"Moreover, you should know that there are no humane punishments like those in the human world in the underworld. It's not as simple as just getting shot and that's it."
...
When Xu Zhengyang got up, walked to the door, kicked aside the completely broken Hao Peng, asked Zhong Shan to open the door for him, and then calmly walked out of the interrogation room, both Zhong Shan and Sulu were dumbfounded, their faces full of shock and confusion.
"I'll tell you everything, I'll cooperate..." Hao Peng murmured weakly, pleading.
Sulu was greatly encouraged.
Watching Xu Zhengyang's departing figure, Zhong Shan patted Sulu's shoulder and whispered, "Don't tell anyone about this; it's a confidential matter."
"Captain Zhong, what exactly happened?" Sulu's voice trembled and he stammered.
"Talent, high-level talent, national treasure!" Zhong Shan racked his brains to come up with some words that even he himself found absurd to explain.
"There really is a mysterious department?" Sulu exclaimed.
"Say less and ask less questions," Zhong Shan advised.
"Mmm." Sulu nodded hurriedly.
Zhong Shan breathed a sigh of relief; he managed to smooth things over...
Xu Zhengyang, who was already heading up to the third floor to rest, wasn't worried about Zhong Shan and Sulu suspecting anything about his performance today. He already knew some things about Zhong Shan, and as for Sulu… he figured Zhong Shan would clean up his mess. After all, there were some things Zhong Shan couldn't say aloud. He was a police officer, and soon to be the county criminal investigation captain; would he publicize these things? Would he let others know that he solved cases entirely through local deities rather than his own abilities?
As for how to clean up the mess, that's Zhongshan's business.
Of course, if Xu Zhengyang knew that Zhong Shan would tell such a crude lie and yet accidentally succeed in deceiving him, I wonder what Xu Zhengyang would think.
Volume Two, Gong Cao, Chapter 68: Life
The most terrifying thing in this world is not death, but the absence of hope.
We often use the word "despair" to describe the state of mind of humans when facing a desperate situation and having lost all hope. Yes, when people are in despair, their first thought is often to use death to escape the pain and helplessness they cannot resolve. However, if a desperate person knows that death cannot completely relieve suffering, and that the suffering is close to infinite, their spirit will completely collapse... and even the courage to face death will vanish.
In particular, those who are vicious and ruthless and no longer care about death will be terrified of this.
Therefore, Hao Peng would break down, feel lost, and desperately try to seize any opportunity that might bring him a glimmer of hope.
To achieve such an effect, no one else in the world can do it except Xu Zhengyang.
Of course, in the hours leading up to dawn that day, Zhu Fenjin and Ma Liang both endured roughly the same brutal psychological torment as Hao Peng. However, unlike Hao Peng, they weren't subjected to excessive slapping punishment, because Xu Zhengyang's hands were already swollen and painful; he wasn't about to do something so foolish as to inflict heavy losses on himself while in complete control of the situation.
Yes, it's still necessary to do some small actions like kicking someone a few times or making intimate contact with their face with your knee.
Although the ghosts of Cheng Jinchang and Cui Yao appeared in front of each of the three people, Xu Zhengyang firmly prevented them from communicating with them.
The reason is simple: it's already bizarre enough that the suspect was terrified enough in the interrogation room; to then make them talk to thin air, apologize, kowtow, and confess would be too shocking. After all, there are always police officers outside the interrogation room whenever these things are done.
Xu Zhengyang didn't need to worry about what happened next.
At daybreak, he said goodbye to Zhong Shan, drove his motorcycle away from the county public security bureau, and headed home.
At this point, some of you might be wondering why Xu Zhengyang didn't try to have a more intimate conversation with Tian Qing and Xing Yufen. Well, Xu Zhengyang had other plans. He thought he would go back and study the matter carefully, think it over, look through some books, find relevant information, and then have a discussion with the county magistrate before making any further plans.
Anyway, there's no rush now. Tian Qing and Xing Yufen definitely won't be released anytime soon, and besides, they might not be able to withstand the torture and confess on their own. Or the police might have other ways to find other sufficiently strong evidence and just arrest the couple, then Xu Zhengyang wouldn't need to waste any more effort on them. If, in the end, Tian Qing and Xing Yufen are released without charge, just as Zhong Shan feared, then perhaps Xu Zhengyang would truly feel that every cloud has a silver lining.
