Chapter 62

Xie Wendong had no idea how long he had been unconscious. Gradually, he regained consciousness, feeling severe pain all over his body. He tried to open his eyes, but it felt as though all his strength had been drained, with his eyelids as heavy as lead. Xie Wendong moaned and fell back asleep.

When he woke up again, he felt much better. Opening his eyes, he saw a snow-white ceiling. He turned around and looked around—the room was empty. Xie Wendong lay quietly on the bed for a while, guessing that this must be a hospital. After ten minutes, he felt his strength returning gradually. He slowly sat up and called out loudly, “Hey! Is anyone there?”

After calling three times, the door to the room opened, and two police officers entered. One of them was familiar to Xie Wendong—it was the beautiful female police officer he had seen before he fainted. Seeing Xie Wendong staring at her without blinking, she remembered what he had said before fainting and became panicked.

The other was a male police officer in his early forties. After staring at Xie Wendong for a while, he asked, “Are you okay now?”

Xie Wendong nodded. The officer pulled up a chair and sat next to him, taking out a pen and paper from his bag. He asked seriously, “Let’s get down to business first! Name?”

Xie Wendong replied calmly, “Xie Wendong!” “Age?” “…”

The questioning went through quickly. Then the male officer asked, “Do you know why those people attacked you?”

Xie Wendong was taken aback. It seemed the members of the Soul-Reclaiming Gang hadn’t revealed what had happened at Xin Qingnian that day, which made things much easier for him. Pretending to be confused, he said, “I don’t know either. I just came back to school after taking a shower outside when I ran into those guys. I’ve never seen them before, so I have no idea why they attacked me!”

“I don’t think so! Over thirty of them didn’t even scratch you, yet you claim there were more than a dozen…” Saying this, the officer leaned closer to Xie Wendong and pressed, “Who exactly are you? What’s your connection to those people?”

Xie Wendong said pitifully, “I really don’t know. I hurt them in self-defense. I know martial arts, and I’m a ‘college student.’ How could I possibly be involved with those thugs? If you don’t believe me, you can ask my classmates!”

The officer wasn’t convinced. He felt this man couldn’t be that simple. He grabbed Xie Wendong by the collar and snapped, “You’re not cooperating at all, and that won’t do you any good. To be honest, we already know some things about you. If you confess honestly, I might consider interceding for you. But if you keep resisting, the consequences will be beyond your imagination!”

Xie Wendong had seen everyone, and he knew well the tactics used by police. Just by looking into their eyes, he could tell they knew nothing and were just trying to trick him into revealing information. With a cold laugh in his heart, he silently memorized the man’s appearance, planning to deal with him later when the chance arose. On the surface, however, he pretended to be at a loss: “Officer, I really don’t know what other illegal things I might have done. I study law—I never do anything illegal!”

The male officer stared at him for a long time but saw no sign of panic in Xie Wendong. He turned to the female officer and shook his head. Then he said to Xie Wendong, “Kid, don’t get into fights anymore, understand?! This is the provincial capital. If you dare cause trouble, hehe…” After saying that, the officer took out Xie Wendong’s ID card, student ID, and other documents from his bag, threw them on the bed, and said, “The people who attacked you have been caught, and they admitted it was out of boredom, just wanting to fight for fun. Most of them are middle school students! Although you hurt a few people, since it was self-defense, we won’t hold you accountable this time. Be more careful next time. Also, this isn’t over. We have new findings and need to talk to you again. You’ll have to be available at any time during this period!”

Xie Wendong nodded silently, deep in thought, wondering why the Gang of Souls would say that. Could it be…

Seeing Xie Wendong silent, the male officer raised his eyebrows. “What? Are you not satisfied…?”

The female officer interrupted him, “Forget it, captain. The bureau is waiting for you at the meeting!”

“Hmm!” The officer glared at Xie Wendong, then whispered to the female officer, “Xiao Peng, I’m leaving him to you! If he can’t move around easily, send him back to his school. He’s from out of town—take good care of him!”

“Sure!” The female officer nodded in agreement. The captain smiled at Xie Wendong and walked away. Xie Wendong shuddered at the smile, feeling goosebumps. The female officer couldn’t help but laugh at that.

Xie Wendong crossed his arms and asked the female officer, “What’s your name?”

“You don’t need to know that for now. Tell me, do you really have nothing to do with gangs?” The female officer blinked at him with her big eyes. Xie Wendong was shocked inwardly—could she already know something about him? He smiled and said, “Of course not. I’m just an ordinary student!”

“Xie Wendong, you can’t fool me!” The female officer said, her eyes smiling as she leaned closer to him. “I know everything about you!”

Xie Wendong felt a stir in his heart. He smiled at her—she didn’t seem like she was lying!

