Volume 4: Hidden Struggles, Chapter 134: True Intimidation

Now, Chu Tianyu could be 100% certain that this Group Leader Li represented the forces of Tianxing Group. His behavior today further confirmed this relationship—namely, to drag in the forces represented by Chu Tianyu’s grandfather.
In fact, everyone knew exactly who was involved and what the conflicts were. They weren’t afraid of adding Chu Tianyu’s grandfather as another enemy; as long as they could make things more chaotic, that was enough.
On the surface, this seemed like a matter between Zhan Zifeng and Chu Tianyu. Tianxing Group had no reason to assassinate Zhan Zifeng, and the Zhan family would never step in to address it directly. The messy affairs between Zhan Zifeng and Zhou Chongyun were certainly not something they could expose!
Tianxing Group needed surface stability at all costs and must not get involved in such a murder case. As for the hidden struggles, they had already reached a boiling point—everyone was ready to go to extremes, so there were no more concerns to worry about. That’s why Group Leader Li decided on the tone and attitude for his speech to Chu Tianyu and Bai Lei today.
At the same time, Tianxing Group was using diplomatic pressure from Japan to protect that female ninja, Yu Xiang. After all, she had been dressed casually with no apparent motive at the time. Now, she insisted she was just passing by and had been accidentally injured by Zhan Zifeng. She even filed a lawsuit against him…
Especially considering the witnesses—like the convenience store owner—who saw her just passing by, then panicking and falling into Zhan Zifeng’s arms before flying back and collapsing on the ground, never getting up again. If it wasn’t Zhan Zifeng’s accidental injury, then what else?
Now that Chu Tianyu and Bai Lei were suspected of being closely related to Zhan Zifeng’s arrival, their statements clearly lost credibility. By protecting Yu Xiang, those dead people could never speak out. After all, only the living could account for the truth!
Though Group Leader Li said only a few words, the complexity of this case, with its interlinked elements, was thought-provoking. If one couldn’t see through it, they would surely get trapped in someone else’s scheme.
After thinking it through, Chu Tianyu smiled slightly and asked, “So, what does Group Leader Li expect us to say?”
“Of course, clarify the situation—such as any personal grudges against Zhan Zifeng, why you arranged to meet him there, and why, when the murder happened, you neither fled in panic nor stepped in to help, considering you knew each other!” Group Leader Li pressed repeatedly.

“I have no personal grudges against him; it’s him who keeps harassing my fiancée. As for meeting Zhan Zifeng, I think with your team’s capabilities, you can’t even check phone records! Who called whom and what was said—do you really need to ask? As for why we didn’t panic and run away or step in to help, I’ll just say this: What we do is none of your business! Hmph!” Chu Tianyu suddenly raised his voice on the last sentence, sneering.

Team Leader Li was shocked by Chu Tianyu’s sudden change in tone. Once he recovered, he slammed the table in anger and shouted, “Chu Tianyu! This is a police station. I’m here to have a formal conversation with you on behalf of the government and the people’s authority. Don’t act like some spoiled brat. I, Li, have handled countless major cases and haven’t feared anyone—even high-ranking officials who break the law. We still have the right to act accordingly and punish them severely!”

“Tch, as you said, that’s only if they break the law. What evidence do you have now that we’ve committed a crime? If there’s no evidence, I can just curse your grandmother right now—what’s the problem with that?” Bai Lei seemed to realize the situation and didn’t elaborate on his background, instead making jokes.

“Bai Lei! How dare you do this?” Chu Tianyu said sternly to Bai Lei. Bai Lei was startled by the call. Before he could react, Chu Tianyu continued in a casual, mischievous tone, “If you can curse his grandmother first, what am I supposed to curse?”

Then he turned to Team Leader Li and said slowly, “Heh, Team Leader Li, I’m sorry, but then I’ll just have to curse your old mother!”

After saying that, Chu Tianyu gave Bai Lei a knowing smile, their eyes exchanging a look as if to say, “It turns out that cursing can also be a satisfying and ‘elegant’ thing sometimes!”

Chu Tianyu said such things first to handle the situation—trying to provoke him and shift the focus of the matter. Second, he hated hypocrites who used the guise of the government the most; their despicable actions were a hundred times worse than those of outright criminals! Especially seeing their self-righteous expressions was simply infuriating!

Sure enough, Team Leader Li was already red-faced from their back-and-forth, his veins bulging on his forehead. Finally, he couldn’t hold back and roared, “Someone here!”

At that sound, four tough-looking police officers rushed in immediately, ready to follow his orders and arrest them.

Chu Tianyu smiled inwardly. It seemed everything was well planned—first temptation, then intimidation, and finally force! He really wondered what more tricks he would come up with next. But one thing Chu Tianyu was certain of: he was eagerly looking forward to them taking action…

Yet Team Leader Li could hold this position only because he was quite capable. After his initial anger subsided, he realized he really couldn’t afford to mess with these two.