Of course, if Xu Zhengyang studies his ideas over the next few days and finds that they cannot be implemented, that Tian Qing and Xing Yufen cannot be used as pawns, and that the police cannot force them to confess, then Xu Zhengyang will definitely make a surprise return and force them to submit to the law.
In short, regardless of how despicable the members of the drug trafficking gang were, Xu Zhengyang wasn't that noble; just for the sake of Cheng Jinchang and his wife's lives, and for the sake of his own religious status and responsibilities, he had to ensure that the five people involved in the murder of Cheng Jinchang and his wife received the punishment they deserved.
When I rushed home from the county town, it was already broad daylight, and my parents were already up.
Mother Yuan Suqin was cooking in the west room, while Father Xu Neng was under the grape trellis, wielding a hammer and striking his dull-edged shovel.
The motorcycle roared into the yard and stopped slightly against the wall of the west house. Xu Zhengyang got off the motorcycle, carrying a bag of steamed buns he had bought while passing through Futou Town. He called out, "Dad, what are you busy with again? Mom... don't heat up the steamed buns, I bought steamed buns."
"Oh, the pot's just been set up and it's not even hot yet," Yuan Suqin replied, wiping her hands with her apron as she came out of the house. "What's Zhongshan been up to these days? He's been transferred to the county seat as a high-ranking official, and he still wants you to go and help him out..."
"It's nothing, the county bureau had a case last night and they arrested someone," Xu Zhengyang replied casually, taking off his sunglasses.
Xu Neng put down the hammer, stood up, picked up the shovel, looked it over from left to right, patted it a few times, and then looked at Xu Zhengyang and said, "Don't wear sunglasses every time you go out. If the villagers see you, they'll gossip behind your back, as if our family loves to show off and go abroad. Even Han Dashan, who drives a car, quickly took off his sunglasses before getting out..."
"It's just to block the wind, I wasn't trying to show off," Xu Zhengyang explained with a smile, walking over and placing the steamed buns on the stone table.
“You’re such a troublemaker! You’re more troublesome than an old woman all day long…” Yuan Suqin glared at her husband, then walked to the water bucket next to the hand pump, filled an aluminum basin with some cool water, and called out, “Zhengyang, wash your face quickly. You haven’t slept all night, have you? Your eyes are all dark.”
"Okay." Xu Zhengyang replied, rolled up his sleeves, quickly washed his face, took the towel hanging on the clothesline, and wiped his face as he said, "Dad, don't go to work at Han Dashan's factory anymore. It's tiring and dirty. The place is full of cement dust, which is bad for your health."
Xu Neng leaned the shovel against the wall, walked to the well, washed his hands, and said in a muffled voice, "What else can I do if I don't go to work? Staying at home all day will make me sick. The more you enjoy yourself, the more likely you are to get sick. It's better to be active and do some work every day. I'm not at the age where I can't move around yet."
"Look at you, so useless! You have money but don't know how to enjoy it. You're destined to suffer your whole life!" Yuan Suqin swept the dust off the stone table with a broom, got up and walked towards the west room, saying, "Zhengyang, come and get the food. You just bought some steamed buns, so you don't need to heat up the steamed buns."
"Yes." Xu Zhengyang followed his mother into the house to serve the food.
It was still cornmeal porridge, with homemade pickled vegetables—simple and light. The family of three sat around a small stone table under the grape trellis, eating their meal at a leisurely pace.
"Dad, has Zhou Qingguo taken care of the matter regarding our family's homestead?" Xu Zhengyang asked casually while drinking his porridge.
"Well, I gave him the money yesterday afternoon, and he said it would take half a month to process."
Yuan Suqin said somewhat dissatisfied, "We'll urge him again later. We've already given him the money, 30,000 yuan! We're in a hurry to build the house..."
"Why keep urging them? It's not like we're not going to do it for you," Xu Neng said in a muffled voice.
"No rushing, no rushing. When will it ever end? Are we not going to get married, son?" Yuan Suqin glared and nagged for a few minutes, then looked at Xu Zhengyang with a smile and said, "Zhengyang, I've told you so many times, do you have a girl you like? Tell me, and we'll ask someone to act as a matchmaker."
Xu Zhengyang chuckled awkwardly, "No, not yet, no rush."
