Lu Mengyao's waist and legs suddenly exerted force, springing up like a coiled spring, her foot flying out in a kick aimed at Liu Mang, who was still on the ground, directly targeting his lower back.
The kick was both swift and ruthless, Lu Mengyao nearly putting her full strength into it, as if she wouldn't rest until she had kicked Liu Mang to death.
She had encountered many men before, many of whom had coveted her, but none had dared to toy with her as Liu Mang just had.
Just a moment ago, Liu Mang's clumsy trick almost made her give away her most precious first kiss, which she had cherished for over twenty years—not to mention his wandering hands. The thought of it left Lu Mengyao scared and even more outraged.
Liu Mang placed his hands behind him, pressing them against the floor, while using the lower half of his body to propel upward, lifting and stretching his waist and legs almost perpendicular to the ground.
In the blink of an eye, Lu Mengyao's foot was already swooping down.
Liu Mang barely dodged, with the wind dragged up by Lu Mengyao's foot causing his pant leg to cling tightly to his leg.
Missing her target, Lu Mengyao didn't retract her foot, but her hovering leg pivoted, changing to a side kick aimed at Liu Mang's buttocks.
Liu Mang bent his legs downward, perfectly clamping Lu Mengyao's leg between his knees, then pushed upward with leverage.
Lu Mengyao felt her leg being clamped by what seemed like a pair of iron pincers, followed by a surge of tremendous force. Standing on one leg, her body involuntarily tilted to one side.
Liu Mang sprung up like a monkey, while Lu Mengyao, on the other hand, tipped towards the ground, instinctively bracing herself with her hand.
Liu Mang had gone from lying down to standing up.
And Lu Mengyao, from standing up to supporting herself on one hand.
The confrontation between the two was just an instant, but the outcome was already clear.
Lu Mengyao knew she had underestimated her opponent, who clearly was not as easy to handle as he appeared.
Taking a deep breath to steady herself, Lu Mengyao gathered herself, preparing to strike again.
Suddenly, the sound of the door opening echoed through the room. The locked door had been unlocked and a grim-faced older policeman in his fifties entered with several junior officers, shouting as he walked in, "Ridiculous, absolutely ridiculous! Just the other day I reminded you to take it easy with the interrogations, and now you..."
He stopped mid-sentence when he realized that the room didn't look like a scene of forced confession.
In his eyes, Lu Mengyao was merely standing face to face with a young man.
Lu Mengyao had intended to give Liu Mang a thorough beating, at least to the point where his mother would not recognize his battered face, but she had to hold back upon seeing the older policeman.
Because the man was Hu Qiang, the Chief of Jiangnan City Police Department.
Seeing Hu Qiang, Lu Mengyao felt somewhat of a headache, "Why are you still here at the station so late, Chief?"
Hu Qiang, with a stern face, replied, "If I weren't here at the station, how would I know about the fine mess you're creating? It's only been a few days since the last incident, and now you're trying to cause me more trouble?"
A while back, the department arrested a suspect in a rape case; the guy was tight-lipped, and several rounds of skilled interrogators couldn't pry a word from him.
In the end, Hu Qiang handed the suspect over to Lu Mengyao for questioning.
And what was the result? Not only did the rape suspect confess, but he also implicated himself in several other major crimes, including another heinous case where he and others had violated a woman.
Although they unearthed quite a few serious cases, the suspect was beaten by Lu Mengyao nearly to the point of death on the spot.
Following such an incident, Hu Qiang, as the Chief, naturally had to take responsibility, repeatedly instructing Lu Mengyao to dial it back.
Yet today, after having just given directions during the day, by evening she had pulled someone into the interrogation room alone again. If she ended up crippling someone, where would that leave them?
Lu Mengyao glared at Liu Mang fiercely before saying to Hu Qiang, "I didn't administer any corporal punishment; I simply conducted a routine interrogation on him."
Hu Qiang looked at Liu Mang, "Is that so?"
"Oh my stomach!" Liu Mang clutched his belly and let out a wretched howl, squatting down on the ground.