“Xie Wendong, male, Han ethnicity, born in February 1980. In 1996, he dominated J City’s No. 2 Middle School, ranking first in the city’s middle school entrance exams, yet chose the third-rate No. 1 Middle School. That same year, he became dominant at No. 1 Middle School and founded the Wendong Gang. Within just a year, the Wendong Gang became the largest criminal organization in J City. Over the next two years, its influence expanded to surrounding counties and towns. In 1998, he was admitted to the Law School of H University but unexpectedly chose adult education instead. Xie Wendong, am I correct about all this?” The female police officer kept her eyes fixed on Xie Wendong’s face as she spoke.

The more Xie Wendong listened, the more alarmed he became. The other party could know so much about him in such detail, yet that captain seemed to have no idea at all—this was truly strange! Though he thought this, he didn’t show it on his face at all.

“Hehe!” Xie Wendong got up from the bed, stood barefoot on the floor, and slowly moved toward the female police officer. “Since you know so much, why not tell your captain? What’s the purpose of telling me these things?”

The female police officer swore that in that instant, she saw a glint in Xie Wendong’s eyes—truly a glint! Under his intense pressure, she was forced to back step step by step. She never expected the person who had seemed weak just moments ago to turn into a tiger so quickly. Shouting, she said, “What… what are you doing??” As she tried to pull open the door, Xie Wendong pushed it shut with a palm strike.

Now cornered against the wall, the female police officer instinctively reached for the pistol at her waist. Xie Wendong grabbed her wrist and drew closer to her, their faces less than four inches apart, so close that they could feel each other’s breath. Looking into her eyes, Xie Wendong asked softly, “What’s your name?”

Under his burning gaze, the female police officer lowered her head and said, “Peng Ling!”

“Peng Ling!?” Xie Wendong pondered those two words for a moment before saying, “If you know about me, why not tell your captain?”

Peng Ling felt a bit embarrassed being cornered by Xie Wendong. He was just an eighteen or nineteen-year-old boy, while she was already twenty-one—how could she be afraid of him!? With that thought, she raised her head and looked straight into Xie Wendong’s eyes. “I’m interested in you. I want to see what kind of person someone who could dominate a region at just sixteen really is!” Actually, she had learned about Xie Wendong from a close classmate during her police academy days; that classmate’s family lived in J City. After hearing about him, Peng Ling found his story incredibly legendary—almost enough material for a novel—and she developed an interest in Xie Wendong.

The young man before her also went by the name Xie Wendong. At first, Peng Ling wasn’t sure if they were the same person; she just wanted to test him. To her surprise, it turned out to be him! Though scared, she felt a hint of joy—her intuition told her that this young man wouldn’t hurt her! It was the intuition of a female police officer.
“Is that the only reason?” Xie Wendong smiled. “Now that you’ve seen me, what do you think of me?”
Peng Ling replied calmly, “You’re a very special person. Although you look ordinary, you have a certain… an attractive aura that gives off a unique feeling.”
“Hehe! Hearing that, I’m glad I’m not a woman.” Xie Wendong found it amusing; he had never realized he had such an aura. Peng Ling looked at him in confusion. “Why?” “Usually, when people praise an unattractive woman, they say she has style! How do you know I won’t hurt you?”
“Hehe,” Peng Ling laughed. Then Xie Wendong added, “I just have a feeling that you won’t hurt me!”
Xie Wendong was stunned. He raised his eyebrows and brought his face even closer to Peng Ling, so much so that she could see the pores on his face, yet she felt no fear at all. “I don’t know who gave you such confidence, but I hope you won’t rely on your instincts like this again—it’s very dangerous!” Xie Wendong released Peng Ling’s wrist, stepped back to the bed, and put on his shoes.
Then he began to tidy up his things. Checking his watch, he saw it was already 9:30. He remembered he had an appointment with Wang Guohua today and needed to call Jiang Sen first. He casually asked, “The doctor said I’m fine, right?”
“Mm! You’re healthy, just a bit underblood sugar,” Peng Ling replied, leaning against the wall.
“Oh, I know that!” After checking his belongings to ensure everything was in order, Xie Wendong turned to leave. Seeing Peng Ling follow, he smiled and said, “I’m fine now and can go back to school by myself. But I wouldn’t mind having a beautiful police officer accompany me!”
Peng Ling was stunned. She gave Xie Wendong a glare and whispered, “Who wants to escort you?”
Xie Wendong thought it was a shame inwardly, feeling a sense of loss, but it was exactly what he wanted. Jiang Sen must be worried if he couldn’t find him—he needed to get in touch with him quickly. He said to Peng Ling, “I’m leaving first. I might need your help again in the future!”
Seeing Xie Wendong heading for the stairs, Peng Ling hurriedly asked, “What’s your phone number?”

Xie Wendong turned and smiled, “130…!” Then he strode away. Peng Ling watched Xie Wendong’s retreating figure and felt a sense of reluctance, unsure if she would see this special young man again in the future.