Just as Yang Xiao was about to call Teacher Xiong for help in getting the police over, a text ssage arrived first, from Xu Yu.
The content was very uplifting, "Chu Xi, the police have arrived, they are already downstairs of the teaching building, we are all here."
Yang Xiao didn’t believe in coincidences, so he imdiately called back, and Xu Yu quickly answered, with the sound of police sirens in the background.
To verify the truth, Yang Xiao also called Song Yan, who told him the police had indeed arrived but Lu Ji was seriously injured. Although he received tily dical attention, whether he could survive was still uncertain.
Taking Xia Xiuyan with him, they rushed toward the teaching building. From afar, he saw two police cars parked below, their lights still flashing—a white SUV and a sedan. Several police officers were standing nearby, one holding a notebook, probably taking statents.
Yang Xiao found the two police cars a bit odd; they had sirens on top but no painted markings on the body. He kept his wits about him and called Teacher Xiong, who was at the station, and only after learning that police had indeed been dispatched did he feel relieved.
He had experienced too many true and false incidents, and it had taken its toll on him.
In the crowd, Yang Xiao saw Yu Mi, Song Yan with a bandaged arm, and Xu Yu, who wouldn’t stop talking to the police.
Of course, Xu Yu had by then taken off his white suit and changed into casual clothes.
With the arrival of Yang Xiao and Xia Xiuyan, the two instantly beca the center of attention. Xu Yu’s face lit up with joy as he ran over first, "Did you get it?"
Yang Xiao shook the cara in his hand and smiled, "Mission accomplished."
Song Yan too smiled, but the smile soon provoked his injuries, causing him to cough violently, while Yu Mi stood by his side, her eyes reddening.
Seeing Song Yan’s battered body and broken arm, Yang Xiao couldn’t help but nod, "Song, you’ve suffered."
Song Yan waved his hand dismissively, and before he could speak, a dark-skinned, weather-beaten old policeman ca over, holding a very professional blue folder, "Are you Chu Xi?"
"I am," Yang Xiao answered dutifully.
"We’ve received a report from Teacher Xiong; he said you have evidence of Sun Shengnan’s criminal syndicate and require personal protection. Is that true?"
"It’s true, the evidence is right here," Yang Xiao took out the cara and then nudged Xia Xiuyan who was beside him, "The police are here, you tell them yourself."
Director Ding and the others were kept at bay by a few other officers, standing not far from the main door on the steps, but by the looks on their faces, they were not happy.
Not seeing Sun Shengnan, the old officer gestured upstairs, "We’ve already taken her into custody for questioning."
As soon as she saw the police uniform, Xia Xiuyan’s first words were, "Officer, I... I am innocent. It was all Sun Shengnan forcing to do these things!"
Hearing this, Yang Xiao raised his hand, and the next second, Xia Xiuyan reflexively shut her mouth as the older officer saw sothing amiss and imdiately intervened in the local dialect, "What are you trying to do? Are you going to assault a witness in front of the police?"
Yang Xiao hurriedly waved his hand and then gently patted Xia Xiuyan’s head, his expression kind, his tone softer than ever, "Don’t be afraid, Miss Xia. Just tell the truth. Rest assured, Teacher Wang’s spirit is nearby watching over you."
That made Xia Xiuyan lose all hope of luck, coming to grips with reality, and she promptly confessed everything she knew.
"Can you take responsibility for what you’ve said?" the old officer asked, following procedure.
"I can, every word I said is true!" Xia Xiuyan insisted, "There might be so things I can’t quite rember right now, but... but it’s all in the cara, you can watch."
The old officer put away his notebook, "Alright, we’ll look into it. Currently, Sun Shengnan refuses to confess to her cris. You all co with upstairs to confront her face to face."
"And bring the cara too," he added before leading Yang Xiao, Xia Xiuyan, Xu Yu, Song Yan, and Yu Mi up into the teaching building.
"Keep a close eye on these people, don’t let them move around freely, be ready to be questioned at any ti," the old officer ordered the police watching Director Ding and the rest of the crew as he was about to go upstairs.
Soon, the group reached the top floor, which until recently had been temporarily commandeered as Sun Shengnan’s office. Pushing open the door, they saw Sun Shengnan sitting properly in a chair with an officer guarding inside the room.
Upon entering, the leading old officer yelled rudely at Sun Shengnan, "Sun Shengnan, won’t you confess your cris? We’ve brought the witness and the evidence!"
"I have no cris to confess to! You need evidence for prosecution!" Sun Shengnan retorted resolutely, banging on the table.
"Ha, you really won’t shed tears until you see the coffin!" The old officer snatched the cara from Yang Xiao’s hands and strode over to Sun Shengnan, handing her the cara and demanding loudly, "Look at this, look closely, isn’t this the evidence of your cris?"
Seeing the old officer actually let Sun Shengnan tamper with the cara, Yang Xiao was instantly furious, "What are you doing? That’s evidence!"
As he spoke, he tried to charge over but was stopped by two other policen. Now everyone realized sothing was amiss. After fiddling with the cara, Sun Shengnan suddenly laughed, holding the cara and feigning surprise toward Yang Xiao, "Oh my, there’s no evidence in here after all."
