.

The muscles in his arms were taut, his fingers unconsciously clenched into fists as hard as stone.

"Get ready..."

On the paper, besides the drawing, were a few short words.

Just five words.

"Arrest them."

The paper had five words written on it.

[Rong Family Garden Daoist Temple]

It said it all, and dripped with mockery.

Zhang Liang paused. His eyes were dark and filled with a murderous aura. A tide of rage surged through him, and he roared in a low voice.

’He was done with this case. He didn’t want to investigate it anymore.’

’And if he wasn’t going to investigate, then...’

"ARREST THEM!!!"

...

...

PS:

Regarding what Zhang Liang said to Li Jianye, that was in Chapter 27.

However, after it went through review, in order to get it approved, ninety percent of that conversation was deleted. The Chapter, which was around 2,500 characters, was cut down to 1,700, a reduction of almost a thousand characters.

If you haven’t been following the story live or didn’t read it before the review, then there’s nothing I can do, sorry.

The "flesh lotus" and Blood Jade from the previous Chapter were also deleted half an hour after it was published.

However, Chapter 28 is about Zhang Liang’s life story and had very few cuts, so you can go check that out.

Finally...

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