Chapter 10: Does That Make You Happy?
The night wind reeked of tear gas, thick and stinging, mixed with the earthy stench of asphalt that had baked all day under the sun.
Attorney Zhang clutched that thin red-letter document like it was a get-out-of-jail-free card.
"Lu—Lu Zheng! Don't you get cocky!" Attorney Zhang was missing two front teeth, and his voice wheezed like a broken bellows.
He hopped forward on his lame leg, spittle flying from his lips.
Lu Zheng's boot was still planted on Black Panther's face.
Black Panther's forehead was slick with cold sweat, a leaky hiss whistling from his throat, his soft cheek flesh grinding back and forth under the tactical boot.
Lu Zheng tilted his head, his gaze sliding over the red-letter document.
"Th-this is a supervision order personally signed by Mayor Gao!" Attorney Zhang jabbed the document at the air again and again.
"The Municipal Discipline Inspection Commission's investigation team is right there in the car! Today, you release Zhao Tai immediately! Take off that black uniform and come with me for questioning!"
Over by the car door, a few men in black jackets poked their heads out, but none dared actually step out.
The scene outside was too damn frightening—gangsters rolling on the ground everywhere, clutching their eyes and howling, snot streaming down their faces.
Lu Zheng raised his right hand and wiped a fleck of blood off his chin with his thumb.
"Hand it over." Lu Zheng extended his hand, palm up.
Attorney Zhang froze, a flash of wild joy flickering in his eyes.
He hadn't expected this living Yama to be so reasonable—seemed Mayor Gao's name still carried weight.
"Th-that's more like it!" Attorney Zhang tugged at his wrinkled suit jacket, his spine snapping straight.
He slapped the A4 paper with its red seal into Lu Zheng's hand, his lips twisting into a gap-toothed sneer.
"Go on, invite Master Tai out—we'll settle our business nice and slow with the Discipline Inspection Commission—"
*Rrrip—*
The shrill tear of paper cut him off mid-sentence.
Lu Zheng held the so-called supervision order between two fingers, didn't even glance at it, and ripped it clean down the middle.
"You—are you insane?! That's the Mayor's—" Attorney Zhang's eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets as he lunged to snatch it back.
*Rrrip! Rrrip!*
Lu Zheng's wrists blurred, shredding the paper into confetti in seconds.
A draft swept through. Lu Zheng flung his hand up.
White scraps burst into the air like snow, plastering Attorney Zhang square in the face.
One piece even stuck to the bloody gauze on his cheek, sticky and impossible to peel off.
"Pfft! Pfft!" Attorney Zhang clawed at the scraps on his face, his whole fat body trembling with rage.
"A note from the Mayor?" Lu Zheng rolled the last scrap between his fingers and let it fall. "Even if he stood here himself, I'd tear it up if I felt like it."
A collective gasp rippled through the crowd.
Lin Feng stood on the steps, swallowed hard, and muttered under his breath to Xiao Wang beside him.
"Our Commissioner Lu... he's really out to punch a hole in the sky. Temper on him's worse than my Tibetan Mastiff."
Xiao Wang pushed his sliding black-framed glasses back up his nose. His palms were drenched in sweat, his grip on the baton slipping.
"Lu—Lu Zheng! This is open defiance of the organization!" Attorney Zhang pointed a trembling finger at Lu Zheng's nose, his shriek cracking.
"I'm telling you—lay one finger on me today, and tomorrow I'll haul you before a military tribunal! You'll rot in prison for the rest of your life!"
Attorney Zhang stamped his feet in a frenzy, whirled around, and screamed at the Audi.
"Comrades from the Discipline Inspection Commission! You see this?! Is there no law left?! Get out here and arrest him!"
The Audi's windows shot up in unison.
A puff of black smoke burst from the exhaust. The tires even backed up half a meter.
Nobody wanted to touch this mess.
"Law?" Lu Zheng lifted his boot off Black Panther's face.
Tactical soles crunched over shattered glass with an acid squeal as he advanced on Attorney Zhang, step by step.
"D-don't come closer—" Attorney Zhang retreated on instinct until his back slammed into the Audi's hot hood.
He swallowed dry, his Adam's apple bobbing wildly.
Lu Zheng ignored him, turned his head toward the steps, and shouted, "Xiao Wang!"
Xiao Wang jolted like he'd been shocked.
"Y-yes sir!" He hollered back, voice quaking.
"Bring it over." Lu Zheng jerked his chin.
Xiao Wang gritted his teeth and jogged down the steps.
His legs were so weak his toe caught on the last step and he nearly ate pavement.
He scrambled to Lu Zheng's side, fished a black USB drive from his faded uniform trousers.
His hand shook like a leaf in a storm—several times he failed to press it into Lu Zheng's palm.
"C-Commissioner Lu, this—this is what you had me put together—" Xiao Wang stammered, sweat beading bright on the tip of his nose.
Lu Zheng snatched the drive, tossed it in the air, and caught it.
Attorney Zhang stared at the unremarkable black plastic block. His swollen eyelid twitched, twice, for no reason at all.
"Wh-what kind of junk is that? Quit playing tricks! Who do you think you're scaring?!"
Lu Zheng pulled out a police body cam with a speaker and plugged in the drive.
His finger hit play.
*Bzzt—*
A burst of static, then a greasy voice crackled from the speaker.
