On the other side of the building, Lü Jinshan stood in the lobby, which had been taken over by the border defense station soldiers and the police.
Liu Qiang recognized him at a glance, turning around to summon even more of his comrades.
A crowd of soldiers eyed Lü Jinshan hungrily, a distinctly malicious look creeping into their gazes.
Lü Jinshan had offended plenty of people during his time at the border defense station. Among the rank-and-file soldiers, virtually no one liked him.
Though they were not entirely privy to the struggles at the top, they understood that Lu Zhao had turned the tables and arrested Lü Jinshan's brother.
So why had Lü Jinshan come running here? Surely not to ransom him?
Now that this old dog Lü had fallen into their hands, he was in for the tiger bench, telephone-book beatings, and the merciless treatment reserved for a drowning dog.
Debts of vengeance would be paid in full.
"Well, well! If it isn't our great Station Chief Lü!"
A familiar voice rang out.
Before Lü Jinshan could turn his head, a thick, muscular arm wrapped around his shoulders, and Zhang Like smiled at him.
"What are you doing here?"
"Captain Zhang, we were comrades once. Surely a great man like you can overlook the faults of a lesser one."
Lü Jinshan managed a smile that looked uglier than weeping.
Not a trace remained of the overbearing arrogance he once wielded at the border defense station.
"What are you shaking for? It's only been half a month—how did you get so pathetic?"
As Zhang Like spoke, five or six people were escorted inside. One of them looked somewhat familiar to Lü Jinshan.
Before he could get a clear look, Zhang Like hauled him inward.
The two walked and talked.
"Station Chief Lü, fortune really turns, doesn't it? A month ago, could you have imagined you'd see this day?"
Lü Jinshan said nothing, clenching his teeth as he walked in silence. But Zhang Like was never one to let a grudge wait, and he clearly had no intention of letting him off easy.
"If you'd listened to me two years ago, instead of keeping him down just to flatter the brass, you would have shipped him off right away. Then none of this would have happened. Look at the mess you've made."
Lü Jinshan looked miserable, yet he knew better than to talk back; doing so would only bring more suffering.
With a bitter smile, he said, "I was foolish for a moment. But what could a petty border defense station chief like me do? A single word from above, and I didn't dare disobey. Captain Zhang, for the sake of our old camaraderie, please show some mercy."
Zhang Like was not buying it. He sneered, "Don't worry. We'll enforce the law with complete impartiality."
***
June in Nanhai Circuit was stiflingly muggy.
The Foreign District had originally been the old quarter before the Cataclysm, and much of the police station's equipment was a decade old.
Lu Zhao had just finished interrogating Lü Bowen alone, holding a confession in his hands capable of implicating the entire city.
He switched on the office ceiling fan. With a loud, droning hum, the metal ox-horn blades began to turn. A wave of cool air drifted down from above, setting the newspapers on the desk rustling loudly.
The mugginess of the room and the hum of the metal ceiling fan instantly cast him back nine years, to when he was still at the foster home.
The foster home had strict rules about midday naps, ostensibly to foster adolescent physical development and lay the foundation for life-force development. Given the scarcity of wartime resources and the sweltering heat of Nanhai Circuit, the home had everyone sleep on floor mats across several large classrooms.
A cloth curtain was drawn down the middle to separate the boys from the girls, while a teacher sat by the door supervising them.
Cooling depended entirely on a single massive ceiling fan, buzzing noisily the moment it was switched on.
Lu Zhao rarely slept during naps. Because of his divine power, the moment he closed his eyes, he was pulled into Li Dongxue's dreams, becoming the father in her memories.
Li Dongxue's dreams were mostly confined to a three-bedroom apartment. She would sit by the television watching cartoons, while her mother cooked and her father read the newspaper.
At other times, Lu Zhao managed to suppress the predecessor's memories and appear as himself. Then he would become Li Dongxue's childhood friend, sitting beside her watching cartoons.
In those dreams, they returned again and again to an age of prosperity, only to wake to the intermittent roar of aircraft flying over the foster home.
