Origin 0092

While Liu Hai was reveling in boundless female favor, several auxiliary patrolmen in camouflage uniforms walked into the interrogation room where Hou Rui was being held. The man in front shut off the light at once, and the next instant several fists crashed hard into Hou Rui’s face and chest. In that moment, Hou Rui, pinned to the iron chair and unable to move, saw stars burst before his eyes.

The blows came in a relentless rain. The beating went on for several minutes before the men in the darkness, encircling Hou Rui, finally panted and stepped back. Just as he thought it was over, a sudden, savage kick slammed into his head and knocked him unconscious on the spot.

No one knew how long had passed before the dazed Hou Rui slowly opened his eyes again. Because of the swelling, he could only crack them open a sliver, but through that narrow slit he saw the fat man crouched in front of him, idly toying with a stun baton in his hand.

“Heh-heh-heh. Awake now? Sleep well? Were you satisfied with that special massage just now?” The fat man was clearly rubbing salt into Hou Rui’s wounds.

“Who sent you to deal with me?” By now there was no point beating around the bush, so Hou Rui asked bluntly.

“Deal with you? You’re the one who offended somebody. Think it over slowly. If you really can’t remember, I can help you.” As he spoke, the fat man extended the stun baton and pressed it straight against Hou Rui’s handcuffs. A fierce current surged through Hou Rui’s body, snapping every muscle taut in an instant. It was as though he were being pierced by countless steel needles; every cell in him exploded with searing pain.

Hou Rui’s head jerked repeatedly under the shock, and even saliva dribbled from the corner of his mouth uncontrollably. Only when the fat man lifted the baton away did his body finally slacken weakly, and his head drooped to one side.

“Feels good, doesn’t it?”

Hou Rui did not answer.

“You little bastard, you still dare glare at me? Keep glaring. Go on, keep glaring.” Again and again, the fat man pressed the baton against the iron chair, continuing the torture. Hou Rui said nothing the entire time, only staring fixedly at him. The icy glint in his eyes, without anyone noticing, began to unsettle the fat man.

“Damn it, this kid’s really stubborn. Torturing him like this and he still won’t give in. He won’t even make a sound.” After crouching there for quite a while, the fat man finally grew tired of it. He handed the baton to the tall officer beside him. “Old Yang, you take a turn. This is a hell of a lot more fun than shocking some street punk. It’s like electrocuting a mute, hahahaha.”

The tall officer, who had remained mostly silent, took the baton and without the slightest hesitation thrust it straight toward Hou Rui’s stomach.

“No, no, no. Old Yang, I’ve told you many times: that’s not how you use it. If you shove it directly onto the body, it leaves burn marks from the shock. You have to pass the current through a conductor if you don’t want to leave any traces. That way, even if this kid gets out, there’ll be no evidence and nobody can prove anything.” As the fat man stopped him, he also reached out to guide the tall officer’s arm, teaching him hands-on how to brace the baton against the iron chair to conduct the electricity. Very quickly, another round of torture began.

An hour or so passed in this fashion. By the time the two officers had run the baton flat, the fat man slowly crouched back down in front of Hou Rui. Those greasy eyes fixed on him as he said, “Kid, somebody asked me to bring you a message. This is only the beginning. The real show starts later. You think you’re so tough? We’ll keep at it until you’re dead.”

In answer, the weakened Hou Rui spat a mouthful of blood onto the fat man’s face. At a glance, it looked almost as though the fat man himself had been injured, and for once he seemed even more disheveled than Hou Rui.

“Me? I’ll fucking kill you.” The fat man, just getting warmed up, felt as if a basin of cold water had been dumped over him. Furious to the point of explosion, he sprang to his feet and kicked hard at Hou Rui’s chest. The force of the blow was already tremendous, and with Hou Rui bound to the iron chair there was no room to dodge or absorb it. Every ounce of power landed squarely on his chest. That one kick nearly shattered his ribs.

Hou Rui gave a muffled cry and coughed up a mouthful of blood.

“Forget me! Let me finish him off.” The fat man was still lunging forward in a rage, but Old Yang was desperately trying to restrain him. In the struggle between the two officers, the fat man threw another slap, hard across Hou Rui’s face. That finally scattered the last of Hou Rui’s remaining reason.

He lowered his head slightly and tucked his chin tight against his chest. In that position, he could ease the pain in his chest a little, and at the same time arch his back to create more room for his hands, which had already begun to move in secret.

Thirty seconds later, Hou Rui had already worked the chain between the cuffs to free the handcuffs from his wrists. Just as he was about to open the ankle cuffs and then wipe out those two corrupt officers, a rapid knocking suddenly came from outside the interrogation room door, followed by a man’s irritated voice. “What’s all the racket in there? Open the door right now!”

