Li Dapeng was extremely arrogant, acting as if he knew I wouldn't dare touch him. I knew he was trying to provoke me. Given his serious injuries, if I did anything to him and he didn't survive, I would be held responsible. I wasn't foolish enough to fall for his trap.
There would be plenty of opportunities to deal with him during the interrogation once he recovered. I didn't need to rush and risk everything now.
I smiled faintly at Li Dapeng, ignoring his provocation. Years of enduring Zhang Yihan's scolding and beatings had honed my self-control. Otherwise, with the way she treated me, I might have lashed out long ago.
Li Dapeng laughed maniacally, "Look at you, you coward! And you call yourself a police officer?"
"Whoosh!" Before I could respond, Zhang Yihan sprang into action. She stormed up to Li Dapeng and delivered a powerful kick to his groin.
"Ahhh!" Li Dapeng screamed in agony, his face turning ghostly pale. He was rendered speechless.
"Do you believe I can make you the last eunuch in China?" Zhang Yihan shouted fiercely.
Everyone around us looked at Zhang Yihan with a mix of fear and respect, as if afraid she might kick them next.
"Make way, make way..." came an annoying voice from behind us. Turning around, I saw Jin Zhijian strutting over with two of his subordinates, looking smug.
He pointed at Li Dapeng, "Take him away."
Jin Zhijian's men roughly shoved aside the officers restraining Li Dapeng and prepared to handcuff him.
"Where the hell do you think you're taking me? If you've got guts, kill me now," Li Dapeng taunted Jin Zhijian's men.
Thinking they could intimidate Li Dapeng like they did with me, they started beating him.
"Damned bastard, still mouthing off..."
"Let's see how tough you are now..."
They stomped on him fiercely, and Li Dapeng soon passed out. They then handcuffed him and prepared to leave.
"Stop right there!" Zhang Yihan and I shouted in unison.
Jin Zhijian scoffed, "This case is under our jurisdiction. He's a key suspect. What do you think we're doing?"
"He was captured by us. You have no right to take him!" I retorted. We had nearly died to catch Li Dapeng. Now Jin Zhijian wanted to take all the credit? Even a saint would be enraged.
"Captured by you two? Don't make me laugh. I arrived here first with the criminal investigation team. What's it got to do with you?" Jin Zhijian sneered.
"Jin Zhijian..." Zhao Xiaotian, who had been flirting with the nurse, finally spoke up. He stood, still holding the nurse's shoulder, and pointed at Jin Zhijian with his cigarette-holding fingers, "Are you some kind of clown?"
"Who do you think you are? Don't think you can push me around just because your dad is the captain of the Fifth Squad," Jin Zhijian snapped.
"Oh, so you're challenging me now?" Zhao Xiaotian's demeanor turned deadly serious. "Let me tell you, you clown, I single-handedly took down these five guys. Where were you hiding? Now that the job's done, you come crawling out of your hole? Do you think your mom knows what a clown you are? Does your grandma know? Your aunties?"
Zhao Xiaotian's tirade was epic. Jin Zhijian turned red and green with rage but couldn't retort. Frustrated, he waved his hand, "Take him away. Let's see what you can do about it."
As Jin Zhijian's men moved to take Li Dapeng, Li Dapeng suddenly attacked, kneeing them in the stomach and kicking Jin Zhijian down the hill.
Then Zhao Xiaotian moved. In a blur, he was in front of Li Dapeng, and with a single move, Li Dapeng was down.
Zhao Xiaotian planted his foot on Li Dapeng's chest, exuding deadly intent, "You're only alive because I chose to spare you. Don't think it's because you're any good."
For a moment, everyone was stunned, watching Zhao Xiaotian in awe. Even I couldn't help but admire him. I now understood why he was part of the Cold Case Investigation Team—his skills were exceptional.
"Anyone wanting to claim our credit for capturing Li Dapeng, come face me first," Zhao Xiaotian declared. Then he swayed and collapsed. His wound had reopened, and he was bleeding heavily.
We rushed him to the ambulance, where he was treated by the same nurse he had been flirting with. To our relief, Zhao Xiaotian woke up halfway to the hospital and resumed his antics, flirting with the nurse who seemed quite taken with him.
At the hospital, Zhao Xiaotian had over eighty stitches but still insisted on having the nurse take care of him. With the county police leaders' support, he got his way.
With him in good hands, we focused on our tasks. We needed to control Li Dapeng's sister and interrogate both her and Li Xia. Li Dapeng was still in surgery, so we started with Li Xia.
Back at the county police station, Zhang Yihan called Zhao Mingzhu to demand Jin Zhijian's cooperation. The case was nearly solved, and we needed all available information.
As we began interrogating Li Xia, an officer came to tell me I had a phone call. The call was from Zhao Mingzhu, informing me that my house was on fire and I needed to return immediately.
"What about my mom?" I asked, my heart sinking. My mom had been wheelchair-bound since a childhood accident, and I couldn't imagine how she'd escape a fire.
"The fire department is on the scene, but there's no news about your mom yet," Zhao Mingzhu said. He then told me to inform Zhang Yihan that her father had died in a car accident and that she should also return home immediately. We were to hand over our work to Jin Zhijian.
"Captain, this can't be a coincidence!" I shouted.