"Hey, he's already twenty-one! It's time to get married." Yuan Suqin said with a smile, "Zhengyang, I think Liu Erhe's daughter is really great. She's incredibly beautiful. She's one of the best in the whole township. She's sensible, articulate, and worldly-wise. She's been working in the city for over a year."
Xu Zhengyang was taken aback, then shook his head and smiled bitterly, picking up the bowl to drink the porridge.
"Haven't you two been together for over three years? Everyone in the village knows..." Yuan Suqin thought her son was embarrassed, so she said cheerfully, "You're of age now, how about in a couple of days, I'll have someone go to Liu Erhe's house to talk to him?"
"Mother, I don't want to get married yet," Xu Zhengyang said with a wry smile.
“Silly boy, how can you not get married? If you wait another two years, all the good girls will be taken, and then you’ll have to marry one of the leftover ugly ducklings!” Yuan Suqin deliberately put on a stern face, but quickly regained her cheerful smile and said, “These past few days, every day when I go to pick vegetables in our garden at noon, I run into that girl. Hmm, she has such a sweet tongue. She comes up to me right away and strikes up a conversation. She knows how to coax people and is so considerate…”
Xu Zhengyang frowned in confusion, wondering if Liu Xiuyan was working in Fuhe City. How come she's always at home now?
"Zhengyang, I think this girl is quite good," Yuan Suqin said with great satisfaction, indicating that she was about to make a decision immediately.
“No.” Xu Zhengyang shook his head.
"Why?" Yuan Suqin asked.
Xu Zhengyang finished the porridge in his bowl, then stuffed a small steamed bun into his mouth. While ladling more porridge into the bowl, he mumbled, "Anyway, I don't like her."
"Then why did you date someone for so long?"
"They dispersed long ago; it was just the villagers talking nonsense..."
Before Yuan Suqin could say anything more, Xu Neng said from the side, "If you have someone you like, talk to your mother. Don't always hide it and be too embarrassed to say it. And don't keep the girl hanging. She's not young anymore. Even if you don't want to get married, you should at least settle the marriage arrangements first..."
Xu Zhengyang was both amused and exasperated.
"Zhengyang, you really have someone you like?" Yuan Suqin said excitedly.
"No, not yet," Xu Zhengyang replied awkwardly.
Suddenly remembering something, Yuan Suqin's expression turned serious, and she said solemnly, "Zhengyang, I'm telling you now, that girl who came last time, no matter if her family is officials or rich, she is absolutely not allowed to marry into our family!"
"Mom, what are you talking about? That's my classmate."
"Last time? That girl even came to our house?" Xu Neng put down his chopsticks and said seriously, "Zhengyang, did you go to her house? Did you meet the adults?"
Xu Zhengyang put down his chopsticks and said with a wry smile, "Dad, Mom, can we not talk about this? Are we still going to eat? It's nothing like that. She's just my classmate, not my girlfriend. She has some issues; she's not very talkative, and she's like that with everyone..."
"Oh, it's good that you don't like to talk. Trouble comes from the mouth. Don't learn from those gossipy women in the village... It's not a problem," Xu Neng muttered.
“If you don’t like to talk and you don’t even acknowledge your in-laws, how can that be acceptable?” Yuan Suqin retorted.
"As long as you know how to be filial, that's enough. But if you marry a daughter-in-law who's even more talkative than you, won't you two be constantly arguing?"
"What do you mean by that? Do you think I'm such an unreasonable person?"
"I didn't say you were unreasonable, you just love to argue..."
"Who likes to argue? Oh, are we all like you, just keeping quiet all day long?"
Xu Neng retreated, remained silent, and lowered his head to drink porridge and eat steamed buns.
...
Xu Zhengyang was completely speechless, so he simply stopped talking and, like his father, kept quiet, drinking his porridge and eating his steamed buns. He didn't actually resent his parents' bickering; his family was already used to his mother's nagging. Xu Zhengyang figured that not only him, but even his father probably felt uncomfortable if he didn't hear her nagging a few times a day.
In short, it felt good and not at all annoying.
After breakfast, Mother tidied up the dishes and wiped the stone table before going to the well to wash the dishes and pots; Father, on the other hand, ignored Xu Zhengyang's repeated persuasion and went to work with his shovel.
