Urban Martial Saint

The military is an institution separate from local government and usually does not interfere with local affairs; however, no one can deny the military’s authority. If the military really decided to get involved in local matters, no one could stop them!

Zhao Jianjun had called Deng Liyang to make sure Ye Qing was kept safe. However, Deng Liyang had hit a wall with Chen Tianyao, which infuriated Zhao Jianjun.

Zhao Jianjun himself was not the type to keep a low profile. Born into a military family, he had a fierce passion running through his veins.

After hanging up with Deng Liyang, Zhao Jianjun was livid. Without bothering with any procedures, he directly assembled a company and marched straight to the Beicheng Branch. Although this action would negatively affect his future, it was just in his character to do so. He knew Ye Qing was a good person, so he had decided to lend a hand, no stone left unturned.

A company’s worth of soldiers could easily take control of the North City Sub-bureau. Seeing the dozen or so soldiers beside him, Nian Hongcai also began to sweat palms and tremble slightly. He was well aware of Zhao Jianjun’s temper and genuinely feared he might be the first to be dealt with if things went south.

”Commissar Zhao... Commissar Zhao, what brings you here?” Nian Hongcai tried his best to remain calm, but as a police officer in the presence of armed soldiers, he still couldn’t help feeling intimidated.

”If I didn’t come, certain people might forget there’s someone named Zhao Jianjun!” Zhao Jianjun said, fiercely glaring at Chen Tianyao.

Chen Tianyao was frightened at this point, too. Though he had the backing of Yang Shitao, how could he not tremble in front of these armed forces?

What mattered most was that Zhao Jianjun had an elder brother named Zhao Jianguo, a general who had served on the Vietnam War battlefield. Even if Zhao Jianjun killed Chen Tianyao, at worst, it would only mean early retirement for him, but for Chen Tianyao, it would be the end.

Chen Tianyao had been arrogant before, but he had not expected Zhao Jianjun to act so assertively, nor had he foreseen that Zhao Jianjun would go to such lengths for Ye Qing. If he had known, he would have never dared do what he did!

”Commissar Zhao, you must be joking. Director Zhou has already called me, we’ve cleared things up; it has nothing to do with Ye Qing, I’ve released him already!” Nian Hongcai quickly stepped aside, looking awkwardly at Ye Qing, and said with an uneasy smile, ”Right, I was just about to escort Ye Qing out, and here you are, Commissar Zhao.”

”Is that so?” Zhao Jianjun frowned slightly, knowing that the Director Zhou mentioned by Nian Hongcai was actually Municipal Police Chief Zhou Tingjun. Only a call from Zhou Tingjun could resolve this situation.

But what did Zhou Tingjun’s call imply? He had only met Zhou Tingjun a few times and certainly wasn’t at a point where he could have asked Zhou Tingjun to release someone, so he hadn’t reached out to Zhou Tingjun. Unexpectedly, Zhou Tingjun had taken the initiative, which meant there must be something amiss.

”Of course, why else would I bring him out?” Nian Hongcai paused for a moment, then hurriedly added with a smile, ”Right, since you’re here, Commissar Zhao, why don’t you take him with you? Considering the commotion tonight, it won’t be very safe for him to go alone!”

Zhao Jianjun glanced at Chen Tianyao and said, ”Isn’t there someone else?”

”Oh, right, right, there’s another person, another person.” Nian Hongcai quickly turned to Chen Tianyao and demanded, ”Where is he? Where?”

Chen Tianyao awkwardly replied, ”Well, he is... in the... next interrogation room...”

”Go on then, bring him out!” Zhao Jianjun waved his hand, signaling a couple of soldiers.

”No need, I’ll go, I’ll go,” Chen Tianyao hurriedly offered, knowing that torture was being used inside. If Zhao Jianjun’s soldiers saw that, it would be disastrous.

In fact, Chen Tianyao still didn’t know that Zhao Chengshuang was also lying inside. If he’d known, he probably would have collapsed by now.

Zhao Jianjun, no fool, noticed Chen Tianyao’s eagerness and figured something was amiss. He glared icily at him and ordered, ”You stay put, you others, bring the person to me!”

Chen Tianyao stood still, not daring to move, beginning to shake with fear. The three policemen in the interrogation room were his men; he couldn’t escape responsibility.

Inside the interrogation room, three policemen were brutally beating Black Bear. Zhao Chengshuang was lying by the wall, bleeding from his mouth and nose, constantly shouting but unable to stop the trio.

Suddenly, the door was kicked open, and several soldiers carrying guns entered.

The policemen were stunned to see the newcomers, and one of them asked, ”Who... who are you?”

The soldiers ignored him, and their leader, upon spotting Zhao Chengshuang by the wall, changed his expression and urgently asked, ”Cheng Shuang, what... what are you doing here?”

These soldiers had long been following Zhao Jianjun and were his trusted subordinates; naturally, they recognized Zhao Chengshuang. They had a good relationship with Cheng Shuang and were shocked to see him in such a state.

Zhao Jianjun stood outside while Nian Hongcai was stammering out excuses, but Zhao Jianjun was completely indifferent to him, only asking Ye Qing if he was hurt or had been beaten.

Suddenly, a soldier who had gone to look for Black Bear ran over, urgently saying, ”Commissar, there’s been an incident!”

Chen Tianyao felt a pang of anxiety. Did those three policemen beat Black Bear to death?

