Chapter 332

If we say, the key to this incident was Zheng Tan unexpectedly occupying the spot where he kicked the vanguard general Prince Xiao, then Rice's behavior directly sped up the end of this crisis. Without Rice's howl, it wouldn't have drawn a big commotion, and the surrounding people might not have reacted so quickly.

Fang Mengmeng held Rice and sat next to her mother, but Zheng Tan didn't go over; he was worried.

At the time, he only cared about kicking away that threat, Prince Xiao, and didn't have the presence of mind to conceal his ability. Looking back now, Zheng Tan realized that Hou Junyi's glance at him was very suspicious. After coming out of the room, Hou Junyi recovered and, while recounting the whole incident to a police officer, he also glanced over at Zheng Tan several times.

Besides the police outside handling the case, the three children and their parents were temporarily staying at Hou Junyi's home. Why was Hou Junyi the one giving the statement here? Because among the three children, he was the first to calm down.

Hou Junyi, accompanied by his father, told them what happened, while Fang Mengmeng and Chu Laiya were resting in another room, so they wouldn't hear Hou Junyi's words.

Zheng Tan felt uneasy, so he moved a bit closer and hid behind a cabinet, listening to their conversation.

"At that time, Maodou discovered a mouse; I went over trying to pull it back, but it hit the shelf, and I saw bloodstains on the wall behind the shelf... not a lot, but the color didn't look like it was from long ago; it was relatively fresh. Moreover, the color and marks on the wall indicate that whatever was placed there before was a somewhat shorter and wider object; the shelf was moved there later, just enough to block the bloodstains on the wall... I also smelled something like bleach... and my phone had no signal."

When Hou Junyi spoke, he was halting. Nevertheless, his account was relatively clear, his voice trembling slightly; his father patted his back lightly, which soothed Hou Junyi's emotions that had begun to fluctuate due to the narration. However, while Hou Junyi was giving his statement, both the police officer and his father accompanying him twitched their faces several times. The former thought this kid knew too much, had strong observational skills, and noticed things many adults might miss. He simply wasn't like a child.

As for the latter, he felt that, while his child wore the halo of a genius, there was also a stamp of 'brainless' on his forehead. Perhaps in many people's eyes, Hou Junyi is just a brainless idiot. Indeed. He has a higher IQ than others, knows many things, but in dealing with people he can be said to be childish; sometimes his words can make people furious. Hou's father has received more than one complaint call from school teachers.

Hou Junyi's account was relatively detailed, from entering Prince Xiao's home to leaving it, and it was from these accounts that Hou's father saw a serious problem. Although he had always thought that perhaps things would improve once the child grew up, now he had to bring this issue to light and resolve it; otherwise, he feared that if similar situations arose again, things would go wrong.

However, there were also omitted details; no matter how the police officer and Hou's father asked, Hou Junyi simply wouldn't say, for example, the part about Zheng Tan kicking Prince Xiao.

Zheng Tan listened anxiously, and upon discovering that Hou Junyi hadn't given him away, his worried heart eased a little. He had previously disliked this kid, but now he found the kid not bad.

"Dad, did I do something wrong?" Hou Junyi looked on the verge of tears. He wasn't stupid; after thinking it over, he realized that many times, it was his own fault that had put Fang Mengmeng and Chu Laiya in danger.

Seeing Hou Junyi's state, Hou's father didn't ask further, waved at the police officer to indicate he could leave, then began to comfort Hou Junyi. After all, he's just a child; you can't expect him to handle everything. As for those problems, Hou's father decided to deal with them gradually, first resolving the immediate situation.

Fang Shaokang arrived the next morning early. He had been busy in another province when he got the call, and upon learning of it, he bought the earliest flight and flew over. Seeing his appearance, Zheng Tan was truly angry this time.

From the time of the incident until now, no one had come looking for Zheng Tan, but this might just be temporary, also because Hou Junyi had not given him away. Zheng Tan kept recalling Er Mao's words; last night, Ah Wu had been nearby and should have been able to find him.

Although Hou Junyi didn't give Zheng Tan away, Prince Xiao is still there, and his injuries remain; if they really pursued the matter, it might still be possible to link it to Zheng Tan.

However, after receiving a promise from Fang Shaokang, Zheng Tan felt relieved. He left the matter to Fang Shaokang, and to avoid other problems, Fang Shaokang decided to have Tong Qing send Zheng Tan back to Chu Hua Shi a day early. Zheng Tan was also happy with this, because staying here left him uneasy, fearing he might be dragged into Ah Wu's group.

Before leaving, Zheng Tan overheard Fang Shaokang talking to someone about this matter.

As it turned out, Lianzi and Guianyuan were not following Prince Xiao, but the person whom Prince Xiao had killed. Of course, Prince Xiao himself was also implicated. From the conversations overheard, it seemed Prince Xiao was involved in many things—gambling, drugs, prostitution, and even murder cases. Apparently, after receiving some news and learning that superiors were investigating certain matters, he returned to his residence and watched for two days; unless absolutely necessary, he was reluctant to give up what he had just earned. After that suspect sought out Prince Xiao, the two had a quarrel, and the former directly met a tragic end. As for Prince Xiao, someone tipped him off, he realized the situation was unfavorable, and prepared to pack up and leave. He didn't expect that, while he was busy packing and slipping away, an unexpected little visitor would show up. To avoid giving himself away, Prince Xiao disguised himself well, but he also didn't expect that the Hou-surnamed kid would understand so much, and, despite being oblivious to reading people's expressions, could notice problems others overlooked.

