Chapter 136: An Actor's Self-Cultivation

Hu Xiong was furious, but he had not lost his wits. He quickly pulled Li Changqing aside and whispered, "Have you lost your mind? If we take over the decision-making authority now, won't we be held responsible for this entire mess later?"

Li Changqing remained calm and spoke slowly, "And what is your suggestion? Should we get into a loud argument with him and leave in a fit of rage?"

He explained in a low voice, "If we actually do that, this matter will almost certainly be pinned on us. Don't worry, I have a plan. I might just be able to get something out of Zhang Xun'er."

Hu Xiong frowned slightly and asked, "What do you intend to do?"

Li Changqing pondered for a moment. "I saw Zhang Xun'er yesterday. For what comes next, just have the people from the First Bureau cooperate with me."

"Besides, it will also be a good way to vent some frustration."

"Huh."

...

Late that night.

In the cold, grim interrogation room, Zhang Xun'er was covered in blood, having been subjected to every form of torture they could devise.

Suddenly, the door opened, and Zheng Pingchi walked in. His face was dark, and he delivered a brutal kick to Zhang Xun'er's abdomen. "Still refusing to talk?"

Zhang Xun'er merely cast a cold glance at him, showing no intention of speaking.

Just then, in the corridor outside, Shi Zun hurried over to Zheng Pingchi and whispered, "Team Leader, we have captured that man."

"Caught him? Bring him in. Let him see what kind of fate awaits this woman!"

Moments later, Li Changqing, his body bound in chains, was shoved into the room and thrown beside Zhang Xun'er.

"Kid, you'd better confess everything you know, or she will be your fate!" Zheng Pingchi barked sternly.

Zhang Xun'er looked curiously at the person who had just been dragged in.

Li Changqing slowly raised his head, gave Zheng Pingchi a faint smile, but said nothing.

At that moment, Zheng Pingchi’s phone rang. After answering, he nodded repeatedly and said to Shi Zun, "The Chief wants us to come over."

"And this kid?" Shi Zun asked in a low voice.

Zheng Pingchi snapped, "Lock him here for now. We'll deal with him later; the Chief says it's urgent."

The two locked the interrogation room door behind them and hurried away.

The room was small and freezing.

Li Changqing sat there as if nothing were wrong, looking around. After a while, he focused his attention on Zhang Xun'er. "How did you get caught by these bastards?"

Zhang Xun'er snorted and looked away, refusing to speak.

"Huh." Li Changqing studied her for a moment. "You look familiar. Have we met? Let me think... was it on Zhoujing Street?"

Zhang Xun'er still remained silent.

"Fine, keep your silence if you want."

As he spoke, Li Changqing used his hands, which were bound behind his back, to stealthily produce a key. "I can't reach the lock myself; help me open these."

"Where did you get that key?" Zhang Xun'er asked, startled.

Li Changqing chuckled. "Before I turned to the dark path, I was a pickpocket. I swiped it from those two just now."

Zhang Xun'er gave a hollow laugh, as if mocking the man's ignorance. "What good will a stolen key do you? This is the First Bureau. Do you really think you can escape from here? For people like us, once we enter a place like this, our fate is sealed. It's a dead end."

"That's still better than waiting to die. Come on, beauty, help me out." Li Changqing tossed the key to her and turned around.

He couldn't unlock the chains behind his back on his own.

Zhang Xun'er frowned slightly, but she picked up the key and unlocked his chains.

"Want to team up and break out of here?" Li Changqing asked, rubbing his numb wrists.

"I told you, there's no escaping," Zhang Xun'er said, maintaining her guard; the man was, after all, an unknown.

"That's not necessarily true." As Li Changqing spoke, a ghostly corpse aura began to emanate from him. He gathered the energy into his hands and gave a sharp twist, snapping the chains that bound Zhang Xun'er.

"A zombie?" Zhang Xun'er glanced at Li Changqing.

Her guard dropped significantly; if he was a zombie, he was almost certainly one of the dark path as well.

"When they come back in, I'll take care of them. You close the door so no one else notices," Li Changqing instructed.

Though Zhang Xun'er felt that they couldn't possibly escape, it was still better than suffering torture here without hope. Even if they were gunned down by the First Bureau during an escape attempt, it would be better than their current situation.

The two put the unlocked chains back on themselves. Soon, Zheng Pingchi and Shi Zun returned and opened the door.

Zheng Pingchi wore his usual arrogant expression. "Kid, have you made up your mind? My patience is limit—"

Before he could finish, Li Changqing suddenly lunged. He didn't transform into his zombie form, but instead delivered a whip kick that sent Shi Zun crashing to the floor, where he feigned unconsciousness.

Then, Li Changqing slammed a fist into Zheng Pingchi's face.

Zheng Pingchi was preparing to collapse and play dead, but he hadn't expected Li Changqing to follow up with a vicious kick.

Zheng Pingchi was stunned. Wasn't this kid supposed to be playing along with the ruse? Was this bastard actually hitting him for real?

But he dared not react; if he blew his cover, the plan would fail completely.

Endure it!

Regardless, even if the plan failed, it wouldn't be his fault anymore.

Kick after kick, punch after punch.

It went on for nearly a full minute.

Zheng Pingchi was beaten black and blue, his body twitching. Though Li Changqing avoided the vital organs, the beating was severe. At the very least, he would be spending a month in the hospital.

Li Changqing was sweating profusely, feeling completely refreshed. They say a gentleman's revenge is not too late after ten years. Li Changqing didn't consider himself a gentleman, and having found a legitimate opportunity, he was naturally going to vent his anger.

Beside him, Zhang Xun'er had completely dropped her guard.

What a massive grudge he must have had.

"Whew." Li Changqing exhaled slowly and said to Zhang Xun'er, "Strip them and put on their clothes."

Shi Zun was spared his underwear, but Li Changqing stripped Zheng Pingchi completely bare.

Zheng Pingchi knew this was retaliation, but he dared not move.

Dressed in their uniforms, Li Changqing and Zhang Xun'er walked out of the room.

After exiting the interrogation suite, the two kept their heads down, successfully entered the elevator, and upon reaching the first floor, strolled right out the front door.

The security guards at the entrance did not stop them.

"Is security really this lax?" Zhang Xun'er felt a sudden, strange doubt.

Li Changqing whispered, "They probably haven't discovered those two yet. Let's move quickly, or we won't be able to get out at all."

Zhang Xun'er nodded slightly, agreeing with the logic, and didn't think further. After all, she had successfully escaped the First Bureau; it couldn't be that they had let her go on purpose, could it?