“Who the hell are you? Don’t you know I’m in here?” The fat man, desperate for a place to vent, shouted back at the top of his lungs.

“Open the door. I want to see whose damn man you are.” Clearly, the fellow outside had also lost his temper and roared back without yielding.

With a bad feeling, Old Yang hurried to open the door. A string of high-ranking officers then walked in. The last person in the line was none other than Hong, whom Hou Rui had seen once before. This time, however, Hong wore the uniform of a senior police officer, her expression stern and valiant.

As soon as they entered and saw the anger on the face of the man at the front, the fat officer was stunned silly. Stammering, he said, “Captain Li, I, I didn’t know it was you. I, I—”

“All right, enough. What’s going on here?” The man called Captain Li by the fat officer pointed at Hou Rui, whose mouth still bore traces of blood.

“He’s the suspect we arrested. Self-harm, and refusing to cooperate with the investigation,” the fat officer hurriedly replied.

“He’s lying. I didn’t break any laws.” Hou Rui, watching the situation unfold, said coldly. His bruised, purple-black face showed no sign of anger or agitation at all. That unnervingly calm demeanor made the late-arriving officer glance at him more than once. What no one in the room noticed, however, was that Hou Rui had quietly fastened the handcuffs back on again.

“Shut your damn mouth,” the fat officer snapped, sweat already shining on his forehead.

Who would have guessed that Hou Rui would actually cooperate so well? After being barked at like that, he truly fell silent and said nothing more.

The interrogation room fell quiet for a moment, but that silence only made the fat officer feel even worse, so he kept sneaking looks at the expression on his superior’s face.

About thirty seconds later, Captain Li broke the silence once more. He stepped up to Hou Rui and said evenly, “Hello. I’m Li Minghui, deputy chief of Yongxiang Police Station. If you have any complaint, I can have an officer take your statement.”

Hou Rui said nothing.

The nervous fat officer was just about to interject, but Captain Li cut him off with a sharp look.

“No need. I only want to go back to school now.” To everyone’s surprise, Hou Rui actually gave up the chance for revenge, or at least the chance to air his grievance.

But Hou Rui had not been beaten stupid. He had his reasons for doing this, because the moment before he had seen that so-called Captain Li looking at him with anything but a friendly expression. Hou Rui could even sense a faint disgust. Added to that the slight look of relief that had flashed across Captain Li’s face when Hou Rui said he would not pursue the matter, and Hou Rui understood at once: these people were all in the same boat.

In a situation like this, if he tried to go through proper channels and file a complaint, the only thing waiting for him would be endless trouble. Besides, Hou Rui’s identity did not allow him to tangle with the police too deeply. Compared with that, Hou Rui had already decided that afterward he would come back and have a good little chat with these two police uncles.

“What about your injuries? Should we send you to the hospital?” Captain Li’s expression suddenly became warm and friendly.

“It’s fine. I did it to myself by accident. It’s all just a misunderstanding. Just let me go back to school.” Hou Rui’s performance was so smooth that even the tall officer and the fat officer standing nearby could hardly believe their ears.

“Very well. I respect your wishes. Help this young comrade outside first. Wang Jun, you stay behind. I need a word with you. Everyone, excuse me, I have some matters at the station to handle first. Please wait in the conference room for a moment; I’ll be there shortly.” Captain Li finally agreed to Hou Rui’s request for release. As the other senior officers left the interrogation room, Hong, who was walking at the very end, looked at Hou Rui with some puzzlement, but in the end she shook her head and also left the room.

Then the tall officer escorted Hou Rui out of the interrogation room. With a casual shove onto the long bench in the corridor, he turned and left as well, hurrying after the others to entertain the senior officers. Hou Rui glanced left and right. Seeing not a ghost in the corridor, he quietly moved back to the interrogation room door and pressed his ear tightly against the iron panel.

“You had to choose today to make trouble for me? Don’t tell me you don’t want this job anymore. Believe it or not, I’ll tear off your police uniform?”

“Believe it, believe it. If I won’t believe anyone else, how could I not believe Captain Li’s power? In Yongxiang Station, you, Captain Li, are our sky.”

“Cut the damn flattery. Is this how you handle things for me? Do you know today is the city’s scheduled inspection visit? And you still made such a huge racket just now!”

“Captain Li, I really had no choice. Young Master Zhou’s side was pressing hard, so I, I taught that kid a lesson first.”

“Oh? So this was Young Master Zhou’s idea?”

“Yes, exactly. Otherwise why would I bother with some student brat? It was Young Master Zhou himself who called me and told me to teach that kid a severe lesson.”

“Even so, you couldn’t pick a better time? Now the municipal bureau, the detachment, and the inspection department have all seen it. Do you know what a headache that is?”