What he thought would be a simple task now left him feeling helpless. He had even assured his superiors that, with his experience, dealing with such arrogant young men who had no social experience and couldn’t stand any hardship would be a piece of cake.

He had expected them to explode in anger the moment they suspected they were being questioned, acting like typical rich kids and demanding their uncles or grandfathers intervene. But to his surprise, these two guys didn’t fall for that at all and didn’t lose their composure.

At this thought, he broke into a cold sweat. The anger caused by the insult earlier had long dissipated, leaving him without any momentum.

Helplessly, Team Leader Li waved his hand, signaling the officers to pause their actions and not use force. With a cold expression, he said to Chu Tianyu and the other man, “Considering your elders, I won’t hold account of your insult. But regarding this case, if you insist on not cooperating, don’t blame me for using my authority granted by the state to detain you officially! Please cooperate. If you don’t confess honestly, we’ll have to move to the formal interrogation room. Guards…”

It seemed Team Leader Li was ready to go all out—he already considered them villains. Since soft tactics didn’t work, he planned to take the final step: use force, interrogate them first, and then detain them for two days to see if their elders would step in!

“Wait, Team Leader Li. Can I talk to you alone?” Chu Tianyu stretched and leaned back comfortably in his chair.

Hearing this, Team Leader Li’s expression brightened. He thought to himself, “Heh, just kids. They thought they were so capable. Now that real action is involved, they’re backing down!” But outwardly, he said calmly, “You guys go ahead… Alright, Young Master Chu, you can speak now if you have anything to say.”

Chu Tianyu stared at him straight on and said slowly, “Although I don’t know how much benefit Team Leader Li can gain by getting involved in this, or what tragic fate awaits him if he doesn’t, I can tell you one thing for sure. If you insist on stubbornly continuing to meddle, you won’t get a single bit of benefit, and instead, you’ll face consequences you might never even imagine…”

“You, this is intimidation! Police—” Team Leader Li shouted fiercely, but before he could say “police,” Chu Tianyu’s fist struck him right in the face.

With a loud “bang,” the punch hit his nose, breaking it and causing his face to collapse as he was flung backward along with his office chair, crashing into the wall with a loud “clang…”

Hearing the noise inside, the four guards rushed in, but before they could react, they were struck by Chu Tianyu’s rapid attacks from close range, bending over in pain and collapsing unconscious before they could even grunt.

Bai Lei quickly closed the door tightly. Apparently, no one outside expected that there would be four tough guards in this place, let alone someone as bold as Chu Tianyu capable of doing such things.

Chu Tianyu hadn’t used any real energy at all; it was just a normal punch, with force similar to that of world boxing champion Tai Mu!

Chu Tianyu stroked his fist and slowly walked around the table to Team Leader Li, who was lying on the ground. He had already reduced the force of that punch by a great deal—otherwise, even with a normal punch, Li wouldn’t have been able to withstand it.

“Ah—ouch—” Team Leader Li was slowly trying to get up, clearly still shaken by the sudden attack and unable to fully recover mentally. His movements were purely instinctive.

Chu Tianyu looked at his bloody face without any pity and stepped on his head, forcing him to lie back down.

The intense pain made Team Leader Li seem to snap out of it instantly. Trembling, he spoke in an incredulous tone, “You… you dare to openly attack… attack a police officer? Umm…”

Before he could finish, Chu Tianyu increased the pressure, silencing him with muffled sounds as he couldn’t utter another word. At the same time, Chu Tianyu said, “Attack a police officer? If you’re even worthy of being a police officer, then fine, I’ll attack you—so what?”

Meanwhile, Bai Lei, eager to try, said, “Hey, Tianyu, let me step on him too…”