His phone suddenly rang. The caller was Lin Zhiyan.
"Senior, the bandits have been found. They're in an underground clinic, still unconscious. According to Lü Bowen, they don't know where the Fate Bone is either."
"Then we can only wait for them to wake up?"
"That's all we can do. I'll keep watch over here; you take charge of investigating the case yourself."
"Understood."
"Are you free to have dinner together tonight?"
"I'm afraid I won't have time over the next few days."
"Then get back to work."
The call disconnected. Outside the door, Lu Zhao heard chaotic footsteps mingled with the sounds of struggling.
Lü Jinshan was hauled into the room. Zhang Like dumped him straight onto the floor, sending him sprawling flat on his face, clutching his nose and groaning in agony.
Lu Zhao asked, "You caught him?"
"He came on his own. Probably surrendering."
Zhang Like kicked Lü Jinshan with tremendous force, rolling over the nearly three-hundred-jin mountain of flesh.
"Old dog Lü, stop playing dumb. Hurry up and confess everything."
Lü Jinshan struggled to lift his head, meeting Lu Zhao's dark, calm eyes.
Just like the first time they met years ago, the man seemed not to have changed in the slightest.
"Mr. Lü, what brings you to my office?"
His tone remained cool and indifferent, but compared to Zhang Like's casual brutality of kicks and punches, it seemed remarkably gentle.
*Lu Zhao is a man of rules. He won't resort to underhanded tricks.*
Reassured, Lü Jinshan replied, "I came to turn myself in. I want to report my brother, Lü Bowen."
Hearing this, Lu Zhao showed no mockery. He called Xu Fang and instructed her to prepare the interrogation room and set up the recording equipment.
He then took out the standard forms kept by the special investigation team for Lü Jinshan to fill out, even pointing out places where he made mistakes.
He accorded Lü Jinshan the full treatment due to a surrendering suspect.
"Mr. Lü, please follow me to the interrogation room."
Such unbending fairness brought a slight sting of emotion to Lü Jinshan's nose. From the bottom of his heart, he said, "Lu Zhao, I was truly in the wrong before."
It was somewhat ironic. He had once looked down on people like Lu Zhao, believing he had it coming. In this world, who didn't bow for five pecks of grain? What right did an orphaned kid without any background have to be so arrogant?
Yet now, he found himself relying on the very justice that Lu Zhao upheld.
Without Lu Zhao, Lü Jinshan doubted he would ever make it into prison in one piece; Zhang Like might well have beaten him into a cripple.
Lu Zhao did not respond, maintaining his usual strictly professional demeanor as he led him to the interrogation room in the processing area.
By then, Xu Fang had just finished preparing the room.
Lü Jinshan sat on a bench, the glaring light shining directly on his face, making it hard to keep his eyes open.
Lu Zhao sat in the center as the lead interrogator, while Xu Fang handled the transcript.
"Please begin your statement."
Lü Jinshan started reciting the confession he had long prepared in his head.
The general gist was that, as the station chief of the border defense station, he had taken bribes from his brother. Under the dual pressure of money and family ties, he had momentarily lost his senses and conspired to run illegal venues.
As for the attack on the special investigation team, he claimed to know nothing about it.
Lü Jinshan dumped all the guilt onto his brother. His confession was riddled with holes; certain details failed to match up entirely, while others were omitted altogether.
Xu Fang saw through it at a glance, but she said nothing.
Lü Jinshan was merely a scapegoat. As long as this confession was submitted, someone higher up would naturally package the case into an ironclad conviction.
Why should she stir up unnecessary complications?
Suddenly, Xu Fang heard Lu Zhao ask from beside her, "The special investigation team uncovered a large quantity of contraband at West Street Bar. Does this have anything to do with you?"
"Hm?"
"What?"
One gasp came from Xu Fang, and the other was a cry from Lü Jinshan.
Both turned in unison to look at Lu Zhao, staring at the calm resolve in his phoenix eyes.
"Answer the question."
It was like a peerless, sharp sword sliding from its scabbard, baring its edge to the world for the very first time.
Chapter 70