"He said he truly didn't intend to kill, he just wanted to lock up the three kids first and wait for his escape," the person speaking with Fang Shaokang said.

"But he didn't guarantee that holding people wouldn't bring other dangers—like hunger and thirst, or psychological pressure—and they're just kids! Moreover, when someone acts on impulse, anything could happen; perhaps a child could become a hostage, or there could be other unforeseen consequences." Fang Shaokang said, puffing on a cigarette. His words told the person in front of him that he would definitely pursue this matter, and that none of the several people involved, nor the person who tipped off Prince Xiao, would escape.

"I understand what you mean." The person said that and then left.

Fang Shaokang tapped the table with one hand, took a puff of his cigarette, extinguished it in the ashtray, grabbed his coat, and walked out.

"Hei Tan, I owe you a favor this time."

Fang Shaokang understood perfectly; otherwise he wouldn't have rushed to send Zheng Tan away first to temporarily avoid this incident, which was also a protection for Zheng Tan.

Zheng Tan jumped into the car; his belongings were already packed, and he was just waiting for Tong Qing to arrive. Earlier, Tong Qing had been called over by Fang Shaokang to receive some instructions. After a while, Tong Qing returned. As he opened the car door to get in, he heard a voice from behind.

"Wait, just a moment!"

Zheng Tan looked over; Hou Junyi was dragging a small box toward him. His complexion looked okay. Probably his family had given him some psychological counseling. But... why did this kid bring a box over here?

Hou Junyi ran until his forehead was sweaty; after arriving, he folded the box's handle and wheels, making it look like a handbag.

The box was somewhat heavy; Hou Junyi found it difficult to lift, so Tong Qing helped him hold it, then looked at Hou Junyi in puzzlement.

Hou Junyi pointed at the box, then looked at Zheng Tan and said, "Thank you! This is just my thank-you gift!"

Hou Junyi looked at the box with evident reluctance; it was clear this child treasured the box, but Zheng Tan also didn't know how to refuse, and couldn't bring himself to say so.

Without even waiting for Zheng Tan to refuse, Tong Qing didn't know what to say either, and Hou Junyi had already run back home.

When Hou Junyi returned home, both parents were there; because of the recent incident, they had taken leave to accompany and comfort the child, and all three kids had taken time off school as well.

"What did you go out to do?" Hou's father asked. He had seen Hou Junyi leave with his little treasure box, but now he returned empty-handed.

"I was delivering a thank-you gift." Hou Junyi said while changing his shoes.

"Did you give that to Fang Mengmeng? Would a girl like those things?" In Hou's father's mind, the key was Da Mi; thanks should naturally go to Fang Mengmeng.

"Huh? What?" Hou Junyi wondered.

"Your treasure box—you didn't go to Fang Mengmeng's house to give it to her, did you?" Hou's father puzzled, wondering if he had guessed wrong.

"No, not Fang Mengmeng. Dad, you said yesterday that a life-saving debt should be repaid like a spring; at the very least, I should give a heavy thank-you, so I gave the box to Hei Tan."

"Hei Tan?" Hou's father's face stiffened. "If I'm not mistaken, that's a cat. You gave your precious box to a cat?!"

Hou Junyi still looked at his father with a bewildered expression, feeling he had explained himself clearly enough, wondering why he was being asked again.

"... Son, I think we really need to have a good talk." Hou's father helplessly rubbed his forehead. A heavy thank-you... In Hou Junyi's mind, that treasure box was indeed valuable; many of its items couldn't easily be bought outside, and in fact it was truly worth a lot. However, those things weren't the only ones; if they really wanted to stock up, Hou's father could also help him obtain them, he was just worried about how to straighten out Hou Junyi's thinking and thought processes to a normal level.

At that moment, in the car heading to Chu Hua Shi, Tong Qing continued to drive silently, while Zheng Tan flipped through the box Hou Junyi had given him on the back seat.

A thank-you gift?

Zheng Tan knew Hou Junyi was thanking him for his help at the critical moment, but Zheng Tan had never encountered giving a thank-you gift of a toolbox before. The box had a combination lock, the code had already been cracked and could be reset, and what made Zheng Tan even happier were the things inside the box.

Although Zheng Tan had never seen many of the items and didn't yet understand what they were for—requiring further exploration—he did know a few of them.

Zheng Tan took a metal piece that looked like a bank card, folded it twice, and it became a knife; folding it back restored it to the size of a card.

They're all great stuff!

Zheng Tan was overjoyed.

Tong Qing glanced at the rearview mirror, saw the cat on the back seat rummaging through the box, and felt that the cat's facial expression was quite weird. (To be continued...)

PS: I went over time. This counts as yesterday's; I made up for the June 21 gap with three extra updates, and also made up for the chapter that wasn't updated last night.