“That is simple enough.” Shi Ting glanced at Bai Jin. “Take Chief of Staff Meng away.”

“Shi Xingzhi, you dare.” Meng Xiangyang’s eyes burned crimson. He instinctively reached for the pistol at his hip — then suddenly remembered he had already disposed of it. He wanted to shout for his men, but they were on the floor below, and besides that, Bai Jin gave him no chance to call out. With a swift chop to the side of his neck, Meng Xiangyang let out a muffled grunt and collapsed backward.

Bai Jin caught him and snapped a pair of cold handcuffs onto his wrists.

Outside the villa, Meng Xiangyang’s troops had already fallen back several dozen meters.

While they waited in anxious uncertainty, a police superintendent suddenly ran out from inside and shouted at the top of his lungs, “Terrible news! Chief of Staff Meng has fallen into the lake! Someone come quickly — help!”

At this, the men outside surged in like a swarm.

“Hurry, hurry — the artificial lake at the back of the building!” The young superintendent rushed ahead to lead the way.

As these men stampeded en masse toward the artificial lake, the dazed and blindfolded Meng Xiangyang was escorted out of the villa. By the time he was loaded into the Military Police Bureau vehicle, those soldiers were still frantically searching the lake — and by the time they realized what had happened, the Military Police Bureau’s people had long since vanished without a trace.

Shi Ting returned to the Military Police Bureau, and Yan Qing handed him the testimony from the floor supervisor, Lu.

“You really arrested Meng Xiangyang?” Yan Qing pressed her lips together. Meng Xiangyang and Meng Xiangyang’s brother were the twin pillars of the Meng family. Arresting Meng Xiangyang was tantamount to declaring war on the Meng family — and would the Meng family let him convict Meng Xiangyang so easily?

Storm clouds were gathering, all right.

“Would you like to see him?” Shi Ting smiled slightly.

“He’s not exactly handsome — why would I want to see him?” Yan Qing rolled her eyes.

“I’ll have Zheng Yun take you home first. The next few days here are going to be unsettled.”

She had accomplished her part and had no desire to stay and cause more trouble, so she gave his hand a light squeeze, her face full of reluctance. “Take care of yourself.”

“I know.” That handsome face suddenly dipped down before her, and she felt a warm press against her forehead.

She looked around in surprise — fortunately, no one was present.

He patted her head. “Off you go.”

After Yan Qing left, Shi Ting entered the interrogation room. Meng Xiangyang had not yet regained consciousness, his head lolling to one side in the interrogation chair.

Shi Ting was in no hurry. He sat across from him and waited patiently, the steel pen in his hand tapping against the desk in a steady rhythm in time with his mood.

When Meng Xiangyang came to, the first thing he saw was the man across from him tapping his pen. Everything that had just happened came rushing back all at once, and fury drove him to lurch upward — but the moment he moved, the chair beneath him let out a creaking groan and the handcuffs ground against his flesh, sending a drilling pain through his wrists.

Meng Xiangyang struggled for a while, then finally sat back down. Fighting the interrogation chair and handcuffs was not a wise course of action.

“Shi Xingzhi, do you know what you are doing? I am Meng Xiangyang. My elder brother is Meng Xiangyang, and my younger sister is the First Madam of your Shi household. Keeping me in these cuffs — are you tired of living?”

“Those who kill must pay with their lives. It is not I who am tired of living.” Shi Ting leaned slightly forward, his eyes fixed on Meng Xiangyang’s bloodshot gaze. “And furthermore — this is the Military Police Bureau, not the Meng family home. Do you really expect someone to come and rescue you?”