Chapter 140: The Great Buddha

Hearing Peng Li say this, my face instantly turned pale. Indeed, this matter could be big or small. If it were an ordinary person, perhaps being brought to the police station for a verbal warning would suffice, or at most a fifteen-day detention.

However, the guys from yesterday were all completely different—every single one of them was wealthy and influential. When had they ever suffered such a loss? If they wanted to ruin Emperor and the others, they could easily send them to prison in a matter of minutes.

Moreover, this incident had indeed been triggered by me, and Emperor and the others had only taken such extreme actions to rescue me. If they were really sentenced because of this, I would undoubtedly feel guilty for the rest of my life.

Therefore, I asked Peng Li what we should do now and whether there was any way to sweep this matter under the rug.

Peng Li replied that he wasn't sure either, but he had already informed Peng Lei, hoping that he could help out from his end.

After that, Peng Li patted me on the shoulder, signaling me not to worry too much, while also asking me to go inside with him to make a statement. The police were still searching everywhere for me, and now that I had arrived, it could practically count as turning myself in.

I gave a bitter, self-deprecating chuckle and said, "Brother Peng, I'm actually the victim in this. A guy named Huo Liang is the one who dragged me there, and the cars they drove even had military license plates."

Upon hearing this, Peng Li's eyes lit up immediately, and he asked, "Are you sure it was Huo Liang?"

I nodded and replied, "Of course. Would I joke with you about something like this?"

With that, Peng Li asked me to recount the events of yesterday in detail. After listening to the whole sequence of cause and effect, Peng Li suddenly burst out laughing. "Wu Dao," he said, "are your brothers idiots? We questioned them all morning—why didn't a single one of them mention a word about you?"

I helplessly waved my hand and said, "Emperor and those guys are all a bit thick-headed; they were probably afraid of dragging me into this as well."

Peng Li retorted, "Those silly boys! If they had just cleared this up a bit earlier, wouldn't all this trouble have been avoided?"

Judging by Peng Li's reaction, it felt as though he had thought of some sort of solution. I hurriedly asked, "What is it, Brother Peng? Did you think of a way to help my brothers?"

Peng Li laughed and said, "Kid, consider yourself lucky. The one who took you there was Huo Liang. If it had been anyone else, nothing we tried would have worked. But since it's Huo Liang, this whole thing becomes much easier to handle."

Right then and there, Peng Li dialed a phone number to Peng Lei, explained the situation over the phone, and upon hearing the name Huo Liang, Peng Lei paused for a couple of seconds before bursting into loud laughter.

Shortly after, Peng Lei told Peng Li that he would immediately make a call to the military region, and after that, the matter would be considered settled, telling me not to worry as everything would be fine.

I didn't fully understand what Peng Lei's words meant, but hearing him say we were safe naturally put my mind a lot more at ease. Since he was a dignified bureaucrat and a precinct chief, there was no way he would try to fool a small fry like me.

Afterward, Peng Li put me through the routine police procedure of recording my statement and finally sent me to the detention center, instructing me to stay there peacefully for a short while until they managed to suppress the incident, after which we would be released.

I was still somewhat worried and couldn't understand why Peng Li suddenly declared we were out of trouble the moment I mentioned Huo Liang. I asked him how long we would likely have to stay in the detention center.

Peng Li smiled and replied, "At most, you'll be able to walk out in a single day. Not only will you get out, but your school won't take any disciplinary action against you either."

The more I listened, the more mystical it sounded, to the point where my brain could barely process it all. Peng Li didn't explain much further; after instructing the police officers here to assign me to the same cell as Emperor and the others and telling them not to give us a hard time, he left the detention center to handle our case.

Soon enough, I reunited with Emperor and the others in the detention center. At the time, Emperor had brought nearly a hundred people with him, and now both Emperor and Liu Dong, along with about twenty other people who were close friends of ours, had all been hauled in here.

Seeing that I had also been dragged inside, Emperor and the others immediately panicked and asked, "Dao, what did you do? How did you end up getting brought in too?"

I smiled at them and said, "I just missed you guys, that's all." It was then that Emperor and the others noticed the injuries on my body. Their eyes widened in disbelief, apparently unable to fathom why the whip scars on my body had healed so quickly.

Such a thing was indeed difficult to explain, so I casually brushed it off with a couple of sentences. Emperor and the others already knew I wasn't an ordinary person, so naturally, they didn't probe too deeply.

Once things calmed down, the conversation shifted back to the massive street brawl. Bringing that up left everyone with gloomy expressions. They knew that as of this very morning, at least ten wealthy families were planning to press charges against them. Any minor trick pulled by those wealthy folks would be more than enough to give us a hard time.

Actually, I didn't have a firm grasp of the situation either, but since I had the guarantees of Peng Lei and Peng Li, I didn't want to overthink it. I told Emperor and the others not to panic; things had already reached this point, and worrying wouldn't help anyway. However, since Peng Li and the others promised we would be fine this time, there shouldn't be any major problems.

Consequently, Emperor and the others calmed down as well and waited right there for news.

At around four o'clock in the afternoon, Peng Li arrived at the detention center with two subordinates and informed us that the matter had passed. All dozen or so lawyer's letters had been sent back, and the opposing parties had completely withdrawn their accusations against us.

Although we had anticipated this outcome beforehand, hearing Peng Li actually utter those words still left every single one of us immensely shocked, unable to comprehend how a matter of such magnitude could be swept away so rapidly.

After walking out of the detention center, in order to express my gratitude for their help, I specifically hosted a few banquet tables outside. Aside from treating Peng Li and his men to a meal, I also invited all the brothers Emperor had brought along to help me last night.

Since everything was resolved, everyone appeared completely relaxed during the meal. While eating, I specifically asked Peng Li what was actually going on: why was the situation initially so troublesome, but the moment I mentioned Huo Liang, he puffed out his chest and declared there was a turning point? Furthermore, how did they manage to suppress the matter so quickly? And who exactly did Bureau Chief Peng call right after his conversation with you?

Peng Li chuckled and replied, "It's actually quite simple. You guys were in the right on this one from the beginning. They were the ones who abducted you first. Of course, in the end, your people ended up beating theirs. If the person who took you away had been anyone other than Huo Liang, perhaps you really would have been in deep trouble this time. But since it was Huo Liang, it's a completely different story."

"Why is it different?"

Peng Li smiled, pulled out a cigarette, handed it to me, and answered, "Because behind Huo Liang stands a super-influential big shot who holds immense power in our Bashu City. Moreover, this big shot has always been strictly upright and impartial, drawing a clear line between justice and evil. Since Huo Liang was the one who was in the wrong first, he naturally wouldn't make things difficult for you, but Huo Liang himself won't be having a good time of it this time."

"You mean our trouble this time was suppressed by that big shot? And his purpose in doing so wasn't just to help us, but actually to help Huo Liang?"

"You could put it that way. If Huo Liang hadn't been the one to take you, he wouldn't have had much to do with this incident, and even if he had been present, the big shot wouldn't have intervened. But since Huo Liang was the one who started it, the situation became entirely different. So you guys managed to dodge this disaster completely!"

I took a deep breath and said, "So that's how it is." Then, I curiously asked Peng Li, "Who is the big shot behind Huo Liang? Why is it that a problem even Bureau Chief Peng found so tricky became so simple in his hands?"

Peng Li smiled without answering, saying, "Who he is doesn't really matter. After all, this matter is already in the past. If you ever get the chance in the future, you'll surely come into contact with him."

It seemed Peng Li had no intention whatsoever of telling me the identity of that big shot. However, the more he concealed it, the more intensely curious I became about that powerful figure.