After being ravaged by Bai Lei once again, Team Leader Li’s entire face had turned into that of a pig’s! Yet he was still conscious, and his initial shock and anger had given way to feelings of humiliation and helplessness.
Chu Tianyu leaned in close to his blood-soaked ear and said softly, “Team Leader Li, does it feel good to be bullied like this? This isn’t me trying to scare you—whether it’s just beating you up or even killing you, they’ll still stand up for you and offend us in return. Right now, Bai Lei and I are just going to walk out proudly, take a shower, and then stroll around Beihai. You take your time—your injuries are serious, so get treated first. We’ll wait here for you to send someone to ‘invite’ us back. But don’t blame us if we turn hostile then. If everyone from the legitimate world to the underworld gets involved, it won’t end with just a beating like now! Do you hear me?”
For the last threat, Chu Tianyu infused it with some true energy, causing the half-dead Team Leader Li lying on the ground to shudder immediately. Though he had seemed quite tough just moments ago, now he looked like a cowardly wretch.
As Chu Tianyu and Bai Lei walked out of the police station under the astonished and bewildered gazes of everyone present, Bai Lei couldn’t help but exclaim, “Haha, Third Brother, you really know how to do it! Those words—tsk tsk, what’s real intimidation? Only beating them first counts! Heh, I didn’t expect you to actually take action. To be honest, if this were online, I’d have already killed his mother. But in reality, I don’t even dare think about it. Heh, beating him right here in the police station—so exciting!”
As he spoke, Bai Lei rubbed his hands excitedly, looking thoroughly thrilled.
“I didn’t expect them to dare twist the truth right in front of us and claim to uphold the law. Beating them up today is still too mild. Such scum will surely face retribution someday!” Chu Tianyu said meaningfully.
“Right, Third Brother, I support you. Being low-key usually shows your humility, but in situations like this, you must act when it’s time. Being low-key with people like this is an insult to yourself!” Bai Lei agreed.
“Bai Lei, how about you stay at Zi Yi’s villa for the next few days…” Chu Tianyu suddenly changed the subject, hinting at something.
Before Chu Tianyu could finish speaking, Bai Lei waved his hand and said, “No need. Do you think our Bai family is made of vegetables? I stay low-key because of my noble character. Enough. Don’t worry about my affairs. Go ahead with yours. With your attitude, I really feel sorry for Zhou Tianxing…”

Chu Tianyu listened without saying a word, only letting out a long sigh as he thought to himself, “Zhou Tianxing, it’s time for you to pay back what you owe!”
……
“Hello, hello, is this Old Ye?” In the office, Team Leader Li managed to sit up with difficulty, covering his mouth as he spoke into the phone.
“Didn’t I tell you to avoid direct contact at this time? What’s the matter? How’s the case progressing?” A gloomy reprimand came from the other end of the line.
“Yes, yes, I’m just a bit anxious—something urgent…”
“Hmm, I’m listening…”
“……”
“Old Ye, the situation is exactly as I described. Those two guys are simply too arrogant! What do you think we should do next? Should I issue an arrest order directly…” Team Leader Li cautiously suggested at the end.
“Nonsense! Are you stupid?” Before he could finish speaking, a burst of anger and curses came from the other end.
Then he heard again, “Don’t you think about it? What charges would you use to arrest them? Assaulting you? Attacking a police officer? What kind of serious crime is that? Not only would it not constitute multiple charges, but even if you could arrest them legitimately, how many days could you keep them locked up? And the forces behind them are acting under the pretext of ‘attacking a police officer,’ not for the reasons we want regarding this case. So what’s the point of arresting those two guys?”
Old Ye’s analysis immediately made Team Leader Li realize the key issue: this would not only create a powerful enemy but also mean that whatever happened next—whether they intervened to defend them or went to court—the charges would still be related to “attacking a police officer in a fight,” with no connection to the case of Zhan Zifeng’s assassination!
“Are those two guys, who seem carefree and brutal, truly savage by nature, or do they have ulterior motives?” Team Leader Li couldn’t help but wonder.
“Alright, let’s put this matter aside for now. We’ll discuss what to do next when the time comes…” With that, Old Ye hung up the phone.
Team Leader Li was utterly confused and silently asked himself, “Could it be… that all this beating was for nothing?” As he thought this, he remembered Chu Tianyu’s threatening words: “…Even if we kill you, they’ll still stand up for you and offend us?”
It seemed the answer was clearly no!
……
After returning, with Qin Nianran’s protection, Chu Tianyu felt he could act more freely and issued several orders to Wutang and Qianfeng.

The requirement for Wutang was to eradicate all underground forces, large and small, related to Tianxing Group by tomorrow night. Chu Tianyu also added that even those minor criminal forces should be dealt with as well! It was also a way to compensate for the harm caused to the capital’s “people” and the damage to buildings under Heilong’s control… Although Chu Tianyu had already donated part of the funds through some of Qianfeng’s subsidiaries or compensated in other ways after returning, he still couldn’t stop thinking about this matter! As for Qianfeng, the requirement was to start with investigating the team leader surnamed Li, while continuing to monitor various situations and gather information. As for Zhou Tianxing of Tianxing Group, Chu Tianyu planned to “visit” him personally while Wutang carried out its operation tomorrow night! After sorting everything out, Chu Tianyu couldn’t help but call his grandfather, hoping to get in touch with his second brother. To his surprise, his grandfather said his second brother had returned to the military, and at this sensitive time, their military system didn’t want to intervene rashly—this was also what his grandfather and Old Qi had agreed upon. As for his second brother’s move, it would be most impactful and effective if he stepped forward after winning the World Military Competition and truly taking control of TieXue! As for Tianxing Group, his grandfather didn’t ask a single question. Just as he said, he couldn’t interfere in Chu Tianyu’s affairs; there was no need for him to worry about Chu Tianyu at all!