Chapter Thirty-Six: The Calamity of Penal Servitude (II)

A police officer said in a deep voice, “Please do not interfere with us while we are carrying out official duties.”

Liu Zichen did not yield. “Show your identification, and tell us why you are making the arrest.”

The plainclothes officers were probably taken aback for a moment by her calm defiance, but they did not relax in the slightest. A middle-aged man said gravely, “Don’t move. We suspect you are connected to a recent murder case. Come with us to the station.”

He nodded to a young man beside him. The young man understood at once, took a police badge from his pocket, and held it up to Liu Zichen. She was somewhat surprised now; they really were police.

“Even if you are police, you can’t just arrest people like this. It’s against procedure. Do you have a warrant?” Liu Zichen said without giving an inch. She did not believe the prosecutor’s office would approve Chen Tianyu’s arrest. She nearly pulled out the badge from Beiting, but Chen Tianyu shook his head at her.

Chen Tianyu did not struggle, but he probed, “You don’t even know my name, do you?”

The plainclothes officers said nothing. After a long silence, the middle-aged man who had been speaking all along said, “We are not arresting you. We are asking you to come to the bureau to assist with the investigation. But this matter is of great importance, and the case involves murder, so we can only use compulsory measures... We hope you understand.”

“You people?!” Liu Zichen, who knew judicial procedure well, was nearly furious enough to explode.

Chen Tianyu, unwilling to remain sprawled on the ground, suddenly tugged lightly at her trouser leg. The gesture was very small; only Liu Zichen noticed it. She froze, then reluctantly let go.

Chen Tianyu said with difficulty from the ground, “Officers, I’m willing to go to the station and cooperate with the investigation.”

The middle-aged plainclothes officer reached up and wiped the sweat from his forehead. “Sorry... You two, get him into the police car. Let’s go.”

“Hey...” Qianya, standing nearby, was also indignant. She could not understand why Liu Zichen had let go so easily.

Liu Zichen said hurriedly, “We have done nothing wrong. We have nothing to fear from going to the station.”

The three of them could only watch as Chen Tianyu was taken into the police car. Yiruo still had not recovered from the shock and could do nothing but fret helplessly. Only when the police car roared away again did she remember to comfort Liu Zichen.

But Liu Zichen had already regained her composure. “It’s all right, it’s all right,” she said thoughtfully.

“What exactly happened?” Yiruo asked in confusion. “Why would they suspect us?”

“I’m not entirely sure either,” Liu Zichen said in a low voice, seeing that no one was nearby. “Tianyu signaled for me not to stop them, so I let go. Otherwise, how could I have let them take him away so easily?”

Yiruo worried aloud, “Could they be bad people? Posing as police? ...”

Qianya could not help laughing. “You really have watched too much television. Their police badges are right there.”

“I can’t really make sense of it either. This society is complicated, and we’re still unfamiliar with this city,” Liu Zichen said with sudden concern.

To their surprise, Qianya suddenly became nonchalant. “You don’t need to worry yourselves sick. With our cripple’s skills, even if we were taken to the station, we could still walk out unscathed.”

Seeing that Liu Zichen remained silent, she softened. “Sister Zichen, let me tell you something. This is probably connected to that ghost detective nine times out of ten. Who else would know our whereabouts so clearly? And just now, the police car drove off and then came back. Someone must have recognized us. I suspect Yunji was probably in the car...”

Liu Zichen gave a soft cry. In her anxiety, she had not thought of that possibility. “What you say makes a lot of sense.”

She thought for a moment. “No. Now that someone is stirring things up from behind the scenes, I have to go to the station and ask what’s going on.”

The branch office of the district was right beside the main road.

Chen Tianyu was wearing handcuffs, but no hood had been placed over his head, so he might as well have walked into the police station on his own. He had not seen Yunji in the car, but he was certain that person had been nearby at the time, and very likely had been contacting the plainclothes officers by radio. He had clearly heard that one line: “It’s him.”

Chen Tianyu walked along unhurriedly, though something about the journey surprised him a little: the distance was rather long.

The police car had not stopped directly at the station entrance. Instead, it pulled over on another street several intersections away, and the group then walked the rest of the way on foot.

What was the meaning of this? Even Chen Tianyu could not quite understand. Had there been a traffic jam? There had been no sign of any traffic accident along the way. There were plenty of pedestrians, though, and many of them turned to look.

Chen Tianyu gave a wry smile. So this is a public parade, then! Which official was behind this? This was practically a trap.

After thinking it over carefully, he could not help feeling bitterly exasperated. Although those people said he was merely being invited to the station to assist with the investigation, in the eyes of ordinary bystanders he was very likely already the murderer.

He did not know the exact nature of the murder case they were talking about, but judging by his impression of the city since his arrival, society was still stable and prosperous. So long as the police did not step forward to clarify matters, everyone would understand what this was really about.

Lost in thought, he walked into the station. After several plainclothes officers greeted their colleagues, they probably made a report in the duty supervisor’s office, and then they locked him in a small room.

The smell in the room made it obvious to him that this was a temporary detention room, but there was not a single other person inside. That was a little unexpected. Could public order here really be so good?

“In a bit you’ll be taken to the interrogation room. It’s not your turn yet, so stay here and behave yourself,” a young officer said coldly. He gave Chen Tianyu a sidelong glance that made Chen Tianyu deeply uncomfortable, as though he had truly become a murderer.

To be honest, Chen Tianyu had no real experience with detention rooms or interrogation rooms. In the past, when he cooperated with the police, he was rarely involved in these specific matters anyway. Most of the time, Li Yiting handled it. Different people had different roles.

Still, he said calmly, “All right. I’ll cooperate seriously with the investigation...”

The other man did not even bother to answer. With a clang, he locked the iron door shut. Chen Tianyu could only smile wryly.

When a person changes identity, it seems as though the same person becomes fundamentally different. Chen Tianyu wanted to adapt to this new identity as quickly as possible, so that he would not make some fatal mistake during questioning later. He understood that even if Yunji did not appear in person, he would certainly be hiding behind the scenes. In that case, certain excuses would be utterly useless. If the police asked about Lugu Lake, how was he supposed to answer? And there was another matter that became frightening the more he thought about it.

By the looks of it, the murder had happened within the last few days. Yet during those same days, he had been touring the remote Fourth Society with Zichen and the others. They had seen a few tourists, yes, but who among them knew anyone else? He and the elder brother and Elder Seven had met for at most half an hour, so they certainly could not provide him with an alibi. As for Zichen, Yiruo, and Qianya, they were all close friends; their testimony would surely be heavily discounted.

The caravan was a very independent little kingdom, with both advantages and drawbacks.

If Yunji kept pressing the matter, he would really have no way to explain his whereabouts over these past days, after all he was an outsider.

Of course, revealing his identity now would also solve the problem. He believed Beiting’s credentials would be enough to get him out of confinement. But then his stubbornness suddenly flared. For no other reason than Yunji—was he really supposed to have his identity pried out of him like this? If so, then this contest would be a complete defeat.

It was not merely pride. He truly did not understand Yunji’s purpose. To go to such lengths and use the police in this way—could he be the real mastermind behind it all?

That was not impossible. Chen Tianyu was startled by the thought.

Anyone could be suspected.