"Old Li, five hundred thousand to keep your mouth shut. Your grandson still goes to No. 1 Middle School, right? Lots of cars on that road after school lets out..."
The voice was crystal clear, dripping with menace.
It was Attorney Zhang's voice—before he lost his teeth!
Then came an old man's helpless, sobbing plea.
"Attorney Zhang, have mercy, I'll drop the suit, I'll drop it, just please—"
The blood drained from Attorney Zhang's face.
Dead white.
His good left leg started shaking beyond his control, his trouser leg knocking against the bumper with a steady *thump-thump-thump*.
"Th-this doesn't count!" Attorney Zhang lunged like a madman for the body cam.
"This is illegal wiretapping! The court won't accept it! This is entrapment! I'll sue you for defamation!"
Lu Zheng's hand shot out, seized Attorney Zhang by the throat, and slammed him onto the hood like a sack of rags.
The metal dented with a shallow crater, letting out a tooth-grating screech of warping steel.
*Hrk—* Attorney Zhang's face went purple, feet kicking in the air, leather soles skidding against the bumper.
The recording played on.
"Forensic Doctor Wang, that autopsy report—cardiac arrest. The balance goes to your wife's card tonight."
"You smooth over Zhao Tai's assault case, Shengshi Group guarantees you'll live like a king for the rest of your days."
One by one, item by item—three years of ironclad proof of Attorney Zhang cleaning up the underworld's messes.
The SWAT officers and cops around them listened with their teeth grinding, knuckles popping on their gun grips.
Lin Feng spat on the ground. "Damn. This old bastard's heart is rotten through—making money off the dead!"
Xiao Wang braced his chin, breathing hard, muttering to himself.
"All of this... my master risked his life to leave these backup files before he died. I hid them for two whole years..."
Tears slid down Xiao Wang's cheeks, leaving pale streaks, which he wiped away hastily with the back of his hand.
Attorney Zhang made a gurgling sound in his throat.
He was terrified now. Completely.
Those recordings were his most secret deals, made on burner phones—how the hell did the other side have backups?!
Lu Zheng let go, and Attorney Zhang slid to the ground like a puddle of mud.
Fresh air flooded his lungs, and he erupted into a violent coughing fit, tears and snot streaming down his face.
"Illegal wiretapping?" Lu Zheng looked down at him.
"This was provided voluntarily by the victims' families. As for the forensic doctor..."
Lu Zheng pulled the silver handcuffs from the small of his back and spun them once on his finger.
The crisp metallic click sounded sharp and bracing in the muggy night.
"Sorry to disappoint. That Forensic Doctor Wang was arrested at the hospital two hours ago. He confessed faster than you—right after he wet his pants."
Attorney Zhang scrambled backward, hands clawing at the asphalt, black dirt packed under his fingernails.
"Y-you can't arrest me! I'm the city's specially appointed legal counsel! Mayor Gao—Mayor Gao, save me!"
"Shut your mouth!" Lin Feng couldn't take it anymore. He strode over and grabbed Attorney Zhang by the collar.
"Your Mayor Gao's probably busy wiping his own ass right now—no time for a mangy old dog like you!"
Lu Zheng clicked the handcuff ratchet open and stepped forward.
Attorney Zhang thrashed uselessly, his suit sleeve tearing open to expose pale, flabby flesh.
"I demand a phone call! I have the right to see my client! This is police brutality!"
"You got it."
Lu Zheng grabbed Attorney Zhang's left wrist and bent it back.
*Click.*
The cold metal ring bit down hard on the wrist with the gold watch, gouging a deep red line.
Lu Zheng hauled Attorney Zhang up by the chain between the cuffs.
Rough, no courtesy at all—Attorney Zhang's knee cracked straight into the edge of the steps.
"Ow! It's broken! My leg's broken!" Attorney Zhang howled.
Lu Zheng locked the other cuff around his own left wrist and dragged Attorney Zhang toward the station lobby.
"Since you love getting people out so much."
Tactical boots hit the marble tile, his voice cutting through the night wind like a blade dipped in ice.
"Then get in there and keep your Master Tai company."
Attorney Zhang stumbled along like a sick chicken drained of blood, one leather shoe left behind on the threshold.
The suits in the Audi never made a peep the whole time.
Engines turned over. The cars reversed out and fled in disgrace.
Lin Feng waved at the remaining SWAT officers.
"What're you standing around for?! Round up all this trash and haul 'em into the station!"
The scene exploded into chaotic arrests.
Inside the lobby, Shen Bing watched Lu Zheng drag Attorney Zhang straight into the interrogation room—the one with the pure gold coffin.
The iron door slammed shut with a *clang*.
Shen Bing's temple throbbed.
Her phone screen glowed with a newly received text.
The sender: Director Lei of the Provincial Department.
Shen Bing opened it, read one line, and sucked in a sharp breath.
She rushed to the interrogation room door and pounded on the iron gate.
"Lu Zheng! Don't start yet!"
From inside came Attorney Zhang's pig-slaughter screams and the dull crash of a metal chair against the wall.
Shen Bing kicked the door in a panic, her heels clanging against the iron.
"Lu Zheng, open the door! Something's happened—the Provincial Department just intercepted dark web intel. Zhao Zhenhai's put a hit out on you!"