”What happened?” Zhao Jianjun was startled and hurriedly asked, ”Did someone... die?”

Ye Qing’s expression drastically changed, more anxious than anyone else.

”No, not that, it’s about Cheng Shuang...” The soldier’s face was full of urgency as he said, ”Commissar, you better see for yourself!”

”What does it have to do with Cheng Shuang?” Zhao Jianjun mumbled, but he followed to see what had happened.

Walking into the interrogation room, Zhao Jianjun caught sight of his son, Zhao Chengshuang, lying in a corner, bloodied and with multiple lacerations all over his body.

The wheelchair smashed and tossed aside, Zhao Chengshuang’s mouth and nose bleeding, he looked severely injured, with many of his bandages torn apart.

Seeing this scene, those who recognized Zhao Chengshuang, like Nian Hongcai and Chen Tianyao, nearly fainted.

Zhao Jianjun took a deep breath, slowly approached his son, and said word by word in a stern voice, ”Who did this!”

Zhao Chengshuang mustered the strength to lift his hand, pointed at the three policemen, and said, ”Them!”

Zhao Jianjun nodded and asked, ”Did you do anything wrong?”

”No!” Zhao Chengshuang looked at Zhao Jianjun and said, ”I swear, I did absolutely nothing wrong!”

”That’s good!” Zhao Jianjun turned his head toward the three policemen, his eyes bloodshot, teeth clenched tight, and he demanded in a low voice, ”Why did you beat him?”

The three policemen looked at each other, unsure of what to say. How could they justify such an act?

One of them, scared out of his wits, they didn’t know Zhao Jianjun, but seeing so many soldiers and the presence of high-ranking officers, they realized something was amiss.

”Not speaking means there is no reason!” Zhao Jianjun said sternly to the three, ”No reason to beat a policeman like this. No reason to beat a wheelchair-bound victim like this. No reason to beat my son like this. Tell me, how should this be handled!”

The three policemen trembled, instinctively turning to Chen Tianyao for help.

Zhao Jianjun followed their gazes to Chen Tianyao, his face growing even more terrifyingly cold.

Chen Tianyao almost cursed out loud, wondering what those bastards meant by looking at him, as if he had ordered them to assault Zhao Chengshuang.

”What the hell were you three thinking!” Chen Tianyao shouted furiously, ”Do you know who he is? He’s the son of Commissar Zhao from the Municipal Military District, and you dared to beat him! What were you three thinking?”

Chen Tianyao tried to absolve himself by berating the three men, but even after shouting, he felt it was not enough. He quickly turned to Zhao Jianjun and pleaded anxiously, ”Commissar Zhao, I really didn’t know about this. I recognize Cheng Shuang, if I had known, I would have never let them lay a finger on him!”

Zhao Jianjun gave him a cold glance before turning back to the three policemen with a wave of his hand, he ordered, ”Beat them!”

A regular person would definitely lodge a complaint or follow due process. But Zhao Jianjun was a soldier, he didn’t care for any procedures, he had only one way to settle this—simple and violent, but effective!

Five or six sturdy soldiers rushed over and knocked the three policemen to the ground.

”What are you doing? What’s this? We are policemen!”

”Director Chen, Director Chen, save us...”

”Stop hitting, stop! I’ll file a complaint if you keep hitting us!”

Nobody paid them any mind. The soldiers were much more brutal, breaking the wooden legs of the stools in the room to pieces, and within moments, the three policemen were bloodied and could no longer stand.

Chen Tianyao, watching from the sidelines, felt chills down his spine—the soldiers were striking with ruthless efficiency, far more ferociously than his police officers. These three were under his command, yet he didn’t dare make a sound.

Even Nian Hongcai, the chief, couldn’t utter a word. Seeing the three policemen bleeding from their mouth and nose, he finally couldn’t help whispering, ”Commissar Zhao, don’t... don’t cause a fatality, it... it would be difficult to explain...”

”Explain my ass!” Zhao Jianjun roared back. ”My Zhao Family has done no wrong, so nobody should think of stepping on us. Keep beating them. Make them more wounded than Cheng Shuang!”

The three policemen felt like vomiting blood; Zhao Chengshuang already had injuries. Truth be told, they hadn’t beaten Zhao Chengshuang much, as most of his wounds were old. Now, Zhao Jianjun demanded they be beaten worse than Zhao Chengshuang, and the three felt an extreme sense of injustice.

After Zhao Jianjun’s shout, Nian Hongcai clamped his mouth shut, not daring to say another word. The room was filled only with the sound of the soldiers beating the three policemen, who were crying and screaming for their parents, but no one paid them any mind.

Of course, the soldiers were brutal but measured in their strikes. The three policemen were badly injured but not fatally, and though these injuries were more severe than those of Zhao Chengshuang, there was no danger to their lives.

Ye Qing helped Black Bear to his feet, and seeing Black Bear injured like this, he felt no pity for the three policemen.

After a full thirty minutes of beating, going from blood-curdling screams to barely hanging on to life, Zhao Jianjun finally signaled the soldiers to stop.

Zhao Jianjun looked coldly at Nian Hongcai and said, ”Keep a close watch on these three. I’m going to lodge a complaint against them for the severe assault of a public official and the attempted murder of a key witness!”

(Recommend a book by a friend, ”Super Soldier.” Just search the title to find it.)