Lu Mengyao was so angry she was practically twitching; this guy had only been punched a couple of times but had been acting as if nothing was wrong until now.
And now, he started to wail miserably, as if too tragic to bear, which was clearly a plot to set her up. "He's feigning it, Chief, don't believe him. I really didn't do anything to him."
Liu Mang quickly said, "You haven't 'done anything' to me, yet just a moment ago you blatantly threw over thirty punches at me."
"What thirty punches, it was clearly just two." As the words left her mouth, Lu Mengyao hastily covered it, but it was too late, the detestable Liu Mang was too cunning!
Hu Qiang's expression darkened even more, and pointing at Lu Mengyao he said, "Ah, Xiao Lu, Xiao Lu, what am I supposed to say about you? When it comes to case work, you're one of the best in our station, but as for your temper, you're also number one in our station. Let the man go right now and write a self-criticism report, to be on my desk first thing tomorrow morning!"
Upon hearing the mention of writing a self-criticism, Lu Mengyao couldn't stress enough how bothersome it was.
But what stressed her out even more was Hu Qiang's order to release Liu Mang. "Chief, hear me out, he's not a good person. Letting him go like this is letting him off too easy."
"What do you mean 'not a good person'? It's just an attempted dalliance with a woman at a massage parlor, nothing more. Da Liu already told me all about it when we were outside. You handle this matter yourself; I won't be cleaning up after you."
Having said his piece, Hu Qiang left with a huff, hands behind his back.
A few policemen at the door had been sticking their heads out to watch the scene unfold. With one icy sweep of her gaze, Lu Mengyao scared them all away.
Her eyes finally landed on Liu Mang, and after a full three seconds of silence, she clenched her teeth and said, "Get out of here and don't let me see you again!"
"You really have quite the temper," Liu Mang not only didn't leave but actually grabbed a chair and sat down. "Actually, I'm not leaving today. By the way, I demand a medical examination. You beat me up just now, and I'm feeling very uncomfortable all over; it must be serious."
Lu Mengyao, originally wanting to release Liu Mang, now saw him shamelessly exploiting the situation, which made her clench her fists with a cracking sound, on the verge of losing control. "Seems like you haven't suffered enough! Don't think I really won't hit you. Either leave right now or else, hmph!"
Her cold snort was filled with chilling murderous intent, and Lu Mengyao wished she could slaughter Liu Mang on the spot.
Liu Mang held his head high, taunting her, "What if I don't leave?"
"Then don't blame me for being impolite." Lu Mengyao quickly approached Liu Mang and aimed a kick at his stomach.
Liu Mang was well-prepared and almost at the same time Lu Mengyao kicked, he sprang up, swiftly dodging to the side.
Liu Mang easily dodged Lu Mengyao's kick, his body pressing against her long leg as he swiftly charged at her.
Lu Mengyao hadn't expected Liu Mang to move so quickly; it was already too late to retract her leg. She rushed to throw a punch, hoping to push him back.
Liu Mang extended his hand with fingers splayed towards Lu Mengyao's punch, firmly grasping her small hand in his.
After seizing Lu Mengyao's fist, Liu Mang didn't try to block her strength but instead used it to pull her fist towards him.
With a twist, Liu Mang easily twisted Lu Mengyao's arm behind her back and subdued her with a grappling maneuver.
Everything happened too fast; Lu Mengyao was unable to react. She couldn't even fully see Liu Mang's movements before she was already restrained, shouting loudly, "You filthy rogue, let me go right now!"
With a tug on Lu Mengyao's arm upwards, Liu Mang spiking the pain, left her without the strength to shout, then pushed her towards a desk, pinning her down on its surface. "To tell you the truth, I rarely hit women. However, facing someone as fierce as you, I don't mind teaching you a little lesson."
"You jerk, let me go, or this is not over between us..." Lu Mengyao was pinned down by Liu Mang on the desk, struggling futilely. She turned her head with rage to glare at Liu Mang, "What are you trying to do?"
Liu Mang waved his other hand in front of her, grinning wickedly, "What do you think I can do?"