Xu Zhengyang moved out a bamboo chair, placed it under the grape trellis, and took out "Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio" to read.
"Zhengyang, did you really go and arrest someone last night?" Yuan Suqin asked curiously as she washed the dishes.
"Um."
“Zhengyang, I have something to tell you that you have to remember. We're not going to go with those police officers to catch criminals anymore. That's very dangerous. What if we run into desperate criminals with knives or guns and try to kill you? The police are just doing their job, but you're not a police officer. We don't need to…” Yuan Suqin said with concern, “We don't need that little bit of salary. Besides, your shop in the city just opened not long ago, and I never see you there. You trust Yao Chushun that much? Aren't you afraid he'll sabotage you behind your back? If you make money and then say you lost it, you're not there to watch over it… Don't be a security guard anymore. Just focus on running your shop and making money!”
Xu Zhengyang reluctantly put down "Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio" and turned to say, "I understand."
"Hmm, stop reading and go back to your room for a nap. Look at your dark circles... Sigh." Yuan Suqin grumbled with heartache, "This child, why are you studying so hard again?"
"Go to sleep in a bit," Xu Zhengyang said with a smile and a nod.
Yuan Suqin carried the clean pots, pans, and chopsticks towards the west room, saying, "I'll go find Han Dashan later and ask him to find an easier job for your dad at the factory. He's always doing that mixing machine job, it's tiring and dirty... Your dad is really simple-minded and stubborn..."
Xu Zhengyang didn't say anything more, but smiled and picked up the book to continue reading.
Although the strange and bizarre events recorded in the book have long been considered fabrications, Xu Zhengyang believes that these events are very likely true, because gods existed back then. As for why he's so certain, it's simple: the previous Earth God said on his deathbed that he was tired of living, and that he had accumulated two hundred years of divine power, attracting a heavenly lightning strike to his death. This means that two hundred years ago… or even earlier, gods existed, so it's not surprising that many strange events occurred.
But in this world, God is only himself, ghosts are common, but as for strange things? I've never seen one.
If we analyze the strange events recorded above, then a method I had previously conceived might actually be feasible. After all, I am a god, possessing divine power… I can grant ghosts certain permissions, such as allowing them to manifest before people within my jurisdiction or even directly possess them; I can take ghosts whose lifespans haven't ended away from my territory and allow them to possess people outside…
His initial plan was to have the ghosts of Cheng Jinchang and Cui Yao temporarily possess the bodies of some kind of animal, allowing them to eke out a living until their lifespan was over. While this would be somewhat unfortunate, at least their lives would be preserved. Of course, this was just a previous plan and speculation; it hadn't yet entered the experimental stage, and he didn't know if it would succeed. However, Xu Zhengyang felt it was highly likely to work, because the county clerk had also said that although this act of possession violated the laws of nature, if those vicious beasts possessed their bodies, it would merely reduce their divine power.
"Zhengyang, you should get some sleep! Stop reading, Mom's going to visit Han Dashan."
Yuan Suqin's words brought Xu Zhengyang back from his reverie, and Xu Zhengyang casually replied, "Okay, I know."
"Eat some grapes, or we'll have to give them away, otherwise they'll go bad, sigh." Yuan Suqin carried a small basket filled with some washed grapes, put a few bunches on the stone table for Xu Zhengyang to eat, then took the rest of the grapes and went out, closing the courtyard gate behind her as she went out, because her son would be going to sleep soon.
This is home. Though it may be ordinary, it is always filled with a warm and happy feeling.
Xu Zhengyang sighed, and when he thought of the old couple in Chengjia Village, Jiangwu Town, sitting at home with a six-year-old girl, their faces full of sorrow and their tears dried up, he couldn't help but feel a pang of sadness.
A once happy and fulfilling family was torn apart. A young child lost both parents, and an elderly couple outlived their child... It wasn't just this family; there was also Hao Peng's family of three. His wife, adorned in gold and silver, lived a life of luxury, doting on her son and living a blissful but naive life, believing her husband's high-earnings driving cars would support them. She had no idea of the many heinous crimes he had committed. Zhu Fenjin's family suffered the loss of their eldest son, their two daughters lost their father, and their wife lost her husband. As for Ma Liang, his parents had long been disappointed in their irresponsible second son. Not to mention their heartbreak, what would happen to his fiancée, who was three months pregnant?