The old policeman standing beside him also laughed, with his arms crossed over his chest. His face, weathered with age, was like a blooming chrysanthemum, "Without physical evidence, there are still witnesses, right, my dear niece Xiuyan?"
With support, Xia Xiuyan abandoned her ek deanor, shoved Song Yan next to her, and ran to the other side to warmly hold the old policeman’s arm. "Hehe, Uncle Old Bull, I barely recognized you in that outfit. You scared to death. What witnesses? I don’t understand what you’re talking about?"
Intense and rapid footsteps echoed in the hallway as the classroom door was burst open. Suddenly, more than a dozen rural n, dressed in old clothes and wielding pickaxe heads and shovels, appeared at the door.
Though not particularly tall, these n had a fierce look in their eyes and their rolled-up sleeves revealed their dark and muscular arms.
Accompanying them were several older won who were no less fierce than the n, carrying rolling pins and sickles used to harvest wheat.
Among these rural folks were a few familiar faces—those policen from downstairs.
It was then that everyone understood they had been fooled. These policen were impostors...they were the group of student parents who had previously extorted the school!
No wonder these policen were of advanced age—it turned out that bad people also grew old.
"Xia Xiuyan, aren’t you afraid that Teacher Wang will co for you?"
Faced with Yang Xiao’s threat, it was a lie if Xia Xiuyan claid she wasn’t scared. But she had made up her mind that she would leave this wretched place forever after today and never co back. "Uncle Old Bull, it’s Chu Xi who’s the worst. All those bad ideas ca from him. Later...later, you kill him!"
"You dare to murder?" Yu Mi was shocked by their brutality and couldn’t help exclaiming, "Murder demands a life for a life!"
Suddenly, Sun Shengnan laughed, "Who said we are murdering? We are saving people. Chu Xi, you’ve assaulted Xia Xiuyan multiple tis in the woods and threatened her, bringing her back to this classroom with the intention to commit the cri again. Unfortunately, what goes around cos around, and you were inadvertently discovered. When the villagers found out, they beca enraged and beat you to death with sticks. Everyone here is a witness."
"That’s right, he...he assaulted !!" Clinging to this life-saving straw, Xia Xiuyan wished more than anything to hack Yang Xiao to pieces.
"Beat him to death!" The crowd outside was incensed, clenching their farming tools, they advanced on him step by step.
"Don’t be afraid, everyone. There’s safety in numbers! Plus, we are acting out of righteous bravery!" Sun Shengnan knew these rural n were hesitant and she didn’t want to cause actual death. This was no small matter. "Don’t kill him; just beat him into an idiot! Hit his head! So he can’t speak ever again!"
Facing the encircling onslaught of brawny n, Yang Xiao and his companions had no chance of winning unless they jumped from the building. Yang Xiao also realized this was exactly Sun Shengnan’s trap.
What she most wanted to see was his group jumping off on their own. This was the top floor, and a fall would an certain death.
However, one thing Yang Xiao really couldn’t understand was that he had been extrely cautious. He had called Xu Yu, as well as Teacher Xiong, to confirm, and everything seed...seed to be alright!
There was no reason for these people to deceive him.
Moreover, Xu Yu had lived in the town for so long. Even if these parents of forr students had changed their appearances, she should be able to recognize at least one of them.
A thought quickly took root in Yang Xiao’s mind: with so many inconsistencies stacked together, there was only one explanation.
All of this was controlled by a ghost. Those two calls he made earlier were answered by a ghost.
The ghost knew everything that was about to happen here.
"Bitch! For clinging onto this issue relentlessly!"
In an instant, a stocky, blemished-faced rural woman was the first to charge forward, viciously striking Xu Yu on the head with a rolling pin, which brought Xu Yu crashing to the ground. To protect Yang Xiao and the others, she had positioned herself at the forefront.
The blow was delivered with brutal force, and blood gushed out imdiately. Once soone took the lead, the rest surged forward, as Xu Yu bore the brunt of the assault. These people had viewed her as a thorn in their side for years. If it weren’t for her persistent hold on the issue, defending that unrelated foreign teacher, they could have extracted more money from the town and the school over the years.
"Bitch! She must have been sleeping with that Mr. Wang, dirty whore, playing up to n since she was young, beat her to death!"
The woman, clutching Xu Yu’s hair, slamd her viciously to the ground. The farming tools once sown with sweat beca cruel instrunts of violence in this mont.
These people were all mad, their pent-up resentnt exploded completely, and with Sun Shengnan there, they feared nothing; this woman had ways to smooth over everything.
But Yang Xiao hadn’t gone mad. He didn’t try to stop them, only dragged Song Yan and the others to keep retreating. He noticed that Xu Yu, being beaten, didn’t fight back, nor did she let out a scream—not even once.
Blood flowed freely, her body was as badly torn as a rag doll that had been stitched back together many tis, and her hair hung loose, mixing with the blood to partially cover her face.
From such a distance, Yang Xiao shouldn’t have been able to see clearly, yet he did. He saw Xu Yu smiling; her mouth kept curling up uncontrollably, her expression twisted and terrifying.
The next second, a scream erupted from the crowd, the woman who had been wielding the rolling pin stood agape, her gaze slowly falling as a slender arm pierced through her abdon.
After a few stirs, the arm pulled down sharply, blood spurted, and the foul-slling dark innards spilled on the ground.
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